March to Nowhere
Tuesday 05 October 2010
by: Chris Hedges | Truthdig | Op-Ed
(Image: Lance Page / t r u t h o u t; Adapted: Ibai Lemon, SophieG*)
We can hold One Nation marches every week. It will not make any difference until we revolt against the formal structures of power.
The liberal preoccupation with positive forms of propaganda ignores the root of our problem. The tea party and hate mongers on Fox such as Glenn Beck, however repugnant, are the manifestation of the crisis, not its cause. The forces assaulting the remnants of American democracy will not be cowed or discredited with rallies, such as the one in Washington on Saturday. We will blunt these rising anti-democratic forces only when we organize outside conventional systems of power. It means dismantling the permanent war economy and the corporate state. It means an end to foreclosures and bank repossessions. It means a functional health care system for all Americans. It means taking care of our poor and unemployed. And it means a system of government that is freed from corporate interests.
Mass support for anti-democratic movements and public acceptance of open violations of human rights are not caused, in the end, by the skillful dissemination of misinformation or brainwashing. They are caused by the breakdown of a society and the death of a liberal class that once made reform and representative government possible. The timidity of our liberal class was on public display during the march in Washington. Speakers may have called for jobs, but none would call on citizens to abandon the rotting hull of the Democratic Party and our moribund political system or put Wall Street speculators in prison. The speakers at the rally proposed working within the current electoral system, although most Americans are aware that it has been gamed by corporate interests. This is hardly a call, especially given the failures of the Obama administration, that will fire up the unemployed and underemployed.
“We need jobs,” the Rev. Al Sharpton said at the march. “We’ve bailed out the banks. We bailed out the insurance companies. Now it’s time to bail out the American people.”
But Sharpton and the other speakers, too close to the power elite in the Democratic Party, did not call for rebellion. There was no war cry against Wall Street and the purveyors of death in the defense and health industry. There was no acknowledgement that unfettered capitalism and globalization are killing our ecosystem and creating a worldwide system of neo-feudalism. There was no acceptance that the corporate state must be dismantled if we are to save ourselves. Any effective resistance must begin with a condemnation of our political elite and liberal institutions, including the press, the universities, labor, the arts, religious institutions and the Democratic Party, for selling us out. But the speakers on the mall in Washington would not go there. And I suspect, for this reason, the Americans who are hurting most found nothing they said of interest.
Do you like this? Click here to get Truthout stories sent to your inbox every day - free.
All totalitarian movements, even those that are openly criminal, succeed because they have widespread mass support. They are the expression of a yearning that sweeps through a nation that has been convulsed by economic dislocation, a loss of hope and flagrant political corruption. And in these times of lament and deprivation the absurdities, crimes and excesses of reactionary forces do not matter. It wasn’t hard to find out what Slobodan Milosevic was doing in Bosnia. It wasn’t hard in Nazi Germany to hear about the widespread massacres of Jews in Poland. It is not a secret to most Americans that Muslim detainees, held for years without charges, are tortured in black sites around the world. The murder of tens of thousands of civilians by our forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan is tacitly acknowledged by the public as the price of war. The massive human suffering in the open-air prison that is Gaza is not a mystery. We know what happens to the millions of undocumented workers who live as stateless citizens among us and have become a kind of modern day slave labor force.
The rising proto-fascist movement in America is caused by a hatred and alienation so profound that the crimes of the state, along with the buffoonish antics of those who defend and champion these crimes, do not matter. We will not discredit the right-wing with facts, a demand for a respect of law or rational discussion. Propaganda or counter messages of tolerance are not the issue. The issue is societal collapse. This issue is a corporate state that has carried out a coup d’etat. The issue is the rupture of all mechanisms within the political process to protect citizens from accelerating impoverishment, internal control and corporate abuse. Those who refuse to acknowledge this bleak reality cannot offer solutions.
