Wrong Mistakes and Optimism

I’m a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will. -- Antonio Gramsci

We made too many wrong mistakes. -- Yogi Berra

I think Obama as well as most other officials have fallen into a narcissistic despair (though him especially, due to the quite novel combination of stress factors he has faced and continues to face) and they have begun displacing their discomfort by attacking their base. Curiously enough, there is a general comparison between a government that distrusts its people and a boyfriend that has been dumped by his girlfriend. I feel that I say this with some authority because several of my friends have gone through breakups. Their exes will often distort reality in order to protect their egos and project their own immature shortcomings onto the other. Pardon my French, but I call "B.S." when veterans "For Peace" are arrested for "security" reasons. It is actually the irresponsibility on the part of the government and the corporate media that is endangering the country's security. Without unjust disparities in knowledge and power between people, there wouldn't be these kinds of shocks. I'm not proposing communism or a dictatorship of the proletariat, but I do believe in giving a fair chance for people to succeed, and the society is far from ideally structured for that to happen.

The most recent tax cuts package looked to me like a give-away to the Republicans, and who can be against child nutrition? Even the gun lovers supported the bill because they want a fresh crop of healthy recruits in the military (1 out of 4 children are "too fat to fight.") Obama is doing well in his policy of "change," but then again he's playing it very safe right now.

Setting aside the expected need for war, I don't think that they are worried in vain. I haven't been keeping as close an eye on politics as I would like because I am dealing with a fear of intellectual stagnation, though I suppose I should be on the lookout for emotional relapse as well. If my younger fellow nationals are going through the same thing, it doesn't surprise me that they would compensate for it with unhealthy lifestyles. However society shares a responsibility in helping them deal with the stress more constructively, preferably in less fattening and disease-causing ways. Considering that we are turning to alcohol and tobacco, I doubt serious change will happen soon without massive educational activism in some form or another, which might include changes in things as seemingly synonymous with the culture as the capitalism and consumerism.

There has been some encouraging news in these respects. The New York Times recently exposed a conflict of interest of a Congressman who supported the Honduran coup. (It has reinforced my confidence in Noam Chomsky's assertion that we tend to only support democracy when it is in our financial interest to do so and that it is generally a code-word for capitalism anyway.) Also, Newsweek is under new management and has begun printing thought-provoking articles for a change! However, I am slightly reserved in my hope because I think that the beliefs of these writers are so contorted and compartmentalized that they might be quite unaware when they appear to say something insightful. They might even do what Jon Stewart did once and walk back their criticisms of power (he retracted his allegation that dropping the atomic bomb was a crime).

I probably won't be content until the time comes when there is a massive protest in favor of civil liberties that is enough to provoke other kinds of responsible action a country in solidarity will take to protect its future and the dignity of its citizens. Now is certainly no time for our "indoor voices." Though the ruling class will certainly accuse radical libertarians of terrorism (as the earliest uses of the term come both from state officials referring to enemy nationals and internal dissidents), legitimate and responsible protest must continue if there is to be hope in undoing the harm that our nationalistic and imperialist hubris has resulted in. I don't believe that expecting Obama to fix things is a reasonable solution anymore, if it ever was in the first place.

However, as the proto-Anarchist philosopher Proudhon wrote, the state will be abolished after workers have organized themselves under their own law. The dismantling of the corporate stewardship of our economy should therefore be the primary goal of all those who seek to see the wishes of the struggling masses come to life. I feel his ideas are especially important to consider because they are being read by most of the hemisphere, though not us. The Latins have begun organizing themselves, and are achieving victories for their people that have far surpassed ours. Perhaps this will be fuel for continuing narcissistic traditions.