I make a genuine effort to keep abreast of what is going on around me, both domestically and internationally. I read the newspaper, I watch the news programs on television and I surf the Net. I talk to people on a regular basis and I cannot help but notice that most of them are reasonably aware of what is going on, perhaps not to the extent that a junkie like me is, but they are certainly far from living in a bubble of ignorance. They hear the same statistics, the same empty rhetoric and promises made by all politicians, regardless of their professed party affiliation. They have a pretty good fix on how corrupt the system is against the average American and they seem to be acutely aware of the extent to which their interests have been sacrificed to the oligarchs on the alter of greed, big banks, international corporations and a government that is owned lock, stock and barrel by moneyed interests aligned against them. They may be numb with apathy, disheartened by a malaise that seems to have consumed their very souls, but, they are not stupid. They just don’t see much hope in an uncertain future.
I don’t think most folks seriously consider what has been thrown at them since the end of WW II. The concept of “brainwashing” is by now an outmoded concept. However, the art and science have been perfected and refined to the point where most of us are not consciously aware of the effects they have on us and our daily lives. Their skills know how to shape our opinions, values and desires and, guess what? They have succeeded big time. We are captives to what they want us to believe and what they want us to know. We have become a people, not of “we” but “me.” We are far more “consumers” than “producers.”
It is a given that big money, big corporations and the institutions of government are all in bed together, their hollow campaign rhetoric not withstanding. They have managed to develop and refine their ability to determine and create our tastes. They have subliminally played to our basest instincts and desires for materialistic pursuits and hedonistic pleasures. We have acquired far more than we need and more than we can possibly put to good use. But, the message is never ending and we still continue to buy more, limited only by the amount of money we can spend or how much credit card debt we can carry, and believe all they want us to believe.
Hedonism, which used to be regarded as a collection of personal desires, is now put before us as something to be coveted and revered. Advertising shows men with lean bodies, washboard abs and naked above the waist. Becoming walking sex machines for anyone who might care to satisfy their basest needs is their most noble pursuit. Women now dress like streetwalkers, what with hemlines up to the cheeks of their bottoms and cleavages that would rival the Grand Canyon. All of this is beamed at our primordial desire for sexual pleasures. Well, folks, the ability to reproduce has always been with us and will likely continue to be so. But, basic common human decency had a dimension to it that made it special, personal and private. I don’t know about you, but I am overdosed on the various advertisements for enhancements to erectile stimulation for men and the various potions that will create a climax for women that will put them over the moon. I am not averse to people seeking the need to address problems in those areas; I just don’t want to be subjected to it as part of my daily entertainment and informational fare. I think that attitude is shared by more people than one might think. It is a private matter; nothing more and nothing less.
I have real issues with the extent to which drug companies routinely engage in advertising blitzes for prescription drugs. That should be a matter between what drug companies produce and the physicians who will prescribe them for their patients. Rather, we have the cultivation of a need beamed to the patient who, in can safely be concluded, will seek the doctor’s complicity in the purchase and use of the drug. Now, my experience has taught me that if most doctors can make a buck and call it patient care, they will usually succumb to the temptation. I rather suspect most patients are aware of that fact, as well. It is a long stretch from “altruism” to “materialism.” How many doctors of modest means have you known in your lifetime?
We have evolved into a people who are fractured and fragmented. We are a collection of special interests. We no longer have a sense of community with our fellow man. We are one among many, my wants and needs taking precedence over yours. We are willing to cast any measures of morality over the side in order to further our own ambitions and desires. We seem to accept as routine that which we abhorred in days gone by. Stealing? What’s the big deal? Lying? It is simply a means to an end. Doesn’t everybody lie? Look around you. Those who have mastered the tools of deception and exploitation of the human condition seem to be doing very well, thank you. Morality and ethics? What did that get us? Just look at what we have become. How moral and ethical are the various institutions of government? Do you honestly believe the Supreme Court seeks judicial impartiality for the common good? Who benefits most from their so-called “decisions?” It sure as hell isn’t the average folk of the land, is it?
What has presidential infatuation with the title of “Commander in Chief” got us? We now have a military establishment that is in bed with their industrial counterparts, covered by a shroud of secrecy that becomes far more opaque to the electorate every day. Personally, I think the title “President of the United States,” garners much more admiration and respect, if for no other reason than it speaks to the entire populace of the United States.
What has an imperial presidency and an aloof and arrogant Congress got us? They simply ignore the will of the people, tell us what they regard as best for us, pander to those who lace their pockets with vast sums of money and revel in their self-appointed notion of exclusivity and superiority over those who put them in office. Sure, they bring out the rhetoric of bovine scatology when it comes time to campaign for re-election, but that is just the price one pays for the privilege of feeding at the troughs of those who own government and dictate the legislative agenda for their interests, those of the people be damned. They have done a pretty good job of getting away with it, too, wouldn’t you say?
The sheer power of massively huge wealth has overwhelmed those who are now their victims. I think most people honestly feel that the forces of evil are aligned against them. There is faint hope that things will get any better to a discernable extent. The charts that reflect the stats showing the extent to which big money is aligned against the working people and poor of this country belie quite a different picture. The facts speak for themselves.
People are well aware of the fact that there have been no prosecutions of those on Wall Street who almost succeeded in bringing this country down. Moreover, they hold out little hope that will ever occur. They know that the military/industrial behemoth is untouchable. They are not ignorant of the fact that public rhetoric by our political establishment is only the prelude to the real deal to be hatched behind closed doors for those who really dictate and control the agenda.
People are cognizant of the creeping influence of ever-expanding free trade agreements, what that is doing to the manufacturing and economic base of the United States and the jobs that will never become reality. They, too, are not impervious to the pernicious effects of one-sided trade agreements that underscore the lopsided effects of our economic interests versus those of third world countries and their pools of cheap labor.
People are not blind to the erosion of the power of the common man in the form of labor unions, a regulatory system that looks out for their interests and that creates opportunities for ascending the ladder of opportunity. They know the price that has been paid to those who harbor disdain for those who dare to speak on behalf of Working America.
With the advent of an “all volunteer” military, people soon realized it consigned their offspring to the pool of human gun fodder to fight the wars for the rich and powerful. That has not been lost on those who have buried their young and reclaimed the maimed who have returned from far-off lands in the service of their “country.” Yeah, right. For whom and at what price? Their wealthy counterparts are now ensconced in business and industries that plunder the nation; a nation that rightfully belongs to those who never shared in those same opportunities.
The arrogance of massive wealth and power boggles the human mind. Those who covet material fortunes at the expense of being a responsible part of society have no souls. They are impervious to what it means to be part of a community. They may “have it all,” but they are dead inside. Nobody is home. At the end of life’s journey their heirs wait like hungry wolves waiting to plunder all they have left behind. Their legacy is a mass of “things.” They are not likely to be remembered for a treasure trove of fond memories and what they did to make the world a better place. Time has proven that the parasite is ultimately consumed by the host. The object of greed and lust is, at best, fleeting. The pack will always prevail at the expense of the leader. That is the eternal truth of the pack mentality.
It is the inherent good and decency of all those common folks who really did make an honest difference which is eternal, and that, my friends is priceless. That is for those who lived the good life, did the best they could and left a legacy of love.
I believe the worst is still before us, but when the tides turn, as it surely will, I, also, believe there are better times ahead for all of those who kept the covenant from the best among us and never succumbed to the worst within us.
Cowboy Bob
The Sagebrush Philosopher
May 4, 2012
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