March
18
Mamet Turns on Lily-Livered Liberals
Playwright/filmmaker David Mamet, whose upcoming jujitsu pic Redbelt I missed at ShoWest, writes about turning away from his Liberalism in The Village Voice.
What's that old canard about becoming more conservative as you age?
Even I am no longer as tolerant of knee-jerks as I once was. A woman in my poker group hates Hillary Clinton as much as she loves Barack Obama. I love neither candidate: I admire their strengths and weigh their weaknesses. Both are human politicians and thus, imperfect. I believe in clear-headed intelligent thinking: not irrational fantasies that will only crash to the ground. We throw our hopes and desires into potential saviours instead of objectively weighing what makes sense.
I don't agree with Mamet though. He seems to be painting a black/white view of the world, where big government is either corrupt or benign. I will always be skeptical of the interests of corporate America, which has entirely too much power. Republicans are not fighting for the working man and never will. And I will always embrace the humanism that goes with being a Democrat.
In other words, I'm still a Liberal. But I like to think I am no longer a bleeding heart, leftie knee-jerk idealist. That's what goes away with age.
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Government wields more power over your life than corporations, Anne. I don't know of any corporation that has the power to confiscate 35% to 50%+ of your income and throw you into jail if you refuse to pay up.
There will never be a BoingBoing site dedicated to all the "cool" stuff government does with all that compulsory income, either.
Mamet is dead on.
Posted by: kidkosmic | March 18, 2008 at 11:14 PM
The subprime mortgage crisis, an exercise in deceit and unchecked greed that is now rolling over investment banks, the stock market and consumer confidence and spending, has the power to confiscate your home and, with it, your cherished way of life. It has the power to confiscate your savings and, through its combination of recessionary and inflationary effects, your pocketbook. This is what happens when "business" is given a free hand in our society. Given this context, Mamet's announcement of his "conversion" is poorly timed, but perhaps he can write a NEW play about real estate.
Posted by: PT Caffey | March 19, 2008 at 01:01 AM
"The subprime mortgage crisis..."
Silly nonsense. Everyone who purchased a home with an adjustable interest rate did so of their own accord. No corporation forces people to purchase homes.
S-T-R-A-W M-A-N.
On top of that, Congress and the POTUS both urged lenders to help lower income earners get into homes. Again, government intervention: FAIL
Posted by: kidkosmic | March 19, 2008 at 07:29 AM
"Republicans are not fighting for the working man and never will."
I think Republicans would take issue with that and say that fighting for the working man means strengthening the country and reducing government, giving the working man the best environment in which to work his way up. They would say that Democrats coddle people and look at them as victims and this is not fighting for them but working to have power over them.
Posted by: LA | March 19, 2008 at 10:22 AM
Is Mamet painting a black and white view of the world or is he just saying we tend to see it that way?
I don't think he subscribes or endorses a black/white view at all. Look at the closing paragraph:
"The right is mooing about faith, the left is mooing about change, and many are incensed about the fools on the other side—but, at the end of the day, they are the same folks we meet at the water cooler."
Posted by: HPJ | March 19, 2008 at 03:02 PM
"Silly nonsense. Everyone who purchased a home with an adjustable interest rate did so of their own accord."
Mortgage brokers who convince a house-bound man dying of cancer to refinance his home six times in his last 18 months on earth, at a cost of astronomical fees and prepayment penalities, do not amount to "nonsense." It's a crime and a tragedy. And since, in Mamet's terms, "tragedy" is the conservative's worldview, it's a very conservative outcome, too.
Posted by: PT Caffey | March 20, 2008 at 02:02 AM
"No corporation forces people to purchase homes."
The lending institutions employed unlicensed and unregulated independent brokers who misrepresented terms and then doctored applications to reflect whatever income levels were necessary to secure financing. Signatures were often forged. These adjustable rate mortgages, which were also often negatively amortized, were bundled as securities and sold to investors, here and off-shore, as "sound" investments. They were, in fact, as sound as vapor.
Deceit, greed, mendacity, you name it. There will be blood, indeed.
Posted by: PT Caffey | March 20, 2008 at 02:11 AM
PT, you cited two cases involving abuses and/or criminalities. People will defraud other people. Reality 101. But, in cases where laws are broken, well, you do have the right to hire an attorney in the US.
My point is that government is more powerful than corporations and exerts more control over the lives of more people than the "evil" corporations do.
It's tax season, btw, enjoy signing the reams of papers you MUST sign and that MUST divulge your personal financial information--all of it--or be fined or imprisoned. Say a prayer...cross your fingers...maybe they won't find anything wrong within.
Papers please!
Posted by: kidkosmic | March 20, 2008 at 10:19 AM
Interesting analysis and response to the Mamet piece from the WSJ:
http://online.wsj.com/article/wonder_land.html
Posted by: anne thompson | March 20, 2008 at 05:51 PM