All Things
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Occupy Wall Street-- a Year Later When groups of mostly young people descended on Zucotti Part on September 17 2011, mainstream observers expressed exasperation: " They never tell us what they want; they do not have a program."...
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RuminatingaboutRepublicanPrimaries InthefinalmonthsofthelastyeartheOccupyMovementwasprominentinthenews.Almosteverydaytherewasmorenewsaboutdifferentoccupationsandthereactionsoflocalgovernmentswhocaredmoreaboutthecleanlinessofparksthenaboutjusticeordemocracy.Butthentheprimaryseasonbeganandpushedallothernewstothesecondpageorthesecondsectionofthenewspaper.OnemighthaveexpectedthattheOccupyMovementanditsindictmentofourcurrenteconomicinequalitieswouldbecomeatopicintheprimarydebates.Butnosuchluck.OccupyWallStreet'sferventtalkaboutthe1%disappearedfromthenewsasifithadneverhappened.OnecanexplainthisbysayingthattheoccupiersobviouslyfailedcompletelytomakeanimpressiononthemajorityofAmericans.Moreplausibleisthisinterpretation:intheprimarydebatesthecandidateschoosetheissuesandhowtheywilltalkaboutthem.ObviouslytheyarenotgoingtoraisequestionsthatembarrasstheirdonorsorthesuperrichwhofinancethePAC'ssupportingeachcandidate.Soinequalityandthedisproportionatepowerofthe1%arenot...
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Occupy Wall Street and 70 other cities The slogan of all the 70 occupations in the US, “We are the 99%,” has received high praise because it captures the pervasive sense of how unjust our present economic system is. We have known about inequality...
- Tea Parties And Democracy
Tea parties and democracy. Many people believe that the meetings of tea party members addressed by such media stars as Sara Palin and Glenn Beck are exercises in democracy-- the people telling their representatives what they really want: lower taxes,...
- Distrust Of Government
Distrust of Government. Distrust of the government is a venerable American tradition. Recall the opening paragraph of Thoreau's Civil Disobedience: “that government governs best which governs least.” Thoreau later amends this to “that government...
All Things
Nonearesodeafasthosewhodonotwanttohear
Talkabout“caring” cameintoprominencewiththeSecondWaveFeministMovementofthe1960sand1970s.Women,lordedoverbymenwhopridedthemselvesintheirrationality,theirabilitytothinkclearlyandlogically,pointedtotheterrificdamagedonebyrationalthinkerswhousedtheirlogictoorganizemassexterminationinconcentrationcamps,ortoconstructnuclearweaponstodestroyHiroshimaandNagasaki,andtoorganizelargefleetsofbomberstofirebombTokyoandDresden.Onlyintheserviceofcareforhumanrelationsandmutualconcernamonghumanscanrationalthoughtbehelpful.
Ashappenssooften,thisgoodword,“care”,wastakenoverbythemanipulators,theadvertisersandmadeintoafalsecoin.NowBankof Americatakesoutfullpageadsinthenewspapertoproclaimthatitcaresforme.Sodoestheglobalpetroleumcompanythatmindlesslydestroystheenvironment.Eventhetrashmanwhorecyclesmyemptydogfoodcanscaresforme.
Thiswaveofinsinceritydoesimmeasurableharm.Itdevalueslanguagebymakingitimpossibletoexpresssincerelythatonecaresforanotherperson.Wordsbecomeadebasedcurrency.Talkingtoeachotherbecomesmoredifficult.Knowingwhomtotrustismuchharderbecauseeveryoneseemstowanttomanipulatebybeinginsincereortellingoutrightlies.BankofAmericadoesnotcareforme.Sociallifebecomesinscrutablebecauseeveryonewrapshimselfindisguisesofinsincerelanguage.
IntothisnightmarescenariocomestheOccupymovementwithitsstraighttalk:ourworldisunjust.Toomanypeoplesuffergrievouslyforthesakeoftheprivateenrichmentofafew.Inaworldofliesanddelusions,theimageofademocraticAmericaisamammothlie:weliveinanoligarchyoftherich.TheOccupymovementtearstheveilsofinsincerityandrecallsustoourtraditionalideals.
Howdotheauthoritiesdealwiththat?Withmorelies.Weareconcernedforyoursafety,theytell the people camped out in various occupations,whiletheirpoliceslicethetentsandscattertheOccupiers'propertyinthestreetandmacepeacefulprotesters.
Ifwelivedinademocracy,someone,anyoneinauthoritywouldhaveinvitedOccupierstotalktothem,tobeginapublicdialogueabouttheOccupiers'complaints.Ifthiswere acountrygovernedbyitscitizens,perhapsDennisKucinichorBernieSanderswouldhavecalledforapublicconclave,foracalmandcarefulreflectionaboutwhatailsAmericaandtheworldtoday.
Democracy refers to a people who govern themselves. As the Occupiers illustrate so strikingly in their meetings, self-government involves people listening to each other carefully, talking to each other respectfully, and making sure that everyone participates in the final decisions. But our government officials will have none of that. Even the lowliest bureaucrats must assert their power by ignoring you and droning on about the rules.
The Occupy Movement makes painfully clear that no one is listening. What kind of democracy is that?
Butthepowerful,notthelocalmayorsandtheirpoliceforces,butthepeoplewhopullthestringsbehindthescenes,aredeterminednottorespond.Thebigbankscalltheshots.Theygetallthegovernmentsubsidies.Theycontrolpublicdiscourseandwillnotallowanyattacksonthem.
Thatishowtheycareforus.
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Occupy Wall Street-- a Year Later When groups of mostly young people descended on Zucotti Part on September 17 2011, mainstream observers expressed exasperation: " They never tell us what they want; they do not have a program."...
-
RuminatingaboutRepublicanPrimaries InthefinalmonthsofthelastyeartheOccupyMovementwasprominentinthenews.Almosteverydaytherewasmorenewsaboutdifferentoccupationsandthereactionsoflocalgovernmentswhocaredmoreaboutthecleanlinessofparksthenaboutjusticeordemocracy.Butthentheprimaryseasonbeganandpushedallothernewstothesecondpageorthesecondsectionofthenewspaper.OnemighthaveexpectedthattheOccupyMovementanditsindictmentofourcurrenteconomicinequalitieswouldbecomeatopicintheprimarydebates.Butnosuchluck.OccupyWallStreet'sferventtalkaboutthe1%disappearedfromthenewsasifithadneverhappened.OnecanexplainthisbysayingthattheoccupiersobviouslyfailedcompletelytomakeanimpressiononthemajorityofAmericans.Moreplausibleisthisinterpretation:intheprimarydebatesthecandidateschoosetheissuesandhowtheywilltalkaboutthem.ObviouslytheyarenotgoingtoraisequestionsthatembarrasstheirdonorsorthesuperrichwhofinancethePAC'ssupportingeachcandidate.Soinequalityandthedisproportionatepowerofthe1%arenot...
-
Occupy Wall Street and 70 other cities The slogan of all the 70 occupations in the US, “We are the 99%,” has received high praise because it captures the pervasive sense of how unjust our present economic system is. We have known about inequality...
- Tea Parties And Democracy
Tea parties and democracy. Many people believe that the meetings of tea party members addressed by such media stars as Sara Palin and Glenn Beck are exercises in democracy-- the people telling their representatives what they really want: lower taxes,...
- Distrust Of Government
Distrust of Government. Distrust of the government is a venerable American tradition. Recall the opening paragraph of Thoreau's Civil Disobedience: “that government governs best which governs least.” Thoreau later amends this to “that government...