My OperaRage and entitlement.
Sunday, April 13, 2008 12:06:05 PM
Mark Ames is someone who I've enjoyed reading before. And so will you, I promise.
http://www.nypress.com/print.cfm?content_id=10369
The first link is a column about the 2004 elections, back in the long ago.
http://www.alternet.org/story/24796/
This one is an interview with Ames about the book on modern slave- rebellion in the US, as an explanation for the frequency of rage- killings.
Like Brad at Sadly, No!, I also like Ames when he's just being vicious. Instead of pretending there's a scientific basis for the theories that warrant careful examination. Since that way it's easier to simply brush off the larger context, and the process which will make an expatriate write about white entitlement, consumer- culture and failure - in the way he does.
Because what is Ames' problem? It's exactly the same problem that makes every one of us in the west instantly nod in unison when reading about sense of personal loss - he's been slighted by society, he didn't get happiness, and now he's mad at the system.
In some way what he writes is sickeningly in it's audacity - the entitlement he believes he should have, the lack of care and purpose the disenfranchised youth has in White American schools, the entire middle- class decline and African American slavery - are all just exactly the same thing.
Because the beliefs he had, along with loads of others with principles and ideals back in the long ago (which is only when people had those, of course), have been betrayed. Instead of winning a revolution for citizens who feel comfortable, contributing to society, and then continuing with their insignificant little lives - it turned out that appealing to their sense of deserved riches, entitlement for their struggles at the expense of others, and fear of the underclass, have taken hold. Indeed, it's been adopted as a national policy for the Republican party, and it oozes money like pus. Instead of someone happily buying an apple and some fresh bread for lunch at a store, people fall over themselves to buy a pre- wrapped sandwiches with GM foods commercials stuck on the cellofoam wrapping. With the same glaring and poisonous colours as they're shown with on TV. Indeed, it's because it's on TV people eat them. Inside is something tasty, but sickeningly unhealthy that you feel bad about even eating - for your own sake and for the sake of unknown others and future generations who will suffer for your excesses - as you guiltily chug down the white guilt to sustain yourself. And it burns in your stomach, because you know, when you think about it carefully, that it's true - all of it. You're an entitled bastard living in luxury, and you only feel slighted because of evil outside influence that makes you want more - most likely it's been indoctrinated into you from early childhood.
But would the alternative ideals truly have made a different society? Would an alternative reality somehow flush away all the problems that people would be too afraid of vocalising, as they would see in their state- owned homes and rations that they have at least enough, even if they're made by Puerto- Rican slaves, minimum wage owners, or whatever, for their benefit.
Obviously, it would not. In truth, Ames is simply suggesting that slight changes in attitude would cure the nation - because in the end it's about "how I feel about it". In the end it's not about whether the reality entitles you to be happy - it's about whether you feel you are happy enough. And why shouldn't it be? The ignorant masses are so poorly captured in their struggle to hit the glass ceiling of society - and so they - we - are victims of our own greed.
In a sense that's also why I appreciate what Ames writes. He was one of the entitled ones. He was supposed to change the world. He was supposed to be the privileged and entitled. And in the end he failed. He may have had the means to live casually while travelling for a while, but he failed. He may have published a book or two - but they are not receiving epic reviews while Ames is still alive. He may have his own paper where he can rant against the US and consumer culture - in Putin's Russia, as it enters the glorious age of capitalism - but he's a failure.
And that's of course why he can write so well about the white entitlement envy right now - he knows exactly what it is, and the extent of it. And I think he hates himself for having it, secretly suspecting that the joke is in fact on him - because he has a conscience, unlike some of his countrymen. Who simply /only/ hate others instead.
