Post-Election: I am not a Populist
I am not a populist. I cannot fathom the majority of Americans who voted for Bush, especially those whose patent interests will not be served by his regime.
They say moral issues motivated them to vote for the most corrupt, nepotistic, and cronyist president in recent memory.
What are white married women thinking?
Where are the young voters?
Is gay marriage this important?
What feminists need is an understanding of this why -- what is involved in this desire, this identification with a wealthy smug cheerleader? We fall back on false consciousness, whatever our theories -- we say that people are deluded, they are uneducated (my mother, and Brits I know say this), they are not voting in their interests, they don't see.
We have access to more information and media than ever before. Truly, most of it is consolidated into a small number of grubby corporate hands which don't shy away from blatant bias. But there are other sources. And there are the facts that are out there:
* the rationale for the war was false and changes; there is no link to Al-quaeda or 9/11 or Osama Bin Laden, who is at large
* Abu Ghraib violations
* Handing contracts over to connected American firms: if you give an Iraqi a fish, he eats fish for a day; if you give Halliburton billions of dollars, they can corner the fish market?
* economy down
* favoring corporations & business and the rich
* no understanding of suffering or hardship
* hasn't earned what he has
* convicted of a crime; his wife caused a man's death; his daughters are boozers
* responed to 9/11 with bafflement and deceptions about the threat to Air Force One
* sanctions lies in campaigns (John McCain, swift boats)
* lies, lies, lies
We need to ask, what is the desire that people feel? What are they desiring? What narrative do they want to be part of? What vision of America do they want, and why do they want a vision of America that so contradicts reality? Why is it that now they are so drawn to a superficial vision, a delusion, rather than to reality?
I have to go pick up my toddlers from daycare. Ta.
They say moral issues motivated them to vote for the most corrupt, nepotistic, and cronyist president in recent memory.
What are white married women thinking?
Where are the young voters?
Is gay marriage this important?
What feminists need is an understanding of this why -- what is involved in this desire, this identification with a wealthy smug cheerleader? We fall back on false consciousness, whatever our theories -- we say that people are deluded, they are uneducated (my mother, and Brits I know say this), they are not voting in their interests, they don't see.
We have access to more information and media than ever before. Truly, most of it is consolidated into a small number of grubby corporate hands which don't shy away from blatant bias. But there are other sources. And there are the facts that are out there:
* the rationale for the war was false and changes; there is no link to Al-quaeda or 9/11 or Osama Bin Laden, who is at large
* Abu Ghraib violations
* Handing contracts over to connected American firms: if you give an Iraqi a fish, he eats fish for a day; if you give Halliburton billions of dollars, they can corner the fish market?
* economy down
* favoring corporations & business and the rich
* no understanding of suffering or hardship
* hasn't earned what he has
* convicted of a crime; his wife caused a man's death; his daughters are boozers
* responed to 9/11 with bafflement and deceptions about the threat to Air Force One
* sanctions lies in campaigns (John McCain, swift boats)
* lies, lies, lies
We need to ask, what is the desire that people feel? What are they desiring? What narrative do they want to be part of? What vision of America do they want, and why do they want a vision of America that so contradicts reality? Why is it that now they are so drawn to a superficial vision, a delusion, rather than to reality?
I have to go pick up my toddlers from daycare. Ta.
posted by ~AW at 4:46 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home