The US Elections: Outrage, Misguided
Wednesday 17 November 2010
by: Noam Chomsky, Op-Ed

Professor of linguistics and philosophy Noam Chomsky. (Photo: The New York Times Syndicate)
The U.S. midterm elections register a level of anger, fear and disillusionment in the country like nothing I can recall in my lifetime. Since the Democrats are in power, they bear the brunt of the revulsion over our current socioeconomic and political situation.
More than half the “mainstream Americans” in a Rasmussen poll last month said they view the Tea Party movement favorably – a reflection of the spirit of disenchantment.
The grievances are legitimate. For more than 30 years, real incomes for the majority of the population have stagnated or declined while work hours and insecurity have increased, along with debt. Wealth has accumulated, but in very few pockets, leading to unprecedented inequality.
These consequences mainly spring from the financialization of the economy since the 1970s and the corresponding hollowing-out of domestic production. Spurring the process is the deregulation mania favored by Wall Street and supported by economists mesmerized by efficient-market myths.
People see that the bankers who were largely responsible for the financial crisis and who were saved from bankruptcy by the public are now reveling in record profits and huge bonuses. Meanwhile official unemployment stays at about 10 percent. Manufacturing is at Depression levels: one in six out of work, with good jobs unlikely to return.
People rightly want answers, and they are not getting them except from voices that tell tales that have some internal coherence – if you suspend disbelief and enter into their world of irrationality and deceit.
Ridiculing Tea Party shenanigans is a serious error, however. It is far more appropriate to understand what lies behind the movement’s popular appeal, and to ask ourselves why justly angry people are being mobilized by the extreme right and not by the kind of constructive activism that rose during the Depression, like the CIO (Congress of Industrial Organizations).
Now Tea Party sympathizers are hearing that every institution – government, corporations and the professions – is rotten, and that nothing works.
Amid the joblessness and foreclosures, the Democrats can’t complain about the policies that led to the disaster. President Ronald Reagan and his Republican successors may have been the worst culprits, but the policies began with President Jimmy Carter and accelerated under President Bill Clinton. During the presidential election, Barack Obama’s primary constituency was financial institutions, which have gained remarkable dominance over the economy in the past generation.
That incorrigible 18th-century radical Adam Smith, speaking of England, observed that the principal architects of power were the owners of the society – in his day the merchants and manufacturers – and they made sure that government policy would attend scrupulously to their interests, however “grievous” the impact on the people of England; and worse, on the victims of “the savage injustice of the Europeans” abroad.
A modern and more sophisticated version of Smith’s maxim is political economist Thomas Ferguson’s “investment theory of politics,” which sees elections as occasions when groups of investors coalesce in order to control the state by selecting the architects of policies who will serve their interests.
Ferguson’s theory turns out to be a very good predictor of policy over long periods. That should hardly be surprising. Concentrations of economic power will naturally seek to extend their sway over any political process. The dynamic happens to be extreme in the U.S.
Yet it can be said that the corporate high rollers have a valid defense against charges of “greed” and disregard for the health of the society. Their task is to maximize profit and market share; in fact, that’s their legal obligation. If they don’t fulfill that mandate, they’ll be replaced by someone who will. They also ignore systemic risk: the likelihood that their transactions will harm the economy generally. Such “externalities” are not their concern – not because they are bad people, but for institutional reasons.
When the bubble bursts, the risk-takers can flee to the shelter of the nanny state. Bailouts – a kind of government insurance policy – are among many perverse incentives that magnify market inefficiencies.
“There is growing recognition that our financial system is running a doomsday cycle,” economists Peter Boone and Simon Johnson wrote in the Financial Times in January. “Whenever it fails, we rely on lax money and fiscal policies to bail it out. This response teaches the financial sector: Take large gambles to get paid handsomely, and don’t worry about the costs – they will be paid by taxpayers” through bailouts and other devices, and the financial system “is thus resurrected to gamble again – and to fail again.”
