Last night, I finished the late Alan Bullock's magnificent book, Hitler and Stalin: Parallel Lives. It's a reminder that no matter how much one has studied a topic, he or she can have vast new landscapes opened by the best historians as tour-guides. The book was completed just as the Soviet empire that Stalin built was falling apart, and the moment was marked by the greatest hope. Yet Bullock also reminded us of the bloody paths that contingency can create, particularly when broad social, economic and cultural forces and destabilization ("history from below") are harnessed by evil genius ("history from above"). The book ends with a deeply moving coda of promise. But that comes after a thousand pages examining the two greatest mass murderers in history; worse, men who could move nations to do their killing.
I think about all this as we sit seemingly becalmed, summer opening. Americans could be forgiven a moment of desire for, as Frank Fukuyama put it, the end of history after the long standoff of the Cold War. But this is not 1989-90. Now we are a nation of simpletons in denial. Thus, President Obama could make a speech about Afghanistan where the media report it as if we're actually leaving this hopeless morass. He can say, "it's time to focus on nation-building here at home" but he lacks the conviction to build even one — just one — segment of true high-speed rail. We treat Randian ravings as serious policy options and allow the cruelest policies to be passed by those who also brandish their "Christian" values at every speech. One of our two major political parties' platforms is essentially based on returning America to the 1880s, without a frontier and with more than 300 million people in a complex society.
As I write this morning, I see headlines for stories saying the United States and its allies will "release 60 million barrels of oil to offset supply disruptions caused by unrest in Libya." And presumably also to help keep gas prices down for the trip to Wal-Mart (recent acquisition: the U.S. Supreme Court). And they note oil prices fell. I want to scream, "America uses 20 million barrels of oil every day and China is fast catching up, you fools! Prices are falling because of fears of a new recession!" But, in a calmer state, I think, maybe it's me. I don't understand the new rules of engagement:
1. Do not discuss climate change or peak oil, overpopulation, the death of the oceans, etc. etc. in the media or public square. If you must do so — a pesky study from imminent scientists or such drivel — be sure to give equal and respectful play to the "deniers." Be sure to leave the shrinking number of Americans paying attention even more confused.
2. Do worry intensely about "the debt" and "the deficit." But by no means discuss historically low tax rates and revenues, or the resources available to the richest nation in history. By all means inveigh against the "welfare queens" and other "takers" as you go off to pick up your food stamps, unemployment benefits, Social Security check or use Medicare, of which "government hands" must be kept off.
3. Do not mention the Military-Industrial Complex, its astounding cost, distortions of our policies or subversion of democratic government. It would make you sound like an unpatriotic socialist with no respect for "our men and women in uniform" and no service experience yourself — you know, somebody like Dwight David Eisenhower, five-star general and Liberator of Europe. No wonder Ike didn't wear a flag pin in his lapel.
4. Do look the other way as Mr. Obama gets America involved in wars in Libya and Yemen. These are small colonial spats, after all, and why does the Constitution matter — except for the parts of it that make America "a Christian nation" and the Second Amendment the only right that is absolute, trumping all others.
5. Join the cheering chorus about "free enterprise" and "economic freedom." Pay no attention to the men behind the curtain.
6. Don't be troubled when you read the occasional discomforting story in the newspaper. Remember, the "mainstream media" have a liberal bias. No wonder newspapers are dying. You will find the real truth in the comments section, or when you turn on Fox "News," talk radio or visit a conservative blog.
7. If you're a Democrat, remember the most important issues facing the country are the debt/deficit, over-regulation and "entitlements." The size of government must be cut. Investment such as high-speed rail is socialist, even communist — just look at western Europe and China. You must be civil and compromise.
8. Dogma is a wonderful thing. Thus, the loss of millions of jobs and persistent unemployment are a result of high taxes and regulation. What are libraries, parks, "government schools" or the availability of good college education to all but costly fluff? "Social compact"? That sounds like SOCIAL-ISM. Our men and women in uniform need to be in some 160 countries because might does make right, it's a dangerous world, and if we don't fight them over there (say, in Germany), we'll have to fight them here.
