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An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By Paul Street at Jan 20, 2005

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The pompous, corporate-plutocratic re-coronation of New Imperial War Criminal Bush will "cost tens of millions of dollars - $40 million alone in private donations to the balls and invitation-only parties" (Will Lester, Associated Press... [see http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=544&u=/ap/20050114/ap_on_go_pr_wh/inaugural_price_tag_3&printer=1]). This revolting display of craven ruling-class vulgarity, defended by a massive concentration and display of the latest police-state-of-the-art hardware and technique, is an opportune moment to review Robert Pastor's worthwhile reflections on the sorry state of what passes for a "democratic" elections system in in the US. See his recent "America Observed: Why foreign election observers would rate the United States near the bottom" at http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewPrint&articleId=8960. Pastor's curious finding that the US actually has one of the worst, least legitemately democratic election set-ups in the world (even just by standard bourgeois criteria, not some left standard) takes on added poignancy when we recall that American-occupied Iraq is close to holding its "first democratic election" under the direction, protection, and tutelage of Uncle Sam. Here's the last paragraph of Pastor's interesting article: "Washington, you may recall, tried to export the Iowa caucus-model though it violates the first principle of free elections, a secret ballot. An Iraqi ayatollah rejected that and also insisted on the importance of direct elections (meaning no Electoral College). Should we be surprised that the Iraqi Election Commission chose to visit Mexico instead of the United States to learn how to conduct elections?" As the super-opulent privileged few party like its 1984 behind the protective umbrella of awesome state power in the aristocratic quarters of Washington DC, it's also worth reflecting on the fact that that jurisdiction is the most unequal city in the industrialized world's most unequal and wealth-top-heavy nation, where the top 1 percent owns more than 40 percent of total wealth, where the top 10 percent owns two-thirds, and where black median household net worth is one tenth of white median net household worth. As anyone who has ever visited DC knows, the city's stunning class/income inequality is heavily racialized. Here is a brief introductory statement from a report put out last July by the DC Fiscal Policy Institute "INCOME INEQUALITY IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA IS WIDER THAN IN ANY MAJOR U.S. CITY By Angie Rodgers and Ed Lazere Across the nation, income inequality --- the gap between high-income and low-income households--- is substantial and has widened significantly over the past two decades. While this phenomenon is national in scope, an analysis of data from the 2000 census shows that income inequality is particularly serious in the District of Columbia. The average income of the top fifth of the District's households $186,830 in 1999 was 31 times higher than the average income of the bottom fifth of households $6,126. The gap between high-income and low-income households in the District is as wide or wider than in any of the central cities of the nation's 40 largest metro areas. Two other cities, Atlanta and Miami, have similar income gaps, but in most cities the gap is much smaller than in DC. In the typical large city, the income of the top fifth of households is 18 times the income of the bottom fifth. Income inequality widened in the District in the 1990s, as the benefits of its economic expansion went almost exclusively to its highest-income residents. The average income for the top fifth of DC households grew 36 percent during this period, adjusting for inflation, while the average income of the bottom fifth of households rose just three percent....." See full study at www.dcfpi.org/7-22-04pov.pr.htm See also Fannie Mae Foundation's State of Housing in the Nation's Capital Report (for 2003) at http://www.fanniemaefoundation.org/publications/reports/hnc/2003/hnc2003.shtm Click on chapters 2 and 7 for data on concentrated, disproportionately black poverty and extreme poverty in the city that serves as capital to the nation that US Senator Fay Bailey Hutchinson (R-Texas) calls "the beacon to the world of the way life should be."

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Person

Re: An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By K, Mr at Feb 06, 2005 11:37 AM
bravo on a good report! keep it up and shame these neo-cons into giving more silver for the poor! Did'nt that queen say 'give em cake!' yeah more elites in dreamland throwing lavish parties at the hunting lodge! today it seems the parties are for special interests in the royal court and the peasants can just watch and hope that their american dream arrives. I thought elitism was the american dream? if you can't make it in the marketplace then die. worship your elites and maybe oneday you'll get an assistant manager job at wallmart. Hey ya gotta start somewhere no? maybe oneday i'll be able to influence a government official. What's the deal with these special interest groups? I'm gonna become one.......

