[cacophony]

i don't find a lot of truth in what he says, and i'm totally open to the "the american system is fucked" argument.

his idea that our current system developed because "they" needed to develop consumers back in ye olden days attributes a mastermind-like genius to the people of the time. "they" didn't decide they needed consumers to depend on them and "they" didn't decide to divorce people from their sense of selves. that's ridiculous. people didn't set up a style of doing business in the hopes that in 200 years or 300 years or 400 years everyone would be a corporatized consumer. rather, people did what they've always done and always will do: find ways to make money and accrue power. our present situation isn't the result of diabolical forethought that deliberately and carefully turned us into the ipod-consuming cattle we are. we turned ourselves into that. and by "we" i mean even "they."

and my god, his description of the backyard barbecue phenomenon. "we moved to our own house and suddenly we had to compete to barbecue the best cut of meats and the joy of the barbecue was gone!" yeah, don't you hate that when you're grilling a piece of meat and your neighbor shouts over the fence that his meat is more expensive than yours? anyone ever had that happen? anyone? anyone? crickets chirping? it doesn't happen.

it's a depiction of the other "they." the downtrodden masses that you're sort of a part of, except for the fact that you're smarter than that. "they" don't get that they're unhappily, grimly turning a steak on a grill, furious that the neighbor might have a better cut of meat. you, on the other hand, you get the corruption of the system so you're not as downtrodden as "they" are.

it's a remarkably effective way to spin a conspiracy theory to an unhappy population that's just hoping to see itself as victimized. the republicans bank on that kind of thing. "they" don't want you to have faith. "they" don't want you to have family values. "they" want to shut down your church and force your daughter to have an abortion. the invention of the mythical "they" wins a lot of hearts and minds.