Amitai Etzioni in
http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/04/opinion/etzioni-tough-times-ahead/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
wants to convince us that we can’t do anything about the predicament we are in. Ignore the causes and actors that created this mess. We are powerless to stop it. But, we can feel good in sharing the misery and becoming better people together.
What kind of propaganda is this? Why would we want to hear such defeatist posturing?
Yes, we should recognize that this system is complex and chaotic, so fundamentally not amenable to deterministic prediction. However, that does not mean that we are powerless. Yes, greedy people gained power, power corrupted, and they want to keep power. We are not powerless. Sure, our political system is corrupted by corporate corruption. We are not powerless. Sure, very few people are doing anything vocal to demand positive change (plenty are demanding negative change), but we are not powerless.
The columnist argues that different people propose different solutions. The lack of agreement means that we should do nothing? Foolish thinking. We should do everything. We’ve already tried the Bush tax cuts, reductions in taxes, ending regulatory restrictions on corporations. Look where that got us.
Now, let’s try the other proposals. We can experiment, until we find the solution that works. To do otherwise is pathetic defeatism.
Category: Stupidity