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Occupy_iowa_city_rally

Re: An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By Street, Paul at Jan 30, 2005 20:54 PM
UA, world-capitalist "globalization is as old as gunboats" (John Pilger): Who told you it started 20 years ago? The more extreme hyper-capital mobility and currency variablity etc of the current era (reminiscent of the late 19th adn early 20th century) -- what yout must be thinking about --- dates from the early 1970s. Who told you that the Seattle movement was/is "anti-globalization?" I suppose a few fringe elements were and are literally anti-globalization. Radical democratic globalization, not national "self-sufficiency" is the historical project of the left, which opposes CORPORATE globalization...globalization under the command of capital, not intimate economic and political relations between nations and peoples the world over. And how do you propose to "compete" with the corporate communications empire? On what reasonably level playing field will that competition take place? Have you read anything by Robert McChesney and looked into left activism around the issue of media reform....good place to focus renewed activist efforts would be in that area.

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Person

Re: An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By Apocalypse, Unfolding at Jan 29, 2005 23:34 PM
So, I conclude that the old ways aren't working. Surely, we should continue with some of the progressive activities. But, we should recognize that their impact is small, in comparison to the impact of the elite's messages. That leads us to a search for new ways to "make a difference." And, I think Cryofan's ideas of meta-engineering memes is atleast on par with the elites meta-meta-engineered propaganda machines. If you look at it less as "liberal propaganda" or "our version of brainwashing," and moreso as a "careful analysis of how we can interest people in politics and economics, and the utilization of that analysis to design essays, speeches, movies, songs ... anything, to more effectively and more quickly spread our ideas and bring justice to this globe," than I have a difficult time rejecting it. Rather, I suspect it is one of our most promising options. Mike Albert presented a similar methodology in his What is to Be Undone(http://www.zmag.org/WITBU/witbu02.html) . So, I'm wondering who's webpage/blog/wiki we'll be using to push this idea further? Anyone have ideas?

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Person

Re: An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By Apocalypse, Unfolding at Jan 29, 2005 23:33 PM
And as this process has played out, there were millions of Americans participating in activism. There were tens of millions of man-hours spent reaching out to communities, marching, protesting, organizing ... Yet here we stand, almost totally removed from mainstream American conciousness. Meanwhile, consuming more products, yearning for more high-dollar status symbols, spreading more gossip about celebrities, and generally focusing on anything other than politics and economics is more widespread and rampant than ever. Why? I believe this is because our tools for spreading our information and using it to persuade SIMPLY DO NOT COMPETE with the mainstream media, the entertainment industry, the advertising industry, and the public education system. Why else would they have so much influence on so many more minds?

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Person

Re: An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By Apocalypse, Unfolding at Jan 29, 2005 23:32 PM
Paul, I totally agree that I was pessimistic in my assessment. Perhaps a more optimistic tone would garner more enthusiasm among activists. However, I suspect my pessimism is more a reflection of historical trends unfolding before my eyes, rather than some deep-seated habits of projecting negativity. For instance, consider globalization. Does anyone in their right mind think globalization can be reversed? We've moved into a global economy over the last twenty years, and only in the last ten or so has any large-scale fuss been made. And what affects has that anti-globalization activism produced? Surely, overseas outsourcing and highly specialized machinery and textile production have continued to root in pockets of third world countries. The dream of a self sufficient nation - one able to produce and distribute its own neccesities - is quickly fading. More than ever, we are locked into the cycle of exporting our labor's products while consuming imports - and this network is controlled by the economic elites.

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Occupy_iowa_city_rally

Re: An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By Street, Paul at Jan 29, 2005 20:31 PM
I don't oppose your project as described and if you examine my 200-plus online essays (all post-9/11) on pretty much what you describe (topically) than you know I write a lot about the power of the doctrinal system and that I'm not shy about making dark statements about the depth and degree of concentrated power's hegemony at home and abroad. Still, I reject the expressed spitit of organizing fatalism ("I've given up activism")and the extreme amount of alienation you express from the "blind" "95- percent" of the American masses. I give activism and the people much more credit than you (the why of that would require an essay...maybe I'll find time to do one) and I think that your statement and (very clever) alias suggest that you ought to tone the crystal ball mentality down somewhat and pay more attention to what can be done in the here and now. There is some very relevant activism right now over the occupation. Maybe it's a spiritual thing to believe in even the American people but maybe that spiritual leap of faith is rational in a way and I have seen some remarkable popular victories in my day. I never asked cryofan to leave and he/she is free to comment...really. The great Italian Marxist and hegemony theorist Antonio Gramsci combined "pessimism of the intellect" with "optimism of the will."

