As I stood in line for coffee on the morning after election night, a Democratic Party supporter ahead of me in line said, "Thank God this country is finally switching trains."
If only that were true.
On Election Day 2006, the U.S. public didn't switch trains but simply ratified a different group of conductors.
It's the same old train, on the same tracks, heading in the same direction.
This isn't an argument that there are never any meaningful differences between politicians; sometimes it does matter who is giving the orders on the train. But on this day after the morning-after, it's crucial for those with a critical perspective to highlight that this train -- contemporary U.S. society -- is barreling forward toward disaster, no matter who's punching tickets.
Here's the unavoidable reality: Our train is on an unsustainable course in cultural, political, economic, and ecological terms. In a predatory corporate capitalist economy in an imperial state -- a system that values the concentration of wealth and power, and devalues people -- certain things are inevitable:
--Our deepest values concerning justice and solidarity will be undermined by the anti-human values of capitalism and empire. --Truly democratic politics, in which ordinary people have a meaningful role, will be subverted the concentration of wealth. --An increasingly fragile economy mired in self-indulgent deficit and debt, with an artificially inflated currency, will start to collapse when our military and political power are unable to keep the rest of the world in line. --The ability of a finite planet to sustain life as we know it will diminish dramatically in a system based on fantasies of unlimited growth marked by the glorification of domination.
The train moves forward, as the vast majority of Democrats and virtually all Republicans avoid these realities. Where can such a train take us? Pick your metaphor.
--It could be that the train tracks end at a cliff, or --it might be that the train is heading for a brick wall, or --perhaps the train will derail along the way, or --maybe the tracks will simply end abruptly and the train will run into the ground.
If we don't take radical action relatively soon, every ending we can imagine is likely to be brutal and violent, deadly not only for most of the world's population but also for the non-human world. This isn't irrational apocalypticism but a rational approach to the evidence in front of us. No one can predict how this will play out, but it will most certainly play out ugly unless we change the trajectory.
Many who would agree in some fashion with such an assessment will say, "Yes, but at least electing Democrats might slow down the train." With a reactionary right-wing Republican Party in total control, the train is hurtling forward at 100 miles per hour, according to this position, but with Democrats in charge the train might slow down to 90 miles per hour.
Theoretically they could, though I hear little coming from Democratic Party leaders that suggests they will pursue policies that will significantly turn from an unsustainable capitalism or a profoundly immoral empire. Instead, they talk of different strategies and tactics for managing those systems.
But, for the sake of argument, let's assume that Democratic Party rule could slow down the train and buy us more time. If nothing is done to change the direction of the train, the end remains the same. So, the important question is, what can we do with that time -- not off in an abstract future, but now?
The small amount of time we might gain will be meaningful only if we confront the harsh reality that the systems that shape our world -- capitalism and empire, rooted in white supremacy and patriarchy -- are fundamentally bankrupt and indefensible, yet deeply rooted in our culture.
When I make this point, I'm often told by liberals and progressives that I'm not being realistic, that ordinary people won't listen to such analysis. That's not my experience. When I have tried to articulate this worldview in plain language in recent political talks, I have found that a growing number of people not only will listen but are hungry for such honesty.
Of course not everyone agrees -- not anywhere near the number needed for a mass movement right now, and certainly not a majority -- but one wouldn't expect that in this affluent society in which many people are still insulated from the consequences of these systems. But more and more people, from many sectors of society, are facing these realities, and we are searching for a community in which to confront this together.
Robert Jensen is a journalism professor at the University of Texas at Austin and board member of the Third Coast Activist Resource Center. His latest book, All My Bones Shake: Radical Politics in the Prophetic Voice, will be published in 2009 by Soft Skull Press. He also is the author of Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity (South End Press, 2007); The Heart of Whiteness: Confronting Race, Racism and White Privilege (City Lights, 2005); Citizens of the Empire: The Struggle to Claim Our Humanity (City Lights, 2004); and Writing Dissent: Taking Radical Ideas from the Margins to the Mainstream (Peter Lang, 2002). Jensen's articles can be found online at http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~rjensen/index.html.
The significance of the elections 2006 is not in what party won but what kind of people won or lost. New faces are good faces: Minnesota first Moslem and MA first black Governor for instance. At the same time, the GOP 'new blood', the ultraconservative 'chromium boys' and nutty bitches like Harris did not get through. Wall St. reacted favorably and that is a sign that big money does not want idiocy. New faces in Washington have a blessing of the Daz Capital and that is all what matters.
We have to have some humility, if I may suggest to all of us. Of course, the people had spoken but the show is still run by big boys. The good thing is that big boys are still human and they still care. We have to acknowledge that. And guess what- it is our train. Ir might get to Carson City or to the precipice but we are all in it together. Thus we first let the big boys change the conductors and then we should replace the mad engineer and then we should painstakenly send a rep in front to find out where we are going. That is because even a very powerful train can be blown up by a small mine on the road planted by those who does not like a stranger train roaming around. We have to convince them that we are not strangers but a part of that road. Big job and we most likely will not see the results in our lifetime. But our current crowd is surely nicer than before.
by
Mark Sashine (51 articles, 19 quicklinks, 244 diaries, 3462 comments)
on Thursday, November 9, 2006 at 7:53:20 AM
In response to the four main points above, I would like to see us:
Start talking about Natural Capitalism, as in the book of that title, by Lovins, Lovins, and Hawken, wherein capitalists are held to their own accounting principles, which include consideration of the irreplacable natural capital of the planet's ecosystems. And break out the already existing ideas of how we may get from here to there, as described in that book. The late Dave Brower called it the most important book of the century, since it clearly outlines how to make the transition to a sustainable society.
Roll out the progressive income tax, as progressive Dems have already talked about. Begin discussion about why this is a good idea, and point out how the wealthy: 1) could not get where they are without the context of the rest of society; 2) need to "fertilize the garden," rather than just plundering it, for the long-term benefit of themselves and their progeny; 3) are creating albatrosses for their own lives after collecting so many status symbols.
Convert swords into plowshares. Boot up the military conversion project, that was initiated decades ago. Given that over half our federal taxes go to a military that is so bloated it literally has less mobility than a caveman, there is vast potential for improvement. Start weighing the costs and benefits of waging peace vs. waging war, making friends vs. making enemies. The overwhelming majority of people everywhere really do want to get along.
Support Zero Population Growth, Negative Population Growth, and/or Rapid Population Decline. Praise, support, and encourage religious and political leaders who advocate these ideas, and initiate them in our own lives, as many of us already have.
I agree that such approaches cannot promise political transformation in the short-term. But with a little luck, we might slow the train down, bring it to a halt, disembark with the realization that we are indeed the same species, and perhaps, at long last, join the revolution-of the earth around the sun.
by
Daniel Geery (26 articles, 58 quicklinks, 121 diaries, 690 comments)
on Thursday, November 9, 2006 at 8:36:10 AM
3 comments
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