sludge

“but in a computer driven, knowledge-based world economy, educated americans may have more in common with ( and, ultimately, more loyalty to ) their highly educated friends and counterparts in europe, latin america, and asia than they do with their less educated fellow americans a few miles away. such public infrastructure such as airports and roads will still have to be built and maintained, if only to link such places as johnson county and lawrence; but in the future this might be done by private capital, both domestic and foreign, whatever ‘foreign’ might eventually mean, perhaps no more than a fading memory of a time when cultures ( and nations ) were still distinct and colorful, as on today’s map, rather than the free-floating aggregations they will have become at the upper end of the world economic spectrum and the unpromising sludge they will have become at the bottom.” robert d. Kaplan an empire wilderness________________________________________________________________________ the “volk” versus the “rootless cosmopolitan”…well…wealth controls government and legislates to protect and expand its prerogatives…and there are gated enclaves all around the area…not quite walled compounds yet, however, given the elites bedrock belief that it can escape both climate and economic upheavals through a strategic retreat to political, economic, and philosophical fortifications, that may not be long in coming…if they have the time and resources aren’t reallocated to shoring up the above mentioned private infrastructure that will surely take a beating in the storms, natural and man-made ( although both may be anthropogenic ) that are sure to come…i am of the “sludge” despite being reasonably educated…firmly rooted in the traditions and mores of what was “working class” or “blue collar”…unionized…paid by the hour…and balkanized in its loyalties to craft, geographical region, political affiliation, car make, and what beer it drank…there is a clearly growing disparity in wealth and outlook ( not that there hasn’t always been a significant disparity in world view ) between the elites and the rest…and as the “sludge” is forced further down the economic order into penury it becomes more susceptible to demagogic manipulation…it wants answers as to why this is happening and there are more than a few willing to provide answers that enhance their positions, both political and economic…for the moment those provided “explanations” are serving to further divide the “sludge”…turning it against itself to the enhancement ( or, at least , perceived enhancement…there is considerable debate on this point and viewpoints among the “sludge” vary widely…the “sludge” has many faces…which is why there is an opening for manipulation...a fair selection of “the other” to choose from…that same diversity of outlook may also generate more rational alternative explanations…there is hope in difference as well as division ) of the preeminence of the manipulator-in-chief…and it will continue to work…albeit erratically…until the more impressionable elements among the “sludge” come to realize they have far more in common with the rest of the “sludge” than with the manipulators and begin to act from that realization…the question then becomes ( and there are, i think, no ready answers to this ) where to act on this realization…the institutions that are in place to allegedly allow “the people” a direct say in how they are governed have been the purview of the elite since the beginning and with an increasing disparity of interests the likelihood of substantive change coming from within those institutions is questionable…all one need do is tally up the number of millionaires in congress and factor in the cost of obtaining a congressional seat and the obligations that would engender to those who bore the cost to see which way the wind blows there…violence is not an answer…it would only engender an overwhelmingly violent response...and, sadly, the elite seem to have successfully goaded the “sludge” to turn its violence on itself...which, incidentally, has served to deepen the divisions among the “sludge” as the debate over these self-inflicted outrages becomes increasingly strident…chto delat…what is to be done? co-operation would seem to be a key…the “sludge” needs desperately to overcome its divisions and begin to work towards self-support…you have to have friends and a community if you are going to be poor ( and while the economy may be “sizzling” [per the new york times] for the elite the rest of the economy is faced with multiple part-time jobs at minimal [and decreasing where possible] wages )…so alternate and “unofficial” social structures and institutions…crafted through trial and error and the experiences of the “sludge”...separate, parallel, and as far out of sight and control of the “official” institution as possible are necessary…the preservation of mayan ritual and belief in the face of the spanish conquest , the creation of a parallel “ illegal” political structure by kosovar albanians after the serbian occupation of Kosovo, or irish “hedge schools preserving gaelic for example are a few that come to mind….the “sludge” will still have a “distinct and colorful” culture in spite of what the elite believe…or does for that matter…culture is learning…culture is adaptation to local conditions ( and so diverse )…culture is problem solving…culture is transmission of knowledge and memory…culture would seem to be genetically encoded…the “sludge” can find its own answers…move in a different direction…away from the elite…rendering it irrelevant. so it’s labor day…the meaningless bone of a holiday tossed by the hegemonic culture to the labor it needs but detests ( if not fears…we are fast approaching the centenary of the 1919 steel strike that saw federal troops in gary, Indiana and the palmer red raids that were mostly a reaction to the fear of labor organizing and increasing militancy )…the end of summer…the end of fun…and removed from that unholy day of international labor celebration on mayday which marks those damned haymarket anarchists…i will find something red to wear tomorrow when I got to work…and, while my immediate supervisors are decent souls trying to earn a living, i will not forget that the corporation is not my friend…extractive, self-absorbed, sociapathic…management hiding behind the shell of a corporate “individual” as cover for their own sociopathy…conniving expropriation rendered legal.