Marching in Chicago: Resisting Rahm Emanuel's Neoliberal Savagery

[marmar]

Marching in Chicago: Resisting Rahm Emanuel's Neoliberal Savagery

Monday, 20 May 2013 10:16
By Henry A. Giroux, Truthout | Op-Ed



[font size="1"]Protesters march in the Loop March 27, 2013 during a rally to protest the proposed closing of 54 Chicago public schools.Protesters march in the Loop March 27, 2013 during a rally to protest the proposed closing of 54 Chicago public schools. (Photo: WBEZ/Robin Amer)[/font]


Across the globe, predatory capitalism spreads its gospel of power, greed, commodification, gentrification and inequality. Through the combined forces of a market driven ideology, policy and mode of governance, the apostles of free-market capitalism are doing their best to dismantle historically guaranteed social provisions provided by the welfare state, define the accumulation of capital as the only obligation of democracy, increase the role of corporate money in politics, wage an assault on unions, expand the military-security state, increase inequalities in wealth and income, foster the erosion of civil liberties and undercut public faith in the defining institutions of democracy.1. As market mentalities and moralities tighten their grip on all aspects of society, democratic institutions and public spheres are being downsized, if not altogether disappearing. As these institutions vanish - from public schools to health-care centers - there is also a serious erosion of the discourses of community, justice, equality, public values and the common good. One does not have to look too far to see what happens in America’s neoliberal educational culture to see how ruthlessly the inequality of wealth, income and power bears down on those young people and brave teachers who are struggling every day to save the schools, unions and modes of pedagogy that offer hope at a time when schools have become just another commodity, students are reduced to clients or disposable populations, and teachers and their unions are demonized.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s current attempt to close down 54 public schools largely inhabited by poor minorities is one more example of a savage, racist neoliberal system at work that uses the politics of austerity and consolidation to further disenfranchise the unskilled young of the inner city. The hidden curriculum in this instance is not so invisible. Closing schools will result in massive layoffs, weakening the teachers unions. It will free up land that can be gentrified to attract middle-class voters, and it will once again prove that poor minority students, regardless of the hardships, if not danger, they will face as a result of such closings, are viewed as disposable - human waste to be relegated to the zones of terminal exclusion. Not only are many teachers and parents concerned about displacing thousands of students to schools that do not offer any hope of educational improvement, but they are also concerned about the safety of the displaced children, many of whom "will have to walk through violent neighborhoods and go to school with other students who are considered enemies." 2. This is not simply misguided policy, it is a racist script that makes clear that poor black youth are disposable and that their safety is irrelevant. How else to explain the mayor's plan to produce a Safe Passage Plan in which firefighters would be asked to patrol the new routes, even though they have made it clear that they are not trained for this type of special duty. That many of these children are poor black children trapped in under-resourced schools appears irrelevant to a mayor who takes his lead from politicians such as Barack Obama and Arnie Duncan, two educators who have simply reproduced the Bush educational reform playbook, i.e., more testing, demonize teachers, weaken unions, advocate for choice and charter schools, and turn public schools over to corporate hedge-fund managers and billionaires such as Bill Gates. Emanuel’s passionate zeal to downsize schools in impoverished black neighborhoods is matched only by his misdirected enthusiasm to lay out $195 million "on a basketball arena for DePaul University, a private Chicago university." 3.

Emanuel’s policies are symptomatic of a much larger war against teachers, public goods and the social contract. We increasingly live in societies based on the vocabulary of "choice" and a denial of reality - a denial of massive inequality, social disparities, the irresponsible concentration of power in relatively few hands and a growing machinery of social death and culture of cruelty. 4. As power becomes global and is removed from local and nation-based politics, more and more individuals and groups are being defined by a free-floating class of ultra-rich and corporate power brokers as disposable, redundant, and irrelevant. Consequently, there are a growing number of people, especially young people, who increasingly inhabit zones of hardship, suffering and terminal exclusion. Power has lost its moorings in democratic institutions and removes itself from any sense of social, civic and political responsibilities. Mayor Emanuel, along with his neoliberal political allies, occupies the dead zone of capitalism - a zone marked by a ruthless indifference to the suffering of others and self-righteous coldness that makes human beings superfluous and unwanted. At the same time, this zone of capital accumulation and dispossession destroys those public spheres and collective structures such as public and higher education that are capable of resisting the logic of the pure market and the anti-democratic pressures it imposes on American society. .................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/16478-marching-in-chicago-resisting-rahm-emanuels-neoliberal-savagery

[Smarmie Doofus]

1. A header like that must not go unrecognized. K and R n/t

[KG]

2. piss on Rahm Emanuel

[ananda]

3. Kick

..

