A Crucial Narrative Regarding Freedom & Individual Sovereignty

Preface

I first posted this piece on March 1 of this year.  DC politicians only just recently finally have begun to address the issue.  This whole business is a dire threat to individual freedom.  So far, we are voluntarily marching straight into it.  The narrative at the link below is not against SMART tech, but rather, how it is being used.  If you value individual sovereignty, listen carefully.

Behavior Modification by Surveillance Capitalists Redux

At the link below, a Harvard Professor Emeritus brilliantly explains how we are being "herded", and why SMART technology & outfits like Facebook are an egregious threat 

to individual sovereignty.
https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/1/age_of_

surveillance_capitalism_we_thought

Perhaps in their young adulthood (or maybe mid-life), our toddler 

grandchildren are going to wonder:  how could our grandparents have been so dense?  How could they have allowed this Brave New World of ours to develop?  Didn't they understand the dangers of ubiquitous surveillance?  Did they really believe the argument "I have nothing to hide" meant that they wouldn't be affected?  How could they have not seen how the State-Corporate-Financial Complex most likely would use the gathered data to manipulate and control us?  Were they asleep at the wheel, or too propagandized, or too stressed by trying 

to make ends meet in a declining worldwide economy?  Were they too worried about, and distracted by, advancing Neofeudalism?

Kudos to Professor Zuboff for a well-spoken, insightful, and much needed interview... and for her seven years of research for the book, The Age of  Surveillance Capitalism.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Behavior Modification by Surveillance Capitalists

At the link below, a Harvard Professor Emeritus brilliantly explains how we are being "herded", and why SMART technology & outfits like Facebook are an egregious threat to individual sovereignty.
https://www.democracynow.org/2019/3/1/age_of_surveillance_capitalism_we_thought

Perhaps in their young adulthood (or maybe mid-life), our toddler grandchildren are going to wonder:  how could our grandparents have been so dense?  How could they have allowed this Brave New World of ours to develop?  Didn't they understand the dangers of ubiquitous surveillance?  Did they really believe the argument "I have nothing to hide" meant that they wouldn't be affected?  How could they have not seen how the State-Corporate-Financial Complex most likely would use the gathered data to manipulate and control us?  Were they asleep at the wheel, or too propagandized, or too stressed by trying to make ends meet in a declining worldwide economy?  Were they too worried about, and distracted by, advancing Neofeudalism?

Kudos to Professor Zuboff for a well-spoken, insightful, and much needed interview... and for her seven years of research for the book, The Age of  Surveillance Capitalism.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

It's Not Fake News - It's Incomplete News

Anyone who has followed this blog for the last twelve years knows that I'm no fan of the Corporate Media, aka, the Mainstream Media.  Unlike the Trumpistas, however, my reasons for that dislike are grounded in reality rather than the psychological gaslighting of the current Oval Office Occupier.

A "free press" is known as the Fourth Estate, and it serves a valuable function in our society:  making sure that government is accountable and transparent.  In many/most democratic countries (including the USA), the Corporate Media comprise the Fourth Estate.  Over many decades, their failure has given rise to the Fifth Estate:  "acceptable" critics of the Fourth Estate.  Examples here would be:  PBS, NPR, The Intercept, Democracy Now, Reason.com, BillMoyers.com, David Stockman, Jim Rickards, Paul Craig Roberts, and many, many others.

Fake News does exist, but it's very rare and put out by pretty much unknown nutcakes.  One exception:  probably 99.999% of all Fake News (originating in the USA) comes from a well-known person--- our Fake President.  It's not a practice of the Corporate Media.  Their sin is putting out Incomplete News, and being mouthpieces for the Crony Capitalists and Corporatists in government.  Examples follow.

I'll exaggerate for effect.  When the Jobs Report comes out, it is reported something like this:  "The Labor Dept. reports that a gazillion jobs were added last month.  That will boost our current booming economy.  Blah-blah-blah.".  What's left out is the following.  How many of those jobs are temporary, or part-time, or both?  How many are low-paying?  How many have any associated benefits to speak of?  How many people still are grossly underemployed?  Another example:  "The economy is booming this year...blah-blah-blah.".  What's left out is---booming for whom?  In fact, there are two economies in the USA:  the one that's booming encompasses only the top 15-20% or so of income earners.  The rest of us are either barely hanging on, or in poverty, or both.  Another example:  violations of the Constitution of the United States are rarely ever reported.  I easily could cite dozens & dozens more examples, but time and energy constraints prohibit that.

