In challenging times, the past is a seductive distraction
My New Years Day column for the AJC:
A mere five years ago, the man who is now president was just an obscure freshman senator from Illinois; our governor was some congressman from Gainesville whose name nine out of 10 Georgians would not recognize. The national unemployment rate was 4.4 percent and your house was probably worth 40 percent more than it’s worth today.
Things change — they always have — but these days the pace of change has seemed to quicken. Maybe it’s the consequence of technology that compresses a generation’s worth of evolution into a few years of revolution. Or maybe it just feels that way, just as all of those who came before us felt buffeted by change in their own time. As participants rather than disinterested observers, we lack the perspective to really know.
Certainly, the world that many of us thought we knew and understood has been transformed in the last few years. In recent polls, only a third of Americans still say that our country’s best days are yet to come, and a majority have lost faith that our children will live better lives than we do. The economic affluence enjoyed by this country after World War II —- and the military dominance that flowed from it — feels strangely fragile and threatened.
To those who lived through the Great Depression and the horrors of a world war, that post-war affluence came as a pleasant surprise, and many knew better than to take it for granted. They had seen how it comes and goes and they didn’t trust it. As a result, they had a more accurate perspective than those of us who were raised on the idea that success was our natural birthright as Americans.
We are now faced with the realization that what we understood to be a permanent state of affairs may instead have been an aberration, a temporary product of temporary conditions. Faced with such circumstances, it is natural to seek out villains and to entertain doubts. If our affluence was testament to our nation’s strength, wisdom and goodness, as we were taught, what does its diminishment tell us? Does it mean that we have become less wise and less good? And if so, can we regain what was lost by trying to return to what we were, or what we thought we were?
Personally, it’s foolish to think in terms of “taking back America.” The path ahead is not behind us. If we are not the country that we used to be, good. We can be the country that we are going to be.
Although some may wish otherwise, the demographic, cultural, technological and economic changes of the past generation cannot be undone, and the worst thing we can do is waste time and energy trying to undo them anyway. The answers of the past apply to the problems of the past.
It is hard in a time of rapid, disorienting change to continue looking forward, to focus on what we plan to become rather than on what we used to be. As we jump from ice floe to ice floe, testing our agility, we may yearn for the days when we felt firm ground under our feet.
But that firm ground wasn’t all that firm after all.
– Jay Bookman
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611 comments Add your comment
Lord Help Us
December 30th, 2011
10:21 am
‘If one see it as a need, then I’d hazard a guess they are part of the problem.’
Yes, but similar to the infamous ‘Welfare Queen’ sitings, this is such a pitifully small part of ‘THE PROBLEM’ (my emphasis) that I wonder why so many are so focused on it…
USinUK
December 30th, 2011
10:21 am
md – “Cable is a want…….not a need.”
mmmmm … access to the news isn’t at the top of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, but it is pretty important …
josef
December 30th, 2011
10:22 am
common
Oops, my bad…faith, hope, charity and a bottle of firewater!
Derek
December 30th, 2011
10:23 am
Ps> you seem to have too much time on your hands and not sure why your in the UK , but if your not voting here, paying taxes here, or not doing anything to improve the US, then talk to the Daily Sun and post over there
larry
December 30th, 2011
10:24 am
Oh what the heck………….. here’s the song…………..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0GFRcFm-aY
Stevie Ray
December 30th, 2011
10:24 am
LARRY,
I was there too brother…REM for free in Legion Field, Jason and the Scorchers, $40/oz, et al….
md
December 30th, 2011
10:25 am
“Granted you are not the first person to misuse a word such as (note the use of “such as”) “right” in a sentence but I would not go so far as to declare it a problem worthy of informing Houston.”
But I have a write to be rong………
Thanks for pointing that out……my caffeine level is giving me the jitters and these darn fingers aren’t typing what I’m thinking today.
stnkyfrts
December 30th, 2011
10:26 am
They are getting ready to do something to us they know we are not going to like. Thus “the Defense Authorization Act”. This is the calm before the storm.
josef
December 30th, 2011
10:27 am
DEREK
USinUK, I believe. is a US citizen and I do think she votes…her taxes are really none of my bidness. And what is she doing to improve the US? Representing us abroad and even if I do sometimes disagree with her on this, that or the other point, she’s doing a fine job of representing ME to the outside world…
USinUK
December 30th, 2011
10:27 am
Derek – first of all ,it’s YOU’RE, not your … YOU’RE = YOU ARE, your is possessive, as in your car, you’re asinine posts …
secondly, I do vote, I do file US taxes and do plenty for the US economy …
so bite me.
and happy new year.
