The Chauffeur's Dilemma

[Guest guest]

The Chauffeur's Dilemma

By Arlie Hochschild

Let's consider our political moment through a story. Suppose a chauffeur drives

a sleek limousine through the streets of New York, a millionaire in the

backseat. Through the window, the millionaire spots a homeless woman and her two

children huddling in the cold, sharing a loaf of bread. He orders the chauffeur

to stop the car. The chauffeur opens the passenger door for the millionaire, who

walks over to the mother and snatches the loaf. He slips back into the car and

they drive on, leaving behind an even poorer family and a baffled crowd of

sidewalk witnesses. For his part, the chauffeur feels real qualms about what his

master has done, because unlike his employer, he has recently known hard times

himself. But he drives on nonetheless. Let's call this the Chauffeur's Dilemma.

 

Absurd as it seems, we are actually witnessing this scene right now. At first

blush, we might imagine that this story exaggerates our situation, but let us

take a moment to count the loaves of bread that have recently changed hands and

those that soon will. Then, let's ask why so many people are letting this

happen.

 

 

Read on

 

 

http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?emx=x & pid=3779

 

 

I’m gonna tell all you fascists you may be surprised

The people in this world are getting organized

You’re bound to lose, you fascists are bound to lose