Jane Smiley: Twenty-Five Years a Sucker

Well worth the read!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-smiley/twentyfive-years-a-sucke_b_11587.html

<snip>The problem with Junior, though, is that he epitomizes more than just the sneering, know-it-all attitude of the free market conservatives who pride themselves on gaming the system to their own advantage. He epitomizes the greedy egotism that is their only value and is the only value that they attribute to everyone else.<snip>

<snip>Instead, thanks to the theorists of the free market, we live in a country where the corporations tell the government -- "We are going to do whatever we want, and you are going to do whatever we want, too. Citizens will be valued according to their financial assets. The natural world will be ruthlessly mined for 'wealth creation.' And everyone is going pretend that this is not only more profitable for us, it is morally better."

What sort of people produce Wal-Mart? Why, people like Junior Jenkins, people for whom cheapness is all, no matter what the cost.<snip>

Yes, it is worth the read.

I don't own a car, because I live downtown in a relatively civilized city, where public transportation is fast and easy to get to. If I were to need a car, the prius sounds like a good bet......and one of the less polluting kinds available.

Terrific writing. Enjoyed her list of 'rules' we ought to hand out to corporations. So true.

Thanks for posting this. Jane Smiley was a professor at Iowa State University while I was there, though I did not know her (Big University) and her books are very good.

I am thinking about a prius, for myself. I like the idea of getting better gas mileage when stuck in traffic, and that it generates power by you putting on the break.

Meg