Sure, once in a blue moon, someone in the Corporate Media puts out a factually incorrect piece of news...inadvertently.  Once in maybe twelve blue moons, the same thing happens...but on purpose.  That person becomes thoroughly disgraced by the News industry.  So, the current Fourth Estate rarely ever creates Fake News; but there's a serial liar in DC who does so on an almost regular basis.  That's a common characteristic of gaslighters:  whatever they falsely accuse others of doing is precisely what they are doing...knowingly.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Genuine Democracy Does Not Exist in the USA

I love this Land and, in general, its people.  Because someone loves their country does not mean that they have to love the rulers in their government.  Our rulers not only are plutocratic, they are fast becoming autocratic and despotic.  All one has to do is listen to and watch the current Occupier of the Oval Office for proof of that.

This never was a democracy; not only that, but our 

"democratic republic" is long gone.  The majority of our 

Founders described democracy as "mob rule", or "two 

wolves & one sheep deciding what's for lunch", or 

"despicable", or "tyranny of the majority", or "the devil's 

own gov't", or "the most violent of despotisms", or 

"violating the concept that whoever owns the country 

should rule it", etc.  [All quotes by various Founders.]

Schools left all that out of American Gov't 101.  

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Our democratic republic is long gone because---

1.  The Constitution is violated almost equally by Dems 

& Repubs...and often.  That has been going on for decades; some of them even admit it.

2.  The proper use of the Executive Order is violated 

almost equally by Dems & Repubs.  [The Constitution 

allows only two Executive Orders in Article II, Section 2.  

Dems & Repubs claim that those two imply an unlimited 

& unspecified number of others.]

By violating this provision of Article II, Section 2, Presidents have been able to create "laws" without Congress.  For decades, past Presidents each have done this literally hundreds of times.  That makes them autocrats.  Presidents represent the State, not the People; that's why only Congress is authorized to create Laws.  Members of Congress supposedly represent We the People.

3.  In general, the majority of both elected Dems & 

elected Repubs are warmongers & corporatists.  With 

rigged Primaries, rigged elections, gerrymandering, 

voter suppression, black box voting, etc., that's not going 

to change.  Never mind the unrelenting propaganda.

4.  Both Parties believe in Mega Corps being too big to 

fail and too big to jail.  That applies not only to Mega 

Banks, but to Mega Insurance Corps & others as well.

5.  Probably over 99% of national candidates are 

selected, groomed, & financed by Super-Rich Plutocrats.

6.  Both Parties gerrymander House districts.

7.  Both Parties rig Primaries.

8.  Both Parties support corporatist globalization.

9.  According to a Princeton study, national politicians 

ignore the expressed will of the People 70% of the time.

10.  If voting really & permanently changed anything of 

significance, the Powers-That-Be would make voting 

illegal.

11.  Despite any small victories won by the People, 

Corporatism ultimately winds up ruling.

12.  Except for some indigenous societies (mostly in the 

Past), throughout history---& right through to today--- 

Plutocrats always have ruled.  C'est la vie. 

13.  What we've had ruling our country for decades now is a Plutocratic, CRONY Capitalist, State-Corporate Complex.  It reigns supreme, and it's not a "conspiracy"; it's right out in plain sight.

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Under present conditions, voting won't change any of 

the above.  Meaningful change only will come from 

outside the whole corrupt system, a system that should 

be shunned...and that change should be peaceful.

Not only my opinion.

Be Well

The Third "Presidential" Debate, 2016

If this whole situation weren't so tragic, it would be absolutely comical.  The performances of both candidates can be summarized with the following words---

deceit
misdirection
avoidance
pettiness
rudeness
propaganda
elitism
farcical
ridiculous
tragic

These two puppets are supposed to be the best this country has to offer for the highest leadership position in the Land.  Good grief---no matter who wins, we are totally shafted.  With one, we'll get who-knows-what...and craziness.  With the other, we'll get much more Neoliberalism...which is a polite form of craziness, elitism, and economic disaster.  With both, we'll get acceleration of the rush to NeoFeudalism... and probably WAR.

