The American Nightmare: No Exit, No Entry

Dear Saima:

Thank you for this excellent write up. For a long while, I was having similar thoughts and opinions. And you put it all in this article. Were you listening in to my inner thoughts somehow?

Respectfully submitted,

Saima,

This is excellent analysis. You have some very good and substantive arguments.

The US is a fictional reality or reality that is almost fictional? The next decade will be crucial to find that answer.

I wonder how Tom Friedman would react if he read this article. I suppose a square world has to be flat too? No?

thanks

Much of the usual fare of US bashing can be dismissed out of hand. But if Saima Shah has written this article, I had better come back to understand the points she is making :)

Re: # 2

Quite true. The next decade may let us know exactly what the American dream was about.

I`d be curious to know myself what Friedman would think. No idea. Well. Tom Friedman skipped the social justice angle other than a few hints here and there. He writes after all for NYT, not Utne and we know how neatly divided media can be in the viewpoints it forwards. His subtext was `hey Americans wake up and smell the coffee, there is some competition.` The world is flat because more people than ever before can compete for the same business. He can make that assertion based on evidence that hits one between the eyes.

But if Friedman would ever want to know, a square world is flat selectively. It resembles a table of negotiation, where the guy with the most money always gets the cheapest price. It is a cube because there are inbuilt biases in the global exchange system.

We are all blind people trying to understand the elephant. And sometimes one`s handicap is even worse than blindness say if you are a line segment in a world of spheres.

Who dares show mirror to the wordlord?.Abhi munh dho kar aata hun
(Salon ne ess ko bhi presentation dikha di. Kithhe jaaye?)

a nice analysis with plenty of good points. I liked it - and found something on chowk which held my interest to the end.

I liked this in your reply below ``And sometimes one`s handicap is even worse than blindness say if you are a line segment in a world of spheres. ``. That is one hell of a point to make and very deep and thoughtful. :-() That could have and should have been the lead/intro to the article.

****The American dream is turning sour.****
One has to agree with the staement even though as kaalchakra has said much of the article`s anti-America bashing can be ignored.
So, is there a contradiction?
Well, no because the American dream`s souring has two components: they are attachment to too much consumption in Americans; we need statesmanship and some luck to bring Americans back to responsible consumption habits. The second one is a change in American leadership which is the easier of the two components to fix. Let us see what 2006 elections show. Let us see whether the execution of checks and balance is still secure.

With all due respect, this reads more like a wild chase from subtopic to another without any carefully constructed evidence. The thesis here is that American Dream is dead because of some of its institutions-but ideas connect these institutions are not explicated. There is a lot of stacking but no unpacking. Such as:

When was the American Dream alive? And for whom?

I also find the sections on ``copy paste`` a bit extraordinary. Is this piece saying that the world of ideas has been destructive because:

1. they destroy trees
2. there are too many of them
3. to present them to many reading audiences is to overload the world with ideas
4. because copy pasting does not make money, therefore it is useless?

I am at a loss for words....

#8 the emphasis seems to be that society puts making money as the only virtue - and in this results in a quick buck mentality - which means that ideas and concepts go out of the window and if you can pass of someone else`s ideas as your own - this becomes more efficient in the internet world where you need to do it fast before either (a) you are caught or (b) some copies your idea.

But who am I to say anything - let me get that in before you use that dreaded phrase ``with all due respect`` on me.......its like saying I think you are a blabbering idiot....

Re: # 8

Samina Shahid

Copypaste is a metaphor for how information is being created and shared. I referred to a book by Shapiro and Varian called, `Information Rules`. In this the authors have tried to analyze the economics of information.

Here is how I`d break the section down:

The world of ideas is limited--with a dejavu quality (copypaste); and why am I saying that:

Even though many words are being produced, thoughtful analysis and opinion is lacking in the mainstream.
There is incredible reliance on precedence rather than independent questioning.
People are intellectually lazy.
In Business, jargon is produced more often than really new ideas.

Perhaps this has an economic basis; it is easy to regurgitate older ideas since copy cost of information is 0. Businesses are told that their productivity can be so much higher if they just copy what the product that they made for one guy and make it for everyone.

However my pt was as also explained at length that the real cost is Unknown, Unmonetized since it is the opportunity to do something more original.

