I finally saw Syriana. I should see it again before I try to write about it, but it showed a commerce-driven, bottom line oriented approach to government that immediately reminded me of a conversation I'd had earlier in the day with Sis M, a university professor visiting from Houston. She suggested that the Army's Walter Reed Hospital scandal was Roman in nature, reminiscent of the empirical notions of a ruling class using an underclass to maintain their position, while simultaneously holding that underclass in contempt and only pretending to care about their existence inasmuch as it was required to maintain their own deceptive appearance of benevolence.
I suggested to her that it, her Roman notion, reminded me in some ways of the Army's cultural flaws that led to the failure of the federal levee system in New Orleans and that I also considered that pattern of behavior that I saw in the Army's management of New Orleans' levee system reminiscent of the Catholic Church hierarchy's blame the victim, hide the crime, shame-based culture, so closely resembling a classic dysfunctional (or alcoholic) family in its interactive structure.
Is it Roman, or Roman Catholic, the delusion of those who rule or who think they rule, from above, their ability to just not see the de-humanization of those whom they believe are serving their purpose, the inherent corruptibility of organizational structures in which power flows from the top, down? When it gets messy or even just difficult, the survival strategy is to revert to the bottom line, alert the PR machine, decide what to do next based on what's required to maintain position. The movie does a great job of depicting how bottom line thinking infects moral long term mission-oriented decisions as well as how deeply ingrained into our cultural dynamic is the process of ignoring enduring goals in favor of expedience, reality in favor of appearances, complete with feigned indignation upon revelation of the wound.
They all maintain the theme of abandoning, or worse, setting up and then abandoning, the foot soldiers, the citizens, the operatives that keep the culture alive, and I can't help but think of the recent successes the right-wing machine has had utilizing its institutionalized version of the age-old practice of vilifying the source of the guilt, so popular in abusive families, character assassination as a valid tactic, even the tactic of choice, a lá Rove, as was tragically depicted in Syriana, as we hear every day when the rest of the nation blames the citizens of New Orleans for being, well, New Orleanians.
I'm suggesting that this is a cultural phenomenon, embedded into numerous societal structures that share the self-perception of there being power wielded, whether familial or governmental or religious, and perhaps Sis M is right, perhaps it comes down from the Roman times, this disdain for ordinary citizens, foot soldiers, operatives, this consideration that they are expendable commodities, naturally depleted in support of the maintenance of a structure by those at the top of that structure.
This is a new day and with each new day comes a chance for change, the opportunity to improve, and this new day comes complete with its own new medium in which the people have a voice, through which individuals can call the powerful "out" when the need arises. There are geeks gathering in New Orleans before long and I'm planning to go to be in the company of smart, passionate, interesting people who are fighting to rebuild a Great American City without even the simplest lightening of burdens their government could so easily provide. I believe the quality of our nation's soul depends, among other things, on their success.
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