More One Party News
Chris Hedges at Truthout:
There are no longer any major institutions in American society, including the press, the educational system, the financial sector, labor unions, the arts, religious institutions and our dysfunctional political parties, which can be considered democratic. The intent, design and function of these institutions, controlled by corporate money, are to bolster the hierarchical and anti-democratic power of the corporate state.
[...]
The menace we face does not come from the insane wing of the Republican Party, which may make huge inroads in the coming elections, but the institutions tasked with protecting democratic participation.... Fear the underlying corporate power structure, which no one, from Barack Obama to the right-wing nut cases who pollute the airwaves, can alter. If the hegemony of the corporate state is not soon broken we will descend into a technologically enhanced age of barbarism.
[...]
And the longer we refuse to confront corporate power the more impotent we become as society breaks down. The game of electoral politics, which is given legitimacy by the right and the so-called left on the cable news shows, is just that—a game. It diverts us from what should be our daily task—dismantling, piece by piece, the iron grip that corporations hold over our lives. Hope is a word that is applicable only to those who grasp reality, however bleak, and do something meaningful to fight back—which does not include the farce of elections and involvement in mainstream political parties.
Labels: capitalism, national insecurity
posted by Rez Dog at 12:13 PM
2 Comments:
Much as I hate to, I have to part with Hedges here, at least temporarily. I'm voting straight Democratic at least one more time. Everything Hedges says about corporations is true, and the sooner we can break that iron grip, the better. But barring a miracle, we're not going to break it before election day -- and I don't believe in miracles.
We need to buy more time, and right now, that translates into making sure the Democrats maintain control of both Houses of Congress. The alternative is far worse...
I think everyone must take stock of what and how they are invested in the status quo by understanding our personal buy-in. It seems tome at this point that it is pretty clear that there is no fix from the top down. Everything that is to be done to make a better world must be done at the point of entry into ones own life upon recognizing it. I think each of us will be (and are) challenged by this in examining where we stand at this singular point in time.
Myself, I was just laid off and I found myself face to face with a bottom line that was shifted without my consent in my employer making me "an offer" that was directly into a position that I knew would not be positive for me. We perceive something like a "good job" as a bounty initially but in truth, it is always a gamble as to how it will play out over time. I could not in good conscience do what my employer offered. I may loose my house; I may lose everything I had thought that I gained with that job but at some point, someone is going to ask ALL of us to do something that will require a difficult choice because things must change. I believe that we will undo the foundation and equalize the playing field in this country by making intelligent choices of conscience in this way. At the very least we will rest well know we allowed ourselves the integrity of liberty even if it is the last choice we make. I'd rater perish with a choice than be a victim of an unrelenting pressure to conform to war and commerce. It about choices.
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