Omniquity

Instead of posting individual links, I will instead collect useful links, organized topically, in collective posts.

Posted 24 Feb 2012 —

David Brooks: America is Europe

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/24/opinion/brooks-america-is-europe.html

Summary: the US government is bigger than it looks; need a better model of distributing wealth than tax breaks.

My take: lots of holes in the arguments, but the fundamental message is on point.

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Why is it that Republicans don’t want government involved when it comes to the economy (opposing the auto bailouts) but do want government involved when it comes to telling people how to live their lives?

Maureen Dowd, Rick’s Religious Fanatacism, 22 Feb 2012

(Source: The New York Times)

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The American people are “starved for three things,” concludes Walker: “truth, leadership and solutions.” Unfortunately, the two parties are just offering “laggardship — waiting for something to hit the fan” so they can again just react “without adequate due diligence.”

Thomas Friedman in his editorial “A Third Voice for 2012”, quoting David Walker.

(Source: The New York Times)

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America has lost its way. Not completely. Not irrevocably. But there’s no unifying vision any more. Independence from the tyranny of the British monarchy? Check. Unite the territory “from sea to shining sea”? Check. Land of opportunity for anyone willing to work their tail off? Check. Beacon of freedom and civil rights for the world? Check. Liberator of Europe (twice). Check. Scourge of communism and counterbalance to the USSR? Check.

Now what?

We seem to be at a pause in the historical trajectory of the United States. Without that unifying vision, we have a lot of groups scurrying around trying to impose their vision on everyone else. While I happen to think the political right is worst about this, the left is not immune either. It would be overstating it to say that there is a struggle for the soul of the nation, but on a smaller scale that is what I think is happening. America is no longer the melting pot that it once was, as ethnic, religious, and racial groups tend more to retain their own identities rather than relinquish them for some common “American” identity. When white Christian men descended from Europeans held sway over the politics, business, and culture of America, it was relatively easier to propagate a common “American” identity. It didn’t hurt that most immigrants looked up to those perceived paragons of success and virtue and wanted to be like them, and were willing to shed their own identities (to a large degree) to achieve that.

But as immigrants who are not white Christian people descended from Europeans—blacks, hispanics, Asians—began to populate America in serious numbers, they decided they did not want to melt into the prevailing culture, but to keep their own languages, religions, cultures, and ways of thinking. And that’s OK, because the freedom to do that is enshrined in the US Constitution. The problem is that the prevailing culture is now feeling threatened, particularly as its adherents are no longer a majority of the population. So what will the prevailing culture of the USA be in the next 10, 20, 50 years?

One definition of a “nation” is “a large aggregate of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory.” [Oxford Dictionaries] One can question whether, by that definition and if you believe what I said above, America is losing its nationhood.

What I think we need as a nation is that common objective, that unifying vision, to knit us together ever more tightly. The malaise of our current politics exemplifies that lack. The right seems to pander ever more slavishly to the fringes of conservatism whose vision of America is rooted in the 1950s (see: hegemony of white Christians descended from Europeans). That is destined to be a losing political strategy, if not in this election then the next one. But the left has not put forth a compelling vision of its own, which is just as sad in its own way.

Another definition of nation is “a large body of people, associated with a particular territory, that is sufficiently conscious of its unity to seek or to possess a government peculiarly its own.” [dictionary.com] Perhaps our political process is in fact the means we must use to give voice or consciousness to the current reality of our unity (or lack thereof), which is somewhat of a depressing thought. Perhaps instead we need something akin to a constitutional convention, where representatives of all interests can gather to debate and hopefully, through compromise, agree on, what the unifying vision of America should be for the next 235 years.

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“Those who count on quote ‘Hollywood’ for support need to understand that this industry is watching very carefully who’s going to stand up for them when their job is at stake. Don’t ask me to write a check for you when you think your job is at risk and then don’t pay any attention to me when my job is at stake.”

—Christopher Dodd, Chairman of the MPAA

OK, we all know this is how it works, but there is something especially unseemly about making it so blatant.

See the link below for more details.

(Source: CNET)

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The US House of Representatives provides dispositive evidence that money is pervasively corrupting in American politics. [Click NYT link below for the story.]

Of course pizza is a vegetable. Otherwise it would have been regulated more harshly in school lunch programs.

“It’s an important victory,” said Corey Henry, spokesman for the American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI). ”Our concern is that the standards would force companies in many respects to change their products in a way that would make them unpalatable to students.”

How does that guy sleep at night, or look at himself in the mirror in the morning when he gets up? More importantly, how do the “representatives” who voted for this piece of garbage legislation sleep at night? Oh yeah, their nests are feathered with cash from the AFFI. A nice wad of bills is always conducive to a good night’s rest.

By this logic, I am expecting the purveyors of bloody marys to have their beverage classified as a vegetable for school lunch purposes. Tomato juice, celery, and a little spice, right? Send the kids back to class with a buzz and they’ll be much easier to control. Of course, if the teacher partakes as well it will be a very pleasant afternoon for everyone.

What seems to have been lost in American politics is the notion that our elected representatives represent us, the people, not the corporations who lobby with cash and gifts. Corporations are not in any sense representative, and to interpose them as an intermediary between the people and their elected officials is a perversion of the whole philosophy of representative government. We have to find a way to severely curtail the influence of corporations and their corrupting money from our government.

(Source: The New York Times)

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Headline: “Ex-Powell aide: Dick Cheney fears prosecution for war crimes”

See source link below and my previous blog entry. I won’t go so far as to say he deserves this, because punishing any US government official as a war criminal sets a precedent with extremely grave consequences for all senior US government officials. But, there would be some justice, particularly if he is not held to account in any other way. (Note that I said “Idiot” and not “War Criminal”)

(Source: MSNBC)

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