Normal
December 30th, 2011
10:27 am
Good morning Josef,
Love your compassion for the kids, I really do.
Did you see I was given an opportunity by Scout to “snipe”, but I passed, deciding to be a “kinder, gentler person…
But all that time, going through my head and screaming at me from inside was…
I am the prophet of enlightenment, the teller of truth, the destroyer of myth. I expand the minds of the narrow with fact. I slay the dragons of dogma. I break the bonds of religion…I AM NORMAL!!!
I might try to fit that on a bumper sticker…what do ya think?
Southern Comfort
December 30th, 2011
10:27 am
“Oops, my bad…faith, hope, charity and a bottle of firewater!”
Thought I’d place the emphasis on the most important part for you.
Welcome to the Occupation
December 30th, 2011
10:27 am
Best line of this piece is the last one. The lesson of the seismic shifts of the present is that the past was a result of often violent and terrifying shifts.
We are now faced with the realization that what we understood to be a permanent state of affairs may instead have been an aberration, a temporary product of temporary conditions. Faced with such circumstances, it is natural to seek out villains and to entertain doubts.
But as it happens, villains are to be found. This country is easily wealthy enough to provide its citizenry with cradle to grave health care. The Big Lie is that we have been living beyond our means and therefore must trim our belts. The people who propagate this lie — the one percent — are the ones who stand to continue lining their pockets by cowing the people this way. And that’s why they are our true villains.
USinUK
December 30th, 2011
10:27 am
josef –
Keep Up the Good Fight!
December 30th, 2011
10:28 am
you seem to have too much time on your hands and not sure why your in the UK , but if your not voting here, paying taxes here, or not doing anything to improve the US, then talk to the Daily Sun and post over there
Awwww…..isn’t that so cute when a wingnut lies on the floor, kicks and screams and wets their pants having a temper tantrum.
Soothsayer
December 30th, 2011
10:28 am
In the era of globalization of production and employment, the reserve army of labor has drastically expanded beyond national borders. According to a recent report by the International Labor Organization (ILO), between 1980 and 2007 the global labor force rose from 1.9 billion to 3.1 billion, a growth rate of 63 percent. Historical transition to capitalism in many less-developed parts of the world, which has led to the so-called de-peasantization, or proletarianization and urbanization, especially in countries such as China and India, is obviously a major source of the enlargement of the worldwide labor force, and its availability to global capital. The ILO report further shows that, worldwide, the ratio of the active (or employed) to reserve (or unemployed) army of labor is less than 50%, that is, more than half of the global labor force is unemployed [6].
It is this huge and readily available pool of the unemployed, along with the ease of production anywhere in the world—not some abstract or evil intentions of “right-wing Republicans and wicked Neoliberals,” as Keynesians argue—that has forced the working class, especially in the US and other advanced capitalist countries, into submission: going along with the brutal austerity schemes of wage and benefit cuts, of layoffs and union busting, of part-time and contingency employment, and the like. Ruthless Neoliberal policies of the past several decades, by both Republican and Democratic parties, are more a product of the structural changes in the global capitalist production than their cause. This is not to say that economic policies do not matter; but that such policies should not be attributed simply to capricious decision, malicious intentions or conspiratorial schemes.
The Post-war two decades are gone forever. Never to return. Might as well get used to it.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=28246
USinUK
December 30th, 2011
10:28 am
md – 10:25 – for you
http://www.zazzle.com/only_the_smart_people_will_cringe_tshirt-235056678955382327
larry
December 30th, 2011
10:28 am
And Ladies and Gentlemen……………The Producers…………..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wT6Lv5iBsLM
USinUK
December 30th, 2011
10:30 am
more soundtrack fun …
one of the best collaborations of the decade …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JCcP-eeC6I&feature=related
Adam
December 30th, 2011
10:30 am
md: Would you say having a personal telephone number for the purposes of a job contacting you (which, btw, most will not hire you if you don’t pick up the first time and hire the next person on their list instead) is a WANT, and not a NEED for someone who wants to get out of poverty?
Russ555
December 30th, 2011
10:30 am
Don’t think we have ever had our feet on firm ground. If we did, it was only for a very short and temporary time, or else we just thought it was firm because we were in denial and our heads wee in the sand. Don’t think our present state is anything unique. More normal than not.
Aquagirl
December 30th, 2011
10:31 am
first of all ,it’s YOU’RE, not your … YOU’RE = YOU ARE
I pine for the good ‘ol days when “your” and “you’re” were not considered interchangeable.
md
December 30th, 2011
10:31 am
“Yes, but similar to the infamous ‘Welfare Queen’ sitings, this is such a pitifully small part of ‘THE PROBLEM’ (my emphasis) that I wonder why so many are so focused on it…”
I think it plays into the bigger picture problem…….just look at the percentages of those that think the “wealthy” should pay more in taxes vs those that think we all should pay more in taxes.
