Dirty little secrets - Page 6

Moons,
When you post like that, which is more often than not, it always reminds me of a number line. You start at zero, and jump ahead with your point. And then the next part starting with "but" just jumps everything right back to zero. LOL

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"You are" is made into the contraction, "You're", but I know it is just an old habit, too late for you to change now.

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Being dead won't make the writings spoil? Will they?  I never heard of this Joe guy before, so I went and read a few of his articles. I think I would have liked the guy! LOL

Joe Bageant - I don't have time for real commentary right now, but I'll simply post some quotes from an article I read that resonate.


So we create institutions whose function is to pretend to know, which makes everyone feel better. Unfortunately, it also makes the savviest among us -- those elites who run the institutions -- very rich, or safe from the vicissitudes that buffet the rest of us. Directly or indirectly, they understand that the real function of American social institutions is to justify, rationalize and hide the true purpose of cultural behavior from the lumpenproletariat, and to shape that behavior to the benefit of the institution's members.

The fatal assumption was that Americans would choose to think and learn, instead of cherry picking the blogs and TV channels to reinforce their particular branded choice cultural ignorance, consumer, scientific or political, but especially political.

Americans, for example, reap huge on-the-ground benefits from cultural ignorance -- especially the middle class Babbitry -- from cultural ignorance generated by American hyper-capitalism in the form of junk affluence. Purposeful ignorance allows us to enjoy cheaper commodities produced through slave labor, both foreign, and increasingly, domestic, and yet "thank god for his bounty" in the nation's churches without a trace of guilt or irony. It allows strong arm theft of weaker nations' resources and goods, to say nothing of the destructiveness of late stage capitalism -- using up exhausting every planetary resource that sustains human life. 

We get buried under a deluge of commodities that suggest we are all rich, or at least richer than most of the world. A mountain range of cheap shoes, cars, iPods, ridiculous amounts of available foodstuffs, and the entire spectacle of engorgement defines, and is enforced as, "quality of life" under materialistic commodities capitalism. The goods we have in our clutches trump the philosophical, or even the most practical considerations. "I may die early eating unidentified beef byproducts soaked in waste chemicals, but I'll die owning a 65-inch HDTV and a new five speed automatic Dodge Durango with a 5.7 L Hemi V8 under the hood!"

As Professor Emeritus of Natural Resources and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Guy R. McPherson points out, "79.6% of respondents to a Scientific American poll are unwilling to forgo even a single penny to forestall the risk of catastrophic climate change. Scientific American readers undoubtedly are better informed than the general populace. And yet they won't pay a thing to avoid extinction of our species. Kinda makes you warm and fuzzy all over, doesn't it?" Let us pray the next generation is a tad sharper.

Our hyper capitalist system, through command of our research, media and political institutions, expands upon and disseminates only that information which generates money and transactions. It avoids, neglects or spins the hell out of information that does not.

But in the big picture it will not change the way the top lizards in global politics, money and war have done business since the feudal age -- which is to say with arrogant disregard for the rest of us. Theirs is an ancient system of human dominance that only shifts names and methodologies over the centuries.

Deconditioning also involves risk and suffering. But it is transformative, freeing the self from helplessness and fear. It unleashes the fifth freedom, the right to an autonomous consciousness. That makes deconditioning about as individual and personal act as is possible. Maybe the only genuine individual act. 

But politics and money are never going to fill what is essentially a public vacuum that is moral, philosophical and spiritual. (The latter was instantly recognized by fundamentalist Christians, disfigured by cultural ignorance, as they may be.) Not many ordinary Americans talk about this vacuum. The required spiritual and philosophical language has been successfully purged by newspeak, popular culture, a human regimentation process masquerading as a national educational system, and the ruthlessness of everyday competition, which leaves no time to contemplate anything.

 

You have a source Carlin?
Might come in handy......

