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Friday, August 19, 2011

Austerity is Euphemism for Class War Waged by Rich | Dissident Voice

Austerity is Euphemism for Class War Waged by Rich | Dissident Voice

Austerity is Euphemism for Class War Waged by Rich

In a September 20, 1912 article in the New York Times titled “The Age of the Superlative,” a writer admired the fact that a French aviator had achieved an altitude of 18,635 feet and that the new Equitable Life Insurance building, erected on the spot where the old one had just burned down, “is sure to be the biggest in the world.” Nothing could be done about the vast amounts of wealth dedicated to breaking such records. “We know well that there are better kinds of glory,” the writer soberly concluded, “but the age of the superlative must take its course.”

We live in an age of the superlatives as well, ironically being touted as the Age of Austerity by the state-capitalist oligarchs. But the superlative qualities of our age mark a world in decline. Consider some of our superlative achievements:

  • Scientists have renamed this era the Anthropocene, to denote the unprecedented impact humans are