[lbo-talk] The New, Nihilistic America

Doug Henwood dhenwood at panix.com
Wed Jan 25 08:26:26 PST 2006


Wojtek Sokolowski wrote:


>My point was to question the need for abstract concepts, like capitalism,

I didn't invoke it as an abstract comment, but as shorthand, which is often how words are used, no? In this case, I meant that there are few institutions in the US that act to counter the prevailing structures of competitive individualism - unions, a welfare state, etc. - and few viable anticapitalist ideologies for people to draw on. Consequently, the "common sense" of many Americans is very market-friendly - and their daily experience teaches them little else. A partial exception is the church, but lots of American Protestantism is quite down with competitive individualism.

Doug



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