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Person

Re: An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By Apocalypse, Unfolding at Jan 29, 2005 05:19 AM
The plan is to form an online network of writers and editors who submit, critique, edit, and refine essays. The essays are aimed at informing/educating the mainstream - the apolitical/ahistorical/acultural masses - and is limited to a number of topics: how national and global economics operates (WTO, IMF, transnational corporations), how the US military-industrial complex operates (funding, scope, agendas), how the mainstream media operates(case studies on censorship and deception, agenda analysis), and perhaps a catalogue of Orwellian mechanisms prevalent in mainstream culture. Actually, any topics that can be quickly, clearly and convincingly presented to the US population, and that deal with our socio-politico-economic system, should be addressed. The key will be to craft our writing so that it interests our audience - a group that doesn't know much about politics or history. Our goal will be to share our collaborate - in order to quickly create the best possible material - then disseminate our product. Where we go from there, who knows? Anyone interested? Paul, if you don't get in on this ...

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Person

Re: An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By Apocalypse, Unfolding at Jan 29, 2005 05:18 AM
China and India, conversely, will have increasing amounts of high technology investment diverted their way - mainly so we can exploit their cheap labor and create a new, gigantic, consumer markets. Terrorism and imperial wars will continue, especially in the Middle East - we'll make sure of that. Surveillance technology will develop and penetrate deeper into society. Oh, and about globalization, there's no turning back now. And, I suspect the evidence supports their conclusions. I'm giving up activism pretty soon. Until then, I figured I'd give it a couple more tries - for Cryofan.

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Person

Re: An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By Apocalypse, Unfolding at Jan 29, 2005 05:17 AM
The corporations and the power structure, on the other hand, are getting more powerful everyday. Witness globalization and the waves of health care privatization spreading through Canada, Austrilia and Europe. The New World Order is coming. Or, it's already here. Personally, I doubt anything can stop it. Check this CIA sponsored report out, for a corroborating perspective. http://www.cia.gov/nic/NIC_globaltrend2020_es.html This report is straight from the elite-sponsored mouthpiece, and details likely trends for America's economic, political, and social future. It appears to be designed for CEO's, high-level politicians, and other wealthy and powerful citizens who make long-term decisions that reach 10's of years into the future. My summary is: We, the elites, are getting more and more powerful. Since we control all the international industries and most of the national governments, we'll control which countries develop and which ones don't. America, by the way, is headed for an economic decline.

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Person

Re: An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By Apocalypse, Unfolding at Jan 29, 2005 05:15 AM
***********Important - Read****************** Paul, unlike Cryofan, you appear to believe that grassroots organizing (marches, liberal speaker venues, approaching strangers in public places to talk politics) can combat the doctrinal system. When I say "doctrinal system," I mean the public education system, the mainstream media, and the entertainment industry. I don't see how that is possible. The power and reach of the doctrinal system is vast. It utilizes state of the art technology, combines that with carefully crafted psychological ploys, and has 95% of Americans blindly paying taxes and never asking how it's spent. Just like W, they still call their country a "democracy." The reach of activist movements, however, is miniscule. Progressive agendas get almost no airtime on nightly news, almost no column space in big city newspapers, and is largely ignored or misrepresented in most public school cirriculums. Even worse, most liberals are viewed as "commies" or "hippies" or "weirdos" by the indoctrinated masses. Further, liberal movements are denounced as un-American by our media and government. In short, WE ARE MARGINALIZED - and growing increasingly so.

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Occupy_iowa_city_rally

Re: An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By Street, Paul at Jan 27, 2005 03:22 AM
On being the "next Chomsky," not a chance. The only person that shockingly brilliant I've ever met is the great Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm (who would never recall the awkward incoherent words I uttered to him at a historian's gathering in 1980-something). Even with a miraculous IQ elevation, I don't have the occupational situation -- closest I ever came to academic "success" was a job offer to teach four courses (all the same class: American History from 1607 to the present) both semesters (50 students per class) at a bottom-tier state university in the midwest (I turned it down) --- or the work discipline that would be required to crank out work on that frankly scary scale. My semi-educated guess is that NC prefers people to use his voluminous work less in terms of literal emulation than as a tool for organizing.