The doomsday metaphor also applies outside the financial world. The American Petroleum Institute, backed by the Chamber of Commerce and the other business lobbies, has intensified its efforts to persuade the public to dismiss concerns about anthropogenic global warming – with considerable success, as polls indicate. Among Republican congressional candidates in the 2010 election, virtually all reject global warming.
The executives behind the propaganda know that global warming is real, and our prospects grim. But the fate of the species is an externality that the executives must ignore, to the extent that market systems prevail. And the public won’t be able to ride to the rescue when the worst-case scenario unfolds.
I am just old enough to remember those chilling and ominous days of Germany’s descent from decency to Nazi barbarism, to borrow the words of Fritz Stern, the distinguished scholar of German history. In a 2005 article, Stern indicates that he has the future of the United States in mind when he reviews “a historic process in which resentment against a disenchanted secular world found deliverance in the ecstatic escape of unreason.”
The world is too complex for history to repeat, but there are nevertheless lessons to keep in mind as we register the consequences of another election cycle. No shortage of tasks waits for those who seek to present an alternative to misguided rage and indignation, helping to organize the countless disaffected and to lead the way to a better future.
Noam Chomsky’s most recent book is “Hopes and Prospects.” Chomsky is emeritus professor of linguistics and philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass.
Copyright 2010 Noam Chomsky. Distributed by The New York Times Syndicate. Truthout has licensed this article; it may not be reproduced or reprinted by any other source.
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Comments
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I agree that people are
Wed, 11/17/2010 - 15:48 — stevem (not verified)I agree that people are angry. And within reason. I have been angry going back to my adolescence and Vietnam. What we lack is leadership and leaders liberal and conservative who stick to the facts and work towards solutions. Our leaders work towards filling much needed voids instead of addressing real problems and forcing solutions. All would benefit form Jarred Diamond's Collapse - the sad tale of cultures that committed suicide.
Noaminally Tonguelash
Wed, 11/17/2010 - 15:53 — Vic Anderson (not verified)Noaminally Tonguelash Brewer, the neuromarketeer below and mutually espouse some Effective type of Rational Recommendations for US ALL For ONCE!
More then half the American
Wed, 11/17/2010 - 16:25 — bogglesthemind (not verified)More then half the American population are unthinking morons —Rasmussen's, usually skewed, polls prove nothing. I'm surprised Noam buys into it
Two words (for brevity's sake): Bush - Palin
The solution to the real
Wed, 11/17/2010 - 17:07 — HG (not verified)The solution to the real cause of the repeated economic crises, of which the current one is just the most modern version, has been amply spelled out in Henry George's book "Progress and Poverty". I'll give Noam or anyone else a thousand dollars cash if they can reasonably refute George's main theory and his proposal for economic reform. I'm waiting... Paul Martin www.ceihg.org
Yes well when the gov't is
Wed, 11/17/2010 - 17:08 — uglysexy (not verified)Yes well when the gov't is broken from bailing out the gamblers and the monetary system in disarray...to put it euphemistically.....really when it collapses....the right
is atavistically aware that military power is the final commodity
And as we all know....the right has ALL the guns....
except for felons on the street and who knows who those factions will support
Often it is stated that
Wed, 11/17/2010 - 17:26 — Anonymous (not verified)Often it is stated that officers of a corporation are legally mandated to seek profit and if they do not are derelict in their responsibilities. Why is it that they are not also legally mandated to be humane and moral in their dealings? Is it not possible to be profitable and moral?
Chomsky revolutionized the
Wed, 11/17/2010 - 18:11 — Anonymous (not verified)Chomsky revolutionized the field of linguistics and language development. What have YOU done with your life, Anon 22:59? What great scientific legacy will you leave behind when you die? Be careful who you call a loser when you have nothing to show but your bitterness and ignorance.