[forestpath]

4. Perfect description of one of Obama's pals.

[Buzz Clik]

8. Non sequitur much?

obviously

[forestpath]

12. Deflection much? Obviously.

[Buzz Clik]

15. This isn't about Obama, as much as you'd like it to be.

Keep showing off for your friends. Tell 'em "hi" for me, okay?

[AnotherMcIntosh]

18. Yep.

[woo me with science]

13. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

[Buzz Clik]

14. My favorite shadow.

The interesting thing about shadows? No form, no substance, always underfoot.

[woo me with science]

16. What's cute is how the Third Way incessantly hawks the President's neoliberal policies

while simultaneously throwing a tantrum every time someone uses the correct label for them.

DU is getting more like the old time movies every day. Every OP comes with a free cartoon.

[Buzz Clik]

20. "throwing a tantrum every time someone uses the correct label for them." Interesting phrasing.

The same language used by rightwing knuckledragging racists to justify extreme racial slurs against people who make them feel insecure.

But you're a bigger person than that, right? I don't make you feel insecure, you simply like to put labels on anyone who disagrees with you because you are always right.

Get help.

Have the last word.

[woo me with science]

22. That was ugly but not unexpected.

This is the rhetoric the Third Way uses to avoid acknowledging the actual, human results of the policies they support.

Always ugly. Always personal. Always a deflection.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

36. Why do you make so many personal attacks?

[Buzz Clik]

38. who are you? why are you here?

Why would are you interjecting?

EDIT: I become very suspicious when people like you nose in. More than suspicious. Wave to the people, honey!

[AnotherMcIntosh]

39. I am, in part, a curious person. I am also a person who would like to see issues discussed on the

merits rather than deflections with personal attacks.

[Buzz Clik]

41. Are you also addressing the other person involved, or is this actually something different?

I'm guessing the latter.

If this is a staring contest, you win.

Have the last word, and thanks for contributing absolutely nothing.

[woo me with science]

42. "Racist, knuckle-dragging" was the comparison you used.

The level of your rhetoric speaks for itself, and not well of you.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

43. You're confused as to which post I was responding to? Only one person said that the language

of a particular poster was the

"same language used by rightwing knuckledragging racists to justify extreme racial slurs against people who make them feel insecure." (#20)

There is no way that you can be unaware of that, or attribute that to "the other person involved."

[Buzz Clik]

44. Oh, please.

You consider that an insult?

Now you're just arguing for the sake of arguing.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

46. You don't consider that to be an insult? Then why did you post it?

Your disingenuousness is wearing a little thin.

[Buzz Clik]

48. "You don't consider that to be an insult? Then why did you post it?" Sweet jeebus.

Posting insults at DU will get your posts hidden or get you banned. Posting insults is a risky business, so I did not cast an insult.

You need to read my post more carefully. I hammered that language that was being used to insult me; I did not insult the poster.

You cannot tell the difference? (rhetorical question)

You defended the person who insulted me and have been badgering me about an insult that doesn't exist? I'm now back to my questioning your motives for bothering me in the first place.

Have a good one, and don't forget to say, "hi" to all our common friends.

[Number23]

58. You should read Summer Hathaway's posts here about the "label maker"

they are absolutely hilarious and brilliant caricatures of those who have absolutely nothing to contribute to this web site but name calling such as the person you are responding to.

She's a relative newbie too. Some of our newbies have been really kicking ass lately.

ETS: Did a Google search and found one of her posts http://upload.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2633745

[Buzz Clik]

62. Wow! I am awed.

That was the most surgical dissection of that argument I've witnessed.

Thank you for pointing me in that direction!

