ix Jameson

It is truly ironic and prescient, writing in 1984, that Frederick Jameson, in "Postmodernism, or The cultural logic of late capitalism," chooses to relate the "late capital" period,(which we later learn to be the "third fundamental moment of capitalism"[507]) as "the internal and superstructural expression of a whole new wave of American military and economic domination throughout the world" (485). 20-some odd years later we are, more than ever, dealing with the consequences of globalization.

As far as globalization is concerned, there are continued mixed results, with many cultures leaning towards the belief that this is just more American imperialism under World Bank supported guise. Despite today's prevalent and concurrent views on the subject, Jameson would still probably ask us to wrap our minds around the dialectical notions of globalization, like Marx, and attempt to view both its "demonstrably baleful features ...with its extraordinary and liberating dynamism simultaneously"(513).

Another equally as relevant topic in "our present of time in History" that Jameson delves into is the notion of, what has been dubbed in class, the "aesthetics of fear." He talks about political groups who may try to "actively intervene in history and modify its otherwise passive momentum" by manipulating images/stereotypes/texts, thus "effectively abolish[ing] any practical sense of the future" and fostering "fantasies of sheer catastrophe and inexplicable cataclysm--from 'terrorism'...to cancer" (513). One need only look back at the footage during the presidential debates/presidential race and count the number of times Bush dropped the "T" bomb (terrorism/terrorists) and/or how many times the color-threat-alert jumped up to higher more threatening hues throughout the campaign(s). If that takes too much research time and does not seem to be worth the trouble, tune in to your local news to better learn the immediacy of death and how it relates to our imminent demise.