http://bucknacktssordidtawdryblog.blogspot.com/2014/01/a-simple-test-for-conservative-poverty_17.html
Mon Jan 20, 2014 at 10:55 PM PST
The
temperature was perfect, I'd say about 68 degrees or so. I was parked,
with the passenger window opened half way, looking at a beautiful
waterway just a few feet away; there was this fountain shooting water up
at least 15 feet in the air, ducks waddling nearby, a flock of geese
flying in formation passing right overhead. I've never been in this
particular area of Redwood Shores, so I was really enjoying the
moment... I could see the Oracle buildings not too far away. I was in the area for a late-morning business meeting with a prospect.I also noticed the people walking around in this particular neighborhood. Everything looks and feels different than when you're in other sites, like in some areas across the San Mateo bridge. Here, one of the most expensive areas in the U.S., there are neighborhoods and towns that are just so much affluent than others, and you can feel it in the air, just looking around.
Every time I'm in affluent neighborhoods, or interacting with rich or well-off people, I'm reminded of what seems to be an almost impossible challenge to make them understand that the country is unraveling, that we've almost transitioned to full-blown fascism (almost), that we as a country are facing a veritable fork in the road, and that the time to make a decision as to which way to go is now.
But the fascism of today is a new type; one for the times we're in. It's wholly impersonal, amorphous. And I think that because of that, it is extremely hard to help people understand that it is fascism nevertheless.
We are all familiar with admonitions by historical figures about the importance of remaining vigilant when it comes to safeguarding democracy; with warnings about how fragile freedom, democracy, equality, justice, and the rule of law can be.
By now we should come to terms with the realization that those warnings were well-founded, based on very painful lessons about tyranny and oppression throughout history. And the reason we should come to terms with that reality is because whatever remnants there were of our moribund democracy, they are now gone, as we have transitioned to Corporate State fascism, as the result of the marriage (total fusion) of supra-national corporatist cartels and government.
Another important reason we should come to understand the true nature of the system is because unless and until we do, we won't be able to take the necessary steps correct the situation.
At the root of the problem is the fact that the levers of power have been captured by individuals who are very, very different than the rest of us (regular folks). At the very top are sociopaths afflicted by incredibly damaging-to-society traits, including unquenchable greed, unbounded sense of entitlement, and a sickening lack of compassion, morality, and ethics.
Down from the pinnacle of power, in this fraudulent pyramid, you have others who are just basically opportunists, cowards, unethical, and immoral.
But as of this situation wasn't bad enough, for some incomprehensible reason, after an incredible period of years of outright looting and all manner of criminality at the highest levels of both, government, and industry, many still remain unaware and unconscious to the true nature of the system.
Which brings me back to the waddling ducks and the comfortable folks I was observing this morning... Their surroundings (and their comfort) are fooling them.
The levers of power having been fully captured by a truly immoral and sociopathic ruling elite, they have, during the last few decades (after the Powell memo), tore down whatever semblance we had of a democratic state one brick at a time. Having bought off the debased political class, they then instructed them to remove all the regulatory obstacles that were getting in the way of the massive looting we are now undergoing.
As this process matures, and entrenches itself, it has started to resemble a cancer on the body politic, destroying its host from within its bowels.
As more power wealth and real assets transfer from society to a tiny ruling elite lacking of any mechanism (morality, ethics, empathy) for self-restrain, self-regulation, they come to resemble malformed cells incapable of slowing down their reproduction at a faster and faster rate.
In practical terms that means that the Corporate State is a brutally efficient and relentless manner proceeds to squeeze the last drop of profit from both, the population, and natural resources, which explains why all meaningful (legislative and regulatory) protections against predatory practices by corporate cartels were systematically removed.
And that condition is the new face of fascism. You see, at least for now, this new type of fascism will not necessarily be recognized by jack-booted thugs snatching innocent people from their beds in the middle of the night to be taken to a god-forsaken secret prison to be tortured. Instead, it will come for you suddenly when you are one of 300,000 people poisoned by chemicals in your potable water as direct result of incredible displays of outright influence-peddling corruption, cronyism, and profiteering.
This fascism will come for you when entire neighborhood blocks are blown away because of faulty gas lines, killing or injuring scores of people, as a direct result of fraud, profiteering, and regulatory agencies being on the take.
It will come for you in the form of the privatization of prisons, schools, and many other government functions, converting the commons to profit centers for the ruling elite, while undermining the quality of life of citizens. It will come for you as the result of increasingly catastrophic weather events as the result of climate change.
It will come for you as millions of people fall into poverty while the social safety net is dismantled, pushing many to commit crimes, of which you could become a victim.
It will come to you as the social fabric unravels and society becomes meaner, abrasive, vulgar, a type of every man for himself dog-eat-dog world.
And very likely, when it does comes for you, it will be a sudden and catastrophic manner, whether it is massive contamination of potable water, or bridges collapsing (due to neglect), oil spills, nuclear power plants malfunction, police brutality as local police forces become militarized...
You see, the cancerous Corporate State is not capable of doing otherwise. Its pathological need for wealth and profits at a faster and faster and faster rate mandates that it tears down every obstacle in its way, and in the final analysis that means tearing down democracy itself, removing environmental regulations, financial regulations, accountability for high crimes committed by the powerful, and the oppression and subjugation of the citizenry.
There is only one thing that can stop the parasitic corporate state from destroying the country from within, and that is you, the citizen. We are on our own. Nobody in power will listen to our demands for justice. It ain't going to happen; at this point they are incapable of doing the right thing.
We will have to unite in solidarity under a common understanding of the true nature of the system; we will need to stop believing the lies, the propaganda being peddled 24/7 attacking our senses.
We will need to unite and engage in non-violent direct action against the corporate state until we stop this madness.
The sooner we realize this, the sooner we'll be able to take the steps necessary to turn things around. After all, there is only one reason a minuscule group of people can dominate and exploit an entire population: because we let them.
http://youtu.be/6-2bPQmGlAE
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/01/21/1271299/-And-Then-They-Came-For-Me-The-New-Face-of-Fascism
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