Let's not bad mouth Nazi
Wed, 11/17/2010 - 18:13 — George in Toronto (not verified)Let's not bad mouth Nazi germany unless you really know your history. Up until 1940 USA was an ally and funded the military and rise of Hitler.
Same time(in secret) helping and supplying france/England to attack Germany.Iran/Iraq war?
Reason why America is a basket case--Printing dollars and suckering nations to buy/store them. Just two problems--party is over and the guests are leaving and the band stopped playing and wants to be paid. America is on it's own to clean up the mess.Only cure 2X$ term limits for fed politicians {:^/
to the fruity
Wed, 11/17/2010 - 18:18 — goobagooba (not verified)to the fruity expletive-laced anonym 22:55 -
you are an example of a believer, as cited in paragraph 6 above. Lacking a clue to offer in solution to the mess, you invoke anger and reaction to justify your own victimhood.
I'm pretty sure you're the
Wed, 11/17/2010 - 18:23 — Anonymous (not verified)I'm pretty sure you're the loser, and no one but you is glorifying any losers.
And is Chomsky supposed to die from being eaten by lions or die after he's been eaten by lions? Great zinger that you didn't really think through.
Also, you don't know what a communist is. I don't have to speculate. I know that you don't know what a communist is or does or did or will do.
Why you hatin'? Show your elders some respect and quit being jealous of people that can articulate better than you.
Some for-profits operate as
Wed, 11/17/2010 - 18:25 — JadeQueen (not verified)Some for-profits operate as non-profits. While most huge corporations operate with a concern about what they have to say publicly every 3 months, some small and medium-sized corporations do not. They may also be aware of the possible bad side effects of selling to the government. Using tea-party as an all-purpose epithet is not useful. Conversation veers off from particulars, and the only way to get accountability is to talk about particulars.
Nikita Khruchev said "we
Wed, 11/17/2010 - 18:27 — Anonymous (not verified)Nikita Khruchev said "we will bury you." meaning that Communism will succeed in the future world. And, what have we now but a Communist government (China) taking world dominance from us by their absorbing our manufacturing capacity and buying our debt that we haven't the patriotism to defend with our own money.
voters will keep flushing
Wed, 11/17/2010 - 18:54 — Anonymous (not verified)voters will keep flushing the toilet until the water clears
all the talk, ALL THE TALK, right or left in the MSM is spin and does not address the fundamentals of preparing for the future - it is all about money on one hand and impotent astonishment by the bourgeois left
plus there is no free press
Badmouthing Nazis is now
Wed, 11/17/2010 - 18:57 — webfoot doug (not verified)Badmouthing Nazis is now verboten, says George of Toronto.
The fact that Germany became a one-party racist totalitarian state with the passage of the Enabling Act of 1933 seems not to bother George--- but it bothers me, as his thinking is typical of a new breed of authoritarians who have given up on democracy.
Did anybody else hear Limbaugh's rant the morning after the recent election? "No compromise", screams he, "we demand ALL the power!" Pretty much at the intellectual and emotional level of Anon 22:59.
To Noam and Stearn, I'd say,
Wed, 11/17/2010 - 19:41 — pazooter (not verified)To Noam and Stearn, I'd say, "gleeful" would be a better adjective than, "ecstatic."
So to hear Chomsky tell it,
Wed, 11/17/2010 - 19:51 — Dave W. (not verified)So to hear Chomsky tell it, the people who profit from driving the economy into the ground and their fellow Americans with it are not "bad People" it's just the institutions that are bad. That's akin to saying "he wasn't a bad guy because if he hadn't had that gun in his hand he wouldn't have shot anyone." Face facts Mr.Chomsky. Some people are BAD! And whenever and wherever large sums of money are to be had you'll find them circling like half-starved sharks.
George of Toronto, you are
Wed, 11/17/2010 - 19:53 — Cap'n Canard! (not verified)George of Toronto, you are correct. That is the standard operating procedure of capitalists in action. Making money off both sides and ultimately be left with no one that is impressed by what passes for American ingenuity. That is the fate of the American success ... er, the illusion of success.
