Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

TexasTowelie

(112,322 posts)
Wed Dec 11, 2013, 10:45 PM Dec 2013

When Compromise Looks More Like Sophie's Choice

By Carol Morgan

In 1911, industrialist Richard Teller Crane remarked that one who has “a taste for literature has no right to be happy” because “the only men entitled to happiness are those who are useful.” Railroad king Jay Gould believed that humans were expendable commodities. “I can hire one half of the working class to kill the other half.” Is any of this sounding familiar? Where the lowest and most immoral human instincts are concerned, the past is never really the past.

One hundred years later, we see this same philosophy of usefulness and utility; a Randian concept which holds a disturbing philosophy: Only those who PRODUCE deserve to live. The common man has been hypnotized to believe this is true. The decadence of our language proves this out. We attach the word “investment” to things that aren’t financial. We’ve commodified college degrees, childhood, blood plasma and human organs.

The concept of INO’s (in name only) is the grand deception of the millennia. In labels, we trust; but we shouldn’t. It’s not limited to political parties; it even pervades non-profits, those groups who supposedly work for social justice. The top thirty-four charity executives earn over a million dollars a year. It’s the outflow of the language of the corporate world, where we seek to “brand” ourselves and instead of writing down our dreams, we compose a personal mission statement. The era of M.E., Inc. a limited liability corporation.

-snip-

It makes me ask the question: At what point does a Democrat cease to be a Democrat? When does a Republican cease to be a Republican? Is a Moderate anything really telling the truth or are they simply trying to appeal to the voter? When does a nonprofit cease to be a nonprofit? Do labels mean anything anymore?


The complete article is at http://lubbockonline.com/interact/blog-post/carol-morgan/2013-12-11/when-compromise-looks-more-sophies-choice .
Latest Discussions»Issue Forums»Editorials & Other Articles»When Compromise Looks Mor...