9. This is a Christian nation and the rich need to be richer because Jesus wants them that way, they are the elect. When Jesus said, "the poor you will always have with you…" this justifies policies liberals claim are harsh and immoral, but such moves are actually godly. The context of the comment was certainly not Jesus' trying to focus the apostles on the idea that they would not always have Him with them. Jesus never commanded his disciples to especially care for the poor, nor did he focus his ministry on them and eat with "sinners." Nor was the Lord's anger kindled in the Old Testament when Israel mistreated the poor, widows and orphans, and strangers. Liberals made that stuff up.
10. Do not read history. It is a liberal art.
Do you feel better now?
Toward the end of the book, Bullock notes what was then the breaking apart of Yugoslavia, reminding us that age-old divides are difficult to heal. And indeed, the War Between the States never ended. For now, the South has won, with some concessions given up when liberals briefly ran the country. God help us when reality really starts to tear apart this nation of boobs, charlatans, tattooed sociopaths and "I Got Mine" geezers.
Note to readers: Book and newspaper obligations are weighing on me, and I am considering doing Rogue once a week. I'd be interested in your feedback on this. Jim Kunstler can get away with it, but I'm no Jim Kunstler.
Jon, I am looking forward to a new book or two. As much as I enjoy this blog, an article once a week for a while is ok with me. Also maybe once a week you could suggest a one line topic and ask your followers to write on the topic. You know kinda like a professor!
I truly appreciate your efforts.
One explanation for Obama’s odd passivity in the face of our national decline is a bit of political jujitsu: he’s actually “leading from behind”. That is, he recognizes that the nation is now so fundamentally fragmented that instead of deploying his bully pulpit, he lets other partisans exhaust themselves in debate whereupon President Cool swoops in and brokers a deal. I’d like to believe he really is the Roadrunner and the Republicans are Wile E Coyote, but the lurid cartoon before us pretty much shows Obama capitulating at every cliff and railroad crossing.
The next capitulation will likely be the debt-ceiling hostage crisis. Republicans won’t agree to any tax hikes even though the Democrats have preemptively given up trillions in spending cuts (but not in Defense, or GOP-favored sectors like agribusiness, Big Oil, Big Pharma, or highway pork. No just “entitlements” and other social spending). As poker players, our team might as well be Belgium.
The crisis we’re facing is one specifically engineered by Republican practitioners of the political black arts. It’s about legitimacy. Do Democrats have any right to govern? After all, if their president is not even a native-born American and barely a Christian (if even that), why should citizens suffer his oppressive rule? Republicans, by contrast, are “real Americans”, putting “country first”, yet getting taxed to death so welfare queens and young strapping bucks can live high on the hog.
Ultimately, the problem is the president himself. Perhaps he thought that anyone named Barack Hussein Obama, Jr would not have to prove every day and in every way his flag-pinned Americanness. So instead of rallying the nation to a fundamental showdown with Republican nihilists, he co-opted his own base and “led from behind”. And Republicans understood exactly who they were dealing with at that point. Not only could he be rolled, he was cooperating with them in that very process.
Nothing excites fury and blood lust more than the idea that one’s own leader is weak. And so Republicans played their hand in two diametrically opposite ways. One is that Obama is a tyrant and the other is that Obama is a weakling. Or as Stephen Colbert put it, ” He’s Jimmy Carter with Hitler’s mustache”.
The aura of Weimar floats above our national circus as hideous clowns whip the masses into greater frenzies of loathing. Republicans compel our interest and fear with a phantasmagoria of scapegoats and sawdust villains. The 2012 election will be a day of reckoning and purgation. America shall be America once again! God help us all.
Once a week is fine, Jon . . and glad your paying gigs are demanding more time. As to the whole socio/eco/political morass, I’m intrigued by John Huntsman’s candidacy because there are signs he just MIGHT be an adult among the strident children. Perhaps he has hidden cojones?
Hidden cajones y esposa’s tambien?
I’ll miss the volume, just don’t do a column on Mondays. Any other day is fine, its just that Kunstler, Hedges, and Krugman all come out with columns on Monday. I don’t want to be a Johnny-come-lately.