I'm told that the Kruchev
Wed, 11/17/2010 - 19:55 — Anonymous (not verified)I'm told that the Kruchev quote is inaccurate (a poor translation) and is more correctly "we will leave you in our dust" as he was speaking of future national progress & development.... Of course, that didn't fit the narrative so you know what you know.
For those drawn to Chomsky
Wed, 11/17/2010 - 20:10 — Robert David STEELE Vivas (not verified)For those drawn to Chomsky for the first time, or those who have not had the time to read his recent works, I have highlighted the above article, linking back to it, and also placed links to my reviews of Chomsky's book--cliff notes for smart people, in the same posting.
http://www.phibetaiota.net/2010/11/journal-chomsky-on-mid-term-elections/
I read this as a warning,
Wed, 11/17/2010 - 20:26 — Emmigration (not verified)I read this as a warning, when Chonksy says he hasn't seen anything like what he's seeing now, that's scary. I believe he's written this in other pieces too. Not particularly hopeful. Where are these heros, did we elect any ? -
"No shortage of tasks waits for those who seek to present an alternative to misguided rage and indignation, helping to organize the countless disaffected and to lead the way to a better future."
So what now? Chomsky has
Wed, 11/17/2010 - 20:53 — Deverick (not verified)So what now? Chomsky has been saying this stuff for decades, but NOTHING EVER CHANGES. Is it because he has been totally marginalized? The few truly articulate people like Noam are never listened to by (1) those in power or (2) enough people to establish critical mass to change anything.
What are we supposed to do? March another 20 times in the streets so that politicians can laugh it all off? Scary times.
So how Tea Partiers complain
Wed, 11/17/2010 - 21:14 — bob (not verified)So how Tea Partiers complain only about the government?
Rasmussen polls are so
Wed, 11/17/2010 - 22:25 — Anonymous (not verified)Rasmussen polls are so utterly biased you may as well quote the bible or just ask glenn beck what he wiahes would happen in american politics.
Every rasmussen poll has been upwards of 15 to 20% to the right of american reality. If it weren't for the koch brothers, rupert murdoch, and the heritage foundation, they would be out of business.
Outrage was co-opted. An
Wed, 11/17/2010 - 22:42 — Mark Pirtle (not verified)Outrage was co-opted.
An image of the world is manufactured and marketed in a private media.
And the two realistic choices we are offered are either weak to the point that compromise means concession....OR Corporatism masquerading as rugged American Individualism.
There is a great deal of similarity between Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich.
Professor Chomsky?
911 is at the rotten root of this, and the truth is so transcendently horrible that we cannot even admit that the idea exists.
Teaparty is quite right--it
Wed, 11/17/2010 - 22:45 — Anonarcmous (not verified)Teaparty is quite right--it is the wrong answers they are seeking and allowing to power, that will hurt all. But that lesson will come in the next cycle.
In case you haven't noticed,
Wed, 11/17/2010 - 23:09 — S'no'w-person (not verified)In case you haven't noticed, we're in little more than chapter 3 of the operations manual employed so successfully in Germany in the 1930s. If I'm not mistaken, the documents indicate that it was Grandpappy Bush who provided the angel round of funding to Hitler through Averill Harriman's Union Bank of NY to a bank in Rotterdam. Thar's gold in them thar wars, especially when you fund both sides. Think of it as the analog version of a hedge fund. Hmmmm, and while we're at it, where did all those Jewish gold teeth go? Off to a ski holiday in a Swiss vault, perhaps?
Next up: big-oil / banker, puppet-president, Armageddon Annie, nuking Iran in 2013. She may not know Africa from China, but, "Political Reality" has never been one of her problems.
