Consumerism consumes itself

So, consumerism has consumed itself. For about 20 years - since the collapse of socialism - it was inevitable anyway. It was just a matter of time. The clamour for “deregulation” was shrill and clearly propagandistic.

Those pathetic, self-styled, bonus-bunnies – the ‘masters of the universe’, no less – have blasted a hole through capitalism that looks, from here, like it might not be mended. They succumbed, plain and simple, to greed. Perhaps, being ultra-beneficent, few in their positions, don’t? I don’t know.

Cheerleaders of the American system – Francis Fukuyama, George Bush and Dick Fuld, for instance – have been exposed as shysters. Fukuyama’s 1992 book, The End of History said that liberal democracy was the final system of government. That was it. Case closed.

It gave a sort of intellectual framework for the excesses that were to follow. I lived in America when Fukuyama’s book was released. It was received reverentially and treated with solemnity. That was alarming. Fuld, former boss at Lehman Brothers, was known as the “gorilla of greed.” He made $480,000,000 and thought it fine.

We’ve had Irish propagandists too – Geraldine Kennedy, editor of The Irish Times, is a former Progressive Democrats TD; Charlie McCreevy, former Fianna Fail Finance Minister and Mary Harney, former leader of the Progressive Democrats.

I’m reminded of the Reformation between Catholics and Protestants. Such was feeling at the time that Catholics and Protestants killed each other in their tens of thousands. Each believed the other to be ‘heretics’.

It’s practically the same between capitalism and socialism. These systems have seeped so deeply into our collective unconscious that they are practically elements of identity. America – as the number one nation in the world – clings to capitalism as it does to elements of the faith.

Certainly, capitalism has been good for America and the ‘Western world’ generally. It has though, been exploitative. The rest of the world looks to America (and Western Europe, which per person, is at about 70% of American energy use) and sees 4% of people – Americans – use 25% of its energy.

President Obama will lessen that figure, of course, but by how much? It’s all part of America re-entering world politics after the disastrous bullying by George W Bush and his neo-conservative ignoramuses.

But many Americans see ‘manifest destiny’ – still the sustaining myth of the country until another may be provided – in action.

The idea of American exceptionalism – a version of romantic nationalism – coincided with a view of the white man as indubitably the top of the tree in all bar a few ‘non-white’ activities such as boxing, sprinting or running generally. Well, with a black man in the White House, this has changed. Obama remains very white though. He has to.

I read recently that 19 percent of Americans estimated themselves to be in the one percent ‘best earning’ bracket. So, almost one-fifth of Americans believed themselves to be in the ‘best earning’ one-in-a-hundred category. Surely, that is proof of the success of the propaganda system.

My understanding of the Obama presidency is that he’s got to encourage people to spend more while giving them less. How is he going to do it? Very slowly would be my guess. It can’t be done at present.

All he can do is set the conditions and hope for a fair wind. We wish him well but the pressure to become protectionist is likely to grow intense.

Yet protectionism in an allegedly ‘globalised’ world is not really on. It contradicts the spirit of the leaders – Americans – of globalisation. But with soup kitchens already opened in the United States, the desire to get at least some people back to work will intensify. The Obama presidency has these matters to worry about too.

However, Obama risks alienating friends by denying them access to American markets.

Sure, that’s politics but President Obama has his work cut out. It will be interesting to see which countries are given access to American markets.

Anyway, consumerism has consumed itself. That’s enough to be getting on with. We really need a world government. We also need Americans and Irish to become involved in campaigning for it. There’s still some distance to go however.