If I had to identify the biggest disappointment of the 21st century so far, it would be America's swing to the right. I loved Bill Clinton's 1990s dot com boom America so much that I moved there in early 2000, taking up residence in Manhattan Chinatown. Perhaps things were already swinging by then. Clinton had already come under attack from the very people who would soon take over. The Republicans hounded him for some minor sexual peccadillo, and their opportunistic puritanism, astonishingly enough, nearly got him impeached. Then the digital culture boom—which had seemed to position the US as the most future-oriented civilization on the planet—collapsed as "irrational exuberance" was replaced by the sound of bursting bubbles and plunging indices.
The 2000 presidential election revealed that Americans may have enjoyed Clinton's Slick Willy persona more than his Democratic policies; Gore was seen as a "policy wonk", lacking Clinton's popular touch. The theme of the 2000 election debates became a problem which any nation would love to have: what shall we do with our record budget surplus? It looked like there were two answers to that question: spend it on a socialized healthcare system and other moderate social leveling, or give it back to consumers (mostly very rich ones) in the form of a tax cut.
But it seems that America wasn't going to become either moderately socialist or even just a big, rich, effeminate consumer culture. After the debacle of election stalemate, in came Bush. He made his promised tax cuts, but, after 9/11, what he mostly did was turn the US's massive surpluses into massive deficits by fighting wars all over the world. I got the hell out. America became the problem, not the solution. The
election of 2004 was the final blow, proof (unless we believe the conspiracy theory that the Diebold machines were rigged) that the Bush presidency hadn't just been a Supreme Court fix, but had genuine popular support.
Ever since Hurricane Katrina wrecked New Orleans, though, there have been signs that the Bush presidency is crumbling. In the last week, the president's misfortunes have reached critical mass. Bush's "brain", Karl Rove, came under critical investigation. Bush lackey Harriet Miers's nomination for the Supreme Court was shot down. Former ally Berlusconi yesterday tried to boost his election chances in Italy by
saying he'd tried to talk Bush out of invading Iraq.
But before we throw a
schadenfreude party, let's note that these are not attacks on Bush from the left. They do not signal a change in the national mood which will automatically see Hillary Clinton swept to power in 2008. Bush's setbacks come from the right. Out goes Miers, suspected by the right wing of the Republican party of moderately liberal views, in comes Alito, a conservative. Even Berlusconi's "betrayal" is in the interest of strengthening the right wing — in the form of his own continued rule at home in Italy.
Although I no longer call the US my home, my life is intricately and intimately tied up with the country. I'm writing more and more journalism for magazines, and they're almost exclusively American ones:
Wired News,
Index,
AIGA Voice and
ID. I've
invited an American (Rusty Santos, a New Yorker from Arizona) to produce my next album. I recently
pitched a book to an American publisher about an American artist (Laurie Anderson). And it looks entirely possible that I'll spend the first five months of 2006 in the US, engaging in art-related activities (I can't tell you the details yet).
All this is happening because, in selected areas, America is still the most creative nation in the world, and creativity is my biggest interest. In the design, art and music fields America still has amazing energy and enthusiasm. It's still a cosmopolitan, generous and outward-looking nation: recent or forthcoming articles I've published in American magazines include two pieces on Japan-based designers, a piece about global biennials, a piece about a German designer, and a piece about a Scottish artist. (But, come to think of it, three of my commissioning editors are actually America-based Brits!)
It's utterly dismaying, though, to see that outward-looking, generous and creative America (the tolerant, secular, gay-friendly blue-state America of Richard Florida's
"creative class") marginalized and impotent, or, worse, linked reluctantly to a boneheaded regime. And, while it's great to see the first signs that that regime may be disintegrating, the fact that it seems to be splitting into two factions, and that the dominant faction is
even further right than Bush sends a chill wind right through me. Let's keep the celebrations on hold; we don't yet know that something even worse isn't on the way.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
imomus![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-01 08:16 am (UTC)god forbid you keep moving back and forth every four to eight years, momus. but then again, your presence in the blue would always be welcome. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-01 09:16 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-01 10:06 am (UTC)hum
Date: 2005-11-01 10:51 am (UTC)2. Clinton era vs. Bush era. Have you ever read Chomsky ?
3. looking forward to your 'art-related activities'. But where are the 'politics' in what you're doing ?
John
Re: hum
Date: 2005-11-01 11:28 am (UTC)2. I have read some Chomsky, and I'm very sympathetic to his message. I think you're doing him a dis-service if you're suggesting he sees a moral equivalence between the Clinton and Bush II regimes, though, however trenchant his criticisms of Clinton may have been.
