Talking Points

posted by Mr. Vidiot @ 3:41 PM Permalink

In the event you're confronted with someone who says something like:

We were talking about this a day or two ago. I believe we (the USA) is THE most generous charitable giver per capita in the world. Private citizens give over twice as much as any other country. (that's not counting the government funds) Can we be better? Of course we can. But we seem to lose sight of the fact that, hands down, this is the best place on the planet to live and work. One of the biggest reasons is we can have a different opinion than our government and not fear for our lives and property. Unlike Most of the rest of the world.

You counter with:

As a response, you must learn to attack from outside the dominant framework, attack the hegemony from which his argument is based. In other words, tear the argument from its roots. Don't keeps intact false assumptions, the ideological premisis in which this idiot presents his point.

To start, "We" are not the united states, we does not include the silenced, the marginalized, the exploited, those who are undermined by the controllers of production, those who resist incorporation, class rule, power, and the ruling ideas that pass through the corporate-controlled culture industry. This man is a victim, although a wealthy one, of a social order that has immense influence over our minds, our identity, our reality. Further, there is no connection to private individuals (not corporations) giving freely to charity and this being a great country and the best place to live.

Another point "this is the best place on the planet to live and work" is nullified when one takes into account that the US has the one of the largest gaps in the distribution of income. This gap is more perverse today than any other time. Do not let the illusion of working and middle class affluence trick you. Capitalism, by definition and necessity, exploits. This is how people profit. Even the this moron must know this. This "we" is an actual class society divided between capital and labor. And capital has the power to define who "we" is, who "American" is, what "democracy" is, and what is in "our" best interest. This hegemony, which works through political, social, economic, and cultural ideology is so perverse that "we" come to understand our own reality, that is, to experience ourselves as defined by the ruling class. The situation is so perverse that most Americans cannot even think of, much less articulate dissenting opinions. The few that are able, are crushed. Keep in mind that in this "free" country there is a higher prison rate than any other in the world and most, the overwhelming most, are members of the working class, that's right, those that are exploited and marginalized.

But tell this worthless piece of shit no worries, resistance is everywhere yet remains invisible. It is all around, in art, in sociology, in music, in street corners, in the underground, and it is gaining rage till one day BOOOO there will be no more oil and wealth for you.

Labels: capitalism, debate, hegemony