Is America Ready for Revolution? | 127 comments (127 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

So, the old Anglo-American establishment was good? (4.00 / 2)

There has not been much work done on it that I know of, except for a no more than two pages in Kevin Phillips' American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune, and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush (2004) where Phillips provides the briefest of outlines of how George Bush I and other scions of the American Eastern Establishment moved in on Midland, Texas and the Permian Basin in the 1950s. Phillips has much more details on how droves of CIA/Wall Street people worked for George Bush I's campaigns in 1980, 1988, and 1992. (I write "CIA/Wall Street" because my understanding is that the two were interchangeable in the 1950s to 1970s.)

Someone who studies these issues once told me that the U.S. Eastern Establishment transformed into the multinationals / globalization juggernaut in the 1980s.

And I think you will find these fascinating if you want to pull on loose threads:
Battling Wall Street: The Kennedy Presidency, Part 1
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/2/11/124525/795/299/300743

by NBBooks on Thu Feb 28th, 2008 at 10:14:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I didn't say "good." (none / 1)

I said, or implied, that there was a difference in tone. And moreover, the old establishment, in the olden days (before about 1980), had rather more of a sense of social responsibility--noblesse oblige, if you like--that has atrophied alarmingly since.

I've been meaning to read Phillips' Wealth and Democracy for some time but haven't got around to it. Thanks for the reference to the other book, and the dKos thread. I'll bump both the books up higher on my "to do" list!

by keikekaze on Fri Feb 29th, 2008 at 12:31:00 AM EST
[ Parent ]

However, that Fordist mindset was ... (none / 1)

... at least among the economic elite, in large part a necessity, and given the opportunity to walk away from it, there seems to have been a strong determination to git walkin'.

I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.

by BruceMcF (agila61 at netscape dot net) on Sat Mar 1st, 2008 at 10:04:04 AM EST
[ Parent ]

If you mean the mindset was a result . . . (none / 1)

. . . of there having been laws and regulations governing their corporate activities--laws and regulations that were actually enforced--I completely agree, and that's yet another argument (among many) for bringing back those laws and regulations and enforcing them again.

by keikekaze on Sat Mar 1st, 2008 at 07:03:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: If you mean the mindset was a result . . . (none / 1)

Even more than laws and regulations governing their corporate activities, institutionalized organized labor that focused their attention on trying to grow the pie, given that trying to get a progressively larger share of the pie seemed a more difficult strategy.

Of course, those laws and regulations were part of the structure that supported the strength of organized labor, but social structures neither build nor reproduce themselves.

I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.

by BruceMcF (agila61 at netscape dot net) on Sat Mar 1st, 2008 at 08:13:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: So, the old Anglo-American establishment was g (4.00 / 3)

NBBooks:

Someone who studies these issues once told me that the U.S. Eastern Establishment transformed into the multinationals / globalization juggernaut in the 1980s.

Which probably explains why they don't seem to care much whether the US remains a strong economy or not. The elite has become transnational.

We have met the enemy, and he is us — Pogo

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sat Mar 1st, 2008 at 03:26:12 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Is America Ready for Revolution? | 127 comments (127 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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