"Give me control of a nation's money and I care not who makes the laws." - Mayer Rothschild, Banker
“Naturally the common people don't want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” - Hermann Goering, Vice Chancellor of the Third Reich, before his trial at Nuremberg
I encourage all intelligent
Thu, 11/18/2010 - 00:30 — Anonymous (not verified)I encourage all intelligent young people, including my own two wonderful sons, to emigrate. Central/South America is looking promising for the future, if they can hold off the CIA. Canada is also going to be a very good place to live if you're an American and don't mind the cold.
The moving finger writes,
Thu, 11/18/2010 - 01:00 — Anonymous (not verified)The moving finger writes, and having writ moves on,
Not all your piety nor wit shall lure it back to cancel half a line,
Nor all your tears wash out a word of it.
Presidential Medal of
Thu, 11/18/2010 - 01:03 — Anonymous (not verified)Presidential Medal of Freedom to be awarded to George HW Bush by Obama...now that is outrage. Did Noam just slap his head and say doh! @5:30 yes, decent, sane humans emigrate...the capitalists/corps have this land now. What a joke usa has become. Medal of freedom...bahhhhahahaha!
Well, the irony in this is
Thu, 11/18/2010 - 01:04 — Jose (not verified)Well, the irony in this is that apparently the crisis of which people are trying to flee getting themselves into ultra-right hands was caused by hidden ultra-right persons who may be moving the former.
Noam's a linguist, brilliant
Thu, 11/18/2010 - 01:50 — Me (not verified)Noam's a linguist, brilliant at understanding the formation of words-- not the best at delivering them. What the Repos do so well is address their constituents in clear, simple language. It's an easy crowd and an easy message to deliver. However, the thinking Republicans, and don't slight this message in believing there are none-- they run our economy, they know the bullshit and vote for it anyways because it's in their best interest to do so. Democrats, and I'm a fervent one, vote on principle-- if we decide to stroll down the stairs to vote at all. There's no unity in the Democratic Party. That's as democratic as it gets and a valued trait, but it destroys us politically. We aren't Team D- Mocracy. And that's why the Republicans can do what they do time and time again. They stay together even if it means destroying 200+ years of history. Will that group hug madness abate-- no, because it's effective- society be damned. I'm not a smart enough political strategist, but until we have a simple, clear message to a majority (not all) our constituents, we've got nothing.
Yes, let's look at the
Thu, 11/18/2010 - 03:14 — Anonymous (not verified)Yes, let's look at the underlying reasons for the rise of the Tea Party. Let's face up to the fact that many of our US citizens are ignorant, misinformed and gullible-- put more simply: stupid. The rise of personalities like Beck and Palin, after the rise of the likes of Limbaugh, O'Reilly & Hannity, show how popular Right Wing scare-mongering is. I no longer recognize my country, and when I hear the ridiculous debates at election time, there is no trace of the founding values left. We are headed for Fascism or Civil War.
It's all very strange;
Thu, 11/18/2010 - 03:21 — Anonymous Rene (not verified)It's all very strange; America appears to be committing mass suicide..like lemmings over the cliff they go....no rational thinking going on by the majority of lemmings...
bogglesthemind states: "More
Thu, 11/18/2010 - 06:01 — Anonymous (not verified)bogglesthemind states:
"More then half the American population are unthinking morons —Rasmussen's, usually skewed, polls prove nothing. I'm surprised Noam buys into it
Two words (for brevity's sake): Bush - Palin"
Should be "More THAN", not "More THEN". Include yourself amongst the morons, moron.
One thing that constantly
Thu, 11/18/2010 - 07:10 — raine51 (not verified)One thing that constantly escapes reader's minds is that quote form a source I no longer recall but goes something like this, "It isn't the votes that count, it's who counts them." Nearly all of the USA's voting machines are electronic and votes are non-verifiable. The machines are openly owned by a pair of brothers who are staunch Republican operatives. Yes, the masses are dumbed down, no, the choices we have at the voting booth are less than satisfactory or inspiring...but the votes, my dears are very effectively controlled. We are allowed only the democracy the bankers and mega-businessmen will allow, no more, no less.
