1984 (1,7) The Proles

Winston is still at his diary. After flagellating himself over his little dalliance with that elderly, toothless prostitute, he is feeling political and is dreaming a bit about revolution again, like a disgruntled undergraduate. He writes, “If there is hope it lies in the proles.”

After all, he reasons, they constitute 85% of the population and they are not creatures of the Party. If they could somehow rise up, they would easily tear the Party apart and crush it. He reflects on their position:

In reality very little was known about the proles. It was not necessary to know much. So long as they continued to work and breed, their other activities were without importance. Left to themselves, like cattle turned loose upon the plains of Argentina, they had reverted to a style of life that appeared to be natural to them, a sort of ancestral pattern. They were born, they grew up in the gutters, they went to work at twelve, they passed through a brief blossoming period of beauty and sexual desire, they married at twenty, they were middle-aged at thirty, they died, for the most part, at sixty. Heavy physical work, the care of home and children, petty quarrels with neighbors, films, football, beer, and, above all, gambling filled up the horizon of their minds.

Perhaps this is not such promising stuff for changing the world after all. His own personal experiences with these proles confirm the hopelessness of the situation. One time, when he was down in the prole quarters, he hears an uproar, and he even wonders if this could be the beginning of the revolution that he has been hungering for, but then he discovers that it is just a mob of housewives fighting over a limited supply of sauce pans on sale.

It seems that the proles cannot get truly worked up over anything that really matters. Besides, the Thought Police do keep an eye on the Proles, and when they see one who looks like he could be dangerous to the social order, they exterminate the pest. Winston realizes that there is not much hope there and he recalls the Party slogan: “Proles and animals are free.”

1984 (1,7) The Proles

Winston is still at his diary. After flagellating himself over his little dalliance with that elderly, toothless prostitute, he is feeling political and is dreaming a bit about revolution again, like a disgruntled undergraduate. He writes, “If there is hope it lies in the proles.”

After all, he reasons, they constitute 85% of the population and they are not creatures of the Party. If they could somehow rise up, they would easily tear the Party apart and crush it. He reflects on their position:

In reality very little was known about the proles. It was not necessary to know much. So long as they continued to work and breed, their other activities were without importance. Left to themselves, like cattle turned loose upon the plains of Argentina, they had reverted to a style of life that appeared to be natural to them, a sort of ancestral pattern. They were born, they grew up in the gutters, they went to work at twelve, they passed through a brief blossoming period of beauty and sexual desire, they married at twenty, they were middle-aged at thirty, they died, for the most part, at sixty. Heavy physical work, the care of home and children, petty quarrels with neighbors, films, football, beer, and, above all, gambling filled up the horizon of their minds.

Perhaps this is not such promising stuff for changing the world after all. His own personal experiences with these proles confirm the hopelessness of the situation. One time, when he was down in the prole quarters, he hears an uproar, and he even wonders if this could be the beginning of the revolution that he has been hungering for, but then he discovers that it is just a mob of housewives fighting over a limited supply of sauce pans on sale.

It seems that the proles cannot get truly worked up over anything that really matters. Besides, the Thought Police do keep an eye on the Proles, and when they see one who looks like he could be dangerous to the social order, they exterminate the pest. Winston realizes that there is not much hope there and he recalls the Party slogan: “Proles and animals are free.”

Wealth and Race In America

The median wealth of white households is 20 times that of black households and 18 times that of Hispanic households, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of newly available government data from 2009.

-- The Dish

I had no idea it was this bad. It is enough to make one become a jihadist suicide bomber. It is all the worse when you consider that the trend of our current politics will only make this worse, with this program of no taxes for the wealthy and minimal support for the lower orders. Cripes, that's just barbaric and ugly.

Wealth and Race In America

The median wealth of white households is 20 times that of black households and 18 times that of Hispanic households, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of newly available government data from 2009.

-- The Dish

I had no idea it was this bad. It is enough to make one become a jihadist suicide bomber. It is all the worse when you consider that the trend of our current politics will only make this worse, with this program of no taxes for the wealthy and minimal support for the lower orders. Cripes, that's just barbaric and ugly.

Adam Smith Says...

Adam Smith is obviously a socialist and could not be a member of our Republican Party today, but then what decent human being would want to be?

Okay, maybe I shouldn't be too partisan. After all, it's not like Obama is a Republican, and he was a big partner in this debt ceiling fiasco - witout him it could not have happened.

I have long held the line that the Democrats are just the good cop to the Republicans' role of playing the bad cop. America is simply a plutocracy. The fact couldn't be plainer.

Why couldn't I marry a Canadian? Well, then again, Canada is pretty much heading in this direction, too. There is no escape, no New World. The plutocrats own the globe, and we are but another specie of monkey.

(Courtesy of PolitiCartoons)

Adam Smith Says...

Adam Smith is obviously a socialist and could not be a member of our Republican Party today, but then what decent human being would want to be?

Okay, maybe I shouldn't be too partisan. After all, it's not like Obama is a Republican, and he was a big partner in this debt ceiling fiasco - witout him it could not have happened.

I have long held the line that the Democrats are just the good cop to the Republicans' role of playing the bad cop. America is simply a plutocracy. The fact couldn't be plainer.

Why couldn't I marry a Canadian? Well, then again, Canada is pretty much heading in this direction, too. There is no escape, no New World. The plutocrats own the globe, and we are but another specie of monkey.

(Courtesy of PolitiCartoons)

Obama's Negotiating Stance: Bent Over

I posted readers' views on how we should understand President Obama's negotiating stance during the (unnecessary and abusive) debt-ceiling "showdown." Was he thinking eight steps ahead of the opposition, playing multi-dimensional chess while they were playing tic-tac-toe? Or was he a fatal step or two behind, playing patty-cake while they were playing Mixed Martial Arts? Chess master? Or pawn?

I think we know the answer, at least about this encounter. Pawn, and captured pawn at that.

The Republicans, with control of only one house of Congress, succeeded on virtually every point that mattered to them, especially to their most intransigent members. The Democrats, in control of the presidency and the other, "senior" house, succeeded on nothing that should have mattered to them...

-- James Fallows for The Atlantic

Bingo, an excellent summation and assessment.

Obama's Negotiating Stance: Bent Over

I posted readers' views on how we should understand President Obama's negotiating stance during the (unnecessary and abusive) debt-ceiling "showdown." Was he thinking eight steps ahead of the opposition, playing multi-dimensional chess while they were playing tic-tac-toe? Or was he a fatal step or two behind, playing patty-cake while they were playing Mixed Martial Arts? Chess master? Or pawn?

I think we know the answer, at least about this encounter. Pawn, and captured pawn at that.

The Republicans, with control of only one house of Congress, succeeded on virtually every point that mattered to them, especially to their most intransigent members. The Democrats, in control of the presidency and the other, "senior" house, succeeded on nothing that should have mattered to them...

-- James Fallows for The Atlantic

Bingo, an excellent summation and assessment.

Fierce Kitty

Of course, we learn by imitation, but I don't think Kitty has got this 'fierce' concept down yet, unless he is purposefully trying to be comical, in which case he is a natural genius.

(Source: Tumblr)

Fierce Kitty

Of course, we learn by imitation, but I don't think Kitty has got this 'fierce' concept down yet, unless he is purposefully trying to be comical, in which case he is a natural genius.

(Source: Tumblr)