American society thrives on flux. Relocating to a new town, adopting an alternate identity on the Internet, even swapping one's gender are within the realm of possibility. Marx once wrote, "All that is solid melts into air." This dictum evokes the destabilizing logic of capitalism, eroding national borders, dissolving traditions and everything else that blocks the free circulation of money, commodities, and desire. We cultivate a kind of collective amnesia (as numerous European commentators pointed out in the wake of 9-11), filtering out events that don't further America's optimistic... More >>>