ABSTRACT
A state of permanent crisis afflicts humans, nature, and inanimate things, providing the background for the works of Auster, Jarmusch and Waits. The Other America has routinely depicted the victims of a decaying system, whose number, through the years, has grown to include members of the middle class. It is a picture of a “mutilated country” that has failed many of its young citizens, imposing dogmas of economic rigor and efficiency, and dilapidating its social safety nets. The crisis observed through the narrative of the Other America offers a window on real problems of a country that is facing cultural, economic and political decline. Through the years, Auster, Jarmusch and Waits have touched upon such issues as the shrinking standards of living, the disappearance of a welfare state, the eruption of violent protests, the fear of chaos and conflict, dilapidation of major urban centers, and exploitation of nature. This state of decline is ascribable to the political and cultural changes of the so-called age of neoliberalism. The general crisis generates a loss of faith in the future which fuels individualism and weakens a shared social conscience. Against the decline, these works seem to promote a renewed belief in a common goal of economic justice and democracy.
