Somewhere Between the Future, its Enemies, and Darkness Visible
October 1, 2008 § 2 Comments
We have walked through the looking glass and the other side is extraordinarily dark. We are somewhere between the enemies of the future, as described by Virginia Postrel in The Future and its Enemies,* and Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, on the Pequod, up and down over an indifferent sea, yet unaware that Ahab is at the helm, his dead reckoning conflicting with our own, two fixed points clashing.
We’re at the edge of a wide and foreboding abyss.
“Static visions depend on hiding the connections between disparate aspects of life,” says Postrel. She continues,
Statists thrive by issuing prescriptions that ignore the details of life, believing that the details are unimportant, the stuff of anonymous specialists, and can safely be ignored…Critics assume that readers will share their attitudes and will see contemporary life as a problem demanding immediate action by the powerful and wise. This relentlessly hostile view of how we live, and how we may come to live, is distorted and dangerous. It overvalues the tastes of an articulate elite, compares the real world of trade-offs to fantasies of utopia, omits important details and connections, and confuses temporary growing pains with permanent catastrophes. It demoralizes and devalues the creative minds on whom our future depends. And it encourages the coercive use of political power to wipe out choice, forbid experimentation, short-circuit feedback, and trammel progress.
The “relentlessly hostile view” begins by manipulating perception. We are in a crisis of perception. We perceive, for instance, that The Market, as it’s called by business, politicians and the media–and how it’s falsely studied by student-economists–exists somewhere beyond us; that it’s somehow a creature onto itself moving, breathing, devouring without our doing. (This is the way we think about technology, too.)
The Market is us. We don’t know what to do with ourselves, so corrupt and immoral are our actions. The Market defines our socio-moral condition. The Market exposes our deepest, most profound perversions.
Since the deregulation brought about by Reagan and escalated by McCain – Gramm, we have experienced intense fluctuations in the markets. Why? Because of the basic fundamentals of trading. I have a stock tied to a corporation. You want that stock because it can bring you some wealth right now, but you’re unsure. You need a sign that the stock you want is worth something. I react by engaging you in speculation–the ifs: if you bet high, you can also bet on a derivative to try and stabilize a drop, and vice versa. Thus, in a very short period of time, within seconds, we have a stock–a financial instrument–that doesn’t represent anything but speculation based on fear and mistrust. No real value, other than the value we place on our anxiety and the ambiguity of our time.
This is totally controlled by the “tastes of an articulate elite.” It’s not surprising that Paulson, the former Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs, wants–and needs–$700 billion to bailout–not Wall Street and not you and me, the common citizen–Goldman Sachs itself.
Let’s start calling a spade a spade. Let’s start by investigating the fox that’s left standing. Let’s see where and how this problem began, who instigated it. And I dare anyone who does this not to find Goldman at the start and the finish of this, one of the darkest periods of American moral history.
It’s also not surprising that when officials gathered around the table to bailout AIG, the only non-government person present was the current CEO of Goldman. AIG is into Goldman big time, $21 billion!
We really want such a closed group of men controlling everything we own?
Some folks are having a party at our expense. We’ve not been invited–and Lehman wasn’t either. These are elites, as Postrel points out, that are frightened of the dynamism that is the reality of the way we live and are pursuing a utopian vision defined by stasis. Paulson and company, which includes both Republicans and Democrats since Reagan, are laboring very, very hard to keep the world as it is, the control of wealth and power in the hands of few.
I know, I know–I can hear you from here. Many of you are laughing, seeing my words as overly romantic and rife with paranoia about conspiracies. But what I am saying is not concealed, it’s not hidden. It’s right in front of our very eyes; it’s a message: this is the way it is, and this is the way we elites want it to be.
The immoral corruption existing in our markets has run wild since Reagan; deregulation ensures that the worst in human nature will rise to the top. This is historically true; there is evidence all over the place.
