Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPhil Rockstroh: Madness of Late-Stage Capitalism
from Consortium News:
Madness of Late-Stage Capitalism
June 11, 2012
Late-stage capitalism has similarities to an aging billionaire terrified of microscopic germs imagine Howard Hughes at the end of his days trying to extend life by frenetically worrying about invisible dangers, writes Phil Rockstroh in this reflection on his fathers death.
By Phil Rockstroh
My parents modest, single-level, brick home stands on property that was once part of a sprawling estate owned by the Candler family, Atlantas Coca-Cola patricians. Built during the post-World War II, 1950s building boom, the small house is situated in a deep ravine that once served as the grounds of the Candlers private zoo. On the hilltop above, the point of highest elevation in the Atlanta metro area, the Candler family, in the tradition of the powerful and elite, laid claim to the highest ground.
In the 1960s, and apropos to the era, in an odd twist of historical circumstance, the grounds of the estate earlier endowed to the state of Georgia by the heirs of the Candler fortune were appropriated for development as a state mental health institution, a sprawling complex of modernist structures, housing those committed for treatment for issues related to psychological disorders.
Emblematic of the decade of the 1960s, the highest ground in the city became the site of a madhouse. Aptly, as opposed to emanating from its traditional source i.e., insular precincts of privilege and power, in the 1960s, spontaneous upwellings of cultural madness were more egalitarian in nature seemingly, a development that the corporate and governmental elite found so troubling that they swore that they would never again abide similar types of cultural phenomenon instigated by underling upstarts who (apparently) forgot their social station to rise unfettered.
Consequently, the swift and brutal repression that the Occupy Wall Street movement has endured in its struggle against the present structures of calcified psychopathology known as the corporate state. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://consortiumnews.com/2012/06/11/madness-of-late-stage-capitalism/
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
2 replies, 1360 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (4)
ReplyReply to this post
2 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Phil Rockstroh: Madness of Late-Stage Capitalism (Original Post)
marmar
Jun 2012
OP
ljm2002
(10,751 posts)1. A very interesting read...
...very poetic. I enjoyed it. Thanks for posting!
IDemo
(16,926 posts)2. Phil is a DU'er, if I'm not mistaken
Excellent read.