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The Future That Never Comes; The Past That Never Was; The Present Inscrutable
Why am I not surprised by Obama's choice of Joe Biden as his running mate? Because I learned as a child: in America, the future never comes!
Should we shake our heads, wondering, when the candidate for "change we can believe in" chooses a consummate Washington "insider" as his co-agent for that change? Not if we understand that we have lived for decades in a military-industrial, media-fashioned, academia-certified, legally sanctioned Disney World/Murdoch World in which the future never comes.
Expecting the promised future is like expecting to find Weapons of Mass Destruction. Eventually, it becomes a vicious joke: like Bush looking under a table in the White House, then smirking at the camera, "Nope, not here, either."
When I was a child, our teachers ushered us into the auditorium at PS 178 in Queens, New York ... The ponderous movie screen lowered from the ceiling and the future unrolled: wives and mothers in evening gowns (!) danced (!) around spotless kitchens preparing gustatory delights for hubbies and kids. We would all drive shiny autos on super-elevated expressways winding around gleaming city towers. There was no traffic and everything went smoothly, thanks to guidance systems under the thoroughfares. The city was enclosed in a giant bubble dome for perfect climate control and protection from the nastier elements-hurricanes and blizzards. Other huge domes around the city sheltered the abundant food supply. Machines did the hard work, and people devoted themselves to leisure and self-improvement. There was, of course, no war, no violence. Everyone lived long and was youthful-in a technological Shang-ri-la, brought to our youthful attention by G.E. (only later did I learn that meant General Electric, maker of kitchen appliance-wonders and nuclear bombs). "We bring good things to life" was one of their slogans. Another was: "Progress is our most important product."
No one asked, "Progress towards what?"
As I sauntered a little further down the primrose path, I was assured by no less of an heroic-romantic figure than John F. Kennedy that the U.S. was engaged in a "twilight" struggle against the forces of darkness and tyranny. Once we triumphed in the struggle (and our triumph was assured because we were-though no one would quite say it-on the side of righteousness and God), once we triumphed it would all be sweetness and light and we'd reap the harvest of our sacrifices: the world of the spotless kitchens and gleaming city towers, and, of course, later, California dreamin'. Then Kennedy was dead, King was dead, and year after year the future was prorogued in Vietnam. Someone had to pay for that postponement and no better unshaven character was available than Richard M. Nixon. No better one until Jimmy Carter caught us napping with his speech about our "national malaise." In cardigan sweater and with fireplace logs crackling, he tried to warn us that the future of cheap oil and endless consumption wasn't coming. How dare he? the media roared, and we got back on track with the man on the horse who not only saw the gleaming towers, but the "city on the hill," as well. Reagan's stooge-in-waiting, George Bush Sr., packaged the future in an end-of-the-Cold War "dividend"; while his successor--sax-playing, cool-shaded Clinton--surfed the wave of an orgiastic stock market dot.com bubble, and somehow the healthcare system that he and the missus were elected to repair and improve got lost in the shuffle in Serbia. And when kids got killed in Waco or Iraq, Janet Reno and Madelyn Albright assured us all it was worth it-the future would be better!
So, by now, I've given up on it. When mealy-mouthed Bush or Cheney or Rumsfeld or Rice assured me of quick victory in Iraq, a world made safer because a dictatorship would be dismantled, I didn't bat an eye. I knew that future would not come.
The future does not come largely because the past upon which these liars and fantasists fabricate edifices of deception never was. We never were a glorious little Republic that had taken on the nefarious British empire in order to establish freedom and democracy on a new continent. How could we make such a claim in the year of our Constitution's ratification when a fifth of the nation's denizens (not "citizens") were slaves? Did we then fight a Civil War to amend that evil? Did we amend that evil only to have a now "united" nation continue its genocide against its tribal peoples? Remember the Alamo? Did we conquer half of Mexico to avenge the attack on Davy Crockett or because we wanted the gold in California? Did we beat down Spain to help the Cubans, or to conquer the Cubans and the Filipinos as well? Did we take on Germany in the War to End All Wars because of the Kaiser's iniquities, or because we wanted a seat at the victors' table-to save that still nefarious British empire and get our share of the spoils? Did we take on Hitler to save the Jews (a half century of movie and book propaganda seems to indicate this)-or was it to establish our hegemony in the capitalist world, the burgeoning New World Order that followed the horrific blood-letting?
"History," Napoleon said, "is an agreed-upon myth." If the future never comes, and the past never was, what have we got to stand on now in this impinging moment? "The present is too much on the senses," Robert Frost wrote, "too present to imagine." And that is the crisis we democrats with small "d's" must face now. We are a people bereft of real choices because our capacity to imagine a real world--a doable, viable world--has been shattered. We find that we have been gulled about the real nature of our world and our very circumscribed lives within it. Our politicians are not the only ones with "handlers." We have all been "handled" by fraudulent dream-makers and shape-shifters. One wonders if we dead will awaken in time?
