Friday, January 29, 2010

6 Uses For a Dead Mall

Posted by Mickey Z on 01/29 at 06:59 AM
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  1. Oh wow, these lines in the post really sparked something inside me.

    “Moral of this tale? I suggest we revive the movie theaters for their original function but find much more progressive uses for all those deserted malls...like maybe re-open them as “museums of the consumption age” or simply use them as roomy places to plan the looming eco-revolution.”

    Museums of the consumer age.

    I can imagine being opened, but left with a feeling of decay and abandonment. The exhibit plaques would say stuff like,

    “Consumer fashion wear. Would be out of fashion in 6 months. Advertising would put mental stress on consumers that attacked their self-worth if not up to date on fashions. Made by children in India for less than 5 cents an hour. Key components, Oil based fibres and animal skin products. Production of a full run of garments would lead to direct immiseration of an entire town based around factory, plus countless deaths in current resource wars.”

    Posted by Andy from Shanghai  on  01/29  at  07:16 AM

  2. Thanks, Andy. I originally wrote the museum thing as a throw-away line but like you, it struck me as something more profound. Perhaps a post all to itself one day.

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  01/29  at  08:39 AM

  3. Great thing to bring up about the malls.

    I have an idea…

    If, like me, you like to eat mushrooms, then apparently indoor dark places can be ideal spots to grow them so we could all move to a mushroom based diet.

    Posted by michael from not scotland  on  01/29  at  08:41 AM

  4. Hmmm...dark places do work well as “grow houses” (wink, wink).

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  01/29  at  08:42 AM

  5. Good morning Mickey, Michael, Andy, and all…

    I voted. Thanks for this one, Mickey. This is great…
    his tenacity
    like steel behind twinkling eyes
    gentle warrior

    About movies...I rarely go. Last one I saw was Sicko but I recently went again and saw “Extraordinary Measures”. The true story of a fight against the medical/pharma/research ‘system’.  Worth seeing.

    On DN today, Jeremy Scahill did a report on the Blackwater killings. Very impressive.

    About dead malls, yes they should definately be put to use. I would like to see them transformed into permanent low income housing.  Sadly the system is rigged to prevent that. Zoning regulations are a big problem. We live in an ‘every man for himself’ culture.

    Posted by RMJ from Ward Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts  on  01/29  at  10:46 AM

  6. Hi all. RMJ, I’m going to nitpick one of your p¨Öę¨Öęme ways we don’t live in an ‘every man for himself’ culture. I’m thinking of the protection of property, which is what the powerful rally themselves around. Take for example the responses to Hurricane Katrina, or the fact that the Marines and not the Army Corps of Engineers were sent to Haiti. Or your example: zoning regulations. If it were every man for himself, squatting would not be illegal. Empty structures plus people in need of shelter should always trump zoning.

    In one of the Zinn’s Three Holy Wars speech he talks about a discrepancy between the Declaration of Independence and the Consititution: “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” was changed to “life, liberty, and property”.

    Posted by Keir from here and there  on  01/29  at  11:07 AM

  7. Hi Keir...Thanks for the response. The ‘every man for himself’ aspect of US culture is what makes squatting necessary.  If there was empathy and concern for others there would be no homeless. I see an obscene lack of compassion every day. By contrast, I am usually impressed with what I see in other cultures. Some examples - other countries have a more compassionate medical delivery system for all. In the US I have often heard, “I have insurance so why should I care about anyone else.” The US gives less in humanitarian aid than any other industrialized nation.  The US spends more on the military than any other nation. That is the ultimate in lack of empathy - spending money to kill. The ‘every man for himself’ syndrome is so common I sometimes refer to it as “Up the drawbridge syndrome”.

    In the US ‘every man for himself’ has become so prevalent that blaming the victim is a national sport. The poor are often told that they deserve their plight because of some moral deficiency. Remember the myth of the welfare Mom who always arrived at the Welfare Office in a Cadillac.

