There's no teevee here, so when I'm in the house, I sometimes listen to the radio. The other day, I was idly spinning the dial on the 1942 Philco that sits by the french door out to the back yard, and hit on a "new and positive" AM station, KIVA in Albuquerque. It was actually pretty good more or less "liberal" talk radio, which is not uncommon in New Mexico, but it differed from the other stations (I can think of one in Santa Fe and another one in Albuquerque, and there must be others) in its local focus. All the talent was local, and the topics were New Mexico-centric. I thought that was pretty damn good, given that there are so many issues here that constantly need addressing.
One of the favorite targets of the talkers on this station was Governor Bill Richardson, a long time Democratic Party apparatchik, many of whose efforts seem to be perfectly tailored to soak the poor on behalf of the rich. Oh yes.
Finally, a program came on that dealt directly with the problem of the poor in New Mexico, which is an ongoing situation, never resolved, nor is it necessarily resolveable. There is Tradition, after all, and Tradition in New Mexico is very, very strong. There is Culture. There is Social Conditioning.
All these factors were recognized, and they were condemned by a flack from something called The Rio Grande Foundation, whose premise was that New Mexicans are poor because they are dependent on the one hand, and their culture doesn't allow them to innovate or become enterpreneurs except to the extent their padron permits.
They are dependent on Government, according to the flack, to an extent not seen anywhere else in the country, and so they are poor. Government is so bloated in New Mexico that it sucks up all the resources for itself leaving nothing for innovative enterpreneurs. Who are oppressed by the padron system that keeps everyone dependent on Government. Government is so bloated in New Mexico that there are eight campuses of four year state universities -- compared to only two in Arizona.
And so on and so forth. It was fascinating, and I didn't hear anyone call in to correct the record. What this flack was proposing was that New Mexico become more like Arizona, reduce or eliminate dependence on Government, get rid of the padron system, and everybody become independent enterpreneurs innovating all kinds of neat stuff that will make everybody rich.
Uhhh....
Anybody been to Arizona lately? Oh. Not working out so well, all in all, and not so innovative nor so independent of "Government" as the flack believes. And New Mexico is not nearly so absent enterpreneurial spirit as the flack insists.
The notion that everyone should be "independent" is one of those deeply rooted Libertarian ideological premises that resonates strongly with a certain class of Americans, but it doesn't work in practice. If the issue is the poverty of New Mexicans, making them all "independent" simply worsens their situation, it doesn't improve it. But then it also makes exploitation even easier than it already is. Which is the point of advocating "independence." It's a predatory imperative.
And most people instinctively want to protect themselves -- through mutual assistance -- from predation.
New Mexicans have been doing that for quite a long time. It's worked out pretty well all in all for all kinds of people. Those who would prefer to predate may wish to do so in Arizona, where the Liberty for Predators is fundamental.
If I have more time, I'll cogitate on this dichotomy some more...
Che,
ReplyDeleteThe drive to get people "liberty" or freedom from government control, seems to me to be part of the right's response to Marx's attack on corporations.
You said this,
"...The notion that everyone should be "independent" is one of those deeply rooted Libertarian ideological premises that resonates strongly with a certain class of Americans, but it doesn't work in practice. If the issue is the poverty of New Mexicans, making them all "independent" simply worsens their situation, it doesn't improve it. But then it also makes exploitation even easier than it already is. Which is the point of advocating "independence." It's a predatory imperative.
And most people instinctively want to protect themselves -- through mutual assistance -- from predation..."
Marx, or what most take to be the left's main argument, tell us that power rests in the hands of the owners, who use their power to steal from the poor, steal their labor, their time, all kinds of valuables... To which Marx responds by encouraging the workers to organize together and to resist the efforts of the owners, and to take over the means of production from those owners.
The efforts of the left to take over government on behalf of the welfare of the people is seen by the right to be just a part of Marx's grand scheme.