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Occupy_iowa_city_rally

Re: An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By Street, Paul at Jan 26, 2005 19:21 PM
My last comment was too harsh. I'm very grateful for all of the people who read and comment on this blog. I'll always write its a matter of where. I am partial to real books and other actual print documents and to public meetings and sometimes I just want people to leave their offices/dens and go for walks and on marches and to breathe fresh air (what they can find) and stop into public libraries and bookstores (independent if possible) and coffee shops (same comment) and taverns and union halls and each other's homes and even (shudder) churches and wherever to engage with their fellow citizens. The Internet is a double-edged sword but I am aware of its radical potential and I'll put something up later this week, with activist links. The other thing is I do want to create more space for other ZNetters....this is a group blog system and I've been hogging it a bit too much for my taste. And I really do have a publishing deadline breathing down my neck and numerous other things that will restrict Internet writing for a while.

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Person

Re: An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By Rekouche, Koceilah at Jan 26, 2005 07:09 AM
Look, what good does it do to critisize this post in the first place? Cryo said he's trying to make "better chomskys" and better "paul streets". Listen, the reason the "left message" isn't resonating has nothing to do with creating some nifty jingle commercial-esqe message as if the whole struggle was a commodity to sell to the masses during a commercial break. What Paul writes, what Chomsky, etc write is not lofty intellectual-speak that's beyond the capacity of most people's understanding. If you think otherwise then go work for the democratic party's PR group I'm sure they'd love to hear your ideas. Paul I hope you continue to write like you have before.

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Person

Re: An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By Clever, Insert at Jan 26, 2005 04:18 AM
Paul, I hope you would invite cryofan to participate again in the future. While I'm only an occasional reader here (and have probably not seen all of his posts, all of my comments here are based on his comments in this thread), it seems to me that he is really trying to add something to the discussion. I personally disagree with his idea of creating a new 'meme', although he does have a valid point - a large segment of American society does not connect with leftist ideals. A 'Ministry of Information' strategy is certainly not the answer, but we should be discussing how to address this issue. In my view it's one of the biggest hurdles facing the left today. Don't get me wrong - I'm not endorsing his ideas. I'm just trying to advocate discussion.

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Person

Re: An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By Cryofan, Cryofan at Jan 22, 2005 16:50 PM
Paul, I apologize if I have upset. I think you might be overreacting, but I hope you continue to write here. Since I make you uncomfortable, I will no longer post here unless you request such.

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Person

Re: An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By Gammon101, Bwong at Jan 22, 2005 06:59 AM
There was a piece in Harper's magazine last year(?)which chronicled the evolution of public education. It was quite an eyeopener(at least for me) Apparantly the original intent of the public school system was not to promote literarcy for the masses as we nowadays tend to assume. The ruling class was alarmed that the workers were doing too good a job in educating themselves.Policy makers decided that a key to subvert the worker's movement was to control the shaping of the mind.The public school system was the vehicle to achieve this end. When the state took over, the curriculum was dumbed down. No more culture and classics for the joes. The emphasis was on only the basics and mindless drills. Standardized tests were introduced. The goal of education shifted from cultivating the mind to producing competent, obedient worker ants. Many of these features survive til this day even though the philosphy and practice of public education have evolved quite a bit since.

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Person

Re: An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By Gammon101, Bwong at Jan 22, 2005 06:57 AM
"[Read the 19th century labor press or the litertature and speeches of the Populists of the 1880s and 1890s: it's all over the place] Yes, but where are those ideas today? The Left writes and speaks to itself, in an incestuous cloistered world. Its writings are not adapted to today's memes and paradigms." Cyrofan The 19th centry worker press and worker organized self educating programs were actutally very vibrant and sophisticated. Their literacy programs went well beyond basic reading and writing. Many workers were well versed in the classics. They were more cultured than many college grads nowadays. Everything went downhill apparantly when the state took over education.

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Occupy_iowa_city_rally

Re: An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By Street, Paul at Jan 21, 2005 18:48 PM
Do not look at this blog for a few weeks...I'm taking a vacation to finish a book and to plan an event and I also want to create more speace for other ZNet bloggers to perhaps say their peace. When I return to blogoshpere, I think I'm going to just start runnng names and lists of organizations to join and actions and campaigns being planned. I'm going to save all fancy literary and analytical reflections for ZNet and other zines and books and use the blog only as an activist link. There's not much mystery about what can and must be done and there's zillions of avenues and organizations.

