This condition represents an utter failure of the imagination, and therefore the startling "success' of the regressive framing effort. This limitation of what is conceivable and the concomitant diminishing of expectations is the greatest triumph of right-wing marketing, and it's Orwellian to its core. What makes it especially startling is that the alternatives in question are so commonsensical and so proximate in real life form, and yet even some progressives in America have been trained to lower their expectations enough to ignore the existence of these ideas and models. What could be more basic than removing gushing profits and massive bureaucratic waste from a country's healthcare system, especially one that is groaning so clangorously under the burdens of runaway costs? What could be easier to figure out than nationalized healthcare, when every other developed country in the world already does it? And yet such ideas were nowhere remotely near consideration throughout these long months of tortuous negotiations over "reform' of what actually amounts to the care of corporate health in America. And yet even the most pathetic feints in the direction of real solutions a public option or the extension of Medicare benefits were immediately dispatched with, so that the profiteers' victory could be unequivocally complete.
Military spending is another excellent example. This country drops twice as much on "defense' as what is spent by every other country in the world combined, and we do that despite having not a single state enemy (you know, the kind you could actually use such a military against) anywhere on the horizon. And we do that despite having a nuclear deterrent arsenal that means sure suicide for anyone stupid enough to invade America or even seriously provoke the country. But even if none of that were true, and even if we were spending just a little bit more than necessary for national defense, what might one logically expect of the character of political debate in a country that cannot afford to educate its students, cannot provide healthcare for its citizens, and cannot maintain its infrastructure? What about in a country that cannot do those things, and which also happens to be so deeply in the hole financially that the Treasury Department has been relocated to the floor of the Pacific Ocean? What would you expect to see in a country like that? Perhaps a wee discussion of spending those bucks a bit differently? Would that be so bizarre?
And yet, do we see such a conversation about reducing these obscene expenditures anywhere on the political landscape? Can anyone name a mainstream politician who advocates these views? Can anyone find a major political party saying we need to cut defense spending in half so that we "only' spend as much as all the other 195 countries of the world combined and then use the proceeds to provide healthcare for all?
This failure of the imagination demonstrates better than anything else the full measure of our political impoverishment. What can you say to a country so far gone that it not only cannot swerve the car even as head-on collision with a speeding freight train is only seconds away but cannot even imagine swerving it?
"Good night and good luck" certainly comes to mind. But little else.
There are a few signs of hope, of course. Americans at least know enough to know that we're not doing well, which is more than you can say for the good folks of Oceania. We recognize that both major political parties are worthless, though I don't think we quite understand why. We were sensible enough to vote for what was advertised as "change' in the last presidential election. But not sensible enough to demand that we actually got it after inauguration day.
And we're also not smart enough to understand why we're dissatisfied with what we've got. But then, how could we be if watching "the psychedelic crash-drama "Lost'" on television is more important than the biggest single night of the year on the calendar of our national political discourse? And what an appropriate show to hold out for, eh? Could it get any better than "Lost"? I dunno. Is there a show out there called "Lost, Stupid and Too Lazy to Stop Getting Punked", perhaps?
Our problem isn't that the Obama administration is socialist, but rather that it is a captive of the worst elements of capitalism.
Our problem isn't that our politicians make awful decisions that have nothing to do with advancing our interests, but rather that we keep tolerating politicians who do that.
Our problem isn't that we chose the wrong ideological alternative, but rather that we have so little to choose from.
Indeed, our deepest problem is that we can't even imagine anymore that there could be real choice.
But, hey: Shhhhh!
You're not allowed to say that.
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