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IP: A different perspective on boom times

From: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
Date: Sat, 25 Dec 1999 07:56:31 -0500



AT THE TURN OF A CENTURY, BETTER OPTIONS REMAIN

By Norman Solomon

        The imminent arrival of 2000 reminds us that life is short. 
Deadening routines often squander our time, while evasions take 
unnecessary tolls in human suffering. But much better possibilities remain.

        Every day, a nationwide media barrage encourages us to be cynical 
and passive. Endless dramas of politics and grand commerce -- amorality 
plays -- are performed with great zeal. We're supposed to cheer. But many 
of us find the glorified spectacles to be dispiriting rather than uplifting.

        The words of America's leading politicians reverberate through a 
national echo chamber. They tout global supremacy and higher market share 
as ultimate virtues. Dissenting voices are mostly circumspect. Pundits 
debate how -- but not whether -- the U.S. government should use such 
measures as diplomatic arm-twisting, financial blackmail and military 
might to impose its will on the world.

        Meanwhile, news outlets are echoing discussions on Capitol Hill 
about how to fine-tune the economic status quo -- widely portrayed as 
wonderful at the end of 1999. But a Boston-based organization, United for 
a Fair Economy (www.stw.org), offers a reality check, reporting 
information that can't be found in the media spotlights:

        *  "The record-breaking economic boom of the 1990s has left 
Americans more polarized and debt-ridden," researchers found. A rising 
tide "has lifted the yachts to tremendous heights, but many Americans are 
still bailing out their boats after decades of sinking real wages."

        *  Ten years ago, there were 66 billionaires and 31.5 million 
people living below the poverty line in this country. Today, "the United 
States has 268 billionaires and 34.5 million people living below the 
official poverty line -- about $13,000 for a three-person family."

        *  As 1999 comes to a close, economic inequality is rampant in 
America. "The top 1 percent of households has more wealth than the entire 
bottom 95 percent combined." The situation is much worse than it was a 
quarter-century ago: "Since 1977, the top 1 percent has doubled its share 
of the nation's wealth to 40 percent."

        *  Currently, the people on the Forbes 400 list of richest 
Americans "have about as much wealth as the 50 million households in the 
bottom half of the population."

        *  While news stories hail the glorious achievements of the stock 
market, a lot of people in the United States "are just plain broke. They 
have nothing to tide them over in case of a health crisis or 
unemployment, much less save for college or retirement. Nearly one out of 
five households has zero or negative net worth (greater debts than 
assets), compared with one
in 10 in 1962."

        The questions that journalists pose to elected officials and 
candidates rarely confront such economic realities. Instead, the repeated 
queries have a pre-fab quality -- matching the slightly zombie-like 
verbiage of most politicians, whose language was aptly described several 
decades ago by George Orwell: "When one watches some tired hack on the 
platform, mechanically repeating the familiar phrases ... one often has a 
curious feeling that one is not watching a live human being but some kind 
of  dummy."

        Faced with a nonstop swirl of media coverage, it's tempting to 
succumb to chronic cynicism. But journalists -- and the rest of us -- are 
better off if we can develop an attitude of idealistic skepticism. In 
2000 and beyond, giving voice to candor will be a minimum prerequisite to 
create conditions for realistic hope.

        "I have come to believe over and over again," the poet Audre 
Lorde said, "that what is most important to me must be spoken, made 
verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised and 
misunderstood. ...  For it is not difference which immobilizes us most 
but silence."

        While 14 million people in the United States are extremely poor 
-- living at less than 50 percent of the poverty level -- for the most 
part their plights are dismissed by mainstream journalists as scarcely 
more consequential than lint in the pockets of the powerful. The same 
goes for the approximately 1,000 children around the world who die every 
hour from diseases that are easily preventable. According to UNICEF, the 
cost of saving their lives would amount to about 10 percent of the 
Pentagon budget.

        To criticize this institutional madness can seem bold, even 
brave. How sad.

        "One day posterity will remember," wrote Russian poet Yevgeny 
Yevtushenko, "This strange era, these strange times, when / Ordinary 
common honesty was called courage."

        Hopefully, we'll find more strength for such honesty in the 21st 
century.

_________________________________________________

Norman Solomon is a syndicated columnist. His latest book is "The Habits of
Highly Deceptive Media."



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A Happy Holiday and a safe New Year

from Dave and GG Farber

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IP: A different perspective on boom times Dave Farber (Dec 25)