[Peace-discuss] Authoritarianism and America today

[Brussel Morton K.]

There are very many insights in the article referenced below by Henry Giroux, concerning what has happened and what is happening to American society—the dangers and despair that so many are feeling. This long article that should be reflected upon by as many as possible, one of the best, despite a certain wordiness, that I've seen. See

http://www.truthout.org/democracy-and-threat-authoritarianism-politics-beyond-barack-obama56890?

Among so many other things he discusses, Giroux summarizes:

…It may be time to shift the discourse away from focusing on either Obama's failures or urging progressives and others to develop "the organizational power to make muscular demands"[43] on the Obama administration. Maybe the time has come to focus on the ongoing repressive and systemic conditions, institutions, ideologies and values that have been developing in American society for the last 30 years, forces that are giving rise to a unique form of American authoritarianism. I agree with Sheldon Wolin that the "fixation upon" Obama now "obscures the problems" we are facing.[44] Maybe it is time to imagine what democracy would look like outside of what we have come to call capitalism, not simply neoliberalism as its most extreme manifestation. Maybe it is time to fight for the formative culture and modes of thought and agency that are the very foundations of democracy. And maybe it time to mobilize a militant, far-reaching social movement to challenge the false claims that equate democracy and capitalism.…

--mkb
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