Celebrated as a transcendent, morally attuned and even Divine force, the "entrepreneurial spirit" continues to hold extraordinary force and power in the Western imaginary. It is certainly one of capitalism's most potent narratives, lending an aura of grace to the otherwise fairly base motive of self-interest. Although Ronald Reagan was not the first to exalt this mystical drive, he definitely popularized it and placed it firmly in the mainstream of liberal discourse, where it maintains it's power today. In fact with the rise of the gig economy and the tech-geek hero model, the Spirit is held out as the new savior and those endowed with it's blessing objects worthy of our worship.
In the popular culture, this "spirit" combines courage, determination, brilliance and exceptionalism, leading Regan to declare those post-Carter years "the age of the entrepreneur". All that was needed was to get government out of the way so the supernatural energy of these alpha Americans could be unleashed. Unlike simple workers, these heroes view risk as opportunity. The spirit helps them envision the possibilities to which the rest of us remain blinded, and they are driven, imbued with a passion for making their dreams come true. At a time when our other mythical heroes (soldiers, cowboys, adventurers, etc.) have fallen on hard times, this Warrior for Capital Accumulation fills the vacuum and his/her virtues are extolled on both sides of the "political" aisle (binary Dem-Repub- Lib- Conservative).
The Spirit also serves as the answer as to why socialism can never succeed. Collectivism smothers the egoistic Spirit, hence undermining the foundation of morality, not to mention stifling all ambition and pride (not to be confused with egotism). It is this dominant narrative which pushes the libertarian Silicon Valley "start-up" mystique, with its "high creatives" in their incubators, busily conjuring new revenue streams from a monetized, transactional commons.
And it is the narrative that must be buried as the mystical, romantic bullshit that it is.
Friday, January 25, 2019
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
Elite Concern
John Lennon sang "We all want to change the world" and now, after a bit of hesitation, this includes the alpha elite. Confused John believed the answer was to "free your mind". The Davos crowd rally under the banner of "do good AND do well", as evidenced by the 2018 "Change the World issue of Fortune Magazine (Sept.) Titled Make the World Great Again ( remember these folks are transnational) How to Profit While Fixing the Planet, the cover article highlights the greenwashing efforts of "concerned companies" and how their share prices have risen; "profit for progress" the editor calls it.
A few slightly less optimistic voices can be heard at Davos, such as billionaire investor Seth Klarman who warns: "social cohesion is essential for those who have capital to invest." Not to worry says Fortune, with some snazzy incubators and lots of amazing technology, those with a high tolerance for risk will make a world that works for everyone. (The entrepreneur/ saviors will need lots of massage to maintain a "mind-body-spirit connection", vacations on the corporate yacht don't hurt...)
Slowing emissions, pulling plastic from the ocean, fighting cancer, connecting people to the internet, ethical fashion products, hunger relief, it is all "corporate social responsibility" and "solving problems through the only sustainable and scalable problem solving machine we know of: business." The one thing that seems to escape them, that is never asked: after all these years of industrial capitalism, why are all these problems so acute, so massive, converging into such an existential crisis? A classic example is a piece on the Dutch corporation DSM; "a company with roots in coal mining and chemicals re-invents itself as a planetary problem solver..." What a business model! "It's stock price has climbed 63% in the past five years." How? Aquaculture to replace the natural, wild fish stocks they murdered. The GAP hires "at-risk teens" giving them their first "opportunity" to be exploited, and they probably send a free pair of shoes to Congolese cobalt miners with every purchase over $1000 !
"If you go carryin pictures of Chairman Mao, you aint gonna make it with anyone anyhow". If you want to make it, you're going to want that MBA and a firm belief in this cultural capitalism. If you had a degree in public relations you could work for one of these companies needing an image make-over. What I find curious is the fact that this optimistic, high tech propaganda isn't just in Time Magazine or NPR but in the elites own rag. Do they believe this shit? Do they need to believe it?
A few slightly less optimistic voices can be heard at Davos, such as billionaire investor Seth Klarman who warns: "social cohesion is essential for those who have capital to invest." Not to worry says Fortune, with some snazzy incubators and lots of amazing technology, those with a high tolerance for risk will make a world that works for everyone. (The entrepreneur/ saviors will need lots of massage to maintain a "mind-body-spirit connection", vacations on the corporate yacht don't hurt...)
