30 April 2008

Goodnight, reason: the signs that we’re cheerfully poised to slip back into real-life fascism are too clear to ignore. The latest one I’ve noticed: a Nextel commercial, called "what if firefighters ran the world?" It’s apparently going over well with the public (it’s been running steadily for weeks now). The public, it seems, dreams of a government run by no-nonsense men (yes, men) who get the job done without deliberating, hearing out dissenters, or (god forbid) dissenting themselves. The American public longs for a legislature that "gets down to business," that speaks, thinks, and votes in an eerie, regimented monotone. The kind who know that there’s a time to think and a time to do, and this (congress) isn’t the time to think! The kind of politicians who don’t need to be reminded that they’re at work, on wealthy taxpayers’ time. (And sure, why not ones who will hock mobile phones or whatever the fuck Nextel sells. Surely that can’t hurt? A corporate-sponsored Congress?*) Americans want to stop being nagged and guilt-tripped about voting, and would prefer firemen –i.e., legislators selected for heroics, courage, and physical prowess. Most of all, they want, instead of the usual bunch, guys who have better things to do with their time (and our tax dollars!) than menstruating, hand-wringing, photo-oping, foot-dragging, flip-flopping, wish-washing (that one’s mine! but you can borrow it anytime, indignant taxpayers!), or general pussy-footing around, whatever that means.

In short, the public doesn’t want real legislators, but guys who will follow orders, and answer to the wealthy, which (it’s suggested) is what governments are supposed to do.

I’ve grown accustomed to idiot populism, chauvinism–what disturbs me enough to write this is the undeniable hint of corporatism. Real, honest-to-god fascism. Again.

Here. I’m not going to put a big youtube box for you to watch it, because its very presence offends me. But this guy’s link links to it, and includes lots and lots of applauding commentary, which should be an index to just how scared you should be, with the American mind in such a state:

http://www.firefighternation.com/video/video/show?id=889755%3AVideo%3A601822

Things would be so much better if we didn’t have to spend so much time (and tax dollars!) thinking, deliberating, and (I’ll say it again) general pussy-footing around (though I still don’t know what that means). The common man,** while apparently clueless about the abstract apparatus of government, let alone what actually goes on, assumes that it’s "politics as usual" which has something vaguely to do with wasting time and money. Also, things, they believe, would be so much better if we just got over our obsession with being p.c. (?), and stopped tiptoeing around other people’s feelings.

That’s basically what the commercial is about, raves the common man. Stop holding shit up. Governments should just do whatever it is governments have to do, and get out of our hair (unless the firemen need to delouse us). In layman’s terms: Get the shit done. (The common man doesn’t know quite what the term "layman’s terms" means, but has a pretty good idea, and sure likes how it sounds.) Who better to do that, who better to run the world than firemen? Well, maybe Marines. But still, it makes a good point.

Acch. Enough of my mind-boggling untrained babel of sarcasm/sincerity/sarcasm/etc. I am, in short, frustrated and afraid. History is still bottled up, roiling, rolling, turning back on itself, regressing. Reason's so clearly being lullabyed. We're slipping back deeper into darkness. I mean it: we're teetering on the brink of fascism. Again. I want to close my eyes before the great fall.


*I just know that the American people would like a Congress "that pays for itself." Because, I hate to say this, the American people seem generally ...very dim. Mercifully, dim enough thus far to neglect this opportunity to give American corporations a hand-up, and a more blatant and abusable say in government.

**Hey, get off my back--they’ve asked me to refer to them collectively by that sexist term–and, when referring to any of them specifically, to refer to that reference as his or her "Christian name." P.S. They told me to tell you: It’s called a Christmas Tree. Deal with it.