Re: [PEN-L] [Marxism] Fight night in the NBA

[Waistline2]

>Also, the article discusses the racial makeup of fans and players.  I remember reading an economics article explaining how teams like Salt Lake City, located in predominantly white areas, pay more for white bench sitters to not alienate fans by making basketball a black sport.  Detroit was used, if I remember correctly, as a benchmark for having a greater black fan  base.<   Comment   Without question there is an underlying theme of ugliness - white chauvinism, involved, but something else that is deeper, almost undefinable is in progress.   Detroit really means the Detroit Metropolitan area which is much larger than the city of Detroit. A couple of days ago an article ran on Pen-L about Detroit being one of the hardest cities to get a good night sleep in. This meant metro Detroit. The NBA fight indicates to me the deepening of a down turn in the industrial sector and housing.   Really.   I would bet that one could trace a slow rising curve of child and spouse abuse, a small uptick in suicides - especially outside of Detroit proper, and a virtually imperceptible rise in general violence. I would track the actual working in the economy based on the items for sale on the factory boards and when lots of boats, snow mobiles and houses for sale appears, I would know that the abuse in the homes and suicides were do to increase. Before the social explosion that is something like a turning inward that proceeds the outward social explosion and attempts to find outlets and organization to express anger.   I am not trying to present a schematic exposition but describe a social process that has always been part of the cyclical nature of auto.   The Presidential election upset people in way I do not recall seeing before. When groups start naming themselves the "League of Pissed Off Voters," and make head way amongst the population, instead of the "League of Concerned Registered Citizens," I think we are dealing with the emergence of new social forms of organized masses, very different from the 1980s and 1990s.   Something different is happening. I love the Rap thing and Hip Hop but it really crystallized during the Reagan years with a certain bravado and flouting of wealth.  Under no circumstance is the race aspect being over looked. Nevertheless, the masses do not have big diamonds and huge gold chains and fancy cars.   There is however a fundamental separation and polarization taking place in our society.   At first I laughed about the fight night event and this whole territorial thing and the striving to achieve celebrity status by punching a celebrity and the idea of the bar room brawl and throwing chairs on mutherfuckers.   I am convinced that an outright fascist take over in America would be extremely unstable, momentary and push roughly 60-70 million people into motion, that would as an impulse momentarily turn inward and then the outward social explosion.   Seems to me that a lot of people want to get in the game of every level - throw their blows and express contempt at "what exists" and "to hell with the consequence."   The "left" has to figure out what people are trying to express so that the language of this _expression_ can emerge. Or rather the new social movement is slowly finding its legs and what we have called the left in the past is not going to accurately describe the new social movement.   After you combine together on the basis of being a "pissed off voter," what do you do next . . . Turn over election machines? Then there was the case in Wisconsin the other day about a hunter killing five other hunter arguing over a spot to shot from - and wounding several other people.   People pissed off and I do not believe society has to be reduced to the level of the India peasant of 100 years ago to rebel.   HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMM   MelvinP.