Every once in a while even a gaffe-prone professional politician like Joe Biden can stumble on a truth, even if sub-consiously. Of course he has been forced to walk back his comment about Black Voters, but really, what meaning do we ascribe to a Black Trump supporter? Would she be on board with MAGA because of religious faith? Because she supports tax cuts for the rich? Because she is a climate denier or xenophobe? Maybe she is just down with the "free market shrink government" dogma, but whatever the case, she has little concern for the collective well-being of African Americans.
Of course, as Biden found out, if you are White, you can't say this in the fiercely guarded public sphere. The Identity/ Cultural Appropriation police will be all over your ass in a minute and you will find yourself embroiled in all manner of convoluted theoretical mendacity.
Trump could proudly claim that if you don't vote for him you ain't White and every one would just roll their eyes and sigh. He could ask Clarence Thomas to shine his shoes and still win re-election. But dare to suggest some Black MAGA stooge is alienated and estranged and watch out.
Monday, May 25, 2020
Friday, May 22, 2020
Coughing Crusaders
I already did a post on the stupids but now we have video clips of corona refusniks ( those who believe safety precautions interfere with their freedom)purposefully coughing on store employees,starting fights, being extra assholey in general. Of all the things they could be upset about- being exploited, having their planet decimated, living in a shithole, etc- they choose such "burdensome" regulations as having to wear a mask to freak out over. Because liberty. Because that's why their life sucks.
I was watching author Arundhati Roy express her surprise that the Right seems to have all the passion right now and wondering how we generate such passion on the Left. And I was reminded of the Yeats poem The Second Coming where he says "the best lack all conviction while the worst are filled with passionate intensity". I'm not sure you can match "the worst" in passion nor that this is a worthwhile goal. My advice would be to make sure they have plenty of rope to hang themselves with and plenty of matches to set themselves alight with.
My advice to employees who might have to deal with these damaged freaks is carry some pepper spray. I say damaged because I have lived and worked around and amongst these people for decades. Jingoistic nationalism/patriotism is their fall-back ideology,they are driven by resentment and fear of the Other, and they are the "working class" the Left keeps hoping they can organize- someday.Their fathers were damaged by Vietnam, they were damaged by Iraq and Afghanistan and all they can do is live out the lie. They have grey goatees and camo hats, they put private property signs everywhere, they love their country but fear their government and spend weekends sighting in their rifles. They are willing to die for capitalist "democracy" and The Constitution ( which they are doing in droves thanks to obesity, diabetes, oxycotin, suicide, etc) they love any kind of machine that tears up the landscape and emits pollution, and they love Montana. Bitter? Perhaps.
I was watching author Arundhati Roy express her surprise that the Right seems to have all the passion right now and wondering how we generate such passion on the Left. And I was reminded of the Yeats poem The Second Coming where he says "the best lack all conviction while the worst are filled with passionate intensity". I'm not sure you can match "the worst" in passion nor that this is a worthwhile goal. My advice would be to make sure they have plenty of rope to hang themselves with and plenty of matches to set themselves alight with.
My advice to employees who might have to deal with these damaged freaks is carry some pepper spray. I say damaged because I have lived and worked around and amongst these people for decades. Jingoistic nationalism/patriotism is their fall-back ideology,they are driven by resentment and fear of the Other, and they are the "working class" the Left keeps hoping they can organize- someday.Their fathers were damaged by Vietnam, they were damaged by Iraq and Afghanistan and all they can do is live out the lie. They have grey goatees and camo hats, they put private property signs everywhere, they love their country but fear their government and spend weekends sighting in their rifles. They are willing to die for capitalist "democracy" and The Constitution ( which they are doing in droves thanks to obesity, diabetes, oxycotin, suicide, etc) they love any kind of machine that tears up the landscape and emits pollution, and they love Montana. Bitter? Perhaps.
Friday, May 15, 2020
Authority
I was listening to an interview with the mother of Ahmaud Arbery where she describes her reaction to the news of her son's death. She was told he was shot in a burglary attempt and she said she believed the officers because "she was taught to believe authority". Mind you, these are white police in a police force known for corruption in the Deep South. And the black woman trusts in their "authority". This is a problem.
