Feral Cat of Freedom's Blog

Grappling with Graeber – Alternatives to “Kamikaze Capitalism” (revised)

Posted on November 28, 2011 by feralcatoffreedom

Remember what the Dormouse said, “Feed Your Head, Feed Your Head”.

This combines and continues my previous post on anthropologist and activist David Graeber’s essays “Revolutions in Reverse”.

Anthropologist and activist, David Graeber wrote 6 essays between 2004 and 2010 and they are now compiled under the title “Revolutions in Reverse”. We here in the United States have been told there is no alternative to markets and capitalism, but in these essays he comes up with some observations about how to go about re-imagining lives that have meaning and purpose. His idea of freedom lies somewhere in the region between Somalia and Pandora. He was there at the beginning of Occupy Wall Street and his ideas have taken root in many Occupies. What follows are some of those ideas that beat new neural paths in my brain and repaved some old ones.

In the UK, Thatcher embraced the Milton Friedman version of neo-liberalism (basically remodeled feudalism) as the only viable social governing system. Here American presidents from Carter on declared that there was no alternative to Friedman Rubinomics. But there are alternatives and they are out there but Graeber says we have been trained not to see them.

There are alternatives , but first we must free ourselves from the boxes of the mind that we have been shoved into by using our imaginations to think of possibilities outside those boxes. Quite literally, of course, most Americans actually work in small boxes called cubicles and aspire to larger boxes with a door and windows called offices. (Other boxes include “voting booths, television screens, and hospitals.” “They are the very machinery of alienation”). Yes, it is always ultimately about freedom. And not the freedom of choice that neo-liberalism has foisted on us. Too many choices “in the absence of any larger moral structures through which to make them meaningful” just makes us nuts. These choices are meaningless. Our lives then seem meaningless. And that makes us angry and drives us literally crazy. Read more »

Filed under: Media, Politics | Tagged: anarchism, class warfare, David Graeber, feminism, John Perkins, neo-liberalism, Occupy Wall Street | 2 Comments »

Grappling with Graeber Pt 1- The War on Imagination

Posted on November 26, 2011 by feralcatoffreedom

Note: I don’t feel particularly qualified to comment on David Graeber. Reading him is like having the good fortune of getting into a graduate class with the most popular professor on campus and then realizing you might be a tad in over your head. And reading all 6 essays and trying to wrap your head around them is like cramming a whole semester of aesthetics and philosophy into one week. But I’ll give it a shot.

Between 2004 and 2010, David Graeber wrote a series of essays that were compiled under the title “Revolutions in Reverse: Essays on Politics, Violence, Art, and Imagination”. Graeber grapples with the seeming implosion of capitalism in the first decade of the 21^st Century in these essays and the confusion that many in the anti-globalization movement felt after 9/11. “Revolutions in Reverse”.

A lot of the energy of the movement got sidetracked into yet another anti-war movement (similar to the Vietnam era) after the fluke terrorist attack on 9/11 by a “rag tag band of Islamists who had, effectively, got extraordinarily lucky, pulling off one of the first mad terrorist schemes in history that actually worked.” Graeber and many in the anti-Globalist movement saw that it was a fluke but watched in dismay as the American public bought the whole “war on terror” hook, line and sinker.

Graeber cuts through this gloom by making the wonderful observation in the first essay “The Shock of Victory” that the anti-globalization movement of the late 1990s foundered not because of its failure, but because of its success. It succeeded not in its long term goal of establishing an alternative system to capitalism, but in its mid level objective of dealing serious blows to the IMF and WTO and halting large-scale trade agreements. But the people within the movement couldn’t quite see it happening and were busily engaged in debates with each other on what they had done wrong. They engaged in endless discussions on tactics, discussions about non-violence, summit hopping, privilege, and racism, he says. But much had been achieved and revolutionaries needed to recognize the elements that worked. And then they needed to ask the bigger question, “What does it mean to win?”

The theme of the 2^nd essay “Hope in Common” starts getting to the crux of what I see as the overarching theme of his essays. It is the war on the imagination by the neo liberals. It is about how the elites subverted hope in the population at large.

“Neoliberal capitalism is that form that is utterly obsessed with ensuring

that it seems that, as Margaret Thatcher so famously declared

in the 1980s, “there is no alternative.” In other words, it has

largely given up on any serious effort to argue that the current

economic order is actually a good order, just, reasonable, that it

will ever prove capable of creating a world in which most human

beings feel prosperous, safe, and free to spend any significant portion

of their life pursuing those things they consider genuinely

important. Rather, it is a terrible system, in which even the very

richest countries cannot guarantee access to such basic needs as

health and education to the majority of their citizens, it works

badly, but no other system could possibly work at all.”

