Memoir, from just outside the box
Nascent Manifesto
Wikipedia “A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government. A manifesto often promotes a new idea, with prescriptive notions for carrying out the changes the author believes should be made. A manifesto often is political, social or artistic in nature, and sometimes revolutionary.”
“The past is prologue.”
[From Shakespeare’s The Tempest, this phrase means that history sets the context for the present.]
2011
I have grown weary of defending Obama. My latest magical-thinking-outside-the-box: Obama steps aside in 2012, Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee for president and all the Republicans' heads explode.
You have indicated that you believe that the federal government is subservient to the Elites, the "ultimate corruption," the individuals globally who control massive wealth and control all governments and all corporations.
You are the second person this week to express that sentiment… a disdain for the men behind the curtain… the high IQ sociopath puppet masters.
I'm with you: "Trust Factor: Zero!"
Don’t despair. The trick is to expose them. Name names, and always remember that cynicism is a form of stand-up comedy. The truth oozes out our pores in our jokes, journalism, novels, movies and TV.
Your premise: Obama can't reveal the truth or the Elites will have him assassinated.
My premise: Politicians are the intermediaries between the Elites and the masses. Politicians work to make us predictable and compliant.
I am arguing for maintaining a positive and imaginative attitude in the face of the ever-growing realization that all governments and all corporations are corrupt. Every classified document protected by every government and every corporation contains the history of their corruption, step by step, player by player. The big boys black out whole pages. Redaction is the symbol of their corruption. If we could see all of the words under the blacked-out lines of all classified and top secret documents, perhaps we might finally muster the courage to displace the oligarchs, whose economic justification system encourages the Earth's desecration.
I give Obama some credit. His mere existence as the first half-white President of the United States has politically energized voters on all sides. I spent the Bush/Cheney years grimacing in disgust. The experience of the first two years of Obama has been both exhilarating and refreshing... and utterly frustrating. I have decided to give him the full four years to do his thing, to bring on transparency.
We the People are the key to much of the transparency for which many of us voted. We are the ones who must step up and tell the truth. The internet awaits our input. Pretend you are the President. Write a graduation speech. Write the next State of the Union Address.
I hope the cute panda photo helps you to create positive thoughts, even though the pandas were made in China.
New Rule: Stop building an empire. Empire is bad business. There is never-ending blow-back. Empire always involves a bloody mess.
Did you really believe that a century of corporate and military occupation in the Middle East would have no repercussions? I am not much of a praying man, but I vigorously pray for the end of the Oil Age.
Why did the righteous USA become an imperialist nation? Is our political devolution inescapable? All the empires have withered because of corruption within, corruption at the top, corruption gone wild. And now, here we are, the proud USA, doing the same despicable thing that every other imperialist nation has done. We abuse other nations, in order to gain advantage and steal their wealth.
Our pathological love affair with maximizing profit is destroying America’s soul. Predatory capitalism is fatally handcuffed to the lust for cheap labor. Predatory capitalism cuts corners, skirts laws and spits in the face of ethics. I'm amazed and disappointed that Obama hasn't ripped the veil off the predatory capitalism game. Remember: "Reform always occurs from the top down."
Jack & Diane are libertarians. Chris warned me that they are adamant about their beliefs, and that if I choose to get into a political discussion with them, I should be ready for a little heat. Chris finds political talk aggravating. I like people who are politicized, in any direction, and are willing to talk about it.
Chris and I dined at Jack & Diane's. The talk turned political. Once the conversation got rolling, Diane became animated. She is expecting a violent revolution. Jack and I agreed that we'd like to see marijuana decriminalized as of right now. We agreed that we'd love to see what would happen if the US stopped all foreign aid for one year. He named a number of cabinet departments that he would eliminate. He stood on the platform of minimal government and lower taxes. He wants a world not burdened by government regulations, a capitalism free from scrutiny. I profoundly disagreed. If I have learned anything after eight years of Bush/Cheney and two years of Obama, it is that the most effective looters on the planet live at the top of the food chain. No, not everyone at the top of the food chain is a criminal, but that is where the often destructive, often lethal high stakes games are played. The moguls at the top know how to monetize fear, intimidation and war. They know how to cook the books.
Political exchange is a great thing. I love freedom of speech. I have absolutely zero desire to change anybody's mind, but I have a massive desire to pull back the curtain and let everyone see the truth. We are lucky Americans to have had our particular Founding Fathers. They set the stage for the growth of this democracy, and for peaceful political discourse. Now it is up to us to play our part.
third party response…
While I am in total agreement regarding political expression among friends, I cannot help but think that ten years ago it was not such a risky undertaking. Today, the chasm between affiliations appears unbridgeable and extremes are what seem to define us. The swearing-in of “the first half-white president” transformed closeted bigots and bullies into God-fearing “real” American patriots. We have been methodically and successfully divided like a sheet pizza. Anyone with a degree higher than a high school diploma is considered an elitist.
Bush & Cheney had eight years, and we can plainly see the result… two forever-wars and a tsunami of gut-wrenching disgust. If Bush & Cheney can have eight years, I'm giving Obama at least his first four. Go for it, Barry. Pull out all the stops. Be the president for whom we voted.
The Republicans are down to their last cards. No surprise as to what they have chosen. It's the Fear Card. It's the Race Card. It's the Big Lie. The truth is: The Republicans have failed. The curious thing is: They know it. They know they are down to the dregs: fear mongering, obstructionism and the looting of Wall Street and the U.S. Treasury. How do Republicans get away with fear mongering in the Home of the Brave?
Are Republicans the party of fiscal responsibility? No. Are the Republicans the party of family values? Not even close. That façade has evaporated. Republicans and Christian fundamentalists routinely ooze perversion. They might wrap their perversions in the American flag… they might perch their perversions on top of a stack of Bibles… but nobody on the Left is fooled by right-wing self righteousness.
Wikipedia “A panopticon is a type of prison building designed by English philosopher Jeremy Bentham in 1785. The design allows the overseer to observe (-opticon) all (pan-) prisoners without the incarcerated being able to tell whether they are being watched, thereby conveying what one architect has called… the sentiment of an invisible omniscience.”
Digitally, we are being watched. Our activities are recorded, studied and funneled into categories. The USA has both feet firmly planted in the modern panopticon, a prison planet run by governments, religions and corporations that are hell-bent on crowd control.
Some people resist the capitalist imperative. We refuse to pledge allegiance to the obsession with cancerous growth. A few of us see governments, religions and corporations for what they really are: an ongoing criminal enterprise.
Doom is always with us. Death is one of the rules we all play by. What we despise is the mayhem brought down on humans and animals and plant life by greedy, murderous, evil governments, religions and corporations, the dark at the top of the stairs.
The desire for transparency, the tearing away of the curtain, is the trait that separates the resistance from the muddled robotic zealots.
Our credo: "The truth is our role model."
“The truth is our role model.” I’m not always there, not always willing to pull back the curtain, but life becomes a lot easier and less confusing when I do.