AMERICA IS IN DECAY

A sign of the times

There have been books written about the decline of the America "empire."

Let's keep this closer to home and just focus on the internal decay that our faux capitalism, insane consumption, elitist political system, and widespread sense of hopelessness has got us into.

The Huffington Post website ran an important article today entitled "RENT OR FOOD." In short, the article looks at the fact that millions of American households have such meager budgets that they are forced to choose between the essentials of life: food and shelter.

Bear in mind that this kind of thing has been an issue for the poor for as long as anyone cares to remember.

So the Third World within America -- propagandized as luckiest/greatest country in the world -- is getting big. That should be no shock since the rich are getting richer (it's not hard when you dodge taxes and your best buddies are on Capitol Hill) and the poor, and everyone else, are getting poorer.

Yes, many of us do need to budget our spending better: We are a nation of consumption fools, after all. And most of the stuff we buy today is in the back of the closet or on a junk pile in a year or two, right? Compare that to people who have scarcely enough food and clothes. Who many not be able to afford heat in winter. Who never get to see a doctor. That's the reality of our country. Not the "luckiest/greatest" BS that the politicians sell to us as an opiate. Besides, our goal should be "kindest."

But our spending is just a few drops in the bucket. The real issue is the horrendously unfair distribution of wealth in this country (and around the world!). It seems to me that sooner or later things will get bad enough that people will be in the streets in their millions and there will be radical change. That's the belief I cling to -- and it is a genuine belief.

In the meantime:

1/ Protest stupid/unfair taxes as well as the tax breaks and exemptions enjoyed by the rich and by corporations.
2/ Vote at the checkout: Buy things you need, not what you merely want. Buy organic. Companies note what sells and tend to stock that, naturally enough. And any money you save can be used to bolster your household budget or, if you are able, be given in part or whole to those less fortunate.
3/ Recycle everything: Clothes, cars, oil, metals, housing materials... check the Web and see just how much can be reused.
4/ Keep the pressure on the politicians and corporations. Let them know what you think and what you won't tolerate.
5/ Push for cheaper, safer, cleaner power sources.
6/ Volunteer and donate.
7/ Get active. Join groups that push economic issues. There is strength -- and change -- in numbers! You can participate a little or a lot. Again, just check the Web for these groups.
8/ Sign up to get online petitions, then pass them on.
9/ We need to repair our own attitudes as well as help others.
10/ Spread the word and stir up action any way you can!

There are other things, of course. But that's a good start. We need to change the structure of our society: and that is underway with the massive growth of the socio-politically aware "class." Change is fermenting. In the meantime, do whatever you can, whenever you can. Even that sandwich to a person living on the streets (a person!) fills a stomach and sends a message. Viral networking.

We have to win a better world or there will be no world soon enough. And to win it, we must fight to get it back from the robber barons who hold the whip.

We can and we will!

Take care,
Adrian

IF YOU FOUND THIS BLOG POST INTERESTING you might also like THE ECONOMY -- NOT SO HARD TO FIX, FDR's SECOND BILL OF RIGHTS, or TAXES: MICHAEL MOORE TELLING IT HOW IT IS.

THE IDIOT CULTURE

Back in the ’90s, while I was still living in Australia, I read an article by Carl Bernstein (pictured) entitled “The Idiot Culture.”

Bernstein, you might recall, was one half of the Woodward and Bernstein journalism team that broke the whole Watergate thing in The Washington Post in the 1970s – the political event that is perpetually trotted out as a luminous paragon of the American checks and balances system.

Bernstein’s article made a big impression on me – despite the fact that it didn’t go nearly far enough in its analysis or criticism. (Bernstein, now 66, still talks on the subject at various venues.)

The thrust of the piece, as the title suggests, was that the Western World is hooked on garbage entertainment. Throwaway icons and shallow creativity. TV shows that woo the voyeur in us. Paparazzi snapshots of “stars” who just don’t matter. Mind-numbing pseudo news that weighs us down rather than lifting us up.

