difference between capitalists and humanists

I heard this on the Thom Hartmann show, where he argued with a guest whether human labor is a commodity.

This is a very interesting question because it taps the very notion of the psychological point of view called humanistic psychology.

I know this because I teach this subject and what is interesting, I guess it's obvious now that I see it, that you can apply Carl Roger's notion of conditions of worth (People raised in an environment where they learn that their sense of self is contingent upon meeting certain conditions that have been laid down by others) to whether or not human labor is inherently valuable.

Ask anyone working for a living why they work, they will say for the money. Yet those same people, when you praise them for a job well done will work harder and take more ownership of their work than if you simply paid them.

Is it time to recognize that human labor is NOT a commodity?

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Why Webb is the new Senator from Virginia

Wow, this is the kind of editorial that we should be hearing from our mainstream media:

Webb's Op-ed in the Wall Street Journal


an excerpt includes:

The most important issue in politics today is our society's steady drift toward a class-based system, the likes of which we have not seen since the 19th century. America's top tier has grown infinitely richer and more removed over the past 25 years. ... Few among them send their children to public schools; fewer still send their loved ones to fight our wars. They own most of our stocks, making the stock market an unreliable indicator of the economic health of working people. The top 1% now takes in an astounding 16% of national income, up from 8% in 1980. The tax codes protect them, just as they protect corporate America, through a vast system of loopholes.

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Limbaugh and the neocons

Today, I saw the rerun of the McLaughlin Group and I was partially shocked at what Tony Blankely said about the republicans, namely that the republicans deserved to be routed (I'm liberally interpreting what he said. I'll get the transcript soon and correct my interpretation).

This was from a guy who consistenly defends the undefensible. And it reminds me of the following article about rush limbaugh, who said after the election:

http://mediamatters.org/items/200611090005

"But the way I feel is this: I feel liberated, and I'm just going to tell you as plainly as I can why. I no longer am going to have to carry the water for people who I don't think deserve having their water carried. "


He went on to defend this position because he believes that the republicans are better than anything. In other words, he carried water not because of any good reason other than loyalty. This should be one of those moments where anyone listening to Limbaugh should conclude, he doesn't care about reason or argument or evidence.

Watch out, because these talking heads still don't serve our needs.

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voter apathy and fear

So, I had a chance to canvass 3 precincts in the Washington State Congressional District 8.

What was interesting about this experience, at least for me, was a first hand look at how citizens handle door to door canvassing: The majority tolerate it, barely; some absolutely hate it, while even fewer welcome it.

Now, the areas where I did my door knocking was in a place called Maple Valley, and I know a little something about them, they are a rural area where they don't really like a lot of people. I grew up near there, and I know that the main reason my parents moved out there was that the housing was cheaper, but just as important was that there wasn't anyone out there to bother you.

My thoughts:
I've been trying to understand why people don't participate in politics. When so much is going wrong with the world, the ol' adage that you shouldn't discuss religion and politics seems strange. I mean, should we really be avoiding the elephant in th room? Is now the time to burry our heads in the sand?

So, why don't people discuss these things? My simple, and perhaps obvious answer is fear. Fear trumps all other reasons.

Many may justify their disinterest in politics because they don't have the time to 'study' up on the subjects. In some cases, I believe this to be true. Yet many people just would choose to do other things instead of brushing up on their politics. Why would they do this? Because you are tired and cranky, you would rather engage in something that has a high probability of making you feel happy and un-cranky. Vegie-TV, Sports, Naps, comfort food, poker, porn, drugs (espeically alcohol), you name it. Politics, for most people, has a high degree of making you feel awful. And people are afraid of that feeling. (Why, I should post something about how that comes to be; in a nutshell, because we've been raised to be frustration intolerant.

Just about any other argument against polticking develops out of this, what I call fundamental, fear.

"oh, I don't know enough to have a reasonable debate about politics."

Why the hell not?

because it takes too much work and time and that sucks (i.e., frustrating).

This leads into the gut of why I wanted to make this post. I won't be able to finish it now, but to sum it up, I think voter apathy has more to do with guilt than really not caring.

Apathy can be considered as a defense mechanism. Namely, politics are high stakes. The winners get to gloat for at least 2 years. No sports game I know of comes close to that (except maybe cricket).

Loosing is intolerable, so you can avoid the pain by just believing that it's not that important or relevant. The thing is, there is a part of everyone who believes that voting is important.

Now, you have a contradiction (that voting is important, and that it doesn't matter). So when a canvassar comes along to ask you to vote, you may get upset because that person is reminding you that you have a responsibility that you are actively trying to avoid.

guilt.

That's what I saw in many of the people I spoke to while canvassing.





More thoughts, but not coherent.....yet..



guilt that they aren't doing more for their country
guilt that they aren't doing more for their personal lives
ambivalence and/or anger about parties knowing enough about them that their doors get knocked on and their phones called.

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Congress is back

Instead of the rubber stampers, the true american people have spoken.

Now if we can just get rid of the 2 party system.

Oh, and if you think there is a good reason that Allen should win in a recount...think again:

Allen doesn't believe in recounts

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