Mad Max?...Baez?...Orwell?
punditman says...
Peacenik's post in which he mentioned a possible Mad Max future versus a non-Mad Max future goes something like this:
Mad Max is a dystopian nightmare with roving gangs, no security and an increasingly violent society. In other words, a failed state where misery is king; one in which Coors' Light is bartered for old Hulk Hogan videos and the Philadelphia Flyers win the Stanley Cup every year. On the other hand, a non-Mad Max future entails communities working together to solve problems. In other words, a hippie paradise where harmony is king, ecologically conscious micro breweries dot a tree-scaped, hemp-infested countryside, jambands fill the air in every hamlet (clean air, that is) and the Leafs win the Stanley Cup every year.
The problem Punditman sees with this either/or future is that it implies that the State either crumbles completely from unknown forces or that it concedes defeat and starts singing "kumbaya" alongside civil society groups who are trying to solve problems. Fat chance of either!
Peacenik then goes on to say in the post below that "There is a tipping point. It is close." But a tipping point into what kind of future?
The Chris Hedges article below points to Sheldon Wolin's "inverted totalitarianism," to sum up the current American cultural and political landscape. Unlike classical totalitarianism like fascism or communism, where politics and messianic leadership dominates economics, inverted totalitarianism means economics overshadows politics. Under "normal" conditions, it more or less works. Consumerism, a decent average standard of living and a vast entertainment industry full of facile distractions tend to keep the citizenry "happy" and politically passive. But what happens if the American imperium quickly unravels, what then?
What will become of the United States if the current economic crisis results in massive, continuing job losses for a prolonged period? What if people can no longer buy the junk that they think brings them joy? What if peak oil means they're unable to fill their gas tanks without long lines and violent confrontations? What if cutbacks cause Entertainment Tonight (ET) to go off the air?
Given the elite attachment to State power and the considerable degree to which the general population is already subordinate, Punditman thinks that people could easily start to turn to demagogues to save them and return ET to its' rightful place in their hollowed out lives. Thus "inverted totalitarianism" could devolve further into the more garden-variety totalitarianism we are familiar with, albeit an American version, where ET is on every channel all day long. In recent years, we've witnessed increasing government control, surveillance and the stifling of dissent. There is little sign that this will reverse itself, notwithstanding Obama's largely symbolic actions (or inactions).
If economic decline continues unabated, if militarism and foreign intervention persists without huge reductions in force and cost; in other words, if no remedies appear that begin to dismantle the corporate/state nexus of domination and corruption, then Punditman sees the Wolinian scenario as rather likely. To coin an old lyric that inspired a certain underground movement, "You don't need a weatherman to know which the wind is blowing." So put away your Mad Max movies and dust off Orwell's 1984.
Or, Americans could always come to the senses, enact major reforms, stem the totalitarian tide and muddle on through to the best of their abilities. With a little luck...
punditman says...
Peacenik's post in which he mentioned a possible Mad Max future versus a non-Mad Max future goes something like this:
Mad Max is a dystopian nightmare with roving gangs, no security and an increasingly violent society. In other words, a failed state where misery is king; one in which Coors' Light is bartered for old Hulk Hogan videos and the Philadelphia Flyers win the Stanley Cup every year. On the other hand, a non-Mad Max future entails communities working together to solve problems. In other words, a hippie paradise where harmony is king, ecologically conscious micro breweries dot a tree-scaped, hemp-infested countryside, jambands fill the air in every hamlet (clean air, that is) and the Leafs win the Stanley Cup every year.
The problem Punditman sees with this either/or future is that it implies that the State either crumbles completely from unknown forces or that it concedes defeat and starts singing "kumbaya" alongside civil society groups who are trying to solve problems. Fat chance of either!
Peacenik then goes on to say in the post below that "There is a tipping point. It is close." But a tipping point into what kind of future?
The Chris Hedges article below points to Sheldon Wolin's "inverted totalitarianism," to sum up the current American cultural and political landscape. Unlike classical totalitarianism like fascism or communism, where politics and messianic leadership dominates economics, inverted totalitarianism means economics overshadows politics. Under "normal" conditions, it more or less works. Consumerism, a decent average standard of living and a vast entertainment industry full of facile distractions tend to keep the citizenry "happy" and politically passive. But what happens if the American imperium quickly unravels, what then?
What will become of the United States if the current economic crisis results in massive, continuing job losses for a prolonged period? What if people can no longer buy the junk that they think brings them joy? What if peak oil means they're unable to fill their gas tanks without long lines and violent confrontations? What if cutbacks cause Entertainment Tonight (ET) to go off the air?
Given the elite attachment to State power and the considerable degree to which the general population is already subordinate, Punditman thinks that people could easily start to turn to demagogues to save them and return ET to its' rightful place in their hollowed out lives. Thus "inverted totalitarianism" could devolve further into the more garden-variety totalitarianism we are familiar with, albeit an American version, where ET is on every channel all day long. In recent years, we've witnessed increasing government control, surveillance and the stifling of dissent. There is little sign that this will reverse itself, notwithstanding Obama's largely symbolic actions (or inactions).
If economic decline continues unabated, if militarism and foreign intervention persists without huge reductions in force and cost; in other words, if no remedies appear that begin to dismantle the corporate/state nexus of domination and corruption, then Punditman sees the Wolinian scenario as rather likely. To coin an old lyric that inspired a certain underground movement, "You don't need a weatherman to know which the wind is blowing." So put away your Mad Max movies and dust off Orwell's 1984.
Or, Americans could always come to the senses, enact major reforms, stem the totalitarian tide and muddle on through to the best of their abilities. With a little luck...
