DagSeoul: Positions, Populations, Punk, Poetics

This is a hilarious attempt at theory by a right wing pundit who implements a discussion of liberal relativism and root causes. Perhaps we should be discussing “root causes” and “liberalism” because both are important and problematic topics for US discourse about almost anything historical and political. But this is a rather glaring miss.

FOXNews’ “The Five” is produced to look like it’s a panel of intellectuals speaking intellectually about American Life. Actually, it’s a lame attempt at the same shtick Chris Hayes and Rachel Maddow attempt to pull off on MSNBC. There are no intellectuals on corporate news channels; there is no intellectual discourse. It’s strictly prohibited. Dig the sexism in the video clip, too, as they focus on one woman’s response. You have to watch until the end to see how they end it with a misogynist sneer.

OK, well Marco Rubio has now weighed in on the suggestion that we should stop offering Muslim students Visas. Go figure. After Boston, he’d consider it. This is how conservative capitalist mind works. Something bad happens that gets international recognition and then they decide to think about it, by which they mean to choose the most reactionary and least helpful options out of all possible options to publicly reflect on. Both the panel’s and Rubio’s responses illustrate—it’s without fail ALWAYS the way they think about social problems. It’s as if Rubio woke up and said, “Well, I guess NOW is the time to consider NOT granting VISAs to Muslim students. Makes sense, right?”

Rights or Freedoms*, for right libertarians and conservatives, is always in the negative. The Freedom FROM Muslims, in this case. Or, they’d say, the right to not have those hateful violent people around.

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*When conservative say rights, they mean to say “freedoms”. When they use the word “right” they are attending to their bullshit notions about natural law. When they use they word “freedom” they are attending to their bullshit notions about human law. They improperly use the two words interchangeably, conflating the concepts of human and natural laws.

dagSPIN: What will they say about it all now?

1. Right Wing: “Torture works”; “Support the Troops”; “Protect the Homeland”. Jingoism, Jingoism, Jingoism. Several bills on the legislative agenda that, if passed, will expand the powers afforded the government in the P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act. The right wing will use the renewed interest in Osama bin Laden and push for further exceptionalist protectionism.  It’s that simple.  This will include more fervent pro-corporatist, anti-left behavior in the long-term.

2. Conservative Pundits: Rendition, secret prisons and torture works and the left wing is responsible for politicizing war on terror. As the links show, Michelle Malkin is already all over this.They will push a little to rehabilitate Bush’s presidency, but not much and not for long.

3. Liberal Pundits: “Bush didn’t care, Obama did”. Obama is super-popular and kicking ass.

4. Left Wing: “John Kerry was right.” Basically, we do not need to invade countries to engage terrorists with our military. We need good intelligence, to arrest the leaders of terrorist organizations and to try them in our courts.

5. Libertarians: Libertarians will use this to try to promote their newest cause, a possible strong Ron-Paul-for-President campaign.  Events like this permit American libertarians to promote an anti-war stance that offers good cover for its unpopular, pro-corporate agenda. They’ll use a Ron Paul campaign to recruit young people who love to hate the state.

The Plot Thickens

A lot of people sharing the story (below) about Michigan State Sen Bruce Casswell (Republican, of course,) making an ass out of himself. All the oh-my-god-did-he-really-just-say-thats aside we might want to look at this a little closer and recognize that his ideas fit into the continuum of popular conservative culture and its argument that big government is ruining good things like charity and rugged individualism.

Two plot elements: 1) The Church used to be the center of culture, where people went for help, and now they turn to the government instead of God; and 2) The poor used to look to their families and neighbors for help, working both alone and together to struggle and earn economic independence, therefore earning greater liberty and freedom overall, and now they turn to the government.

The moral of this story: government weakens us all, morally and mentally. Government corrupts. It’s typical and insipid libertarian horseshit. It’s capitalist market propaganda dressed up in Christian garments.

This is why the libertarian movement hangs out with social conservatives. See, Tea Party rallies. They are united in the fight against government regulating the market to protect access to and insure distribution of social goods. Remember, American libertarianism might like to dress-up as leftists, but by the end of the day they’re tucked in bed with Capitalists as they will always defend the many gaudy promises of the free market in service of corporate power and the wealthiest, most privileged citizens.

