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- American capitalism is American fascism.
- In liquid modernity, there is no time to think about the poor. Time that might be spent knitting together the collective commons is instead used to consume and be entertained. The poor are a drag on our consumerist fun. We rarely connect poverty and politics, but we should — what Democrats and Republicans have in common is that they are lead by the well-to-do. This, I think, is reflected in the new “tax reform” bill.
- Cutting income tax will raise the deficit unless people spend more: much more. For better or worse (the answer is worse) “tax reform” does represent a shift in taxation philosophy. The new philosophy is based on the utopian ideal of infinite, ever-increasing consumption.
- The image of poverty is a sin against the consumerist ideal. We hate the poor because they implicitly shame us for spending our money on luxuries.
- Those who can spend are strong, those who do not have enough to spend are weak. This is consumerist fascism.
- Time must be spent on politics, otherwise, it will be spent on entertainment. Reading the news is entertaining. We have to make the news.