While on the one side we are told that we live immoral lives based on our socio-cultural, sexual inclinations, these same people are reaching into our bank accounts and robbing us blind. Isn’t it interesting that suddenly those who love to preach from pulpits have gone silent? Yes, yell at us about our immoral entertainment, our gay lives, our single parenthood and abortions–but when immorality is extraordinary and real, when it devastates people and communities, when there is real soul wrenching suffering, the pulpits across America are silent.
The wars, Iraq and Afghanistan, and this darkness visible hanging over our economic lives are all interconnected, guided by an immoral force that seeks to make an America founded on despair, suffering and tension the future. They are spitting on Hamilton, Madison and Jay and The Federalists Papers, the notion that ambition should be tempered by ambition. This is fundamental to any pursuit of democracy. Our culture is falling, and falling fast because of blind ambition.
In The Doubloon chapter of Moby Dick, Ahab pauses before his equatorial coin and says,
There is something ever egotistical in mountain-tops and towers, and all other grand and lofty things; look here, –three peaks as proud as Lucifer. The firm tower, that is Ahab; the volcano, that is Ahab; the courageous, the undaunted, and victorious fowl, that, too, is Ahab; all are Ahab, and this round gold is but the image of the rounder globe, which, like a magician’s glass, to each and every man in turn but mirrors back his own mysterious self. Great pains, small gains for those who ask the world to solve them; it cannot solve itself.
Here we have it, Ahab the Goldman broker. Extraordinary narcissism willed onto the value of a gold coin that will be, for “each and every man,” a “mirror” that will serve as a vessel to be filled with our fantasies. This is how we get ourselves into trouble. This is the prescription for overvaluation.
“I see nothing here,” says Ahab to his crew on the Pequod, “but a round thing made of gold, and whoever raises a certain whale, this round thing belongs to him. So, what’s this staring been about? It is worth sixteen dollars, that’s true; and at two cents the cigar, that’s nine hundred and sixty cigars. I won’t smoke dirty pipes like Stubb, but I like cigars, and here’s nine hundred and sixty of them; so here goes Flask aloft to spy ‘em out.”
The deck of the Pequod is the trading floor on Wall Street. Only to gain his aim, Ahab mistakes the mathematics. But this doesn’t matter because the crew–America–is suddenly moved, fixated on the vision Ahab gives them through the inflated value of the doubloon, its gold shinning possibilities, uniqueness. It is a false utopia founded on stasis–keep the world as is, because in this world, I can then pursue my perversions.
This is where we stand today, right now, at the dawn of a new vote on the bail-out.
Yet the economic world has not ended. Skeptics recommend that Congress do nothing. Two-hundred economists have signed a petition protesting the bail-out.
Narayana Kocherlakota, of the University of Minnesota, calls the White House’s case an unconvincing one. “I think one of the reasons why so many people were signing that is the administration has not brought forward the information that would be compelling, that yes, we are facing economic Armageddon,” Kocherlakota says.
It’s evident that no one knows what’s right here; no one knows what the future holds.
But one thing is true: the current bailout is meant to soften the blow to those who have committed the most profound crimes against humanity, the destabilization of the human condition for the excessive profits of a very few people.
This history is long, though. It’s simply that those who cover the news and who are given the responsibility to address these issues have been laughing at the few who have been raising flags all along.
David Kay Johnson, the Pulitzer Prize winning reporter of The New York Times and author of Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You With the Bill), says that this is “business as usual.” And that it doesn’t matter who will be president next because we are still living–and experiencing–the Reagan Era. Tragic.
“We have created in the United States, largely in the last thirty years, a whole series of programs—a few of them explicit, many of them deeply hidden—that take money from the pockets of the poor and the middle class and upper middle class, “says Johnson, ” and funnel it to the wealthiest people in America.”
Is this the America defined by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay? Is this the America we want? What are we willing to do to right this ship?
“The drama’s done,” writes Melville. “Why then here does any one step forth?–Because one did survive the wreck.”
Will any one of us “survie the wreck” to be, like Job, “Alone to tell thee”?