In every account of Joe Biden's "comeback" over Bernie Sanders, we are told the "Democratic Party establishment" rallied and consolidated. For some strange reason the fact that Jim Clyburn, the House Majority Whip, endorsed Biden, thereby turning the tide, is never mentioned. Clyburn, whose father was a fundamentalist minister, has a great deal of "authority" in the southern black community and black voters fell in behind him. The black Christian church is also an "authority" which exerts tremendous sway in that community. Unfortunately, these tend to be conservative "liberal" voices opposed to any talk around democratic socialism. Bill Clinton liberal.
My point is, the DSA and others advocating an electoral route to power need to face this conundrum head on, rather than ignoring and deflecting it. They go on and on about racial inequality but as with every "community", there are internal divisions, as well as deep-seated, ingrained pathologies that cannot be ignored. The "Establishment" comes in all shapes and colors.
The news coverage around Latin America is always problematic but there is a very disturbing trend when it comes to Venezuela. Media of every stripe concentrates on the country's inflation and political turmoil, treating it the same way it does Palestine or Haiti or other places plagued with stagnant economies. They are condemned to the category of "basket cases", inept banana republics mired in mismanagement and corruption. Just needing to embrace America's help and guidance. If they would only fall in line, they could receive assistance instead of sanctions. They could become part of the constructive global community. If only they were reasonable.
In every account of Joe Biden's "comeback" over Bernie Sanders, we are told the "Democratic Party establishment" rallied and consolidated. For some strange reason the fact that Jim Clyburn, the House Majority Whip, endorsed Biden, thereby turning the tide, is never mentioned. Clyburn, whose father was a fundamentalist minister, has a great deal of "authority" in the southern black community and black voters fell in behind him. The black Christian church is also an "authority" which exerts tremendous sway in that community. Unfortunately, these tend to be conservative "liberal" voices opposed to any talk around democratic socialism. Bill Clinton liberal.
My point is, the DSA and others advocating an electoral route to power need to face this conundrum head on, rather than ignoring and deflecting it. They go on and on about racial inequality but as with every "community", there are internal divisions, as well as deep-seated, ingrained pathologies that cannot be ignored. The "Establishment" comes in all shapes and colors.
The news coverage around Latin America is always problematic but there is a very disturbing trend when it comes to Venezuela. Media of every stripe concentrates on the country's inflation and political turmoil, treating it the same way it does Palestine or Haiti or other places plagued with stagnant economies. They are condemned to the category of "basket cases", inept banana republics mired in mismanagement and corruption. Just needing to embrace America's help and guidance. If they would only fall in line, they could receive assistance instead of sanctions. They could become part of the constructive global community. If only they were reasonable.
Tuesday, May 12, 2020
"Death Blow" ?
It is possible, as Slavoj Zizek predicted a while ago, that covid 19 could be a serious blow to capitalism. But it will not be the end of the reign of Capital. It is important to separate the two; the "ism" can morph radically while the force which is Capital continues on its merry way. That is, the religion and ideology and cultural production machine which is the "ism" is definitely facing some serious challenges. There are plenty of folks who are sick to death of the savage rollercoaster which (especially this neoliberal version of) capitalism has subjected them to. The obscene inequality that the pandemic has exposed, as well as the fuck you bail-out for mega investment banks and corporations definitely has people grumbling and griping. Young people loaded with debt facing a shit job market must be wondering what kind of idiocy their Econ 101 professors were pushing.
Capitalist "democracy" and its management, euphemistically referred to as "politics", are also under a great deal of strain. Under the best of times this carnivalesque spectacle is a difficult sale. With Nation States competing for most dysfunctional morgue and states within nations openly sacrificing their "citizens" for the economy, nobody trusts anybody. Fake news and fake humans.
But this is not the same as Capital imploding. Certainly having to issue trillions more in new debt, lots of it quite shaky, while halting production and accumulation is not the preferred method of extracting surplus and amassing wealth, but it's not a total blockage by any means. It is not the unsurpassable limit. At the level of investment and production they have their workarounds, they can consolidate and merge. Kill the weak. Buy out the foreclosed. In this sense it is an old, familiar playbook with a few post-modern twists.
One of the key foundations of liberal ideology, that the state is a neutral actor, separate from Capital, has crumbled in spectacular fashion. It was becoming more and more difficult to maintain the illusion but with a Businessman In Chief making deals and the Fed now buying corporate bonds it is increasingly clear we are all shareholders, homo economicus, basing government policy on rate of return. God bless America and the Free Market in the brave new (old) capitalist "democracy".
