In addition to being a political ranter, I’m also quite interested in photography. And one of my all time favorite photographers is Andrew Moore, who has spent a great deal of time snapping pictures of the country that Sarah Palin ‘can see from her house’ and that John McCain recently labeled as ‘maybe’ an evil empire.
Moore takes particularly amazing photographs of the homes of poor working class Russians, which, in his beautiful large format prints he captures in brilliant detail.
There is one thing that is very striking about the homes of the working class Russians that Moore photographs. These homes are — without exception — absolutely crammed full of books.
It seems that working class Russians still read. And that a stones throw away from the Wasilla Library, where Sarah Palin busily tried to ban titles that didn’t conform to her religious worldview, the country that she has never, ever ’seen from her house’ still has a place for that unique character that is dying off in this American century — the working class intellectual.
Once upon a time, the working class intellectual was a proud figure of American society. From Jack London to Neal Cassady, the man of blue-blood roots who took his country’s bold offer of free access to information and thought seriously, who stayed up nights debating politics and philosophy and union laws, was a viable force in American society and shaped American politics and thought.
Now, in many parts of the country, reading is a dirty word. Writing is not a respectable profession. “Intellect” is not a term that makes the average American sit up and take notice. Its more likely to get your ass kicked.
Why is this? I have several thoughts on what has brought about the decline of the working class American intellectual which I will cover over the next several posts. None of them are groundbreakingly new, but all of them lead back to the premise that it starts at the top. The slow and steady culture war that is being waged against American intellect is a pre-meditated function of the right wing designed to consolidate a voter base around a common set of values. Its not because of television (many of those Russian homes in Moore’s photos have TVs as well), its not because we have access to so much information we just don’t care anymore. Its not because of our celebrity/entertainment driven culture. Its far deeper.
Many people have written on this topic. But my perspective may be a little unique. I’m going to start it at a human rights conference in Prague that I attended in 2003, and finish up in a tour bus discussing the ‘war of northern aggression’ in the parking lot of a NASCAR race in Darlington, South Carolina. So stay tuned.
In the meantime, a little something to chew on….
Posted by schreiwire 