3. I can't talk yet about those projects, but they do contain politics.
Re: hum
Date: 2005-11-01 01:15 pm (UTC)It makes me happy we have some semblence of a democracy where politicians have to make at least token efforts to appear centrist.
Re: hum
Date: 2005-11-01 07:31 pm (UTC)Re: hum
Date: 2005-11-01 04:31 pm (UTC)Also, I'm not sure that attacks on Bush are only coming from the right - the same base that forced Harriet Miers to withdraw also supports him thick and thin through Iraq, Katrina, and the CIA leak scandal (you'll note this is true in that he responded to the criticisms about Miers and responded to them quickly, but remains tight-lipped over the whole Valerie Plame affair and is still determined to "stay the course" in Iraq).
Re: hum
Date: 2005-11-01 01:37 pm (UTC)PWNT!
Re: hum
Date: 2005-11-01 01:38 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-01 11:33 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-01 12:22 pm (UTC)Even if a miracle happened and The Bush Regime were toppled, the good old days aren't coming back.
Nothing ever comes back.
The Sixties aren't coming back, the nineties aren't coming back, the mini-skirt's not coming back.
I hear China's quite happening at the moment.
I loved the late nineties: it was like wherever I went there was a great big golden eagle hovering above me, shitting down great big golden eggs on me from on high.
I'm not optimistic about the US sitch, or the UK one for that matter.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-01 02:36 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-01 03:20 pm (UTC)Neither do I.
Don't know where you get that from.
I was making a comment on possible ideal environments and climates in which to work/thrive and how these things are nigh on impossible to calculate by looking at what you or other people did 'before,' in this country, that country, under this kind of government or under that kind of government.
There was a general view amongst creative people throughout the eighties and nineties in England, that if we just got rid of the tories we'd be living in paradise regained.
It's proved to be about ten times worse.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-01 06:53 pm (UTC)I'll say, I'd hope more people bathe this time around.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-02 03:00 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-02 09:30 am (UTC)I'm moving to France. Thankfully I've got my French girlfriend from The Gentle People to help me, 'cause, despite having all the records - I can't speak one word of frog.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-02 03:40 pm (UTC)Yeah, I took French classes in high school but I'd never dare to speak to a native speaker. In the Netherlands, everyone knows English almost as well as Dutch.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-01 12:57 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-01 12:59 pm (UTC)>>America is very much divided, cliched as that sounds, it's true.
Date: 2005-11-01 07:48 pm (UTC)Also, the criticism in the media, often seems like a hypocritical cover up, just empty words to try to make our country seem innocent. We are 100% guilty, because, considering that we really are a democracy, we should have the power to stop this, but are not really doing enough. That's the opinion of some critics, including Chomsky who oftan explains to his audiences that it is our responsibility as citizens of a democratic state to control how our country behaves. So lets stop with all the pretending and whiny excuses; America is not divided, we are just hypocrites.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-01 02:35 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-02 01:13 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-01 03:03 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-01 03:10 pm (UTC)The media is slowly showing signs of life. Liberal radio talk shows (http://www.thesnotgreensea.com/mp3/mort/aams100705Card.mp3) are springing up around the country. Bushs' approval ratings are the lowest in the history of approval ratings.
Of course I was optimistic in 2004. We'll see.
Minor correction: Clinton WAS in fact impeached. That doesn't stop you from being president.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-01 03:39 pm (UTC)He is charismatic however, and he did do some good things as well, but that does not excuse his misdeeds.
I'm glad to hear that you'll be in this part of the world, and will keep reading your journal to watch for any concerts or other activities you are part of.
OT
Date: 2005-11-01 03:52 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-01 04:25 pm (UTC)never been to arizona
Date: 2005-11-01 04:36 pm (UTC)-rs
Re: never been to arizona
Date: 2005-11-01 04:57 pm (UTC)Re: never been to arizona
Date: 2005-11-02 03:25 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-01 05:01 pm (UTC)Nice article.
Date: 2005-11-01 05:16 pm (UTC)To make you feel better,
I heard your music first a few years ago, and fell in love with it. It's really because you are one of my favorite artists that I decided to find this blog recently, when I found the desire to listen to more of your music, which was not in stores here, unfrotunately. However, it's true that you run a very interesting blog that has captivated me.
