As I reflect on the demise of our country and all that it once stood for, I am struck by what appears to be an epidemic that has evolved over a very long period of time. It is pervasive and invasive in every facet of our society and our lives. It is the “arrogance of power.” It is the arrogance of political, economic and social power. It is particularly virulent in the centers of power that determine, advocate and nurture the so-called “values” by which we live. It is the power that has eroded the essence of what should be emulated as good and decent within us. It has destroyed the collective “we” in favor of the collective “me.” Everyone has his or her own agenda. We are a collection of very myopic and self-serving people hell-bent on self-destruction in the pursuit of our own self-defined “goals,” however one is inclined to see them.
The institutions that were once there to serve the body politic now have their own constituencies to which they give their allegiance. Serving the people of this country was once the ultimate goal of government, business and commerce. Now people are no longer regarded as living beings worthy of the dignity that was once inherent in that concept. The people have become little more than an abstraction. They count for something, in figurative terms, when specific interests need them in order to realize their goals but, once achieved, they become faceless and irrelevant.
“Arrogance,” has become a club of exclusivity, serving itself and all those they depend on for their survival and prosperity. They have ceased to be subtle. They flaunt their power and privilege before those they plunder and ravage. They have insulated themselves from accountability for their actions and the scorn that follows.
The institutions of government (Executive, Legislative, Judicial and the plethora of government agencies serve themselves. They no longer represent us and act on our behalf. Rather, they unilaterally determine what they deem to be “best” for us and impose their will on us accordingly. Who and what we are, what we want and what we need are no longer relevant.
Wall Street serves itself in the business of making vast sums of money, at our expense, then sequestering their ill-gotten gains in off-shore tax havens and investing them in countries where they can further exploit the human condition to our collective detriment. They flaunt their power, greed and avarice before the very institutions that should be regulating their activities and ensuring they serve the people of this country, as they were once required to do.
Corporate America is no longer discreet in their massive greed and exploitation of those they feed on. They have become masters of marginalizing every threat and challenge to what they have deemed to be legitimate means to their ends. They have bought and own every facet of the “peoples” government that now aids and abets them in their rape and plunder of what little is left of our nation.
The most egregious and threatening of all are those comprising the “Military/Industrial Complex.” The sheer magnitude of the resources they squander and the power they wield over our everyday lives is frightening. The largest share of our national resources go to support their fantasies and dreams of a new order, a new empire and global conquest. They literally control ever aspect of our defense, intelligence and surveillance apparatus. They operate, with the blessings of our civilian institutions of government, under a shroud of secrecy that defies reason. We really have no idea how big they are what they are up to and how they affect the everyday needs of the American people.
Some of the most glaring examples of the gross disparity in how they see themselves vs. what is good for us, are the extreme differences between the perquisites and compensation for our elected government officials in Congress and the White House. It is rather akin to the old adage that says, “Don’t do as I do; do as I say.” They have no compunction about telling us, repeatedly, about how Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other social safety nets are bankrupting the country, but summarily ignore the real causes of our fiscal plight. Is that disparity reality or what they want us to believe? The answer is self-evident, but very few in power are willing to expose truth to the light of day and hold to account those who talk so ably out of both sides of their mouths. If Social Security is truly a public trust, as we are led to believe, then the incumbent resident at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue should cease and desist from using it as his personal petty cash fund; a precedent so egregiously set by James Earl Carter, and continuing unabated ever since.
At best, all we get is one more lofty speech, followed by secret deals with the very ones who were vilified in the speeches. Obama has been as consistent in that little game as anyone could be. But, we always give him a free pass on his arrogance. Leadership and courage are not in his makeup.
When all three houses of government were in the hands of the Democrats, and some meaningful changes could have been made, rather than leadership and courage, we were overdosed on the merits of “bi-partisanship.” What, I ask you, did we the people, get from that bargain? Damned little, if you ask me. Now, the Democratic leadership is doing its thespian routine to perfection --- the hapless victim. How can any sane and rational person fall for that?
