Land of Idols: Political Mythology in America

In "Land of Idols: Political Mythology in America" Michael Parenti demolishes a number of more insidious and invidious tales of the state (see Tales of the State, Schramm and Neisser, 1997), tales that have been told from the ancients as they have sought to reserve power to themselves. Clearly, concisely, he shows how our contemporary lives are organized according to the whims of one slice of the population: the 2% who own 90% of the wealth, and exploit 98% of the people. Here's one common tale and its antidote: the economic pie will get bigger if only liberal government will get out of the way and let the free market do it's job. In fact, when the economic pie has grown larger, the bigger piece has always gone to the rich, leaving the working class with a smaller piece each time. A supplementary tale says that because they assume so much more risk than the working man does, capitalists deserve much bigger rewards. Tell that to an Enron employee, or someone who was downsized, who receive all the risks, none of the rewards, and don't have billions to fall back on. He notes that any kind of Marxist perspective, even the use of the word "class" will not be tolerated in the media any longer. When Marxism is mentioned, it is excoriated as a failed system, and the notion of "class" is reviled along with this characterization. He points out that Marxist predictions have been more right than wrong, however. The creation of a worker's paradise through the withering away of the state never materialized, but his observations about business cycles and recessions were correct, as is his prediction of capital concentration, the growth of the proletariat and the increasing misery of the working class, the need for capital to chase around the world looking for new peoples and materials to exploit.He suggests that the capitalists have made a monopoly culture in their own image through the funding of the arts, universities, the promulgation of legalistic views of the lifeworld, control of the media, medicine and healthcare. He destroys the "tales" that we have either pluralism or "democratic capitalism" as promoted by "free markets." He notes that rich live at such a remove in terms of social distance that they might as well be living on another planet and thus cannot hope to promote such ideals. And yet, the ruling class promulgates the tale that worthy members of the working class may some day attain this same lofty perch through hard work and pluck, when if fact there is very little movement between economic segments (or classes, as they used to be known before mainstream sociologists changed the terminology to make it more "neutral"). All proof to the contrary, this canard of the "rugged individualist" still enjoys the support of the media, and many Americans. But is this a conspiracy? Here's a little known but appropriate quote from Abraham Lincoln (circa 1837) that speaks to this, as quoted by Parenti: "These capitalists generally act harmoniously, and in co

This is Micheal Parenti at his best where he analyzes every aspect of American society and pluralism and destroy's all the myths that accompany it. A must have for those interested in reality of American society and for those interested in constructive change.