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We Must Destroy the Government in Order to Save It
A certain, macabre phrase came to personify the Vietnam War: “We had to destroy the village in order to save it.” The colonel who uttered it was doubtless oblivious to both the psychotic irony and the larger surreal symbolism that the phrase represented. Savage destruction was perfectly consonant with ideologically-intended salvation, just so long as both were issued by the same sanctimonious American official. Indeed, in some perverse medieval rendering of modern imperial justice, salvation could only be achieved through destruction.
The phrase might just as well be a rallying cry for the Tea Party Republicans and their holy jihad against government and the cooperative society that government represents: they must destroy it in order to save it. For that is unquestionably what the debt ceiling debacle is really about.
Let’s dispense once and for all with the fiction that the debt ceiling debate is anything but a contrivance to destroy government and the shared aspirations to civility that government represents.
The debt ceiling has been raised over 70 times and the sky hasn’t fallen. More to the point, and of signal importance, is that those people who actually put their money where their mouth is (as opposed to politicians, who put other peoples’ money where their mouth is), are only too happy to buy and hold U.S. federal treasury debt for a return of — wait for it — 3%.
That is the rate going into this charade for 10-year U.S. treasury bonds and it doesn’t even include the erosive effects of inflation. With inflation factored in, smart investors around the world are actually willing to take a negative rate of return — to get back less than they put in — in order to trust their money to the custody of the U.S. government. That’s how much of a “crisis” there actually is surrounding the debt ceiling
Equally important, the vast majority of the current deficit problem is actually very short-term in nature: a cyclical artifact of the Great Recession or of the residual policies of the prior Bush administration. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office reports that some 90% of the deficit owes to a) the Bush tax cuts; b) Bush’s two (now Obama’s five) unfunded wars; c) Bush’s unfunded $600 billion give-away to the pharmaceutical industry; and d) the greatest economic collapse since the Great Depression.
Without those forces, there is effectively no deficit problem at all. And the small problem that is left is entirely attributable to the out-of-control expenses of the free-market American health care system that costs twice as much as any other industrial nation’s system while delivering markedly inferior outcomes.
This is the truth. There is no U.S. debt crisis. Which isn’t to say that there isn’t a U.S. debt ceiling crisis. But the one has as much to do with the other as do chalk and cheese.
So, if there’s no real crisis, what’s the deal?
The deal is that the elites in the country, those who buy politicians the way you and I do groceries (and that includes Obama and the vast majority of Democratic party officials) have decided that too much of the nation’s wealth is going to the poor, working, and middle classes and that those peoples’ shares must be cut so that the money can be given to the very wealthiest people on the planet.
That is what Obama means when he says that “everything is on the table, including Social Security and Medicare.” The most successful social programs of the last 100 years, those supporting tens of millions of people, those that pay for themselves with their own dedicated payroll taxes, will have to be cut back so that a few thousand billionaires can afford another jet, another mansion, another island, another politician.
This is after the last 30 years (beginning with Reagan) when the share of national income going to the top 1% skyrocketed from 8% of national income to over 20%. This is when 80% of the entire economy’s growth over the last decade went to the top 1%. This is when the richest 1% of the population are paying the lowest rate of taxes in the past 50 years and when inequality in the country has reached the highest level since statistics started being collected, in 1917.
This is after we just finished transferring $11 trillion to the same ultra-rich through the banking bailout so that they wouldn’t have to suffer any losses on their sociopathically greedy bets that went bad and wrecked the economy. This is after the share of home equity wealth actually owned by American homeowners reached its lowest level, 45%, since the Great Depression. And this is at a time when 77 million Baby Boomers are entering retirement having just lost 1/3 of their life savings.
The rich need more. So everybody else had just better suck it in and resign themselves to less.
What is going on is a highly choreographed campaign to “manufacture consent” for the destruction of Social Security and Medicare so that that money can be liberated to give to the wealthy. It is exactly analogous to the campaign that preceded the Iraq War when the media invented “Weapons of Mass Destruction” and fictions about Saddam Hussein’s involvement in 9/11 to stampede the populace into an illegal colonial invasion to steal Iraq’s oil.
It is entirely made up, entirely orchestrated, with all the “players” singing from the same song book, and all getting greased from the crumbs that fall from the table of the super-rich. And it’s working, flawlessly.