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Occupy_iowa_city_rally

Re: An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By Street, Paul at Jan 21, 2005 18:47 PM
...and actually as a speaker I've never found a theme that resonates more with American people than inequality. People are shocked to learn how unequal the nation is and are often quite outraged by it and more than willing to engage in organization to do something about it even without some guy cooking up the perfect "meme" and distributing it in a movie over the Internet. Cryofan apparently didn't read the section or link on the pathetic US elections system --- a problem that is certainly related to my left inequality "thesis" but has a life of its own as well. colorado makes a good point about concern for others. I find hoping4anarchy's comments a bit too fatalistic...if strategy is to wait for the Bushies to screw up....we are in really big trouble. And of course countless people and organizations are doing the opposite. ..... People some of you need to turn off the computer -- there's a lot going on and much to do. I wonder if I am doing a disservice by running (when I can...I also wish I had more time, hoping4) a blog and reinforcing this kind of virtual pseudo-politics.

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Person

By Mnutter2001, Hoping4anarchy at Jan 21, 2005 08:11 AM
I know this is a pipe dream, and in the short-term, we and our comrades worldwide are in for more of the same bullshit, but maybe in the next four years the maniacs in Washington will screw up so much that today we will have witnessed the last inauguration of a U.S. dictator. Wish I had more time to write, read, etc., etc.

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Person

Re: An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By Mseiner1, Colorao at Jan 21, 2005 03:37 AM
Although I must say that the "corporate socialism" approach is creative I don't think it can work (or maybe I didn't understand it as intended) basically because it doesn't solve the issue about caring for others. If I am a shareholder of America all I will care for is that I get the most out of MY share; that means people will get less out of theirs. Corporate inequality and social inequality don't differ in that sense: people's lack of concern for others occurs out in the streets, at federal agencies and at shareholder's meetings.

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Person

Re: An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By Shannon, James at Jan 21, 2005 00:50 AM
I'm with Paul - Nothing original Cryofan. Think about this for a moment. Why does the Oil in Texas belong to the Bushies in America and the Oil in Iraq now belong to the people of Iraq. Answer because the big bad wolf says it does & That big bad wolf is the organized crime and corruption of Democratic Capitalism. American Military might makes right. Corporate power makes it right. We the people are left powerless to change things because we have no money aka power to buy "justice". You want to see how money corrupts government then Paul showed you a disgusting example. Here are other examples on how the whores of corporations and government are paid to screw the public in the name of greed. http://www.centerjd.org/free/MoneyVultures.pdf http://www.corporatepredators.org/top100.html http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/faculty/hodgson/Courses/so11/stratification/income&wealth.htm

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Re: An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By Cryofan, Cryofan at Jan 20, 2005 22:47 PM
CONTINUED: Paul wrote: Read the 19th century labor press or the litertature and speeches of the Populists of the 1880s and 1890s: it's all over the place Yes, but where are those ideas today? The Left writes and speaks to itself, in an incestuous cloistered world. Its writings are not adapted to today's memes and paradigms. Things become a lot less mysterious when you join actual resistance movements with real people Hmm. I don't know anyone who would be interested in that. Most of their ideas, they get from the TV, just like I did up until a few years ago.... And you are just wrong when you say that everybody knows about the depth and degree of class inequality in the US Well, that is true, but they resent having their noses rubbed in it. I am just looking for a paradigm that takes advantage of what is already there...

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Re: An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By Cryofan, Cryofan at Jan 20, 2005 22:46 PM
Paul wrote: Lack of originality is a strange and revealing charge in regard to this post. Well, I wouldn't put it in quite that way. For one thing, it really applies pretty much to all the Leftist writings that I am familiar with (and I certainly don't pretend to have read them all!). My thesis is that the Left has not adapted its themes to use the propaganda that the right has cranked out over the last 20 years and to use the world as must American NOW know it. People have been describing and denouncing inequality (not a "thesis") since the beginning of class society. Yeah, I know, but the Leftists haven't elaborated, justified and adapted as they could have. Ever hear Woody Guthrie's song: "This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land"? Love it! When I started researching Leftist ideas in the last 2 years, I downloaded it onto my computer. The basic idea there is what it is all about!

