Monday, July 9, 2012

For REAL DEMOCRACY

Hey, Fellow Americans, in order for America to remain a Democracy, you’re going to have to give up your fantasies and your alternate universe and your propensity to blame and hate “others" and to be afraid. Not only Democracy but any kind of real life is demanding and requires a lots of attention, honesty, courage, self-restraint, and a willingness to pay for it from each of us. Real Democracy requires an educated population (Jefferson: The "Nation that expects to be ignorant and free expects what never was and never will be") and we have - thanks to the Republicans - been deliberately dumbing down America. See other blog. Real Democracy requires still more - that you do your share and cooperate and compromise and take care of others and be fair and tell the truth about life. And, above all, Real Democracy requires you ALWAYS TO VOTE - ALWAYS!!! and to be as well educated and informed as you possibly can and to keep at it. The Fox News / Republicanism / TeaParty lies and fantasies and ugliness need to be left behind and in a hurry too. It’s time to grow up because time is running out for America, and when our Democracy goes, so will your guns. The folks taking them away won't want you to have any weapons! Time is also running out for your planet - you know, where your children and grand children will have to live ...IF THEY CAN...

Saturday, May 12, 2012

American Cultural Hegemony

So How Have America's Richest Republicans managed to make the white NOT-RICH want what Is ruinous for them, for America, and for the World? Ahhh… welcome to our Republican-orchestrated "cultural hegemony" - America's COGNITIVE HOLOCAUST.

Because Republicanism has NOT ONE solution for anything (i.e., NONE of its fundamentals works...), Republicans can neither win elections on the merits nor ever tell the truth. For an absurd example of a fake fundamental beside the most obvious one of running for office when you supposedly don't believe in government....???, there is this other one: if "limited government" works, then why did we abandon the Articles of Confederation - the epitome of limited government, which we abandoned in the 1700's when we were a tiny country? And if it didn't work then, how could "limited government" conceivably work now that we are so much bigger, and the world is so much more complicated?

This complete lack of workable fundamentals means that for a Republican to be elected to anything Two Things are necessary: 1) a gullible, malleable, mentally and morally diminished electorate ready to blame anyone or anything else other than Republicanism for everything, and 2) candidates willing to tell any lie. The willingness to lie has come slowly - even John McCain couldn't bring himself to lie about Obama's character, but most Republicans are on board now most of the time (witness Mitt Romney). There was a time way back in the 50's when Republicans, like Ike, were decent, caring people who didn't have to lie all the time ...but no more.

Developing a gullible, fearful, ready-to-hate electorate is the end to which Republicans have devoted themselves both legally and illegally for decades now. It’s taken almost 40 years (coincident with the founding of A.L.E.C. though the germs were sown by the Nixon uglies), but the Republican campaign of disinformation and distortion and against pubic education - its campaign to make as many Americans as ignorant, afraid, and eager to hate as they can - seems to have worked on an alarmingly large number of not-well-off WHITE folks. [They have, of course, also worked tirelessly and in every venue to deny as many non-Republicans the right to vote as they possibly can and to try to scare away eligible voters if they are likely to vote Democratic, but their efforts to limit the right to vote are a different Republicans-Against-Democracy story than the "cultural hegemony" one, and this tactic has been used by the Democrats as well.]

The result of these many decades of working everywhere to achieve their dumb-down/fear-up/hate-up goals is that some astonishing percentage of NOT RICH WHITES are now glad to believe that what actually is of benefit-ONLY-to-the-super-rich (the folks behind the campaign) and ONLY for the short run even for the super-rich, is, nonetheless, what they, the non-rich, should want. The fooled - the mentally and morally disfigured - live in an alternate universe where they can't hear the truth, can't see what is in front of their eyes, can't suffer enough from Republican malfeasance to reject Republicanism. They can be told any number of impossibly contradictory - some of them unimaginably ugly - lies and readily accept each new one in its turn and also go to sometimes terrible extremes in defense of what is truly evil and disastrous for themselves, for America, and for our planet - for which they HAVE NEVER, EVER, we admit, been willing to take care in spite of REQUIRING ITS WELL BEING IN ORDER TO LIVE. Hmmm.. The Koch Brothers must really hate their grandchildren to go on destroying their Planet Earth, right??

