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current Monday
Report below!
This week's report by Steve Kostecke, ULA
Even the Left Ain't Got It Right
Believe it or not, the left-leaning, respite-from-the-fascist-right weekly
magazine The Nation (established 1865) has exposed itself as clueless and
corrupt as any other establishment mag or foundation when it comes to
handing out awards.
They’ve awarded the 2004 Puffin/Nation Prize to Barbara Ehrenreich for her
book Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. King Wenclas
brought the prize up a few weeks ago in his blog—focusing on how the rich
do research on the poor in temporary-immersion style, like cultural
anthropologists studying Amazon forest tribes. Me, I’ve got something
further to add.
The Puffin/Nation Prize is, according to the Puffin Foundation website,
“given annually to an American citizen who has challenged the status quo
with a distinctive, courageous, imaginative, socially responsible work of
significance.” Ehrenreich’s book fits this description definitely—no
argument there. No argument about the importance of her book at all and
how (though Gorillas in the Mist style) books like hers need to be written and
read by those living within the confines of the American Empire.
So what’s the problem? What further complaint could a ULA-er have?
Ehrenreich’s book is a bestseller (and glad that it is). It’s already surpassed
the one million sales mark and has become assigned reading in more than
600 colleges and public high schools—which, by the way, will guarantee that
those sales continue. This means that Ehrenreich has scored bigtime with
this book—she’s made enough money on it to hoist her up into the upper tax
brackets this year.
The question is: does someone who has recently acquired this much wealth
deserve to be handed an additional $100,000? This is the amount of the
Puffin/Nation Prize.
Add to this the fact that the awardees are chosen by an anonymous panel of
judges (read: lack of accountability), and the fact that Ehrenreich is a
longtime contributor to The Nation (read: welcome to the club), and what do
you perceive?
What we have here is yet a further example of the awards ceremonies of the
literary-industrial complex as being nothing more than the connected rich
unabashedly shoving money down each other’s throats. And if confronted
about this, you would hear in defense the tireless mantra: “Monetary awards
are not based upon financial need.” This is like saying: The distribution of
food is not based upon those who are hungry; or: The administration of
vaccinations are not based upon those who are at risk. I could go on and on
with examples (no matter how much that first one terribly rings true).
Literary award money should be spread around to those who truly need it.
Monetary awards should completely be based upon financial need. And
anybody or publication—especially with an avowed social awareness, like
The Nation—should very much be aware of that.
This makes the Puffin/Nation Prize one more sham and disgrace to the act
and art of written expression.
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