Thursday, October 09, 2008
Social Capital of the "Common Man"
What I have found most striking in the coming US election is the repeated attempt to be portrayed, and therefore, identity as a "your fellow citizen" or your "common man". After all, doesn't this support the American dream-- that being of course, no matter what background or social standing, if you have the will to succeed, there is a way? Regardless of this being the actual way society works or not, the perpetual catering to this philosophy of leader as commoner is a current discourse that I would like to investigate much more fully. Leaders are policy makers amongst other things, as well as, commanding generals. When making cataclysmic decisions, especially in terms of such economically and politically powerful countries, leaders should be best of us and not apologize for going to Harvard for example. This is what qualifies them for the position after is it not?
So what is this social capital surrounding the "common man"? Of course, in the wake, Marxist philosophy, we may own this up to class tension. The average citizen-- middle class-- resents the upper class and therefore, does not want to elect someone so far disassociated from their reality. This makes sense. Moreover, at face value, it appears as though the tide may have reversed where the social capital has moved away from upper class towards middle class. Unfortunately, I believe this is again, a very subversive tactic used by the upper class in order to persuade the lower classes. So now, I understand why such a considerable amount of social capital is placed on playing the card of your average Joe-- or should I say "Joe Six Pack". Now, comes in Sarah Palin. Palin is so wildly unprofessional and very much 'your average citizen' whatever that may be. This attempt to reach out to everyday citizens has turned into a laughable matter. Palin is highly incapabale of running such an weighty economic and political engine as the US. This strongly highlights the anti-intellectual strain that runs through the United States. The view that the common man has innate wisdom that it is not clowded by intellectual abstraction. That one should hide their intellectual achievements and if they do not they are considered elitist. Isn't this what lost the election for John Kerry after all.
As I have said previously, shouldn't leaders be the best of the best? Isn't that why we are "following" them in the first place? What is this social capital placed on averageness that has become such a serious matter in American politics today?
So what is this social capital surrounding the "common man"? Of course, in the wake, Marxist philosophy, we may own this up to class tension. The average citizen-- middle class-- resents the upper class and therefore, does not want to elect someone so far disassociated from their reality. This makes sense. Moreover, at face value, it appears as though the tide may have reversed where the social capital has moved away from upper class towards middle class. Unfortunately, I believe this is again, a very subversive tactic used by the upper class in order to persuade the lower classes. So now, I understand why such a considerable amount of social capital is placed on playing the card of your average Joe-- or should I say "Joe Six Pack". Now, comes in Sarah Palin. Palin is so wildly unprofessional and very much 'your average citizen' whatever that may be. This attempt to reach out to everyday citizens has turned into a laughable matter. Palin is highly incapabale of running such an weighty economic and political engine as the US. This strongly highlights the anti-intellectual strain that runs through the United States. The view that the common man has innate wisdom that it is not clowded by intellectual abstraction. That one should hide their intellectual achievements and if they do not they are considered elitist. Isn't this what lost the election for John Kerry after all.
As I have said previously, shouldn't leaders be the best of the best? Isn't that why we are "following" them in the first place? What is this social capital placed on averageness that has become such a serious matter in American politics today?
# posted by Eliza @ 11:48 AM 
