Matt Taibbi and Sam Seder on the liberal aesthetic

This blog focuses largely on presentation, however it is meaningless if it's not authentic or credible. In June, Matt Taibbi was on Sam Seder's show talking about his piece in Adbusters Magazine critiquing American liberalism. Matt contends that liberals have a victim complex and that their representatives are not connected to the traditional causes and concerns of liberalism. Matt is critical of liberals not only in the way they've chosen to present themselves (victimhood), but also its execution (Rich white college kids as victims).

MATT TAIBBI: ...the people who are the public voice of American liberalism rarely have any real connection to the ordinary working people whose interests they putatively champion. They tend instead to be well-off, college-educated yuppies from California or the East Coast, and hard as they try to worry about food stamps or veterans’ rights or securing federal assistance for heating oil bills, they invariably gravitate instead to things that actually matter to them – like the slick Al Gore documentary on global warming, or the “All Things Considered” interview on NPR with the British author of Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook.

Read the full Adbuster's article, The American Left's Silly Victim Complex here

Sam and Matt have a fascinating discussion on the aesthetics of liberalism. How activists need to refocus their energy on being the change they want to see.

MATT TAIBBI: It's not that there not exercising it, they are just not acting like it. If you're showing up at a war rally in a 'Cat in the Hat' hat and stilts... is that a person who you'd think would consider themselves a member of the ruling class in this country. These are rich white college kids, these are the future rulers of this country. They are not acting like people who are preparing to take leading positions in society.

Listen to Matt and Sam's full discussion here

- Go to Matt Taibbi's blog
- Visit the Adbusters homepage
- Read Matt's article in Adbusters
- Listen to the discussion between Sam and Matt on Liberal presentation