    There are exceptions to what I say. I have seen many who are moved to action by compassion for others but those people are in the minority.

    I agree with what you say about people being more important than property. I have always said that no one should be allowed to own a second home, while there are homeless people.  Every second/vacation home should be given to a homeless family. That would shake things up a bit.

    Posted by RMJ from Ward Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts  on  01/29  at  11:48 AM

  8. I know a Prof in Paris who did some research a few years back, he said there were 2 million empty homes in France (flats, houses, 2nd holiday homes of Brits etc)...and there were 84 thousand homeless people. The first word to be removed from the Newspeak Dictionary should surely be “logic”...or maybe “compassion”.
    captcha says: economic

    Posted by Rick (the Cartoonist) from England  on  01/29  at  01:03 PM

  9. “I agree with what you say about people being more important than property. I have always said that no one should be allowed to own a second home, while there are homeless people.  Every second/vacation home should be given to a homeless family. That would shake things up a bit.”

    Good idea.

    Posted by Andy from Shanghai  on  01/29  at  01:24 PM

  10. Hello again..,.from frigid Astoria.

    Wouldn’t it be nice if we lived in a culture that helped nurture a mindset in which no one would even want a second home?

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  01/29  at  01:31 PM

  11. Hi Andy, Mickey, Rick, and all…
    This conversation has reminded me of the Ben & Jerry’s policy on wages. I believe that it was their original policy (now changed) that no one should be paid more than 6 times the lowest wage. The CEO would have to accept 6 times the janitor’s pay.  I think that is a little unfair and I would prefer it if no one was paid more than twice the minimum wage.  All excess income could be taxed at 100%. That would solve a lot of problems. Let AIG and the rest of the banks pay excessive wages - just tax them at 100%.  We would have health care and housing for all.

    Posted by RMJ from Ward Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts  on  01/29  at  02:04 PM

  12. Hi all, I’d like to see everyone get paid the same, 1 days work = 1 days pay. I’ve heard the argument that people would accept a basic job and wouldn’t want any more responsibility, but the way I picture it is that we’d have a community-mind-set so we’d want to better ourselves and test our abilities...without an economic reward being a necessity. That mind-set already exists, people don’t do volunteer work or become teachers or nurses for the money. Some not-so-nice jobs could be split amongst the community, 1 day a month working at the sewage plant each. That’s what I’d hope for, or something close.

    A joke for you: A rabbit sees a crow sat high up in a tree, hardly doing anything. The rabbit likes that idea, and sits on the grass and does nothing too. A fox appears and eats the rabbit.

    Moral of the story? If you’re going to sit around doing nothing, you’ve got to make sure you’re high up! (i.e. Management).

    Posted by Rick (the Cartoonist) from England  on  01/29  at  03:19 PM

  13. VFP and Zinn...Mickey, you would like my friend on the photo with the beard. He is an atheist, vegan, etc.  He is also a bit of a hero. He gave one of his kidneys to save the life of his son.
    http://tinyurl.com/yd7lfea

    Rick...Good ideas you have there. The most rewarding work is unpaid.  And yes, there should be extra compensation for unpleasant work.

    Posted by RMJ from Ward Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts  on  01/29  at  03:47 PM

  14. I think Che said something about the most rewarding work being voluntary.

    I decided that today I would tell some people about Howard Zinn. I’ve done that.

    I watched a bit of breakfast TV News this morning, there was a great in-depth surely journalistic award-winning masterpiece...on a fashion show in Japan where the clothes were made of chocolate.

    Posted by Rick (the Cartoonist) from England  on  01/29  at  04:24 PM

  15. Yea Rick...It is amazing that so many do not know about Zinn. I once had a conversation with an AP high school teacher who had never heard of him. That amazed me. I only saw brief mention of his death on CNN. Unbelievable.

