The Terror of the Unforeseen. Henry Giroux

      Introduction

      Julian Casablancas

      When I speak about politics, I’m not speaking as a musician; I’m speaking as a citizen of a country imperiled. And because Henry so kindly and humbly handed me the microphone.

      Since the dawn of modern civilization the influence of wealth on power has been a relentless, often brutal, force. It might shape-shift through the eras, but the phenomenon has regenerated itself countless times. Whether it manifests through sheer military might or elaborate fraud and subterfuge, it is ever-present, ever-toxic, and ultra-persistent.

      The wealthy don’t need to hire armies to maintain their oppressive schemes anymore — they bribe politicians and control media elements instead. There is no system of oversight by independent bodies that can be trusted to maintain public welfare or truth as their priority. The internet is now the world’s largest subduction zone of myth. Weaponized media is the new propaganda, essentially an evolution of the medieval model of affluence and oppression.

      The elusiveness of truth is a central problem facing democracy as we now know it. That’s why reading and celebrating people like Henry Giroux, who have dedicated themselves to uncovering and teaching the truth, is so important.

      In this moving and passionate book, Henry revives a spirit we can find in the great abolitionist Fredrick Douglass’s words: “It is not the light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed.” Henry eloquently describes an economic system that has produced massive inequities in wealth and power, undermining the very notion of justice, equality, and democracy itself.

      I wish to offer a rallying cry for the separation of wealth and state, while lovingly confining capitalism to the private sector, as opposed to having a for-profit government, and various other for-profit political vehicles. Of course, not all business activity is bad. But as many folks are finally beginning to realize, the corporate world’s indifferent attitude to the suffering it creates — not to mention their control over policy — will likely end up trashing earth. The divisive jargon and disinformation in support of neoliberal ideals is all political distraction, a basic con laid out by billionaires for one dumb reason: so that they can pay no taxes.

      The word for this clean-cut attitude of modern pillaging is neoliberalism. This savage word is one that Henry uses a whole lot. It sounds so sophisticated, civilized, and reasonable: the “free market” is to be left alone to do its thing. Sounds positive, right?

      But the fatal flaw of unchecked free markets and privatization is that the private sector doesn’t care if people die. The private sector doesn’t care if people suffer, or even if they are themselves the cause of the suffering.

      Capitalism can work (the night is young!), but it must be more in balance with other important human values. Values like truth. Values like freedom while respecting the freedom of others. The value of human happiness over harming people to make a buck.

      In an ideal civilized world, companies and people would be incentivized to not hurt people. Currently, it’s the other way around. Instead of using research to stop deadly behavior we use it to minimize costs. To evolve past medieval cultural values, we have to require that business succeeds without causing horrific suffering.

      Our system motivates and rewards this behavior. It perpetuates greed as our only clear value. Corporations will never change the system