Product v. Process

I have described in many essays and in my new book Globalization and the Demolition of Society the rift and struggle that exists now between those who uphold and celebrate private goods and the private interest versus those who defend and celebrate public goods and the public interest. It’s a very useful way of understanding what is going on in the nation and the world today because it is present in virtually everything. But it occurs to me that another way of thinking about this is product v. process. Corporate media and the major parties’ criticism of the Occupation Movement, for example, is that the OM doesn’t know what it wants and has not formulated demands. Give us your demands, they insist, so that we can … do what? Pretend that you’re listening? Reject them as unrealistic? Try to co-opt them and divert people into something that the existing system can accept? The reason that the corporate media and the ruling parties cannot understand the language of the OM and keep trying to make it into something that they can understand and deal with is because ideologically the media and the Republicans and Democrats are all about product: here is our nominee (our product), see how he talks, how he walks, how nice his hair is, how bright his smile, how firm his handshake, how good his promises. Here is our latest show for your entertainment: see how big the actors are that we have in it, see how glamorous the lights are that we shine upon them, imagine how life would be for you if you have the X Factor too. Check out this luxury condominium that we have built for you, this fancy car and its fancy features, this double-gated community, this erectile dysfunction drug, this pill that you can give your child who has trouble sitting still and paying attention… Read the rest here.