Just one nit-pick with an
Thu, 11/18/2010 - 07:37 — Anonymous (not verified)Just one nit-pick with an excellent essay.
I think even the corporate system is broken, in that the leaders are not working to maximize profits and return for shareholders, but have figured out, by control of boards, how to also loot the corporations they run for the immense enrichment of a handful of officers.
No one ever mentions that
Thu, 11/18/2010 - 08:45 — judith woodard (not verified)No one ever mentions that the "Faith Based" education system has produced zombies. Where are all the statesmen that founded this country? A concerted effort to govern by fear has tapped into our emotional weakness and taken away our ability to think for ourselves. Until we provide the teachers that challenge our minds, we are doomed to be led like lemmings over the cliffs
Nit-pick plus: I agree with
Thu, 11/18/2010 - 09:42 — Keith (not verified)Nit-pick plus: I agree with the nitpicker, and would add that not all corporate leaders and their entities think in lock step. They have diverse understandings and institutional interests. I think this is the basic flaw in the thinking of conspiracy theorists like Chomsky and Hedges, who otherwise identify basic problems in our system. Nor do I agree when Chomsky says that the risk-taking capitalists can flee to government bailouts. It happened once, for damned good reasons, and everyone wants to prevent it's happening again. One data point does not a picture paint.
American's look back to
Thu, 11/18/2010 - 10:20 — tedbohne (not verified)American's look back to better times, that in reality never existed. The illusion might be because of the massive population increase world wide, including here. Fewer people raised in the US of old that didn't look for the government to help them. Social programs didn't exist. FDR changed all that, and rightly so. But the government has, for at least a century and more, been controlled by the American social elites. These are part of a world wide banking cartel. This group of elites were successful in their efforts to "dumb down" Americans to where we are today. Now, the government wants nothing to do with the American people except collect taxes, and only want to be in charge of war and money. ""Give me control of a nation's money and I care not who makes it's laws" " -Mayer aka Rothschild.
"The executives behind the
Thu, 11/18/2010 - 12:14 — Phil (not verified)"The executives behind the propaganda know that global warming is real, and our prospects grim. But the fate of the species is an externality that the executives must ignore, to the extent that market systems prevail. And the public won’t be able to ride to the rescue when the worst-case scenario unfolds."
Why do "elite" authors continue to make these kinds of comments as if they are true without any proof - do they think by saying it this way makes it true? How disgraceful!
Distortion of thought: "The
Thu, 11/18/2010 - 12:47 — Phil (not verified)Distortion of thought:
"The executives behind the propaganda know that global warming is real, and our prospects grim. But the fate of the species is an externality that the executives must ignore, to the extent that market systems prevail. And the public won’t be able to ride to the rescue when the worst-case scenario unfolds."
Why do "elite" authors continue to make these kinds of comments as if they are true without any proof - do they think by saying it this way makes it true? How disgraceful!
Peter Drucker the management
Thu, 11/18/2010 - 13:34 — Anonymous (not verified)Peter Drucker the management guru of the 1980s talked in his books about the social contexts in which businees did its business. He talked about business having a responsibility to more than only the bottom line.
Now whether on the right or left everyone affirms business has only the bottom line to attend to.
This makes a simple argument for those who love and those who hate capitalism.
I think business can be held to a higher or boarder standard than only the bottom line. Government regulation and taxation must do that.
After Chomksy's wife passed,
Thu, 11/18/2010 - 14:13 — Slit of the Wrists (not verified)After Chomksy's wife passed, some of the fire is leaving his writing, IMHO. This is really a grim piece, He says the right could be violent, but it's the state that is violent. Sure, we don't have some of the 20th centuries obvious ear marks of tyranny, But that's exactly what it is for many people, who are dying not from some long eradicated disease, but from poverty.
