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KwiatMan
Junior Member

since 2001-05-19

Posts 17
Florida

0 posted 2001-06-23 01:28 AM

I was just sittin' here, suckin' up some suds with
the business manager of my local union. I got to
mumblin' about somethin' like, "With the complex, near chaotic conditions one has to live in today, can I assume that the major doctrines of an idealistic world, mainly, laissez-faire Objectivism, and Socialism have been laid to rest, and the major political parties have determined that, as long as they can keep a fifty-fifty balance going, everyone will get a piece of the pie." I mumbled on some more about the pie and
then said, "How come that big guy upstairs can't
come down and do a little micro-managing?" Jake said, "You never had it so good. That nut in Vermont put the knife back in our hands, so
shaddup and drink your beer".

Q1: Is this it? Is everything going according
    to plan? One grand conspiricy?

Q2: If so, why all the adversarial discussions
    from the talking heads.

Q3: Does the invitee ask what the subject is and
    then decide to be pro or con this week?

Q4: Is Utopia just on a local level? Will we suffer
    withdrawl pains when we drop out of the big
    picture?

Q5: Dealers choice?

Whether any of this deserves an answer, I can't say, but the questions are seriously posed...

Jan...

Sunshine

Administrator

Member Empyrean

since 1999-06-25

Posts 63354
Listening to every heart

1 posted 2001-06-23 07:39 AM

I am not going to try to comment on your questions just now [way too early in the a.m. for serious thought-process] but the caption was curious, as Carroll O'Connor passed away yesterday.

After a few cuppas, I'll come back and ponder these....

Brad
Member Ascendant

since 1999-08-20

Posts 5705
Jejudo, South Korea

2 posted 2001-06-25 05:00 PM

I have a funny feeling that this'll be passed over by most readers as nothing more than name dropping but these are the thoughts that were triggered by this thread:

Your thoughts follow Francis Fukuyama following Hegel. Nothing wrong with that, just curious if your acquainted with his book, "The End of History and the Last Man."

Rosa Luxumbourg explained the problems with trade unions and radical politics at the beginning of this century. I still think it holds true today. Your caricature fits it perfectly.

Q1: Is this it? Is everything going according
    to plan? One grand conspiricy?

--Jean Beaudillard, the French postmodern guru (some would say a purveyor of perverse nonsense), pondered much the same thing in one of his later, less theoretical (some would say more burned out) writings. He argued that the REVOLUTION had indeed happened. Everything is already here. It's done, over, finished.

This is it.

Aren't you happy?

Q2: If so, why all the adversarial discussions
    from the talking heads.

--It's easier to do, gets better ratings, and follows American ideology perfectly. Imagine what would happen if someone actually said, "You know, I haven't looked at it that way before. That's a good point."

--No, no you must stand your ground, right or wrong. Sometimes that is true of course (and of course I'm still an American) but what if the right answer took precedence over being right?

--I'm such an idealist at times.

Q3: Does the invitee ask what the subject is and
    then decide to be pro or con this week?

--I don't think they decide anything. I think they are labelled in a binary system and then go with the flow.

Q4: Is Utopia just on a local level?

--Foucault has a term for this -- heterotopia (the irony, oh, the irony) but I don't think utopian thoughts will ever quite disappear. We all come from some tradition that emphasizes some messiah or future peace so I don't think hope is dead. I will say I don't think Galt's paradise is particularly inviting but the socialist dream (in essence if not in practice the same as the libertarian one) will live on. The freedom to do what one wants and, at the same time, fulfill one's true potential (they become the same thing) will always motivate somebody.

I don't mean to be sarcastic here. I mean that.

Will we suffer
    withdrawl pains when we drop out of the big
    picture?

--Amazingly enough, that's exactly what seems to happen. People hate not counting and not being counted.

Q5: Dealers choice?

--I don't understand this part.

Brad

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