The culturally-hegemoned now really seem to believe that America doesn't need taxes (never referred to as "tax revenue" because that has implications). This is a something-for-nothing fantasy which they maintain would work so long as America didn't HAVE TO spend anything on education or research or health services or social security or unemployment insurance or public services or regulation or safety protections or investment in America or on environmental protection or on veterans or good armor for our soldiers, or DEBT REPAYMENT, etc. And all this non-governance they think will be far better for America. They do believe that America will always need wild amounts of defense spending (most of which doesn't go to our defense, just to our defense contractors) which will be paid for ...somehow... (hint: with borrowed money, which need never be repaid...?). In this magical world: as long as there are lots of guns and weapons systems and prisons (for our minorities ...not for the rich), no taxes, no abortions, no birth control, nor any hispanics or Muslims (or Native- or African-Americans?), and so long as there is no regulation nor any debt repayment requirement, America will be the way it was meant to be. Their America needn't protect its people - especially not the babies after they're born - or animals or land or water resources - only its borders and unborn babies. It gets to use any weapons whenever, wherever, and on whomever it pleases and imprison anyone it wants in secret prisons and torture its prisoners and keep them forever locked up, and can spy on anyone it wants, and needn't cooperate with any other country or help anyone including our own veterans, nor pay back any of its debt nor the interest on this Reagan-Bushes debt, which keeps accumulating and adding to the debt. This America, even if entirely owned by other countries because of its borrowing and despised by the rest of the World, will be the best country.

So… Dear Fearful, TeaPartying, fantasizing, ignorant, foolish, deaf and blind folks who Hate So Readily and are so deeply racist and so easily made afraid, and so equally The Lying, Thieving, Rapacious, Murderous, Heartless, Amazingly-Astoundingly-Inconceivably-Unimaginably SHORT-SIGHTED Rich, here are just a couple of little things wrong with your understanding of anything:

1. We have to invest in our "enterprise," i.e. America, to compete successfully in the World (Hint… ECONOMICS 101). We have to invest in our people and our industries and America's infrastructure if we want to have a big economy and beat the rest of the World. We can't stay on top with a dumb and unhealthy population and without high-level investment in our infrastructure and industries, without regulation, and without conserving our resources and using our Defense money carefully ---ECONOMICS 101 ... ECONOMICS 101 ... ECONOMICS 101. If we don't invest and regulate, we fall ever further behind - the American pie will keep getting smaller. There is no magic to be had anywhere. There really isn't another universe. We won't be the richest country in our World or be the most powerful, and we certainly won't be safe. We are already alarmingly behind in educational achievement (COMPLETELY INTENTIONALLY - a republican campaign since the late 70's) and healthcare and investment in America and are falling ever further behind. We are also incredibly in debt (largest debt since WWII), and debt - contrary to dumb-down-dogma - HAS TO BE REPAID and WITH INTEREST on interest on interest on interest on interest on interest...

2. "Tax and spend" works; "Borrow and spend" doesn't - never has and never will. For example, the 8 years of the Clinton "tax and spend" administration created 22 million jobs, brought America its longest running economic boom in its history, and produced three Government surpluses. Do you remember that the President you thought was so magically wonderful, Reagan, raised taxes TEN TIMES during his eight years in office? Borrowing and spending (now the only Republican way) is guaranteed to fail. Under the much lower taxes especially for the rich borrow-and-spend 8 years of the W. Bush administration, no jobs were created. The economy ended up with the 2nd worst financial crisis in its history, the second largest deficit in its history (2nd only to WWII), two (or more) unwon wars, and a collapsed housing and construction market. The rich got MUCH richer, and everyone else stagnated. People's homes lost much of their value. The American middle class is disappearing, and they did all this by selling America to other countries (hint... a dangerous thing to do).

3. Our “War on Terrorism” is the OPPOSITE, as follows:
** It isn't a real war, and it isn't winning anything anywhere, BUT it is making us fanatical enemies world-wide. In other words it is fermenting, not combatting terrorism.
** We are actively supporting terrorism with our GUN policies. Republicans vigorously promote and Democrats are afraid to campaign against unlimited, unregulated gun and ammunition sales in America which supply has been proven to be used by terrorists of all sorts. We are therefore willingly aiding and abetting terrorism and demonstrably not at war with it where gun supplies are concerned. The NRA is spending a forturne and fighting tirelessly for there to be WAR-WORTHY GUNS and AMMO for terrorists and gangs and drug runners and our own home-grown mass-murderers. And this kind of pro-terrorism is what Republicans aggressively support.
** The so-called "war on terrorism" has been conducted by incompetent, particularly cowardly and sadistic amateurs who invent tactics as they go along and who resolutely ignore military wisdom and the lessons of history (ask Dick Cheney - these are his specialty, ESPECIALLY THE COWARDLY PART!).
** It is inconceivably ANTI-INFORMATION. This is so the leadership can continue to lie to everyone. They don't bother to concern themselves with whether or not they have the right information. The Bush administration deliberately dismantled the organization started for the sole purpose of building the long, long overdue Intel data warehouse - frantically called for by the Institute for Defense Analysis because we are so far behind other countries in this fundamental Intelligence requirement.
** It HAS to keep us afraid which surely makes us less able to defend ourselves.
** The Republicans' selling us to other countries is deeply dangerous and much costlier than paying as you go, and:
** Ruining our economy and our infrastructure and our people is making us ever weaker and smaller.