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27 Comments so far
Show Allok then. let's sink into a deep depression and mourn the country that never was, blah, blah... LOOK. we are in big trouble, and as a historian, I agree that we MUST respect our past -- the real one -- but we cannot afford to sit around and boohoo in this morass of anguish. go home and read a little howard zinn, why dontcha?
Amen! America was made by people that could, not people that sat around crying for perfection.
Why do you need to sink into a depression about the reality of the world. Life- as it ever has been - is nasty, bruttish and short. To be sure there are some things that were done out of avarice, but that doesn't mean that they weren't also done out of a sense of good. Yes, the usa fought some nasty wars for nasty reasons. But at the same time, the myths are based on some fact.
The usa didn't fight germany to free the jews, nor did they fight to get a place at the victor's table (in either war actually), they fought the nazi's because the nazi's declared war on you.
Don't forget that the best forms of propaganda are based on truth, exagerated to be sure. But if there's no truth to the propaganda at all, then it's but a matter of time before the people whom have been conned will stop buying into it. When the people stop paying attention to the propaganda, you'll see the collapse of empire. The people of the Ussr knew about the inevitable end of that empire long before the cia did, because they stopped paying attention to soviet propaganda before the cia did.
For 200 plus years, oligarchs have determined our future. But oligarchies don't last forever. After they're gone, the future will be what we make it.
Capitalism can only offer progress as an incitement while it struggles for political power. It builds itself through the financing of systems to replace those held by traditional aristocracy.
Once capital attains power, progress can no longer be an option. Future systems must link with those it has put into place. Because the future of any industry is one of stagnant profits, new industries must arrive to bolster profit. Little regard is paid to the throughput efficiency within the infrastructure. The economy is forced to produce bigger and bigger waves from smaller and smaller sources.
The end result will be poverty and environmental degredation since reason has not prevailed.
The many choices that would allow for a different future have always been available. All it takes is for a critical mass to choose that path. But we don't; out of fear, lies, misdirections, unwillingness to get out of our comfort zone, and the power that those in charge hold over us.
It is easier to find an excuse to not take the necessary steps. Enough of us are accepting the status quo (or enabled by the status quo) which allows for the corporate elite to carry out their injustices all in the name of profit and power.
It's interesting that Common Dreams published this article, yet won't publish articles that could provide a solution. There were many third party candidates, and still are, that would at least start us on the path of peace and justice, but I guess CD determined that we have to support 'winnable' candidates who support the status quo.
The same forces that allowed for a Napoleon or Hitler are allowing for a Bush (or Reagan) to carry out their policies.
Human rights for all should always be non-negotiable, but it is the first thing given away in the quest for money and power.
Voting third party is just a small piece of the puzzle that could possibly lead us out of this morass, as well as making peace and justice be the first priority rather than capitalism.
John Lennon said that if we wanted peace as much as we wanted our televisions, we would have peace tomorrow.
Interesting portrayal of our Orwellian Never-Neverland. The US Empire enters into its Final Act as humanity as a whole starts to encounter the Ecological Bottleneck constructed through our overshoot of carrying capacity. Catton, the author of _Overshoot_ in the video at this link http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=William+R.+Catton%2C+Jr.&emb=0# essentially concludes that living is too exceptional an experience not to be enjoyed to its fullest extent dispite all the woe and dilemma we find ourselves amid. The tenuousness of our position shouldn't dictate despair; nor should we put faith in false hopes, such as Obama. It's better to push aside the idiocy of our political-economic and stratified social systems, focus on attempting to mitigate the effects of the Bottleneck, and discover the pleasure in that pursuit. For example, the act of protest itself can be very pleasurable, as I'm sure Code Pink members will attest. Some artist said; "Life is what you make it." To allow something/someone else determine for you what that is is the ultimate form of slavery for you have surrendered your opportunity to be your self.
But will Mr. Corseri still vote Obama?
If so, his words are merely the complaints of an unhappy but still willing slave.
When will progressives give up on -or at least take a holiday from- the Democrats?
I don't mean for the Greens. They've wasted the last decade or more trying to get that magic 5% of the presidential vote and all the goodies that come with it. I mean for a new party. One that has as its goal a return to legitimate Constitutional Government followed by "progress" on the problem portions of our society -health care, work, living systems, economic fairness, social alienation, human rights, citizen rights, war, peace, trade and the environment.