Boycott the election, or vote for a worthy alternative candidate.  Boycotting is best because the election already is over---whichever candidate is installed into office in January, the International Financial Coterie has won.  SSDD.  All we can do is send a powerful, peaceful, legal message (by boycotting), and then work outside the corrupt system to eliminate elitism-Neoliberalism-Oligarchy and bring about genuine democracy.  STEP ONE is to stop drinking the Edward Bernays style Propaganda Kool Aid being promulgated by the State-Corporate-Financial Complex.

This election is the worst political farce I've seen in my entire life...and I was born in 1942.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Financial-Economic Crash Update

Below is an email I just sent to a few family and friends.  There's a tiny bit of editing... nothing important.
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Maloney is correct (see link below):  this is undeniable evidence that we're in a Recession; there is no "recovery".  Since '08-'09, we've had a series of weak "dead cat bounces", not just of the Stock Market, but of the entire economy.  They haven't been sustainable.  The current Stock Market is a poor indicator anyway--- it's in an artificial Bubble created completely by the Fed... and the chickens are coming home to roost... probably within a year or so... at most, by no later than 2020 or thereabouts.  Just a guess.  No one knows "when", but there is no more "if".  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1He-bpM8MI

Sorry, folks, but now there's little to no doubt that we're in for really bad economic times.  Don't believe the Propaganda from the Powers-That-Be.  NeoFeudalism is on its way.

Get out of Mega Banks, get out of the Stock Market, stock up on household goods, hang onto and/or acquire as many hard assets as you can, cash in any T-Bills (Fed Bonds) you might have, squirrel away some cash, and watch the Bond Market rather than the Stock Market.  The current Housing Bubble is predicted to burst anywhere from very soon to no later than 2024.  The Dollar Crash could be anytime... all that's needed is for China, Russia, India, etc. to accumulate a little more gold.  Once China launches a (to some degree) gold-backed currency, the sound of the rush from the Dollar will be deafening.  That's only one event that could bring down the Dollar; there are several.

Once one Sector goes, the obscene, bizarre Financial Derivatives Market (estimated at $1.5 quadrillion) will bring everything down...probably worldwide.  Banks, Mega Hedge Funds, Insurance giants, et. al. are making billions off Derivatives sales (while creating essentially zero jobs in the process), but don't have enough reserves to cover all defaults.  It's 2008-09 on steroids...super steroids.  Be Prepared.

Don't let the State-Corporate Complex mold your mind anymore.  Reject all Edward Bernays style Propaganda Kool Aid.  You can't miss it; they don't even try to lie with subtlety anymore.  It's blatant lying:  "There's no price inflation worth mentioning"; "The unemployment rate is now only 5%"; "The dollar is strong"; "The Fed has it under control...they're doing a great job"; "The recovery is proceeding"; "Some banks are too big to fail [and prosecute]"; and on & on.  Please, enough of the lies.

By the way, this is not a Right v. Left issue.  Forget that paradigm; this is way above that distraction.  To use an educational metaphor:  this is at the post-doctorate level; the Right-Left paradigm is at the second grade level.

............................................

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

The Powers-That-Be are Lying

The Oligarchs don't lie about everything, but there are several crucial subjects about which they do lie often.  Following are some of those.

1.  Price inflation is stagnant.  The State-Corporate Complex can say this with a straight face because when they figure how much prices have increased, here's what's not included:  the costs of food, housing, and energy.  Those items are not part of what's called "core inflation".  To give credit where it's due, the Powers-That-Be are correct regarding energy costs...even though those are not counted.  Oil has tanked, no pun intended; that's good, but a guy like me drives only about 20 miles per week.  "Low" gas prices don't make up for the constant increases in food and sundry grocery store items.  Manufacturers of those goods either are raising prices outwardly or doing it surreptitiously by shrinking the size of product packages.  Plus, rent for housing in the USA (with a few exceptions) is skyrocketing.  An old dog like me cannot believe how high rental costs are nowadays.

2.  Unemployment in the USA is now 5.X%.  This lie is so egregious as to make one physically sick.  Reputable, credible economists and former Fed Gov't officials all across the political spectrum estimate that the true unemployment rate is somewhere between 20% and 43%.

3.  The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement will be good for everyday Americans.  The details of that abomination now are finally public; some were released earlier by WikiLeaks, but now we have the entire disaster available for scrutiny.  The critics (such as Lori Wallach of TradeWatch) are saying, "It's worse than we expected.", and they were harsh critics before the full text was released.  I've written about this before, so I won't repeat myself.  The details of this miserable Treaty can be found in lots of places, not the least of which is Citizen.org/TPP.  Promotion of the TPP by many in Gov't, the Corporate Media, and various other Mega Corporations is proof positive that Oligarchs don't give a damn about us.