4. As for your hatred/fear of aliens (read: Hispanics) and feelings of urgency about getting rid of them, note just a couple of little details: First of all, WE WERE ALL ALIENS WHEN WE CAME HERE, except our native Americans. Secondly, "they" (the "aliens") do all the work that our big, fat white boys won't do, which keeps the price of our agricultural and other products way down (all those things you eat and use). Thirdly, the Hispanic peoples in America are part native American and part Spanish, both of which peoples have been in this country way, way, way, way, way longer than any of you "white" folks. Native Americans have been here for 20,000 years. The Spanish came more than 100 years before a single one of you showed up, "Whitey." You, therefore, need to get out of THEIR country. They sooooooo were here first.

5. Democracy is: "Government of the people, by the people, and for the people". Republicanism is opposed to each of these parts. It is not possible to be against any of them and be pro-Democracy. Republicanism is entirely anti-Democracy. ...So... have I stated this in enough ways and simply enough that you - the cognitively diminished - have been able to understand?

6. If our Democracy fails, whoever the new rulers are WILL NOT ALLOW ANY OF YOU TO KEEP YOUR GUNS since these guns might be used against them. By the way has anyone ever pointed out to you that you are NOT "pro-life" if you are pro-gun or pro-war or pro-execution or pro-torture or anti-universal health care or anti-welfare?

7. There will be no schools or roads or bridges or healthcare or security or protected retirement or clean water or safety or travel for any but the ultra-rich and no clean-air for anyone (clean-air can't be bought for some - only for all).

8. Civil Rights will be non-existent, which sounds OK until your civil rights (such as the right to possess arms) are the ones being violated. You can scream for help then, but there won't be anyone left to help you.

9. The ultra-rich will be – just as they are in any “banana Republic” – very, very, very, very few in number because the American economy, which had heretofore made so many people rich, will have collapsed and never again work they way it used to. Almost all of you greedy, think-you’re-going-to-be-on-top folks will be down at the bottom too. Almost everyone will be poor and have to work all the time, and no matter how hard one tries, almost everyone will always be poor. There will be no more of that "better life" to dream about and no time for all those fantasies you now waste your soul and so much time and energy and money on - especially not the "get rich" one!

10. The rest of the World will forget about us except to wonder why America betrayed every one of its principles and gave up its freedom and its place on top so willingly, and why it doesn't care if it ruins itself or the World. They will understand, of course, why America has gotten so dumb because they have been watching it happen and have long since been taking advantage of it.

11. America will no longer be safe, so at last, FINALLY FOR GOOD REASON (always before it was Republican BS), you can really be afraid. In fact you probably ought to be EXTRA afraid knowing that you, the gullible, ignorant, hating, ugly racist cowards, and, you, the deceiving, thieving, greedy, heartless rich, did this to America. The rest of America will almost certainly be very angry with you for what you have done to our country, and you won't have a single friend or admirer anywhere else on Earth either.

11. Remember that EVERY FINANCIAL AND SAFETY CRISIS in the last 150 years has been the result of Republican greed, immorality, and de-regulation (The Great Depression – Hoover; Watergate - Nixon; The Savings & Loan Scandal; the massively expensive, completely failed defensive system "Star Wars," and Iran Contra - Reagan; The Great Recession, 9/11, the unnecessary Katrina flooding of New Orleans and their complete lack of response, the BIG BROTHER spying on Americans, torture, secret prisons -- Bush-Cheney horrors all, etc.). Republicans also cannot win wars - even with all our weapons -- except against tiny countries, like Grenada.

12. If America manages somehow to survive this latest hideously short-sighted, anti-everything-good-about-America Republican campaign, we will forever be telling the correct story about it and about "you" in our histories, just as we still tell the story of all those other Republican disasters. Something as stupid and ugly and greedy as this will, of course, be tried again and again and again and again for as long as our American Democracy survives and you Republicans are provided with those freedoms which make your ugliness and stupidity and greed so potent. If, however, we lose our democracy and our safety and our prosperity, which may eventually happen under efforts like yours, then the correct history will not get written, but then you will not know how to read anyway, nor will you have time to do it. Either way the Republicans who caused this will never accept any blame for it. They never have. Still we all have to meet Our Maker and accept the blame due each of us so I wouldn't be one of you rich, killer-liar, callous, visionless, so short-sighted, mindlessly greedy cheaters or you eager-to-hurt-others, so in-need-of-people-to-hate, excessively-fearful dummies either - not for any amount of your worshipped money or opportunities to hate.