I suspect that many got a chuckle out of McCain adviser Donald Luskin's unfortunately titled "Quit Doling out the Bad Economy Line," written the same day as news of the death of Lehman and the surrender of Merrill. That's all well and good, but I happened to be reading Joe Bageant's Deer Hunting With Jesus, which John, "I bet you wouldn't pick lettuce for $50 an hour" McCain really needs on his bedside table.
It is an immensely dispiriting book, in that it portrays the majority of Americans in thrall to a lie about the American dream, but it is wonderfully written and one of the few books that actually writes about the life of the rural poor.
And on the America is really hosed front, here is Andrew Bacevich on NPR.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Fifty thou a year will buy a lot of beer
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4 comments:
Ooh, Deer Hunting with Jesus!! Isn't it the BEST, even though it's depressing as hell? The whole thing made me sad, but damn if I didn't enjoy Bageant. I was touched that he really tried to understand the people in his hometown, and I also enjoyed that he threw in an atypical chapter on gun control (although I didn't agree with him on that).
Yes, it really is quite good, I am nearly done and I think he has hit a homer on it.
On gun control,this strikes me as something best handled at the local or state level, rather than as a national issue. That would make more sense.
I agree totally about the homer. I've been recommending it and John Bowe's "Nobodies" to everyone I know like a maniac...of course they're not real happy books so I don't know how many people are up for them.
Yeah, gun control. I'll take a conversation about it at any level, and I'm not fanatic--you gotta have a shotgun or rifle in your house for hunting/protection, that's one thing. But AK-47s and hand guns? There's just no reason for that. (I also think it's hilarious that as a woman, you can buy a handgun, but depending on your state, not mace or a taser. That is f***ed up.)
I think I need a break from the bummer books, so Nobodies is going to have to wait.
The tazer item you mention certainly makes no sense.
One thing about Bageant is that he is really good with the imagery. I like his picture of the little towns you drive past on the freeway as little fiefdoms of the local feudal class. Well I don't LIKE it, but it is a good image.
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