The six-and-seven-figure stenographers on TV who pass themselves off as “journalists” intone nightly about the gravity of the situation, the need for “shared sacrifice,” and the impending calamity lest we shunt the money upwards even faster. So do it we must. After all, it was on TV.
The tragedy is Obama’s weaseling complicity in the pathetic affair. We have run out of epithets to condemn his sycophantic betrayal of the American people before his own imperial masters. Equally tragic is the destruction of democracy conveyed in the whole sordid matter, for vast majorities of the people want social programs protected and taxes raised on wealthy individuals and corporations that evade taxes.
Alas, it is not to be. It will be the weak who will be shorn, as it always seems to be.
And to be honest, we have to lay a sizable portion of blame on the American people themselves who have abjured their responsibility to their own interests and their country in favor of more titillation on the Internet, another season of Desperate Housewives re-runs, the next episode of American Idol. Diddling themselves with their own puerile indulgences, they have no time for calls to their Congressmen, letters to their editors, feet on the street in protest, or any, ANY, expression of mass outrage.
The astounding thing is how easy the whole thing has been, how readily the people capitulated to their own destruction in exchange for a little faux “stick-it-to-the-man” righteousness ladled out in the name of Tea Party indignation.
Come to think of it, perhaps the Tea Partiers are the real prophets in this whole Revelation after all, impelled by a fatalistic impulse in which greed is at once its own justification, its own means, its own method, and its own reward: destroy the government we must, for destroy it we will, because destroy it we can.
Is this a great country or what?
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102 Comments so far
Show AllIf Obama didn't constantly cave to every Republican demand in 2008 - 2010, we would not be in this mess.
Yup, what we needed was a LBJ to bang some heads together, but what we got was a Pee-Wee Herman. (No offense to Pee-Wee intended...)
LBJ was a mass murderer; that war criminal started the amerikan terrorist bombing of Vietnam !
>>>>"LBJ was a mass murderer"<<<<<
Yes he was. As well, he was an effective consensus builder. Civil Rights Act would not have passed without his leadership. And he was humble enough NOT to run for re-election.
Humans.......warts and all!
True. But to think, LBJ only had one war to his credit, while Obama has... honestly I lost count.
LBJ was a traditional FDR/New Deal democrat. His heart was in the great society & the furtherance of New Deal policies. LBJ knew who did the hit on JFK (the global financier mafia), and changed course, out of fear. He gave these economic royalists the war they wanted (to enhance MIC and continue destruction of FDR's america/nation of "the forgotten man"). He probably regretted "blinking" in a fit of cowardice, same as Kuchinich in his vote for the healthcare travesty. The global bankster syndicate are real heavy-hitting bastards.
I am afraid Obama has you still buying his consummate con job. He is part of the miasma of the corporatocracy and not the antidote to the problem.
Can't blame this on Obomber. Most of us are still buying into the consummate con job that the Democrats are better, but not much better, than the Republicans. WRONG! They are both working for the same boss---and you are not on that team. The title of this article has it right!! WE MUST DESTROY THE GOVERNMENT IN ORDER TO SAVE IT.
We must resolve never again to vote for a Dimocrap or a Repukelican. We must
talk to our fellow working (or used to be working) family, friends and neighbors. Talk about our issues that are 'off the table' in Congress---like end the war, tax the rich, get health care for all and end the Federal Reserve and the banksters control of our economy.
We must get out on the streets and make our demands known. Goggle Oct. 6, 2011 and see what is coming up on that day to get the government to let go of the corporate tit and listen to the people or we stop the machine.
they have no time for calls to their Congressmen, letters to their editors, feet on the street in protest, or any, ANY, expression of mass outrage....ANY....something begins.