The mindset that others should fix the problem we all helped create is also part of the problem.
USinUK
December 30th, 2011
10:31 am
larry – now THAT is a blast from the past!
Granny Godzilla
December 30th, 2011
10:31 am
I’m with Josef – an incurable optimist.
I do believe our best days are yet to come.
Adam
December 30th, 2011
10:33 am
Apparently you aren’t legitimately “poor” unless you are living on the street and have no refrigerator, cell phone, TV, or shelter of any kind. And if you are, you better not be asking for money, you better be looking for a job, bathing, and NOT part of OWS. Otherwise you’re just a whiner and need to pull yourself up by your bootstraps. But you can’t have shelter or A/C or a cell phone until you have no public assistance FIRST.
Normal
December 30th, 2011
10:33 am
Aquagirl, USinUK,
http://history.icanhascheezburger.com/2011/12/27/funny-pictures-history-it-is-terribly-irksome-grammar/
josef
December 30th, 2011
10:34 am
Aguagirl
Oh, we’ve got iPad now…misspellings and misusage done for you!
NORMAL
Tents mended here.
USinUK
December 30th, 2011
10:35 am
Adam – fridges??? AND indoor plumbing??? they’re living the HIGH LIFE!!!
only if you’re living in a sewage ditch in Mumbai can you consider yourself truly poor …
Normal
December 30th, 2011
10:37 am
USinUK,
“only if you’re living in a sewage ditch in Mumbai can you consider yourself truly poor …”
And then only if you are barefoot…
Welcome to the Occupation
December 30th, 2011
10:38 am
This is not to say that economic policies do not matter; but that such policies should not be attributed simply to capricious decision, malicious intentions or conspiratorial schemes
Sooth, are you saying we should NOT see the steady roll-back of the 20th C ‘mixed’ economy, the so-called “welfare state” in Europe and America’s much more meager copy, which we’ve seen in the past 30 years?
On the contrary, I think there’s plenty of evidence that this was an orchestrated campaign carried out by the transnational capitalist and finance class and their political surrogates. The Chicago Boys who had their perfect sandbox in Chile under Pinochet in the late 70s, did not just come from no where, and their ideology has returned with a vengeance in the aftermath of the crash of 2007-8, which is only natural because this is the moment where literally everything is up for grabs, the final obstacles to its full triumph across the whole world financial system can finally be swept away.
Lord Help Us
December 30th, 2011
10:38 am
“only if you’re living in a sewage ditch in Mumbai can you consider yourself truly poor …”
You know, there is some water and some nutrients in that sewage…
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 30th, 2011
10:40 am
Mumbai? with all those IT jobs they are living the highlife now
Shoes optional
josef
December 30th, 2011
10:41 am
USinUK
We lived in a box at the bottom of the sewage ditch!
St Simons - we're on Island time
December 30th, 2011
10:41 am
“The path ahead is not behind us. If we are not the country that we used to be, good. We can be the country that we are going to be.”
dude, that’s pretty good. That needs to be framed on a wall somewhere
or in an inaugural speech. I mean, that’s gettysburg righteous, mon.
Keep swingin the hammer.
USinUK
December 30th, 2011
10:41 am
Normal – 10:37 – sad, but true
LHU – 10:38 – I just threw up …
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 30th, 2011
10:42 am
Josef at least you had running water
Halftrack
December 30th, 2011
10:42 am
You forget that our grandfathers knew a lot about the Bible, our parents knew a little less, today, we the youngsters know even less. Our country was founded on Christian principles. Can we go back to that? Yes, we can. When we forget God, we subject ourselves to Him withdrawing his protective hand over our Country. Just look at your OT and how the Jews went from favor to out of favor because of the lack of faith. Also, the Abrahamic covenant is still at work: those that bless Israel will be blessed, those that curse Israel will be cursed. What’s our foreign policy today by Obummer?
Jay
December 30th, 2011
10:43 am
Just fyi, looks as though I’ll be doing CNN tomorrow at 10:30 a.m., discussing Iowa caucuses, politics, etc.
Welcome to the Occupation
December 30th, 2011
10:44 am
Granny Godzilla: “I’m with Josef – an incurable optimist. / I do believe our best days are yet to come”
Call me a Hegelian dialectician: I AGREE that our “best days” are ahead of us (indeed they were never even present back in the past, but instead were always experienced as being, well, ahead of us, deferred out into the future). However, we are going to have to fight extremely difficult — and possibly, violent — battles to get the dreams back that we’ve lost. So that’s the catch.