Slowing emissions, pulling plastic from the ocean, fighting cancer, connecting people to the internet, ethical fashion products, hunger relief, it is all "corporate social responsibility" and "solving problems through the only sustainable and scalable problem solving machine we know of: business." The one thing that seems to escape them, that is never asked: after all these years of industrial capitalism, why are all these problems so acute, so massive, converging into such an existential crisis? A classic example is a piece on the Dutch corporation DSM; "a company with roots in coal mining and chemicals re-invents itself as a planetary problem solver..." What a business model! "It's stock price has climbed 63% in the past five years." How? Aquaculture to replace the natural, wild fish stocks they murdered. The GAP hires "at-risk teens" giving them their first "opportunity" to be exploited, and they probably send a free pair of shoes to Congolese cobalt miners with every purchase over $1000 !
"If you go carryin pictures of Chairman Mao, you aint gonna make it with anyone anyhow". If you want to make it, you're going to want that MBA and a firm belief in this cultural capitalism. If you had a degree in public relations you could work for one of these companies needing an image make-over. What I find curious is the fact that this optimistic, high tech propaganda isn't just in Time Magazine or NPR but in the elites own rag. Do they believe this shit? Do they need to believe it?
Friday, January 18, 2019
More Green New Deal and Elections
A number of critical debates are taking shape in the Eco-Left community around strategy, around a Popular Front or Dual Power or Deep Green Resistance. Much of this revolves around the question of who gets to define The Green New Deal; progressives or radicals. This is a reply to those like Mc Kibben that cling to the dream of green prosperity in the hopes of attracting unions and "the masses":
"Some in the climate movement believe in the 100-percent dogma and the dream it holds out: that the (affluent) American way of life can keep running forward in time and outward in space without breaking stride. There are others who know that to be an impossibly rosy vision but urge the movement to limit public discussion to such green dreams, because talking about a regulated, low-energy economy would crush hope and enthusiasm at the grassroots."
The concern is that the masses aren't ready for a cultural shift towards limits, that is sounds too much like austerity. The other heated debate, brought on by Bernie and Alexandria Occasio Cortez (AOC)concerns the role of elections. Lots of smart people trying to get the camel through the eye of that needle:
From Mathew Andrews (SCNCC) : But I also think it is simplistic to throw out all electoral strategies under our current system exactly because independent voices are so excluded. This harsh exclusion is what makes independent challengers so radical."
What is mostly missing in so much of this analysis is the remorseless ticking of that climate clock. Each minute that passes, more bad shit gets locked in. This is a grim, but linear progression, still comprehensible. But what is harder to think through is that singular minute that passes by where you have locked in unstoppable, cascading, self-reinforcing effects (climate forcing), the point where your possibilities are foreclosed, where drinking becomes the only viable strategy. All these well-meaning leftists think there is still time to build this social movement from below, this mass revolutionary organization or this radical Labor Party that represents " working class" interests. How can that be?
This is how the EZLN expressed the dilemma on the 25th Anniversary of the War Against Oblivion:
"Alone we rose up to awake the people of Mexico and of the world, and today, 25 years later, we see that we are still alone. But we did try to tell them, compañeras and compañeros, you were witness to the many gatherings we held as we tried to wake others, to speak to the poor of Mexico in the city and in the countryside.
Many people did not listen. Some did and are organizing themselves—we hope they continue to organize themselves—but the majority did not listen."
They have tried dual power and electioneering. This is why we need to introduce one more critical element into any strategy, one that accelerates the process. Run for office if you wish, but with a platform that is guaranteed to lose. Demand the impossible if you expect to be heard at all. And then create the conditions of possibility, the conditions that would allow a break from this inertia.
"Some in the climate movement believe in the 100-percent dogma and the dream it holds out: that the (affluent) American way of life can keep running forward in time and outward in space without breaking stride. There are others who know that to be an impossibly rosy vision but urge the movement to limit public discussion to such green dreams, because talking about a regulated, low-energy economy would crush hope and enthusiasm at the grassroots."
The concern is that the masses aren't ready for a cultural shift towards limits, that is sounds too much like austerity. The other heated debate, brought on by Bernie and Alexandria Occasio Cortez (AOC)concerns the role of elections. Lots of smart people trying to get the camel through the eye of that needle:
From Mathew Andrews (SCNCC) : But I also think it is simplistic to throw out all electoral strategies under our current system exactly because independent voices are so excluded. This harsh exclusion is what makes independent challengers so radical."
