Reply #4

In the discussion thread: The New Totalitarianism: How American Corporations Have Made America Like the Soviet Union [View all]

Response to xchrom (Original post)

Mon Jul 16, 2012, 10:09 AM

amfortas the hippie (46 posts)

4. in a sad irony

this is an unintended result of the Enlightenment.
I holler all the time, on my little blog, about the Universalism that the Enlightenment inherited from what came before.Without Reflection,and Vigilance, Reason can lead to Totalitarianism(Arendt).
The Soviets found that their version of Marx wasn't winning the Hearts and Minds, so Force was used.
We're doing the same, just stealthily.
I try mightily to avoid Walmart...but what if I need a new windw unit?
There's simply nowhere else to go, out here,on the perimeter.And I'd better get one before Labor Day, because the Machine has determined that the Herd doesn't purchase A/c's after that date, in sufficient numbers to warrant stocking them...no matter if it's in Alaska, or Texas(Heat until November)
This is Efficiency///which is the Reason for Being for Corps(e)...Reason run Rampant, Universalised, without much Thought given to Individuals or Regions.
This was, of course, forecast as far back a s Adam Smith. Which is a pretty wild thought.Riffing on Horkheimer/Adorno/Rosenstock-Huessy...lol.(Geek Alert)

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46 replies	Author	Time	Post
The New Totalitarianism: How American Corporations Have Made America Like the Soviet Union [View all]	xchrom	Jul 2012	OP
Yeah..	ananda	Jul 2012	#1
k and r	nashville_brook	Jul 2012	#2
Is Truth.	Octafish	Jul 2012	#3
in a sad irony	amfortas the hippie	Jul 2012	#4
I've said for years that our leaders learned the wrong lessons.	knitter4democracy	Jul 2012	#5
And pretty soon, we'll all be buying everything from one store - Wal-Mart.	reformist2	Jul 2012	#6
k&r	raouldukelives	Jul 2012	#7
The whole helpless and powerless spiel gets old...	bhikkhu	Jul 2012	#8
That could have been a good joke, but you lost me at "purely democratic constructs"	Occulus	Jul 2012	#10
In the sense that they are chosen by the people in general	bhikkhu	Jul 2012	#14
'which essentially makes them almost purely democratic constructs'	marmar	Jul 2012	#12
You're right, I always choose Lockheed for my warplane needs.	JackRiddler	Jul 2012	#20
I get your point, but nevertheless corporations are the sum of people's choices	bhikkhu	Jul 2012	#25
K&R n/t	bobthedrummer	Jul 2012	#9
In terms of lack of political choice true -	TBF	Jul 2012	#11
Soviet citizens had to stand in long lines to buy very basic items	Art_from_Ark	Jul 2012	#15
Yes I saw the propaganda movies in 6th grade	TBF	Jul 2012	#16
A couple of my geography professors actually took a tour of the USSR with Intourist	Art_from_Ark	Jul 2012	#19
perestroika (abandonment of central planning) was already implemented by 1985	BOG PERSON	Jul 2012	#22
I don't think you can say perestroika was "already implemented" by 1985	Art_from_Ark	Jul 2012	#24
The Sovoets had their horrors	DonCoquixote	Jul 2012	#27
Work for a corporation and try signing on to DU.	joshcryer	Jul 2012	#32
"Red baiting"?	Art_from_Ark	Jul 2012	#33
I know what you're doing	TBF	Jul 2012	#36
Next thing you'll be telling me, Stalin didn't have any purges	Art_from_Ark	Jul 2012	#42
I'm not getting into this with you.	TBF	Jul 2012	#45
otoh	BOG PERSON	Jul 2012	#17
Central planning was very efficient, it was just focused on the wrong things.	white_wolf	Jul 2012	#39
K&R. Thanks for posting. n/t	Egalitarian Thug	Jul 2012	#13
They only want what's best for us.	kenny blankenship	Jul 2012	#18
There's no fundamental difference between state communism and unfettered capitalism.	joshcryer	Jul 2012	#21
you're the worst	BOG PERSON	Jul 2012	#23
I dunno - from this vantage point it looks to me like the	TBF	Jul 2012	#37
You still have the option to not shop at Wal-Mart.	joshcryer	Jul 2012	#38
In one of his videos Chomsky makes a similar point.	white_wolf	Jul 2012	#40
Chomsky recognizes that state communism / USSR is capitalist at heart.	joshcryer	Jul 2012	#43
kr	HiPointDem	Jul 2012	#26
heh	RobertEarl	Jul 2012	#28
I've been seriously thinking, there seem to be problems once ANY kind of organization becomes	snot	Jul 2012	#29
It's the Iron Law of Oligarchy.	white_wolf	Jul 2012	#41
Very interesting, thanks!	snot	Jul 2012	#46
K&R	patrice	Jul 2012	#30
Yup, many of us have made similar observations	nadinbrzezinski	Jul 2012	#31
I do what I can	quaker bill	Jul 2012	#34
Excellent article	krispos42	Jul 2012	#35
America has changed	aint_no_life_nowhere	Jul 2012	#44

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