The whole “idiot culture” thing could be a thesis or a book, not merely an article. Actually it has been: Take for example Neil Postman’s deeply analytical book “Amusing Ourselves To Death.” Postman and his ilk – including lauded socio-political commentator Professor Noam Chomsky – posit, correctly, that public discourse – the things we talk about and think about – have moved from the somewhat meaningful to the painfully absurd in the past half century or so.

The net result is that we have become junk-info addicts who are almost completely distracted from the important issues that affect us, those we love, and our fellow human beings around the globe. More to the point, to a large degree we are no longer even aware of what is important. We have been fed sugar-coated rat poison and dragged out beyond the margins of true culture to whither and die, spiritually and mentally.

The simple point is this: If we don’t focus our thoughts and energies on learning about the real and profound problems our planet is facing, and on taking actions to remedy them, then we’re closing the door on hope. Like anything worthwhile in life or history, saving the world (literally) will only be achieved through true understanding followed by concerted effort.

There are some vital things we need to do if we are to survive. We need to change the way the world is governed; we need to see that poverty is put to the sword; we need to end the suicidal environmental degradation of our planet; we need to assign anything with the word “nuclear” attached to it to the archives. And much more.

That’s a lot of thinking and a lot of work. We really need to dig for the truth and see that that truth is served. And we are not going to find truth on reality shows or in tabloid magazines; in the pitiful tirades of TV’s political talk show ego turds or the endless mire of nonsense that clutters much of the Internet. And no, we can’t even turn to traditional news sources or the likes of Carl Bernstein. We have to go to more pure information sources. More courageous ones. And we must find similarly concerned citizens. But first we must want to apply ourselves and not seek addiction-escapism by sinking into the couch and praying to the tube.

While Bernstein was right to rail against our toxic non-culture almost two decades ago, he has certainly been a beneficiary of it. His work on Watergate and subsequent lecturing on “serious journalism” have given him (and Woodward) a kind of demigod status. In a sense, they have accrued credibility in large part because of the contrast between themselves and the lower reaches of the idiot culture. But that contrast creates a false credibility: They are merely at the "high end" of that culture.

The fact is, they – and The Washington Post – are still part of the timid/privatized media industry and are hardly daring in what they do. Nixon was just a twisted creep who made for a good story. He was relatively easy to axe. But where are these pillars of pious journalism when it comes to things such as COINTELPRO, Gitmo, U.S. imperialism, the exploitation of Third World economies, the rape of the world ecosystem, the real and present danger posed by nuclear weapons and energy, the severe lack of democracy in America, or profoundly dissecting their own industry? It’s easy to make a bit of noise about Jerry Springer and Paris Hilton. Taking on Rupert Murdoch or transnational corporations in any serious way is another matter. And that takes a courage far greater.

Do we live in an idiot culture? Turn on your TV and flip through 20 or 30 channels and you tell me. Are we idiots? No, we are not. But the people with their hands on the levers want us to act like idiots. Passive consumers of their faux information and unnecessary products. So far, we've been pretty much playing into their hands.

But we can stop any time we decide we're ready to.

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Thanks for reading and check back soon. In the meantime, check out www.democracynow.org for some brave and honest journalism. Yes, you can handle the truth.

Adrian Zupp

IF THIS BLOG POST WAS OF INTEREST TO YOU you might also like to read REMEMBERING SIMPLER TIMES or KIM KARDASHIAN NUDE VS. GAY SUICIDES -- WHAT PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT.

LET'S TALK ABOUT STRESS, BAY-BEE

I didn't go to work today.

I didn't go to work because I am so stressed out by the place and the continuing soap opera that plays out there that I just ran the white flag up the pole. The details pertaining to my particular situation aren't all that relevant. At the end of the day, I'm just one more person in the pandemic of work-related stress.

I don't consider myself to be a weak person. I started out in blue collar jobs at a relatively young age and got my hands dirty for many years before seeing the inside of a college. I know the value of a dollar and the meaning of hard work. I pride myself on my resilience.

