As I’m reading Days of Rage, I want to introduce everybody to my 2013 review of a book by Weatherman Bill Ayers.
I still vividly remember from the book how these mega rich people employed the services of a psychoanalyst who was something crazy famous like Jung’s disciple, or something. They’d have their every whim catered to while they played at being working class revolutionaries.
As a student from Bolivia said today in class, “In South America, all of the rich people are right-wing. But here in the US, the richer they are, the more they are to the left.”
Another thing I remember from the book is what an absolute soul-crushing ogre Ayers’s wife Bernardine Dohrn was in his portrayal. I think she probably abused him because he sounded completely beaten down by her. Mind you, he doesn’t complain. To the contrary, he behaves like a typical abused wife, protesting how hugely important and wonderful Bernardine is in a shrill, terrified tone.
Ayers and Dohrn were such African-American wannabes that they called their very white children Zayd and Malik. Both sons turned out well, though, because the rich parents bought a gigantic amount of psychological help for them.
I usually forget everything I can’t use for work immediately after reading it. That I retained so much from a book read over a decade ago is a sign that Ayers is a talented author. The writing was just so gosh-darn upbeat. Nice, nice book.