America’s Future After an Obama Victory: Hope Hangs by a Thread
September 15, 2008 § 1 Comment
Disorder and uncertainty are the guiding principles of our world today, made more so by violent storms and the unpredictability of the environment, the mortgage crises and the constriction of world finances, and always war and the threat of more war and violence in different parts of the world. Instability reigns supreme.
The voting citizenry, almost too late, last minute, gives Obama a healthy victory.
What happened?
Some of the very wealthy–not all, the golf course set mostly–in the top 1 to 2% of the population, fearing a capital gains tax and estate taxes, vote for McCain believing that our national debt and growing financial uncertainty can be solved by reducing taxes, the myth of Republican Fiscal Conservatism. The golf course set turns its back on the history telling us that this has never worked.
The next socioeconomic rung (we begin to understand that we live in a class-based, racist society; see also the July/August The Atlantic) finally realizes that under every Republican presidency since Ronald Reagan, taxes have increased, the debt has mushroomed, defense spending has increased (so have loans to support defense/war), and the size of government–the business of government delving into the privacy of citizens–has grown to an uncontrollable size (and weight).
The working class is divided into two camps, one for McCain and one for Obama. The right wing extremists, the religious fundamentalist who reject science, civil liberties and the unity of knowledge known as consilience, which all thinking persons are beginning to understand as the way to bridge culture and science–and who likewise could never vote for a Black president (somehow this is appropriate for Christians)–vote for McCain (see election 2008, from Salon for interesting insights). (see also how the Republicans want to control the 21st Century, as reported to Terry Gross, Fresh Air)
Convincingly, though, Black America and the working class behind Hillary Clinton, better educated on the relationships between science, technology, evolution and the future that depends on our cooperation and collaboration, vote for Obama.
And finally, students and those commonly referred to as the “educational elite,” as opposed to the “political elite” and the “media elite,” but who also cross these rather bogus lines of demarcation made popular by the lackluster press insistent on reporting only the surface structure of things, vote overwhelmingly for Obama.
The citizenry thus awakens to the fact that from Henry Kissinger on, all those who are advising and working closely with the “Maverick” McCain are lobbyist of the strongest sort; all support and advocate special interests, which in reality has been the hallmark of the McCain campaign, made obvious by the selection of Sarah Palin, a puppet, we finally realize, propped up to excite the extremists that near the end of the campaign are worked up to a frenzy about abortion and (gay) marriage as if nothing else mattered.
The citizenry wakes up to the fact that the first presidential decision made by John McCain, the selection of Palin, puts the country at risk. As Bob Herbert, writing for The New York Times, said, “For those who haven’t noticed, we’re electing a president and vice president, not selecting a winner on ‘American Idol’.” We therefore realize that another 4 or 8 years of a continuation of a “Bush doctrine” and Republican control, which is unenlightened and uncreative, would put the country into a tail spin from which we might never recover.
Can we afford electing another half-wit from the bottom of his graduating class? Or should we try something different?
American Culture After an Obama Victory:
Many in America are worried. A Democratic intellectual, the first Black President, is elected. What will this mean?
The first challenge is cultural, societal.
We have to address the notion that we are divided–we are a divided country. For far too long many people have been kept from the seats of power; too many Americans lacking education and healthcare are disenfranchised. Now we are nervous that we are being asked to trust in a process of change without a light at the end of the tunnel–just trust. Trust the rhetoric. Trust the will of this new leader. Trust the judgment.
Where are we headed?
It is a nebulous time. People are scared and immediately following the election, the extreme right wing begins a relentless media attack against Obama, his policies and his ideas. It’s what the citizenry is used to–media instead of substance. The hopeful remain so, but hanging by a thread. The Clintons, and Al Gore, rally around Obama and Biden.
Wall Street is more optimistic, and since they’ve backed Obama all along, continue to their support.
