This October marked three years since I first published World-Mart. While it’s by no means been a national bestseller, it’s had a respectable run for an indie novel, sparking political debate and making readers take a closer look at their views on Corporate America. I think I knew it had made its mark when it received the following review last year:
What a load of propaganda. This book is nothing more than the authors [sic] rant/social commentary on how she hates success [sic] for a business she disagrees with, loathing of America, and her undying love for the global warming theory. I believe that she had every right to express her views in her thinly disguised “novel”, [sic] I love the 1st Amendment. I hope she is not offended when I express my 1st Amendment rights as well when I say, “TOTAL CRAP!!!!!!!!!”
I have to respect those who still believe in the American Dream. They’re not too different from George, WM’s hapless protagonist who doesn’t question the corporatocracy until it fails him personally. What readers such as the above reviewer fail to recognize, however, is that the American Dream has been overtaken by a force far larger than any one business: Where it used to be perfectly acceptable to strive to keep up with the Joneses, we’ve delved into a climate in which we must constantly strive to one-up them instead. This comes at a great cost, not only to us as individuals but to our nation as a collective unit.
To examine this more closely, we must look at the “us versus them” mentality that arises from such an attitude. The belief that we need the newest and the best of all things arises from a desire to walk among society’s elite—to emulate the socialites, to be like those of power. With this comes a similar attitude: As long as I’m okay, the rest of the world can go to hell. What we don’t address often enough is the fact that most of us are not among the elite and therefore constantly teetering along the edge of success and ruin—and many who are among the elite couldn’t give a damn (as long as they’re okay).
Take, for example, the recent story of a Texas teen who got a slap on the wrist for killing four people while driving drunk. His defense? He has “affluenza.” Apparently, since he is “the product of wealthy, privileged parents who never set limits for the boy,” he deserves special treatment. He’s rich, he belongs to the elite, and therefore the rules the rest of us must abide by don’t apply to him.
Does it really matter that this type of mindset is tolerated? According to a forthcoming publication in Perspectives in Politics, “Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens,” the indications could be more profound than you’d think. Martin Gilens of Princeton University and Benjamin I. Page of Northwestern University write, “The central point that emerges from our research is that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence.” Even more importantly:
To examine this more closely, we must look at the “us versus them” mentality that arises from such an attitude. The belief that we need the newest and the best of all things arises from a desire to walk among society’s elite—to emulate the socialites, to be like those of power. With this comes a similar attitude: As long as I’m okay, the rest of the world can go to hell. What we don’t address often enough is the fact that most of us are not among the elite and therefore constantly teetering along the edge of success and ruin—and many who are among the elite couldn’t give a damn (as long as they’re okay).
Take, for example, the recent story of a Texas teen who got a slap on the wrist for killing four people while driving drunk. His defense? He has “affluenza.” Apparently, since he is “the product of wealthy, privileged parents who never set limits for the boy,” he deserves special treatment. He’s rich, he belongs to the elite, and therefore the rules the rest of us must abide by don’t apply to him.
Does it really matter that this type of mindset is tolerated? According to a forthcoming publication in Perspectives in Politics, “Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens,” the indications could be more profound than you’d think. Martin Gilens of Princeton University and Benjamin I. Page of Northwestern University write, “The central point that emerges from our research is that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence.” Even more importantly:
As to empirical evidence concerning interest groups, it is well established that organized groups regularly lobby and fraternize with public officials; move through revolving doors between public and private employment; provide self-serving information to officials; draft legislation; and spend a great deal of money on election campaigns. Moreover, in harmony with theories of biased pluralism, the evidence clearly indicates that most U.S. interest groups and lobbyists represent business firms or professionals. Relatively few represent the poor or even the economic interests of ordinary workers, particularly now that the U.S. labor movement has become so weak.
Basically what they’re saying here is that the elite take care of the elite, with the interests of the common American falling to the wayside. Corporate America protects the interests of corporations, not the individuals who compose its bottom rungs, and yet there is a prevailing belief that if we, the individuals among those bottom rungs, support the higher rungs long enough, we too will find our place among the privileged and the powerful.
So, when I look back on that angry review, the one that accuses me of “loathing … America” for forewarning a bleak future under corporate rule, I do so with a heavy heart—not because it’s an unfavorable review but because it’s proof positive that there are people who still see the binding of government and corporations as a good thing. There are people who truly believe they’ll somehow get ahead by supporting massive empires that could care less about the common worker. There are people who buy the propaganda that not being self-serving, that not going into debt to outdo the Joneses, that sticking up for the little man is somehow un-American.
And that, to me, is just plain sad.
About World-Mart:
George Irwin remembers a time before the Big Climate Change, back when the airlines were still in business and people still drove their own cars. The world has changed much over his lifetime, but he still believes in the American Dream. When an alleged terrorist act lands his wife in the hospital, however, George stumbles upon a Corporate secret that could mean the end of all civilization.
In the spirit of good old American consumerism and this festive Black Friday, World-Mart will be reduced to $0.99 at Amazon today through Sunday.
So, when I look back on that angry review, the one that accuses me of “loathing … America” for forewarning a bleak future under corporate rule, I do so with a heavy heart—not because it’s an unfavorable review but because it’s proof positive that there are people who still see the binding of government and corporations as a good thing. There are people who truly believe they’ll somehow get ahead by supporting massive empires that could care less about the common worker. There are people who buy the propaganda that not being self-serving, that not going into debt to outdo the Joneses, that sticking up for the little man is somehow un-American.
And that, to me, is just plain sad.
About World-Mart:
George Irwin remembers a time before the Big Climate Change, back when the airlines were still in business and people still drove their own cars. The world has changed much over his lifetime, but he still believes in the American Dream. When an alleged terrorist act lands his wife in the hospital, however, George stumbles upon a Corporate secret that could mean the end of all civilization.
In the spirit of good old American consumerism and this festive Black Friday, World-Mart will be reduced to $0.99 at Amazon today through Sunday.
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