Jewish Voters Push-Polled

Jewish voters in two states have reported they were asked leading questions during a phone survey intended to discredit Barack Obama and sway their opinion. What do you think?

Ryan Keegan,
Machinist
“And right in the middle of Elul, too, when Jews are at their most suggestible.”

Ron Gust,
Housekeeper
“I’m more concerned by the implication that Republicans carry around a list of Jews.”

Amy Powell,
Human Resources Manager
“I always forget: What are the two states that have Jews again?”

Today’s video of the day is R. Kelly’s first post-trial interview. I nearly wet myself in the first 15 seconds. This man is out of control!!!!!

Message of the Day: Fuck R. Kelly

Capitalism and the Housewife
By Matthew Birkhold

I often run into both men and women who think that the best type of family is one where men provide and women stay home to raise children and take care of the house.  When I ask them why they feel this way, they normally say something like, “Because that’s the way it’s supposed to be,” or, “I just don’t want my wife working,” or, “If I worked, I might make more money than my husband and I don’t think that’s right.”  Some people evoke god as the reason this is the best family structure.  Whatever reason people give isn’t the point.  The point is, that from its inception, this type of family structure has been used to oppress women.

Before European societies transitioned from feudalism to capitalism, women worked alongside their entire families in agriculture because technology had not yet progressed to a point where farming could be done efficiently.  Accordingly, all family members had to work.  In these feudal societies, according to North Carolina State History professor John Riddle, women had complete control over their reproductive rights and often used a series of herbs and potions that quickened a woman’s period, provoked abortion, or created sterility as forms of contraception.

In a struggle that continues today however, by the mid 16th Century, women had lost control of their reproductive rights.  If women at one point had legal access to contraception and abortion, why did they lose that right only to gain it back in the 1950s and 1970s then have it constantly attacked thereafter?  The answer can only be located historically.

According to Hofstra University professor of African Studies Silvia Federici, woman’s loss of control over their reproductive rights can be traced to the needs of the emerging capitalist economy.  In the early 1600s, the world experienced a dramatic reduction in population largely due to disease.  European colonizers killed indigineous Americans on contact while smallpox spread throughout Europe and the Americas killing even more.  This meant that there were less people to buy things and therefore markets shrank.  According to Federici, because these shrinking markets threatened to destroy Europe’s newly developing capitalist economy, the state stepped in.

Guided by a belief in Mercantilism, which made a large population the key to prosperity and national power, the state outlawed contraception in an attempt to force women to reproduce.  Because the majority of workers were poor, the state’s intervention in reproduction led to the emergence of a welfare system and forced men with newborns and pregnant wives to work more.

As the size of markets increased, more things were purchased and therefore more workers were needed.  Consequently, according to Federici, “The family was given a new importance as the key institution providing for the transmission of property and the reproduction of the workforce.  Simultaneously, we have the beginning of demographic recording and the intervention of the state in the supervision of sexuality, procreation, and family life.”

In many ways, we can blame the historical legacy of Mercantilism for the lack of legal control women had over their reproductive system up until the 1950s.  However, the cultural impact of mercantilism has lasted much longer.  While we certainly don’t want to see it this way, the importance of motherhood to being a woman is an invention of capitalism.  Capitalists needed people to buy their products and needed people to work in their factories.  To accomplish this, the state forced women to reproduce on the terms of capitalists instead of their own.  While capitalists no longer need women to reproduce according to labor needs, men and women both engage in a style of reproduction designed to meet the needs of capitalists.

I’d like to live in a world where we reproduced completely on our own terms.

Matt Birkhold is a Binghamton, NY based writer and educator.  He can be reached at birkhold(at)gmail(dot)com.   

Terrorism Training Videos Yanked From YouTube

The new community guidelines for YouTube ban users from uploading videos that incite violence or teach violent activities, like bomb making. What do you think?

Pat Olifant,
Carpenter
“That’s a relief. There’s no telling what kind of havoc a group of YouTube-trained terrorists could cause.”

Jill Wikler,
Volleyball Coach
“Also, they should stop terrorism in places besides YouTube.”

Mike Harmon,
Terrorist
“Oh man, how’s my start-up terrorist group supposed to get the word out now? Flyers?”