I'm willing to concede 2008 to the Dems -for the most part. Its a bit late to get a new party movement going and I'm fine with having an Obama Executive and decent Dem majorities in Congress when the economic poop starts really hitting the fan. Frankly this honestly sounds better to me than even a Nader or McKinney Executive and Dem majorities -which is the only "third party" possibility this year BTW, Nader doesn't have a Party and the Greens are running for very few Seats in Congress- let alone McCain and the Dems.
I would, however, like to see Harry Reid unceremoniously shunted to political limbo and Nancy Pelosi run out of D.C. on a rail (tarred and feathered)-so I urge everyone in Pelosi's district to support Cindy Sheehan.
But what about 2010?
Surely the (presumptive) Dem Congress and the (presumptive) Obama Executive will have to use their tremendous power to do more for Progress than they have in the past or are currently pledging to do to keep progressives' support?
So will THAT be the time?
A year or so from now, looking ahead to a year or so from then -assuming that the Dems do not alter their current course and have let things go further to hell- will that finally be the time to take a break from them and create a new Progressive Party?
Or is the author correct in his near-despair?
Do we live in a place where the future never comes and the past is a lie?
A can we really, truly, never live anywhere else?
I certainly hope not.
Have Fun,
-matti.
"But will Mr. Corseri still vote Obama?
If so, his words are merely the complaints of an unhappy but still willing slave."
No, they're not, matti - they're words of someone, like most of us, who has each foot in a different reality - one that is, and one that he'd like to see.
I see myself living this duality, and I know I'm not alone. I know Obama is not the answer (more on that below), but I sure as hell know that McCain will keep the neocons in the fore and the shit we're in will get shittier and deeper. Maybe that makes me a slave, but I'll be a living slave with a chance to get the hell out.
As far as the answer to everything: Look in the mirror. Any mirror will do.
"No, they're not, matti - they're words of someone, like most of us, who has each foot in a different reality - one that is, and one that he'd like to see.
I see myself living this duality, and I know I'm not alone. I know Obama is not the answer (more on that below), but I sure as hell know that McCain will keep the neocons in the fore and the shit we're in will get shittier and deeper. Maybe that makes me a slave, but I'll be a living slave with a chance to get the hell out."
More like one foot deep in the mud while the other attempts to drag it free ( dont lose your shoe). If I were convinced that McCain embodies evil while Obama is rather more tepid I might forsake the future to remain in the mud of the present. I think that both candidates offer only the status quo, a victory by either leaves the same folks in charge, and neither suggests a deviation from this nation's course.
If real change is required we must accept that the struggle begins now, otherwise we never achieve a goal...
we see things, not as they are, but as we are.
Anais Nin
deleted by Ted Markow
If you check the Carter speech, you'll find that he never uses the word "malaise."
http://www.rightwingnews.com/speeches/carter.php
(A unique speech, nonetheless. I copied this from some right wing site, of all places. I guess they imagine it shows Carter's weakness, when in fact it shows quite the opposite.)
It was famously characterized that way, and the characterization is what stuck.
That seems to fit nicely into your scheme.
This is yet another urban legend that shall never die, like the one proclaiming Kennedy was elected in '60 cause the fix was in, in Chicago.
Reality is, Kennedy wins that election without Illinois' electoral votes.
Kennedy sought to get people to serve the State, as in all totalitarian countries, instead of working feverishly to get the State to serve the interests of the People as the rationale for the Constitution--the Preamble--commanded, which is as it ought to be in a democratic-republic.
"Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."
By all means let's not "sink into a depression" by recognizing anything accurately or saying negative things and blah blah blah. Let's cheerlead for Change! Let's think and say happy thoughts and be positive and go ahead and vote for Obama and hope for the best! Don't talk about how the future never comes because of our mythical sing-songy past, just be here now and have mindless hope and lecture anyone who tries to be Debby Downer. Get on the sinking ship Obama-McCain and like it!
The present is merely OUR past introducing us to OUR future.
Reality stands alone and adrift given that each of us views our world through only one set of senses [and all the other shit that makes one, one] - our own.
The greatest flaw of any human bean is his/her sense of his/her oneness.
And yes ONE is the loneliest number.
Common Dreams A.O.K. Common Reality no such animal.
Linear time is a construct of indo-european languages which employ a past-present-future verb tense strategy.
Other languages do not code for time in the same way, many code for a circular or spiraling concept of time. The Hopi language distinguishes only between the 'presently manifest' and the 'presently unmanifest'.
Future languages will code for fractal time. In this strategy, the way out of the present 'time frame' is to 'turn the kaleidescope' and tune into a different fractal.
Linear time is just so yesterday !
Good article, and I totally grok his point.
And yet...I still get up in the morning and go to work and treat people well and hope for the future. I do this not because I'm a slave or asleep, but because I hope (and hope is one of the few luxuries I allow myself) that my work, my life, will help bring about the kind of future I believe can happen.