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Person

Re: An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By Cryofan, Cryofan at Jan 20, 2005 22:14 PM
Paul wrote: It's dangerously authoritarian and anti-intellectual to suggest that a writer should be silent about a problem with a long history (in this case savage class/race inequality)unless they have found the perfect way to advance the solution Well, I hope you never go silent, Paul, as long as you are able to write. That is why I post here: so that maybe i can influence YOU. I know that you do write books. And I hope you write more. I think you are a good writer. I would not bother posting here otherwise. Your writings helped convert me from a paleoconservative to a Leftist. I write here hoping that someday you might be the next Chomsky :-). And I would like to influence the next Chomsky, to make a better chomsky, if you will. As for what is perfection, and what is not, I don't trouble myself with that. And I hardly think that my ideas are perfection. THey are just rough drafts.

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Re: An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By Cryofan, Cryofan at Jan 20, 2005 22:13 PM
But much of America does not buy into this Leftist Inequality theme. THey reply: "But Life is unequal. You can never make everyone equal". And they are right. That is why we have to extend/adapt this theme. We have to give it new extensions. I see the American socio-political psyche as something like a organic apparatus. Imagine an antibody that is adapted to kill a particular virus. The antibody has extensions, apparatuses that are configured to plug into certain built-in receptors on the virus. The antibody is evolved with these appartuses, especially so that it can kill the virus. the Leftist inequality theme bounces off of the American mind because it does not have the right ideological extensions to fit into the ideological receptors of the American socio-political psyche. We need to adapt this theme so that it fits into the American mind. We need to create a paradigm, a worldview that can be a good home to theme, a worldview that has receptors to plug into what is already in the minds of Americans. But this is not easy stuff. And my ideas are certainly not the end-all, be-all. They are just my ideas....

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Re: An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By Cryofan, Cryofan at Jan 20, 2005 22:08 PM
Paul wrote: Not good cryofan...pretty absurd and actually rather repressive to heap all this on a modest, morally informed description (you are free to label it a "rant" but that strikes me as unduly pejorative) of what's going on in one city on one day. Now don't get your back up, Paul. I didn't use "rant" in the old, perjorative sense of the word, but in the new "internet" sense of the word, if you will. I think rants are a good thing. I wish more people would rant. There's no "thesis" in the post...it's descriptive and people are free to advance whatever solutions (which many wish to find mysterious) they like. Well, now I have to respectfully disagree. I think that piece, and MUCH of your writing is informed by, and an extension of, certain Leftist themes and motifs. In particular, what I call the Leftist inequality theme.

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Re: An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By Cryofan, Cryofan at Jan 20, 2005 21:42 PM
Hesed wrote: Cryofan, I guess that's one way to sell socialism. Well, I am trying to sell a meme or two, but is it socialism? I dunno....I am not sure socialism is right for America or even right for any nation. I say, let's USE the greedheads, but don't let them use us. To analogize, maybe socialism is a Model T, and neoliberalism is a later model, say, an Edsel :-) But surely we can come up with better models. I think government is just a machine, and engineering can improve it....

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Occupy_iowa_city_rally

Re: An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By Street, Paul at Jan 20, 2005 21:34 PM
On "originality," the notion that there's something particuarly new in your idea of the common people owning their own country is historically incorrect. Ever hear Woody Guthrie's song: "This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land" ? Read the 19th century labor press or the litertature and speeches of the Populists of the 1880s and 1890s: it's all over the place among workers and farmers. The left has always advanced that notion and always will, with no concern for academic-territorial-journalistic issues of "originality." You are apparently somewhat immersed in the fetishistic search for the perfect left techno-commnunicative "meme" but it's a lousy quest IMO. Better for you to shut off the computer and immerse yourself in the material and social history and experience of actual people and their organizations. Things become a lot less mysterious when you join actual resistance movements with real people -- something very different than trying to get inside their heads with the perfect "meme" or whatever. This blog is only supplemental at best to such movements. And you are just wrong when you say that everybody knows about the depth and degree of class inequality in the US, not to mention --- though you previously (earlier comments on previous posts) tend to argue that we shouldn't really talk about this one all that much ---- race inequality.

