Generation Fucked

interesting article about the "foot soldiers of corporate consumerism."

http://adbusters.org/the_magazine/71/Generation_Fcked_How_Britain_is_Eating_Its_Young.html

thanks :)

lack of imagination, inarticulate violence, it's like "idiocracy" come to life.

i'm waiting for fox to option "ow! my balls!"

even the middle class kids are feeling hopeless/aimless. Which means the poor kids are Really feeling it. :(

twas idiocracy.

i was amazed that more people didn't like it.

the plot was weak, but the movie was more than its story.

the assumptions made in the film were dead on target.

No publicity campaign. No big opening. Only like six cities, and then straight to DVD.

It was corporate soft-censorship at its finest.

The plot was inconsequential to the movie.

It seems to me that a lot of the problem with the youth of today is the attitude of the adults towards the children, an example being the comparision of a child, another human being, with a phrase usually reserved for wild animals:

<snip>
The Independent’s Paul Vallely quickly dismissed it as just another tabloid chapter in the UK’s ongoing moral panic about its feral children.

Is this an example of the 'Babyboomer' generation using the very objects it discarded in their 'flowerpower' youth (i.e.: the white-collar society guarded by the police state) to control and feter another generation?

<snip>
No wonder the UK is increasingly repressing its youth. As the generational divide deepens, it makes sense for the older generations to stake their claim now, while they have the power of the state on their side. Aside from handing out more than 10,000 Asbos (Antisocial Behaviour Orders, a cross between a human parking ticket and the sort of condemned notice you sometimes see on the walls of derelict buildings), the petty misanthropy that bans hoodie-wearing teenagers from shopping malls, forces parenting classes on failing single mums, and allows 79 percent of police forces to impose curfews on children, comes easily to a nation that thought up the idea that its young should be seen and not heard. But never before have we put them under this degree of surveillance while simultaneously turning a blind eye to our adult responsibilities. Satellites track their phones, marketeers groom them on cyberspace, police add the dna from 600 innocent children a week to a 50,000-sample database, while libraries fingerprint them to borrow books – all linked by rafts of new childhood databases joining the dots. In an age of hyper-individualism we are recoiling from the very children we have created. Monitoring is not enough, we must be protected from them. So Conservative leader David Cameron’s call to “hug a hoodie” was mocked, but Tony Blair won praise for ignoring compelling crime statistics and launching a “Respect agenda” to protect the societies safest members (the over-50s) from those most at risk of crime (the under-25s)

Thank you for posting this.

That about sums it up, don't it?

loving life again.

actually, my own Ex was kinda like that... I think she's a little less so now, but my "eco hippie/buy 'used'" kinda ways usually rankled her...

it used to be communion with the divine, meaningful social interaction, meaningful work, and family relationships.

we are our cellphones and lifestyle accoutrement.

the three elements that bring happiness and contentment to most people are:

1. Contact with friends and family/ loved ones.

2. Contact with nature.

3. Personal creativity and self expression. This isn't limited to art; it could be the volunteer work that you do, or engaging in very stimulating conversations, or simply doing an exceptional job in the workplace.

Possessions don't figure into it at all. Once our basic needs are met, owning more does very little to add to our contentment.

she says that in Brazil they take family and personal relationships far more seriously than we do in America. She's 32 and quite beautiful,friendly... but can't find friends to spend time with. "Everyone wants to shop, or talk about what they've bought" she says. She wondered if it were just a phenomenon found in Florida or was it nation wide? I assured her it was nation wide and crosses generations. Another friend's 21 year old son is outgoing, handsome and witty, but even he has trouble getting his friends to leave the house and socialize. Everyone seems to be drifting aimlessly through life; no passion, no drive, no interests, no hope. Just another symptom of the indebted consumer society we've created here. :-(

mcmansions, higher level professionals: a doctor, an accountant, an attorney, a smattering of middle level managers.

-the televion remained continually on.

-people talked about the changes to their shoddily constructed expensive houses

-they talked about their "touristy" vacations, the experiences were identical and involved, vegas, cruises, mexican beachfront tourist resorts, and their weekend trips to chicago and what constituted the nicest hotel.

-they talked about "bargains" and "deals" for expensive shit

-and they drank and ate to excess. the meal and the beverages were not a portion of the event, as the food and drink were consumed through at least 5 hours of this get together.

-many of the children were morbidly obese and either corralled themselves in the basement to play video games or sit in the swimming pool.