What is mostly missing in so much of this analysis is the remorseless ticking of that climate clock. Each minute that passes, more bad shit gets locked in. This is a grim, but linear progression, still comprehensible. But what is harder to think through is that singular minute that passes by where you have locked in unstoppable, cascading, self-reinforcing effects (climate forcing), the point where your possibilities are foreclosed, where drinking becomes the only viable strategy. All these well-meaning leftists think there is still time to build this social movement from below, this mass revolutionary organization or this radical Labor Party that represents " working class" interests. How can that be?
This is how the EZLN expressed the dilemma on the 25th Anniversary of the War Against Oblivion:
"Alone we rose up to awake the people of Mexico and of the world, and today, 25 years later, we see that we are still alone. But we did try to tell them, compañeras and compañeros, you were witness to the many gatherings we held as we tried to wake others, to speak to the poor of Mexico in the city and in the countryside.
Many people did not listen. Some did and are organizing themselves—we hope they continue to organize themselves—but the majority did not listen."
They have tried dual power and electioneering. This is why we need to introduce one more critical element into any strategy, one that accelerates the process. Run for office if you wish, but with a platform that is guaranteed to lose. Demand the impossible if you expect to be heard at all. And then create the conditions of possibility, the conditions that would allow a break from this inertia.
Saturday, January 12, 2019
Hate Me
From a speech by FDR in 1936 for the second New Deal:
"Give me your help not to win votes alone, but to win in this crusade to restore America to its own people."
These words could be those of Ocasio-Cortez or any populist who believes capitalist democracy can be reformed in service of the majority. And of course, FDR showed that it could be...temporarily. He famously "welcomed the hate" of Big Business and its ideological allies and pushed through programs which made life better for workers and which we still enjoy. But Capital has played the long game.
Lately, a version of those words was spoken by arch-conservative Tucker Carlson. He sees Capital gouging a little too deeply, stirring up anger and resentment at both ends of the ideological spectrum. Like FDR, he hopes to maintain labor peace, make a few concessions and let some steam off. Another temporary fix remarkably close, ideologically, to Jon Stewart or liberals of that ilk. Of course, Tucker doesn't hear the climate clock tick. Liberals plug their own ears and pull the wool over their own eyes.
On a more radical front, a group calling itself Symbiosis is planning a conference to help unite libertarian ecosocialists on a program focused on local initiatives. Then there are the debates within The Great Transformation folks around de-growth and the role of markets. Over at SCNCC there is a fierce debate around the anarchist/ munincipalist critique of The State and how to "scale up".
Voting, building local co-ops, engaging in protest, in strikes, proposing legislation, supporting "blockadia"; basically Alinsky-style community organizing in general is the question of the day. It is universally accepted (even by Tucker Carlson)that this is how change happens,a basic orthodoxy ; at the level of tactics it is Nation Magazine versus Jacobin Magazine versus Anarchismo; but is it strategically correct? Or is it enough?
I claim community organizing is probably necessary but certainly not sufficient. That before a new script can be written the old one must be demolished in some fashion. You can talk and reason with people and get them to come to a meeting perhaps, but they will be carrying tons of baggage in the door. Bags and bags of ideological rubble which they are willing to carry as long as the illusion of order is maintained. The illusion of systemic coherence and function.
FDR could welcome the hate of capitalists because he effectively employed Americanism to serve his cause. The system was not functioning and had lost its coherence. Most of the bourgeoisie realized it was a long game and he was just saving capitalism from itself. And they had all the time in the world. Which we don't.
Saturday, January 5, 2019
Porcupine Angel
In an interview with China Mieville, the subject of Klee's "Angelus" comes up again, with an interesting twist. He envisions:
the “porcupine angel,” a creature who takes shelter from the winds of history within the wreck of civilization itself.
CM: I mooted the “porcupine angel,” Angelus erethizon, as an exemplary figure chimera-ed from two travelers in the storm of history: Walter Benjamin’s back-blown angel, and Ursula K. Le Guin’s articulation of a Swampy Cree notion of the porcupine bracing itself in a crevice in the face of danger, “to speculate safely on an inhabitable future.” We are buffeted, but still we might brace, and bristle."
