It’s pretty late now and probably a bad time to write something. That’s life, though. The days go by so quickly, I hardly manage to get the most important stuff done, get distracted by stuff like emails and Facebook posts, and then I don’t get around to doing what I had planned. So it’s almost 10 pm and I went through all the steps of distraction and now am doing what I had planned to do. Writing.
Before I get to the actual task of writing I would like to dwell on this issue of distractions for a bit. What are my favorite distractions: my MacBook, that’s a big one. Not only is the actual box distractive because it simply looks so elegant. It’s all those pictures and words that keep appearing on the screen when I keep clicking on those colorful buttons all over the place. Email, news, iPhoto, Flex programming, you name it. On my last vacation in France for two weeks I didn’t have access to a computer and, amazingly enough, I survived.
Other big distractions include the refrigerator, the cupboard with chips and chocolate or the television. I guess a distraction is a distraction when it’s something I didn’t plan to do, keeps me from doing what I had wanted to do (or should have done) and is generally not particularly healthy. If the assumed distraction is healthy then, perhaps, it’s not a distraction at all. What if the distraction actually makes me happy? Can that be considered a distraction?
These are all very complicated and deeply philosophical questions. This span of this article will not allow for a comprehensive look at the phenomenon of distraction. I must say, though, that simply writing these few sentences have helped me discover yet another form of distraction. Writing. Yes writing about distractions is seriously distracting me from what I had planned to write about. More than that. It has even served to make me forget what I wanted to write about.
Think. Think.
Yes, that was it, I had wanted to write about the global repercussions of thirty years of disaster capitalism on the life of the average American. No wonder I let myself so easily be distracted.
Hm, the clock is ticking and it’s approaching 10pm. My eye lids are getting heavy. The dark red Italian wine is taking its toll and the warmth of my bed is lulling me in.
So, back to the main topic - capitalism. Yes, capitalism sucks. Well, to more precise, “free-market”, laissez-faire, neoliberal, deregulated, friedmanian capitalism is a real pain in the ass. And no, I did not just start thinking about that after watching Michael Moore’s new movie. I haven’t even seen his new movie. I haven’t even seen his not so new movie before this one - you know about the health industry. I’ve been questioning the virtue of capitalism for a while longer. I think the first time was when I was about 7 and my Dad was telling me about his rich father. I don’t think my Dad liked his Dad too much. But anyway, he was saying that he doesn’t believe it takes real brains to get rich. The “real brains” think is paraphrasing. My Dad rather frowned upon such no-nonsense colloquial language. He thought it was important to try to maintain a rather sophisticated level of speech. I don’t mean to say he was stuck up or anything. He just thought it was important to use proper English and to not sound like an idiot.
Anyways, he did say that about getting rich. I interpret this statement of his to come from his general criticism of the unequal and unjust accumulation of wealth. How I dealt with those words when I was seven is hard to say. They did stick with me though and, in some way, at some point in my life, made me think twice about capitalism.
Capitalism - that’s such a mouth full. I almost feel awkward saying it (I mean writing it). It sounds almost silly saying “I think capitalism is very problematic”. When I say it in German it sounds much better. Perhaps when I say it in English I’m reminded of the total lack of critique in the system I grew up in.
Have any of you read Naomi Klein’s “Shock Doctrine”. If not, please do. Very recommendable.
