Thank you, Thom, for another thoughtful article. You are always spot on.
It is no accident that the time the right wants us to return is before the Internet. The Internet is where religious fundamentalism goes to die. It is where propaganda thrives. It is also where the corruption is on full display, with countering narratives that spin e…
Thank you, Thom, for another thoughtful article. You are always spot on.
It is no accident that the time the right wants us to return is before the Internet. The Internet is where religious fundamentalism goes to die. It is where propaganda thrives. It is also where the corruption is on full display, with countering narratives that spin either right or left.
I don't disagree with the right that our government is corrupt. It has been so since the beginning, going into overdrive after the Civil War,, as Thom's books and other writings have shown. As an analyst I worked on integrating the Bureau of Land Management computer systems into one coherent system, rather than a collection of resource fiefdoms. This effort met with tremendous resistance because, often with personal attacks. I suspected there was all sorts of hanky-panky going on between government land managers and oligarchs, especially in the field of fossil fuels mined on public lands. Honest to God, the government "feather merchants" argued endlessly about what time/date format should be used in tagging activities. This and other meaningless arguments were meant to delay if not outright tank the move towards efficiency and transparency. I doubt other agencies are any "cleaner." Thus it has always been.
But people didn't see the corruption so they think, for example, the 50's were much better. Ignorance is bliss, of course. "Let's go back to a time when things were better," is code for "Let's go back to a time when I didn't know about the corruption and so didn't get outraged about it." Three channels controlled the TV news and each community had a newspaper that selectively reported. Women knew their place and families with five kids or more were the norm. Yes, things were better when women were in the home, caring lovingly for their families and building community. That’s the mythology, but was mostly only afforded to upper middle class or wealthy families. It wasn’t better for women who wanted other roles. The oligarchs on the right have created a situation where women MUST work outside the home for their families to live and their children to be educated. This is blamed on feminists and the left, but it has been created whole-cloth by the right. I doubt the woman standing 10 hours a day, plucking chickens for Tysons feels she prefers that work to being home with the kids. The right doesn't really want us in the home; they want us working menial jobs, not professional endeavors,
So the right sees the corruption, but the "solutions" they propose are based on mythology and only further the corruption in the worst ways imaginable. And, as per the usual, relies on repression.
SuZie, very well said. I've lived through the so called Golden Age. Yes. I knew nothing of what you ably explained. I, on the other hand, remember a time when Blue Cross was a life saver. No waiting on the phone through endless robotic messages. No fear that the bills would not be paid. No fear that you would only be able to see a specialist once a year or young doctors would have a maximum of 40 minutes with you. No fear that our brightest students would shy away from going into medicine, because of reimbursement and a receptionist interfering with the care they provided. I also remember a time when AT&T was a utility that served the public. When it was broken up into the BABY BELLS, peoples bills skyrocketed. XFINITY is a a racket that should have been investigated long ago. Basic cable costs over $200 per mo. Promises made and promises broken. I could go on but you get my drift. I am sure you're correct about how our news was filtered, but now it is hard to separate propaganda from good journalism, unless, of course, you subscribe to a newsletter like this.
There's always a certain amount of "This costs what?" amongst my age group (70.) But we have two generations who never experienced what a fair and equitable economy looks like. I really feel for my millennial kids. My late husband liked Pendleton wool shirts because they lasted forever, but last time we tried to buy one, he went ballistic at the price. My grandparents house had a $60 per month mortgage - about $700 now. Nobody can get a home for that kind of money any more. I remember my mother being in awe when a lawyer friend paid $40K for a home. "OMG! It's a mansion! You should see it." As a fraction of the man's income, it was about 15%.
Are you saying America can't afford what I experienced in my youth? Could it be that corporate billionaires who have bought up all these homes you're talking about and resold them at outrageous prices are absolved? How did we allow Walmart to displace small business owners? Pendleton can't compete with Walmart or Amazon. Our laws regarding monopolies have been ignored. Since FDR's policies went into effect, corporatists have been trying to revitalize the Robber Barron era. They have eliminated competition, bribed judges and congress to achieve their ends. Citizen's United has put these people in power. Elon Musk took full advantage the gov't gave him to build businesses that can now dictate economic and political policy to gov't. The Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation didn't just arrive overnight. They have been organizing and mobilizing for decades. People have been asleep at the switch. We are in the present fix, because of our own making.
I grew up in that idealic time where my Father became permanently invalid from his job at Lockead and couldn't collect disability because the doctors said he could work one day a week (and was in excruciating pain afterwards) so my Mother had to support the family instead. She worked for the University of CA System and was at the top of her professional skills when they asked her to train a young guy who she found out was making more money than she was. She complained to management and the Union. They replied he needed to make more to support a family. She said he was single and she was actually supporting a family. Nothing changed. The 1950s were crap.
My dad was a non-functioning alcoholic. He'd work from time to time in sales and when young, chased the oil well dream, doing the "Double Shuffle 'Round the 10 Inch Hole." As they say, "a man takes a drink and the drink takes the man." I don't know how mom fed us. We were repeatedly evicted and moved from place to place. In those days there was no way to track deadbeat renters, which we were. We'd move in, not pay any rent other than that required to get into a place and then wait for eviction. There were no jobs for a woman with five kids - no day care....no way out. And we were white; the black people had it even worse. Sometimes the church would bring a couple bags of groceries (things others didn't want.) These groceries were always accompanied by a stern lecture exhorting her stay with her drunk of a husband. We were grateful for the food, though. Dad was theoretically capable of working, so no social services support. The 50's did indeed suck for most of us.