The right-wing propagandists have not created the problem. They have tapped into the moral void that has left tens of millions of Americans yearning for a profound and radical change. And if torture, war, racist attacks on immigrants, gays and Muslims, along with increased repression against internal dissidents, is the price for moral and economic renewal, many Americans are ready to sign on. If those who lead this rising proto-fascist movement insist on a Christian nation, teach creationism and believe in the physical existence of Satan, many Americans will sign on for this too. Hatred, when mobilized, is a very effective political force. And hatred, including the hatred for a liberal class that abandoned the working class, is what we face.
The decimation of our working class through outsourcing and globalization dynamited two of the most important props of the democratic system—class consciousness and class conflict. This has left traditional political parties, which once represented differing class interests, with nothing to offer the public beyond fringe issues such as abortion or gay marriage. Those in the liberal class who cling to the corpse of the Democratic Party do so not because they believe in the policies of the party—it does not differ in any significant way from the Republican Party—but because they hope against hope that the party will somehow restore itself to its former position as a defender of liberal values and the working class interests. It is the politics of nostalgia.
Our political theater has orphaned citizens who once looked to political parties to express and defend their interests. It has engendered apathy toward traditional social and political structures and an inchoate rage. This mixture of apathy and rage is a volatile cocktail. It finds its expression outside normal systems of dissent and in leaders who, in times of prosperity and stability, would be dismissed as lunatics.
No rally, no positive message, no effort to expose the idiocies of those arrayed against us will work until we restore to the political process mechanisms by which ordinary citizens can be heard. Hannah Arendt in “The Origins of Totalitarianism” cites the collapse of traditional political mechanisms, which now plagues us, as the opening needed for all totalitarian movements:
“The fall of protecting class walls transformed the slumbering majorities behind all parties into one great unorganized, structureless mass of furious individuals who had nothing in common except their vague apprehension that the hopes of party members were doomed, that, consequently, the most respected, articulate and representative members of the community were fools and that all the powers that be were not so much evil as they were equally stupid and fraudulent.”
The One Nation March in Washington, which lacked moral and political courage, did nothing to educate or rally our most important constituency—those out of work, those being foreclosed, those without hope. It refused to confront the real, corporate structures of power. It refused to disown Barack Obama and the Democrats. And in the end it only confirmed what those who hate us think of liberals.
All republished content that appears on Truthout has been obtained by permission or license.
Comments
This forum is moderated by software. Please allow up to 15 minutes for your comments to go live and avoid posting the same comment multiple times.
Unless liberals can forge a
Wed, 10/06/2010 - 10:19 — Anonymous (not verified)Unless liberals can forge a viable third party, they really cannot afford to decouple from the Democratic Party. I see no sign that a third party IS currently viable or that successful "revolt" is anything more than an empty slogan. Also, the contention that the two major parties are essentially identical ignores a mass of evidence and facts. While I agree they are closer than they should be, that is not at all the same thing as being identical. On a host of issues that I needn't even name, they are quite different, in ways that have a huge impact upon the lives of people around the world. As I see it, the best route forward for liberals is to keep organizing and to keep steering the Democrats to the left, just as the tea party has steered the GOP more to the right. The author, it seems to me, greatly underestimates the significance of the One Nation event. It is, potentially, a true rebirth of liberal activism that may reshape the Democratic Party. The obstacles are, of course formidable, including the growing class of "independents" who are really helping to maintain a very conservative, corporate status quo. But there is no easy "out" here, except perhaps moving to another country.
Chris, Chris. You showed
Wed, 10/06/2010 - 10:27 — Anonymous (not verified)Chris, Chris. You showed such promise, and now look at you! Apparently you missed the march.
The whole point was that a lot of left-wing groups formerly divided by turf lines got together to show solidarity around a core list of demands.
That is exactly how the Left has obtained and exerted power in the past. The 8-hour day (remember that), civil rights ...
And the whole point about American politics is that nothing at all ever changes without the exercise of power.
The netroots should have been all over that demo. But here you come, along with that bitch whore Kornacki at Salon, ripping up this growing new thing in an egotistical rage.
Talk about self-fufilling prophecies!