4.  We are not at War...it's "counter-terrorism"; therefore, Geneva Conventions, Due Process, the Constitution in general, Ethics, and even Morality do not limit us when dealing with "enemy combatants".  That lie is so outrageous and defies Logic so much that I'm beginning to think that George Orwell was the greatest political prophet in all of History...bar none.  The Powers-That-Be are trying to sell us on the concept that the people we're fighting are neither soldiers nor criminals.  Sorry, Oligarchs, they have to be one or the other.  The term, "enemy combatant" is a fiction.  Due Process applies to everyone, even soldiers or criminals.  If it doesn't, we no longer are civilized, ethical beings.

5.  It is necessary to monitor everyone in the National Surveillance State.  Good grief, that is pure, unadulterated Propaganda...it's bullshit to the Nth Degree.  Why people are buying into that is beyond my comprehension.  Have mercy.

6.  We are in an Economic Recovery.  That statement is so blatantly ridiculous it defies not only Logic, but the imagination as well.  All one has to do to see it's not true is take a little time to do a serious, critical study of our economic condition...utilizing a wide variety of credible sources while ignoring Propaganda from the State-Corporate Complex.  The USA, and most of the world, is in a deep Recession and heading for a Depression that very well may be worse than the one in the 1930's.
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It's important to keep in mind that when it's "crunch time", when Institutions are in a bind, any Institution will protect itself rather than individuals or Individual Rights.  Natural Rights, possessed by all people, will be sacrificed by any Oligarchy upon the altar of expediency.  It is Institutions that constantly must be monitored...by us.  Remember the words of an Eastern philosopher:  we be many; they be few.  That is precisely why we are inundated totally with Propaganda from the State-Corporate Complex.  It's important to us and future generations that we think critically, speak out, deny unwarranted power to Institutions run amok, boycott those entities that trash Natural Rights, and do it all peacefully.  Violent actions beget more violence and complete suppression of the individual.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Obama's Latest War Propaganda

On 60 Minutes this past Sunday, Our President essentially said this (paraphrased) about the current ISIS war:  it's not really a war; instead, it's counter-terrorism.  The unmitigated gall of the man finally has surpassed that of Dubya Bush & Dick Cheney...which I didn't think was possible.  Mr. Obama, though I am loathe to lecture a President, I shall... simply because you appear to be in dire need of it.

You're not fooling us.  We know full well that you recognize the following.  When the military of one country crosses borders into other countries and then launches missiles and/or drops bombs, thus killing people and destroying infrastructure, that's known as war.  Your attempt to sidestep the issue of your violating the U.S. Constitution by saying it's not really war is grossly pathetic.  Incidentally, Mr. President, the NYT's editorial board & a Law Professor who wrote a Times Op-Ed piece agree that you are violating the Supreme Law of the Land.  [The fact that the Times agrees is truly monumental.]  Just so you know:  we know that your latest war propaganda (it's not really a war) is BOGUS.  The fact that you have a Constitutional Law background further convinces me that you, as well, know that it's bogus.  [Anyone who needs more convincing might want to ask Glenn Greenwald (a former Constitutional Law attorney and present day Pulitzer-Prize-winning independent journalist) about it.]

As to Republicans at the highest levels in our Gov't, you should all be thoroughly ashamed of your lack of action relative to defending the Constitution.  Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot:  both branches (Democrats and Republicans) of the only major political party in the USA---the Mega Transnational Corporatist Party--- abandoned the Supreme Law of the Land decades ago.  In spite of that (and because of that), you should all be thoroughly ashamed.  You're all apparently putting the State-Corporate Complex ahead of We the People.

After WW II, when the name of the War Department was changed to the Defense Department, someone (I forget who) remarked:  that's Gov't-Speak for--- from now on, all our wars will be aggressive (as opposed to defensive) and/or unconstitutional.  That person was prophetically correct.

Lastly, as I pointed out in my previous post (with examples), no military can defeat a terrorist organization.  History has proven that.  [There may be an exception in the record.]  Terrorists are criminals; terrorism is a Law Enforcement issue.  In general, military personnel are not cops and shouldn't be expected to function as such.  Recent illegal wars by the U.S. Fed Gov't serve the primary function of enriching huge, transnational corporations.  That is so obvious that it's painful.

