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In reply to the discussion: David Graeber, anthropologist and author of Bullshit Jobs, dies aged 59 [View all]betsuni
(25,530 posts)Last edited Sun Sep 6, 2020, 04:07 PM - Edit history (1)
following social rules, as does Larry David's character in "Curb Your Enthusiasm." WE HAVE A SOCIETY HERE.
Americans hate to be told what to do and are obsessed with individuality and "freedom." Sense of society is weak. Greed and selfishness is encouraged, that's just how the culture turned out. Can't leave a bicycle unlocked or a package outside your door without it being stolen. Government is necessary. The U.S. is bizarre in that many Americans hate government because they've been told by right-wing media that government is the enemy, and that both sides are the same and corrupt. And then people call the police on black people doing normal things, and white guys walk around with big guns because they think they are the authorities.
About the gendered thing. Not sure I can explain. Alice Waters, in her memoir "Coming To My Senses," describes her politically active college years during the sixties spent in the kitchen cooking for her friends gathered for serious political discussions. She didn't want to get arrested for protesting, loved cooking for her friends. Writer Laurie Colwin joined college activists who took over a building during the sixties; was assigned to make sandwiches. Somebody has to buy toilet paper and make something to eat, and those people are rarely those who yammer on about anarchism and movements and revolution.