But have you noticed how the working life has gotten harder and harder, as a general trend, over the past years and decades?

Why is that?

I think there are many interwoven reasons and one overarching one: The beast that is corporate-driven capitalism. I will lay my cards on the table and say up front that I am not a fan of capitalism. But even if I were -- or if you are -- anyone who has studied any economics at all knows that we do not have pure capitalism anywhere on the planet.

Is our capitalism driven by fair and open competition? No way. In the United States, the corporations with the most lobbyists in Washington DC win at will. Just think of it as another form of insider trading.

And all this guff about welfare to the poor being a waste of taxes and harmful to the economy and blah blah blah. Guess who are, BY FAR, the greatest recipients of taxes-funded welfare in the United States. Yep, corporations. The recent bailout of banks and various other crooks was only one of the more transparent examples of this. It's been going on a long time and the guys at the top know how to take care of each other. So if you're wondering where your hard-earned tax dollars go, better to look up than down.

The point about capitalism goes on and on but I promised myself I'd keep these blogs somewhat bite sized. So we'll come back to that another time.

So, "stress." If you work in the private sector, capitalism and the corporate culture have a lot to say about your stress level. (And even if you aren't in the private sector, you're still going to be heavily impacted.) This culture will determine your pay level, how much time you get off, your sick days, what you do for eight or 10 or more hours for five or more days per week. It will impact your self image, your self esteem, your family, your friends, your sleep, your entire private life. That's pretty significant, right?

No wonder we're stressed to hell. And hey, most of you reading this aren't living in the Third World: a chorus of countries that gets kicked in the groin by capitalism whether they like it or not.

If we are to feel fulfilled and happier and healthier, this all has to change. Simple logic. We need to talk to colleagues about how we feel (you'll find most of them feel the same way). We need to voice our complaints where and when we can: factoring in the risk of being fired, of course. We need to join unions if they are available to us. We need to read and educate ourselves on work, on our economy, on stress, on the institutions that dictate the shape of our lives (corporations, the body politic, the public relations industry and the media). We need to voice our concerns to these institutions and join public action/social change groups (even if only via the Internet). We need to take every opportunity we can to reach out and reach up.

This is not impossible stuff. Big things are changed by many voices and united actions. And if you share any of the concerns here you are NOT in a minority. You are the majority! It's just that the fat cats own most of the media so you aren't going to get any smoke signals about your partners-in-change from them. They like things just the way they are. And keeping the masses divided is the age old way to subdue them.

I have to end this here and promise to keep circling back to, and elaborating on, the various issues I've raised.

For now, here are three resources (of the many available) that might help you get started on joining the fight for a better world and feeling more optimistic:

1/ www.democracynow.org -- if you want the real news, you will get it here.

2/ "The Overworked American" by Juliet B. Shor -- a landmark book on, well, how we're overworked in the U.S.

3/ www.care2.com -- you can sign up here to get email bulletins about online petitions on important issues. So for 60 seconds of your time each day, you could add your voice to thousands of others on a critical issue and, yes, politicians do pay attention to these things. They love lobbyists but they also have to heed their constituents. Don't give up this power!

4/ Just about any book by (or DVD featuring) Noam Chomsky (pictured). Widely acknowledged as one of the greatest minds on the planet, his books are quite easy to read and devastatingly revealing. And many of them are quite short and in Q&A interview form.

I'll share more such sources with you in coming weeks. Perhaps you'd like to share some too by writing a comment with your thoughts on how to fight the good fight.

To end on a light note, the great radical comedian Bill Hicks once said: "Bosses. They're like gnats on a fishing trip." Doesn't go to the heart of the whole problem, perhaps, but it's a fun thought to roll around in your head on those days when work is getting you down and levering your stress up. (More on Hicks another time.)

Thanks for reading and I will try to pick up the thread started in my first post when I return here tomorrow.

Take care and onward!
Adrian Zupp