[Sidebar---  Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes, the journalist who interviewed President Obama, is one of the very, very few Corporate Media employees who exposes the Corporatocracy.  Kudos to Mr. Kroft!]

Not just my opinion.  Be Well

Problems with Obama's War Actions, and War Propaganda from the State-Corporate Complex

1.  The White House (via their Press Secretary) declared war on ISIS; this despite the fact that the Executive Branch has no Constitutional authority to do so.

2.  As in the period leading up to the Second Iraq War (2003), the public essentially is presented with two choices:  do nothing, or go to war.  Diplomatic proposals---involving Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, even Russia and others---are almost nonexistent.  Cutting off funding to ISIS (coming mostly from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait) is nowhere to be found.  Sanctions...nonexistent.  Kerry's efforts appear to be gauged toward military coalitions only.  Perpetual War grinds on.

3.  Obama now claims "authority" (to [illegally] bomb inside Syria) from two War "Resolutions":  the "War on Terror" and the Iraq War Resolutions of 10+ yrs ago.  Those are derived from the War Powers Resolution Act---aka, the War Powers Act---of 1973.  It's a Legislative Act that contradicts the Constitution.  As I've pointed out many times, laws do not supercede the United States Constitution.  Oligarchs, both in and out of our Gov't, use the War Powers Act to bypass the constraints of the Constitution; that's been going on for decades.  This all means that Obama's "authority", just like Bush's "authority" was, is illegal and unconstitutional.  Unfortunately, apparently We the People (aided by Propaganda from the Oligarchy) have come to believe that a "good end" justifies any means.

4.  James Foley's mother has decried Obama's use of her son's death as an excuse for launching yet another war in the region.  Furthermore, though the murders of both Foley and Sotloff were brutal, barbaric, and tragic, they posed no threat to the United States.  The FBI has gone overseas in the past to investigate the murders of American citizens, and should do so now.  It's a Law Enforcement issue.

5.  The Free Syrian Army, a "moderate" group opposing Assad, recently beheaded six people they had captured.  This is the rebel group that Obama and Kerry claim we need to support.  The point:  there are atrocities on both sides.  In addition, I recently pointed out that the Gov't of Saudi Arabia executed 113 criminals in the last couple months by beheading them.  In that area of the world, apparently beheading is considered an acceptable means of execution.

6.  The average, nonmilitary Sunni in Iraq has seen Sunnis arrested, tortured, displaced, fired from jobs for no good reason, etc., etc. by the U.S.-backed, former Gov't of al-Maliki.  Though the Iraqi Sunnis may abhor the tactics of ISIS, they tend to be drawn to them because of the post-war history of Shiites and Sunnis in Iraq.  Now they see the U.S. Gov't bombing more Sunnis (ISIS).  The point:  it's a civil and sectarian war...and none of our business.  [That's not Isolationism, it's Non-Interventionism...the difference between the two is important.]

7.  The pro-war pundits on cable networks such as Fox, CNN, and MSNBC are presented as former Generals, military experts, etc. (which is true).  What's left out is the fact that they currently work for various Defense contractors who stand to benefit greatly from the Third Iraq War.  Examples:  General Jack Keene and General Anthony Zinni.

8.  Common sense should tell anyone that fighting ISIS inside Syria helps the brutal Assad regime.  [This is not rocket science, people...it's simple logic.]

9.  It's important to recognize that Obama and the State-Corporate Complex know precisely what they are doing.  They know they are violating the Constitution.  They know they have no business in a civil war.  They know innocent people are being and will be killed.  They know that the American public mind must be molded to accept yet another stupid war.  They know who will benefit---mega transnational corporations.

10.  None of this is a "conspiracy".  For crying out loud, it's in plain sight.  War is BIG Business--- just ask General Dynamics, General Electric, the Carlyle Group, Halliburton, Exxon-Mobile, CACI, the former Blackwater (now under a new name), McDonnell-Douglas, etc., ad infinitum.  Follow the money.

