SOCIALIST PRAGMATISM?

The Antichrist of North Carolina (Barbara Ehrenreich, August 1, 2003, The Progressive)

When I was in Scandinavia last spring promoting "Nickel and Dimed," interviewers kept asking me to tell them about the "debate" my book had provoked in the United States. I had to confess that it had provoked no debate at all, at least none that I had heard of. In fact, when my book was adopted by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a reading for all incoming students in 2003, the administration expressed its conviction that it was a "relatively tame selection," at least compared to last year's choice -- a collection of readings from the Koran. I was beginning to envy Michael Moore, whose publisher had cleverly boosted sales by attempting to suppress his book "Stupid White Men" in the wake of 9/11.

Then, early in July, I got a phone call from Matt Tepper, president of the student body at UNC-CH, inquiring as to what I thought would be a useful way to direct the incoming students' discussions of "Nickel and Dimed." I suggested that the students ought to apply the book's concerns to their own campus, where workers have been trying to organize against heavy administrative opposition. I sat back to wait for new students to arrive at the end of the summer so the controversy could begin.

I was getting into my new role as North Carolina's premier amateur philosopher and religious studies scholar, and hoping for some in-depth discussion of my own "anti-Christian bigotry," as one of the state legislators put it, no doubt referring to my description, in "Nickel and Dimed" of Jesus as a "wine-guzzling vagrant and precocious socialist." On the "vagrant" part, there can be no debate, and, although "guzzling" may be a bit overstated, Jesus was sufficiently associated with wine ("I am the true vine," etc.) to be confused with the Greek wine god Dionysius in the Hellenistic world -- a subject I have yearned to expound on for years.

As for Jesus being a socialist, I take it back. He was actually a little to the left of that, judging from his instruction to the rich man to sell all that he had and give to the poor. If that's what it takes to be a true Christian, believe me, it's a hell of a lot easier to be a socialist: You have to dedicate yourself to working for the poor, just as a Christian should, but at least you get to keep your stuff. The topic of Christian altruism v. socialist pragmatism could, I thought, entertain the rightwing radio talk show audiences for weeks.

It's actually not a bad book for students to read because it demonstrates just how many of the problems of the working poor are of their own making. But, as for Christ the socialist, one wonders if folks like Ms Ehrenreich even comprehend the difference between true selflessness and compulsory redistribution of wealth. Her personal Jesus must have said: render unto Caesar Chavez. Posted by Orrin Judd at August 4, 2003 9:49 PM