My congress persons couldn't really give a fat rat's behind...they care very little about us if at all. A letter to the editior of our little paper if published, will illicit a dozen from Tea Party cups and saucers who abound in my short length of the Bible Belt. They are applauding the Tea Party renegades as true patriots. So feet on the street it is but the M$M won't cover a demo unless we can combine a protest with a tasty murder trial or the breakup of a celeb marriage. The poor have only themselves to blame and there aren't jobs because businesses are unsure of their financial future (record breaking profits not withstanding). They must subsist by making existing workers spend longer at work (see recent article in Mother Jones) for less money. Tough times for most....heads in the tough for way too many others. Balanced budget ammendent...groovy, most States demand balanced budgets in the face of revenue short falls within the States and decreased Federal funds already for many programs like Medicaid WIC etc. How is all that working for us at the LOCAL level?? Hands up, who remembers when there was a Federal budget surplus, not just a balance, and what happened to THAT? How many jobs were created from Dubbya's tax cuts, if it weren't for the increased enlistment in the services over the past 10 years I wonder want the enemployment numbers would look like NOW! Hint for an aspiring journalist...follow the financial problems of a soldier who is about to be foreclosed on and whose paycheck is in jepordy. Yes yes I know .... they shouldn't have joined up and knew the risks OK OK but the M$M just love stories about soldiers this might be a good undertaking for someone and at least be an alternative to transcribing sound bites!
People who believe that calls to their congressman or putting their feet on the street will do any good are definitely dreamers.
Not true. Funnel $100,000 or so into the congressman's coffers, and he/she will listen to whatever you have to say with a big grin on their stupid-ass face. Money talks, money buys votes, who needs to listen to some poor schmuck from their district whining. Things aren't going to change as long as things are just fine for the fat cats. If things get bad for the fat cats, however, they will come down hard and heavy on the little people and things will change for the worse. They want what you have, whatever you have, they want. So there are two solutions: 1) bicker among ourselves until we have lost everything (freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose) or 2) rise up as one and overthrow the whole lot (power to the people). My guess for the direction the American people are headed is number 1.
Excellent comment.
Mr. Freeman hits a bull's eye with:
"What is going on is a highly choreographed campaign to “manufacture consent” for the destruction of Social Security and Medicare so that that money can be liberated to give to the wealthy. It is exactly analogous to the campaign that preceded the Iraq War when the media invented “Weapons of Mass Destruction” and fictions about Saddam Hussein’s involvement in 9/11 to stampede the populace into an illegal colonial invasion to steal Iraq’s oil."
there are a couple of bull's eyes in this piece
"psychotic irony and the larger surreal symbolism" is the stuff of political discourse in the country
"The deal is that the elites in the country, those who buy politicians the way you and I do groceries (and that includes Obama and the vast majority of Democratic party officials) have decided that too much of the nation’s wealth is going to the poor, working, and middle classes and that those peoples’ shares must be cut so that the money can be given to the very wealthiest people on the planet."
bingo!
:This is after we just finished transferring $11 trillion to the same ultra-rich through the banking bailout so that they wouldn’t have to suffer any losses"
it was at least 23 trillion but who's counting really
"The rich need more. So everybody else had just better suck it in and resign themselves to less."
so what else is new
"What is going on is a highly choreographed campaign to “manufacture consent” for the destruction of Social Security and Medicare so that that money can be liberated to give to the wealthy"
he hit that one right out of the park
by the way - manufacturing consent - is noam chomsky's most popular book
"Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media (1988), by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky, is an analysis of the news media as business. The title derives from the phrase “the manufacture of consent” that essayist–editor Walter Lippmann (1889–1974) employed in the book Public Opinion (1922)."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing_Consent:_The_Political_Economy_of_the_Mass_Media
"The six-and-seven-figure stenographers on TV who pass themselves off as “journalists” intone nightly about the gravity of the situation, the need for “shared sacrifice,” and the impending calamity lest we shunt the money upwards even faster. So do it we must. After all, it was on TV."
that is manufacturing consent
"The tragedy is Obama’s weaseling complicity in the pathetic affair. We have run out of epithets to condemn his sycophantic betrayal of the American people before his own imperial masters"
out of the park
it's all a game of three card monte and when its done we shall be screwed out of our few remaining government benefits like social security and medicare
obummer will have that 1000 yard stare - mk ultra i suspect
pelosi has no facial expressions due to too much botox
reid will continue to appear as if his head is about to explode
the reps will continue to look like alien reptiles
and here's the kicker
"Four university researchers examined 16,000 common stock transactions made by approximately 300 House representatives from 1985 to 2001, and found what they call "significant positive abnormal returns," with portfolios based on congressional trades beating the market by about 6 percent annually.