-there was no shortage of highly salted/highly sugared food and beverages for the kiddies.

years ago I was a Disney animator-before the film "the Lion King" brought in the massive salaries. In the pre-LK days we all made middle class incomes, and some only made upper lower class incomes. The conversations at parties then were about art,film, our ambitions, who was dating whom, people's children, pets, politics, jokes, etc. Then the money came. Million dollar bonus checks were given out, weekly salaries for some went up from $600 to $15,000. The parties moved to lakeside mansions, and yep; the conversations became about property, recently purchased items, cruises, what kind of bonus other people were getting....they forgot about what brought them there in the first place, and crappy movies like "Treasure Planet" and "Home on the Range" were made. Then it all went away.

Sometimes I wonder if my experience in that film studio wasn't a preview for the whole country; everyone gets fat, lazy, focused on "stuff" and oblivious to all else...then they all awake one day to the fact that their jobs and lifestyles are gone and nothing but tough times lie ahead-yet we never forged close relationships, so alone the tough times become far tougher. I don't wish hard times on anyone, but changes need to be made somewhere.

I feel sad for the triplets who are growing up in such a fucked-up world.

when the overburden on the youth finally reaches it's toll... I think that's the reason for distraction of they would be marching on every street corner and with every labor union demanding their rights..

Oh no I didn't...

:evilfrown:

in England..suicide rates go up in a 'Conservative' Right Wing government.. so if Tony Blaire had not been made prime minister...38,000,000 people would still be alive..

it is Fascism.. that makes live not worth living. fascists believe that Poverty is a Vice, and helping the poor is a crime.. lets work from there to solve this problem not from the Fascist parties spinn

...it is the concept of survival of the fittest with government defining the fittest as those who have the fattest wallets, in other words the richest and wealthiest. So, only the "fittest" (and richest) possess the "inalienable Rights of Life, Liberty , and the pursuit of Happiness". That is social darwinism as fascists interpret it!


<snip>
July 2005, Volume 12 Nr. 28, Issue 163

Let's Be Blunt: Bush's Proxy is Spreading
Social Darwinism to the State Level

By: Jason Miller


"Show-Me" the state of Missouri , and I will show you a microcosm of George Bush's domestic agenda for America . Under Governor Matt Blunt, Missouri is rapidly implementing laws reminiscent of the Gilded Age, when corporations ruled and the people were disposable cogs in their profit-making machines. Virtually each day I pick up the newspaper, Blunt has advanced this despicable agenda still further. Watching my former home state (and current neighboring state) become an ally to the American plutocracy in their bid to sweep away the remains of the progressive, humanitarian advances of the Twentieth Century leaves me deeply sickened and saddened.


Legislating immorality....

From the plutocratic point of view, businesses and corporations simply cannot make their owners, executives, or shareholders obscenely wealthy enough without breaking the backs of the poor and working class. For the affluent to afford multiple multi-million dollar homes, cars that cost more than many homes, yachts, trophy wives, and jet-setting lifestyles, the poor must remain extremely poor. Freeing businesses (and corporations) of pesky impediments like paying taxes, having to negotiate with labor unions, and legal accountability for death or injury resulting from their products or services are essential to ensuring astronomical profits to fulfill the extravagant "needs" of the rich. Cutting "socialist government hand-outs" to the poor enables the plutocrats to give themselves additional tax breaks. In the New Corporatcracy, the elderly, the working class, victimized consumers, the homeless, minorities, the disabled, the sick, and the poor will increasingly discover that they are on their own as Social Darwinists implement "survival of the fittest (with the fattest wallets) policies through the government.


Friends in high places, including Dad and himself....

In 2004, Matt Blunt narrowly won the Missouri gubernatorial race by garnering a mere 51% of the popular vote. Did he really win the election though? Unlike George Bush in the 2000 presidential election, he did not need Katherine Harris to hand him a false victory. He had himself. Missouri Secretary of State Matt Blunt retained his office through the election, meaning he certified the results his own narrow victory in the governor's race. In Bush-like fashion, Blunt seized the reins of the state of Missouri without an objective measure of how the people had truly voted. Our wealthy, elite rulers were not taking the chance that the "herd" would make the "wrong choice".

Throughout Blunt's campaign for governor, Bush and Cheney both heavily endorsed Blunt to ensure that Missouri would be fertile ground for instituting their domestic agenda at the state level. Roy Blunt, Sr., Matt's father, is the House Majority Whip in the US Congress. From that position, he wields a great deal of power and has forged close ties with the Bush administration. While both Blunts assert that Roy 's status and connections were not factors in Matt's rise to power in Missouri , facts and logic belie the depth of their denial. During Matt's 2000 campaign for Missouri Secretary of State (the position which propelled him into the governor's mansion), he received contributions from numerous sources from outside of Missouri . State records show that several of the out of state donors had legislation beneficial to them under review by Congressional subcommittees on which Roy Blunt sat. Most reasonable-minded individuals would call that a conflict of interest, but in a government of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich, it is business as usual.

