One of his biggest interrupters was one of my heroes, Katrina Vanden Heuvel, of the great progressive mag, The Nation.
Ms Vanden Heuvel, like I said, is one of my fave progressives alive, but it pained me watching her fight with Simon, constantly butting in to his long-view perspective with her short-term political solutions.
There was a time when Ms Vandel Heuvel prob thought like David Simon. Indeed, she still might think like him now. But her position as Editor-in-Chief for a national political magazine does not allow her the freedom such as the one a writer/creator of many popular HBO series' might enjoy.
Simon's point was one that I have been stressing here on this blog for ages. To wit, That it is not enough to reform capitalism, or any of the systems that are part and parcel of it. That any tweaking of the system that capitalism holds over this country is not nearly enough.
Until we are ready to look ourselves in the mirror, as a nation, as citizens, and ready to face up to the fact that we need to treat ourselves better, more equal, and with empathy, then no amount of tweaking to the interest rates or tax rates are going to mean a goddammed thing.
The day this country wakes up, and realizes that it is only as strong and powerful as the homeless folks living in The Tenderloin is the day that America might finally be on the right track.
There is a very disturbing trend, even amongst Democrats lately -- eager to win re-election, natch -- that those of us who have been dealt a shitty hand are moochers, scofflaws, and losers. This kind of thinking is supremely detrimental to the very idea of what this country is all about, and it disgusts me.
I do not want to reform Capitalism, I want to change life.
Once we change the way we look at life, and our relations to its citizens, then will the reformation begin re sytems, politics, etc, ...
Michael David Spitler
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