Thursday, June 20, 2013

It's not just the priests...

...that are more concerned with their own power and position than the public weal.

It's the merchants, too.

And the syncophants of all these powerful and wealthy people in U.S. politics as well as the U.S. public in large.

One of the parts of the current U.S. infatuation with "the market" that infuriates me more than the rest is the widespread ignorance of (or willful indifference to, which may be worse) much of the U.S. public to the fairly obvious and simple reality that any person or group of people whose primary objective is short-term profit for themselves is and are going to be indifferent at best and actively injurious at worst to anyone or anything not actively assisting them in turning said profit.

The Great Iniquity of the modern GOP - the worst of the U.S. public in this respect - is its insistence that "government is the problem" because that screed actively smokescreens the fact that only government - that is, only the public acting through its representatives - has the power to act as an effective check to these profiteers when their pursuit of profit comes at the expense of the public good.

But this power is not power when the public doesn't even know what its government should be checking, and especially when its government is involved not in checking this chicanery but acting to facilitate it:
“I have heard the argument that transparency would undermine the Trade Representative’s policy to complete the trade agreement because public opposition would be significant,” Warren explained. “In other words, if people knew what was going on, they would stop it. This argument is exactly backwards. If transparency would lead to widespread public opposition to a trade agreement, then that trade agreement should not be the policy of the United States.”
No duh.

This, this is the poison at the heart of all the harm done by this crony capitalism, this secret spying, this "security"; all these deals and agreements and policies made in night and fog.

A people that rule themselves must know what is being done to them, for them, and in their name. A people that rule themselves must know - at the very least - what their own government is doing, with whom, and why.

A people that is ruled will not, and do not.

A people that will not, and do not, will become a ruled people.

When, and how, are merely details.

While I understand that We, the People seem indifferent to this distinction, I cannot reconcile myself to the fact, and I cannot see anything good coming from it.

4 comments:

Ael said...

Interesting to compare to Brazil and the riots now shaking the country.

Maybe you need more than 50% of the citizens casting a ballot once every couple of years to ensure that the oligarch pay at least some attention to the "little people".

FDChief said...

The Soviet "turnout used to be something like 99% and look how that worked.

I don't really know what the hell the answer is. Maybe this whole "self-government" experiment really isn't working. Mind you, I have to go with Churchill on the whole "the worst except for every other type" business.

But it just seems like there's so many people that are getting raped over by all this secret government and crony capitalist bullshit that in a system where the majority is supposed to rule that the majority would get up on it's hind legs and bitchslap these people for even trying it on.

But no.

Leon said...

Easy solution: direct, participatory democracy. No more representatives who you hope will work in your interest.

We have the technology to achieve this now for 99% of the population in the 1st world. If we scrapped all those politician salaries, I'm sure we could find the money in there to ensure a secure internet connection for every citizen.

Syrbal/Labrys said...

We have too many distractions from the ongoing growing misery. We think it is all ok if we have a big screen television (Fahrenheit 451 anyone?) with "reality" shows telling us how to do it.

We buy the superficial over the substantial....and will continue to do so. Until there is no more way to get EITHER, only then will their be a citizenry rampant.

And bitch slapping both directions will ensue.