What's their secret? The report speculates, but does not conclude, it could have something to do with the ability members of Congress have to trade on non-public information or to vote their own pocketbooks -- or both. "
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/24/members-of-congress-get-a_n_866387.html
what a scam
hey - don't they call it treason when someone sells out their country for personal gain
any government in any country, and that includes the US,is a tool in the hands of its creators. these are the influential institutions: the wealthy, the political intersts of foreign governments, and yes the US spreme court as had happened in appointing bush jr.one should start here at the creation points of government. at these points the poeple voice is silent and the propaganda machine of the powerfull is in high gear.the US democracy is in auction . it is hijacked by the highest bidders, literally moneys bidders, or blackmail or tempting offers.it looks like the last days of the roman empire when open auctions were created to buy the position of the emperor.
"After all, it was on TV."
Pretty much summarizes the average American's interest in, and understanding of, politics.
Modern tv, by simply broadcasting, does more effective population control than Orwell's tv that was able to see and squeal on its viewers.
If we can break the hammerlock this medium has on the popular mind, we might be able to disseminate progressive thought.
That's why the call whats on TV, "programming".
I have to say I find M$M news, and political talk shows pretty much unwatchable now. Plus with the constant drumbeat of the Orwellian "Crossroads GPS" I am having a hard time watching any of it any more.
"We must take away Obama's credit card", of course they leave out the part that this must be done so the Republicans can get their grubby little hands on it.
NC-Tom:
Having a tv is exactly as necessary to the good life as having hemorrhoids or syphilis.
I've never had syphilis, but I can tolerate hemorrhoids a lot more easily than I can stomach the news on TV.
My uneducated guess is that the totally embarrassing debt ceiling show will be the event that triggers the end of the US Dollar as the reserve currency of the world. I can't imagine that other countries are going to want to have their economies held hostage by the Tea Baggers and the crazy right that the Republican party has become. (This comment is by no means an endorsement of the Democrats either).
Once that happens the price of oil and other imports will skyrocket and you can stick the final fork in the US. I can't even begin to imagine what will come out of that, because you have some truly sick and clueless people on the right with gobs of corporate money that they can use to drive any message they want into the collective mind of the American People, with tools like Crossroads GPS.
Twisted soles like Rove, Norquist, the Koch brothers, etc. running the show from behind the scenes should send a cold shiver down the spines of anyone who still cares about this country and his/her fellow citizens.
NC-Tom
"(This comment is by no means an endorsement of the Democrats either)"
Oh, what a relief not another "FR"! (No offend intended).
NC Tom, I hear the ring of truth in your words. I do believe that powerful interests behind the scenes are working towards some evil goal, and quite possibly the replacement of the dollar as reserve currency is part of their plan. So then what is the next step? How does that bring them increased wealth and more to the point, more power? If it will bring them more, than sure as shit it will happen. But maybe if we could see their road map it would help us to destroy some strategic bridges in advance.
As someone else said here, Im guessing there is not some detailed giant master plan, just a bunch of very rich, very greedy people looking out for their own best interest. As long as their interests don't clash with each others they work together, or at least don't get in each others way. But ultimately they are looking out for themselves, and once some sub set of these elite risk the wealth of the others they will be dropped like a hot potato.
I wonder if the Koch brothers end up not be quite so thrilled about how the teabaggers work out for them in the end.
After they've wrung us dry, they will turn on each other. There can be only one "immortal". Won't that be something to see--bombs bursting in air, fallout everywhere, and a dying planet for the winner. Greed knows no bounds.
One of the most cogent and succinct articles I've seen on the so-called crisis.
But I disagree that the American public is at fault. The American public has no idea what's going on.
I watched the news this morning. The lead story on all channels was the debt debacle. But, while the stories should have led off with "Social Security and Medicare about to be gutted!" they said, of course, no such thing.
The average American is burned out, working harder for less and less. The average American doesn't have time to dig in and pay attention. And the overpaid talking heads and their masters are not telling them the truth.
When folks realize what's happened - when they have to work longer, when they have to take in their parents/live with their kids - they will go *crazy* with anger.
But there will be nowhere to direct the anger, since the party that has historically stood up for us has sold us out.
I totally agree with your comments. I believe that you and I were typing comments at the same time.