[leftstreet]

55. +1

How true

DU has become boringly, childishly, tantrum-throwingly, Third Way

Practically unreadable nowadays

[rhett o rick]

60. You are correct. This silly banter isnt getting us anywhere. Let's go for substance. How do you feel

about Rahm? How do you feel about Penny Pritzker?

I will be glad to tell you have I feel, with substance, if you are interested.

[Buzz Clik]

64. I answered you a second ago in this thread that I feel betrayed by Rahm.

I am, indeed, interested in your opinion.

[rhett o rick]

65. Sorry for doubling up on the question. And you pretty well answered my question farther

down the thread. I cant say I feel betrayed by Rahm because I didnt expect much. I cant say the same about the President. I noticed that you were defensive of the president and I wrongly assumed you would be defensive of Rahm. I see Rahm as representative of the trouble the Democratic Party is in. Now the President wants to nominate Penny Pritzker, the ultimate capitalist.

While this admin has made significant progress with some social issues, Wall Street is ripping the lower classes off in amounts that are astounding. The social gains wont mean much if we all end up in soup lines.

[rhett o rick]

59. You are correct. This is about Rahm. How do you feel about him? nm

[Buzz Clik]

63. Disgusted. Betrayed.

I get that he's got tough budget decisions, but I despise his path.

[LWolf]

5. Chicago elected that POS mayor.

Why?

The complete article is well worth reading.

[AngryAmish]

69. Rahm was elected because he was the Machine candidate

He put together the largest coalition of interested parties with the largest patronage armies.

[LWolf]

71. People in those armies

still had to vote for him.

I don't vote for those my union endorses if I don't think they deserve it.

Maybe they will vote smarter the next time?

[AngryAmish]

73. When your job depends on who you vote for, you toe the line

[LWolf]

75. Sort of.

Teachers have learned not to count on who they vote for to protect their jobs.

[MynameisBlarney]

6. I knew Rahm was a POS

But didn't know he was that bad.

[Buzz Clik]

9. +1

[Marr]

45. I don't understand. You agree that Emanuel is horrible, but

you don't think he's any sort of reflection of Obama's political ideals? Do you think Obama chose him out of a hat, just completely at random?

[AnotherMcIntosh]

47. Rahm Emanuel is a former Goldman Sachs employee working on a GS agenda. Obama knew that.

[Marr]

49. Exactly-- and when Obama was surrounding himself with Emanuels and Geithners,

he was specifically excluding people like Paul Krugman and Howard Dean.

I mean, these appointments do say a lot. It's not as if Emanuel was an unknown when Obama picked him. To pretend he's just some rogue mayor here is more than a little disingenuous. He's very representative of a specific political faction.

[Blue_Tires]

54. I've never like Rahm from day one, but to be fair

He did put in a lot of work in the 08 election, which Obama had to reward him for....The common DU talking point at the time was "it's better to have a family member pissing inside your house, than standing outside and pissing ON it..." (of course Rahm had a whole lot of cheerleaders on the site then)

[Marr]

66. He didn't deserve it more than Dean.

Dean's strategy did a hell of a lot more good than anything Rahm Emanuel did. In fact, Emanuel was working against Dean.

[Blue_Tires]

67. True, but I've always suspected that unlike Dean,

Rahm wasn't the type to be a good party soldier and sit in the corner quietly when he doesn't get what he wants...

[Buzz Clik]

7. Rahm better work fast and keep his resume up to date...

... He ain't coming back.

[ananda]

10. He's like a fungus.

He'll be back somewhere.

[Buzz Clik]

11. Absolutely! He will be running for higher office.

[Chisox08]

23. He is going to be a one term mayor

I hope he doesn't get elected to a position higher than dog catcher.

[Buzz Clik]

25. He needs to go away completely. As dog catcher...

... his first action would be to put an end to neutering programs, euthanize all captured animals, and close all the animal shelters.

I have no use for him whatsoever.

[Chisox08]

32. I have no use for him either

I knew it was a bad idea to elect him in the first place, but in the same neighborhoods that he is hurting people where all for voting for him because of his connections to Obama. Now they are realizing what a POS he is.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

17. Rahm Emanuel is a Goldman Sachs alumni. A fund raiser for the super-rich.

"An interesting early chapter in the Goldman-Emanuel relationship took place in the setting of Bill Clinton’s campaign for the White House in 1992. Clinton hired Emanuel as his chief fundraiser.

