AS 11/7

Class this week was crazy good – or perhaps I’m still riding a political high, and everything is wearing that residual rosy hue. I loved getting into our different groups and discussing Chomsky. Sometimes it really helps to digest this material with others instead of having the info just randomly tumbleweed about the corners of my mind. Anyway, the share and care was nice.

It never ceases to amaze me how spot on this stuff is. I mean, insert the appropriate terminology, and presto, timeless theoretical application. Chomsky’s idea that hegemony uses whatever ultimate evil suits its purpose as a rallying tool for public support is as true today as it was in the time of McCarthy. Hegemonic ideology dictates that you’re either for the cause, or against the cause. A middle man isn’t possible. Noncommittal members of society are questioned – independents can’t be trusted. It’s binary opposition, not group discussion. Seems to me that the more polarized we become, the less we’re able to distinguish between truth and lie, promises and manipulation. Maybe my post-election-results-high is merely the meaningless by-product of a childish delusion -- the delusion of something better, of a right side, or at least, a lesser of two evils. I cast my vote hoping for change. But really, isn’t the right just a matter of which side of the coin you’re on? The line is there, not in the sand in front of us, but wrapped all the way around…the line is the edge of the world where there be dragons.