Red/Blue Graphic
Date: 2005-11-01 08:30 pm (UTC)Winslow Condon
Re: Red/Blue Graphic
Date: 2005-11-01 10:19 pm (UTC)Re: Red/Blue Graphic
Date: 2005-11-02 08:43 pm (UTC)Winslow
excessive angry claymation face for someone who's supposed to be making a friendly album
Date: 2005-11-01 09:01 pm (UTC)Also, as you've probably heard, More Britons Believe in Ghosts Than in God (http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-britain-ghosts,0,5305527.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines), which is superficially reminiscent of your recent Click Opera post (http://www.livejournal.com/users/imomus/147426.html) about the Japanese believing in spirits (rather than a god). But the British ghosts are probably of a different character, stripped by Descartes of their possible influence on cakes or meat pies, and they come from movies and television instead of a comparatively undiluted pagan tradition. At least the other half of the statistic looks promising; hopefully more Britons will take over American magazines and help propagate the trend. Superstition is preferable any day over dogmatism and manifest destiny.
Re: excessive angry claymation face for someone who's supposed to be making a friendly album
Date: 2005-11-01 10:24 pm (UTC)Amused by this bit of the Long Tail blog: "I was named Editor of the Year. I'm both delighted and humbled by this, which is a every editor's dream." Editor needs an editor!
possibly irrelivant chit chat from me.. but
Date: 2005-11-01 10:31 pm (UTC)minor musicians unite!
Date: 2005-11-02 12:41 am (UTC)Here is a track I recorded my friend Devin Anderson:
Its called "Tempest". http://www.podsafeaudio.com/jamroom/download.php?band_id=2&song_id=2&mode=song_hifi
-Justin O'Neill
www.podsafeaudio.com
Re: minor musicians unite!
Date: 2005-11-02 04:11 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-02 12:49 am (UTC)A little late for that, eh? :) I wonder if it'll work.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-02 03:22 am (UTC)i would also argue that in terms of the american imperial agenda which has existed for a hundred years or so, all of what bush is doing is just part of the larger plan & would be done regardless of what party was in power. they are taking the fall for all this, it's a total set up.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-02 07:56 am (UTC)Whatever happened to the butterfly syndrome, whereby even the tiniest action can make a huge difference to the outcome?
I Ching
Date: 2005-11-02 10:47 am (UTC)Inner truth moves even pigs and fish and leads to good fortune.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-02 05:56 pm (UTC)so yes, sure the butterflies stir things up & make a windmill fall over which kills the duke & then there is a war, but... the political parties have to react to that also. they are two political formula being fed the same set of variables, operating in a larger, more complex formula which they could be easily booted out of if they got out of line.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-03 01:00 pm (UTC)As for the "butterfly syndrome" I could only assume you are talking about Lorenz and his attractor. However, one should know that one does not live in an isolated environment. The tiniest perturbations in the input does create huge difference in outcome in many dynamical systems, however, those effect are rubbed out when you have thousands and thousands of these perturbed systems vying for a voice, and (destructively) interfering with each other. Be careful of metaphors. They can make you claim strange things and construct a strange reality that do not jive with your perceptions. A better metaphor I think would be something like a network of locally coupled system. Like for example, if you've ever been to a concert or an event. Listen to the applause, each person unconsciously syncs up with the people next to them and this synchronicity propagates out through these local couplings, where there's a moment that the applause becomes one gigantic clappings. local effects can propagate out to be global, however, no isolated actions can achieve this - it must be social in nature - community building.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-11-02 11:52 am (UTC)I agree about Bush, though. It's terrifying how Bush Jr. seems to have outdone even Reagan in government spending and social reaction. I think Perlstein put it well when he described Barry Goldman's impact on US politics --
"Think of a senator winning the Democratic nomination in the year 2000 whose positions included halving the military budget, socializing the medical system, reregulating the communications and electrical industries, establishing a guaranteed minimum income for all Americans, and equalizing funding for all schools regardless of property valuations; who promised to fire Alan Greenspan, counseled withdrawal from the World Trade Organization, and for good measure spoke warmly of adolescent sexual experimentation. He would lose in a landslide. He would be relegated to the ash heap of history. But if the precedent of 1964 were repeated, two years later the country would begin electing dozens of men and women just like him. And not many decades later, Republicans would have to proclaim softer versions of those positions to get taken seriously for nomination."
It's incredibly frightening what Republicans have managed to do. It's even more frightening how much it's the work of the Christian Right.
Clinton WAS impeached
Date: 2005-11-08 12:41 am (UTC)WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 - William Jefferson Clinton was impeached on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice today by a divided House of Representatives, which recommended virtually along party lines that the Senate remove the nation's 42d President from office.
----
It never ceases to agonize me that Clinton could get impeached over a blowjob, but Bush's lying the nation into war doesn't seem to be that much of a concern. I still don't think the absence of WMD's has gotten half the attention Lewinsky did. The penis is mightier than the sword.
I find this so very maddening that I say: America, you deserve the politicians you're electing, and you deserve the world they're making.
Truly,
Pained Thomas