I agree, as well. The Buddhists teach that the level of karma accrued is directly attributable to the degree of motive and awareness on the part of any perpetrator. WERE the American people to have a TRUE understanding of how the right wing Koch Brothers (& such), created an astro-turf organization knowing the Fox "news" network would make full use of it, to push the premise of popularism into a pro-business, anti-regulatory groundswell, THEN we could hold them culpable. So a mitigating factor is found in the level of Average Joe Public's culpability...
It is true that many are lazy and not well-informed; and it is also true that the high costs and speed-driven pace of modern life leaves little time left over for genuine processes of inquiry or contemplation, so both factors figure into the net calculus of a woefully uninformed body politic. Single moms are struggling to get the kids to school so they can work and hopefully meet the bills. Two parent working families also struggle to keep up with rising gas, food, utilities, and health care costs. So many Americans resemble rats spinning on wheels inside their domestic cages.
Unfortunately, ignorance of the law (or how a society is violating it) grants no full immunity. I recommend we buy gas masks and body suits as the shit is going to hit the fan... and these protections will at least get us figuratively through the crisis of a shit storm that's NOT going to appear on the Weather Channel.
The next 3 years represent the greatest challenge to the nation (this is based on astrological data) that it's ever encountered... it's amazing that one key factor involves Pluto, making a once in 248 year opposition to the U.S. sun (July 4 = 11 degrees Cancer). So this planet, which indicates underworld or underground (or otherwise deadly, secretive forces intent upon breaking things down) is also associated with criminality. We talk of "underworld" figures... and this influence reaches an acme when a criminal segment, dressed in the costume of politicians, is likewise taking our nation down. Whether we call it plutocracy or not, the analogy between the planet involved and the process underway is only termed coincidence by the uninitiated.
Hindu teachings say the same: the motive and awareness of wrong actions determines the Karma. Intelligent, aware, criminals, obomber and other war criminals, bush/cheney, rice, clinton; at the politic/military level, being greedy, yet smart, but certainly NOT wise; have a lot of suffering ahead.
Ignorance, brainwashed by the empire controlled media, though not a free ride/ excuse; the bulk of the populace, and their complicity, are struggling along, and awareness is difficult to attain. So, maybe they will suffer less than the big deciders, as the Grand Change comes about in the next 3 years.
The Wheel IS turning; none can stop it !
I believe you are correct that the public has no idea what's going on. However, we are still guilty.
Anyone who invests in Wall Street in the form of IRAs, 401ks or any other instrument managed by investment people is consenting to give power to financial institutions to make money for them any way possible.
The only way I can see to break the backs of the rich and powerful is to stop playing their game.
Put your money (those of you that have any) into paying off your homes. Save for your kids educations. Don't borrow money! Bank with local banks. Buy products made by and sold by small US companies with no international ties.
Stop thinking about retirement vacations in the Bahamas and a second home in Mexico or whatever. Think about retiring to participate and contribute in the lives of your kids and grandkids.
Quit playing their game!
Terrific comments Mr. Freeman.
What I'm worried about is the increasing workload in the name of
"productivity".on those who have jobs. They are pressured to do more and more so they don't get laid off. They have little time for family, recreation, and rest. They certainly don't have time for political protests. They are living in economic fear. They are accused of being TV dupes who don't care while they are actually serfs in a malignant system. Maybe this isn't your life, but what about your children?
JMALH,
Interesting you mention "increasing workload" and "productivity". Did you know beside the well publicize recent Cisco massive layoff, RIM (Blackberry), Caterpillar and elsewhere, silently unknown to the public, the banks were continually cutting back after the 2008 debacles?
Yes, the banks are cutting hundred of thousands jobs all over the States, bit by bit without anyone knowing it. Much of the jobs went to the South where Salary & Fringe Benefits are lower. This is a still a very well kept secret.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Right_to_work.svg
Not that wiki is the be all resource, it is good in a pinch for a graphic.
Robert Freeman earns my sincerest respect for this fine article.
How many additional people hourly are having their lives shortened by the actions of the most powerful? The intention to kill does kill, eventually.
a lot more than the "terrorists," that's for sure. more like our govt. terrorizing us.
Our world is in an Ending Which Is A Beginning. All is not lost.
" The tragedy is Obama's weaseling complicity in the pathetic affair. We have run out of epithets to condemn his sycophantic betrayal of the American people before his imperial masters". Bulls eye! Mr. Freeman gets it! Excellent articles like these is why I financially support Common Dreams.