    Posted by RMJ from Ward Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts  on  01/29  at  04:33 PM

  16. I watched Blair’s thing this afternoon.

    He was speaking to the “independent” inquiry about the iraq war. i use the inverted commas because in the UK when they have an inquiry into the government the government chooses not only the investigators but also the frame of reference (the question) for the investigation (i am NOT making this up) i.e. what it is allowed to investigate and what it isn’t.

    Basically, after watching it and also watching the journalists going on about what an incrdible grilling he was getting (he wasn’t) i have reached the conclusion that there isn’t enough vomit in the world.

    Posted by michael from not scotland  on  01/29  at  04:57 PM

  17. I even have to use this quote…

    “One’s spleen isn’t really big enough to explode with all the splenetic juices of fury that this arouses”

    Posted by michael from not scotland  on  01/29  at  04:59 PM

  18. Sad but predictable:
    http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=4009

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  01/29  at  05:59 PM

  19. Mickey i didnt know which the strategy would be…

    1- ignore him cos they dont want him to have the extra publicity

    2- vonnegut style fox news hatchet job

    I still think mainly it is 2 they are doing.

    Posted by michael from not scotland  on  01/29  at  06:05 PM

  20. unrelated…

    there has been a lot of talk on here about we should be getting more involded with mainstream ideas in order to get radical ideas in there…

    so vote bill hicks, you can do it… you don’t need to register and it may well get bill hicks to an audience of millions that have never seen him before (tho of course if they have to show something they will only show dick jokes)

    the polls close in 50 minutes so do it now if u can…

    http://bit.ly/6ddT9N

    Posted by michael from not scotland  on  01/29  at  06:08 PM

  21. Michael: I voted for Hicks and a few others. As for Zinn, here’s a telling fact: The guy was 87 but the NY Times didn’t have an obit already prepared. they have obits ready to go over 1000 others. So now, as the Web cooks with Zinn’s praises, the mainstream is forced to react with slander.

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  01/29  at  06:14 PM

  22. It isn’t surprising.

    Did you know that there was a mistake a few years before she died and half of murdoch’s empire started running obits on the queen mother?

    Might i also point out (in the spirit of howard zinn ) that she was an old sow and had british fascist leader oswald mosley round to tea at buckingham palace.

    Posted by michael from not scotland  on  01/29  at  06:23 PM

  23. RMJ, point taken (#7). But part of what I meant is that the powerful do not have an ‘every man for himself’ mentality. They actually band together tightly to protect what is actually a very weak grip on the reigns of power. It’s like that Vonnegut quote Mickey favors: “There is no reason good can’t triumph over evil, if only angels will get organized along the lines of the mafia.”

    Rick (#12) love that joke. Michael (#16) there is, there is enough vomit in the world! It just masquerades in suits, telling people where to drop bombs.

    Posted by Keir from here and there  on  01/29  at  07:28 PM

  24. Keir

    http://www.arrestblair.org

    if you read the blurb it is pretty sweet.

    Posted by michael from not scotland  on  01/29  at  07:36 PM

  25. that is the functional part but there you go.

    At least Bush didnt have the intellgience to be sanctimonious about it all.

    I can’t stand it.

    As another blogger put it…

    “they made it so easy for him that not only did he manage to avoid prosecution...he laid the ground work for the invasion of Iran”

    Yes, truly...there isn’t enough vomit in the world.

    Posted by michael from not scotland  on  01/29  at  07:39 PM

  26. A pleasant surprise:
    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/30/opinion/30herbert.html?th&emc=th

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  01/30  at  07:35 AM

  27. Mickey…

    that was remarkably sane for the NYT.

    Posted by michael from not scotland  on  01/30  at  08:35 AM

  28. Eerily sane, I’d say.

    Anyway, I just put up a new post that features some good writing news and a Planet Green post inspired by something Michael sent me a while back.

    See you all there…

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  01/30  at  10:35 AM

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