Philosophy
We took the kids to see the revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying last weekend. A light, funny comedy, I could not help but think about the connection between our current economic crisis and Eisenhower's farewell address that was written two years before the book on which the play was based. We are where we are now because we handed our economy over to corporate interests. What is good for General Motors is good for the country, we were told by Charlie Wilson, the head of GM, and we reflexively bought it.
The large scale social and economic changes that accompany industrialization usually brings about deep consideration and serious social strife. In England, the Luddites led a movement. In France, the running battle between romanticism and modernism was a constant conversation. In Germany, Ferdinand Toennies' book Community and Society was the pinnacle of a strand of thought that tried to make sense of the new industrial order that so radically changed the culture in a way that made sense -- how ought we think of people now that we no longer live primarily in communities based on similarity, but in society which is thoroughly heterogeneous?
But for us, the suburbanization of America after the war, the corporate control of our economy, our food supply, our work and leisure, our entire lives went largely unchallenged. Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman was there. Eisenhower's famous speech, How to Succeed, The Sid Caesar Your Show of Shows, a few canaries were there in the coal mine, but anyone who made the case was marginalized as anti-American in post-war, McCarthyist America. Was it the threat of world-wide annihilation that led us to unreflexively hand the chicken coop to the foxes? Was it the sense of progress that accompanied the simultaneous end of the Depression and rise of technology, that is, since there did seem to be better living through chemistry and no soup lines, don't rock the boat? Why were there precious few works that truly led us to question the way we were reorganizing our society, giving rise to a new set of robber-barons? Was it that we believed after the GI bill that with a degree and a house in Levittown we were fooled into thinking that we were being made part of the haves? Why did we ignore the military-industrial canaries?
- Most Important Presidential Words
On Presidents' Day, let's think about what Presidents of the United States have said. Perhaps the most powerful part of the position is an informal power, the bully pulpit. When presidents speak, we listen. What are the most...
- De Tocqueville And Sophistication
Chris V asks, "How would Alexis de Tocqueville see democracy in America today?"The nice thing about putting words in the mouth of a dead person is that he's not there to correct you. On the one hand, the America of today with its corporate oligarchy...
- Can Communities Be Dissolved?
On MLK Day, it seems fitting to think about what divides us and how we come back together. We use phrases like "the gay and lesbian community" or "the hearing impaired community" for subcultures and it often makes sense because many of these groups of...
- Back To The Garden
With the passing of the 40th anniversary of Woodstock, it seems a good time to ask about the living legacy of the 60s. What appealed so much to many of us who were not there was not only the peace and love that were supposed to serve as guiding principles,...
- Social, Moral, And Ethical Inhibitors In The Modern Age
We live in a radically different society from the time of Plato and Socrates lived. The changes that have come about since then have changed the way that people deal with their problems and issues from day to day. Certain actions are permitted while others...
Philosophy
Why Did We Ignore the Miliraty-Industrial Canaries?
We took the kids to see the revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying last weekend. A light, funny comedy, I could not help but think about the connection between our current economic crisis and Eisenhower's farewell address that was written two years before the book on which the play was based. We are where we are now because we handed our economy over to corporate interests. What is good for General Motors is good for the country, we were told by Charlie Wilson, the head of GM, and we reflexively bought it.
The large scale social and economic changes that accompany industrialization usually brings about deep consideration and serious social strife. In England, the Luddites led a movement. In France, the running battle between romanticism and modernism was a constant conversation. In Germany, Ferdinand Toennies' book Community and Society was the pinnacle of a strand of thought that tried to make sense of the new industrial order that so radically changed the culture in a way that made sense -- how ought we think of people now that we no longer live primarily in communities based on similarity, but in society which is thoroughly heterogeneous?
But for us, the suburbanization of America after the war, the corporate control of our economy, our food supply, our work and leisure, our entire lives went largely unchallenged. Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman was there. Eisenhower's famous speech, How to Succeed, The Sid Caesar Your Show of Shows, a few canaries were there in the coal mine, but anyone who made the case was marginalized as anti-American in post-war, McCarthyist America. Was it the threat of world-wide annihilation that led us to unreflexively hand the chicken coop to the foxes? Was it the sense of progress that accompanied the simultaneous end of the Depression and rise of technology, that is, since there did seem to be better living through chemistry and no soup lines, don't rock the boat? Why were there precious few works that truly led us to question the way we were reorganizing our society, giving rise to a new set of robber-barons? Was it that we believed after the GI bill that with a degree and a house in Levittown we were fooled into thinking that we were being made part of the haves? Why did we ignore the military-industrial canaries?
- Most Important Presidential Words
On Presidents' Day, let's think about what Presidents of the United States have said. Perhaps the most powerful part of the position is an informal power, the bully pulpit. When presidents speak, we listen. What are the most...
- De Tocqueville And Sophistication
Chris V asks, "How would Alexis de Tocqueville see democracy in America today?"The nice thing about putting words in the mouth of a dead person is that he's not there to correct you. On the one hand, the America of today with its corporate oligarchy...
- Can Communities Be Dissolved?
On MLK Day, it seems fitting to think about what divides us and how we come back together. We use phrases like "the gay and lesbian community" or "the hearing impaired community" for subcultures and it often makes sense because many of these groups of...
- Back To The Garden
With the passing of the 40th anniversary of Woodstock, it seems a good time to ask about the living legacy of the 60s. What appealed so much to many of us who were not there was not only the peace and love that were supposed to serve as guiding principles,...
- Social, Moral, And Ethical Inhibitors In The Modern Age
We live in a radically different society from the time of Plato and Socrates lived. The changes that have come about since then have changed the way that people deal with their problems and issues from day to day. Certain actions are permitted while others...