Graeber makes a similar point to the one that Naomi Klein makes in her book “The Shock Doctrine”. Klein quotes the “godfather of the modern market” Milton Friedman as saying “Only a crisis-actual or perceived-produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around.”

Graeber concurs that Friedman’s flim flam free market ideas were the only ideas allowed to be left lying around when crisis after crisis happened in the last third of the 20^th century and then oozed like sludge into the 21^st. The financial elites tried to keep any alternative ideas of how to organize society other than capitalism out of sight and out of mind. TINA or There is No Alternative is a way of demoralizing people; keeping them sedated and filled with doom. It is a war on imagination.

But there are alternatives. (To Be Continued).

For more on TINA, read Adam Curtis “The Curse of TINA”.

Filed under: Politics | Tagged: anarchism, anti-globalization, David Graeber, neo-liberalism, Occupy Wall Street, revolution | Leave a Comment »

Occupy News for Friday, Nov 25, 2011

Posted on November 25, 2011 by feralcatoffreedom

From “Naked Capitalism” this link to posters from the Occupy movement.

Democrats attempt to co-opt the Occupy movement. Back off ! Glen Ford also has his take on this: “Gridlock is a Blessing”.

“Counterpunch’s” take on the destruction of the 5,554 books at the library at Zucotti Park last week by Herr Bloomberg. 451 at Zucotti Park

Also check out “Counterpunch’s “Student Loan Fury in the Occupy Movement”.

Where to send new warm socks and gloves, winter sleeping bags, hand warmers, etc. Check out the individual sites:

For example. www.Occupydenver.org

Occupy Denver
1550 Larimer St box 224
Denver, CO 80202

www.occupywallst.org/donate has a list of other Occupies and their websites.

Filed under: Politics | Tagged: Center for American Progress, Glen Ford, Occupy Wall Street, protest art, Van Jones | Leave a Comment »

Thoughts on Denny’s Congressional Seat

Posted on November 25, 2011 by feralcatoffreedom

This Is What Democracy Looks Like - Sometimes

I don’t spend much time on national electoral politics anymore, but some thoughts on Jhygirl’s post on 4 & 20 blackbirds regarding Franke Wilmer and her candidacy for our lone congressional seat here in Montana now held by Denny Rehberg: http://4and20blackbirds.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/franke-wilmer-candidate-for-u-s-congress-speaks-on-the-super-committee-dysfunction/

Franke Wilmer is an intelligent and hard working person. So I find it disappointing, yes, disappointing that she chose to answer the question on the Stupid Committee by addressing the meme that the budget deficit is the big problem our nation faces. No, OWS has managed valiantly to change the dumb ass deficit hawk misdirection into the correct discussion of corruption and crony capitalism that has turned our nation into a non-functioning wasteland. And besides, the deficit cutting idea is just plain wrong. Most recent debunking by Martin Wolf at the Financial Times: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/448bb4e0-15f2-11e1-a691-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1eOtxqRL7

Now I know she can’t offend Obama and Max, so she can’t say that the whole super committee was a set up–a set up to fail so that the automatic cuts kick in after the election, that is, if they aren’t repealed by the next Congress. She can’t say that it was set up to get Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid on the table i.e. to start the talk about “reforming” i.e. gutting them.

This is not about 12 dysfunctional people sitting in a room going over spreadsheets with green eye shades who were incapable of picking out waste. That’s deflecting attention away from the rampant corruption of our elected officials and the basic tenet of republicanism that we submit to laws debated in an open deliberative fashion. Deals behind closed doors are not anything we should submit too whether it’s health insurance or bank giveaways. And changing the people in the room won’t change the system of “lobbyists” and “consultants” and “historians” in the revolving door between congress and corporate executive offices.

These times call for imagination and alternatives to the status quo not the same old same old finger pointing and the same old talking points like restoring “common sense” and bringing change to Washington. Change will not happen in Washington.

Filed under: Politics | Tagged: Denny Rehberg, electoral politics, Franke Wilmer, Montana, Occupy Wall Street | 1 Comment »

Today’s Links

Posted on November 22, 2011 by feralcatoffreedom

Egyptian News anchor sights the US crackdown of OWS protesters as inspiration for their crackdown and killing of protesters. That’s right, we are the big dogs of democracy.

