Mike Davis speaks on how the right is spinning the tragedy as a triumph of Republican values.
Thursday, November 1, 7-9 pm
City Heights Rec. Center
4380 Landis (at Fairmount)
Free and open to the public
Celebrated historian Mike Davis is the author of In Praise of Barbarians, Planet of Slums, Ecology of Fear, and many other influential books. In this provocative talk, he shows that as soon as the fires started, right-wing politicians in San Diego, Sacramento, and around the nation began to apply their spin.
The media coverage has glorified the “heroic” Republican leaders of San Diego, contrasting them to “corrupt & ineffective” Black Democrats in New Orleans. Bush and Schwarzenegger have been scrambling for chances to hug firefighters for the cameras. And every chance they get, they crow about how San Diego’s evacuation was “orderly and civilized” (versus some other places).
These same politicians are responsible for pro-sprawl policies that site subdivisions in the middle of natural fire zones. They’re also responsible for the anti-tax stance that’s starved fire departments and other emergency responders of equipment and personnel.
Instead of acknowledging that they set the stage for an unnatural disaster, they’ve hammered the theme of homeland security, even implying that undocumented immigrants might be responsible for the fires. Half the county has burnt to the ground but the politicians and news anchors haven’t stopped grinning for a minute. They’re trying to spin this disaster as a triumph of Republican values. But it’s really a bonfire of right-wing vanities.
Sponsored by Haymarket Books and the International Socialist Organization
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How can I get in touch with Mr. Mike Davis?? Thank you!