"At the same time, however, Emanuel was on the payroll of Goldman Sachs, receiving $3,000 per month from the firm to “introduce us to people,” in the words of one Goldman partner at the time. This is certainly a noteworthy relationship, but it’s one that has almost entirely escaped scrutiny.

"Corporations and partnerships are and were at the time prohibited by law from contributing to federal candidates out of the corporate coffers. So, while Rahm tapped Goldman employees personally for six figures in gifts to Clinton’s candidacy—more than any other firm—Goldman, as a company, was helping keep Clinton’s top fundraiser well-fed.

"When you look at the explanations Goldman and Emanuel gave for Emanuel’s employment—he was advising on “local political races” or “introduc[ing] us to people”—it’s easy to suspect that Goldman was using firm money to fund the Clinton campaign by paying the campaign’s top fundraiser for nebulous “consulting” work—all while the campaign was in debt and delaying paychecks to campaign staff.

http://sweetness-light.com/archive/rahm-emanuels-ties-to-goldman-sachs

In Chicago, Rahm Emanuel replaced Richard M. Daley as mayor. Richard M. Daley's brother William M. Daley replaced him as Obama's chief of staff. William M. Daley worked at JP Morgan in a high-level position and was on the Executive Committee of JPMorgan Chase & Co.

All these people are connected to the super-rich. If you want to know what they are going to do, look to see what the super-rich want.

[Recursion]

19. So what's your plan to keep under-attended schools open?

Surely you have one.

[marmar]

21. OK, so because I haven't devised a formal plan for keeping schools open ........

....... I'm not supposed to post an article from Truthout? Is that your point?

[byeya]

28. He has no point. Nice link to an excellent site. Thanks

[Chisox08]

27. Those schools are not under attended

A couple of the schools, like Calhoun sits across the street from a charter school that is trying to get the school building. The motivation for closing those 54 schools is clear and if a few children gets murdered in the streets who cares as long as Emanuel's rich buddies get what they want.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

30. In what way exactly are these schools under-attended?

[Buzz Clik]

50. ..

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/24/rahm-emanuel-on-school-cl_n_2944231.html

[Buzz Clik]

31. In nearly all cities, low attendance is temporary and a result of shifting demographics.

Closed schools immediately begin to decay. A better plan would be to carefully map out student distributions, and bus where necessary. It will be cheaper than the renovation or rebuilding costs of reopening a closed school when populations shift again.

Rahm also dissolved the city's Department of Environment. No environmental needs in Chicago ... No sir!

Sorry, but I'm not cutting him any slack.

[HiPointDem]

53. they're not 'under-attended'. the claim of 'underutilization' is false.

It's also hard to know what CPS means by "underutilized." An independent investigation of CPS data by the Raise Your Hand for Illinois Public Education coalition found that "76 percent of CPS elementary schools had entire grades above the recommended class size limit set by CPS in 2011," according to Catalyst Chicago.

Clearly, the statistics that supposedly show underutilization at more than 300 schools have been manipulated.

http://socialistworker.org/2013/03/04/rahms-scorched-earth-assault


Mayor Rahm Emanuel's push to close dozens of schools hinges on a vision of the "ideal" size for kindergarten through eighth-grade classes as 30 students, far larger than is the case now in the typical Chicago classroom.

That round number — little mentioned despite months of public debate — provides the simplest explanation yet for parents, students and teachers trying to understand why their schools are among 129 that could face closing.

Setting a benchmark higher than what records indicate is reality across Chicago — and far higher than in many suburbs — indicates to some that Emanuel is willing to buck the popular notion that smaller classes produce better students who get more individual attention.

But state records show that actual classroom numbers are all over the map in Chicago, with some above 30 yet most well below. Last school year, for example, Chicago classes ranged from an average size of 23.8 in second grade to 25.1 in sixth grade, according to the state data. City class-size averages have been in the same ballpark for several years, the state records show.

Thirty is not the norm in most suburbs or downstate school districts either, according to state statistics that show most class sizes substantially below that.

The statewide average class size ranges from 20.9 in kindergarten to 22.8 in fifth grade.