Partly just my opinion.  Be Well

The Elites, Control of the Masses, and the "Crisis" of Democracy

Even a cursory examination of History tells us that since at least the 1700s, after every major war or other significant, traumatic national event, the elites of "democratic" countries have perceived what they believe to be a "crisis of democracy".  For example, in 1975 the Trilateral Commission (TC for brevity) issued a book-length report on the governability of democracies titled, The Crisis of Democracy, by S. Huntington, et.al.  [The TC is a think tank founded in 1973 by David Rockefeller and Zbigniew Brzezinski, the latter being the author of, The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and its Geostrategic Imperatives (1998).  It's named "trilateral" because it supposedly represents the elites of North America, Western Europe, and Japan.]

Huntington expressed the following view, one held by so-called "Liberal Democrats", a view that differed very little (if at all) from that of the so-called "Right Wing".  The elites of both political persuasions, after the Vietnam War, believed that in the USA there was an "excess of democracy" which threatened the Establishment.  By that, they meant: large groups of people, normally passive, obedient, and apathetic, began to enter the political arena and essentially demand egalitarianism.  Further, and perhaps a bigger threat, value (truth, justice, equality, etc.)-oriented intellectuals were challenging the technocratic, policy-oriented, institutionalist intellectuals of the Establishment.  That was the "crisis of democracy".  From the elites' point of view, it had to be dealt with in a thorough and systematic way.

 It was believed that the "excesses of democracy" must be mitigated by returning the public to its proper state of obedience and apathy, and driving them from meaningful and full participation in the political process.  That best could be accomplished by further refining the control of the public (and their ideas) via Edward Bernays style propaganda---molding the public mind---and by making institutions even more difficult to penetrate.  As an example of difficult penetration, to get a third political party on the ballot in all fifty states is a complex, convoluted, frustrating, and virtually impossible task because of ballot-access laws concocted by both Democrats and Republicans.  Another example--- probably 90+% of political candidates are chosen, groomed, and financed by the Oligarchy; the rest largely are ignored.  A broader, different example--- today most all major institutions, public or private, are practically impossible to penetrate when trying to get a straight answer about any perceived problem or injustice.  "That's our policy" usually is the reply, as if that's a sufficient answer.

The elites' use of the Corporate Media (the Institutionalist Press) was key to further molding the public mind.  As a result, today ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and Fox News, as well as the major newspapers and news magazines, all gush with the oligarchical line---a specialized Class knows what's best for all of us...in social matters, in politics, in government, in medicine and physical health, in economics, in finance, in national defense, in education, or in anything else you can name.  The Corporate Media don't all agree with each other on insignificant matters (e.g., should "God" be printed on our coinage), but they all promote the idea that the Oligarchy should manage and control things.  They all promote the idea that the State-Corporate Complex is the best possible system.

The rise of the Independent Media (thought of as "insurrectionist" and "dangerous" by the elites) has resulted in a serious challenge to the Oligarchy.  Consequently, there is a concerted effort to demonize, discredit, and destroy the Independents.  Journalists are being criminalized (e.g., Glenn Greenwald), jailed, or in a few places around the world, tortured and then "disappeared".  The First Amendment in this country is being compromised by the National Security State.  Fear has long been a tool of the Oligarchy...there's always a boogie-man from which we need to be protected, and to be protected means (according to the Oligarchy) that we must give up some of our Natural Rights.  Apparently exposing government wrongdoing is one of those Rights that must be given up.  [NOTE: some of those boogie-men are genuine threats, but most are not.  The biggest boogie-man is the State-Corporate Complex...and it's the biggest genuine threat.]

It's important to recognize (I think/hope most people do) that the definition of democracy used by elites is not the same as the one commonly accepted around the globe.  Democracy applied by elites is a top-down process, not bottom-up.  As to constitutional republics, forget it...there are none left in the world, that is, none that are legitimate or genuine.  That includes the United States.

Around the world today, especially in developed countries, Oligarchies are being seriously challenged by the so-called "crisis in democracy".  People are fed up with oligarchical control.  As a result, elites have increased the propaganda, or the Information War.  The effort to control the masses...mold the public mind...has never been greater.  One consequence is that the internet, the greatest democratizing force on Earth, is being attacked with propaganda and efforts to restrict it as never before.  If we are to peacefully overcome the Oligarchy, the internet must remain free and unfettered.  [I realize it's not unfettered in all countries.]  The State-Corporate Complex is doing everything possible to make us believe that the net should be censored because it is sometimes a tool of various boogie-men.  Resist that propaganda.  Take a page from the people of Turkey.

