"There is not a single American institution that is not seriously corrupt"

[dixiegrrrrl]

Morris Berman.

I am late to the party when it comes to Morris Berman, but in watching this video of him discussing the overall ideas of his book Why America Failed, I find his argument compelling, esp. against the background of his thesis of how and why
our American values and beliefs operate to keep us in the dark.

Much like the thinking of Howard Zinn and Chris Hedges, btw.

[RKP5637]

1. Americans, the country of good mushrooms, always in the dark and clueless. n/t

[proverbialwisdom]

2. The media's fault.

[RKP5637]

4. Yep! Exactly! n/t

[midnight]

14. "I don't know when it became journalistic protocol to give the benefit of the doubt to people who

lie to us, but that was not a good day for the First Amendment."

I just finished reading something that questioned this very thing....

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/04/16-6

[dixiegrrrrl]

17. Actually, he points to another source of the problem.

If you watch the video....

[just1voice]

3. Outstanding, this guy nails it.

I've only watched the 1st 12 minutes so far but he's correct in stating that it's not the media's fault by "pulling the wool over our eyes" it's the people's fault for being so easily duped.

The best trainers in the field of psychology know that adult training means teaching people to think for themselves, not simply telling them what to do.

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. Further along in the talk, he cites facts we have discussed here at DU

examples of America being dumbed down, and no mass outcry at the loss of our civil rights.
Really worth the time to listen to him.

He cites a U of Michigan study that ran for 30 years beginning in 1979, and now shows there has been a 48% drop in empathy among college students, in the ability to understand another person's point of view.

(I see that reflected here on DU, when serious comments become hijacked often, by infantile name calling and insults.)

[Plucketeer]

10. I was seriously chastized

earlier today when I posted a piece about how everyone's SO DESPAIRED over what's happened in Boston while there's relative silence about the DAILY wave of killings that happen across the nation. Murders - not accidents, of course. Why is it that we've become numb to this ongoing wave of violence? Why isn't it labelled "terrorism"??? Could it be that to do so would point up SO MANY failings to the futile efforts against such? Is there a suppressive force that's loathe to connect the flood of guns with that word? Why wasn't Newtown called terror? Are not trhe people of that community terrorized? I guess it has to be a bomb or a 737 to get something labelled terror. The media has a HUGE hand in defining things for us dweebs. And we're all too ready to repeat just as we're told.


Collectively (and with steering help from the NRA) we've conceded that mental health may be a root cause. Anyone heard of budgeting for more mental health works??? I know the presidednt's trying his BEST to protect his beloved military from any meaningful cuts under the sequestor. After all - the military's served us SO WELL as a terror deterrent. Whatcha wanna bet the Boston bomber was scared sh*tless at the prospect of an F-35 Strike fighter getting a bead on him??? Right.

[dixiegrrrrl]

18. Berman points out that the increase in MH symptoms and meds are a result,

not a cause, of the American belief system.

Years back in college, I got an A+ for a .....get this.....2 page finals paper, in which I had pointed out that we live, as a nation, in a perpetual state of cognitive dissonance, trying to balance 2 opposing values:
the rugged firece independence, being personally responsible for ALL outcomes, even ones we had no hand in making,
and
the help each other out, look out for your fellow man, seek help from religion and others when you need it.

( at least, that is gist of what I wrote, I think, all those years ago)
The paper actually had a 3rd page, footnotes from the hundreds of books I had read.

It probably helped that the professor was a Buddist.

[NoMoreWarNow]

20. not to mention the thousands of bombings our great USA has done

in the name of fighting "terrorism".

[Plucketeer]

23. All those "collateral damage" kids

that never even knew what hit them - how many Sandy Hooks worth???

[lrellok]

12. ehhh, maybe

he is working on alot of false corollaries here. 11;40 "Take away a slave and the master is nothing" true, but take away the master and the slave is everything. Simply because a movement defines itself in opposition to some other movement does not mean that it has no content. It must think beyond its opposition.

