Evil Politicians! Film at 11!

[David Casseres]

[Diana sez]
>...Acknowledging American politics to
>be a Big Lie and "outing" the Clintons as conservatives ain't exactly
>news.  But I doubt sincerely this is the problem the official "Right" has
>with the motto Hillary co-opted from Africa.

I think for a lot of the Right it's as pure an example of Pavlovian 
response as any sophomore psych major could wish for.  They don't care 
what she wrote, only that the official female hate-'n'-fear object has 
published something.

>... Their fear stems from the fact that this proverb is far more
>than "pleasant," it's "profound"--and profoundly un-American.  If we
>continue to fetishize individuality and competition we continue to reap
>what we've sewn, vast wealth for a tiny few, paranoia, fear and hate for
>the rest of us.

I actually think the communitarian thesis is profoundly American, going 
back to the earliest white settlers (and to the natives before them, 
natch).  The denial of community belongs only to the extremes of the 
frontier and to Those who exploit and mythologize it.

Incidentally, I think it's wrong to let Them hijack the name of 
individualism.  I think the real American ideal involves free 
individualism in daily life and politics, much more than in business 
enterprise, and on the part of actual individuals, not the corporate 
hierarchies that They always turn out to have in mind when They preach 
"rugged individualism."

As for competition, They like competition among the preterite; keeps 'em 
busy.  The Elect, of course, prefer the quiet joys of brotherhood for 
themselves.

Cheers,
David