A Green State of Mind

Every night on CNN, Lou Dobbs continually returns to the issue of illegal immigration. In his enveloping rhetoric, he proposes that corporations and what he terms “socio-ethnocentric special interests” serve to weaken American borders and threaten American jobs. These two sides supposedly are in a secret partnership for their own interest. However, what he fails to reveal is that the corporations that thrive on the global form of late capitalism actually want his rhetoric that prevents looking at illegal immigration in the context of human rights, and instead villifies any advocacy organization that tries to do so. These immigrants are considered either as a productive resource or as an absolute threat to national sovereignty, but hardly ever as human citizens of the world. The content of humans crossing the border at great peril is actually contained and pacified by the global form of late capitalism, forever defined outside of the context of a free society. The inherent competitive nature of capitalism pits American workers against foreign-born workers even though both are exploited by the overall system. Workers and immigrants should be natural allies, but any possible solidarity against capitalism is thus thwarted and all people in the country are used for mass production or passive consumption regardless of being native or immigrant. Dobbs ignores this aspect by taking a position that looks like it is outside of political ideology, but is in fact the complete success of an ideology that classifies any attempt at human rights as a willing partner with corporate power. The immigration issue is a microcosm of a larger issue of multiculturalism and how it can present diversity only to be subsumed under global capitalism.

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I visited the New York Auto Show last Sunday and was curious to see if the rising cost of gas had increased people’s interest in hybrids or all-electric cars. Apparently not, since the biggest crowds were gathered around the Porsches and Lamborghinis. As gas prices go up it will be interesting to see if more people start buying hybrids. This has been the case in Europe where hybrids are more popular than here.

 

Hardly anyone was gathered around the electric cars. One reason may be that they look and sound different from what we’re used to. Without the big engine it looks like the front end has been cut off. There’s hardly any noise which may disappoint people who enjoy the sound of a revving engine. However, from my experience riding around in an electric golf cart, it’s remarkable how much more you hear in your surroundings when you don’t have a gas engine running.

 

At the car show there was a computer and camera set up so people could speak in real time to a soldier stationed in Iraq. A few people stopped to speak to him but most went on by. How many people have made a connection between their use of gas and the invasion of Iraq. Or are aware of how the war’s impact on the economy has in turn affected their ability to afford a car?

 

I welcome your comments below . . .

Since 2008 is an election year, many in the nation are more aware of voting than in non-election years. But voting is vital not only in the strict confines of a democracy, but as part of a larger political movement such as that embodied in the Green Party. There are many issues related to voting that are vital, such as how votes are counted and verified. But in order to recognize voting as a component of a movement, one must see voting as more than just a confirmation or rejection of particular candidates while the government structure continues unabated. Instead of looking at the symptom of the modern nation-state, political representation, one must use voting as a tactic that fulfills a larger strategy for progressive change. In that respect an alternative such as the Green Party can reevaluate what political organization can mean.

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