USinUK
December 30th, 2011
10:45 am
another rockin song for the end of the year …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWqAGIUbfWA
and Chrissie Hinds ROCKS!!!
Soothsayer
December 30th, 2011
10:45 am
WTO: I read your post twice and, honestly, I couldn’t make a lot of sense of it. Maybe you could boil it down a little for me.
USinUK
December 30th, 2011
10:45 am
way to go, Jay!!! break a leg, my friend
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 30th, 2011
10:45 am
Jay – are you going to wear a ‘padded’ Newt suit?
Adam
December 30th, 2011
10:46 am
Seriously though, refrigerators, heating, A/C – all included in rental properties, even section 8. Why people find this as a sticking point to say poor people aren’t really poor is beyond me, but ok. Then the TVs and cell phones… TVs can be easily acquired from dumpsters and pawn shops, and cell phones (even iPhones, which btw are old technology at this point) can be acquired at low cost, and so can the minute and data plans.
Adam
December 30th, 2011
10:46 am
Jay: Just fyi, looks as though I’ll be doing CNN tomorrow at 10:30 a.m., discussing Iowa caucuses, politics, etc.
Eastern?
Granny Godzilla
December 30th, 2011
10:47 am
WTO
Some of the best days are when you are putting up a fight to make things better….
Adam
December 30th, 2011
10:47 am
What’s our foreign policy today by Obummer?
My response
josef
December 30th, 2011
10:47 am
JAY
Well, ain’t that special? Seriously, though, thanks for the, uh, warning? Will try to remember to tune in. I like talking to the tee-vee screen!
Jay
December 30th, 2011
10:48 am
eastern.
Bruno
December 30th, 2011
10:49 am
I mean really, out of all human history think of all the times and places you could have stepped off into? The times we live in? It’s all gravy my friends compared to so many eons of alternatives!!
Mick, thank you for providing a realistic perspective on things this morning. No doubt that the 9/11 attack was scary and the stock market/real estate collapse shook our faith a little, but I don’t see any reason to hit the panic button quite yet. The economy appears to be slowly righting itself, so I’m sure better days are ahead. Though some of the liberals here are loath to admit it, we are far better off materially, both individually and as a group, than at any other time in history. That is if you look at real wealth, and don’t rely on artificially constructed standards of “poverty”.
The answers of the past apply to the problems of the past.
Yes and no, Jay. Though individual applications naturally vary, right principles remain constant. And one of the most important fundamentals that we have been violating the past 30 or more years in our country is the principle of not spending more money than you are bringing in. Keynesian lovers can argue all day about unproven fiscal policies, but a quick look at Greece and Ireland tells me all I need to know.
Is the overspending the exclusive fault of one political party or the other?? The facts say no, though it continues to remain important to a segment of our blogging population here to try to say it is.
md
December 30th, 2011
10:49 am
“md: Would you say having a personal telephone number for the purposes of a job contacting you (which, btw, most will not hire you if you don’t pick up the first time and hire the next person on their list instead) is a WANT, and not a NEED for someone who wants to get out of poverty?”
Actually Adam, I believe phone is listed on that app……..but there is a difference between a $20 phone bill and a $100 phone/text/data/andeverythingelse phone bill.
Back in the day when I found myself on public assistance, I sold just about everything I owned and cut out every want I could……before applying for help. Had a bed, couch and one old car to get to work……..sold the wife’s car and half our furniture.
The point Adam……too many have no clue what a need actually is.
GT/MIT
December 30th, 2011
10:50 am
@bookman
“Personally, it’s foolish to think in terms of “taking back America.” The path ahead is not behind us. If we are not the country that we used to be, good. We can be the country that we are going to be.”
—————————————————————————————————————————————————–
So Bookman, am I to take from this that it is your way of telling us that we screwed up badly in 2009 and now we just have to deal with it? Well my progressive friend, it will likely be dealt with next November.
USinUK
December 30th, 2011
10:50 am
josef – “I like talking to the tee-vee screen!”
haha … I usually wind up yelling at the tv screen … seek help while you still can!!
kayaker 71
December 30th, 2011
10:50 am
“A Seductive Distraction”, you say. I remember the 50s in an entirely different way. No one locked their cars, no one locked their homes. Most anyone could walk the streets after dark without fear of being assaulted. Your neighbors were nearly important as family. A home invasion was the neighbor’s kids raiding your refrigerator after school. Kick the can was always played after dark and hide and seek was a must along with choosing up for softball games and playing marbles in the dirt after school. A dime would get you into the neighborhood theater on Saturday afternoon where you could watch a serial, three cartoons and a double feature western. If you were fortunate enough to have a quarter, you could get a box of popcorn, a soft drink and a box of Milk Duds to go along with the movie. As the years went by and girls became the main focus, the drive in movie became the rage with its fogged up windows and back seat antics. And the girls always wore those low cut “peasant blouses”, which had no buttons and were certainly easier to navigate along with those magnificent short shorts.