Mieville helps publish the magazine Salvage, along with Richard Seymour. He says the dystopia is already here. Because it matters which baseline you use- the Dark Ages? Mad Max? The 1950's America.
As for strategy moving forward, Michael Lowy ( who collaborated with Joel Kovel) tries to articulate "non-reformist reforms" but I remain skeptical. He writes:
"Without illusions about the prospects for a “clean capitalism,” the movement for deep change must try to reduce the risks to people and planet, while buying time to build support for a more fundamental shift."
Michael Lowy
Buying time? Interesting analogy,that. If we had 30 years I would buy in ( pun intended). I still contend the work is to create not a crack but a major faultline, a 10.0 quake that makes today's rubble look smooth. Everyone was getting ecstatic over Alexandria Cortez and her Green New Deal. Here is some of the language that is,how should we say, problematic?
"A Green New Deal creates signals that encourages private capital to move into these new and expanding markets, and new businesses will generate demand for more workers."
From the Data for Progress report lead author Greg Carlock. Of course Nancy Pelosi and the other Democrats are putting the young upstarts in their place ( Shocker!) and the "select committee" is not to be. Even this corporate ejaculation is too radical for these guardians of the status quo.
This we can call Annihilation by Attrition. To stall is to kill. Each day the sun comes up and the coal is mined and the oil pumped. Each evening the sun goes down and the Guardians have done their job and can rest easy.
the “porcupine angel,” a creature who takes shelter from the winds of history within the wreck of civilization itself.
CM: I mooted the “porcupine angel,” Angelus erethizon, as an exemplary figure chimera-ed from two travelers in the storm of history: Walter Benjamin’s back-blown angel, and Ursula K. Le Guin’s articulation of a Swampy Cree notion of the porcupine bracing itself in a crevice in the face of danger, “to speculate safely on an inhabitable future.” We are buffeted, but still we might brace, and bristle."
Mieville helps publish the magazine Salvage, along with Richard Seymour. He says the dystopia is already here. Because it matters which baseline you use- the Dark Ages? Mad Max? The 1950's America.
As for strategy moving forward, Michael Lowy ( who collaborated with Joel Kovel) tries to articulate "non-reformist reforms" but I remain skeptical. He writes:
"Without illusions about the prospects for a “clean capitalism,” the movement for deep change must try to reduce the risks to people and planet, while buying time to build support for a more fundamental shift."
Michael Lowy
Buying time? Interesting analogy,that. If we had 30 years I would buy in ( pun intended). I still contend the work is to create not a crack but a major faultline, a 10.0 quake that makes today's rubble look smooth. Everyone was getting ecstatic over Alexandria Cortez and her Green New Deal. Here is some of the language that is,how should we say, problematic?
"A Green New Deal creates signals that encourages private capital to move into these new and expanding markets, and new businesses will generate demand for more workers."
From the Data for Progress report lead author Greg Carlock. Of course Nancy Pelosi and the other Democrats are putting the young upstarts in their place ( Shocker!) and the "select committee" is not to be. Even this corporate ejaculation is too radical for these guardians of the status quo.
This we can call Annihilation by Attrition. To stall is to kill. Each day the sun comes up and the coal is mined and the oil pumped. Each evening the sun goes down and the Guardians have done their job and can rest easy.
Tuesday, January 1, 2019
Kind Slave Master
Once upon a time in The Gallant South, a benevolent slave owner named Orrin noticed some of his property acting...restless. When I say benevolent I mean he recognized that a well-fed slave, one with decent housing and a mattress would be more productive. So Orrin went the extra mile to provide certain amenities, certainly more than his neighbor the Cruel Slave Master, who had a different business philosophy. This Cruel man starved his chattel and then whipped them to extract as much labor as possible before they perished. The Kind Slave Master thought this foolish in the extreme. Like leaving a perfectly good tool out in the rain.
Still, he was nervous about his slave's grumbling and the hard looks they would at times send his way. So he came up with a brilliant plan. He called them all together one Sunday after Church and announced that he had decided to let them vote! Not on everything, of course, but on minor decisions. For instance; whether to have grits or oatmeal for breakfast, when to plant the corn and cotton, or which mule to use for the day's plowing. The slaves knew these "choices" were predetermined and of course the Master knew this was a stylized, ritualistic exercise but both parties played their parts in this kabuki dance and called it "politics". The kind slave master let his slaves elect a representative who might visit the Big House on occasion. He even began to address the slaves as "associates" so they might feel invested in the operation.
