A hard look at this ‘sweet land of liberty’
By Bette McDevitt
     "Why Bother? Getting a Life in a Locked-down Land" by Sam Smith, published by Feral House.
     It is a strong title. "A locked-down land." And he is not talking about prison; he is talking about this "sweet land of liberty." Yours and mine and his.
     The title caught my interest. Since I have often wanted to turn my face to the wall and my back on the country, on the movement which has sustained me, and probably most of you, over the years. "Why bother?" I have often thought.
     Sam Smith is an author, alternative journalist, and social critic. He runs the Progressive Review in Washington. The website is http://prorev.com. Sam Smith is a larger-than-life Presence in the nation’s capital," said Jay Waljasper, of the Utne Reader, who recommended the book highly. It is also a Working Assets Book of the Month.
     This is a thin book, but be not deceived; it is thick with thought, and needs to be gone over carefully, and discussed in someone’s living room with others who have read it.
     The first four chapters discuss "our present condition," examining "our losses, frustrations and dangers, not as abstract matters of state and society but as they affect each one of us," writes the author. The middle part sorts out "faulty promises and failed prophets" to seek out "the possibilities that remain — informed by history, philosophy, religion, anthropology and the tales of those who remind us we do not make this journey alone."
     Smith, trained as an anthropologist, uses an example of an Indian tribe’s pottery to divest the reader of the notion that civilization progresses in a positive direction. The pottery grew more artistic, over the years, and then became a poor imitation. "Cultural entropy set in. The tribe forgot what it once had known."
     So it is with us. "Despite the improved economic and social status of women and minorities, despite decades of economic progress, despite Velcro, SUV’s, MTV, NASA, DVD’s, cell phones and the Internet, you can’t raise a majority that is proud of this country."
     In the first few chapters, he takes the reader on a trail of losses; reality become artificiality, social democracy become a corporatist state, time and space become compressed, and morality become turned on its head. He demonstrates how the citizen has become the target, the victim, with the widening gap between rich and poor — "America’s gated economy," he calls it — with increasing social control, the rise of the military and the decrease in our freedoms."
     In the chapter "False Profits," Smith does quite a job on capitalism and the "free market." He claims the only thing approaching a free market is the drug trade, and that what passes for the free market is no more than "socialism that favors capitalists rather than workers."
     Smith, who spent much of his childhood in Maine, offers a different model of an economy based on the fishermen and independent farmers and small businesspeople of that state. The model, writes Smith, has four tenets: integrity (exemplified in building practices) community (accountability to those who live close by) respect (based on competence and reputation, not power) and cooperation.
     The political and historical tone of the book is lightened by personal examples, which make it quite readable. He also knows how to turn a phrase and find just the right metaphor.
     At last, we come to the hopeful part. We know there are no easy answers. You may find your center in religion or you may not. Smith writes, "It is, in the end, your choice. Take a leap of faith, and end up at the local church, hoping someone can explain all this better to your kids in Sunday School than you can, or ride bareback across the philosophical plains. In either case, as long as you fully engage with life, doubt will not be far away."
     The last chapter is called "Hat Trick." I refrained from skipping ahead, and it was worth the wait. Anyway, the reader needs the analysis beforehand. The "hat trick" is three little words, not the usual ones, but good ones to live by. I will not betray the author by giving away the ending.
     So does it work? I can say that I am a bit better focused, a tad more determined, and quite sure that I am on the right path, even though it is a rocky one.
     My copy of the book is all marked up, to highlight his quotes, and I intended to close with one of them, then Chris Voll, editor of the Plough Reader, sent me this quote from Ryzard Kapuscinski, by e-mail: "There is so much crap in this world, and then, suddenly, there is honesty and humanity."