In times of want and woe, people fall back on the classic trappings of misdirected anger.
It's not breaking news that the majority of people, especially we Americans, are idiots. However, I have to say that the past month or so has been particularly telling of just how deeply we as a society are embedded in our stupidity. And of course there is nothing like a major catastrophe to shine a light on this sort of thing.
Let's start with the recent political conventions. The fact that we have a political system with only two parties is ridiculous enough but that they spew off practically the same bullshit and are funded by the same people really makes it a national joke. So when the Democratic National Convention started up, (the Dems supposedly being the party of the middle and working classes) well, there was hardly a peep in this 'liberal' media about all the corporate sponsorship of the Obama people. No mention of all the private parties thrown by corporations like AT&T. No questions were raised as to whether it is a good idea for private corporations to have such influence of people that are soon able to set public policy.
Nope, the media attack and the population's concern? Is he too much of an intellectual? Holy fuck. Is there something in the water? This was such a concern that many of the 'news' programs ran hour long discussions on this topic, occasionally substituting 'elitist' for intellectual. Yes this IS a problem. Why would we want an intelligent man to lead the country? Makes much more sense to vote for the mildly retarded guy who might be fun to have a beer with.
Then the Republican National Convention. First the fact that the cops beat the bejesus out of people who were trying to peacefully protest outside should have infuriated people. But nooooo, they were glad to see it happen. You gotta give the ruling class credit. I mean they were inside giving speeches all about freedom this and liberty that, while the cops were stomping the guts out of protesters outside. A remarkable achievement indeed.
Then on stage at the RNC, they introduce the V.P. candidate, that fucktard Sarah Palin. The freaking yahoos ate it up and the media went along when everyone should have been laughing out loud. That moment should have been the end of McCain's political career. It was like he was saying, "Oh you guys wanted a woman in office? How's this broad for ya? Better than Hillary, this dame has cool glasses and a nice ass." It's just plain irresponsible. Suppose McCain gets elected and in his mid 70s, he dies in office. This leaves Palin in arguably the most powerful position in the world. Imagine her exchanges with other world leaders, "You're darn tooting I'm serious about that naval blockade thingamajig. I'm gonna launch a nuke up your hiney if ya don't comply." This woman shouldn't even be in charge of a PTA bake sale and it's become possible that she might President someday.
Now the economic crisis. 30 years of rampant deregulation and the transferring of money uphill so they might someday trickle down a little to the rest of us, then they get so greedy and reckless that they manage to nearly cripple the entire system and what do we do? Well here's 800 Billion dollars so you can get started up again. Yes, in the land of 'tough love' we have a soft spot for Wall Street types. The average American hates and I mean H A T E S welfare recipients. A pregnant woman getting food stamps disgusts people. I mean we even created a myth of welfare 'Queens' driving new Cadilacs at taxpayer expense. Even full-fledged drooling imbecile can see someone in a rat infested, heat-less apartment living off of food stamps is not living as well as some 4th generation captain of industry bastard who has a team of accountants to make sure he puts as little back into the system as possible.
With this economic crisis, it's fair to assume things will get tougher and some people are going to get hurt. Who do you think that's going to be? So as people of modest means get hit, who do you think they're going to blame? Are they going to blame the people that profited wildly the last 25 years? Are they going to blame the people they voted for? Well, maybe a little, but they will just rationalize it was mosty a couple liberal congressmen to blame in that sphere. So who will be the scapegoat?
Well, we know who the average idiot is going to blame. And it aint going to be the ones who caused this mess. See, in America, we're a little different than many modern nations. While some societies make an effort to move forward, we in America seem to try to get back to a sort of regressive agenda. I flipped through the Sunday political talk-shows this week. There was very little discussion of economic systems, tax systems, criticism of corporate practices etc. Nope, instead there was plenty of talk about "Why our kids aren't patriotic enough." While the better educated nations of the world are making an effort to move past the trappings of nationalism, we here in the US are wondering what we can do to bring it back even stronger.
So....while Americans gets ready to vote and struggle to keep their homes, keep their jobs, keep their lives, who are they gonna blame when things get worse? Who are they going to point fingers at while an ineffective political system and an unfair, corrupt economic system fucks their asses bloody? Why the usual of course: liberals, immigrants, homosexuals.
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