Defraud you once (2006),
Wed, 10/06/2010 - 10:37 — Vic Anderson (not verified)Defraud you once (2006), blame on DEM; defraud you twice (2008), blame Obum; defraud you thrice (2010) ... you can't get Defrauded AGAIN ( ... OR Can you?). FOOL! On the other hand, past being prologue: Contract on US (1994); BludgeOn US (2010); what's next for the miserepubilkans? : TruncheOn US! Halfascism mutating to full Frontal FASCISM of the Fatherland.
Exactly right. The symbols
Wed, 10/06/2010 - 10:39 — Anarchists Bane (not verified)Exactly right. The symbols were all there, massive steel barries, various police agencies had enourmous amounts of expensive hardware, helicopter flyovers. The majority of the people at this event wouldn't even consider the inconvenience of prolongned non-violent dissent. But the police state was there, gathering data and counting. Like they do on websites, such as TO.
An interesting view. But,
Wed, 10/06/2010 - 11:01 — alaskadiva (not verified)An interesting view. But, you give no solutions. The march should be just a start. What would you do? Figuratively dynamite the system and render chaos? You have to start somewhere. Getting the masses organized in a positive direction is not easy. You've offered the flip side of the Tea Party position and like them you've offered no realistic solutions beyond 'tear the system down it's corrupt.' Huh. Been there, done that ...French Revolution. Only, they had ideas. They had us for an example. There IS a workable system in place. We should use it like the European workers do. Can you remember how to sit on your ass in the street and face down the riot police? Can you institute a consumer boycott? How about organizing a weekly 'no gas/no drive' boycott of big oil? My generation and the Daniel Ellsbergs of America did this and threw the corrupt Nixon administration out and helped end the war in Southeast Asia. They were willing to go to jail and lose everything for principle. Your generation can do the same if willing. We'll join you.
No invitation was extended
Wed, 10/06/2010 - 11:07 — More Cowbell (not verified)No invitation was extended to Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers, etc or any number of authors whom the status quo won't permit to take the stage at an event like this. Doesn't that piss people off? Makes one think they could do a better job then was done with this rally - get some real activists, some real radicals, and boost the wattage. If only Colbert would schedule in some of these real folks on the ground, hell, get Hedges in front of the microphone.
Mr. Hedges: You are exactly
Wed, 10/06/2010 - 11:45 — Robert Corini (not verified)Mr. Hedges:
You are exactly right. Having been a local organizer against wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in Los Angeles from 2001-2005, the 'timidity' of which you speak was apparent at that time. Mainstream Democrats never wanted to go near the rising tide of dissent. They never wanted to acknowledge their base. Tens and hundreds of thousands of people wanting to be lead into the streets. Clearly the need for a new tact for liberal opposition needs to be executed.
THE NEXT MARCH NEEDS TO ON WALL STREET!!!
THEN NEW ORLEANS!
GENERAL STRIKES -- YES!
STOP PAYING CREDIT CARD BILLS -- YES!
DEMAND LARGE REDUCTION IN CREDIT CARDS INTEREST RATES -- YES!
DEMAND HEALTH CARE FOR ALL NOW! -- YES!!!
END THE OCCUPATIONS OF IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN IMMEDIATELY!!! -- YES!!!
SHUT DOWN BP HEADQUARTERS NATIONWIDE!!!
YES, YES, YES!
REVOLUTION -- YES!
And what are you doing,
Wed, 10/06/2010 - 12:11 — mk (not verified)And what are you doing, Hedges?
Nothing. You write lovely little essays and collect your check from Truthout or Salon or whomever and go home.
What are you *doing*?!!
You appear to be nothing more than a pissy little cypher. So piss off.
Excellent, brilliant. Chris
Wed, 10/06/2010 - 12:19 — Liced-christs (not verified)Excellent, brilliant. Chris is a left winger who's chosen to face reality.
Well I couldn't help but
Wed, 10/06/2010 - 12:20 — Identity Politics Fail! (not verified)Well I couldn't help but notice you glossed over who wasn't welcome at the "One Nation" rally.....do you even know?
Apparently the organizers that had been planning this since last April thought the Socialist and Communist Party's weren't as offensive to Americans as the gays. Yes that's right, the gays were an afterthought in the progressive utopia. Not one LGBT group was invited until one week before the rally, and those that did attend were met with open hostility. Those "teabagger" and "burn in hell" signs were just the icing on the cake of diversity. Don't expect the gays to be rushing out to vote for the bigots on the left, the bigots on the right have been much less offensive lately........and they don't march with communists! *spits*
@ 17:11 You stupid jackass.