Thank you, Thom, for another thoughtful article. You are always spot on.
It is no accident that the time the right wants us to return is before the Internet. The Internet is where religious fundamentalism goes to die. It is where propaganda thrives. It is also where the corruption is on full display, with countering narratives that spin either right or left.
I don't disagree with the right that our government is corrupt. It has been so since the beginning, going into overdrive after the Civil War,, as Thom's books and other writings have shown. As an analyst I worked on integrating the Bureau of Land Management computer systems into one coherent system, rather than a collection of resource fiefdoms. This effort met with tremendous resistance because, often with personal attacks. I suspected there was all sorts of hanky-panky going on between government land managers and oligarchs, especially in the field of fossil fuels mined on public lands. Honest to God, the government "feather merchants" argued endlessly about what time/date format should be used in tagging activities. This and other meaningless arguments were meant to delay if not outright tank the move towards efficiency and transparency. I doubt other agencies are any "cleaner." Thus it has always been.
But people didn't see the corruption so they think, for example, the 50's were much better. Ignorance is bliss, of course. "Let's go back to a time when things were better," is code for "Let's go back to a time when I didn't know about the corruption and so didn't get outraged about it." Three channels controlled the TV news and each community had a newspaper that selectively reported. Women knew their place and families with five kids or more were the norm. Yes, things were better when women were in the home, caring lovingly for their families and building community. That’s the mythology, but was mostly only afforded to upper middle class or wealthy families. It wasn’t better for women who wanted other roles. The oligarchs on the right have created a situation where women MUST work outside the home for their families to live and their children to be educated. This is blamed on feminists and the left, but it has been created whole-cloth by the right. I doubt the woman standing 10 hours a day, plucking chickens for Tysons feels she prefers that work to being home with the kids. The right doesn't really want us in the home; they want us working menial jobs, not professional endeavors,
So the right sees the corruption, but the "solutions" they propose are based on mythology and only further the corruption in the worst ways imaginable. And, as per the usual, relies on repression.
SuZie, very well said. I've lived through the so called Golden Age. Yes. I knew nothing of what you ably explained. I, on the other hand, remember a time when Blue Cross was a life saver. No waiting on the phone through endless robotic messages. No fear that the bills would not be paid. No fear that you would only be able to see a specialist once a year or young doctors would have a maximum of 40 minutes with you. No fear that our brightest students would shy away from going into medicine, because of reimbursement and a receptionist interfering with the care they provided. I also remember a time when AT&T was a utility that served the public. When it was broken up into the BABY BELLS, peoples bills skyrocketed. XFINITY is a a racket that should have been investigated long ago. Basic cable costs over $200 per mo. Promises made and promises broken. I could go on but you get my drift. I am sure you're correct about how our news was filtered, but now it is hard to separate propaganda from good journalism, unless, of course, you subscribe to a newsletter like this.
There's always a certain amount of "This costs what?" amongst my age group (70.) But we have two generations who never experienced what a fair and equitable economy looks like. I really feel for my millennial kids. My late husband liked Pendleton wool shirts because they lasted forever, but last time we tried to buy one, he went ballistic at the price. My grandparents house had a $60 per month mortgage - about $700 now. Nobody can get a home for that kind of money any more. I remember my mother being in awe when a lawyer friend paid $40K for a home. "OMG! It's a mansion! You should see it." As a fraction of the man's income, it was about 15%.
Are you saying America can't afford what I experienced in my youth? Could it be that corporate billionaires who have bought up all these homes you're talking about and resold them at outrageous prices are absolved? How did we allow Walmart to displace small business owners? Pendleton can't compete with Walmart or Amazon. Our laws regarding monopolies have been ignored. Since FDR's policies went into effect, corporatists have been trying to revitalize the Robber Barron era. They have eliminated competition, bribed judges and congress to achieve their ends. Citizen's United has put these people in power. Elon Musk took full advantage the gov't gave him to build businesses that can now dictate economic and political policy to gov't. The Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation didn't just arrive overnight. They have been organizing and mobilizing for decades. People have been asleep at the switch. We are in the present fix, because of our own making.
I grew up in that idealic time where my Father became permanently invalid from his job at Lockead and couldn't collect disability because the doctors said he could work one day a week (and was in excruciating pain afterwards) so my Mother had to support the family instead. She worked for the University of CA System and was at the top of her professional skills when they asked her to train a young guy who she found out was making more money than she was. She complained to management and the Union. They replied he needed to make more to support a family. She said he was single and she was actually supporting a family. Nothing changed. The 1950s were crap.
My dad was a non-functioning alcoholic. He'd work from time to time in sales and when young, chased the oil well dream, doing the "Double Shuffle 'Round the 10 Inch Hole." As they say, "a man takes a drink and the drink takes the man." I don't know how mom fed us. We were repeatedly evicted and moved from place to place. In those days there was no way to track deadbeat renters, which we were. We'd move in, not pay any rent other than that required to get into a place and then wait for eviction. There were no jobs for a woman with five kids - no day care....no way out. And we were white; the black people had it even worse. Sometimes the church would bring a couple bags of groceries (things others didn't want.) These groceries were always accompanied by a stern lecture exhorting her stay with her drunk of a husband. We were grateful for the food, though. Dad was theoretically capable of working, so no social services support. The 50's did indeed suck for most of us.