Andrew Sprung yesterday:
Someone talk me down
I am so freaked out by the weakening global economy, the Republicans' ballyhooed Supreme Court-enabled 3-1 spending advantage, and the pending ACA decision by same Bushified court, I feel like Ingrid Bergman as the Germans march on Paris. Really, it feels as if the forces of reaction are gaining critical mass. They've sandbagged the economy, sabotaged the ACA, packed the court, and won the right to saturate elections with money.
Once again, I am reminded of Francis Fukuyama's demonstration that in other eras, state sovereigns have found means for a few centuries to check the ability of elites to entrench their advantages, only to have the elites eventually find ways to breach the defenses. The question is whether the current disproportionate accretion of wealth and power to the 1% will once again prove cyclical, as in the wake of the 1929 crash, or this time become permanent.
The billionaire barbarians are at the gates.
My response (on his blog):
I feel the same exact way, Andrew, so much so that I am seriously contemplating entirely disengaging from all things political.
I am an attorney, and if the Supreme Court invalidates the ACA, even if it cabins its judicial activism to the mandate, I am going to be devastated. As Akhil Amar stated in an interview with Ezra: "If they [invalidate 'Obamacare'] by 5-4, then yes, it's disheartening to me, because my life was a fraud. Here I was, in my silly little office, thinking law mattered, and it really didn't. What mattered was politics, money, party, and party loyalty."
I was flipping through the cable news earlier this afternoon, and Dylan Ratigan opined (in the context of campaign finance) that our system is like a drunk who is going to have to hit rock bottom by hitting/killing a child before things change. I'm afraid this is correct, and I am afraid that the accident won't occur until well into my twilight years.
The billionaire barbarians are not at the gates; they are in the throne room, preparing to defenestrate the king, while the rubes -- intoxicated by the most shameless of propaganda and empty promises -- cheer on from the courtyard below. It may be farcical, but that does not make it any less tragic.I guess I can always blog about cooking, my sweet girls, and hot men.
Unfortunately, I have already reached that stage. It helps to be living somewhere else, but my political junkie-ism (since I was a child, really) is mostly gone, as the whole thing is so incredibly discouraging and negative.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I'd love to hear you blog about those other topics...although as my retinas are still recovering from the link you provided, your definition of "hot men" is very, very different from mine. :)