Today I was leafing through Adbusters Canada as I do when I am in my own apartment and need some mental stimulation (though I must admit it is frustrating in the way that Michael Moore and Naomi Klein are frustrating: they are both brilliant and yet the people that would most benefit from watching their movies and reading their books do neither, but people like me do, leaving me increasingly angry and dejected albeit with brief glimmers of salvation that people like Moore and Klein do what they do in the first place).Anyways, if you haven't seen Moore's "Capitalism: A Love Story" or read Klein's Shock Doctrine: please do. Shock Doctrine is one of the most important books I have ever read and I now keep my Ayn Rand books out of sheer nostalgia and to remind me of my naivete.
And now, if I may, I would like to quote from you an article in Adbusters Canada which I loved, written by Kalle Lasn and Darren Fleet.
... In 2008 Bush-era Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, the man who oversaw much of America's financial nose dive, told the public "those of us who have looked to the self-interest of lending institutions to protect share-holders' equity, myself included,are in a state of shocked disbelief." That's putting it mildly. As the top economist in the nation for two decades, groomed in 50 years of rigorous positivism, such naivety was as appalling as it was telling of the false science being sold to people...So there you go. For more economist-bashing (which I am always good for) I highly recommend The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
For a scientific experiment to cross the threshold from speculation to truth it must pass the repeatability test. For an outcome to be considered true, one must be able to make it happen again. In their quest to be regarded as real scientist (lab coat and all) rather than ideologues, the positivist economic theorists so far have only been able to reproduce one major economic phenomenon - Depression. This is a sign that the only provable thesis in their pseudo inquiry is that unrestrained market liberalism leads to short term financial gain for the wealthiest members of society followed by period of economic collapse.
Or, if none of this is up your alley, you can maybe identify with the "ad" on the back of my Adbusters magazine: everything is fine. Keep shopping.
Just say NO! No to new car prices, no to new home prices, no to new stuff, no to paying thousands of dollars to go to STUPID sporting events like the Super Bowl. We need to use what we have like our parents or grandparents did when they brought this country back from the Great Depression, we'll just have to call this one the Greatest Depression. More importantly we need to teach our children how to say NO! How can we live with ourselves if generations to come don't learn from us? What? We teach them to just lay down, roll over and take it....
ReplyDeleteIt's a really weird thing to witness. Three year olds that can wield iPhones adeptly. The housing situation of the "impoverished" shown on the news with a flat screen television in the background of the dilapidated room. People that take four paper towels to dry their hands each time they go to the washroom. I can't get my head around most things. I don't know if that makes me old and crotchety, or if it means I think too much, or if I'm just missing that sense of entitlement that most other people have that too much is never enough.
ReplyDeleteKids these days...
What really pisses me off is having people sign up for these school programs that have a income cap (free transportation to school, 2 free meals per day for 3&4 year olds.) It's free day care basically. If you are over that cap you don't qualify. So they get their kids in based on their lack of income and then they drive up in a BMW, Lexus or Hummer! Or they pick their kids up early to go get the KID'S nails done!!!! Are F-ing kidding me? I drive a used car and don't even polish my nails because it's an expense that I can live without. They show up wanting Christmas presents for the entire family and then in January they come in bragging about the new car they got! Or they want us to supply all 4 kids with school supplies ($30ea.) after they went to Disney World. I just want to scream F-off! I've never been to Disney because I'M too busy paying my bills.
ReplyDeleteOmmmmm, pass the wine, please. And they wonder why I slam the door in their face when they want to borrow my phone when theirs has been shut off.