<underfire> More on the affects of organized abandonment

[Michael H Goldhaber]

One more thing, relevant to this thread. In California, one of the  
most powerful unions is now the prison guards' union. In order to  
protect their jobs, they favor the incredibly cruel "three strikes  
and you're out" law, applied even for non-violent crimes. The law  
means that anyone found guilty of a third felony can be sentenced to  
life in prison. Even a supposedly progressive Democrat, such as Phil  
Angelides, who ran for Governor in 2006 against Schwarzenegger made  
it clear early on that he fully supported this law in igts current  
unjustifiable form, in order, one presumes, to get the union's backing.

The union of course responds to the fact that there are few other  
jobs for those with limited credential in rural areas. Being a prison  
guard is of course a pretty 'blighted' life, though better  than  
being a prisoner, certainly.

Best,
Michael

On Dec 10, 2006, at 2:24 PM, brian.holmes at wanadoo.fr wrote:

>
> I am very much in agreement with all the points that Dan makes,  
> except part
> of the last one.
>
> The use of the word "blight" as a justification for the assertion of
> eminent domain is symptomatic of the whole situation in the US  
> today. When
> they say "blight", what that refers to now is any condition of  
> property or
> inhabitation that is perceived to lower values in a given area. The  
> result
> is that a person has no right to use value, if that keeps anyone  
> else from
> realizing profitable exchange value. Translated into pragmatic  
> terms, what
> that means is that if the market doesn't like the looks of your  
> house, you
> can be kicked out or expropriated. But try and think about the  
> abstract
> formulation. Try and think about a condition where one has no right  
> to use
> value.
>
> There are tremendous racist crimes being committed in the United  
> States,
> specifically, and across the world, in accord with this total  
> priority of
> exchange value. But this kind of crime affects everyone - white or  
> black,
> Arab, Christian, Hindu, Jew, etc. - who can still be sensitive to  
> the dream
> of (that means, the utopia of, and the aspiration to) a better life  
> which
> is not their personal property, whose promise is not limited to  
> them alone.
> I don't think the problem can or should be entirely racialized.  
> Against the
> logic of the ban, and the fact of organized abandonment, the ideal of
> equality can still be a guide to real political struggle. Perhaps  
> that is
> the single most important thing I know how to say.
>
> best to all, Brian
>
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