Tuition in college was $375/semester, gas was about $.40/gallon, a hamburger with fries cost a dollar…. “A Seductive Distraction”? It was a lot better than that.
Lord Help Us
December 30th, 2011
10:51 am
‘looks as though I’ll be doing CNN tomorrow at 10:30 a.m.’
Can you please get me an autographed picture of Robin Meade (clothing optional)?
USinUK
December 30th, 2011
10:51 am
md – “but there is a difference between a $20 phone bill and a $100 phone/text/data/andeverythingelse phone bill.”
ever hear of a contract???
people can sign contracts while they have a job and everything is hunky-dory, then the bottom falls out and they’re still stuck with their contractual obligation for months …
RB from Gwinnett
December 30th, 2011
10:53 am
Just thought I’d let ya’ll know there is another “less fortunate” person unemployed this morning. They apparently thought showing up for work 2 hours late would be ok even after we’ve warned them about it several times.
They won’t be eligible for unemployment, so you’ll probably want to go occupy something on their behalf cause they’re for sure getting left behind in this economy by the ones who show up for work.
Ramzad
December 30th, 2011
10:54 am
All of a sudden we are not as powerful as we used to be. All of a sudden we are not as rich as we used to be. All of a sudden we are not as tolerant as we used to be. All of a sudden we are not as smart as we used to be. All of a sudden we are not as white as we used to be. All of a sudden we are not as safe as we used to be.
These are momentous times for the American experience, and until we grapple with the reality that
we need to educate our people. We need to liquefy heinous criminals. We need to restore the belief in personal responsibility and support the efforts of the responsible. We need to set fire to racism, ageism, sexism, and cronyism- or we all will continue to head for the status of Banana Republic. It is up to us.
md
December 30th, 2011
10:54 am
And apparently Adam…….you have no clue as to needs vs wants…..must be part of the problem.
The not as spoiled Nation I grew up in at least had some idea of what the safety net was there for………and how not to abuse it.
USinUK
December 30th, 2011
10:54 am
LHU – I didn’t know one of the N’s in CNN stood for nekkid!!
Recon 0311 2533
December 30th, 2011
10:54 am
Excellent wordsmithing, but take that away and what’s left is a very shallow commentary devoid of vision and sadly lacking in an understanding of America and her history. This nation has faced and overcome adversity since its very beginning. There is nothing different about the adversity we face today other than this time in our history and the circumstances. It does, however, provide insight into left wing mentality that views America as a country of mediocrity that merely moves from one ice flow to another and that someday will fall through an ice flow and fade away. Maybe the intent is to convince readers to forget about our history of exceptionalism and accept mediocrity or even incompetency on the part of our leaders in government. I don’t believe the majority of Americans accept that way of thinking.
Adam
December 30th, 2011
10:55 am
Bruno: Keynesian lovers can argue all day about unproven fiscal policies, but a quick look at Greece and Ireland tells me all I need to know.
That’s true. A quick look at Greece and Ireland tells everyone, or should tell everyone with a brain, that austerity measures (the opposite of Keynesian economics) make things worse. A lot worse.
BTW, there’s a difference between simply having social programs and Keynesian economics. Keynesian economics does NOT support overspending during boom times, which is exactly what both countries did. Again, the opposite of Keynesian economics. So all this SHOULD tell you that these countries never applied Keynesian economics, and instead applied the opposite and failed way of doing things.
josef
December 30th, 2011
10:55 am
Playing the what if game of being dropped off in a period of history? Right where I was, where I was. Rural Mississippi halfway between Brown v Topeka Board of Education and Dien Bien Phu…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFTLKWw542g
AmVet
December 30th, 2011
10:56 am
Great power pop, larry. I had NO idea they were from Atlanta! I always presumed they were blokes.
Using, on the surface, that duet seemed so incongruous, but wow, what chemistry! And it didn’t hurt that that jacked up cover had that heavy, quasi-LZ beat to drive it…
And then some Chrissy. You’re kickin’ it this last Friday morning of the year!
Hiya, B.
