Conservatives ruining 'American exceptionalism'

Beinartfeb argues convincingly that conservatives, who say they defend "American exceptionalism," are actually doing the most to destroy Americans' feeling of having a special place in the world that diverges historically and culturally from Europe.  

How?  First, because of conservatives' politicizing religion. Feelings of exceptionalism are strongest with those who attend church regularly and identify with a particular religious denomination. By politicizing religion, starting in the 1980s, conservatives have steadily turned off generations of Americans from churchy Christianity. They believe church has gotten too political.  (They're right).  We have an increasing contingent of "spiritual not religious" Americans who never hear the pastor's or televangelist's politicized sermons.

Secondly, because of Dubya. A belief in American exceptionalism goes along with an aggressive, "unapologetic" U.S. foreign policy. Thanks to Bush's avoidable debacles in Afghanistan and Iraq, two generations have been turned off from an active, interfering U.S. role in the world; and they are less likely to believe in "going it alone" and more likely to trust the UN and international institutions.

Third, because of economic inequality. Republican policies have limited class mobility, have encouraged accumulation of wealth at the top, and have made more Americans class-conscious: they are more likely to look at their country just like any other, where the Haves rule the Have-Nots -- not the land of the "American Dream" where anybody who works hard can live comfortably and even strike it rich. 

The End of American Exceptionalism

By Peter Beinartfeb

February 3, 2014 | The Atlantic

URL: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/02/the-end-of-american-exceptionalism/283540/

Ames: Apple, Google, Adobe, Pixar colluded to depress tech wages

Ever trenchant muckracker Mark Ames reveals here that tech giants like Apple and Google not only outsource their manufacturing to suicidal sweatshops in China that revolt against their masters, not only do they avoid U.S. taxes by registering in Ireland, they also conspired to hold down wages for U.S. tech workers, the alleged winners in this whole globalized, "We got the brains, you got the brawn" value chain. 

Tell me again why we celebrate these "American" companies?  

The Techtopus: How Silicon Valley’s most celebrated CEOs conspired to drive down 100,000 tech engineers’ wages

By Mark Ames

January 23, 2014 | Pando Daily

URL: http://pando.com/2014/01/23/the-techtopus-how-silicon-valleys-most-celebrated-ceos-conspired-to-drive-down-100000-tech-engineers-wages/

UPDATE: There's this far-right libertarian Nazi that I correspond with, he says he's a millionaire, let's call him Old Dirty Bastard, who responded to this post. I think this thread is pretty instructive for all you not-so-crazy folks, and shows why we need unions and collective bargaining to protect us from the ODBs of the "free market":

(ODB): Wake up and smell the coffee---it's been happening forever. They are dumb if they don't get their best deal. They do it to states by incorporating in states like Nevada also.

(Me): Employers have always colluded to keep wages down in a given sector? Did you read the article?  You don't even believe your own libertarian mumbo-jumbo!  What a cynic you are! Don't preach to me anymore about your free-market beliefs, etc. because you believe in the Law of the Jungle, where Might Makes Right. 

(ODB): Explain the difference between free market and the law of the jungle. I do not see it

(Me): That's your definition of libertarianism.  The Sherman Anti-Trust Act, Teddy Roosevelt, Grover Cleveland... they were all long-haired hippy commies "ruining" the free market.  There's no use arguing with you, you are so far to the right that you're back on the left with Hitler and Pinochet. 

UPDATE (20.02.2014): Mark Ames followed up his original report with more court documents and e-mails, this time between Apple's Steve Jobs -- "an American hero" -- and Palm's Edward Colligan: "Steve Jobs threatened Palm’s CEO, plainly and directly, court documents reveal."

Preaching 'personal responsibility' to African-Americans

With the audacity of hope, I encourage you -- and my conservative friends especially -- to read Coates's article about how African-Americans struggle to relate to President Obama as "The Man" and his calls for blacks to exercise personal responsibility. Try to understand in particular the last three sentences quoted here [emphasis mine]:

"I am not raising 'nothing niggers," my mother used to tell me. "I am not raising niggers to stand on the corner." My mother did not know her father. In my life, I've loved four women. One of them did not know her father and two, very often, wished they didn't. It's not very hard to look at that, and seethe. It's not very hard to look at that and see a surrender, while you are out here at war, and seethe. It's not hard to look around at your community and feel that you are afflicted by quitters, that your family—in particular—is afflicted by a weakness. And so great is this weakness that the experience of black fatherlessness can connect Barack Obama in Hawaii to young black boys on the South Side, and that fact—whatever the charts, graphs, and histories may show—is bracing. When Barack Obama steps into a room and attacks people for presumably using poverty or bigotry as an excuse to not parent, he is channeling a feeling deep in the heart of all black people, a frustration, a rage at ourselves for letting this happen, for allowing our community to descend into the basement of America, and dwell there seemingly forever. 

My mother's admonishings had their place. God forbid I ever embarrass her. God forbid I be like my grandfather, like the fathers of my friends and girlfriends and wife. God forbid I ever stand in front of these white folks and embarrass my ancestors, my people, my dead. And God forbid I ever confuse that creed, which I took from my mother, which I pass on to my son, with a wise and intelligent analysis of my community. My religion can never be science. This is the difference between navigating the world and explaining it. 

In other words, we should not expect to hear the lessons that we teach our children repeated back to us by our elected leaders, as if we are children.  We don't elect them to be our parents or pastors; we elect them to solve problems that we as individuals or individual communities cannot.  As for the rest of us, as a body politic, we cannot preach "personal responsibility" to each other and thereby wash our hands of our society's problems. If only it were that easy.

(And if you don't believe there are any problems that individuals or communities cannot solve by themselves, as many Tea Party conservatives say, then you should really consider not voting in federal elections at all, since basically all Washington does or can do is "meddle" in our lives.)  

  

The above applies to the socio-economic strife of blacks especially. 

The Champion Barack Obama

By Ta-Nehisi Coates

January 31, 2014 | The Atlantic

URL: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/01/the-champion-barack-obama/283458/

Enjoy the NSFL Super Bowl, comrades!

Here's a two-fer about America's beloved National Socialist Football League.

Enjoy your socialist Super Bowl, comrades!


From a UK perspective, American football and the Super Bowl look downright socialist
By Joe Ware
February 1, 2014 | Guardian
URL: http://gu.com/p/3mcc9


Here's How The NFL Makes A Killing Off Of Taxpayers (INFOGRAPHIC)
November 27, 2013 | Huffington Post
URL: http://huff.to/1eAcXXU

Jamie Dimon shows that crime does pay, and how!

Put this in the Cheater Nation file, copied to the TBTF file. Crime does pay, as long as you do it wearing a tie, with an expensive education under your belt.

In any kind of just country, Jamie Dimon would be walking the plank, breaking stones in a gulag, or wallowing in a dungeon, but in the US of A, he is a very rich and well-respected -- I daresay fawned over -- man.

Crime Doesn't Pay? JPMorgan Chase Begs to Differ

By Richard (RJ) Eskrow

January 24, 2014 | Huffington Post

URL: http://huff.to/1e25mCs