But within the first 100 days, it’s the citizenry that awakens. Some, the older voters who supported Obama come to realize that they’ve heard this before, echoes of the JFK era (this doctrine was never finished; it never even got off the ground), and thus begin to take leadership positions in communities across the country pushing the notion that this election was NOT about Obama or McCain, but rather about what kind of country we want to work for. This becomes the rallying cry and Americans, slowly, some reluctantly, begin to understand that the bigger, faster, stuffed America of the past is not the way and that we must look elsewhere to find solutions.
We in fact have to look at ourselves for the solutions. Obama provides ideas and methods, processes and procedures, but we, the citizens, have to put our shoulders to the wheel–in America and across the world. Innovation is the only solution to change.
Imagination, will and determination, collaboration and cooperation, consilience, and humanity–these are the new words after the election which help us look at energy solutions, education and healthcare, and the wars. The shift in the American perspective begins within 100 days of Obama’s election–but not without war cries from the opposition entrenched in old models.
Energy Policy:
Moments after his inaugural address, Obama is pressed hard to drill for oil in Alaska. But he weathers the storm–some people, and oil companies (the Russians and the Venezuelans, too) get angry. It’s the intelligent thing to do, though. As Thomas Friedman says about drilling for oil, writing for The New York Times, “I’ll tell you what they would have been doing: the Russian, Iranian and Venezuelan observers would have been up out of their seats, exchanging high-fives and joining in the chant louder than anyone in the hall — “Yes! Yes! Drill, America, drill!” — because an America that is focused first and foremost on drilling for oil is an America more focused on feeding its oil habit than kicking it.”
What most people hadn’t realized is that Obama has surrounded himself, not with lobbyists (only one of his team members even resembles a lobbyist), but with experts in different areas–the environment, education and healthcare, defense, technology and so on. The drilling for oil controversy raises the curtain on how Obama is working to move the culture towards what we know–consilience–making this the beginning of an era that will rely on knowledge and information, rather than the gloss given by media and its pundits, usually advocating for one special interest group or another.
Linking energy to defense and the economy, Obama, with the help of Al Gore and his followers, begins to make it easier to invest in green technologies.
Eric Janszen for instance, “an angel investor and founder of the contrarian market website iTulip.com, which The New York Times credited with ‘accurately predicting that the [internet] bubble would pop.’ Now Janszen believes the American economy needs a fundamental restructuring away from its foundations in finance, insurance and real estate. His prescription: a new bubble based on green technologies.” (Also see Harpers, “The Next Bubble…”)
Literally, all sectors of the economy need to comply–the auto industry, oil and gas, building and construction, local governments, and so on. This calls for mass restructuring but it begins by engaging citizens about what is important. We reach out to other countries, such as the Netherlands, that have far outpaced our evolution into green technologies, and begin collaborative projects.
This is a slow, contentious process but it sends a message to the world that we are indeed operating quite differently than we have in the past. The price of oil stabilizes, though still high because of Chinese demand and because of environmental factors.
Education and Healthcare:
Education: This is a difficult area because the K-12 educational system has mushroomed into an unhealthy and unmanageable nightmare, particularly following the Bush era No Child Left Behind.
First off, Obama places an emphasis on early child care; then on strengthening the next rung. But it gets tricky after: The size of schools and teacher unions make it hard to change or modify existing–and complacent–practices. Obama encourages “innovation” in education, but it’s unclear what this means (I will write on this at another time, in The Uncanny, laying out the challenges and solutions for America’s disastrous educational system, which is, after all, all about class).
On a positive note–since this is going to be even slower then healthcare reform–Obama is calling forth for all citizens to be involved in the education of our children. This coincides with our citizen-roles post the Obama election; however, no sound plan has yet emerged, not in the first 100 days. Vouchers, magnate schools, private vs public, merit pay and accountability, innovation vs the status quo–all these points of contention remain and are the areas of specialization the Obama White House will have to address.
It is a truism that education reform, which is extremely necessary, will be the most painful domestic undertaking in the next 10 years, more painful than healthcare reform. Education is where we can gauge how the rest of the culture is working–another truism.
