Ian Welsh says of the James Clapper appointment: "It is Obama Saying 'Kiss My Ass' "

He's already shown he's wiling to lie for the cause. Who better to turn to to protect the secrets of our secrets?

"It's really hard for most people to understand just how much contempt our lords and masters have for us. . . . Starting at about the Senior VP level, people decide that they deserve everything they've got and everyone else doesn't.  If they did, they'd have it. . . .

"If you have an ideology which glorifies greed and which claims that society is a meritocracy when there is copious evidence to the contrary, those who win will believe they 'deserve' what they have, and everyone else 'deserves' what they have."

-- Ian Welsh, in the post "The Beauty
of Obama's Clapper Appointment"

by Ken

Sometimes you just want to throw up your hands and whimper in surrender.

Ian Welsh has a slightly different reaction to the president's appointment of James Clapper, "the man who lied to Congress about NSA spying," to oversee a review of . . . NSA spying. Ian declares himself "in awe." He says few things have impressed him this deeply. "This isn't just a middle finger to everyone to everyone who is against blanket surveillance (aka. the majority of Americans)," he says. "It is Obama saying 'Kiss My Ass.' "

And then he makes a connectino that resonated like mad for me, and I think will for you too (if you haven't already read it; well, even if you have).

It's really hard for most people to understand just how much contempt our lords and masters have for us.  They really don't give a fuck what's good for us, what we like, or what we think.  They are rich, or powerful, or famous because they deserve it, and if we aren't any of those things then they don't give two fucks what we think.  By not being rich, powerful or famous we have proven we don't deserve any say.  After all, if we had any qualities that were worthwhile beyond the sort of qualities you praise in a dog, we wouldn't be peons, would we.

In this, Obama is very similar to Bush, actually, but in general it's a characteristic of everyone near the top of our current society. Starting at about the Senior VP level, people decide that they deserve everything they've got and everyone else doesn't. If they did, they'd have it.

To which I think we just need to add two extremely important categories of humans, who make the whole system work. First, there are the wannabes, the strivers clutching and finagling to lift themselves into that elite. And then there are the go-alongs, the hordes who accept their hanger-on status in exchange for modest rewards that are still more generous than they apparently feel able to latch onto -- or latch onto as comfortably -- elsewhere.

Then Ian makes yet another heart-thump-worthy connection. "The media is full of studies showing that power decreases empathy," he says, "and I'll bet that's true throughout history."

But I'll also bet this, the degree to which it is true is social, and in many times and places it has been less true. Over the last couple generations we've seen a significant, measurable fall in the general level of empathy in the population as a whole. [Here he links to a "Dissident Voice" post by Gary Olson called "Education, Neoliberal Culture, and the Brain."] If you have an ideology which glorifies greed and which claims that society is a meritocracy when there is copious evidence to the contrary, those who win will believe they "deserve" what they have, and everyone else "deserves" what they have. Add to that objective circumstances which amount to dog-eat-dog (there simply are not enough good jobs to go around) and people will either band together, or turn on each other. Generally, we've chosen, for ideological reasons, to turn on each other.

"This isn't necessary," Ian says. "It isn't what happened in the US in the Great Depression, for example. It's a choice, and our choice is to be bastards to each other."

Like I said, sometimes you just want to throw up your hands and whimper in surrender.


AN ALERT TO IAN WELSH'S BLOG HORDES

Ian has posted this note. (I assume he means Thursday, August 15.)

All registered users will have to re-register Thursday August 14th

2013 AUGUST 14

by Ian Welsh

Sorry folks, but the amount of registration spam is out of control and one of the things slowing down the blog. I'm going to purge everyone who doesn't have at least editor level access tomorrow, and you'll have to re-register with the new captcha system. Sorry about this, it's not elegant, but I'm hoping it makes the site run faster, and cuts down on my admin overhead.

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For a "Sunday Classics" fix anytime, visit the stand-alone "Sunday Classics with Ken."