Here’s one for all of us optimists (Kinks fans or otherwise)…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdCVlmmnOzA
Lord Help Us
December 30th, 2011
11:00 am
‘I didn’t know one of the N’s in CNN stood for nekkid!!’
And…I still miss Lewis Grizzard (sigh).
My favorite anecdote from Lewis is his telling of sitting next to a Priest at a boxing match. The two fighters go back to their corners after meeting at the center ring and one of them kneels and crosses himself. Lewis leans over to the Priest and asks if that will help him…
The Priest responds, ‘Not if he can’t fight…’
Priceless…
Keep Up the Good Fight!
December 30th, 2011
11:00 am
but a quick look at Greece and Ireland tells me all I need to know.
And therein lies a great portion of the problem…. economies, people, government and societial forces are NOT simple issues. A “quick look” bumper sticker view would only deceive the uninformed. A “quick look” at this country does not provide the analysis of its problems, its issues, its strengths and the interaction of the variety of forces. Simple answers to complicated issues work only for the foolish and deceived.
USinUK
December 30th, 2011
11:00 am
“Keynesian lovers can argue all day about unproven fiscal policies, but a quick look at Greece and Ireland tells me all I need to know.”
if all you get out of Greece and Ireland is that government spending is bad, then you’ve totally missed the point.
Adam
December 30th, 2011
11:00 am
md: Actually Adam, I believe phone is listed on that app……..but there is a difference between a $20 phone bill and a $100 phone/text/data/andeverythingelse phone bill.
First of all, having a cell phone if you want a job is a NEED now. Maybe it wasn’t before, but it is now. And people can get reasonable plans for cell phones at about the $20 cost you mentioned. just because other people who are NOT poor have high prices data plans and are on major networks does not mean that the poor also have that same thing. Many have prepaid plans, and phones as simple as are possible, because they NEED them to get a job. Also, if someone GIVES them an old iPhone or they find one in a pawn shop, those can ALSO be used on prepaid plans. Simply seeing someone with an iPhone in hand means nothing, since they are a lot more common and older than you think. Plus, you don’t know if these people had these devices when they were not poor, and are now poor because of layoffs and are just continuing to use the same device at a lower cost on some other network or with public assistance, etc etc.
The point, of course, is that some people have trouble distinguishing between a need and a want in OTHER PEOPLE. JUDGING them based on what they think they see as an invalidation of “poor” status.
getalife
December 30th, 2011
11:00 am
The Internet killed the cons.
Long live the Internet.
USinUK
December 30th, 2011
11:01 am
LHU – 11:00 –
classic Grizzard … and who doesn’t miss Kathy Sue Loudermilk …
Adam
December 30th, 2011
11:01 am
RB: Just thought I’d let ya’ll know there is another “less fortunate” person unemployed this morning. They apparently thought showing up for work 2 hours late would be ok even after we’ve warned them about it several times.
Sounds like you need to reform your hiring process.
md
December 30th, 2011
11:04 am
“The point, of course, is that some people have trouble distinguishing between a need and a want in OTHER PEOPLE. JUDGING them based on what they think they see as an invalidation of “poor” status.”
The “point” of course was made using cable as the example……..care to make that into a need Adam.
You do love getting on your horse named assumption don’t you.
Welcome to the Occupation
December 30th, 2011
11:04 am
Agreed Granny Godzilla. Moves like Terminator resonate with something in our collective fantasies and myths.
Sooth, sorry if my post wasn’t entirely clear. Unfortunately in my first paragraph I left out the 2nd part: it should read:
Sooth, are you saying we should NOT see the steady roll-back of the 20th C ‘mixed’ economy, the so-called “welfare state” in Europe and America’s much more meager copy, which we’ve seen in the past 30 years, as part of a planned campaign or ‘conspiracy’?
Obviously, I’m rolling together some complex topics here. I’m not arguing that all hardship experienced in the present is attributable to the machinations of world capitalists. What I am saying is that the ideological struggle that we engage in today, which has to do with our way of life, what type of society we will live in, etc., who pays for things and who enjoys the fruits of the work of the majority of the population, and so forth, has everything to do with a struggle that happens over time.
Capitalism has also changed fundamentally from a Fordist model which supported the ‘mixed’ economies of the New Deal era, where it went without saying that there should be certain rights guaranteed for workers and that it was ultimately in everyone’s best interests if there were certain safeguards and protections for the middle class.