All this accommodation was looked on as madness by the neighboring slave owners but it proved itself to be a brilliant stroke of...well, you hate to use the word, but yes, genius. Where the other slave holders faced violent revolts, the Kind Slave Master found his property thoroughly immersed in "politics", forever deciding where to build a soccer field or whether to ban abortions. Where cruel Slave Masters had to spend all their profit chasing runaways, the Kind Slave Master just threw in a Bingo Night! Where the cruel Slave Masters were slaughtered in their beds, the Kind Slave Master found his property arguing among themselves. They fought over who was corrupt, who was extracting a few more favors. They fought over their various identities, they fought over religious differences, they fought over Outsiders and Rights and morals and such. They argued over whether it was better to vote or to pray. ( Both equally effective, it turns out)
What they never argued about, however, was over who was the most cruel; the Slave Master who treats his property poorly or the one who treats them nice.
Shamefully, I have not read Sheldon Wolin but from listening to the description Chris Hedges brings, I believe this formula is related to what Wolin called "inverted totalitarianism". Here we have the prisoners, granted enough liberal, social democratic reforms, locking themselves up at night. This could also extend to the Gramscian notion of hegemonic control or internalized coercion. Who needs a slave master when his legitimacy has been thoroughly embedded into our consciousness!
First and foremost we have to fight for our mind. Nothing less than full and total emancipation will do. Demand full control over your destiny and true self-determination over all aspects of your existence. The illusion of "democratic politics" has been carefully constructed by slave masters who understood how easy it is to kill through kindness. A little salary raise at work, maybe a little subsidized health insurance, we'll even throw in a no-down, low interest loan so you can buy that thing that makes you feel whole. But you won't find dignity in any of those catalogues. And as Audrey Lord instructed, "the Masters tools will never dismantle the Masters house".
.
Still, he was nervous about his slave's grumbling and the hard looks they would at times send his way. So he came up with a brilliant plan. He called them all together one Sunday after Church and announced that he had decided to let them vote! Not on everything, of course, but on minor decisions. For instance; whether to have grits or oatmeal for breakfast, when to plant the corn and cotton, or which mule to use for the day's plowing. The slaves knew these "choices" were predetermined and of course the Master knew this was a stylized, ritualistic exercise but both parties played their parts in this kabuki dance and called it "politics". The kind slave master let his slaves elect a representative who might visit the Big House on occasion. He even began to address the slaves as "associates" so they might feel invested in the operation.
All this accommodation was looked on as madness by the neighboring slave owners but it proved itself to be a brilliant stroke of...well, you hate to use the word, but yes, genius. Where the other slave holders faced violent revolts, the Kind Slave Master found his property thoroughly immersed in "politics", forever deciding where to build a soccer field or whether to ban abortions. Where cruel Slave Masters had to spend all their profit chasing runaways, the Kind Slave Master just threw in a Bingo Night! Where the cruel Slave Masters were slaughtered in their beds, the Kind Slave Master found his property arguing among themselves. They fought over who was corrupt, who was extracting a few more favors. They fought over their various identities, they fought over religious differences, they fought over Outsiders and Rights and morals and such. They argued over whether it was better to vote or to pray. ( Both equally effective, it turns out)
What they never argued about, however, was over who was the most cruel; the Slave Master who treats his property poorly or the one who treats them nice.
Shamefully, I have not read Sheldon Wolin but from listening to the description Chris Hedges brings, I believe this formula is related to what Wolin called "inverted totalitarianism". Here we have the prisoners, granted enough liberal, social democratic reforms, locking themselves up at night. This could also extend to the Gramscian notion of hegemonic control or internalized coercion. Who needs a slave master when his legitimacy has been thoroughly embedded into our consciousness!
First and foremost we have to fight for our mind. Nothing less than full and total emancipation will do. Demand full control over your destiny and true self-determination over all aspects of your existence. The illusion of "democratic politics" has been carefully constructed by slave masters who understood how easy it is to kill through kindness. A little salary raise at work, maybe a little subsidized health insurance, we'll even throw in a no-down, low interest loan so you can buy that thing that makes you feel whole. But you won't find dignity in any of those catalogues. And as Audrey Lord instructed, "the Masters tools will never dismantle the Masters house".
.
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