misery

Complaint from the left:

"But surely you must realize that all these things you describe---the mindless

consumerism of loud stereos, large trucks, bad food and all--is just a reflection

of the misery of those on the bottom end of the USA class structure....

These are unhappy people. And you have an elitist attitude toward them..."

My reply:

Well, it's not exactly elitist. I have lived in countries where there is less inequality,

and the air is different. Life is freer. One is not so overwhelmed by the misery,

and it's precisely for that reason that I wish, someday to leave this land of

misery forever--never to return.....

I also suspect that for many residents of El Paso, the most salient fact is either that they do not dwell in Juarez, or that they do not dwell in Mexico---so there is, perhaps, an element of smugness in their consumerism.....

Note

The "complaint from the left" was provoked by reading Robert Paul Wolff's [name now corrected 30 May 2011] recent comments on the class structure of USA society......which I would recommend to anyone interested in understanding the class structure of USA society...

RECOMMENDED READING:

LA CARRIÈRE OUVERTE AUX TALENTS

Posted by RP Wolff Wednesday, 25 May 2011

http://robertpaulwolff.blogspot.com/

As Wolff explains the above French was Napoleon's way of saying that talent was more important than anything else---false in Napoleon's France, false in today's France,

and false in today's USA.....