What I'm coming to realize is that there's no context available to me to help me understand national American politics. I keep imposing a foreign ideological paradigm on an American election and keep getting pissed-off that I don't understand.
Then I try to impose an American urban paradigm of WINNING on what's essentially a suburban and rural election and I keep getting pissed-off that I don't understand.
I tried to view the Obama experience through the lens of my less fortunate forebears. But none of it made sense.
That's hardly Barack Obama's fault.
So, given that it's my fault, how am I supposed to understand it?
Near as I can figure it's a question of media and buzz. The winning and losing barely matters, to say nothing of the ideas which seem to be completely irrelevant. The question is what image and theme have currency in that moment. It's what George Lois called living in "the context of no context."
I think at the relatively young age of 46, I have been completely passed-by by American politics. I'm old-fashioned.
I don't live in America anymore and now that I think about it my whole family has barely lived in America all that long.
So, any European or foreign notion of a progressive social democratic republic in America, I think I had better toss away.
I am ready to read this for buzz and what's hot and marketing and salesmanship. I cannot let the inconsistencies bother me but rather thank my stars that the "left wing" candidate, Obama, is handing me the keys to the vault and his less well-off-supporters are cheering him on. Students are no threat to me. His "educated, tech-savvy" yuppie supporters are a joke. They're weaklings who are afraid to bet $5 on a football game and when it comes to money and markets, they're lost.
Health insurance? Who gives a fiuck? Panama has national health and top-drawer BlueCrossBlueShield with a single person cap of $200/month.
So, I'm left with my other touchstone: rationalism. So, if it's OK by you I'm going to use my financial and mathematical training and experience to make money and I'm not going to give a crap anymore. That may involve buying stock and options in private prisons and big oil and big tobacco and big religion.
It will involve using every clever technique I can think of to PROFIT from the mortgage crisis. And if I sense whining on the blogs, I am left with having to give the same answers I was given when I wondered "what's wrong with Kucinich, he seems ok?" "Why is Barack Obama trying to create an environment in which his people get religion and I get rich?"
Those answers: "Kucinich was out of step and didn't look right." "We like religion...and it's our turn now." OK, then. My answer: "Look, friend, I'm in step with Obama and Lieberman and war and you're out of step. Quit whining and get with the program. PULL YOURSELF UP BY YOUR BOOTSTRAPS!"
I'm going to stop whining now, because opportunity knocks. A restive Black and progressive electorate can be pacified by this guy. He is truly fulfilling Karl Marx's worst nightmare. Secular religion of "hope" and religious religion of Wright and Robertson. Why am I of all people complaining about this? When did I turn stupid?
I want a high oil price. I want war in Iraq so the gringos won't mess in my neck of the woods. I want continued chances to fade the USD on positive-carry trades. So, if Obama runs a bad campaign and McCain wins, KA-CHING! Better still. More war. Higher oil price. Worse dollar. More private prisons. And if either Obama or McCain win, the sweetest little deal of all is coming down the pike: PRIVATIZED SOCIAL SECURITY.
To all of my blog pals, don't worry. You can still count on me for lively commentary and percepitive analysis from a skeptical perspective. I've merely joined the class-war and picked a side: me. My only rule is no tears now when it doesn't work out for you. You may get the guy you want. So, you cheer on Tuesday and I'll cheer from Wednesday forward.
Finally, I get it. Phew! And all it took was to hear John King, Wolf Blitzer and Jessica Yellin rooting for Obama and laughing at unemployed blue-collar workers. Hey, European class-based politics aren't so bad from a ruling class perspective. Oh baby, I love it. And....
Kelso's Nuts love you
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5 comments:
"I think at the relatively young age of 46, I have been completely passed-by by American politics. I'm old-fashioned."
As you know, I have consistently railed against Obama's DEVISIVE stance toward the "older generation" (i.e., Baby Boomers): the "60's Peace and Love Generation" is over. Well, my attitude is that if I was offended by that, then many other people were as well. And, you and I, we straddle, or are in the so-called 'intersticial' space between Boomers and X-ers. We have no real demographic home in terms of politics. We're only a major demographic in that there really are so goddamn many of us(many of whom are politically apathetic, but we are the brute force of the economy in terms of consumer spending). I'm certainly no hippie, nor am I one of the "tech-savvy" young people (Generations Y and Z) that, as you note, are afraid to bet $5.00 on football, nevermind jumping into the markets in a real way. Obama's good luck was that these X Y and Zers are ready to start pulling the levers and they have responded mightily to his pandering. They are, as you may or not be aware, the generation(s) that been thoroughly and completely indoctrinated into Political Correctness (so many liberal arts colleges are making a requirement studying the literature of oppressed peoples at the expensive of Shakespeare and Donne). I'm not saying that it's a good thing they've come out in droves. It will, however, turn ugly when they realize that just because Scarlett Johanssen supports the O'Bama, doesn't mean he's "all that."
Correction - I MEANT to say ...
"I'm not saying it's a BAD thing they've come out in droves."
oh ... and when I talked about the literature of oppressed people, I was referring to the curriculum in literature programs ... the concept/study of "oppressed people" is not to be diminished in any way. either in literature or sociology or political science departments. my only point is, and this is specific to english and english and other literature programs, and i guess i am being quite the conservative here, but literature class is not sociology class. if one is a serious student of literature, one must be both color and gender blind and submit to at least some indoctrination into the works of the proverbial "dead white men" (some of whom were women, by the way and some of whom were not white)... thereby you will be better prepared with a more discerning eye to tackle the works of those who fall out of those the (albeit sometimes (but not always) arbitrary classification of the "great works") and have a far better eye as to what is real and what is crap.
Sorry for going off topic and channeling Camille Paglia ...
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