An Institutional theory of the Bourgeois

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > An Institutional theory of the Bourgeois

My Imaginary GF: Jul 17, 2005; by R. Guyovich

There is no such thing as bourgeouise, OP. There are Americans, American interests, and unamerican activities; participation in institutional structures is a fundamental American institution.

What is the highest level of education you've completed, OP?

# ¿ Jul 11, 2015 19:16

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# ¿ May 15, 2024 22:37

My Imaginary GF: Jul 17, 2005; by R. Guyovich

TheLovablePlutonis posted:

*slams stamp marked "Middle-Class white boy who read his first Zizek book"* Next!

Yeah, dude needs to experience some institutional logic first-hand before he continues to make grand pronouncements.

Institutions are what seperates civilization from anarchy: they are the method through which one obtains plausible deniability when seeking to gently caress someone else over, and for that, they're really quite great.

OP needs to read some texts from Fukuyama and Dr. Kissinger so that OP can have a well-rounded perspective on institutional logic.

ps zizek is poo poo

# ¿ Jul 11, 2015 20:15

My Imaginary GF: Jul 17, 2005; by R. Guyovich

glowing-fish posted:

Here is a concrete example of bourgeois attitudes towards institutions in action:

In the early 2000s, Merck Pharmaceuticals marketed a drug called "Vioxx", an NSAID that was about as effective as other NSAIDs, but also caused a great risk of heart attack. Merck had intentionally distorted the drug's risk of cardiovascular problems.

This is not a conspiracy theory, this is the FDA's finding, that a pharmaceutical company lied about a drug that went on to kill somewhere between 25,000 and 60,000 people. Although Merck did suffer civil penalties, there was never (AFAIK) any criminal punishments involved. The American Medical Association suggested that maybe new drugs shouldn't be advertised so aggressively on television, but I don't think anything came of it.

Compare the relatively resigned reaction to the deaths of around 50,000 people through intentional fraud to the usual reactions when someone who is not supported by the mainstream medical community harms people with medical treatments. The bourgeois gave the benefit of the doubt in the case of Vioxx, because they believe that the institutions involved, corporations, the medical establishment, academic researchers and the like, are basically sound and trustworthy, because institutional reality is valid reality. Compare this to how the bourgeois would react to someone whose advocacy of say, colloidal silver, led to even one or two deaths.

Yeah, lapses in regulatory oversight occur.

You ever work in the public sector before? You haven't answered one question of mine, which leads me to believe that you're a college freshman out to strike it in the world for the first time.

# ¿ Jul 11, 2015 22:37

My Imaginary GF: Jul 17, 2005; by R. Guyovich

glowing-fish posted:

So say I meet...a 45 year old lawyer, pretty liberal, works for a timber company, came from a middle-class family, went to a mid-tier private university...and who, while being pretty liberal, kind of uses that background as a metric of what he expects other people's experiences to be? What is the word to describe the expectations and background someone like that would have?

(Hint: it starts with a "B")

Actually, it starts with an "A"

That background is "American".

# ¿ Jul 12, 2015 06:47

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > An Institutional theory of the Bourgeois