[NOTE:  A significant portion of this essay is courtesy of a lecture by the brilliant political analyst, Noam Chomsky...a Professor Emeritus of M.I.T., and a man demonized by both the so-called Left and the so-called Right.  That, by itself, tells me we should pay attention to what he says. :)]

Partly just my opinion.  Happy Trails

USA Democracy, State-Corporate Complex, & Bernays Propaganda [and a Note on Chris Hayes]

First, a note on my previous post and Chris Hayes.  After viewing about an hour's worth of MSNBC Chris Hayes clips on YouTube, I've concluded that Mr. Hayes appears to have two different personas.  When he's a guest on Democracy Now and other non-corporate venues, talking about Twilight of the Elites, his message hits the mark & he definitely has credibility.  On his own show on the prostitute corporate medium MSNBC, he's mostly an apologist for Obama...and fails to recognize (or perhaps conceals the recognition) that Obama is part of the Meritocracy that he deplores so in his book.  That's my take on it, anyway.
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Let's begin by recognizing the unfortunate fact that the USA is no longer a Constitutional Republic.  About half of everything that the Fed Gov't (at the highest levels) does is unquestionably unconstitutional.  In large part, both Democrats and Republicans ignore the Constitution and instead pass laws or issue Executive Orders that they believe trump the Supreme Law of the Land.  Once in a blue moon, to their credit, they do get things right.  For example, just recently a Congressional Panel determined that the NSA's bulk collection of data is illegal.  That's rare.  Of course, don't look for anything significant to be done about that finding.

Despite the propaganda from the Gov't and Corporate Media, and despite the belief of most of our population, let's also recognize that neither is our form of gov't a Democracy...at least, not a genuine Democracy.

Not long after WW I, Walter Lippmann, writing about politics in America, described the general public as "ignorant, meddlesome outsiders" who should only be "spectators" in the political process and leave such matters to the ones who know what they're doing...in other words, the smart, informed people...the Meritocracy.  Lippmann was part of the intelligentsia at the time; he was known as the "Dean of American Journalism"...and was a so-called "Progressive".  So much for American style Democracy, at least, from his point of view (which was quite influential).

In 1928, Edward Bernays found a publisher for his book, Propaganda: Molding the Public Mind.  In it, he made the case that propaganda is essential to the successful functioning of any Democracy.  He said that the true rulers of the country are the ones who control the propaganda; the elites bought the proposition lock, stock, & barrel.  Bernays later was recognized as the Founder of the Public Relations industry.  His type of propaganda played a major role in our Govt's overthrow (in the '50s) of the democratically elected President of Guatemala.

The State-Corporate Complex flourished in the '50s and '60s...and beyond.  Ike warned us about it, but We the People pretty much ignored his warning.  The molding of the public mind was in full swing by then, with one of the promotions being that we lived in a "Democracy".  The elites' version of democracy is this:  every two years or so, the "ignorant, meddlesome outsiders", aka, the "spectators" truck on over to a designated site and pull one of two levers...and then go home.  Each lever represents a candidate chosen, groomed, and financed by the Meritocracy...and sold to the public via Edward Bernays style propaganda.  The public doesn't really know where either candidate stands politically...because all info given to the public is based on polls, studies, & focus groups that determine just what it is that the public wants to hear.  Adjustments are made for the phony differences between the two candidates.

By the '80s, voters weren't even really "spectators" anymore...because the Reagan and Thatcher administrations became private and secretive.  How many of you know about the Reagan-Thatcher concoction known as the "Washington Consensus"...it had a major impact on the world.  It promoted Neoliberalism around the globe, much to the dismay of most third world countries.  Not too many folks "spectated" that one.

By the '90s, transnational corporations (via institutions such as the GATT, WTO, IMF, and World Bank---that are completely secretive & absolutist--- as well as so-called "Free Trade Agreements") were creating a completely non-democratic, worldwide economic structure whose rules trumped U.S. laws.  That's continuing on steroids today.  So much for American style Democracy.

During all of this time, right through to the present, the American public (and the world public) is fed a steady diet of propaganda which basically and simply says, this is all good for you...and it will "create jobs".  What a deceit and a scam.

So, what's to be done about it?  Well, the first step is to stop drinking the Propaganda Kool Aid.  I'll say it 'til I'm blue in the face.  :)

Just my opinion.