Know the past and the present, work for the future. If you must, fight for it!
Ted Markow understood nothing of what was written in the article. Good American!
No, I understand very well. I know the reality that is and the reality I would like to see. Thing is, I choose not to live with the existential angst of a teenager anymore. I'll do my best...let the chips fall where they may.
Existential angst or intellectual laziness? The Red Queen answers you best,"sometimes one has to run twice as fast as she can in order to stay in the same place", or something close.
If the current reality fails us then we are obligated as good citizens to alter that reality, even if it may prove difficult. One need not become as a teenager to work for change, but not doing so makes for a life of sophistry, and "being nice to people" is not quite the same as working to better our nation.
we see things, not as they are, but as we are.
Anais Nin
Well, okay then, pony up. What do you do, ardee? Not what do you see wrong here and there and everywhere, what the hell do you actually do to make the "real change" you wrote about?
I am working to build community in my community. I am working, and have worked, to build a second and third party. I write and converse and interact with people on a daily basis. Not enough? Then, please, be my guiding light and show us all by example what you do?
Lastly, how dare you think you have a clue as to what I do or not? You have no idea.
You're right, copperiverkid. Although the author of the article doesn't say it explicitly, I think it can be implied that he believes the linear mode of thinking is propagandistic and an effective mode of narrowing experience for private rather than public purposes.
I think it is a good article about something that has to be said.
Good to see you again Gary! (I´ll write from my home address in Iceland)
In the Untouchables, Sean Connery got off one important line applicable here: "What are you prepared to DO?" Dems DO nothing until there are riots on the streets and near-anarchy in the air. Then they whitewash all the most basic causes and throw a few bones to the disgruntled masses amid soaring rhetorical flourishes like "The dream lives on!" The drones get misty-eyed and we all lower our heads humbly as the masters raise their arms to toast, yet again, the birthrate of suckers as one inevitable constant in a world of change.
It´ll happen again.
We are seeing it this week in Denver.
And in commondreams.
Fuck the future. We need change NOW.
"What are you prepared to DO?"
"Our politicians are not the only ones with "handlers." We have all been "handled" by fraudulent dream-makers and shape-shifters. One wonders if we dead will awaken in time?"
....the world is what we make of it.
Gary has described a very interesting reality in which he lives.
Many may feel they align with him and live in a parallel reality.
I can imagine that if there be the handled and there be the handler, that this is a symbiotic relationship. User, used. Abuser, abused. little r in abuser for republican and little d in for democrat in abused. Unfortunately, these types of relationships are two sided, and shared. Only when either refuses to play their role, does the other loose the power of theirs and then abuse ends on both sides in e.
I have been the user to the used. The handler to the handled. The d to the r, and the r to the d. Now I am both the handled handler and the used user. This is when we awaken from the dream of life imagined beyond our reach and start living a life realized within our power.
Awaking is the horrible realization that sleeping was only a dream. Where the little d and little r always creating together and the e leading on to am.
"Our politicians are not the only ones with "handlers." We have all been "handled" by fraudulent dream-makers and shape-shifters. One wonders if we dead will awaken in time?"
Poor, poor, pitiful us...
And I ask, so the f*ck what!?
So, we've been screwed and handled. Who's fault is that? Yeah, the bastards who screw us are assholes, but so what? Yeah, it's great to know who's done what to whom, but so what? As that old refrain from the Talking Heads song goes, "Yeah, so what are you going to do about it?"
I have my own answers. I haven't heard from many others here who have stated what they do. Or maybe I just don't get it, as others have pointed out, and should join the "downtrodden and abused" and just give up. Nah, forget that...I don't like the company.
I'm not quite understanding this talk about "giving up" and so on. I don't see in the article where the author says we should give up. I haven't seen posts that say "give up". So, what's the deal?
I think the article accurately describes the situation most Americans have allowed themselves to be dragged into. It really can't be denied. In my opinion, our current place in history *is* nightmarish, and there is no way to effectively counter it without feeling it viscerally as well as understanding it intellectually, both of which together can ignite useful action.
I personally do a lot of things and they are almost all to counter corporatism and promote values that are under vicious attack by one-sided and oppressive interests. What else is there to do?
Many of you see that McCain is just as bad as Obama and Obama just as bad as McCain, and McKinney and Nader are also just as bad because we will still get Obama or McCain in the end. But further can you also see those who see how good McCain and Obama may be and therefore how good McKinney or Nader would also be? If you can see the bad, I think the challenge for us all is to see the good as well. Then see them both one with the other, and then decide from there. If you can see that all choices will be just as good as bad, and just as bad as good, it might lighten your spirits a little as you make the one that is right for you and others make the one that is right for them.