Asked why they seized on the 30-student-a-class standard in calculations, school officials first told the Tribune that the number reflected the reality in a Chicago classroom today. Pressed on the discrepancy with state records, they said they didn't know where the state got its information and cast doubt on its accuracy. The state said it gets its data from CPS.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-03-06/news/ct-met-cps-school-closing-class-size-20130306_1_class-size-state-records-high-schools


Rahm's closing *only* black schools because they don't have 30 kids/per class. It's bullshite and it's racist.

[rhett o rick]

61. If you have done the research on this, please share. nm

[blkmusclmachine]

24. Blue Dog/Third Way/"New" Democrat

[woo me with science]

40. +1000000 Note the predictable, furious attempts already

to try to make this thread about some rogue individual named Rahm, as though he were not representative of the larger neoliberal problem we face right now within our own party, in Washington as well as in Chicago.

[nashville_brook]

57. precisely. Rahm who?

[byeya]

74. Rahm is the embodiment of the core values held by the DLCers or whatever you want to

call them. He is very far from being atypical and that's what's pathetic.

[xchrom]

26. du rec. nt

[byeya]

29. If Rahm is a Democrat why would anybody want to be a Democrat?

[Chisox08]

33. With Democrats like Rahm who needs Republicons

[AnotherMcIntosh]

34. They always point out that the Republican candidates, who also represent the super-rich, are worse.

Rahm and others are still riding on the coat-tails of FDR while actually operating more like Warren J. Harding and Herbert Hoover.

No matter what they actually do, they still deliver speeches and sound-bites to make it appear that they respect Democratic principles. What they really value is the &quot D)" label.

[byeya]

37. Agree with you: The "D" has, unfortunately, given neolibs protection from the left. Time to

read up on Eugene Debs and the IWW.

[lunasun]

76. IWW is headqtrd in Chicago !

agree with you

[nineteen50]

35. Wow!

Americans are beginning to wake up to the war on the public the commons the people.

[idwiyo]

51. K&R

[Fire Walk With Me]

52. Rahm used to work for Goldman Sachs. Smells of privatization/disaster capitalism. n/t

[Starry Messenger]

56. k&r

[Laelth]

68. Excellent essay. k&r for exposure. n/t

-Laelth

[AngryAmish]

70. In Chicago, TPTB have decided to make black folks move out

Running a city is easier when you have fewer poor people around. There is a ruling white/hispanic coalition that runs things. So black folks are being systematically made to feel unwelcome in Chicago.

This is the same thing that happened in NY under Guiliani and is currently happening in DC. The police is undermanned. Crime is sky high. The schools then are closed so black kids have to walk into rival gang territory to go to school. Well, the parents are just going to move away because they don't want their children dead.

Next fall there is going to be a bunch of murders of schoolchildren. The next step, in response to the murders, will be installation of a stop and frisk policy, which make more black people feel unwelcome.

The signs are clear: for African-Americans, Chicago is closed.

[Chisox08]

72. A huge chunk of Rahm Emanuel's votes came from the African American community.

I hope the people in my old neighborhood wakes up before it's to late. I went back there and pleaded with people not to vote for him, alot of the people I spoke to were blinded by his attachment to the Obama administration.

[lunasun]

78. and both B+Ws listened to whispers that Chico would favor Hispanics over other groups in Chicago

even though he is only 1/2 hispanic

Chico picked up endorsements from unions that represented, among others, police officers, firefighters, laborers, painters, operating engineers, iron workers, roofers, and sheet metal workers but could not hold a candle to the Rahmniacs in the end

55% to 24% was results per wiki but maybe he would have sucked too who knows

The day Rahm got elected I said was the day Chicago died
I was only glad that meant he would stay out of DC and away from Obama's ear
Back then people gave me dirty looks like you have to be kidding ...wonder what they would say today.........
and he still is not done
this was the schools and health clinics
Now today I say> wait it ain't over yet
more 2 come

[lunasun]

77. +1 -future land grab imo close to the lake so disassemble communities as a start

[Chisox08]

79. The neighborhood Calhoun is in, is close to downtown.

Developers have been trying to get the land in that area for years and now they just might get it.

[lunasun]

80. I see it is near west side yes