[lbo-talk] cushy life

lweiger at umich.edu lweiger at umich.edu
Tue Jan 18 09:37:05 PST 2005


Quoting Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com>:


> Damn, I want a cushy life, and I'm a socialist because I think
> everyone should have a cushy life! Yeah, I know, the world is
> imperfect, and universal cushiness is therefore elusive, maybe even
> impossible, but what's wrong with security, comfort, and pleasure as
> ultimate political goals. That doesn't mean complacent or stupid; my
> idea of cushiness includes the time and capacity for intellectual and
> aesthetic engagement. But there seems to be a kind of leftist who's
> suspicious of pleasure, who exudes a Calvinist lust for suffering,
> because it's somehow ennobling. (A variant: the belief that poverty
> is ennobling, and wealth is corrupting. Why would anyone be a
> redistributionist if that were true?) The hell with all that, I say.
>
> Doug

These are pretty much my thoughts as well.

-- Luke



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