March 27, 2009
Independent Alternatives
There should be no doubt in anybody's mind: America's political problems are structural. How one slices and dices that may vary but without structural solutions — call them "reforms" — the system inexorably, increasingly will drain the life from ordinary people for the benefit of the very rich. To talk around today's politics from a longer-term, weathered perspective I turned to John R. MacArthur, of Harper's. It was great to talk with Rick, both for the substance and as an example of how much more thoughtful independent, as opposed to conglomerate, journalism can be. Total runtime fifty minutes. Enjoy!
Comments
Excellent interview and conversation. Excellent assessment of the US condition.
Good listening for those of us on the despair bandwagon (sorry Paul Krugman for the theft of term).
Man, oh, man some bright spots are needed.
Posted by: Peter | March 27, 2009 1:08 PM
Great show, only problem is that it wasn't long enough!
I'd like to offer an alternate idea to the right-wing response when Obama's program fails (I agree that this right wing response is likely and extremely frightening). It can be argued that the rise of the New Left in the Sixties was a response to the disillusionment of JFK's tepid liberalism. I can see a new New Left arising in response to Obama's failures in much the same way.
Posted by: Doug | March 29, 2009 10:51 PM
Your conversation gave a lot of perspective to those of us trying to understand how the US got way off the track of democracy and how the oligarchy expanded. The 2-party system doesn't serve a country the size and importance of the US well at all.
I live in Europe where we also suffer from the corporate-dominated system, but because countries have multiple parties, government is more responsive to the people and we aren't regressing on domestic issues as much as the US. To me, the US is ill-prepared for the 21st century with its economic and social orthodoxy and its archaic policies in health care, energy, education, the penal system etc.
President Obama has timidly declared a 21st century agenda (domestic only, I'm afraid) but he won't have a chance while his party apparatus is bent on preserving power for the oligarchy. UNLESS there is an effective counterweight in the form of massive, unrelenting citizen support for his program and more.
Posted by: CarolB
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March 31, 2009 7:05 AM
Yes, this was a really interesting program--
I would not be surprised if Mr. Kenney is proved right when Obama becomes a one-term president.
Whether or not, Americans have been lobotomized. They can be given anything now and they swallow it.
44th president!
Posted by: Robert B. Livingston | March 31, 2009 8:13 PM