Wed, 10/06/2010 - 12:22 — Liced-christs (not verified)@ 17:11
You stupid jackass.
What are you doing, big-mouth?
Let's see you write a piece like that.
"Mass support for
Wed, 10/06/2010 - 12:27 — mac (not verified)"Mass support for anti-democratic movements and public acceptance of open violations of human rights are not caused, in the end, by the skillful dissemination of misinformation or brainwashing."
Chris, the dissemination of misinformation need not be skillful for it to be gobbled up hook, line and sinker by countless people who worship Fox News. These people experience (mis-directed) rage and the vote (against their own self-interest).
As a long time musician,
Wed, 10/06/2010 - 12:46 — Chris Robin Cox (not verified)As a long time musician, activist, and writer, I can say with absolute certainty, that Chris is bang on. Furthermore, all you sycophants who fearfully keep coming back to the sad old rhetoric of saying the left in this country are shooting themselves in the feet by voting against the Democratic Party, are so full of crap, it makes me sick! All around the world, both industrialized and elsewhere, people are stepping outside of the normal voting boundaries and demanding change by voting their conscience, and ONLY THEN do they really take it out onto the streets.
As a musician in the band Junkyard Empire and many other activist ensembles, I am constantly surrounded by young, educated men and women who are NO LONGER FOOLED BY SO-CALLED DEMOCRATIC LOGIC. Hear me on this: The game is up. We get it. We are not playing anymore. We will vote our conscience and DAMN THE CONSEQUENCES. The consequences will be what they will be, and they will accentuate, by their very nature, the REAL problems we have in America.
The system will not change until the system is smashed by the people, and rebuilt in their image. To hell with those who are too timid, tired, or mired in Democratic (big D) mires.
Except for the penultimate
Wed, 10/06/2010 - 12:58 — Anonymous (not verified)Except for the penultimate paragraph this is the most spot-on commentary I've read in a long, long time.
The only reason I exclude the above mentioned paragraph is because I have no idea what you were alluding to, but other than that let's pray that gabillions of people read what you have to say.
Yeah, let's be sure to kill
Wed, 10/06/2010 - 13:27 — Anonymous (not verified)Yeah, let's be sure to kill all momentum from the first encouraging liberal rally in ages . . .
Way to go "progressives". You'll be so much happier when the GOP is in power again.
More like "Article to
Wed, 10/06/2010 - 13:36 — LisaX (not verified)More like "Article to Nowhere".
@18:38 LisaX -- wake up and
Wed, 10/06/2010 - 15:27 — Liced-christs (not verified)@18:38
LisaX -- wake up and throw your false hopes in the garbage bin. Ditto to 18:27
17:46 — Chris Robin
Wed, 10/06/2010 - 16:31 — Anonymous (not verified)17:46 — Chris Robin Cox
Yes! Spot On! 100% agree!
18:27 — Anonymous
You're an ass. Truth is, we'll be so much happier when the Dems don't exist anymore, since their actions prove that they're the ones who are the real foes of "Hope and Change".
Fun watching as
Wed, 10/06/2010 - 17:09 — mk (not verified)Fun watching as Liced-christs thoroughly reveals his/her dilettantism.
I'm being addressed by
Wed, 10/06/2010 - 17:42 — LisaX (not verified)I'm being addressed by someone called "Liced-christs"? Who made the same nasty post six times in a row (17:22)?
Sorry, but I'm not into these fringe games of
1) "I'm more 'left' than thou"
and
2) "Let's vote for a candidate who has absolutely no chance of winning"
In a democracy you have to have majorities, not just a fringe. If you're a true liberal, you know those majorities will be to your right. Look around.
My approach is to vote for the best viable candidates (in this climate, always a Democrat, it appears) AND to engage in grassroots activism.
I have no "false hopes". It's realism. You can often work with Dems; you can't work at all with Pubs. The door is closed.