<deep snip to end>
Cake is made to eat, isn't it?

Blunt's governorship in Missouri makes it apparent that Mr. Bush intends to apply the "Trickle Down Theory" in a new way. Under the rule of the Social Darwinists, only the "fittest" (and richest) possess the "inalienable Rights of Life, Liberty , and the pursuit of Happiness". Blunt exemplifies that their power grab is "trickling down" to the level of state government. With the current Supreme Court vacancy, the plutocrats will move to complete their inevitable seizure of control over the third branch of the federal government. Some have even raised the possibility that Marbury vs. Madison will be overturned, rendering the Judicial Branch virtually insignificant. Middle and working class Americans are witnessing their final shield from tyranny disintegrate. However, the plutocratic and corporate interests are not content simply dominating the federal government. They are shrewdly seeding state governments with men like Matt Blunt to exercise their agenda. To satisfy many amongst their conservative, libertarian constituency, they will need to cede more rights to the states. With men like Matt Blunt waiting in the wings to further the plutocratic agenda, they can safely diffuse their power while still enjoying the delectable fruits of Social Darwinism. America 's wealthy are setting out to prove the axiom that you can have your cake and eat it too. Fortunately, it is not too late for the working people, poor, and minorities to prevent that from happening, and I believe we will.

<MUCH MORE>

http://www.metaphoria.org/ac4t0507f.html

a self-fulfilling prophecy.

upgrading the Caliber of my home security system

is when you have to electricity to power it.

Guns, large dogs will be your recourse then. Or perhaps joining a local milita.

info on Port Townsend. I looked a couple of different ones up.

hwy 101 goes around the peninsula and PT is off on a dead end road on the NE side about 30 miles off 101. some thieves thought it would be easier to go out in the counties and rob someone than in Seattle.. where they were know.

they knocked on robs door, he lived in an isolated valley, he pulled the curtain back beside the door and saw a gun in his face, he put up his hand and was shot, the bullet tumbled down inside his arm and into his chest where it bounced around a bit off his ribs.. he went down and played dead, they took an old VHS player and a little tv.. he lived really Zen and didn't own anything..

when they left he looked out and saw a light blue station wagon with a dent in the left fender.. called it in on 911, everybody has scanners and single side band radios and the word went out to meet at the last turn before 101, only one way out..

as the robbers made the tight turn they came to a road block of cars and 10 shot guns and 15 assault rifles.. when they stopped the other cars and trucks pulled out of the woods and blocked them in and lowered another couple dozen assault rifles on them.. till the cops got there later..

the average home invader can do their business in less than 10 minutes.

My big boy works wonders when it comes to burglers and the like.

Plus, he loooooooves to get his belly rubbed and give you kisses!

Here's both of them, actin' all ghetto:

And they look very much like my two dogs! The black one is almost the spittin' image! Both are sweeties but are pretty good security even so.

... when you raise kids with no other purpose than to buy things, you shouldn't be surprised when they aspire to little else. And class-awareness is not dead in England: these 'chavs' are really reviled by the rest of society.

:hi:

welcome to DU!

and our pursuit of it will simply keep us pursuing it. We'll solve one problem, and create at least one new one to replace it. We'll always be playing catch up.

on the ineffectuality of the American "Liberal". The American Left's Silly Victim Complex

I love the responses it got too, just confirming every charge of dysfunctionality Taibbi levels through their sheer psychotic venom. (Hats off to Adbusters for publishing him.)

"...confirming every charge of dysfunctionality
Taibbi levels through their sheer psychotic venom..."

Great article, and so aptly sums up so many of the
posts I see on DU lately.

My finger aches from using the ignore button.

BHN

But I will say, like Bernie Sander's I've simply stopped identifying as a liberal because of so much of this and self-identify as a Socialist in Democratic Party clothing. I don't think there's that much per say wrong with a well-of liberal party. The problem becomes when that perception of "elitism" forces us away from our core principles, for example the recent immigration debate i.e. the New Southern Strategy. What exactly is Tabbibi's solution? A label change to progressive? :rofl:

I will say though that Tabbibi clearly does not know his history and is making a largely rhetorical argument. The claim: "They haven’t yet come up with something to replace the synergy of patrician and middle-class interests that the New Deal represented," completely misrepresents the genesis of the New Deal in the face of the "the business of America is business" crowd of the GOP. The Roosevelt's although the Right-wing has always tried to portray them as hypocrites, did an enormous amount that truly did benefit all Americans. So although I advocate revolutionary tactics in some instances, I believe that this country can change, because it has changed both in favor of racial pluralism on some level and in favor of social mobility on some level. Ultimately, this disconnect between the understanding of the history of this country and the conditions of the present public discursive corrupts the basic premise of the article i.e. that something is wrong with the label of "liberalism."

