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Watch out, Britain! I’m on my way, and the Telegraph says that I’m a “false Messiah” with “Satanic intent”.
I wonder if someone will try sprinkling me with holy water, to see if I disappear in a cloud of acrid smoke. Also, I’m going to propose creating a new course at Princeton: Economics 666.
-- Paul Krugman
Mr. Krugman has also brought out in his blog some nice Orwellian accents that are flavoring our politics these days.
_ _ _
Remember the furor over liberal political correctness? Yes, some of it was over the top — but it was mainly silly, not something that actually warped our national discussion.
Today, however, the big threat to our discourse is right-wing political correctness, which — unlike the liberal version — has lots of power and money behind it. And the goal is very much the kind of thing Orwell tried to convey with his notion of Newspeak: to make it impossible to talk, and possibly even think, about ideas that challenge the established order.
Thus, even talking about “the wealthy” brings angry denunciations; we’re supposed to call them “job creators”. Even talking about inequality is “class warfare”.
And then there’s the teaching of history. Eric Rauchway has a great post about attacks on the history curriculum, in which even talking about “immigration and ethnicity” or “environmental history” becomes part of a left-wing conspiracy. As he says, he’ll name his new course “US History: The Awesomeness of Awesome Americans.” That, after all, seems to be the only safe kind of thing to say.
Actually, this reminds me of an essay I read a long time ago about Soviet science fiction. The author — if anyone remembers where this came from — noted that most science fiction is about one of two thoughts: “if only”, or “if this goes on”. Both were subversive, from the Soviet point of view: the first implied that things could be better, the second that there was something wrong with the way things are. So stories had to be written about “if only this goes on”, extolling the wonders of being wonderful Soviets.
And now that’s happening in America.
-- Paul Krugman
_ _ _
I still marvel how our plutocrats have been able to shove their policies down the throat of our American democracy over the past few decades, with their judicious use of Americans' prejudices and Christian superstitions. And now they have enough hands on the levers of power (and vote-counting), so that they can also throw in some outright cheating and fraud. Just think of our Florida elections, giving Dubya the presidency in 2000, as well as their maneuvers across the nation to suppress the votes of the poor and the minorities. And imagine a Romney win in November! The iron curtain might be shutting down on American liberalism for good. Am I being too alarmist? Are my apocalyptic tendencies getting the better of me, with my love for drama and tragedy? I cannot tell.
I wonder if someone will try sprinkling me with holy water, to see if I disappear in a cloud of acrid smoke. Also, I’m going to propose creating a new course at Princeton: Economics 666.
-- Paul Krugman
Mr. Krugman has also brought out in his blog some nice Orwellian accents that are flavoring our politics these days.
_ _ _
Remember the furor over liberal political correctness? Yes, some of it was over the top — but it was mainly silly, not something that actually warped our national discussion.
Today, however, the big threat to our discourse is right-wing political correctness, which — unlike the liberal version — has lots of power and money behind it. And the goal is very much the kind of thing Orwell tried to convey with his notion of Newspeak: to make it impossible to talk, and possibly even think, about ideas that challenge the established order.
Thus, even talking about “the wealthy” brings angry denunciations; we’re supposed to call them “job creators”. Even talking about inequality is “class warfare”.
And then there’s the teaching of history. Eric Rauchway has a great post about attacks on the history curriculum, in which even talking about “immigration and ethnicity” or “environmental history” becomes part of a left-wing conspiracy. As he says, he’ll name his new course “US History: The Awesomeness of Awesome Americans.” That, after all, seems to be the only safe kind of thing to say.
Actually, this reminds me of an essay I read a long time ago about Soviet science fiction. The author — if anyone remembers where this came from — noted that most science fiction is about one of two thoughts: “if only”, or “if this goes on”. Both were subversive, from the Soviet point of view: the first implied that things could be better, the second that there was something wrong with the way things are. So stories had to be written about “if only this goes on”, extolling the wonders of being wonderful Soviets.
And now that’s happening in America.
-- Paul Krugman
_ _ _
I still marvel how our plutocrats have been able to shove their policies down the throat of our American democracy over the past few decades, with their judicious use of Americans' prejudices and Christian superstitions. And now they have enough hands on the levers of power (and vote-counting), so that they can also throw in some outright cheating and fraud. Just think of our Florida elections, giving Dubya the presidency in 2000, as well as their maneuvers across the nation to suppress the votes of the poor and the minorities. And imagine a Romney win in November! The iron curtain might be shutting down on American liberalism for good. Am I being too alarmist? Are my apocalyptic tendencies getting the better of me, with my love for drama and tragedy? I cannot tell.