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Occupy_iowa_city_rally

Re: An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By Street, Paul at Jan 20, 2005 21:32 PM
Lack of originality is a strange and revealing charge in regard to this post. People have been describing and denouncing inequality (not a "thesis") since the beginning of class society. So who is "original" in talking about it...the very first 1 or 2 people to notice it in the wake of the first class formations during antiquity? I guess the 19th century socialists (inlcuding Marx) and anarchists (including Bakunin) were unoriginal because Gerald Winstanley and his crowd (17th-century British radicals) had advocated equality, and Winstanley lacked originality because Jesus and others used to denounce socioeconomic inequity in his time.. and so on....ctd.

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Occupy_iowa_city_rally

Re: An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By Street, Paul at Jan 20, 2005 21:31 PM
Not good cryofan...pretty absurd and actually rather repressive to heap all this on a modest, morally informed description (you are free to label it a "rant" but that strikes me as unduly pejorative) of what's going on in one city on one day. There's no "thesis" in the post...it's descriptive and people are free to advance whatever solutions (which many wish to find mysterious) they like. It's dangerously authoritarian and anti-intellectual to suggest that a writer should be silent about a problem with a long history ---- in this case savage class/race inequality --- unless they have found the perfect way to advance the solution (it's called democratic socialism, to begin with, BTW) to the masses across the steep ideological and communications barriers constructed in defense of privilege over many decades...ctd

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Re: An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By Hesed00, Hesed at Jan 20, 2005 21:04 PM
Cryofan, I guess that's one way to sell socialism. Actually, this time, I don't think you're too far off the mark. Capitalism works because it is based on and appeals to the basic human insticts of survival/greed/self-interest. It actually flourishes under the conditions of extreme greed and requires little to no consideration for anything other than the self. It requires no thought whatsoever. So it's no wonder that it's been such a success. Maybe you're right. If socialism could find a way to appeal to the people who prefer not to think about their world and present itself as a self-serving extension of human survival, maybe it would have a better chance of catching on. (although, I feel a little sick, now that I read it back)

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Re: An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By Cryofan, Cryofan at Jan 20, 2005 20:47 PM
.... Nowadays, Bush's "ownership society" slogan is tryin to tap into this motif. Of course, his purpose is to screw Americans out of the present Social Secuity system, but that subterranean idea is indeed out there,and they are trying to tap into it. And the Left should make use of it, too. By portraying American citizens as shareholders in America, shareholders who are rightfully due a fair and just ownership dividend, you also tap into--and use--the massive amount of pro-business propaganda that has inundated the media world for the last 20 years or so. Most Americans already has knowledge of these basic ideas. Once that meme has some acceptance, you can float the idea of societal inequality as an instance of a quasi-corporate national injustice and corruption--of Americans who are being robbed of their national ownership dividend. Yeah, I know, this idea is new. But that don't mean it is a Bad Idea....

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Re: An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By Cryofan, Cryofan at Jan 20, 2005 20:45 PM
And I think I might be getting an insight into WHY this particular Leftist }inequality thesis" does not resonate with the American populace. You don't push the right buttons; you don't tap into themes and threads that exist in the American psyche.You just say and show that inequality exists, and you expect Americans to do something about it, or get enraged enough so that the feds do something about it. No go, I'm afraid! Luckily for America, I have some ideas about how to proceed :-) I think that this Leftist inequality thesis could make good use of the idea that American citizens are shareholders, owning American in joint with all the other citizens. I really think there is some possibly fertile territory here. Ross Perot tapped into it with his slogan "We OWN this country!" Don't forget that during the summer of 92 he lead the race for President. More below....

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Person

Re: An Opportunity to Reflect on Ruling Class Vulgarity and Extreme inequality in Washington DC

By Cryofan, Cryofan at Jan 20, 2005 20:44 PM
Well, Paul, that was certainly some magnificent rant, there. However, and with all due respect, it was nothing original. Straight from the Leftist Counterpunch-Alternet-TheNation-Chomsky school of thought. But I agree with you on the basics--this inequality is horrendously wrong. But the seed of this particular, well-worn Leftist thesis has found no purchase in the rocky place of the American psyche (Thanks, Coen Bros.!). Everyone already KNOWS how unequal America is, how unequal LIFE is. That kinda comes with the territory of America, more or less being a nation based on exploitation from the git-go. More Below....

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