Joe Bageant: The Sucker Bait Called Hope

[bean fidhleir]

We just concluded an election in which both parties talked about hope, one more so than the other. Hope, that murky, undefined belief that some unknown force, perhaps Jesus, or modern science, or some great political leader, or other -- as yet unknown force -- will reverse our national or personal condition ... will deliver us from what every bit of evidence indicates is irreversible, if not politically, then ecologically: Decline and eventual collapse. There is quite a difference between hope and understanding the facts, then holding justified optimism. Hope is magical thinking, a sucker's game. Politicians the world 'round fully understand this.

Consequently, we go into a new year with millions of Americans still clinging to The Audacity of Hope. And we do so because we are victims of learned helplessness, learned from the cradle as it is rocked by the foot of the Capitalist consumer state. Sure we can hope for movement away from domination of the weak by the arrogant, away from ecocide and genocide toward a better world. What the hell, hope is one of the few free activities in this society. We don't even have to put down the remote and get off our asses to do it. In fact, its delivered through television.

http://www.joebageant.com/joe/2008/11/the-sucker-bait-called-hope.html

[scarletwoman]

1. k&r -- I love Joe Bageant! Thanks for bringing him here. (nt)

[Altean Wanderer]

13. This is Joe's best essay in a long time...

he expounds the Dharma and uses words like 'shit' in the same essay. He's the real deal.

[scarletwoman]

14. Yes, he does indeed expound the Dharma -- it's wonderful to see how he does it.

I love the end: "Namaste -- Get me a beer while your up." :D

[Triana]

2. I saw a play of his book: Deer Hunting with Jesus...before the election.

VERY interesting.

[Duppers]

3. So, he's taking some swings at Obama?!!

Joe Bageant should have said that we cannot do this with Hope ALONE.

I do not know of anyone delusional enough to believe that either, so who the fuck is he talking about here??

But we sure as fuck cannot do it without hope!

[bean fidhleir]

4. He's far from being the only one disenchanted with Obama's revealed choices

[Duppers]

8. normally I like Mr. Fish toons, but

I call bullshit on this one.....with the exception of his stance on gay marriage, all other stated positions in this toon are bullshit.


I'm with William Penn:
"Never give out while there is hope; but hope not beyond reason, for that shows more desire than judgment."

If you've read much of anything about Obama (I think you have not), you'll know how well he has dealt with adversity and understand that he has good judgment, not perfect but good.


The election is over, we've work to do.

[bean fidhleir]

5. Oh, and if you want a little dissertation on Hope, written before Obama patented it

read Terry Pratchett's "Going Postal". Bageant and Pratchett have a very similar take on it, though they could hardly be more different on a superficial personal level.

[Duppers]

10. btw

I've been a fan of Bageant's for years and have communicate personally with him, but I do not put him on the pedestal that you obviously do.

[bean fidhleir]

11. I don't put him on a pedestal, except if I put myself on one too.

I think he's generally got the right take on things because he says the same things I'm thinking. I'm some years older than he is, and I've been around the block more than a few times. I've learned -or half-learned anyway- some hard lessons, the biggest of which is: politicians lie with their mouths and smiles all the time ...but their actions always tell the truth.

If you really felt secure in your Obama-faith, you wouldn't bother yelling "heretic!" and "blasphemer!" at people like Bageant.

[earth mom]

7. I want action and results, not some woo woo hope.

:eyes:

Joe is absolutely right in that essay.

[scarletwoman]

15. It would be more accurate to say that he's taking swipes at capitalism, and insofar as Obama enables

capitalism to order our lives, hope means nothing.

sw

[qwlauren35]

6. "Yes We Can" isn't about Hope... it's about EMPOWERMENT.

A lot of us took very active roles in getting Obama elected, but over and over again, he said: It's not about ME. It's About YOU."

I don't think many people really understood what he was saying. Which was, basically, that from now on, for the rest of our lives, if we wanted to see a difference in how the country is run, we would have to take a far more active role.

Obama wasn't blunt. He didn't say "Fer Gawd's sake, get off the f***in' couch!" He gave it a very positive spin. But Empowerment is still a nice word for RESPONSIBILITY.

Americans don't really like the word "responsibility" very much. "Hope" sounds much better.

Also, some of us don't like to read much. That makes it harder to read between the lines.

Obama's promises were actually very conditional. We would get everything we were willing to fight for. But the fight wouldn't stop once he was elected - that's when it would BEGIN.

And sure enough, a lot of us have sat down with a wait and see attitude, instead of a "what can *I* DO?" attitude. And then, when we see something we don't like, we complain, instead of protesting.

Are there so few liberals in Chicago?

Me personally, I know I'm VERY tired, and had planned to take November to rest. But at the rate he's moving, one would have to get their message in ASAP.

So folks... back off the couch. This isn't Monday Morning Rehash. It's our country. If you snooze, you lose. There are no breaks, there is no rest. It's not in Obama's hands... it's still in ours.

[Duppers]

9. Amen, sister!

you could have posted to the peabrain above too.

:thumbsup:


Some times good ole communist Joe has a stick up his ass and this is one of those times.

[Pastiche423]

12. "No, we can't"

if he doesn't take away the tax cuts for the wealthy, like he promised during his two year campaign we won't have funds to do shit.

[bean fidhleir]

16. What a cop-out. He's the one we elected to do the job. He's the one with the power.

Are you really going to be satisfied by him saying "it's not my fault that nothing happened, it's your fault. You didn't do enough. You shouldn't have expected anything from me, because the responsibility is all on you. I only have the power to do what I want, you have the responsibility to somehow find a way to get what you want."