Chomsky wrote that it all has to do with corporate power and oil. Here is an excerpt from The Independent, an article entitled "The US says it is fighting for democracy - but is deaf to the cries of the Iraqis" Sovereignty in Iraq might well lead to a loose Shia alliance controlling most…
We take many things for granted. We expect the ground to sit still, the people we love to live forever, the lights to come on at the flick of a switch, and the job we hold to stay there for us. Last year, most people in my community went for…
A few weeks ago I ate dinner with friends. One of the friends mentioned that, a few weeks earlier, he had attended a party in an upscale neighborhood. At that party, one of the guests announced that she had brought her own bottle of wine because the host’s expensive wine wasn’t good enough. From my end of the table, I blurted out that it is not necessary to have expensive wine to have a meaningful gathering with friends or family. In fact, I added, “wine is not necessary at all.” I was about to elaborate when I noticed that the other adults at the table were staring at me like I had three eyes. “That’s not correct,” they told me, almost in unison. I know that “look” well. I have received that same “look” from various people on other occasions. On one occasion I got “the look” from someone who was trying to justify that an ordinary car wasn’t sufficient, so he needed to buy a BMW. Another person who gave me “the look” was trying to convince me that her $75,000 kitchen remodeling was “necessary,” even though all of the appliances in her existing kitchen functioned perfectly. The problem with her current kitchen was that it was “old.” I have also received that same look from fundamentalists when I explain that the earth is billions of years old. The “look” is a “we-will-pretend-you-didn’t-say-that” look. It shouldn’t surprise me to draw the same “look” from both consumers and Believers, given that wasteful and pretentious spending is the de facto national religion of the United States. We’ve moralized extravagant spending to such an extent that “living the good life” means buying lots of things we don’t really need.
I haven't been posting much lately--deadlines on other things, etc.--but I'm working on a couple of fairly thorny ones. In the meantime, since it IS Super Bowl Sunday, I thought I might suggest a review of an older post of mine on the subject. Link is here: http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=402 I haven't…
Molly Ivins has passed away. We’ve lost one of the sharpest voices in political journalism, an erudite and empassioned observer. The CNN report is here. I’ve followed Molly’s words on and off for the better part of two decades and I have found her cool judgment and sound reasoning cause…