Just came back from The Europe Place, having wandered about with family in tow (and vice versa), mainly making our way through Barcelona and Scotland, two cities steeped in history and art, drenched with passion and pride.
These are mature places, the denizens going about their business not as material-obsessed drones but as active participants in their respective cultures, able and articulate representatives of their countries. They are places whose maturity has enabled them to achieved a sort of balance of all the disparate elements which otherwise might threaten to swamp a national psyche and make it an unreasoning, destructive presence in the international sociopolitical scheme. In other words, it's nice there! (A side note: if the Earth is ever invaded by aliens, just send in some Scots. Those aliens -- or what's left of them -- will be limping back to their home planet within a few hours.).
And from that objective geographical perspective, I saw America from a, whattayou call it? Ah, yes: a parallax view (Another side note: great film by Warren Beatty by the same name. See it, why don't you?).
And fellow travelers I'm telling you, to understand the state of our own union, it's a view that really needs to be seen.
For, to return home from being abroad is to see America as it is and marvel at the mess it's become, like looking at a celebrity from a strictly verboten angle and seeing the scars, the stitches, the ooze. Which I myself have done, but never before a meal.
And one sees most clearly the utterly biased corporate media using all manner of cannily manipulative techniques to corral the nation towards its own selfish aim: to ensure profit at the expense of people. And one sees this only after having been removed from the sheep-dip that is American corporate media submersion. Only it's not parasites being cleansed from the sheep's wool, it's the ability to know when the wool's been pulled over its eyes.
With its wisdom-inducing culture and history either being utterly corrupted or safely swept into a dark closet, the corporate hooligans have been putting a price on every pixel of available cultural real estate. When the forces of greed -- in collusion with zealously right-wing ideologues -- openly decry education, diversity, tolerance, and instead embrace superstition, violence and social division, what choice would Americans have? They turn to noxious tripe for their intellectual, spiritual and psychological nourishment, an electronic barrage of easily learned and regurgitated talking points, knee-jerk inducing imagery, streams of provocative bromides and an encouragement to embrace a low-brow revisionism. Hours and hours of glitzy talent shows and round-the-clock tabloid journalism can only lead to "Ow My Balls!" (And a third side note: the movie "Idiocracy". Watch it after "The Parallax View". And then, by all means, get drunk.)
From a geographically remote perspective, the tableau is that of a nation of lambs, utterly spooked, malleable and misled.
And as the tenth anniversary of 9/11 approaches with the grim solemnity of a military adjutant coming up the walk to tell a mother her son has been killed in action, I can't help feeling that the corporate fascists have knowingly exploited the overwhelming trauma of that moment in order to make inroads to cold, callous profit; that maybe even they themselves were similarly overwhelmed by the toxic shock that racked the nation, the overload burning out whatever vestigial decency they may have possessed, leaving them as numb and unfeeling as those who were actually there or who knew and lost people who were.
But don't take my word for it. Travel. And see the view for yourself.
It's perfectly parallactic.
Follow Steven Weber on Twitter: www.twitter.com/TheStevenWeber
america is seriously overweight and ill informed.
i saw the footage from iowa.
think i'll pass on the fried butter.
Mr. W., as you are suggesting movies to watch,
might I include the documentary, "The Tillman Story",
the best movie I've seen in a while.
It really exposes the crooks and liars.
If I had any money, I would be in Europe or Canada. I used to visit, back when I had a job. It would be nice to have a job again. A place to live would be nice too. health care? I remember we used to have that. Long time ago, when I had a job.
Ahhh, I get it. You just don't know enough and aren't cultured enough to understand that you are being deceived. So sorry for you. You need to get out more.
Yeah, I get it allright. You can keep your condescending attitude and send it back to "The Europe Place".
This means that most of our countrymen/women do not have the advantage of seeing our magnificent country from a different perspective. Instead, they view our country through the prism that is presented by the corporate media. They think the Australian Murdoch is telling the truth rather than figuring out how to maximize his profit (and break the law). They think that "journalists" are reporting truth and information, rather than customizing events to fit a pre scripted narrative.
