When are the rich, white and privaledged left simply going to admit it? I get blasted on here for saying I dont vote. I get blasted for saying that I think Al Gore and Edwards and the lot have over the top lifestyles.
Why? Why are most, if not all, on the left afraid to admit that they benefit from the financial system that fucks so many?
More below....
I think at the heart of the matter is the core identity of the American Left. I think the beginnings are nicely summed up with this--
In the sixties, college kids had to fight for their right to refuse to become bankers, soldiers, plastics executives or whatever other types of dreary establishment lifestyles their parents were demanding for them. And because they had to fight that fight, the interests of white college kids were briefly and felicitously aligned with the blacks and the migrant farm workers and the South Vietnamese, who were also victims of the same dug-in, inflexible political establishment. Long hair, tie-dye and the raised black fist all had the same general message – screw the establishment. It was a sort of Marxian perfect storm where even the children of the bourgeoisie could semi-realistically imagine themselves engaged in a class struggle.
Emphasis is mine. The point is this was largely half hearted. Many of the ones who fought the establishment in the 1960s went on to add to suburban sprawl, entrench more corporations into our society and by and large they backed off almost everything they stood for once they had children. Hey everyone wants to live in the good school district right?
It continues....
The only thing American college kids have left to fight for are the royalties for their myriad appearances in Girls Gone Wild videos. Which is why they look ridiculous parading around at peace protests in the guise of hapless victims and subjects of the Amerikan neo-Reich. Rich liberals protesting the establishment is absurd because they are the establishment; they’re just too embarrassed to admit it.
This isnt a bad thing. Being part of the establishment is what it is. So why do so many that are clearly part of the establishment not readily admit it? Are egos so large we cant admit that gasp WE may be part of the problem as well?
Isnt it a good thing to be part of that establishment, part of that power grab and part of that money fest in terms of capability to cause change? It should be empowering to recognize the blessings of the system and readily admit that just because you are the establishment doesnt mean you cant see why it is fucked up....
Or in short....
When they start embracing their position of privilege and taking responsibility for the power they already have – striving to be the leaders of society they actually are, instead of playing at being aggrieved subjects – they’ll come across as wise and patriotic citizens, not like the terminally adolescent buffoons trapped in a corny sixties daydream they often seem to be now. They’ll stop bringing puppets to marches and, more importantly, they’ll start doing more than march.
The quotes used are from (what I think is) a great article from Adbusters which can be found at http://www.adbusters.org/...