One more nonsensical solution because any new government will rapidly become just as venal as the old one and Obama's weaseling is not the fundamental problem at all. Karl Marx predicted that wage-earners (laborers) would eventually take over the production and distribution of goods and services for the good of the majority of a nation. It has not happened because the wage-earners have not (yet?) had the slightest desire to do that but instead always ask the government to do it for them which is known as "progressive politics". It did not even happen in the Russian and Chinese revolutions. Because wage-earners in our nation again watch TV and expect "Washington" to do it for them no good will ensue from the current fabricated impasse. There is the rub Mr. Freeman. In my opinion you are politically and historically as blind as the proverbial bat.
I agree with Crowsnest. Why are we as laborers giving the benefits and earnings of our work and production to just a few percentage of rich folks who don't create anything? The problem is Capitalism. Capitalism is antithetical to a democratic society. Who could have imagined that in a democratic society labor law would refer to "the Master-Servant Relationship"? As for people believing whatever they see on TV, it's called marketing. Convince people that they have to have whatever it is that they don't really need.
We are witnessing the most extreme class warfare in American history.
Your village may be next.
THE TWO BULLS AND A FROG
A pair of amorous bulls stood vying
Over a heifer both would woo and service
"Misery me!" a frog sat sighing,
Eyeing their combat-timorous, nervous;
Whereat one of her croaking kin
Queried: "Good gracious, why the fuss?"
"Why?" cried the frog. "For us, that's why!
For us!
One of those two is sure to win;
And when he drives his rival out,
Far from their green and flowering fields, what then?…
Then he'll come stomping over swamp and fen,
Trampling our reeds! And us as well, no doubt!
Tomorrow we'll be dead. And why? Because here, now,
Two bulls are fighting for some silly cow!"
Frog's dread predictions came to pass.
When the bull, defeated, seeks their dank morass,
Twenty compatriots an hour croak
Their final croak: a crushing fate!
Alas, 'twas ever thus. The little folk
Have always paid for follies of the great.
Jean de la Fontaine, circa 1670
Sad to say, from the standpoint of the "little folk", things have changed remarkably little in the past 340 plus years.
It wasn't a village in Vietnam that was "destroyed to save it." It was the former capital of Vietnam, the city of Hue. Excellent article, by the way. Thanks.
Obama is disappointing as far as fighting for the working class, he should have been in Wisconsin fighting for the rights of the people. Still our problem may begin with Fox news creating the teabaggers and giving Roves, the Koch Bros. Etc a vehicle in which to massacre the working class for money. I still hear keep the government out of my health care, what health care are you from Canada? If your from the US it's health insurance and you pay more than twice what you should and get half the results while the Ins ceo's get millions of fun money.
we need to come up with another way.... i have attended lots of street protests and spent ( aka wasted) a lot of my time talking to congresspeople and their staffers. it is all a waste of time. until millions surround these bastards with a ring of torches and pitchforks and storm the imperial fortress, we will only get kind nods and crumbs........ and i used to be a pacifist, but in these bastards world, thats just being a sucker
it is NOT ENOUGH to wake up and know whats going on..... it will still go on. please, some realistic suggestions of what the hell we can really do to stop it !!!
It's the sixty trillion dollar question, what can we do, they don't care about us. Well they don't care about you, or what you think, or do. They have completely bought into the belief that they create wealth through their cleverness out of nothing. Why should they care about you when they make money out of nothing? The notorious robber barons built up the country creating their wealth. Railroads, bridges, canals, even schools and libraries. The new super wealthy class in this country have created a slash and burn economy. The only thing they build are manipulated financial bubbles that they burst when ripe and collect their profits from the misery and the devastation they create. They are delusional so normal action means nothing to them. They are super successful so they must be very smart, their success is proof of the rightness of their actions. The rest of us just don't get it, and don't count because of it. We must disabuse them of this concept by hitting them where it hurts, in their purse. They must be made to understand, be made to believe, that if they continue to rape and plunder this country, they will not be safe behind their walls, in their schools, or in their accounts. The only thing they understand, or care about is money. This is not going to end well!
What can we do?
From ShadowDancer's posts:
"Life is good. What an experience! It's always best to forgive."
Just do what you can. It may start the avalanche.