Look, if you, Chris Hedges, Chris Robin Cox, and so on can field viable candidates, I'll give you a look. Until then, I'm with 15:19. You have to be practical in politics. And voting for Dems does not prevent you from engaging in peace activism and contributing to charities and so on.
Spare me your condescension and insults . . . those certainly are no way to build support for your cause.
One can agree with the
Wed, 10/06/2010 - 17:43 — salam (not verified)One can agree with the diagnosis here but where is the proposed treatment? Just where do disaffected voters go since both parties are morally bankrupt and the prospects of a progressive third (or fourth after the Tea Party) party are slim to none?
You don't even know who your
Wed, 10/06/2010 - 17:55 — Anonymous (not verified)You don't even know who your real enemies are, 21:31. And can you offer nothing more than cheerleading and insults?
Hedges writes:
"It means dismantling the permanent war economy and the corporate state. It means an end to foreclosures and bank repossessions. It means a functional health care system for all Americans. It means taking care of our poor and unemployed. And it means a system of government that is freed from corporate interests."
and
"No rally, no positive message, no effort to expose the idiocies of those arrayed against us will work until we restore to the political process mechanisms by which ordinary citizens can be heard."
--which all sounds nice. But how do any of you propose to actually achieve these things, especially without control of a major political party?
Rant all you want. Most of what you're saying is actually music to the GOP's ears. While you're still ranting, they'll be planning the next war, the next slashing of services and entitlements, and the next tax cuts for the super-rich. And you'll be that much deeper in the hole.
I knew this country was in
Wed, 10/06/2010 - 18:19 — Anonymous (not verified)I knew this country was in trouble when corporations started flying their own flags, a warning of corporate sovereignty. The Murdock March on the Media has generated a Manchurian Electorate brainwashed while focused on dangling teabags. I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said, 'kill the rich before they eat your young.' I guess some of us are aware of the ominous times we are facing.
The structural violence is increasing almost daily and still we all just watch and scratch our collective heads. Nobody is coming with solutions. You will have to invent your own. I noticed a story today stating corporate retailers will not hire holiday help this year. We can skip the holidays and all of the spending that goes along with it. One season with no spending. Stop giving corporate America your money. As for third parties, well I suspect they too will be corrupted by corporate America.
The GOP isn't the problem,
Wed, 10/06/2010 - 21:33 — Bill (not verified)The GOP isn't the problem, The Democrats aren't the problem, and the liberals definitely aren't the problem. Conservatism is the problem. It's been the problem since the 30's. It got us into the Great Depression. We need a liberal uprising, not communism or a third party. Democrats are basically the liberal party now. Liberal ideology is the fastest growing political ideology in America and throughout the world. Europe has already embraced it and America won't be far behind.
Chris Hedges, you are a
Wed, 10/06/2010 - 22:57 — Maggie (not verified)Chris Hedges, you are a HIPPY, and I LOVE your for it! So was MLK, by the way...
The Democrats are enough of
Thu, 10/07/2010 - 00:28 — Tomato Tomatoe (not verified)The Democrats are enough of the problem to be dismissed as a solution to anything, They didn't really even show up at this rally, yet the press seemed ready to stamp a D on their analysis of what happened. I saw leaflets calling for an uprising, so did the police, btw.
Communism is what we really need now, and we can do it with the technology available, Much easier to crush corruption when the playing field is leveled, We do not have a Democracy now, don't be fooled. we have something much worse then faux-communism, we have an oligarchy. Again, we do not have a representative democracy,
I'm for Revolution. Is
Thu, 10/07/2010 - 02:53 — Anonymous (not verified)I'm for Revolution. Is there really any other solution at this point?
When you take in the huge volume of incredibly horrific news, considering that we only hear about a fraction of what's really going on...
I was just reading about the resurgence of debtor's prisons in this country. Could anything be more stupid?
We hear people screaming for jobs when they might as well be begging to be enslaved. Oh please, hire me for a non-living wage of $7.25/hr., please require me to buy expensive clothes to work in, even though no one sees me all day, please treat me as subhuman, punish me for being 10 seconds late punching in on the time clock, etc...