The business about "liberty" from the right, on my view, is their response. The right says to the workers, be suspicious of anyone telling you that you should have the government or anyone else help you fight off corporate or private power. The right goes on to say that the "professional left" that tells you that a people's government will help you is just a sham to dominate you by these "professional leftists." According to the right, the libertarians for one, these leftists in charge of government have a hidden interest in taking away your freedoms so they can steal from you themselves.
It isn't the corporations that you have to worry about, on their view, it is the left.
The right cannot acknowledge the left is out to help workers, or else they would have to allow that corporations, and the private powers that control them, are any kind of a threat to the poor. For the right, they have to insist that our biggest danger is from government and the power of government to take away your valuables. Else, they don't have a response to Marx.
s.
True enough, Steven.
ReplyDeleteI did a little research on the Rio Grande Foundation, and it is, as I suspected, a pretty pure Libertarian stink tank. No wonder they are so intent on making New Mexico into The Next Arizona. The thing is, they have some powerful backers and a number of media outlets to promote their "solutions".
I think the natives will resist. Well, they better. Since they have a long history of Resistance, I suspect they'll do what's necessary.
You know, I really wish that Democrats were more inclined toward understanding -- and utilizing -- Marx in the current situation, but they're not. Apart from the next-to-useless Greens, we don't have a "Leftist" party in this country -- we have two rightist parties, and a plethora of disputatious argumentative parties, none of which can, under our political system, rise to power.
In New Mexico, Democrats appear to be slitting their own throats. The economic situation isn't good, but it's not quite as bad as some other places -- like California -- because (in part) New Mexico's baseline is much lower. Poverty is real and extensive. There's also enormous wealth concentrated in the hands of a few prominent families.
The Democrats' position has been to spread the impact of the Endless Recession among the "lesser people" and protect the rich and powerful from harm at all costs. This is the policy out of the Statehouse and the People are rejecting it. Politically, though, they don't have a viable alternative. It's either the Democratic policy of imposing the costs of the economic travails on those least able to bear them, or the Republican policy of doing the same -- only doing it harshly.
From all appearances, Republicans will win the political battle in a walk. This seemed obvious in March.
But there is a whole level of New Mexican society that goes on outside the obvious political system. It isn't perfect but it does endure, and that's where the People are organized and where they pursue what's important on a human level.
That level existed in the Russian Empire before the Revolution, too, and it was part of the strength of the Revolution when it finally came.
Community, unity and solidarity can defeat the power of the plutocracy.
Marx explained it... The potential long pre-dates him, and it's outlived him.
So we'll see where it goes...
Ché
Che,
ReplyDeletethanks for the response.
I think you are probably correct about the Democrats "slitting their own throats." I live here in Oregon. The Dems here have it better than, I suspect, what's going on in New Mexico, although the news tells us tax revenues are down and now, as has been argued, the legislature is going to make big cuts.
I understand a little of what's already been happeneing in the Human Sevices Division, where money devoted to helping the old, the disabled, and the mentally incapable, has been cut, cut to the point that people are not really being helped enough.
What to do? This is the question, I think? I don't agree that we should be making people starve, especially while we are pending so much on foreign wars and the empire.
It's my understanding that large to medium sized corporations have fled to China and other slave states primarily because the labor costs of slaves are so much less than people who have some labor and workplace safety legislation. (i.e., here.)
Part of why this off-shoring is possible is because, well, we tolarate slavery, but, also, we have a strong dollar policy which makes American stocks and bonds attractive for foreign investment, all well and good, but makes goods produced in the U.S. by domestic labor, uncompetitive. Hence, manufacturing goes to slave states.
One thing to do is to promote a weak dollar policy which would make it difficult for the government to cover up its debts, and U.S. corporations to sell their stocks, but, it would make U.S. made goods more competitive.
I am not an economist, nor do I understand the mechanics of this, but economic policy seems to be where the Dems or the left, for sure, needs to focus.
anyway,
ciao...