Healthcare: Healthcare and Education run side-by-side. The way of healthcare is the way of education. This is always true.
But Obama has promised that all Americans will have insurance comparable to that held by government employees. Obama and Biden begin by addressing disparities in healthcare coverage for Americans. This addresses their first theme, “Quality, Affordable and Portable Coverage for All.” A good idea, but insurance companies and pharmaceuticals push back–too much money to be made off illness.
Likewise lowering the costs by modernizing the U.S. Healthcare system–reducing costs of catastrophic illnesses, helping patients in numerous ways, ensuring providers deliver quality care across the board–is important and valuable, but other sectors of the economy have to grow and become healthier since this is an extraordinary expensive venture. And again, given the high cost of providing healthcare in this country, the profits enjoyed by pharmaceuticals and the salaries commanded by some doctors who fear making less and having to change lifestyles, there is significant push back. Obama considers Hillary Clinton’s role in this and she becomes a major policy contributor.
But perhaps the single most important, long term possibility exists in Obama’s plan to fight for new initiatives. Not unlike the environment–and what’s necessary in education and still missing–new advances in science and technologies, advances in biomedical research, as well as continued and renewed support for the fight against AIDS worldwide create an approach to healthcare based on a delicate balance between prevention, intervention and treatment–and this includes mental health care.
Foreign Policy:
To say that Obama and Biden inherit a nightmare is an understatement. The first item on the agenda is to move away from a Machiavellian approach to foreign policy, but which will reinstate the United States as a strong and competent ally.
Though Obama was accused of lacking experience during the campaign, his foreign policy approach calls for a bipartisan, consensus building journey of renewal. The problem has been that the carrot and stick approach has not worked, so we must find new or different ways. Obama calls for more dialog, even with “enemies,” thus enabling us to have better grasp of the challenges ahead–something totally alien to the Bush Administration, which would have been the policy followed by McCain.
The key to Obama’s plan is bipartisanship and an open approach, this way we can all contribute to the complex world we all live in. Diplomacy must be used first and foremost, and it’s the only way to continue a relationship with, say, Iraq, since within 11 or so months after taking office, troops leave and only a small group remains for consulting and training.
But the biggest mess is Afghanistan, particularly following the increase in violence and attacks into Pakistan–and Iran–perpetuated by the Bush Administration between September and the end of December of 2008. Pakistan has become hostile to the US for the attacks; likewise, the country has become increasingly unstable.
While bringing troops out of Iraq, Obama and Biden must stabilize rising insurgency in Afghanistan, as well as the instability in Pakistan. This is the new front. It has of course always been there, but the Bush Administration–which McCain supports–kept it off the front burner until moments before the presidential election.
Summary:
Thi is a citizen’s election–our electin; it is about how we feel about our country and in what direction we want to go. Nothing more, nothing less. It is clear that an Obama victory brings challenges. This is because he, unlike McCain, is asking that we participate, that we involve ourselves in our domestic as well as global problems. We can’t do this any other way.
McCain, on the other hand, is a salesman doing the two-step around a faulty model–we’ve been here. It’s true, during the last 8 years we’ve allowed a failed student, a failed businessman, and a rather unsuccessful governor rule our country. Bush boasts about his place at Yale, a place that was held for him not because he earned it, but because his family gave it to him. The same holds true for McCain. He graduated 5th from the bottom at the US Naval Academy, a place guaranteed him by his father. McCain went on to destroy 5 aircraft. At one point killing over 100 people on an aircraft carrier; his flight fitness report described him as “less than average.” But he went on to be given the honor of being a flight instructor. How does that happen? Daddy, family, the business as usual of privilege. Yes, he suffered greatly and he acted with great honor in Vietnam. Unfortunately, these are not qualifiers for the presidency. McCain is no maverick, this is obvious; he has been a part of the privileged mainstream, which awards blood not merit.
Isn’t it time we tried something else, please, for our sake this time?
