> "The feature common to all authoritarian thinking is the conviction that life
> is determined by forces outside of man's own self, his interest, his wishes.
> The only possible happiness lies in the submission to these forces. The
> powerlessness of man is the leitmotif of masochistic philosophy."
Andy observed and asked:
Yet these are all diametrically opposite from American ideology.
Does he say anything about self-rightous self deception? *****************
Ideology (individualism and freedom, Miles) is one thing, thinking is another. Most people are taught to think in reified, upside-down ways e.g. Ford make cars as opposed to workers employed by Ford make cars. Thus, the individual and class alienation from the social product of labour (and power) is made "commonsense" as is the notion that with hard work, you too can achieve the "American Dream". Of course, reified thinking patterns also invade our "personal" protestant and non-personal Catholic ways of relating to this idea we have in our heads called God. But, I don't want to concentrate on religion right now, except to observe that it is but another ideology which puts ideas in control of us, instead of us being in control of our ideas. IOW, this is a question of power and the dampening of the radical subjectivity necessary to make a social revolution.
As for "self-righteous deception", it would be an attribute of the kind of sadistic thinking which a leader like Hitler would have to possess in order to be able to send millions of people to their deaths while petting their dog. Yes, I can see them now, Blondi and Hitler in the bunker as the teenaged boys, freshly pinned with Iron Crosses by their Fuehrer go out to face Stalin tanks in the rubble of Berlin.
********** Chris Doss wrote:
You know, to a very great extent, life IS determined by forces outside of man's own self, his interest, his wishes. That's why I'm not an Egyptian Pharaoh. ************************
If the workers of the world class consciously set down tools for a week, the Pharaohs of the world would be brought to their knees. That the workers of the world have trouble understanding their power can be attributed, at least partly, the way they are socialized to think about the world in upside-down ways e.g. that Pharaoh (in our case Capital and its "Arbeitgebers") and his gods create the world's wealth and that we should be thankful to them.
Of course, we don't control Nature, which IS outside of our *total* control; but "we", as individuals within class ruled societies, sure as hell do influence the climate.
********************
Michael Perelman quoted: I had this in The Confiscation of American Prosperity:
"people in the United States believe that people move out of poverty far more
easily than they actually do, significantly reducing the perceived justification for a stronger welfare system (Alesina and Glaeser 2004, p. 4)."
***********************
Agreed. And people/workers in the US AND elsewhere in the world have no notion that they create the wealth (using Nature). This way of reified thinking can make them accept all kinds of absurdities, including cuts to their own class' paltry welfare payments. As the thinking goes, if they are losers in the social-Darwinist jungle of competition between wage-slaves, they deserve their poverty-level rewards in life.
*************** Chuck O said:
It's much easier to survive joblessness when you understand that the situation is mostly our of your control. This lessens the stress and helps you retain your confidence and dignity.
Now, if Americans would figure out collectively that the forces which run the system run their lives, they might be inspired to take collective action. *******************
True. If you can rationalize/"blame" your gods, who work in mysterious ways, for the situation you find yourself in, then it is easier to accept your punishment in this "best of all possible worlds". And, if they could figure out that THEY are hired to run the system and create the Capital and then relinquish ownership and control over it and with that their power, they'd sure as hell be inspired to take class action. However, the "fetishism of commodities" makes this difficult to discern, without help, which is one big reason why Marx wrote CAPITAL.
**********************
And then Jordan asked a question which bitch answered quite well, pummeling the illusionary thinking of liberal reformism:
>What's the origin of the phrase "You can't fight City Hall!" ...?
yah. but as Robert Bellah et al., explain in _Habits of the Heart_ and _The Good Society_ that's the only way people tend to understand it -- as an institution or bureaucracy. And the real problem with institutions is that they are fouled up by corrupt individuals. They can be righted, fixed if you just get out the bad apples. in this view, captialism is bad because of bad capitalists. If individuals would just behave like good and fair capitalist, no worries!
****************
Haw! Reminds me of Frank Zappa's taunting about the masochistic sense of powerlessness in "Brown Shoes don't make it" and "Plastic People":
Life is such a ball I run the world from City Hall.....
and:
Be a jerk and go to work Be a jerk and go to work Be a jerk and go to work Be a jerk and go to work Do your job, and do it right Life's a ball! (TV tonight!) Do you love it, do you hate it? There it is, the way you made it (WOOOooow)
A world of secret hungers, Perverting the men who make your laws Every desire is hidden away, In drawer, in a desk, By a Naughahyde chair On a rug where they walk and drool [ Lyrics found at www.mp3lyrics.org/VFJ ] Past the girls in the office
********************* and from "PP":
Take a day and walk around Watch the nazis run your town Then go home and check yourself You think were singing bout someone else
Mike B)
"Would you have freedom from wage-slavery.." Joe Hill http://www.shelfari.com/o1516968161
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