Re: # 7

Inquirer

Is it really that simple to fix? So, you don`t think that Bush is the face of what America has become? And that somehow one man because of major idiocy has done this to America? I am not so sure.

And also this article is really not America bashing. It is an attempt to understand just what is going wrong and where. So, I`d say it is America poking :).

S

Great Article Saima, Long, but what needs to be said, is said and that too in generous amounts. :-)

America right now reminds me of Oscar Wilde`s The Picture of Dorian Gray. The facade is one of self-proclaimed purity and righteousness and all things bright and beautiful, but beneath the thick veil (Drapes) it gets more and more diseased and sickly..

Re: # 11, Saima:
It is certainly not simple to fix. But due to a confluence of a few historical forces, America of 1950 found itelf declaring from rooftops that they are a democratic country in contrast to the Soviet Union which never made that claim seriously. Thus, sine the Nazi model had been discredited, theirs is the model world should follow. In reality that was not true at all. Only thing that was going for America was that its dynamic economy was in full swing. No doubt, that was the case due to the second world war`s influence. Gradually this self-delusion of democracy became overpowering in America. The Americans thought that they have always been democratic. That this was not so is amply documented in Franklin Roosevelt`s Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Then suddenly, the Soviet Union imploded and the forces representing rich Americans realized that that they no longer had to pretend to be democratic. The incentive simply did not exist anymore. And lo and behold Rehnquist made the the coup d`etat by declaring that Florida had to correct the errors of electoral procedure overnight. He even assured that this could not be considered precedent setting!! Rest is history!

Yet we do not have to give up hope. Administration is not Republican Party nor is Republican Party, US. I still believe that the resilience of American checks and balances would stand in good stead for America as well as the World. By declaring from the roof tops America`s commitment to democracy the forces may have been set in motion that would prevent America`s abandonment of democracy. The litmus test is due in 2006. Let us not despair.

Hooo. Such a critical finger-wagging naughty and nice article. started out simplistic and ended very astute. just two things, about the average American`s life earning being a graph where education is considered an expense that reduces credit worthiness, I disagree, while student loans do burden the average college goer, some considerably more than others, most Americans don`t see education as a terrible waste at all, quite the opposite. They know those costs can be recouped at any time over the next decades, and those that are willing to put in that much time and effort reap more than a fair share of benefits. And it doesn`t stop there. Just look at all the amount of training dollars spent annually by professionals of all levels/fields on keeping up their credentials, certifications, etc. People are willing to incur debt just to take a few courses that will enhance their careers. Companies today have entire departments dedicated solely to training and professional development for their staff, versus say thirty years ago when HR would be the end-all-know-all everyone bitched about.
and second, the corporation bit was very Royesque (arundhati).
The immigrant part was good, but #4, plastic vs metal. well, the Corporation always took in its own kind from the very beginning. that`s why it works so well. people with the same ideas on the same track going to the same destination always get there, who needs loose cannons or naysayers. they can go form their own corporations and play in the market on its footing fair and square. it`s a very simple model, and it works.
the copypaste part was hilarious. yes, it`s a pity that the last century had so much advancement from start to finish and things are just stagnating now. ford designed the basic ABC car and we`ll still driving it, with a few comfort updates. nothing new is being ``discovered`` or ``invented``, or so it seems. but behind the scenes, things are cooking just as much as before, in fact, even more. Kids today have resources that few could dream of in the 1880s and even 1950s, and they are able to tackle the challenges being put to them. being bombarded with computers, DVDs, ipods, LCD displays, and Elmo at age three, how much can one expect them to assimilate things quickly enough so that they can start to be productive and start churning out all those fantastic inventive oh ah ideas? Give it time. every few years will get an einstien who will revolutionize the world, but now we may get more than just a handful. so change and positive change will come, eventually, we are just taking things too much for granted to be able to see it. sorry for rambling.

#7, imo, the cake for 2006 will go to the Dems if history and hand-shake now-your-turn-to-spin-the-wheel politicking is anything to go by, for a low-key retirement-like four year run, after which... say, doesn`t Dubya have a brother?

re: somehow one man because of major idiocy has done this to America

psychopaths are rarely idiots. (not that I think Bush is either - he`s far too smart). plus, one man alone can`t control a Corporation, as you yourself said, the Corporation, in this case the Government, takes in just it`s own kind, and if Georgie Peorgie Pudding and Pie isn`t exactly it`s own kind, who is?