It's not fair to say financial ruin, unemployment, and foreclosures are only the result of the financial sector; their ownership and control of the political process means that they are serving a dual role of *being* the Goverment and the private financial sector. (Oligarchy) I wouldn't be suprised that some long years from now, we learn Chomsky was one of the CIA's greatest mockingbird assets.
The major indicator of this
Thu, 11/18/2010 - 15:03 — Anonymous (not verified)The major indicator of this mid-term and the poll is that the propaganda from the right has worked well, and folks continue to vote against their better interests. We live in a period of the greatest level of propaganda in the history of the US. It comes at a time of tremendous machinery used to spread this venom, and as we observe repeatedly, the larger the lie the more folks suck in this vomit and think it tastes like cream. Those who are aware of the machine and mechanisms used to brainwash Americans stand in awe of the ability to spew this onto the screens and airwaves - thinking mostly "how can Americans believe this crap. Daily, we are dumbfounded by the foolish, i.e., "Youth In Asia will Kill your Grandma," and the intellectual elite seem unable to grasp that blaming Democrats for failing to be able to respond to this high-tech program is like feeding the dog that just bit you!
Education! Education!
Thu, 11/18/2010 - 16:18 — Anonymous (not verified)Education! Education! Education! Please look at what is happening to it.
Excellent point about the voting machines.
Everything is in place for disaster along with global warming. I only hope I do not live to see the worst of it. And only god knows what will happen to my grandchildren.
One in 110 people in LA are
Fri, 11/19/2010 - 13:44 — Anonymous (not verified)One in 110 people in LA are homeless. There are apprx 9.8M people in LA, meaning apprx 90,000 are homeless in LA alone; and that number continues to exponentially rise as we slide deeper into a depression economy.
Now, imagine all of the major cities, and the smaller cities, and those numbers only accelerating as job scarcity continues, healthcare and education become increasingly more unaffordable, and tax/austerity measures predominate our national economic discourse and actions.
Mr. Chomsky is right to cite economists Peter Boone and Simon Johnson's "doomsday cycle" theory; and again, Fritz Stern's “a historic process in which resentment against a disenchanted secular world found deliverance in the ecstatic escape of unreason.”
On that Fritz Stern
Sun, 11/21/2010 - 16:21 — Chris W (not verified)On that Fritz Stern quotation about viewing in American elections “a historic process in which resentment against a disenchanted secular world found deliverance in the ecstatic escape of unreason.”:
Unless the word "against" should really be "among", then Stern is saying that the masses of people in the U.S. aren't enjoying their lives, and thus turn against anything that resembles a cause of their unhappiness.
I think Stern is correct, and that idea of heaping our gripes on something as vague as "big government" is central to Thomas Frank's argument in "What's the Matter with Kansas?" Frank calls it "The Plen-T Plaint", named after the big packs of Wrigley's gum, wherein (the plaint, not the gum) people are inclined to blame everything bad on one identifiable group, like liberal Democrats, or one very general concept, like big government.
Chomsky, Stern, Frank, and the comments above have made for a fine morning of thoughtful reading.
The most evil piece of real
Wed, 11/24/2010 - 03:52 — Anonymous (not verified)The most evil piece of real estate that has ever existed on the face of the earth is the Pentagon. That is from someone who has been on two psych wards since I came back from Vietnam in 1971. Not to include three trips to the VA emergency department for panic attacks. Americans are in a coma zone. The lifeboats are on the ship, but people don't know how to lower them. That is what happens when you get addicted to a vertical power structure. Americans are children, forever looking for their parents
Dear Anonymous on 11/18 at
Mon, 11/29/2010 - 15:44 — Frances in California (not verified)Dear Anonymous on 11/18 at 5:30 - I certainly understand your wish for your children to emigrate. I've thought seriously about begging my own son to do so, while assuring him that I must stay and fight to make America fit again for him and my grandchildren. Will you stay and help?
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