@SultanAlQassemi Sultan Al Qassemi

Egypt State TV anchor: We saw the firm stance the US took against OWS people & the German govt against green protesters to secure the state

Best photo from Occupy Denver’s 8th consecutive Saturday march : http://photos.denverpost.com/mediacenter/2011/11/photos-occupy-denver-march-saturday-november-19-2011/24754/#9

Occupy Boston’s lecture series continues with Michael Denning, Professor of American Studies at Yale. I suggest that we get the Occupies certified (by us) and that people get credit for attending the University of the 99%. www.occupyboston.org Donations of warm weather gear to : Occupy Boston PO Box 51162 Boston, MA 02205

Occupy History is a site worth checking out; http://occupyhistory.tumblr.com/

The pepper spraying cop, Lt. John Pike, appears spraying protesters in American History. boingboing.net/2011/11/20/occupy-lulz.html

For more of Lt. Pike spraying the likes of Mickey Mouse and Bruce Willis: www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.121452001295014.23430.121408401299374&type=3

Filed under: Politics | Tagged: egypt, Lt. John Pike, occupywallstreet, UC Davis | Leave a Comment »

The 99% and The Two Americas

Posted on October 22, 2011 by feralcatoffreedom

(Cross posted at http://www.correntwire.com

Chris Cillizza wrote a piece on October 17 in The Washington Post called “What John Edwards Can Teach Barack Obama”
Cillizza compares the message of the “Two Americas” to “We are the 99%” i.e. that there is one America for the privileged with their lobbyists and influence and another America for the rest of us. He suggests that Barack Obama take a look at this Edwards’ theme. He also admits that Obama is not a natural populist and so donning this message might indeed turn out to be an ill fitting suit making the wearer look a bit comical.

If I tell you where the idea of “Two Americas” comes from, you will see why it’s not a good fit for the current president. The Two Americas phrase itself was coined by an Edwards’ staffer Christina Reynolds. But its roots lay in a deep held belief of the senator that something had gone terribly wrong.

In 2003 I decided it was time for me to scout around and read up on the possible Democratic candidates. I stumbled on a speech by an obscure North Carolina senator and a phrase lept out at me. I had one of those “Oh my God” moments. Here was a phrase and an idea that made sense of everything that had gone wrong since the beginnings of Friedman/Reagonomics that had morphed into Rubin/Clintonomics. The phrase was “we must honor work over wealth”.

Barrett Keizer said, in his brilliant 2006 February essay for Harper’s called “Crap Shoot: Everyone Loses When Politics is a Game”:

“The player, the wise guy, prides himself on his cleverness, but he always perishes from being less clever than he thinks. He perishes because he only knows the relentless, mindless momentum of the game; he knows nothing of the sanctifying rhythms of work and rest.”

“Sanctity”. Wow, that reminds me that Jesus was blue collar. He was a carpenter. God too worked his butt off and then rested. Those are the natural rhythms of the earth; to work and then to rest and play.

Edwards was attempting to redeem the word “work” that Reagonomics had succeeded in replacing with the so-called virtue of “ownership”. Reagan pushed the idea that you weren’t really a player unless you owned shares in America and owned property. Being a “shareholder” was preferable to be called a “worker”.

But, no, the world belongs to people who love work and not to the players in the casinos with their rigged games. It’s long past time for work to take again its dominant place over wealth. “Attention must be paid”, said Linda Loman of her salesman husband Willy. Dignity, respect, justice begins when a person is rewarded for a good day’s work and is honored for it.

Freedom demands shared responsibility that can only be achieved when all work is given dignity and all brothers and sisters are respected. It doesn’t mean we all get yachts. But it does mean that we all get boats. Right now it is clear to the young people that all they’ve got is the instruction manual on “How to Swim” while the Fat Cats speed around them churning up the waves.

The occupiers around the world are finding virtue and truth in the phrase that “many hands make light work”. They are discovering the joy of working together in their assemblies and “work” groups. And they are discovering the joy of playing and jamming after some marching and sweating. They are redefining what is valuable.

Promises have been broken and Liberty has been stolen. Fearful and hollow men seek to exclude and not include. So, it’s time to “kindly” ask those who would serve up liberty without fraternity or equality to step to the back of the bus. Our time is now.

The French got it right in their cry of “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity“. “Cut to the Revolution.”

Filed under: Politics | Tagged: Barack Obama, capitalism, Chris Cillizza, class warfare, John Edwards, occupywallstreet, Two Americas, We are the 99% | Leave a Comment »

What Do They Want?

