Thursday 5 July 2007

Why 'The World' Can't Take the US Seriously

Seriously guys, I'm often at a exacerbating loss when trying to properly articulate just what the rest of the world finds so unreasonable about the the United States as a political, military and cultural force in the world. Fortunately, as they say, a picture paints a thousand words, and none more so then this ad I came across this.



I mean, is this for real? I mean, hell 'Merkins, you guys gotta do your part right, so why not buy your genuine 911 coin, minted with 'genuine silver recovered from Ground Zero'. I mean, for fucksake, can you get much more tasteless then this? Blood diamond? Try blood silver. Its really so crass and so tasteless, I find it all unbelievable.

Whats more, I can't understand why there isn't some kind of moral outrage over this in the US. The guy I found this link from had it entitled 'Why I Hate Capitalism', which is a completely ridiculous statement and, quite frankly, the kind of retarded kindergarden hippy student leftisim that drive me crazy. This has nothing to do with an economic system and everything to do with a certain, I think, excessive sentiment on the part of the American pscyhe to both defie and defile at the same time. The victims of 9/11 are defied into saints simply through there misfortune (an utterly spurious, but again, very Merkin, interpretation - grace through misfortune, passive, not active and not through sacrifice) - and yet at the same time, this religiosity is sold like any other commodity, forgiveness, penance, abolition, available free when you want how you want it, just a click away, a credit card number from salvation...

That's why we can't take you seriously.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sorry, chief, but your ardent desire to separate the production and marketing of a "tasteless" product (and the cultural tendencies you seem to think this indexes) and the organizing social system of the U.S. pretty much makes you as American as they get. Enjoy your tasteful road-tripping and the classy bong-rips and hook-ups of the Australian hostel scene.

-Retarded Kindergarden Hippy Student Leftist

The Liberal Thug said...

Hey guy, whoever you are, glad to hear your getting interactive, thats what we want from this blog after all.

Well,to take you point. I've stated no such desire to seperate the production and marketing of a product, and the social system of the US.

Capitalism is, first and foremost, an economic system. The US is a capitalist economy, make no mistake, but to reduce culture and society to, as you seem to imply, a purely economic basis is ridiculously reductionist.

Now lets make it clear, I've always found Marx a incisive tool to understanding society and the operation of a capitalist economy, but he himself was at great pains to make clear, in works such as the German Philosophy, that economics could not alone be used to understand the nature of a society.

My point here is, as I hope you'll perhaps gather, is that an economic system alone cannot explain this product. Why do we not see 'genuine London Underground 7/7 commerorative coins'? Why aren't I able to buy the 'unique Madrid train bomb collectors plate set'? These are capitalist countries - hell, Britain was, by Marx's own reckoning, the first modern capitalist society as the first to enter the industrial revolution.

Something more is at work, and something bigger then economics is at stake when discussing this. Get back to me when you've had a chance to think that through, because right now I don't really understand the point your arguing. I look forward to taking the debate further.

P.S. Thanks for the well wishes, you've clearly no idea who I am. Much more of a doobie man then a bong ripper, but ta anyway.