Media-Space-Place-Network

Bigger History: Dennis Staunton, writing for the Irish Times, October 25th points out that Obama isn’t just the first African American President of the US, “..but the first black leader of a predominately white country in modern times.”

Now when did these modern times begin?

The Honk Festival: Transformation of the streets of Somerville into autumn-sun-drenched moments of possibility, undermining, banishing and out honking MANUFACTURED BIG FEAR.

Second Line Social Aid and Pleasure Society Brass Band [SLSAPS], Somerville, MA

Honkism: We make it all up, right now, this moment. Any understanding or analysis of our current predicament has to start from the absolute certainty that we are all big talented mammals with brass instruments, dance routines, stilts, hullahoops and noisemakers. Anything less is unacceptable.

Marching Fourth Marching Band, from Portland, Oregon

Paul Krugman through his blog in the NY Times shares informed opinion that the bailout is probably already a failure.

Krugman also reports — “Raising the white flag of surrender — to Medicare” — that in the VP debates, Sarah Palin’s impassioned quote from Ronald Reagan regarding freedom, was from a cheap hustle of a canned message distributed to groups campaigning against Medicare.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/03/raising-the-white-flag-of-surrender-to-medicare/

“It was on a recording he made for Operation Coffeecup — a campaign organized by the American Medical Association to block the passage of Medicare. Doctors’ wives were supposed to organize coffee klatches for patients, where they would play the Reagan recording, which declared that Medicare would lead us to totalitarianism.”

The Bush administration is following its maniacal pursuit of economic fundamentalism to its logically insane conclusion of looting and destruction. Now these men of the commanding heights are huddled in a cold sweat, peering out of a trench of panic unable to see anything but confusion and darkness, and they want to drag us all down with them.

Metaphors are important. Forget the media-driven framing of the financial crisis as the darkness of apocalypse slouching into town, all I see is science fiction images of light bursting through the machine. The financial crisis is an enormous opportunity for progressive change. The next time some asshole in a policy debate tries to shut down discussion with free market ideology, shout em’ down. No deal — no way.

So now the education and substantive economic debate begins. Let’s take this cool new “networked public sphere” out for a spin and see if it has any real potential for democratic change. Start with democratic health care reform, then move on to the hopeful, progressive, human and community focused economics proposals that are starting to emerge —- I want to read everyone of them, so many words, so little time. Please share what you find; here are some of mine.

This American Life: The Giant Money Pool
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1242
Here is the “new” New Journalism at its best. A great look/listen to the nasty underbelly of the crisis using good writing to give you more understanding of what has happened than any issue of the WSJ or the Times. Learn about NINA loans: No Income, No Assets.

The Center for Economic and Policy Research
http://www.cepr.net/

Senator Bernie Sanders has a 4 point counter proposal in the form of a petition:
http://sanders.senate.gov/petitions/?petition=Financial_Crisis_1

I like Point 2.
“Include a major economic recovery package which puts Americans to work at decent wages. Among many other areas, we can create millions of jobs rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure and moving our country from fossil fuels to energy efficiency and sustainable energy. Further, we must protect our most vulnerable families from the very difficult times they are experiencing.”

Remember, going negative doesn’t have to be nasty.

Basic Con: NeoLiberialism

Basic Strategy: Economic Fundamentalism — low inflation, low interest rates, low wage growth, a user-pay philosophy of public service, negligible taxes on wealth, investment income and corporate profits.

Basic Agenda — socialize the risk and cost of investment and private capital, privatize profit and power.

Have you heard or seen any of the above words that are missing from our political life? If you find them don’t call an emergency number or 911, just cast your vote accordingly. If your candidate is not talking about economic fundamentalism, then you need to talk about it among yourselves.

David Harvey “What neoliberalization has been very good at is restoring or reconstituting class power in a very narrow band of the political economic elite.”