#24: Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle by Chris Hedges

 232 pp, New York: Nation Books, 2009

Why is Jerry Springer always held up as one of the symbols of the downfall of Western Civilization? Probably because he is the most visible symptom. I have read most of the books Hedges draws on in this text (Boorstin's The Image, Neal Gabler's Life: The Movie, and Chris Rojek's Celebrity being the most used) and agree with him on three points:

1. Life in this country is dominated by Boorstin's pseudo-event. A pseudo-event is an event pulled together to be reported on. It exists to draw attention and is not spontaneous. The ubiquitous "photo op" of today's politics is a pseudo event. The "red carpet reporting" and self-congratulation of the academy awards shows are a pseudo event. Perhaps the academy awards itself is, I do not know. Boorstin was highly critical of the artificiality of these events, as is Hedges, as am I.

2.Gabler, as quoted by Hedges, wrote that "everyone acts as if they are a star in their own movie." Hedges zeroes in on the selfishness of this and only in the latter half of the book gets into the problems this creates with awareness outside of our own little bubbles. Most people, when it comes right down to it, are clueless to the plight of their fellow man. Is this their fault? Not exactly.

3. Rojek differentiates between "ascribed" and "achieved" celebrity, the former from bloodlines and the latter from achievement. Both are frustrated because of the mass media and public relations departments. Think of the Kardashians and their father, Bruce Jenner. Bloodlines may have once made these people somewhat famous (for you kids out there, Jenner was a 1976 gold medal winner in the decathlon), but the non-stop bombarding of Kardashian ass, clothes, clothes with ass, ass without clothes, sex tapes, perfume and "reality" shows have conspired to make all of them famous.

Hedges describes the societal effects as he sees them. These are varied:  the rise in pornography as men are increasingly immune to the effects of bukkake films, gangbangs on the women who "act" in them, the emasculation of the Democratic party as "Bill Clinton led them to the corporate feeding trough" (157) and "diversity based on race and ethnicity but not class" in higher education. (101). What ties all of these things together is pure and simple: alienation and a loss of hope. This goes for blowhards on the Left and Right, contributing to a media landscape where programs like TMZ and The 700 Club are both categorized as "bona fide newscasts" by the FCC. (168)

Hedges overall point is not that the media has failed (even though they are courtiers; read Nixon's Shadow for a discussion of the "established" reporters view of the story of Watergate), but that Americans are beset by a cultural divide that transcends the "red state/blue state" business. People will move to control what they can, and what they can control from day to day is choice over what TV show to watch, what frozen treat to buy, what Starbucks to go to or what porn clip to whack off with in the evening. Hedges writes "Mass culture is Peter Pan culture. It tells us if we close our eyes, if we visualize what we want...our lives will be harmonius and complete." (190)

What separates this text from most media/celebrity bashing tomes is Hedges insistence that we are not visualizing something that will benefit the most people; not just the rich with their SUVs, not just the 14% of Yale students who are legacies (102), not just the limo liberals who don't want to pay taxes but want services for the poor. As majors in the humanities have dropped since 1970 (in 2001, only 4% of BAs were in English, 10% on social sciences) BAs in Business rose to 21.7% in 2001. Business ethics courses are rare and in some cases not required; Hedges quotes no less a person than Kant: "Moral autonomy is only possible through reflection, self-determination, and the courage not to cooperate." (112). Corporate culture hates the troublemaker and psuedo-events single out those who do not play the game for the paparazzi and the media.

As studies of Ethics (which Aristotle defined as how individuals should best live) went the way of English, Social Sciences and Mathematics, amorality has become commonplace. This is the real takeaway from Hedges book. We are ceasing to become a nation of people who can make up their own minds. That is why the crowds on Springer chanting "slut! slut! slut!" at some moderately overweight woman wriggling in spandex in a last chance attempt to win back her husband from the boy toy in the next trailer are so frightening. No one asks any of the people involved "What were/are you thinking? Why did you do this?" We make judgments in the absence of reflection and throw out names. Newspeople, bloggers, opinion writes make judgments in the absence of reflection and call it news. This is why I had a jack ass in a bar once tell me that "Woodrow Wilson is the most successful socialist president in US History" and why Glenn Beck, Keith Olbermann and Anne Coulter sell books. 

#23 A Fierce Discontent: The Rise and Fall of the Progressive Movement in America by Michael McGerr

380pp. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003

Michael McGerr's subtitle of "A Fierce Discontent" describes both the feeling in the country that created the Progressive Movement as well as the feeling that brought about its demise. McGerr argues that "much of our current political predicament was created by the Progressives. (xiv). While some may read this as a political argument from a conservative scholar, it strikes me as more or less correct. McGerr identifies four goals of the Progressives:
1. Change Others
2. End class conflict
3. Control Big Business
4. Segregate Society; this may be surprising, but it cannot be denied that the Progressive era (1870-1920) also marks what has been termed the "Nadir of race relations" by Howard Zinn. McGerr makes the argument that Progressive movements "viewed segregation as a way to protect minority groups from brutality....there were few alternatives at the time." (183). I agree with this assessment, and chapter 6 of the text provides varied voices that support McGerr's position.

It is the "changing others" and the "end class conflict" that creates most of the tension in the text. The saloon emerges as a crucial junction between these two goals. As the "true working class institution" (20) the saloon became a target for middle class reformers concerned about the consumption of Demon Rum. In 1900, Americans consumed 1.2 billion gallons of beer and malt liquor, roughly 30% more than we did in 1998. (84). As Victorians gave way to Progressives, the need to turn outward to reform others became a tool to for the Victorian need to reform the domestic sphere. I like this argument, as I think it works to explain much of what is loathed about current day "Progressives".

Directly after World War I, progressives "became out of step with the middle class." (274). The growth of films, baseball and leisure pursuits in the teens and twenties created a need for fun that the middle class chased. Why have a nattering nabob of negativity in the back muttering about the ruination of society through too many movies? Why look up to baseball players? They are just grown men paid to play a child's game. Jane Addams wrote that "youth of the 1920s went back to liberty for the individual." (316) This movement sapped their reformist urges as they focused more and more on themselves. McGerr points to FDR as thinking the task of government was to "make sure Americans can afford pleasure, and then get out of the way." (317)

Choice is not social justice, nor does individual liberty mean equal opportunity. Libertarians (such as myself) tend to think that the government has absolutely no place in my home, period. This is borne half of fear of the government (no matter who is running it) and half I-have-no-damn-business-telling-other-people-how-to-live. In this day and age, Progressives DO this constantly. They have good reasons (environmental catastrophe being the paramount one). The reforming energy that Addams saw disappearing in the 1920s has come back as a whiny, candy-ass progressives focused on lifestyles instead of the economics behind them. In other words, the goal of 1890s progressives (education, control of business, class uplift through neighborhood works, highlighting the power of thought in everyday life) has been reduced to progressives chastising the wealthy for owning large cars and living in McMansions and chastising the poor and uneducated for shopping at Wal Mart and watching bad reality TV shows.

People no matter what class need an incentive to change their behavior, otherwise they will not. To expect someone working for minimum wage to buy only organic foods at the Whole Foods market is as unrealistic as expecting a couple with 4 kids to pile them into a Prius and not a minivan when they go out. The fierce discontent of the progressives created "unrealistic expectations" according to McGerr (xiv). The biggest unrealistic expectation is for the government to protect our food and water, pave our streets and educate our kids without paying a cent for any of those things. Second only to that is to expect anyone, ugly American or not, to change their behavior because it is the right thing to do.