Outrageous Malfunction

A fairly silly bit of puffery about the mullet was picked up by the AP this weekend; light-hearted though it may be, they took the time to get in some jabs about gun owners:

According to Ashley Doane, the co-author of “White Out: The Continuing Significance of Racism,” which examines white culture, ethnicity and stereotypes, the term “mullet” has evolved from a hairstyle to a pejorative label similar to “redneck,” “hillbilly” or “white trash.” All those terms can carry negative stereotypes of “barefoot, beer-swilling, cousin-marrying, NASCAR-loving and gun-toting,” said Doane, a professor of sociology at the University of Hartford, in Connecticut.

Project much? Short of cousin-marrying, I’ve done, been, or am all of those things. Looking around, I see Ashley is a Marxist, among other things:

Early in the 20th century, revolutionary socialism was not only gaining momentum but appeared destined to conquer the world. By mid-century, the red flag flew over capitals in Eastern Europe, Russia, China, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Central America; by the 1970s over one-third of the world’s population lived under socialist regimes. All that has changed. With the 20th century drawing to a close, the political map of the globe looks very different: most socialist states have collapsed, revolutionary movements have been abandoned, and the United States stands as the world’s lone superpower. This unique volume examines these changes–the “defeat” of Marxism–and suggests that the present historical juncture is but a temporary setback in the march of the working class. The authors propose that Marxism remains the most useful approach in understanding and explaining contemporary capitalism and its decay, as well as the only path toward the liberation of society from class exploitation.

From the introduction to Marxism Today.