{"id":9069,"date":"2017-01-19T11:34:42","date_gmt":"2017-01-19T16:34:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/?p=9069"},"modified":"2021-06-14T07:32:54","modified_gmt":"2021-06-14T12:32:54","slug":"we-interrupt-this-programming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2017\/01\/19\/we-interrupt-this-programming\/","title":{"rendered":"“We interrupt this programming…”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"burn_season__2003\"<\/p>\n

Not that this blog has been very active recently, but with Inauguration Day upon us, a little reflection on our situation seems warranted…<\/p>\n

So, here’s where I see us.<\/p>\n

If a Clinton-led Democratic administration would have brought to power a coalition of neoliberal plutocrats and social and environmental progressives (with the balance probably tilting towards the former group), a Trump administration is bringing us a coalition of neoliberal plutocrats, right-wing populists (like Trump himself), and social and environmental radical regressives, with the balance leaning towards the latter group. Those who fail to see the difference are a good part of the reason for how we got here.<\/p>\n

To clarify terms a little: Plutocrats aren’t just wealthy; they believe in, practice, or promote rule-by-the-wealthy. Neoliberal plutocrats do that by shrinking government and the public sphere and by privatizing and\/or marketizing everything that’s been squeezed out of it. The revolving door between government\u00a0and corporate lobby groups is a large part of the problem here, and it’s one that has been symptomatic of Democratic and Republican administrations.<\/p>\n

But, again, there’s the matter of coalitional balance, which, as Trump’s cabinet nominations have shown, accounts for the\u00a0sharp difference between the two scenarios on offer last November. A skewed kind of electoral college democracy — atop months-long campaign machinations and the “infowar” strategies that we’ll need more time to all figure out (more on that below) — resulted in what we have.<\/p>\n

Environmentally speaking, progress is out and regress is sliding in with trumpets and fanfare. That happened in the early Reagan years, but environmentalists survived it and recovered part-way through that decade. Things are different now: the issues are both much more acute and more complex — they are simultaneously ecological, social, economic, and very global, in a world where the institutions for global cooperation hardly exist and where we can imagine they won’t work very well for at least the next four years.<\/p>\n

\n
In terms of where U.S. politics now stands, political philosopher William Connolly has penned a brief but insightful piece on “The Big Lie”<\/a> and what we should do about it over the coming four years. Countering what he predicts will be a “perpetual electoral campaign” on the part of the new president, Connolly advocates connecting “factual correction” (of the lies and mischaracterizations that will inevitably keep coming in Trump’s Twitter feed and the right-wing emboldened mediasphere) with an account of how the Big Lie works to undermine democratic accountability. He advocates doing so repeatedly, and consistently linking this with “positive responses to real working class grievances.” There’s much more to the article, which can be read here<\/a>.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"c2ieagmuuaa-9c0\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Bosnian-born novelist Aleksandar Hemon writes evocatively of the “ontological destruction<\/a>” that characterizes this\u00a0moment in history. To those of us still reeling in disbelief from it all, Hemon’s thoughts on how\u00a0“a good writer should never let a good catastrophe go to waste” are helpful:<\/p>\n

“The necessary thing to do is to transform shock into a high alertness that prevents anything from being taken for granted \u2014 to confront fear and to love the way it makes everything appear strange.<\/p>\n

“Love the new frequencies; what is noise now will be music later. The disintegration of the known world provides a lot of pieces to play with and use in constructing alternatives while being aware that the simple modes of representation are tranquilizers at best, coercion at worst.”<\/p>\n

Hemon calls for “a literature that craves the conflict and owns the destruction, a split-mind literature that features fear and handles shock, that keeps self-evident ‘reality’ safely within the quotation marks…\u00a0To write in and of America, we must be ready to lose everything, to recognize we never had any of it in the first place, to abandon hope and embrace struggle, to fight in the streets and in our sentences. It will not be even close to comfortable.”<\/p>\n

Indeed, it won’t.<\/p>\n

I would add that reassuring ourselves that we are on the right side of history, whether that side will ever triumph or not, is not particularly helpful either. That “the arc of history bends toward justice” is helpful balm when balm is needed, but, in all reality, the arc of the moral universe is really so long that we humans can really only conjecture about it. At a time when the hardest-nosed scientists tell us that the world at large — given the state of\u00a0the ecological and biogeochemical systems that support us —\u00a0is precariously perched at the edge of disaster<\/a>, that reassurance seems misguided.<\/p>\n

The stronger source of reassurance, as I see it, is not any\u00a0belief in our own\u00a0future, but in what we feel<\/em> in our own relations with the people and communities (human and larger) that we interact with daily. If there is goodness and empathy there, then there is goodness in the universe, and if we can cultivate and spread\u00a0it, then it can grow. The is<\/em>\u00a0of that goodness suggests an ought<\/em>\u00a0that helps us direct our lives forward. That is enough for me.<\/p>\n