I plan on doing what I have done all my life--follow the teachings of a great man who said "Love one another". It has never failed me. How unfortunate today that so many followers of this man have never actually followed him, and preach a "different gospel" of hate and envy.
Once the rich get everything they want, they might just find out they have nothing. Of course neither will anyone else...
I normally don't write anything or write something short but Freeman's inspired me to take a few minutes out of my day to respond at length.
Listen, I'm one of those lucky individuals who still has a job. My old man hasn't had a job for over 3 years. I used to count on his white collar job for our bread & butter. He has spent over 3 years looking for work, ANY work, ANY job that would take him, no matter what kind of shirt is required. We've both been forced to conclude they just don't WANT him. Not when they can get a kid fresh out of school to work for less without having to worry about the (very real) probability that they'll suffer an increasing number of ailments, forcing the employer to pay FMLA or otherwise hold the position open while the employee is recovering, or worse yet, have to invest in training a replacement. These health issues don't happen with 20 year old's but it's more common among the 40+ crowd. Each decade that passes, it becomes more inevitable. They know this and act accordingly.
Meanwhile, I have a good friend who is in her early 60's who was 'laid off' and has been waiting nearly a year to get the call to go back to work. Her job's biggest contract is with AT&T and they've all been assured that contract will move forward 'when the time is right.' AT&T is too busy gobbling up smaller companies who are going under due to the recession to get the contract going. So she has used up her unemployment and is now collecting Social Security. Early. At a smaller rate than she would if she'd been allowed to 'retire' at the proper age. I worry about her, she's a single woman with even fewer prospects than my old man.
I have a couple of friends in their late twenties at the bottom of the corporate totem pole who have also experienced 'changes' in their employment status over the last few years. They are young and have managed to find work. Even if their current jobs disappear, it's likely they can still scramble and get s--t jobs... for now. But even now, they're not making what they used to make a mere 5 years ago.
Me, I work hard for my pay, do as much if not more than two people in my position should be doing. I come home after a week of slogging it out full tilt at the busiest time of year - exhausted and drained, and asking my old man to take out the trash and do the dishes once a day is about the most you can get out of me! I barely have energy to keep up with what's going on in the world (I don't watch tv so I get my news on the internet - it's a little more palatable here but honestly, it's still 'programming'), and sign a few petitions and send emails to my reps. If they held a rally Downtown, I'd have a hard time mustering the energy to join. The rallies we've had over the last few years have been for smaller, less important causes than what this article is talking about. Don't expect me there.
NOT THAT IT WOULD MAKE A DAMN BIT OF DIFFERENCE. It won't.
If I lose my job we'll be too busy packing and selling off our stuff in order to move into our car (before they repo it) on our way to couch surfing, on our way to a shelter or cardboard box. Like many many other people, we don't have parents or kids we can move in with.
I'm sure I'm not alone. My case isn't the worst and I know it, and I'm grateful every day we can still pay the rent. (We just lost our roommate and have to replace her, in order to be able to keep doing that.)
Mr. Freeman can complain about the American public all he wants. MANY of the people he's making these remarks about are in the same boat as me. I'm far from lazy, and far from dumb, but there are other, larger, mitigating factors that have led up to this.
And face facts: regardless of our political persuasions, we're all 'programmed.' We all believe in a story that is nothing but a fiction that makes reality look better, more manageable, more controllable. If you can point a finger and say 'they're to blame!' you think you have a handle on things.YOU DON'T. And the people really running things don't give a damn what you think as long as you continue to go along to get along.
I've been able to come to terms with the truth. Those happier, more comfortable times are over, and the show is what it always has been: smoke & mirrors, a drama to hide what's being done behind the scenes. They are creating the future the way THEY (moneyed interests) want it. And this is the way it's always been. I dare anyone to prove otherwise.
The unemployment rate will have to rise further and the misery index rise further too, before you have riots in America (sorry, rallies won't do jack to achieve the kind of change that's needed). And riots will be met with military force. Those of us smart enough or lucky enough or young enough to have jobs will just be too TIRED. The unemployed and homeless cannot organize. Expecting the employed but tired and worn out people to escalate and keep escalating that fantasy scenario is to expect the highly unlikely. To get that level of change, we'd all have to be unemployed, and that would mean the system had collapsed entirely. They will not allow that to happen. They're not that stupid.