That is not to say his point is flawed - by all means no. He's unbelievably right. Undeniably so. But I hope people recognise it for what it is.
http://www.nypress.com/print.cfm?content_id=10369
The first link is a column about the 2004 elections, back in the long ago.
http://www.alternet.org/story/24796/
Columbine. I had just flown home from Moscow to visit a friend who was dying of cancer when Columbine happened, and my first, unmediated reaction to the news was something between sympathy and awe. Officially everyone was horrified, but a lot of friends I talked to, ranging from artists to yuppies, told me they had the same reaction, that Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris were like heroes, and we were all surprised it didn't happen sooner. So I started to ask myself why I had this sympathy, why it was so widespread (and sympathy for the killers is incredibly common, just highly censored), and that led me to look at the larger phenomenon of rage murders.
This one is an interview with Ames about the book on modern slave- rebellion in the US, as an explanation for the frequency of rage- killings.
Like Brad at Sadly, No!, I also like Ames when he's just being vicious. Instead of pretending there's a scientific basis for the theories that warrant careful examination. Since that way it's easier to simply brush off the larger context, and the process which will make an expatriate write about white entitlement, consumer- culture and failure - in the way he does.
Because what is Ames' problem? It's exactly the same problem that makes every one of us in the west instantly nod in unison when reading about sense of personal loss - he's been slighted by society, he didn't get happiness, and now he's mad at the system.
In some way what he writes is sickeningly in it's audacity - the entitlement he believes he should have, the lack of care and purpose the disenfranchised youth has in White American schools, the entire middle- class decline and African American slavery - are all just exactly the same thing.
Because the beliefs he had, along with loads of others with principles and ideals back in the long ago (which is only when people had those, of course), have been betrayed. Instead of winning a revolution for citizens who feel comfortable, contributing to society, and then continuing with their insignificant little lives - it turned out that appealing to their sense of deserved riches, entitlement for their struggles at the expense of others, and fear of the underclass, have taken hold. Indeed, it's been adopted as a national policy for the Republican party, and it oozes money like pus. Instead of someone happily buying an apple and some fresh bread for lunch at a store, people fall over themselves to buy a pre- wrapped sandwiches with GM foods commercials stuck on the cellofoam wrapping. With the same glaring and poisonous colours as they're shown with on TV. Indeed, it's because it's on TV people eat them. Inside is something tasty, but sickeningly unhealthy that you feel bad about even eating - for your own sake and for the sake of unknown others and future generations who will suffer for your excesses - as you guiltily chug down the white guilt to sustain yourself. And it burns in your stomach, because you know, when you think about it carefully, that it's true - all of it. You're an entitled bastard living in luxury, and you only feel slighted because of evil outside influence that makes you want more - most likely it's been indoctrinated into you from early childhood.
But would the alternative ideals truly have made a different society? Would an alternative reality somehow flush away all the problems that people would be too afraid of vocalising, as they would see in their state- owned homes and rations that they have at least enough, even if they're made by Puerto- Rican slaves, minimum wage owners, or whatever, for their benefit.
Obviously, it would not. In truth, Ames is simply suggesting that slight changes in attitude would cure the nation - because in the end it's about "how I feel about it". In the end it's not about whether the reality entitles you to be happy - it's about whether you feel you are happy enough. And why shouldn't it be? The ignorant masses are so poorly captured in their struggle to hit the glass ceiling of society - and so they - we - are victims of our own greed.
In a sense that's also why I appreciate what Ames writes. He was one of the entitled ones. He was supposed to change the world. He was supposed to be the privileged and entitled. And in the end he failed. He may have had the means to live casually while travelling for a while, but he failed. He may have published a book or two - but they are not receiving epic reviews while Ames is still alive. He may have his own paper where he can rant against the US and consumer culture - in Putin's Russia, as it enters the glorious age of capitalism - but he's a failure.
And that's of course why he can write so well about the white entitlement envy right now - he knows exactly what it is, and the extent of it. And I think he hates himself for having it, secretly suspecting that the joke is in fact on him - because he has a conscience, unlike some of his countrymen. Who simply /only/ hate others instead.
That is not to say his point is flawed - by all means no. He's unbelievably right. Undeniably so. But I hope people recognise it for what it is.
