Last night, in the post, No Longer, I suggested that many of us are living under a new form of dictatorship. It doesn't resemble the authoritarianism of a Hitler or a Stalin. It bathes itself in the facade of democracy and the people under its control -- that's people like you 'n me -- believe that we are free.
The reason we so readily accept this myth is that we do enjoy a sense of freedom in our personal lives. We can read what we want to read, write what we want to write, love who we want to love, and believe what we want to believe.
We can choose rye bread over white bread. We can go out into the world each day with socks and shoes that don't match. We can make all sorts of personal choices based on our own personal preferences and, in most cases, whatever we choose is okay.
But, when it comes to our desires as a community, that's when we discover that our choices are extremely limited or they don't exist at all.
National polling over the past year or two has shown that the vast majority of Americans -- from all walks of life and political persuasions -- wants the US out of Iraq and Afghanistan. Have our troops left? No!! And they aren't going to leave because the ruling elite wants them to stay put because it fattens their wallets.
For decades polling has shown that the vast majority of Americans want access to affordable and quality medical care. The numbers are astonishingly high, yet we all know that this option is NOT on the table today and it will continue not to be for the foreseeable future. The ruling elites have made it clear that this is NOT a viable option because they are profiting quite nicely from the health care system as it is.
Polling also has shown that Americans by huge margins want big money out of politics -- it corrupts the whole process. Unfortunately, just like the other issues cited, we've been told in no uncertain terms that this situation will not change for the better; in fact, it's getting worse and worse.
On major issue after major issue -- the ones that either directly or indirectly impact the average person's standard of living -- the elites have told us that it DOES NOT MATTER what we think or what we want. They only are willing to offer us very narrow choices that benefits them and no one else. The options we prefer are not part of the political conversation and they aren't going to be.
This is not the way a genuine democracy operates.
The reason we so readily accept this myth is that we do enjoy a sense of freedom in our personal lives. We can read what we want to read, write what we want to write, love who we want to love, and believe what we want to believe.
We can choose rye bread over white bread. We can go out into the world each day with socks and shoes that don't match. We can make all sorts of personal choices based on our own personal preferences and, in most cases, whatever we choose is okay.
But, when it comes to our desires as a community, that's when we discover that our choices are extremely limited or they don't exist at all.
National polling over the past year or two has shown that the vast majority of Americans -- from all walks of life and political persuasions -- wants the US out of Iraq and Afghanistan. Have our troops left? No!! And they aren't going to leave because the ruling elite wants them to stay put because it fattens their wallets.
For decades polling has shown that the vast majority of Americans want access to affordable and quality medical care. The numbers are astonishingly high, yet we all know that this option is NOT on the table today and it will continue not to be for the foreseeable future. The ruling elites have made it clear that this is NOT a viable option because they are profiting quite nicely from the health care system as it is.
Polling also has shown that Americans by huge margins want big money out of politics -- it corrupts the whole process. Unfortunately, just like the other issues cited, we've been told in no uncertain terms that this situation will not change for the better; in fact, it's getting worse and worse.
On major issue after major issue -- the ones that either directly or indirectly impact the average person's standard of living -- the elites have told us that it DOES NOT MATTER what we think or what we want. They only are willing to offer us very narrow choices that benefits them and no one else. The options we prefer are not part of the political conversation and they aren't going to be.
This is not the way a genuine democracy operates.
This is very true but what it the reply?
ReplyDeleteTo enter into politics is to be political. To fight back against violence is to be violent. Traps.
All we can do is sit with our hearts, knowing that this can't last, it's part of a flow and can't sustain, nothing can endure, not even their biggest most aggressive plans.
"WE CAN HAVE DEMOCRACY IN THIS COUNTRY, OR WE CAN HAVE GREAT WEALTH CONCENTRATED IN THE HANDS OF A FEW, BUT WE CAN'T HAVE BOTH."
ReplyDeleteLouis D. Brandeis