But all of this began to change in the 1970s at the peak of the labor rights movement — and other movements for liberation — and the rollback that started then, but really got its legs under Reagan, Thatcher, is precisely the same ideology that made the current attacks on the welfare state and the 99% possible.
midtownguy
December 30th, 2011
11:04 am
Those who want to “take back america” are usually those who were previously granted preference (white, Christian, straight, males). But that group might as well get over it. Blacks aren’t going back to the back of the bus, women aren’t going back to the kitchen, forced christian prayer is not coming back into the public schools and gays are certainly not going back in the closet. We need forward-thinking solutions to live and prosper together.
Normal
December 30th, 2011
11:04 am
Gosh Jay,
Can I have your autograph? Here, just sign a blank check…
No, really…
Southern Comfort
December 30th, 2011
11:07 am
Just fyi, looks as though I’ll be doing CNN tomorrow at 10:30 a.m., discussing Iowa caucuses, politics, etc.
I’ll have to see if I can get to a tv to check that out. If not, I expect to see a video recap posted a.s.a.p.!!!!!
Mary Elizabeth
December 30th, 2011
11:07 am
“Just fyi, looks as though I’ll be doing CNN tomorrow at 10:30 a.m., discussing Iowa caucuses, politics, etc.”
—————————————————————-
Congratulations. I am sure that you will give insightful remarks to many listeners.
USinUK
December 30th, 2011
11:08 am
okay, ignore the crappy video … her voice kicks butt …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfmQYHl5o14
(if you like Carol King, you’ll love Diane Birch)
USinUK
December 30th, 2011
11:08 am
midtown guy …
saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-LUTE!!!
Soothsayer
December 30th, 2011
11:11 am
Wow! Jay on CNN! Pretty soon he’ll be a household word like Kardashian or Snookie!
Adam
December 30th, 2011
11:11 am
md: You do love getting on your horse named assumption don’t you.
You mean like this?:
And apparently Adam…….you have no clue as to needs vs wants…..must be part of the problem
That post and the one prior said nothing about cable, so I thought we were talking about phones. Yes, I asked what point you were making, you said needs vs wants, so I asked you about phones. The discussion MOVED. I concede that cable is a WANT, but do not concede that having cable or a TV makes you any less poor if you’re poor.
Southern Comfort
December 30th, 2011
11:11 am
I remember the 50s in an entirely different way. No one locked their cars, no one locked their homes. Most anyone could walk the streets after dark without fear of being assaulted.
If nobody knew it before, they know for sure that you were not a Black man living in MS/AL/GA back then. Memories about the 50’s is all about perspectives.
Blacks aren’t going back to the back of the bus
To quote the late, great Isaac Hayes… “You damn right!”
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
December 30th, 2011
11:11 am
Well howdy folks. Almost time for another night of Play Your Weird Song & I’ll Top It with a Weirder One, and by the Way Back When I Was a Drug-Addled Hippie I Went to a Concert by These Washed-up Weirdoes and We Had Group Sex and Never Even Got Locked Up.
Anyhow, Bookman’s got a good topic today. Me, I long for the days of the 40s and 50s when Those People knew their place and they passed out guvmint cheese and hardly anyone but the rich kids went to colledge. You got drafted if you wasn’t rich and you come back from war and worked to make somebody else rich and then you died poor as a church mouse. And since nobody else you knew had any money you kinda just assumed that everybody was poor as you was and felt real normal. Yes sirree, them was the good old days.
Anyhow, those days are gone forever. And now I got to get back to hauling and lugging to get you drunks ready for your little music game tonight. Have a good Friday everybody.
josef
December 30th, 2011
11:12 am
midtown guy
You and I are of similar age and background…if somebody had told us back when we were just coming to terms with who we are in our composite whole there would be a day in our lives when we could come into a public forum and demand our right to be who we are, we’d've wanted to know what planet they were from. And yet, here we are and the best part of it all is that so many of “them” are openly cheering us on…we’ve come a long way, baby…
JKL2
December 30th, 2011
11:12 am
getalife- The Internet killed the cons
Isn’t that what Al Gore invented it for?
getalife
December 30th, 2011
11:14 am
“Just fyi, looks as though I’ll be doing CNN tomorrow at 10:30 a.m., discussing Iowa caucuses, politics, etc.”
Tell wolfie Ted Turner hated yellow journalism and he is the worst.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
December 30th, 2011
11:15 am
I thought Redneck would be out sitting up for the big Possum Drop tomorrow. I am sure the WKRP helicopter was warming up for a practice run.
getalife
December 30th, 2011
11:15 am
“sn’t that what Al Gore invented it for?”
Shh that is classified.
USinUK
December 30th, 2011
11:17 am
good gravy … my shuffle is NOT letting me down today …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WlCdiU9IzA
GT/MIT
December 30th, 2011
11:17 am
Adam
December 30th, 2011
11:01 am
RB: Just thought I’d let ya’ll know there is another “less fortunate” person unemployed this morning. They apparently thought showing up for work 2 hours late would be ok even after we’ve warned them about it several times.
