tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8746692.post2185335005487836556..comments2024-03-19T11:28:58.168-04:00Comments on History Unfolding: The Tea PartyDavid Kaiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05020082243968071584noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8746692.post-35376662854336415272012-07-09T04:35:13.359-04:002012-07-09T04:35:13.359-04:00Along with the disparity in wealth between older a...Along with the disparity in wealth between older and younger Americans, there seems to be a, dare I say, zeitgeist of self-interest however misguided it may be. In fact, it is misguided precisely because elite actors have defined the terms in which instrumental reason masquerades as practical reason and, transitively, distorts the technical aspects of how a democratic society should debate important policy issues. I think this goes beyond Habermas' communication action -- we are living in a Habermasian Hell from which an escape seems nearly impossible. Given the power of the media to extend fictions and conspiracy theories, and the lack of critical thinking among the vast majority of not only America but the world, I can only predict that intellectuals are in for a rough ride. Again, sadly, we learn that ignorance is bliss. ;-) Kevin of ArabiaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8746692.post-75276290703659926972012-07-08T23:54:12.643-04:002012-07-08T23:54:12.643-04:00I wonder if you are familiar with Bob Altemeyer...I wonder if you are familiar with Bob Altemeyer's work on the political psychology of authoritarians. His 2006 book, the Authoritarians, is available as a free download; just google it.<br /><br />Concentrating a lot of frightened, authoritarian followers, unalloyed, into any political grouping, he finds, is a recipe for disaster. As a proportion in a varied admixture, authoritarian followers strengthen a social organization, but isolated, they attract as leaders people oriented, as the political psychologists would say, to social domination -- demagogues bent on cynical manipulation in common language: so, Dick Armey, Karl Rove and the Koch brothers.<br /><br />FDR had both the advantage and disadvantage of the crazy quilt politics of the early 20th century Democratic Party, which put a lot of people with the political attitudes of authoritarian followers into the Democratic Party, including the legacy of populism and the industrial and trade unions. One of the reasons, we lack a "vital center", as you put it, is that liberalism and neoliberalism, with control of the Democratic establishment, is hostile to authoritarian followers. It is all a liberal can do, to refrain from yelling, "racist!" Populist economic policies -- trade protection, control of borders, etc., trigger an allergic reaction in many liberals. The neoliberals just want to find clever ways to scam them further.<br /><br />I expect many of the most adamant Tea Partiers are actually economically privileged, and not as uncomfortable with a pro-plutocratic economic agenda, as a wider, poorer audience might be. The great bulk of those, who, in earlier generations, because they were marginalized in the economy, responded in desperation to populist appeals, are simply ignored by our political system. Some may kid themselves that Obama is not even more pro-plutocratic than George W. But, mostly, they have no hope in politics, and they are right to have no hope.Bruce Wilderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09631065564839959376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8746692.post-21344208106239234712012-07-08T17:57:06.234-04:002012-07-08T17:57:06.234-04:00Professor
Many thanks for this insightful squibb ...Professor<br /><br />Many thanks for this insightful squibb on their book.<br /><br />You point at the end that we lack a vital center because we lack an intellectual center.<br /><br />I dare say here this has almost always been the case. It was institutionalized, it seems to me, but i am open to criticism on that.<br /><br />Nonetheless, I have been reading Collins The sociology of Philosophies, a study of global intellectual change.<br /><br />He talks about the limited attention space occupied by intellectuals, discusses the material bases underpinning litellectual networks, and many other interesting things.<br /><br />Is it possible that we have had an embarrasment of riches re support for intellectual positions; perhaps even institutionalized too many intellectual slots, to use some of his lingo? <br /><br />Even made it impossible for a dominant intellectual position to emerge and flourish?<br /><br />Just some random thoughts on your essay here.<br /><br />All the best,<br />GMBozonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18078858723231122013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8746692.post-16511664063363576122012-07-08T09:00:49.527-04:002012-07-08T09:00:49.527-04:00You mention Fox News. If we go back before cable T...You mention Fox News. If we go back before cable TV (early 80s) and satellite TV, and internet we see a boring news feed of 3 networks wtih Walter Cronkite or Dan Rather or PBS for the intellectual crowd. The possibility of "living in your own little Idaho"<br /><br />http://www.lyrics007.com/The%20B-52%27s%20Lyrics/Private%20Idaho%20Lyrics.html <br /><br />has become real. I however go to work and see people from Africa, Asia, Turkey, Balkans, Russia, South America but lots of them go home and read internet or see TV or read newspapers in their own languages and take vacation "back home" when possible (this is same in USA for immigrants certainly). So integration is slower for new immigrants (38 million in USA are immigrants= 13%) due to cheap travel and sat. TV and the older local population becomes more inflexible by nature of aging and remains attached to ever more insular views on everything. Remember the "Know Nothing Party" of the 1850s at a time of large imiigration and. Add to the stress of social change (sexuality/civil rights/women`s rights and constant technical change plus the revolution of opened markets of China and Eastern Europe) and we see people drowning in uncertainty, overloaded with emotional and other information that the can't "Grok". If a boomer was a "really cool dude" back then tuned out of the scene for a while and went to live somewhere where he was not in the middle of the action of foreigners and technology and sexual freedom then he is now out of touch. So this is a reactionary force in truth.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com