The International Journal of INCLUSIVE DEMOCRACY, vol.4, no.1, (January 2008) Democrats and the Myth of Change JOHN SARGIS http://www.inclusivedemocracy.org/journal/vol4/vol4_no1_sargis_democrats.htm
Again, all this is pretty obvious, but significant numbers of people choose to deny the obvious. So-called progressives seem hell-bent on self-deception. Yet, though so many people are already bored shitless by this prolonged election cycle, a tension is building in the air as to how this will play out, and it is by no means a trivial matter. First, what plays in the electorate determines the ease, rapidity, recklessness and viciousness with which we and the rest of the world are going to get screwed in the next few years. Secondly, there is the issue of both mass and governmental response to crisis. Obama can't deliver on his vague promises, but what he and various factions of the ruling elite will do depends to some extent on what the various factions among the masses do, if anything. That's one dimension of the situation that has been of necessity ignored by the mainstream propaganda industry. It is playing around with 'surface' issues, which are not exactly insignificant either. The cultural vocabulary of the three candidates and the loyalties and demographics and ideological valences to which they pander have some relationship to ideological legitimation and fine-tuning of the screw job at hand. The first real black president represents a step beyond the first honorary black president and even promises to skip the first- white-president-with-a-vagina stage. This is a vast experiment in ideological market research and a gamble whose stakes are much higher for us than for the ruling elites, who have a multitude of backup plans. Obama hasn't gotten knocked off the tightrope as yet, and his victory could be an epochal symbolic victory at least, realizing the demographic diversification of elites that the New Democrats have to make possible, and accommodating the dinosaur segment of the white population to the fact that 21st century America will not be a white one. Modest affirmative action is very good for business, after all. There will also be a place for the bigoted troglodytes, but of they took over the culture completely, the society would collapse. The mass media machine, for all the overt right-wing bias of some of its sectors (FOX news) still must maintain a facade of inclusiveness and balance and openness (the Jon Meacham / Tom Brokaw types) that accommodates all the elements of a consumer society. These people love Obama for a reason, and also, they don't hesitate to throw up the obstacles to Obama's acceptance, for the same reason. They know the only question is, will white American accept him with all the anomalous exotica (from its standpoint) that comes with the Obama package? Will Obama be the candidate of globalization, or vicious ignorant animals like McCain, or more slightly more elevated versions of neoliberalism like Clinton? Obama has made it this far because the system is a mess, and if it survives, the generational shift may enable the Obama package to sell. Interestingly, the cover story of FAST COMPANY is about the "Obama brand" and why it's good for business. Indeed, the very use of the word "brand" reveals a lot. We are the guinea pigs of an expensive market research program. How it will end up is anybody's guess. _______________________________________________ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
