Angry Enough?

Someone recently commented that folks need to get angry for there to be change. Did I do angry well enough in the last post? Angry is probably easier for me than Funny.

OK, Delay is indicted, Frist appears to be close to being indicted (maybe the fix will get in first), Abramoff is at risk of being sold down the river by the mafia types he appears to have hired to off Gus Boulis (a business partner of Jack's who Jack was apparently trying to cheat). Meanwhile, Jack is deeply entangled in every controversy in the Republican party and could be turned himself. Does this mean the mafiosos better make public confessions soon (including clear and convincing stories of Jack's involvement) or face the likelihood that the Men in Black will off them?

Could Tom Clancy and John Le Carre together (John, sorry to hook you up with literary trash) come up with a more far-fetched, convoluted, intertwined story line?

So, where the press? Mostly feigning balance as they provide cover for the criminals. How soon will the general population catch up with what's going on? Decades? Is it any wonder that the republicans are brazen.

There was an interesting piece on NPR today about an Indiana town that had lost some boys in Iraq. It did much to confirm my opinion that Hoosiers generally are nice, but not very smart. And that the smart ones, tend to be operators - pushing the bounds of law and morals.

In it the towns-people noted how they had a tradition of supporting our and their soldiers. Many of them have families with multiple generations of soldiers. But, what was most striking is that they cannot separate support for the troops from support of shrub government. They noted how soldiers were sent into battle ill-prepared and under armored. That didn't dissuade them. They ignored that we had no reason to attack Iraq. They ignored that the presidential amnesia for his rational for attaching Iraq. And, they made clear the need to stick the battle out until we accomplish our objectives (whatever they may be) even if that means increasing the level of our commitment and armed forces in the war. Are these folks smoking crack or what?

Are their lives so narrow, boring and pinched that they need the Iraqi conflict to convince themselves that they are a good and noble people? What is it that causes them to ignore all the facts? They have access to too much information, despite our ineffectual press. A bi-partisan committee of congress has noted that there wasn't a connection between Iraq and either WMD or global terrorism (surprise - why do you think that the first Bush didn't take Saddam down). The president has acknowledged as much. The parallels to the Vietnam quagmire are too clear - there is no plausible way to think that there is anything we can win over there - not even oil. So, what drives these folks?

It can only be that people need reasons to think of themselves as good and worthy. And, the reactionary right establishment has put together the two trump cards for this: religious and patriotic superiority. The battle, my friends, is about self-righteousness.

Too many people in our society are exposed to rampant consumerism - but not allowed to play that game. Exposed is not the right word - no the word is brainwashed. It is not fundamental human nature to want a Porsche, even if we often want what another has. Our media and advertising has painted a glamorous world that generally isn't real even for the wealthy of the world. If you doubt that, think about Paris Hilton. She may be laughing all the way to the bank, and doing whatever she wants. But, she has to be really fucked up, and can't possibly be a healthy happy human being in her core.

Meanwhile, most people (especially Hoosiers and other agricultural belt people) are as far from this fantasy world as anyone. Heck, even in the ghetto people see excitement. Out in the country, most people are afraid to do or say anything out of step with the norms because it will be talked about. Out in the country, most people have a low standard of living - if you're doing well, you have a boat or a motorcycle but you still have a cheap house, cheap clothing, cheap cars and so forth. There isn't much to do. Mind you, 4th of July parades are great. Going to church and Sunday school are fine. Stopping on Friday nite at the tavern for a beer or two is an opportunity for social exchange. But, none the excitement associated with consumerism thoughout our media is available in the country.

Is it any wonder that many country youth ape ghetto styles of dress? Is it any wonder that a lot of young women in the country dress in a fashion I would not allow my daughter to copy? Folks are bored, constrained, and evidently (according to the TV, movies, and magazines) missing out on the glamour of life.

How do you deal with that? How do you avoid depression? Read People and talk about the latest Hollywood scandal with authority. Position your conformity and duty and dedication as something that places you above those city/union/minority folks who don't support the troops by sending them to battle. Join a church that promises health and wealth, supports immoral activities as long as they tithe, interferes with national politics for the financial well being of its spiritual leader, and attempts to defeat science to provide an epic battle that will brainwash the flock into blind adherence to its leader. Its a sick sick spiral down to hell.

So, how do we break these folks out of this death roll? It won't be by logic - passion over-rules that. It won't be by facts - they've already learned how to refute them. It will only come by offering a better form of salvation. What could be this mass salvation? Its hard to tell. What chink hasn't been covered already with the clever machinations of the right? How do we free the wingnuts from this purgatory?

Let me know if you have an insight.