Monday, May 03, 2010

Explaining the Plunder and the Crime

By Danny Schecter
May 3, 2010

In politics, it’s always all about the narrative, about how issues are framed.

Read on.

1 comment:

Dean Taylor said...

Yeah, but Danny...

We've ALL got blood on our hands. It doesn't do any good to point the finger at the villain du jour and say, "Aha! THIS is THE cause of our immiseration," when, in fact, we are all remiss.

The State, wrote Martin Buber, ought to be a Community of Communities. That's "Community"--as in "common union."

Madoff was a master thief, yes, but then we are petty thieves. Having said that, ask yourself: with all this self-promotion that you engage in, how much time, really, is there left over for the next guy? Not much? You're a thief, then, Danny: you "stole" from the "common union."

You quoted Zimmerman: “robbed by design, 'not with a gun but a fountain pen.'” How about: not with a gun or a fountain pen, but with a career.

Do you care about the community Danny? Or this career you've been carefully cultivating? You're a thief too--just like the rest of us.

Madoff is a master thief. Blankfein too. But you, me and the rest of us: we're petty thieves. We cheated the community, to one degree or another. Look and see.

Add all of this into your equation, and when you've digested it, THEN come back with another movie--the one you're meant to make. You--Danny Schechter, community member. Not "Danny Schechter: filmmaker," or "Danny Schechter: the Dissector," or "Danny Schechter: eleven books," etc.

Too bad your name is not "Schepper"--we could have done a "bit": Danny Schepper, the schlepper...

Solipsism, career, self-promotion, narcissism, etc., have no place in the common union. At the very least, acknowledge your theft, if only to yourself.

"The minute you let it under your skin, then you begin to make it better..."