Tea baggers believe that being a patriot means dressing up, conflating macro and micro economics and patting themselves on the back. They do not understand who the founding fathers were and how they managed to debate the complexities of forming an new type of government...one that had never been done before. They, instead, eat the pablum of oversimplification. And attack immigrants who come here because, from their foreign perspective, they recognize what makes us great!
We cannot see ourselves, only the commercials about ourselves. This does not bode well for our future. It is not moral decay that will bring reduce this country, rather, it will be the lies.
oooh, that is rich. Very well put. Noted and fanned!
1. http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/02/only_30_percent.php
According to a new report from the Office of Travel and Tourism Industries, only 30 percent of Americans currently have a valid passport.
2. http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2007-04-02-passport-record_N.htm 27% of americans have a passport as of June 2008.
3. the most recent statistics put out by the U.S. State Department suggest the number is closer to 30% Monday, October 20, 2008 BY Katy Steinmetz
4. From this article http://www.mobilisa.com/highlights/newsA…"Only about 23% of Americans own a passport and only 10% of those actually leave the country"
5. http://www.theexpeditioner.com/2010/02/17/how-many-americans-have-a-passport-2/ The number of Americans who have a passport, according to the most recent statistics issued by the State Department in January of 2011, is 114,464,041.Given the country’s population of 307,006,550, about 37% of the population has one, nearly 2 out of 3 Americans can’t even fly to Canada
So if my assumption was flawed, it was that 7 of 10 (rather than 8 of 10) Americans do not hold passports and are not able to view our country from an outside perspective.
True enough, a "vacation" likely wouldn't provide a very in depth view of the "real life issues and problems in a Country", but it likely would provide an opportunity to get a sense of the basic attitudes and concerns of some of the "regular citizens". I didn't get the impression that Mr. Weber made any claim to anything more than that.
Lenin was correct: A Capitalist will sell you the rope you use to hang him.
DisgustedYankee
If you look back historically starting with Reagan who wanted a small to non-existent federal government, the policy direction of ALL presidents including "Dems" Clinton and Obama has been right-leaning. Clinton's administration tore down Glass-Steagall. Rubin paved the way for unregulated derivatives trading and weakened SEC oversight. Obama offered to cut Social Security and has continued most Bush policies including the Patriot Act that sanctions torture as a legitimate interrogation technique. Planned Parenthood has been obliterated. Wade v. Roe will be overturned. Rendition is still utilized.
Holistically, the continuum of right leaning social policies (plus corporate monetary plundering/profiteering) has not been disrupted regardless of what party's candidate is elected president. Your mention of the Supreme Court in 2000 supports my point - why WAS Bush given the nod over Gore who had the popular vote? Why did Gore walk away? Bush was the favorite of the moneyed, power elite and his family's enormous influence goes way back. He was the designated President, not Gore who despite having more support ended up losing.
Note: Before I launch into this discussion, I just want to say; Steven, the only thing that could improve upon your excellent prose, are the wonderful discussions that it engenders. Once again, my humble thanks for your considerable contribution to our Public Discourse.
That said, I feel I must "nitpick" on a couple of points, before moving on to more academic discussion.
"Reagan who wanted a small to non-existent federal government", should read; Reagan WHO SAID he wanted a small to non-existent federal government".
"In fact, the budget grew significantly under Reagan. All he managed to do was moderately slow its rate of growth. What's more, the number of workers on the federal payroll rose by 61,000 under Reagan. (By comparison, under Clinton, the number fell by 373,000.) "
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2001/0301.green.html
"Obama offered to cut Social Security"
"The story overshoots the runway," said a senior administration official. "The President said in the State of the Union that he wanted a bipartisan process to strengthen Social Security in a balanced way that preserves the promise of the program and doesn't slash benefits."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/07/social-security-cuts-debt_n_892070.html
Sad.
Best seen, as some Scots seem to have discovered, from the perspective of the paralytic.
Free parrallactics all around, courtesy of your local Planned Coherenthood Organization.