Looks like it’s a ‘long weekend’ for the markets as the NYSE has shut down for Good Friday, the prelude to Easter Sunday.
Not that this stopped the (decidedly conservative) corporate owned media from crowing about the market’s lousy week despite the economy’s ‘vibrant performance’.
Dunno what they’re babbling about but whatever it is they’ve got I hope it ain’t catchy…
And from the, er, Alternative media (who may get more corporate funding than we realize) we get this tripe!
First the prelude and opening statement, followed by the closing argument:
We caught up with Van Jones, former special adviser to the Obama White House and long-time activist, to talk about his much-anticipated new book, Rebuild the Dream. Part memoir and part blueprint for an economy that works for the 99 percent, the book analyzes mistakes made by Democrats and presents a vision for how to energize a mass movement to restore the American Dream. [snip]
A: Why do you believe so strongly in the American Dream?
VJ: Because it was the dream that sustained my great grandparents, my grandparents and my parents. It is the dream I have for my sons, even now. My community has put too many martyrs in the ground in this country to walk away from the American Dream of opportunity for all. We certainly should not throw an idea like that in the garbage can, just so that the richest people ever born don't have to pay a penny more in taxes. We built this country by pooling our resources and working together, sacrificing for the next generation. At our best, we are a nation of neighbors. I reject Social Darwinism as barbarism. We are either going to turn to each other -- or on each other. Rebuild the Dream is working to create a way for us to work together -- the 99 percent fighting for the 100 percent.
Wait a fucking minute there Slim! He REJECTS the idea that Social Darwinism is barbarism?
It may not be what he means but that’s what it says!
And let me tell you, Social Darwinism is barbarism on a grand scale, the first ‘assumption’ that Social Darwinism makes is those NOT ALREADY WEALTHY are ‘inferior’ and therefore should be ‘wiped out’/made extinct!
Now maybe our Libertarian numbnuts is trying to ‘dance between the cracks’ by saying he doesn’t favor ‘exterminating’ the non-wealthy…which doesn’t excuse him or Social Darwinism for its barbarism.
Um, it is fairly common for Libertarians to believe that a majority of US Citizens share their decidedly predatory philosophy, given the nation’s long-standing worship of ‘rugged individualism’.
Which has no more ‘basis in fact’ than the religious dogma of ‘spirit in the sky’.
Um, I hesitate to kick Alternet in the shins for being true to its mandate of becoming a ‘marketplace of ideas’.
I can only criticize them for holding lax standards by failing to recognize conservatism in ‘sheep’s clothing’ that is Libertarianism.
Or worse, trying to sell Libertarianism as a ‘progressive’ idea…
But I digress, the real ‘point’ this article attempts to make is that the ‘American Dream’ is real and we should do utmost to ‘preserve’ it.
So I ask you good citizen, why isn’t Alternet running stories about truly sustainable social models (Like A Simple Plan)?
Do I need categorically debunk Mr. Jones’s thesis item by item…no, because the answer is all around you.
IT CAN’T BE DONE!
THERE IS NO WAY TO ‘SAVE’ CAPITALISM USING CAPITALISM!
Worse, the strategy of ‘privatized profits and socialized losses’ ain’t gonna do it either (or should I qualify that as ‘for much longer’…)
Sometimes this task of attempting to enlighten the public is akin to pounding your head against a rock wall.
I often feel as though I am not making any progress but the notion that I MIGHT BE reaching a few of you is enough to keep me going.
The answers are right under your nose if you can turn off the ‘contrary programming’ and open your eyes!
In the mean time I’ll just keep pounding away…
And yeah, it’s actually ‘fun’ if you look at it the right way.
Thanks for letting me inside your head,
Gegner
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