Sounds like you need to reform your hiring process.
————————————————————————————————————————————————
Adam my young friend, its not my intention to single you out, but I find your comments typical of those that bookman would probably call a new order.(although I won’t put words into his mouth). Here a man comments on the firing of an employee for cause, and you blame the hiring process. I find that to be astonishing.
Bruno
December 30th, 2011
11:18 am
if all you get out of Greece and Ireland is that government spending is bad, then you’ve totally missed the point.
Adam, Keep, and USinUK–What I get out of looking at Greece and Ireland is that crushing debt is a bad thing. I’m not sure why establishing that principle requires more than a quick look, but maybe I’m just an exceptional person. (j/k guys) Whether this crushing debt is brought on by overspending during good times or by overspending during bad times doesn’t make much of a difference in my mind. Central economic planning has never worked, of which Keynesian economic policies are an example, so I’m not sure why I’m supposed to believe it will “next time”.
Paulo977
December 30th, 2011
11:19 am
But that firm ground wasn’t all that firm after all.
– Jay Bookman
___________________
Indeed , indeed ! Let’s hope ‘better’ will mean a growing awareness that we are part of ALL humankind and that caring and concern for the welfare of the ALL is what matters
“Things derive their being and nature by mutual dependence and are nothing
in themselves”
NAGARJUNA
second-century Buddhist philosopher
All the best..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PD9KLA4qz3A
Steve - USA
December 30th, 2011
11:19 am
RB Just thought I’d let ya’ll know there is another “less fortunate” person unemployed this morning. They apparently thought showing up for work 2 hours late would be ok even after we’ve warned them about it several times.
You didn’t get Millennial training? You should have thanked them for showing up and not fired them. You can expect a nasty phone call from their Mom.
Adam
December 30th, 2011
11:20 am
GT/MIT: Adam my young friend, its not my intention to single you out, but I find your comments typical of those that bookman would probably call a new order.(although I won’t put words into his mouth). Here a man comments on the firing of an employee for cause, and you blame the hiring process. I find that to be astonishing.
You must have missed all the other posts where he complains that this is a common occurrence for the business he owns. He hires people, and they don’t show up for work or are late. So yes, if there is any root cause it’s closer to the hiring process than to the absurd idea that nearly all of his former employees are all just lazy and prefer welfare over work.
JKL2
December 30th, 2011
11:21 am
-I am sure that you will give insightful remarks to many listeners.
obama good, Republicans bad, tax the evil rich, I like Romney even though I wouldn’t vote for him in a million years. I’m sure the choir will be enlightened…
Dusty
December 30th, 2011
11:21 am
Good analysis, Recon
I thought I was reading the obituaries this morning but it was Bookman. After three years of Obama, perhaps his malaise is somewhat understandable. I suppose he will be dressed all in black for his CNN appearance. I wonder who is representing self supporting, optimistic conservatives on that show?
________________________
Thank you, JOSEF, for quoting St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians this morning. Faith, hope and charity (love)! A great epistle of encouragement. But I will disagree with you on another viewpoint.
USinUK does not represent you. You are optimistic (this morning) while she downgrades the USA at every turn if it in any way relates to matters of Republican ideals. She is an avid liberal sitting in the UK while “knocking” the USA. I have no use for that even when it is covered with charm and cute deception. I happen to love this country and find no joy in those who undermine it.
AmVet
December 30th, 2011
11:21 am
JB, looking forward to it. BTW, when is that paragon of radio courage, Kneel B, gonna have a tete-a-tete with ya?
The Iowa caucuses? What a laughfest.
Last time, the Republirubes there went bigtime for the Hucksterbee. (???)
Diane Birch? Yowzers. Niiice.
And when you play with this guy, you are for real…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9lyrOETXao
josef
December 30th, 2011
11:22 am
“Just fyi, looks as though I’ll be doing CNN tomorrow at 10:30 a.m., discussing Iowa caucuses, politics, etc”
Don’t forget the graphs and charts!
Adam
December 30th, 2011
11:23 am
Bruno: What I get out of looking at Greece and Ireland is that crushing debt is a bad thing.
Which is NOT the same as Keynesian economics.
Central economic planning has never worked, of which Keynesian economic policies are an example, so I’m not sure why I’m supposed to believe it will “next time”.
A next time would require a first time. The principle of government spending during bad times and cut backs during good times has yet to be applied. (And btw, tax cuts during good times without also reducing spending doesn’t count).