From The Michigan Messenger:

Under a new budget proposal from State Sen. Bruce Casswell, children in the state’s foster care system would be allowed to purchase clothing only in used clothing stores.
 
Casswell, a Republican representing Branch, Hillsdale, Lenawee and St. Joseph counties, made the proposal this week, reports Michigan Public Radio.

His explanation?

“I never had anything new,” Caswell says. “I got all the hand-me-downs. And my dad, he did a lot of shopping at the Salvation Army, and his comment was — and quite frankly it’s true — once you’re out of the store and you walk down the street, nobody knows where you bought your clothes.”

Under his plan, foster children would receive gift cards that could only be used at places like the Salvation Army, Goodwill and other second hand clothing stores.

The plan was knocked by the Michigan League for Human Services. Gilda Jacobs, executive director of the group, had this to say:

“Honestly, I was flabbergasted,” Jacobs says. “I really couldn’t believe this. Because I think, gosh, is this where we’ve gone in this state? I think that there’s the whole issue of dignity. You’re saying to somebody, you don’t deserve to go in and buy a new pair of gym shoes. You know, for a lot of foster kids, they already have so much stacked against them.”

Casswell says the plan will save the state money, though it isn’t clear how much the state spends on clothing for foster children or how much could be saved this way.

dagSeoul Coming Soon: On the Origins of Our Meritocracy

Working on a post to address what the left wing is now calling “the meritocracy”—am a fan of trying to find ways to address the mainstream within the discourse community in a way that they will be able to come to an understanding without too much effort. The problem with the term meritocracy is that it’s rather sarcastic and requires a political disposition that many people simply don’t possess. So, it’s easy to dismiss.

Fact is, we do have a problem addressing the market and our leaders because we do have a meritocracy: And it’s not too difficult to understand where the ideas behind it come from, nor is it too difficult to understand how those basic misperceptions, seated within the culture of capitalism, have been encouraged and manipulated by the ruling elite.

I think we need to work to educate folks about the problem as we snark about the problems, complain about them, joke about them, gripe about them. The left doesn’t do a very good job with this. And the right? Well, we know the right simply publishes, distributes easy to understand lies. We should be publishing, distributing easy to understand truth. People do know the difference. They can ignore snark, though, because it makes us sound like snobs, it makes us appear bitter, like losers.

Working with Adam Smith, Hayek, and a few other texts to address the problem. The term meritocracy addresses a right-wing problem that the majority moderate conservative American culture sees as a natural state of being for an upwardly mobile citizen.  So, back to the reading and writing. Post to come soon.

thegayrepublican:

This is the most stupid thing i have ever seen.

NO NO NO Gay Republican NO.

The GOP is using women, images of women, women’s health, reproductive health, and other nasty feminist things as tools to cause a stir amongst its vocal minority the socially conservative far-right wing motivating them to picket, protest, hand out images of aborted fetuses, and scream and yell about the immoral left and feminism gone awry. This pisses off the activist left. Much social debate occurs, the media picks the story up and runs with it.

Meanwhile the GOP writes bills, riders, amendments, and lengthy, complex legislative proposals meant to cut the heart out of social welfare programs to cover its tax and regulatory reform for the wealthiest Americans and their corporations.

You’re correct: it isn’t a war on women. It’s a war against the hardest working, most oppressed, most needy, youngest, oldest, and most deserving Americans using the images of women on behalf of the wealthiest, least needy Americans. It’s a war on most of us, not women, making it a hateful and sexist culture war because it focuses on one aspect of women’s rights when so much more is at stake. You’d have to be a crazy anti-woman zealot to believe the GOP is really out to get women; I mean, really want the GOP to defund something awesome like Planned Parenthood that helps so many for so little and to believe that is something good for the GOP to do, among other social reforms it’s pushing.  But, you know, the GOP doesn’t give a shit about women’s rights, women’s health, women’s issues, and how these issues affect all of us.

In other words, the GOP uses women and specific health issues in a horrible and misleading fashion. Just like the Republican Party uses homosexuals. And I’m not just talking on holidays and airport restrooms, honk honk.