America's totalitarian democracy and the politics of plunder, or, life is a titty tuck and a Dodge t

[KoKo]

Published on The Smirking Chimp (http://www.smirkingchiAmerica's totalitarian democracy and the politics of plunder, or, life is a titty tuck and a Dodge truckmp.com)
Live from Planet Norte:
By Joe Bageant
Created Jun 28 2010 - 10:01am

Winchester, Virginia | Starting with the Homeland Security probe at Washington's Reagan Airport, arrival back in the United States resembles an alien abduction to a planet of bright lights, strange beings and incomprehensible behavior. The featureless mysophobic landscape of DC's Virginia suburbs seems to indicate that homogeneity and sterility are the native religions. Especially after spending eight months in Mexico's pungent atmosphere of funky, sensual open air markets, rotting vegetation, smoking street food grills, sweat, agave nectar and ghost orchids.

The uniformity on Planet Norte is striking. Each person is a unit, installed in life support boxes in the suburbs and cities; all are fed, clothed by the same closed-loop corporate industrial system. Everywhere you look, inhabitants are plugged in at the brainstem to screens downloading their state approved daily consciousness updates. iPods, Blackberries, notebook computers, monitors in cubicles, and the ubiquitous TV screens in lobbies, bars, waiting rooms, even in taxicabs, mentally knead the public brain and condition its reactions to non-Americaness. Which may be defined as anything that does not come from of Washington, DC, Microsoft or Wal-Mart.

For such a big country, the "American experience" is extremely narrow and provincial, leaving its people with approximately the same comprehension of the outside world as an oyster bed. Yet there is that relentless busyness of Nortenians. That sort of constant movement that indicates all parties are busy-busy-busy, but offers no clue as to just what they are busy at.

We can be sure however, that it has to do with consuming. Everything in America has to do with consuming. So much so that we find not the slightest embarrassment in calling ourselves "the consumer society." Which is probably just as well, since calling ourselves something such as "the just society" might have been aiming a bit too high? Especially for a nation that never did find enough popular support to pass any of the 200 anti-lynching bills brought before its Congress (even Franklin Roosevelt refused to back them).

On the other hand, there is no disputing that we do reduce all things to consumption. Or acquiring money for consumption. Or paying on the debt for past consumption. It keeps things simple, and stamps them as authentically American.

For example, now faced with what may be the biggest ecological disaster in human history, I'm hearing average Americans up here talk of the Gulf oil "spill" (when they speak of it at all -- TV gives the illusion those outside the Gulf region give a shit), in terms of its effect on: (A) the price of seafood; and (B) jobs in tourism and fishing. Only trolls stunted by generations of inbred American style capitalism could do such a thing: reduce a massive ocean dead zone to the cost of a shrimp cocktail or a car payment.

Meanwhile, even as capitalism shows every sign of collapsing upon them under the weight of its sheer non-sustainability, Norteamericanos wait like patient, not-too-bright children for its "recovery." Recovery, of course, is that time when they can once again run through the malls and outlet stores, the car lots and the fried chicken palaces eating, grabbing and consuming. No doubt, something resembling a recovery will be staged for their benefit, thereby goosing their pocketbooks at least one more time before the rest of the world forecloses on the country.

Let 'er rip! There's plenty more where that came from


What's a little totalitarian oppression, anyway?


MUCH MORE of his QUIRKY RANT ...GOOD READ at........

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/print/29760/

[lunasun]

1. Amazing! I noticed the same comments around here

from the empty headed crowd..."what is shrimp going to cost now????" or "that is more jobs lost now"
Myopic view for sure......

[pundaint]

2. It's a big problem, and people recognize the impact at their own pace. I am pleased for any

connection to reality a fellow voter might make. Sure it starts with shrimp, but then the medical costs for those breathing the toxic fumes is going to be large, the housing costs for people to migrate away from an environment which wont be able to support the same sized population, Then when the shit rolls up on North Carolina there will be another round of impacts. But it's an improvement over war, at least people understand that their shrimp is impacted, with war, our whole viability as a working country is at risk, and most of us continue to be blissfully oblivious to the realities of pouring out s whole decade of tax revenues onto foreign sands.

People awaken at their own pace.