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Free Society Web Research
A Revolution in Spirit: The Market Should Serve Society 1/22/2009 (293) Benjamin R. Barber - Article: Benjamin Barber writes of a fateful struggle for the soul of capitalism. The economy should serve people. The Awful Reality of Millions of Uneducated American Adults 11/15/2008 (427) Chris Hedges - Article: Huge segments of our population, especially those who live in the embrace of the Christian right and the consumer culture, are completely unmoored from reality. Real Americans are Not a Benighted Bunch of Easily Manipulated Bigots 10/26/2008 (243) Frank Rich - Article: how McCain-Palin get Americans wrong, and how the press focuses on race. Americans have grown up now. Beyond Professionalism and the Meritocratic American Dream 10/22/2008 (286) Aziz Rana - Article: In a profound analysis, Aziz Rana says Obama and Democrats must open their eyes to a new-old vision of American society. The Real West Is an Urban West 10/8/2008 (521) Carl Abbott - Article : A Portland State University professor says Nancy Pelosi is a better representative of the West than Sarah Palin. The Globalization of Civil Society 8/25/2008 (265) Ed Knudson - Article: The free society is asociated with human rights in the United States and around the world. Manifesto for a Progressive Theatre 8/22/2008 (462) Walter A. Davis - Article : A free society is one where the cultural arts flower and are able to critique the domination of economy and government. Read what Walter Davis says here. One-In-Nine: Black Incarceration Rate is a Real Abomination 7/21/2008 (136) Bruce Western - Notes: Since the urban riots of 1968 conservatives have focused on putting black males in prison. Now we know the result. A Matter of Justice and Honor 12/29/2004 (168) Reprint: A group of Nisqually Indians seeks to clear the name of Leschi, the tribe's last chief, hanged in 1858 for the killing of a white militiaman. Outstanding Public Schools 8/27/2004 (233) Ed Knudson - Article : When was it decided that public schools were so bad? What's the Matter with Kansas (and Middle America) 6/22/2004 (446) Article : Thomas Frank's book discusses why the middle and working classes vote against their own interests. Who made the grade? Middle-Class 2003: How Congress Voted 5/27/2004 (271) Article : The Drum Major Institute for Public Policy has published a major study on middle class values and congress. Cultural Analysis: The Continuing Culutural Wars 4/4/2004 (273) Comment: Sociologist James Davison Hunter writes on the Religious Right. Multimillion Dollar TV Brand Targets Children Worldwide 1/9/2004 (838) Matt Wells - Article : Fox Kids and Disney plan new venture called Jetix to capture the minds of children all over the world. Sociologists Could Teach Economists a Trick or Two 3/27/2003 (496) Michael Prowse - Article : The world would be a better place if politicians, civil servants and others concerned with public policy listened more to sociologists and less to economists. Materials For An Exploratory Theory of the Network Society 3/26/2003 (392) Manuel Castells - WebLink: Here is a resource for thinking about society in terms of 'network'. Bowling for Columbine 11/26/2002 (677) Ed Knudson - Article : Michael Moore's movie tells the truth about why there are so many gun killings in the United States. |
Free Society Section
The idea of a "free society" can be understood as a breakthrough political concept. The two words are familiar enough, of course, but we want to here develop a particular meaning for the concept of a free society. But we don't mean it simply in an abstract or academic way. We mean it as an active "political" concept. And as a political concept it constitutes a "breakthrough" in how political language is put together these days. Imagine yourself as a politician in a community debate with your opponent. Your opponent says, "I believe in a free market." And you, taking a New Social Democrat approach can say, "I believe in a free society." That is a huge difference. To put the free market first means that economic institutions should be free to do whatever they want even if what they do hurts people. To put the goal of a free society first means that the economy needs to be evaluated on the degree to which it helps create the conditions for a free society. Your opponent will say he/she wants a very limited government which promotes a free market. You can say you want a smart government that well manages the economy so that it benefits everyone not just those at the top, so that everyone has an opportunity to participate in a free society. You can also say that the evidence is in now about the so-called free market. Whatever the free market ideology, the fact is that government based on such ideology actually results in rising inequality and social breakdown. When jobs don't produce enough income for workers then they can't feed and house and clothe their families and the society breaks down, people become wage slaves, have to work two or three jobs, and have no more free time to engage in the social activities of their choice. A free society is one in which people have time to live their lives as they choose. If someone asks you, "So, you believe in socialism," you can say, "No, not at all. Socialism is when government owns all the means of production. I believe in capitalism, the strengths of the creative entrepeneur, and especially small business, those are important features of our economy. I think a well managed capitalism can support and encourage those positive features. But the idea of a 'free market' today is a piece of ideology to justify the power of very large corporations over society. People aren't free when a few large corporations run everything which is what is happening today. Very few companies now control the entire food system, for example. That's not freedom, that's complete dependence of society on a few companies. I believe a free society is more important than a free market, but that's not socialism, it means well managed capitalism for the freedom of all." On social questions, of course, then your opponent would say that government should manage and/or, maybe even control, society. Conservatives like the idea of social order, more police, more military. They want government to control people's private lives according to rather narrow religious morality. You can say you believe in moral values yourself, but that you don't believe government should control society, but goverment should make possible a free society where people actually have the time to enjoy a healthy social and cultural life. One of the key elements of a "free society" is its freedom and capacity to engage in the creative cultural arts. Contemporary American culture is dominated completely by calculating commercial interests determined to manipulate the minds and hearts of the people to the profit of the corporation. Economics today has become largely culture production, from sports teams to tennis shoes to media celebrity, creating a coarseness in the public atmosphere. The culture must be taken away from the power of the corporation and placed where it belongs, in society, neither under the law of government nor under the profit motive of the economy. This means that new institutional configurations need to be invented for the major media in the country. The domination of the modern corporation over the information needs of Americans is simply over-whelming. It must be changed. It is ridiculous that political campaigns are largely efforts to raise money to pay corporate media for access to the personal consciousness of Americans. Society cannot be free when corporations have control of the public consciousness. If you have knowledge of specific proposals to change the organizational framework of communication in this country please let us know. (Photo in upper right depicts Denman Street in Vancouver, British Columbia, where multiple high rises provide a density which creates a convivial street life of wonderful opportunity and diversity. Click on link to see other photos of Denman Street. In general, Canada has achieved a greater degree of social democracy than the United States.) |