Bee,
The man makes good points but he's not unique, or special, He say's pretty much the same thing as others have, so I wasn't all that impressed.
I came across him sometime back on youtube.
Does that clear it up for you.

As for my spelling...LOL
Eat it.
 

moons - http://www.joebageant.com/joe/essay-list.html

Thank you....

But politics and money are never going to fill what is essentially a public vacuum that is moral, philosophical and spiritual. .... Not many ordinary Americans talk about this vacuum.
 

Moons, I am going to put you in this basket! Now, please, if you are able, would you give a hint as to what, or whom it would take, that embodies something that is unique enough to be considered impressive by yourself? Then, maybe some of this smoke will clear for me on how you have got 21st century society solved.


I find Joe's essays interesting as this is the first time I am reading any of them. There is much that rings true, but some, well, he left us too soon, perhaps. I believe I mentioned before my thought, that the info-revolution age, keeps things in a state of change and is creating equal footing between the three groups; the elite and the politicians must share as never before, the "web" power with the masses. I think the information age can/will provide answers and motives that will pin the collective, jello masses on to the hallowed and pristine walls of the ruling elite! I suppose the politicians will scatter fast when/if that happens. What will it look like when the jello hits those walls? Well, a Jackson Pollack painting comes to my mind.

 

Now, please, if you are able, would you give a hint as to what, or whom it would take, that embodies something that is unique enough to be considered impressive by yourself?

Something new, something original, something I haven't heard time and time again from others.

As for the information age, one must be smart enough to weed through the misinformation, most aren't capable of that without some real effort that most don't put forth.

This is why we will be kept in the dark as to files held from us by a government agency that is after all supposed to be for the people by the people, they work for us.
Like a mushroom, we do best when fed shit and kept in the dark, Mel Gibson, Air America.......:)

Always remember who controls our information and how it is controlled, they can turn it off with the flick of a switch, your phone, internet, television, it's all digital and almost all traveling via satellites.
The whole internet system itself in this country goes through a central mainframe.

Now,
explain this vacuum.

Through out history great societies have failed, this global society is no different, it will fail.
I'd just like to give it a helping hand is all, no patience I guess.
 
p.s.
some of my typing errors is a vision problem, the other is a lack of concern, not illiteracy.

Here,
if you like Joe,






Moving away is so much easier I guess.



Moons.

Moons, I watched just enough to see he hated GWB so much he moved to Mexico. Reminded me of why I never try to care that much about politics. LOL I actually used the word "interesting" and not so much "like". Yes?

FYI...This is my second post ... I wrote a big ol' long post and it got lost when I hit submit. Left me hanging with a blank message.  I'll explain "vacuum" later, but I think you do have an idea. A bit later, sorry, Mr. Impatient! LOL

 

Here is one of his prescriptions:

"What America really needs is a wall-to-wall people's insurrection, preferably based on force and fear of force, the only thing oligarchs understand. And even then the odds are not good. The oligarchs have all the legal power, police, jails and prisons, surveillance and firepower. Not to mention a docile populace. Shy of open insurrection, a nationwide refusal to pay income taxes would certainly shake things up."

I am inclined to believe that this is consistent with the type of mobilizations we are seeing overseas.  The United States has ended its military subsidy of  Egypt within the last twenty four hours or so, concurrent with how things appear to be turning out over there.  They must really be coming out from underneath someone's thumb.

My opinion is that we will not see similar demands or action here, not because we are not capable, but because amongst us we lack a common vision under which to unify, and the resolve to see it through. (The vast majority of successful political activism is birthed within nationalist or religious homogeneity).  Our political system is hijacked to the point where the US voter doesn't even have access to a candidate who truly represents his/her view.  (That, and most of us are simply too lazy, complacent, and self-absorbed to even recognize where we stand, much less act.)  For me, I am most disgusted by the hypocrisy and ignorance within my own "religious" contingent, as we corporately fuel the proverbial fire while we engage in finger pointing of epic proportions.  That's another conversation entirely I suppose.