\n

Meanwhile, the CIA has just\u00a0dumped some 13 million recently declassified documents<\/a>\u00a0online as part of the CREST Archive<\/a>. They include many in the category unofficially known as \u201cX-Files\u201d and dealing with UFO sightings and psychic experiments in the Stargate Program. (X-Philes, go at them<\/a>. I just searched for \u201cmulder\u201d and got 99 hits. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

The timing of their release, which coincides with the increasing revelations (yet to get widespread media coverage) of what Seth Abramson calls\u00a0\u201cThe Domestic [yes, domestic, not Russian] Conspiracy that Gave Trump the Election<\/a>,\u201d\u00a0lends a little more intrigue and resonance to tomorrow\u2019s inauguration proceedings, no?<\/p>\n

We are living in an X-File. But we do know, with reasonable assurance, that\u00a0the sun will rise tomorrow. And the next day. And the next.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Images: Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison’s “Burn Season<\/a>” (2003); today’s (January 19, 2017)\u00a0<\/em>New York Times cover<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not that this blog has been very active recently, but with Inauguration Day upon us, a little reflection on our situation seems warranted… So, here’s where I see us. If a Clinton-led Democratic administration would have brought to power a coalition of neoliberal plutocrats and social and environmental progressives (with the balance probably tilting towards […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[691215],"tags":[454962,454964,454958,454959,58955,454963,16849,454957,454961,123663,25162,454960],"class_list":["post-9069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics_postpolitics","tag-aleksandar-hemon","tag-catastrophe","tag-cia","tag-classified-documents","tag-donald-trump","tag-hillary-clinton","tag-hope","tag-inauguration-day","tag-ontological-destruction","tag-politics","tag-william-connolly","tag-x-files"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4IC4a-2mh","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9730,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2018\/09\/17\/illiberalism-the-utopian-deficit\/","url_meta":{"origin":9069,"position":0},"title":"“Illiberalism” & the utopian deficit","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"September 17, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"An off-the-cuff essay, written not for any particular occasion, but just to get it out of me. It's probably mostly common knowledge (among people on the green left), just maybe not well articulated yet, and too easily forgotten. Politically, we're all playing a little catch-up these days. Understanding the apparent\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cultural politics"","block_context":{"text":"Cultural politics","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/cultural_politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2018\/09\/preview-275x155.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13767,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2024\/10\/15\/the-hurricane-conspiracy-complex\/","url_meta":{"origin":9069,"position":1},"title":"The hurricane conspiracy complex","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"October 15, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The big question around these back-to-back hurricanes in the southeast U.S. is not why they are happening (that\u2019s easy enough to answer), but why so many people find it easier to believe they were artificially generated by the U.S. government, the \u201cdeep state,\u201d FEMA, industry, or some euphemistic \u201cthey\u201d (and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Climate change"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/climate-politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2024\/10\/image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9187,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2017\/05\/01\/may-day-thoughts-on-labor-livelihood\/","url_meta":{"origin":9069,"position":2},"title":"May Day thoughts: on labor & livelihood","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"May 1, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"May Day (Beltane, Walpurga's Day, et al.) is a good time for reflecting on\u00a0politics, ecology, and possibility. The following can be considered part of\u00a0a\u00a0series on this blog. When neoliberalism is understood as the alliance between economic liberalization and social liberalization -- that is, between those who would \"liberate\" capitalist markets\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Manifestos & auguries"","block_context":{"text":"Manifestos & auguries","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/manifestos-and-auguries\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2017\/05\/o1llH-179x275.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13692,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2024\/07\/03\/the-conservative-populist-moment\/","url_meta":{"origin":9069,"position":3},"title":"The conservative-populist moment?","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"July 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Neither Biden's debate failure nor Trump's continuing popularity (and that of Le Pen's National Rally) should surprise us. They are explainable. And they can be overcome.","rel":"","context":"In "Cultural politics"","block_context":{"text":"Cultural politics","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/cultural_politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2024\/07\/image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2024\/07\/image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2024\/07\/image.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1052,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2009\/04\/11\/trusting-obama-or-not\/","url_meta":{"origin":9069,"position":4},"title":"trusting Obama or not","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"April 11, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"With protests gearing up today to push the Obama administration away from its current timidity with its economic policies (see A New Way Forward and Democracy Now's broadcast on it), it seems apropos to ask whether and to what extent the Obama administration should be trusted by progressives. Open Left,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/politics_postpolitics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9027,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2016\/11\/10\/in-search-of-silver-linings\/","url_meta":{"origin":9069,"position":5},"title":"In search of silver linings","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"November 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"So, Donald Trump will be president of the United States and both Congress and Senate will be dominated by\u00a0Republicans. Environmentalists and social justice activists, almost universally, find this idea horrifying. But there are silver linings to be found amidst the wreckage. Let's explore a few of them. 1. You can't\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Manifestos & auguries"","block_context":{"text":"Manifestos & auguries","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/manifestos-and-auguries\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"spacer","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2016\/11\/spacer.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/99"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9069"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9088,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9069\/revisions\/9088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}