I really thought that maybe the noise would have calmed down by now, but it’s rising with the next presidential election circus. No amount of pain or blathering has brought the Righteous to Enlightenment.
Follow your muse.
Once a week is great.
Love to hear more about Boeing as they are in PHX, SEA and LAX.
Your links are great as posted here and the ones you Tweet.
I’m very happy at your success and have learned much from your PHX history writing. Your blog has really got me considering the future which I spent little time wondering about before.
Cheers!
This blog needs a few contentious, acerbic trolls. There’s far too much reasoned thought and mutual respect here.
Twice a week is better but once a week is just fine.
We should all feel fortunate to read Pulitzer-worthy columns like this just once a week. Do what you must, Jon. Based on the comments thus far, it seems most Rogue readers appreciate what you’ve given us thus far, and will happily take what you can offer us in the future.
One of the most fascinating things about Rogue is the unwillingness of those with differing viewpoints to post comments. This is especially a contrast to my old blog at AzCentral, or even my current blog at the Seattle Times. The best we get is an argument between Soleri and PhxSUNSfan, both progressive urbanists (and these are good, don’t get me wrong).
Each post gets thousands of unique visitors from Arizona. My policy is only to take down the trolls that engage in personal attacks. Otherwise, this is an open forum. I wish the other side would weigh in. The best I can suggest is that you post a link to Rogue on a relevant AzCentral or New Times story — the earlier the better — and maybe we can draw a few in.
The morning weather forecast:From atop South Mountain at 6:00 AM
Hot; well that’s to be expected.
Pollution: Horrible, unfit for human breathing.
Visibility: Near zero(Pollution)
What has man done to this once pristine and beautiful desert? Polluted it. And
Made it unfit to inhabit!
cal, when I returned to Phoenix in 2007 after a few years hiatus, I went to climb Camelback again for the first time in a decade. What I saw astonished me. The brown cloud extended to every horizon. I immediately scurried down the slope, headed for the distant reaches of the Valley, and thereafter refused to reenter the soup. It is indeed unfit to inhabit. Those poor children.
Heh. If you’re writing hellfire posts like this one, well, then once a week can certainly be nourishment enough!
Great breakdown, and I’m going to check out Bullock’s book myself.
Matt Taibbi’s Michele Bachmann piece in the current Rolling Stone is necessary reading. See The Front Page for link.
I’ll confess I hate to see Talton’s output shrink. Maybe it’s the hypnosis of shared values but it makes life in this sadly alien environment tolerable if only for a few hours a week.
Many bloggers post haphazardly. Those that have a set schedule to their posts tend to focus my wandering eye. I also read Kunstler, The Oil Drum, Climate Progress, Calculated Risk, Steve Benen, Kevin Drum, Ezra Klein, Matt Yglesias, Paul Krugman and Andrew Sullivan when he isn’t slinging his mystical/libertarian bullshit. Some of them do short posts through the day, essentially quickie analyses on the fly. Nonetheless, their comment sections are often lively and contentious.
So, why read bloggers you already agree with? I get into this discussion with a friend who insists that reading for ideological confirmation is the worst thing an open mind can do. My counterargument is that there simply isn’t enough time to sift, analyze, sort and decide. Rather, you take writers whose work you know in order to approach the stadium-sized information dump with trained guides. Good polemicists are not hacks. They’re concerned with the truth and will admit mistakes or even crucial rethinking of their worldviews. There’s also a community here dedicated to critiquing one another’s ideas. Andrew Sullivan even dedicates an “award” named for Matt Yglesias that honors pundits for challenging their tribe’s dogma.
There are a few sites that are popular that I occasionally go to in order remind myself why this openness is crucial. When I see liberals shutting down debate and engaging in groupthink, I’m witnessing minds closing for the sake of solidarity. Firedoglake and Americablog are like this, and all-too often, The Daily Kos and Balloon Juice. We have to be free to think “out loud” because that’s the only dialectic that will midwife something close to truth.
I used to argue like a drunk in a barroom at AZCentral.com. Those days are over. I’d rather walk away now than blindly lash out at “idiots”. That Michele Bachmann piece describes just counterproductive this can be.
Now thats a mouth full and well said Soleri. Keep it coming