Arrogance is not endemic just to government. Its effects are very much evident in the ranks of the American people themselves. It takes one hell of a lot of effort and determination in order to ferret out truth. It is the stuff of lazy minds to accept beliefs at face value. Sadly, those beliefs are what convince us that our prejudices are noble and righteous. Beliefs are the stuff of zealots. They are predicated on ignorance and emotions, and they are irrational. But, look what they have wrought. We now have a raving bunch of lunatics on the right that tout simplicity and austerity in government, all the while playing the part of the consummate enablers for the oligarchs, the plutocrats and all those who serve them. A two-class society can’t come soon enough for them. As an aside, they always seem to have “God” on their side. Does anyone actually believe that He talks to them?
Then, of course, we have the so-called “Progressives.” Progressives, to my way of thinking, suffer from delusions of moral and intellectual superiority. They are the enlightened ones who never hesitate to take the high ground. Our system of laws, which should be the foundation for our entire system of government, is not to be respected, not to be systematically changed as circumstances dictate, but to be assaulted as the root cause of all the ills that plague us. Laws? Who cares? Just look all of the poor people who are being exploited by the establishment because of them. They will just ignore the law and demand what they see as virtuous, the law be damned.
I cannot help but wonder, as I look at all those claiming to be “Progressives,” but who are some of the most affluent and prominent figures among us, how they are likely to be affected by giving away the store to all of those they have deemed to be put upon by society. Did it ever occur to them that the ills of an illegal and underground workforce, consigned to a subsistence level of existence, are not the fault of the American people? They are the result of a compliant government relaxing the vigilance that was to ensure our national security, so big business and vast wealth could exploit those seeking an ostensibly better life over the abject poverty from which they came. But, guess what, the very social safety nets that belong to the people are fair game for bearing the cost of righting those egregious wrongs. God forbid that anyone would seriously consider raising taxes on the super-rich and corporations where the liability squarely lies! Where is the justice in all this?
Saving the best for last, I now turn my attention to the largest and most powerful instrument of the arrogance of power in our society --- corporate ownership of our news media. Who said that we had a free press that was there to ensure that government was to be, and remain, the watchdog for the people? It has become a massively lucrative business, imbued with the star-worship of celebrities skillfully selling us on the points of view of those of great wealth and power they so readily serve. They have elevated lying to a new art-form. They tell us, not what we should know, but what their masters want us to know. And, we accept it without question.
Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and a whole host of ignoramuses do a yeoman’s job of peddling their questionable truth to all the true believers who desperately want to accept the fact that the sky is falling. On the other hand, the martyrdom of the liberal news media and their faux concern for all the downtrodden is the stuff that feeds into our need to rise up in righteous indignation. In both cases, have you noticed, when one of them steps out of line and ventures into the world of knowledge, truth and challenging the company line, they are cut off at the ankles and sent into exile?
However, there are those who have chosen a career in journalism as an honorable and noble profession, and who honestly try to live up to all that stands for. Theirs is a rocky road at best and often have a tough time surviving. They deserve all the respect and admiration we can give upon them. Thanks to the Internet, there has been a renewal in the pursuit of freedom that once was the hallmark of the trade they so ardently ply. If there is any facet of our society that we should make damned sure remains open and free, it is the Internet. Without it we are doomed to an unenviable fate at the hands of those who profess to be on the side of the people.
Do I hold out hope for the future? I must confess that maintaining a sense of optimism is difficult. Why? Because of the laziness, selfishness and sheer brutality of all the true believers, the zealots of whatever ilk. The people of this country are losing that which rightfully belongs to them, all because of an internalized set of values that supports our perceived sense of entitlement, and the arrogance that is a natural byproduct of the accompanying mindset that has infected every facet of our lives.
We are rather akin to the band of sheep being led to the slaughter and can no longer detect the smell of the blood spilled by those who have gone before them; those who were willing to stand for and defend all that made them great.
Regardless of the ultimate price, as long as I get what I want, who cares?
Cowboy Bob
aka The Sagebrush Philosopher
September 12, 2011
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