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Naomi Klein Prefers Complaining To Changing
New York, 2:45 PM
Sat Nov 28
24 posts in the last 24 hours
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Naomi Klein Prefers Complaining To Changing |
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12/02/08
When I first read "No Logo" in college I was blown away, easily, made it one of my favorite books.
Years later, when I read "Nation of Rebels", which picks apart her arguments very easily, I started to pay attention to what she was really saying. And what she is saying is empty, and reactionary, and not very realistic.
12/02/08
http://www.harpers.org/archive/2004/09/0080197
12/02/08
[www.thenation.com]
12/02/08
The "membership" disqualifier is a common one - so white people are disqualified from talking about racism, rich people are disqualified from talking about poverty, etc. On some level, these qualifier may be necessary because not every lived experience is universal. Similarly, there is much abuse by journalists, researchers, and academics who claim to speak on behalf of the subaltern. So, it is tricky.
In this case though, at best we can consider how wealth was enabling. It is hard to be a researcher and writer, and the irony of researching poverty is that you yourself cannot be poor!
I adored Klein's Shock Doctrine and find her criticism right on target.
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[www.amazon.com]
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so i get where the annoyance is coming from. that is all.
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12/02/08
Like she seems to assume that because he agrees with someone on one thing, he must agree with that person on everything.
Pretty lame stuff for an "intellectual."
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12/02/08
ditto, i feel like i come to this blog (despite all the celebrity ogling) because it's left leaning. if it's going to start sounding like drudge, why waste my time?
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12/02/08
I enjoy reading counterpoints but am honestly a bit baffled by the take in this article. But it's a sentiment that you'll see in many places (and one that I find within myself at certain times): it's hard to see people from more affluent backgrounds preaching to those of us who didn't draw such a great hand. So, while No Logo had some amazing points and Shock Doctrine was an interesting read, it's tougher to swallow what she has to say (and not just because of where she comes from, I get that).
It frustrates me because the situation is clearly no-win. In order for her words to have value, she either has to change history and "fix" her background, give all of her money away so she can be "poor" like us, or just sit in her nicely made-up and not-foreclosed-upon house and do nothing.
The situation's different, of course, but it's a bit like saying Madonna has no right to champion any cause in Malawai. Just because she has a lot of money (that she worked for) doesn't mean she's suddenly a bad person for giving a shit about the world she lives in. It's not automatically disingenuous to do so.
12/02/08
But I just always assume they're talking to other people with means. I know some people are just smug and think they're telling the world Something So Effing New, but I see this the way I see the fallout from Sadie's fast fashion posts and how people get defensive about how they can't afford to shop at local boutiques; people understand that-- it's aimed at people who have enough disposable income to make these choices.
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I don't understand why that is ironic. Isn't it just fighting back? Just because I use the same weapons as my enemy, does it mean my cause is not just?
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I wonder if this is more because we'll never live in a utopia and she considers this a waste of time. That doesn't mean we can greatly reduce inequality, just that books about utopias are generally fiction and don't feel as useful to her as reading, analyzing and figuring out what to do with factual information. I say this as someone who buys very little fiction, precisely because I often feel I'm wasting my time reading it when there are so many bios and histories and philosophies to read.
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Like, we each have ideas about what a utopia would and would not have, but we still don't know what it would look like, so this work of fiction isn't guaranteed to provide the blueprint for bringing it about. But we can study known facts and do what we can.
12/02/08
You can look at it many ways, I suppose. I think when it comes to such, there is no clear answer.
12/02/08
I also have friends who think of most abstract philosophical questions the way I think of fiction and I get totally defensive about it. :) Not that you're being defensive; I actually was going to tie that into my initial comment on my thread but took it out because that's how my lengthy, unnecessary essays come about in the first place.
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And of course the little fiction I buy tends to be historical fiction or intended to address social issues, because of what you said. The only things I really have just for fun are parody and art books.
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Maybe that means she's a little removed from reality, but it takes people on all sides and no one is perfect.
12/02/08
Advocacy is much less effective if you give up your power.
12/02/08
@morninggloria: I don't think yo are being a devil's advocate here. People who want to create a change in this world shouldn't be discounted just because they were born into privledge. It's what they do with this "step up" to help the disenfranchised and how they live their lives that really matters.
12/02/08