[lbo-talk] Re: the cushy life

Turbulo at aol.com Turbulo at aol.com
Tue Jan 18 19:43:54 PST 2005


Doug wrote:

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? To hell with all that, I say.

***********

There's nothing inherently wrong with comfort or inherently noble about poverty. But under capitalism life is usually not too cushy for leftists who are too pushy. Want to climb the career ladder at work? Better not rub the boss the wrong way. Want tenure or to be published in respectable journals? Better make sure the ideas you express aren't too wide of the "consensus." Yes, we want the good life for everyone, but the whole idea of class society is that it is reserved for a minority, which somehow seldom includes those who are serious about abolishing its privileges.



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