Posted on October 9, 2011 by feralcatoffreedom

Occupy wall street

Is it about what they want? Or something else?I read a statement years ago that the 20th Century was the century of Freud. And with any luck, the 21st Century would be the century of Jung. Not sure who said it but it really resonated with me. My take on Jung was that he emphasized the idea that we are all a part of a whole, with each of us having individual gifts contributing to that whole. When we look at another, we see ourselves. In the BBC documentary “The Century of the Self”, Adam Curtis explores the use of Freud’s theories to direct people away from a communal way of thinking and into rampant mirror-gazing.

The premise of the film is that the birth of propaganda/public relations/marketing began with Freud’s nephew Edward Bernays when he was hired by the Wilson administration to sell the idea of “making the world safe for democracy”. Unfortunately, that meant becoming involved in the hideous carnage called World War I and forcing your neighbors to buy War Bonds or be put in jail. After the war, he was asked by the tobacco industry to use his PR skills to figure out how to sell cigarettes to women. He branded cigarettes “torches of freedom” that would challenge male power simply by lighting up. From then on, advertising would no longer speak to people’s needs, but to their inner desires and yearnings. And freedom would now be defined as freedom of choice.

And so the transformation of the American citizen into the American consumer began in earnest. Americans were sold that they needed clothes that showed their individuality and made them sexy. Men were sold that the kind of car they drove showed who they were; powerful and, yes, sexy. The kind of soap you bought made you happier and more admired.

What we are witnessing in Zuccotti/Liberty Park with the #Occupy Wall Street could be the great turning away from the century of “me” to the century of “we”.
At least it has opened up the discussion of what we really need rather than what we want. The greatest need right now seems to have our voices heard and a need to take back the meaning of words like “public” and “cooperative” and “social”. It is a pushback against all the punditry that insist on a label, logo, banner, slogan, brand, buzzword, sound bite, pitch or demand.

No, we will no longer be defined as consumers. We will no longer be cogs in your machine. We are free men and women. We do not define freedom as the right to choose between 100 brands of cereal. Our definition of freedom is freedom from domination by corporations and their agendas. Our definition of freedom is not to be subservient to the 1%. We are taking back our humanity. We are taking back our public spaces and our commons. We are a community; a community of concerns. We care about each other and the planet we inhabit. There is no expiration date on what is happening around the world and at last in the United States.

No, it’s not about what we want, but about what we need.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Bernays, class warfare, corporatocracy, Freud, Jung, occupytogether, occupywallstreet, propaganda, Wall Street | 2 Comments »

“Teachers as Temps”

Posted on May 26, 2011 by feralcatoffreedom

Check out Glen Ford’s latest piece on blackagendareport.com “Corporate Dream: Teachers as Temps”

Discredit teachers and you can discredit public education. And then the blood suckers can get their hands on the 800 Billion Dollars we spend on public education. Always follow the money.

Filed under: Politics | Leave a Comment »

Poverty is the Real Loser Here

Posted on May 26, 2011 by feralcatoffreedom

So the justice department spent 2.5 years investigating John Edwards and whether campaign funds were used to keep his mistress and love child in hiding. Curious as to its priorites.
Curious that Edwards was the only candidate that built his campaign around the issue of poverty. If you solve poverty, you solve everything; war and peace, environmental degradation, hunger, and racism. He was the one who called out Wall Street time and time again and had specific plans to tame the beast. But like many before him, he had personal flaws.
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/05/25/john_edwards/index.html
So now we have no mention of the end to poverty by our leaders and instead we have a justice department that goes after a guy who cheated on his wife. It is very telling who this attorney general on behalf of this president goes after as mentioned by several comments on Salon.com; whistleblowers instead of the banksters? adulterers rather than war criminals? WTF indeed.

Filed under: Politics, Uncategorized | Tagged: Eric Holder, John Edwards, politics, poverty | Leave a Comment »

Big Fish and Little Fish

Posted on April 2, 2011 by feralcatoffreedom

by shemayaza_born on photobucket

Big Fish eat little fish. That’s how it works. You hear all the time that our corporate taxes are the highest in the world. Sure, but most U.S. corps don’t pay it. 83 out of the top 100 companies paid zero taxes between 1999 and 2005. (IRS study). Zero. Companies like Exxon, GE, Carnival Cruise Line, Verizon use various loopholes to get out of paying any taxes. In the 1950s, corporations contributed about 30% of all federal revenue. Now it is down to 6%. So what happens? The tax burden is shifted to the rest of us small fry in the form of sin taxes, property taxes, and all kinds of licenses and fees that small business fish have to pay. And then the big fish wait until the small fish are gasping for air and then they gobble up their business. Read more »

Filed under: Politics | Tagged: capitalism, class warfare, GE, inequality, Taxes | 1 Comment »