[Peace] [sf-core] The AWARE S.O.A.P. Box

[Morton K. Brussel]

Chomsky offers us insightful reflections, but one thing which I find troubling in his discourse, and I wonder if he does this purposefully and knowingly, it's that despite the apparent decline in our society in so many ways, he always ultimately says that it is better now than it was in the past. I think he is wrong here, but perhaps that is not a good message for activists. 

--mkb

On May 17, 2012, at 4:39 PM, C. G. Estabrook wrote:

> THE SOCIETY TO OVERCOME THE AMERICAN PRECARIAT /&/
> 
> THE SOCIETY TO OVERTHROW THE AMERICAN PLUTONOMY
> 
> - two cadet branches of the ANTI-WAR ANTI-RACISM EFFORT -
> 
> announce the institution of the ~ AWARE S.O.A.P. BOX ~ at the
> 
> Urbana Farmers' Market on Saturday 19 March 2012.
> 
> 					~~~
> 
> Members and Friends of AWARE will declaim statements by Noam Chomsky,  
> Glenn Grenwald, Chris Hedges, and others,
> 
> that further the mission of the Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort of  
> Champaign-Urbana, from the AWARE S.O.A.P. BOX,
> 
> by the AWARE table at the Lincoln Square Farmers' Market.
> 
> 					~~~
> 
> Speakers Under Delegation from the Societies (S.O.A.P. SUDS) will be  
> present and speaking while the market is open.
> 
> Come by and say hello  - and stay for conversation with passersby. --CGE
> 
> 					~~~
> 
> 'This could be a period of irreversible decline. For the 1% and even  
> less -- the .1% -- it’s just fine. They are richer than ever, more  
> powerful than ever, controlling the political system, disregarding the  
> public...
> 
> 'For decades, Citigroup has been one of the most corrupt of the major  
> investment banking corporations, repeatedly bailed out by the  
> taxpayer, starting in the early Reagan years and now once again ... In  
> 2005, Citigroup came out with a brochure for investors called  
> “Plutonomy: Buying Luxury, Explaining Global Imbalances.” It urged  
> investors to put money into a “plutonomy index.” The brochure says,  
> “The World is dividing into two blocs -- the Plutonomy and the rest.”
> 'Plutonomy refers to the rich, those who buy luxury goods and so on,  
> and that’s where the action is. They claimed that their plutonomy  
> index was way outperforming the stock market. As for the rest, we set  
> them adrift. We don’t really care about them. We don’t really need  
> them. They have to be around to provide a powerful state, which will  
> protect us and bail us out when we get into trouble, but other than  
> that they essentially have no function. These days they’re sometimes  
> called the “precariat” -- people who live a precarious existence at  
> the periphery of society. Only it’s not the periphery anymore. It’s  
> becoming a very substantial part of society in the United States and  
> indeed elsewhere. And this is considered a good thing...
> 
> 'So the world is now indeed splitting into a plutonomy and a precariat  
> -- in the imagery of the Occupy movement, the 1% and the 99%. Not  
> literal numbers, but the right picture. Now, the plutonomy is where  
> the action is and it could continue like this.
> 
> 'If it does, the historic reversal that began in the 1970s could  
> become irreversible. That’s where we’re heading. And the Occupy  
> movement is the first real, major, popular reaction that could avert  
> this. But it’s going to be necessary to face the fact that it’s a  
> long, hard struggle. You don’t win victories tomorrow. You have to  
> form the structures that will be sustained, that will go on through  
> hard times and can win major victories. And there are a lot of things  
> that can be done.' [Noam Chomsky]
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------------
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