I’ve written previously on the "pendulum" phenomenon as it pertains to American politics: (e.g. 1992 - Clinton trounces Pubs...1994 - Pubs trounce Dems with phony "Contract with America"...2000 - W enters, vowing to restore "honor and dignity"...2006 - a thorough reFudiation of W and a corrupt Congress...2010 - 161,000 anti-Pelosi ads and a Tea Party later, the 'Pubs reclaim the House.) Each time, some wild-eyed spin doctor from the winning party proclaims a paradigm shift; immediately convinced that Americans will now change our fickle ways, and decide to finally establish, once and for all, "a permanent majority".........Balderdash.
In addition to the "micro" pendulum phenomenon of national politics, there is also a much slower-swinging, "macro" pendulum, measuring the temperament of the nation in a much broader and more fundamental way than mere party identification. The macro-pendulum tracks changes in our national identity, "real" paradigm shifts in our collective psyche.....and our American psyche is in flux.
For instance, remember a decade or two back, how amazed many were by the incredibly low prices of some of the stuff at Wal-mart? I think that one might be changing. We are not the same people we were when we allowed China and Wal-mart to flood our markets with cheap crap. Nor are we the same people who allowed the Moral Majority to pervert one of our two established parties, or bust our unions, or allowed trickle-down economics to dictate our policies. We're capable of learning from the past.
American (eventually) wise up. This time we are wising up to our "fake" bounty, embodied in the oxymoron: "affordable luxury". Poisonous toys are not affordable luxury. Sofas and desks, no matter how cool-looking, that collapse after six months of light use, are not luxury.
That oversized sunken marble tub with the busted jets in your trailer house? Sorry, not luxury.
That new Kia outside your new tract home with the leather and the simulated wood grain?
Sorry. Outta luck.
Currently we’re distracted by fast internet and IMAX and D.W.T.S. and our surprisingly affordable McDoubles, McMansions and Korean-made baby-hummers. We all know people out of work. We all see the suffering domestically and around the globe. But the world is getting so complicated. What are everyday people supposed to do? Have a Revolution?
Maybe, if it weren’t so easy to get sucked into the latest episode of Mad Men (or ESPN)....If it wasn’t so dang easy to pop a Coors light (or pour a glass from the wine box), slip in to that faux marble tub and let Calgon take you away. Ahhhh. "Life is Good®"
And heck, life is good®. T.V. is good. Fast, cheap, safe cars are good. Refrigerated Air in August in Central Texas: Really, really Damn Good. But that doesn’t mean that people are not suffering or that our overall inequality isn’t skyrocketing. The pendulum is swinging, and fast. Where it is heading, I cannot say, but I’ll think about this some more for the next time.
I’ll leave you with this slightly related little gem, if you haven’t already seen it:
http://www.youtube.com/...