www.wearephoenix.com

I think I hear you Ben, sorry for misunderstanding.

Though my biggest regret about my post is that I didn't address your mentioning LOST! Maren and I are super-serious about the show. We actually review the entire series to date before each new season premiere (for Season 5, we started before Thanksgiving). And this season has definitely been satisfying. Sounds like you feel the same way. What would it take to make this into a LOST discussion blog? I'm not sure anyone else on the Internet is discussing the show yet; we could be the first to the party.

I would like to point out how much I appreciate clicking through a content warning each time I visit this blog.

I would additionally like to point out that if there is any justice in the world (and there may not be), "1901" by Phoenix is going to make the band stupidly famous. You can download it for free at their site. It's shaping up to be one of my favorites of 2009.

So I don't completely lose the plot, a couple more comments on Comrade Z's central post for the week:

"why does the status quo of social inequality persist?"
I think this has to do with a uniquely American sense of individualism, which sees "strength in numbers" as another way of saying "weakness and lack of industriousness in the self." America is full descendants of people who came here to break from the traditions of their native countries. Those who came here out of necessity landed in that individual-based social structure anyway and had to make due. This spirit of the individual makes the country more conducive to capitalist competition and less conducive to its citizens getting together to solve problems in innovative ways.

With our country's unique capacities, we're really good (or at least we WERE really good, until the rest of the world starting educating their kids better than us) at being creative on the individual level - coming up with visionary people who can often outperform groups of people in many ways. Henry Ford, Brian Wilson, Steve Jobs, etc. But we're really bad at thinking beyond that level, which is where a lot of heavy-duty problems come into play. And never mind that the vast majority of Americans don't have the capacity to operate on that super-innovative level and end up completely relying on systems they don't control or understand just to eke out a living. Still, individualism represents how pride is experienced by many people in this country and changing that would mean a massive cultural shift.

Also, we've seen from within our two party perspective that if you wait around long enough, someone you basically agree with will become the president. You don't even have to get out of you chair to see this happen. It's a depressing thought. But then again, I'm very happy to have Barack Obama in office. Someday, a bunch of people will be very happy to see him gone.

Okay, I'll let someone else talk now.
Michael