[90-percent]

6. My bumper sticker

Our institutions are infested with corrupt sociopaths




And they've reached the point where they really are going to break the system, the social fabric that keeps us civilized. We are starting to behave like rabid animals. What of the greater good? Who gets joy from their selfishness creating so much misery?


-90% Jimmy

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. about 3/4 of the way thru the talk, he gives his reasons why civil breakdown will happen

and that he thinks the violence will be from the Right....
and why he left the country.

[bbgrunt]

7. "violence is reflective of a search for identity"

thanks for posting this. This culture has become an absurd parody of its outward boasts of superiority. If I could I would leave too.

I recall M. Moore's basic question in "Bowling for Columbine" about the need for violence and guns in this culture--I think this author has given us a very clear answer: we are hollow hucksters.

[ljm2002]

9. Yikes...

...well worth watching, but you won't feel better after watching it.

I think he's right in most ways, but I refuse to give in to the hopelessness. But that may be the "woo" part of me, always wanting to believe that things can get better in spite of all evidence to the contrary.

[WCGreen]

11. Shit I could tell you that years ago....

[PotatoChip]

13. I wish I had more time to comment on this.

But for now, all I can say is that this video highlights a very disturbing and depressing reality regarding past and present American culture and thought. Worrisome to say the least, and this trend seems to be getting worse...

Recommended.

[MrScorpio]

15. Now I know that I'm not crazy…

Mr. Berman has just confirmed everything that I have understood about this country.

[dixiegrrrrl]

19. Isn't that a great feeling?????

Between Chris Hedges and Morris Berman...
ok, throw in Arunhati Roy.....for the poetry of her words and clarity of thought..

and you have 3 touchstones of sanity.

[drynberg]

16. I agree with most of Mr. Berman's discussion, however

I am standing against the Tide of Shit and see two primary issues dominating our global future:

Global OverHeating (Climate Change) is gonna claim so much so fast...perhaps this can be a little less terrible by stopping evermore burning of hydrocarbons and stopping horrendous projects such as the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, or the fracking of America.

The other major impediment towards having our democracy in the USA is the Supreme Court decision of Citizens United and how MONEY TALKS LOUDLY AND CONTROLS OUR POLITICS. This has to be changed as another 6 Billion $$ election like we had in 2012 is gonna gut our Nation like an ole carp, rendering her lifeless and without merit...

These two issues pale all others in my humble opinion, and are my focus. Other points such as American's general ignorance of history and basic facts and the loss of empathy are indeed troubling, however, the primary focus remains with the two issues mentioned for me. Enjoy your Spring and every hour we have.

[BelgianMadCow]

21. Even for someone that thinks himself disabused of the Matrix, that's a hard watch

and I'm not even American.

Thanks for pointing to Chris Hedges. I'm watching 3 hours here:

[dixiegrrrrl]

22. Tons of Hedges' talks on YouTube.

I swear have seen everyone, almost.

[BelgianMadCow]

24. He's very inspiring. Especially, to me personally, in his support of OWS

As he mentions, it's improbable to mount a defense against the inverted totalitarianism that is the corporate state via elections.
It has to come from movements, like OWS.
He likens watching OWS to him reporting on revolutions elsewhere - where it's impossible to judge the timing, but very easy to see the potential and the outcome at some point.

I started a local group here, the first in Belgium. It has transformed in a give away shop. I've been wondering whether I should go into politics or what, in order to do something with what I know and with what I do best, convincing people.

He strengthens me to not give up.

Thanks again!

[Overseas]

25. K&R. Excellent essay.

[cantbeserious]

26. Excellent Antidote To The Endless Left And Right Cheerleading

eom

[dixiegrrrrl]

27. aka the "tilting at windmills" crowd.

[marmar]

28. k/r

Morris Berman can be brutally honest.