"The logic and necessity of the new generation -- and what they are so
furiously opposed to -- must be seen against a background of what has gone
wrong in America. It must be understood in light of the betrayal and loss of
the American dream, the rise of the Corporate State of the 1960's, and the
way in which that State dominates, exploits, and ultimately destroys both
nature and man. Its rationality must be measured against the insanity of
existing "reason" -- reason that makes impoverishment, dehumanization, and
even war appear to be logical and necessary. Its logic must be read from the
fact that Americans have lost control of the machinery of their society,"
-- from The Greening of Americafuriously opposed to -- must be seen against a background of what has gone
wrong in America. It must be understood in light of the betrayal and loss of
the American dream, the rise of the Corporate State of the 1960's, and the
way in which that State dominates, exploits, and ultimately destroys both
nature and man. Its rationality must be measured against the insanity of
existing "reason" -- reason that makes impoverishment, dehumanization, and
even war appear to be logical and necessary. Its logic must be read from the
fact that Americans have lost control of the machinery of their society,"
Whither Hope?
When he wrote his best-seller in 1970 Charles Reich did not get everything right but what he did was clearly spot on. That we chose to ignore him only lengthens the shadow of his darker instincts:
"For one almost convinced that it was necessary to accept ugliness and evil, that it was necessary to be a miser of dreams, [seeing such tender hope] is an invitation to cry or laugh."
Reich's sequel "Opposing the System" written twenty-five years after those very words has been virtually ignored. To underscore the extent that the country has changed, for its single review the NYTimes chose Francis Fukuyama, a still unconverted neo-conservative, whose career depended on advocating the exact opposite. And yet as the Republicans in Congress and their Tea-Party dupes rail shamelessly against "big government", the billionaires and corporations pour oceans of money into their election campaigns.
In the 2000 election cycle, Republican Party committees received $100,000 from John Walton, $81,000 from Jim Walton and $10,000 from Alice Walton, while reaping another $75,000 from the company and $384,000 from other board members.
[A]pproximately 60 percent of Wal-Mart's employees are not covered by the chain's health package. Instead, Wal-Mart sends its bill to taxpayers, says David Blitzstein, UFCW negotiated benefits director. "During health care reform six years ago, we shared a study with Congress in which we found the cost-shift from Wal-Mart alone to other employers was $1 billion a year."
One wonders what else, if not a change in our imaginings, will help us survive what Reich had so rightly predicted: "a System that now controls the right of livelihood, and in its indifference to individual human beings (fosters) poverty, layoffs and falling wages."
I know why Jesus wept...
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