Consider the following passage: "That, in sum, is why I don’t call myself a liberal. To me the word “liberalism” describes an era whose time is past, a time when a liberal was defined more by who he was fighting against – the Man – than what he was fighting for. A liberal wielding power is always going to seem a bit strange because a liberal always imagines himself in an intrepid fight against power, not holding it. I therefore prefer the word “progressive,” which describes in a neutral way a set of political values without having these class or aesthetic connotations. To me a progressive is not fighting Mom and Dad, Nixon, Bush or really any people at all, but things – political corruption, commercialism, pollution, etc. It doesn’t have that same Marxian us-versus-them connotation that liberalism still has, sometimes ridiculously. It’s about goals, not people."

Matt Tabbibi this is not about goals or perceptions, this is about people, and liberalism throughout it's history has always been about people. Matt Tabbibi exemplifies exactly what he is railing against, and that is just sad. Cho Seung-Hui and Matt Tabbibi have one key thing in common. As much as they rail against their own "victim-complex" (shades of Larry Elder), they are perfectly willing to play it out as they have concieved it; everyone is a victim.

I frankly believe this book should be the "official" book of DU: http://www.amazon.com/Nickel-Dimed-Not-Getting-America/dp/0805063897/ref=sr_1_1/105-6375967-7925217?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1182122944&sr=1-1

If you're still reading this, :yourock:

bhn

But I stuck with it, and I do agree with the later points.

But yeah, as someone who has worked at Wal-Mart and in fast food and now makes a bit over $10 an hour and who identifies as liberal and who cares about the environment and the fascist police state, I was definitely turned off by the first bit. I was like, "What's so horrible about thinking the Patriot Act and the planet becoming unlivable are bad things?" Plus I'd take any and every animal in and would probably beat up any humans I found attaching a living being to a bottle rocket.

I make comparisons between us and Nazi Germany all the time. I've done a ton of research on Nazi Germany and the parallels are clear. I don't think that's a class issue at all.

I suppose I agree with the overall message, but not with the tone and not with a lot of the details. I'm thinking that perhaps the author is a member of the same group that he's complaining about.

I never knew what Pratchett was satirizing in Interesting Times until I started posting on left leaning political boards.

Very prescient... Makes me want to move to... fuck I'm stuck here on Earth. Hope we can wake up.

Most people don't want to know the truth. They are happy just going to church and praying to their god to take care of them. By the time they realize the problems and how to prevent them, it is to late. Just look at how the fundamentalists supported our current commander in thief. A "Christian" will take care of us and uphold our values. Very few actually looked at chimps dismal record of being a leader. Yet.. even now.... over 60% of repugs think he is doing a great job. The future of our world looks bleak. I have thirty or so years left barring something unforeseen and I don't think my life is going to get any easier.

:hide:

I agree with the poster above that said that her "No such thing as Society" meme being a self-fulfilling prophecy. :cry:

"White-collar jobs are outsourced to India. Everyone looks for meaning in their lives – but all they find is shopping."

The article sure sounds like it has finally come to pass

A couple of years ago a nephew of mine became interested in Clockwork Orange, as young males often do. I gave him a copy of the Kubrick movie when I knew he had the book. A questionable move on my part perhaps some people would say. However the nephew in question is and was as far from being a risk for antisocial violence as can be imagined. (His uncle on the other hand...) Thinking about Clockwork Orange and reflecting on the sensational and controversial aspects of its life as a film--blamed for gang murders, pulled from circulation in the UK in the 1970s--I realized that as outrageous as people found ACO, the violence in it almost pales in comparison to the violence and human degradation reported day after day in the city my nephew has grown up in. I wonder if he thinks A Clockwork Orange is old-timey and quaint?

Ultraviolence not only came to pass, it came to be passé.

(Seems like a good occasion to trot this one out, as fresh as when it was written 30 years ago).

"God Save The Queen"

God save the queen
The fascist regime
They made you a moron
Potential H-bomb

God save the queen
She ain't no human being
There is no future
In England's dreaming

Don't be told what you want
Don't be told what you need
There's no future, no future,
No future for you

God save the queen
We mean it man
We love our queen
God saves

God save the queen
'Cause tourists are money
And our figurehead
Is not what she seems

Oh God save history
God save your mad parade
Oh Lord God have mercy
All crimes are paid

When there's no future
How can there be sin
We're the flowers in the dustbin
We're the poison in your human machine
We're the future, you're future

God save the queen
We mean it man
We love our queen
God saves

God save the queen
We mean it man
And there is no future
In England's dreaming

No future, no future,
No future for you
No future, no future,
No future for me

No future, no future,
No future for you
No future, no future
For you


(Sex Pistols)