"America has been foreclosed upon" - Ariel Dorfman on Tavis Smiley

[Dover]

The people protesting at OWS and around the nation are exiles in their own land. They've had their home
country taken away from them. They ought to call it "reoccupy" America.
--
The acclaimed Chilean novelist, playwright and human rights activist shares a fascinating passage from his new memoir Feeding on Dreams: Confessions of an Unrepentant Exile.

Internationally acclaimed for his writing, Ariel Dorfman has seen his work translated into more than 40 languages and performed in more than 100 countries. The human rights activist's work often reflects the trials of exile, including his latest, Feeding on Dreams—something with which he's familiar. After moving to the U.S. shortly after his birth in Argentina, Dorfman's family settled in Chile, but was forced into exile following a military coup. He attended and later was a professor at the University of Chile and, since '85, has taught at Duke University.


Watch the show here:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/tavissmiley/interviews/novelist-playwright-ariel-dorfman/

[leveymg]

1. Chile is the lab model for the Chicago School restructuring of America we're going through.

These things don't happen spontaeously without plenty of trial runs.

Ariel Dorfman is a gem.

[Dover]

2. Indeed. Sage advice from a beautiful man.

A truly wonderful and profound conversation on so many levels. Love his discussion on the soul searching brought on by his experiences with brutal governments and exile, about his rage and how he's learned, when fighting immorality one must guard against becoming the very thing you are fighting against. A sage perspective of a long life's journey and coming out the other side.



I'm not familiar with the Chicago School (restructuring America). Would you consider posting more about that?

[leveymg]

3. If you're familiar with the '73 coup, you've probably heard of Milton Friedman & "The Chicago Boys"

Friedman, an arch-conservative Free Market Monetarist, had immense influence over the economists and sociologists who devised government policies under the Pinochet Junta. Friedman was also very much central to Maggie Thatcher and Ronnie Reagan's economic "reforms".

I wrote a dissertation on how Chile in the '70s was the experimental laboratory for many of the later neoliberal policies that made up the the Rightward plunge of the U.S. and U.K., the failure of which are now being more fully realized. I'll PM you when I post some of that.

Thanks.

[Dover]

4. Very interesting.

:thumbsup:

Look forward to learning more.