There is nothing to go back to any more, no American dream (worth having). Air, water, food, television, advertising, all is toxic.
I'm too old and ill to make it in the coming collapse, but if I were young and healthy, I'd be working toward a new society and refusing to participate in the enslavement and destruction of the vast bulk of humanity.
Just say no... grow your own food, organize in your communities, help each other survive and refuse to play their game any more. I really think it's humanity's only chance.
Not that I'd be heartbroken to see us reduced to extinction. It's just so sad to see us take so many other beautiful species with us.
"May you live in interesting times!" as the Chinese so appropriately cursed...
So much gloom and doom.
Thu, 10/07/2010 - 06:05 — Anonymous (not verified)So much gloom and doom. Revolution is not the answer, rebellion maybe but not revolution. Here's how revolutions work. The wealthy upper class leaves the country while the people fight each other. When it's finished the wealthy come back and take over. Even Napoleon, elected dictator by the French, was the nephew of Louis XVI by marriage. France really didn't get it together until WWII. Reform is slow, baby steps. It requires patience. Liberals and progressive in Wisconsin have a candidate and need to hit the streets and work for Feingold. Let's see some energy put into that election. There is no time for a third party before the next election even if third party is the answer. It's damage control time. Keep as many liberals as possible and move forward. Onward to significant campaign reform.
Work to extract yourself from corporate America as much as possible. In that sense the old hippies were right. I've seen a couple of suggestions in the comments. Grow as much food as possible, work in your community, stop spending money. I would add turn off the TV because it is just corporate with a corporate message. Educate the people around you. Organize. Let's stop moaning and behaving like we are powerless.
Revolution-Rebellion...tomayt
Thu, 10/07/2010 - 10:21 — MR (not verified)Revolution-Rebellion...tomayto tomahto.
Voting in another politician, regardless of how different s/he is, won't work. Washington has a knack for absorbing otherwise good candidates with pure intentions into its system and corrupting them. Politicians won't work. Voting won't work. Protests won't work and haven't for at least 30 years. ONM, as I suspected, didn't work.
Many here say "what actual *solutions* do you propose instead of just whining? Here are a few:
1) Blow up Wall Street. Evacuate the people first, then blow up the buildings. If that doesn't send a message...
2) Blow up the NYSE, which Wall Street uses. Evacuate first, of course.
3) Destroy Las Vegas. Why LV? Because LV is considered by many to be the shadow capital of the US. That place is arguably more corrupt now than when the mob ran it, it's just that they keep it better veiled.
4) Sever the Alaskan Pipeline.
If, of course, certain Corporate types don't learn that smart, thinking and pissed-off Americans are serious after all the destruction and continue in their old ways, more drastic measures will be needed.
Crazy, I'm sure. But people wanted examples of exactly what to do. Well, there you go. If you have any better ideas, please share. But please don't insult me by giving me the 'alternatives' of voting and protest. We've been down that road before. If you haven't learned by now, you never will.
15:21 — MR 100% agree.
Thu, 10/07/2010 - 11:23 — Anonymous (not verified)15:21 — MR
100% agree.
But blowing up Wall Street and killing bankers isn't going to happen until the republicans take away the last crumbs from those same poor, misguided schmucks they screwed the worst who'll vote them back in.
A violent free-for-all is coming as America nosedives into the abyss of market utopia.
15:21, All that mayhem would
Thu, 10/07/2010 - 12:22 — Anonymous (not verified)15:21,
All that mayhem would just be blamed on Terrrrorists, don't ya know...just like 911 was. So what would be gained Except more of the same. Only this time it would be used as an excuse to attack Iran...for Israel's sake, of course. Some more dancing Israelis with cameras to video tape the destruction.
@17:22, true, they'd blame
Thu, 10/07/2010 - 14:04 — MR (not verified)@17:22, true, they'd blame it on terrorists, get Americans hating on the middle east again and we'd be at war. But, doing this will still be a step in the right direction. It wouldn't be more of the same since our economy's false bubble would burst and this country would contract back to reality.
There's no reason not to destroy that which is evil and corrupt beyond repair.