Capitalist "democracy" and its management, euphemistically referred to as "politics", are also under a great deal of strain. Under the best of times this carnivalesque spectacle is a difficult sale. With Nation States competing for most dysfunctional morgue and states within nations openly sacrificing their "citizens" for the economy, nobody trusts anybody. Fake news and fake humans.
But this is not the same as Capital imploding. Certainly having to issue trillions more in new debt, lots of it quite shaky, while halting production and accumulation is not the preferred method of extracting surplus and amassing wealth, but it's not a total blockage by any means. It is not the unsurpassable limit. At the level of investment and production they have their workarounds, they can consolidate and merge. Kill the weak. Buy out the foreclosed. In this sense it is an old, familiar playbook with a few post-modern twists.
One of the key foundations of liberal ideology, that the state is a neutral actor, separate from Capital, has crumbled in spectacular fashion. It was becoming more and more difficult to maintain the illusion but with a Businessman In Chief making deals and the Fed now buying corporate bonds it is increasingly clear we are all shareholders, homo economicus, basing government policy on rate of return. God bless America and the Free Market in the brave new (old) capitalist "democracy".
Sunday, May 3, 2020
UBI
"The Happy Consciousness- the belief that the real is rational and that the system delivers the goods- reflects the new conformism which is a facet of technological rationality translated into social behavior."
Herbert Marcuse One Dimensional Man published in 1964
I was reminded of this Happy Consciousness the other day when some friends expressed optimism a Universal Basic Income could become a reality. The hollowed out democracy, the soap opera politics, the rape and pillage around the globe, could all be put aside. As long as the system "delivers the goods", a check in the bank account each month, we could put up with a lot. And since so much work is just redundant bullshit anyway, Capital may just decide it's easier to cut out the middle man and just have us consume our way to happiness. Or if not happiness exactly, at least complacency and oblivion. Who needs sticks when you have carrots?
Marcuse also foresaw "massification", the process by which individuals are absorbed into the crowd.The best fictional account is Mao II by Don DeLillo. It's not hard to see how UBI lends itself to this process as well. The checks will come with certain strings attached, whether they are visible or not. It might seem like a free lunch at first...but the conformism is the cost. Of course, conformism is the new religion anyway, so maybe it doesn't matter.
Our local politicians are all running on a unique, clever platform of slowing the creep of Big Government and lowering taxes. Despite the checks everyone is getting from Big Brother and the fact the Central Bank preserved their sacred profit system. And these conservatives will win in a landslide as they raffle off assault rifles and parade around with flags. Hard to say how long they will resist the UBI as the Depression unfolds. Hard to say if they would be upset to hear about all the food being destroyed as their children go hungry.
There was a recent poll that showed people's "religious faith" was growing stronger during this pandemic. Because there is no better proof of God than a plague?
Herbert Marcuse One Dimensional Man published in 1964
I was reminded of this Happy Consciousness the other day when some friends expressed optimism a Universal Basic Income could become a reality. The hollowed out democracy, the soap opera politics, the rape and pillage around the globe, could all be put aside. As long as the system "delivers the goods", a check in the bank account each month, we could put up with a lot. And since so much work is just redundant bullshit anyway, Capital may just decide it's easier to cut out the middle man and just have us consume our way to happiness. Or if not happiness exactly, at least complacency and oblivion. Who needs sticks when you have carrots?
Marcuse also foresaw "massification", the process by which individuals are absorbed into the crowd.The best fictional account is Mao II by Don DeLillo. It's not hard to see how UBI lends itself to this process as well. The checks will come with certain strings attached, whether they are visible or not. It might seem like a free lunch at first...but the conformism is the cost. Of course, conformism is the new religion anyway, so maybe it doesn't matter.
Our local politicians are all running on a unique, clever platform of slowing the creep of Big Government and lowering taxes. Despite the checks everyone is getting from Big Brother and the fact the Central Bank preserved their sacred profit system. And these conservatives will win in a landslide as they raffle off assault rifles and parade around with flags. Hard to say how long they will resist the UBI as the Depression unfolds. Hard to say if they would be upset to hear about all the food being destroyed as their children go hungry.
There was a recent poll that showed people's "religious faith" was growing stronger during this pandemic. Because there is no better proof of God than a plague?
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