So Che...er, uh, MR... when
Thu, 10/07/2010 - 17:52 — mk (not verified)So Che...er, uh, MR... when are you getting on that? When can we expect to see you put things in motion? When will the first Wall Street building go up in smoke? Or are you all talk?
@mk, talking-head detractors
Thu, 10/07/2010 - 20:47 — MR (not verified)@mk, talking-head detractors such as yourself kept bitching for ideas on what to actually do instead of just talking. I gave them ideas on what to actually do, just as they asked. Fuck off.
So why are folks so down on
Fri, 10/08/2010 - 07:05 — Anonymous (not verified)So why are folks so down on other people's ideas about how to dissent?
Do it all, I say! Do what you can. Do what works for you and encourage everyone to do whatever works for them.
When you look at the Tea-Partiers, what do you see? I see a bunch of crazy, deluded people who have closed their minds to alternate realities. People who do not question the version of reality that they have been force-fed all their lives.
Always, always keep your mind open. Always question... and yeah, that means questioning our own close-held beliefs all the time. And it means staying open to different points of view than our own.
Revolution.. resistance... whatever you want to call it, I don't care. It's all about doing what is authentic to who we really are, refusing to be cast in the mold of conformity, whatever form that may take.
Live and let live... remember that line?
The article ignores the fact
Fri, 10/08/2010 - 10:23 — Larry Wohlgemuth (not verified)The article ignores the fact that companies are showing record profits in this "recession," and that they don't have impetus to hire based on some perceived "economic opportunities." They ARE in the midst of their economic opportunity, the collection of huge tax incentives to take production offshore. By significantly lowering per unit costs they are actually making more profits on lower sales numbers. Additionally, American manufacturers are utilizing overtime in the workplace to avoid hiring to skew labor statistics prior to the election, hoping to entice voters to go "R".
This "recession" is actually an assault on American workers intended to drive the cost of US labor down. A good friend, who is an organizer for the AFL-CIO, says that in all his negotiations for the past year, companies that are highly profitable are holding hard lines on wages and benefits, asking for major concessions in both. Krugman's Keynesian approach is more about American workers than American companies. Since the author fails to mention that glaringly obvious fact I am inclined to see him as one of the "FCRR."
To all you out there who
Fri, 10/08/2010 - 10:33 — Rudolf (not verified)To all you out there who would love to see your government small: come live where government is so small you can hardly notice it. I already live in Nigeria and that is where the rest of you is headed: no money for schooling, infrastructure, law enforcement, health services, public transport. And what does it all lead to? Rampant criminality among those below the line, perpetual insecurity for those above it. Analphabetism for 50% of the population, foreign boarding schools for those who can afford it. Decrepit and totally congested roads, no trains or busses (or none that a self-respecting Republican would want to make use of). So little garbage collection you may never know about it, no sewage system to speak of. People in police uniforms that are as likely to help you as rob/extort/rape you. High child mortality and low life expectancy for most, access to health care for the wealthy only.
Want less regulation? We haven't had much of it at any stage and this is what it leads to. Nigeria is the world's foremost experiment for a free-market, deregulated, bald-faced-capitalist society. Take the short way out and come join us in the promised land! You'll feel right at home: we have democracy, too, for those who can buy it.
@MR... so, tough guy, we can
Fri, 10/08/2010 - 14:43 — mk (not verified)@MR... so, tough guy, we can expect Wallstreet mayhem to begin when?
No, no, no. . . Revolution
Wed, 10/13/2010 - 19:46 — Frances in California (not verified)No, no, no. . . Revolution will feel good at first but won't work in the world as it is today. It would just deprive us of smart idealists, whom we need to fix this mess. Keep after it; yeah, it's boring and inglorious and contains no explosions, but the fact that we won't see the good results in our lifetimes isn't a reason NOT to keep after it . . .
Dear salam: You hold your
Wed, 10/13/2010 - 19:50 — Frances in California (not verified)Dear salam: You hold your nose and vote for Democrats; then, between elections, raise hell to get the Electoral College abolished and Instant Runoff Voting established in your State. It's hard work; no 3rd party has a chance without those two things happening.