We desperately need a Trust-Busting renaissance...
Since the start, I have always come to DU seeking validation of my personal political values, which are staunchly Democratic (i.e. Liberal and Progressive) coupled with my visceral disdain for all things Republican since the days of Ronny Reagan. My basic political belief is that the policies of the right-wing forces of this country, and around the world, contribute to -- if not directly cause -- most of the human suffering and injustice.
Now that I am approaching the wisdom years of life, I am able to see things removed from the distraction of political partisanship. I can see that the rotten condition of our political system and our mean-spirited society can't be blamed solely on a bunch of sinister, right-wing political buffoons. Though they are many in number and truly deserving of our condemnation (I'm looking at you, Scalia!), they are just the rancid meat-puppets who have made deals with the actual devil -- BIG CORPORATIONS -- those amoral, antisocial entities which function in the netherworld of faceless anonymity and unaccountability. It is a perfect marriage because, I believe, within every "conservative" beats the heart of a fascist* -- one who uses the government to obtain power, domination, conformity and money. All of the divisive social issues (poverty, racism, gay rights, immigration, abortion, "religious freedom", gun rights, etc.) are just smoke-and-mirror distractions which they use to manipulate and divide the electorate. I admit that I get distracted by these arguments myself. They are intentionally designed to tug at our emotions. This is a tactic employed by every demagogue.
The world's governments are now owned and operated as the subsidiaries of BIG CORPORATIONS or outright criminal enterprises. In the U.S., they provide endless streams of money (thanks to the Citizens United ruling) to finance the campaigns in order to get their hand-picked lackeys elected. They purchase their own selfish, individualized representation. They write legislation to protect and promote their own selfish interest. They have succeeded in concentrating a vast amount of wealth into too few hands, and they now own the country and Congress:
The United States of America Inc., LLC
Big Oil/Big Energy : An oligopoly that is poisoning our water and air, eroding environmental protection laws and regulations, neutering the EPA, undermining efforts to invest in alternative energy, and -- of course -- backing the denial of climate change. And all of this is Tax-Free !
Big Banks/Brokerages/Mortgage and money-lenders : Constantly lobbying to erode federal regulations and the rights of consumers (SEC), creating a nation and world of perpetual personal debt, legalizing usury, preying on the poor and vulnerable, striving to privatize Social Security, and almost destroying the world economy -- which is no small feat -- requiring a trillion-dollar bail-out from John Q. Taxpayer.
The MIC (Military Industrial Complex) : quietly rooting for Armageddon (think of the profit and all of the Republicans who will be taken up in The Rapture!), squandering more than half of the nations treasury every year, the driving force behind the propensity for waging wars and a militaristic foreign policy. These are the folks who put the pig in pork-barrel spending.
Big Pharma/Insurance/Health Care : making profits off of the sick, gouging the American public for what are necessities for living, preventing single-payer "Medicare-for-all", and eroding consumer protections (FDA)
Agri-Business/Chemicals : poisoning us with GMO food, tobacco, insulin-resistant corn syrup, high-fat food, high-sodium processed food, high-calorie food, pesticides and chemicals galore; all leading to increased rates of cancer, Alzheimer's Disease, autism, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, food allergies, etc. (see Big Pharma above for a good example of how symbiotic business relationships are formed)
Service Industry : "The Walmart Phenomenon". Creating the obscene economic status known as "the working poor", full-time workers who receive no health care insurance and rely on "gubmint" food stamps, stagnant wages, a dying middle class, the insane increase in worker productivity (being worked to death) resistance to raising the minimum wage to a "living" wage, an increase in the number of part-time workers, the outright theft of workers pensions, union-busting disguised as "right to work" legislation, and the erosion of workers' protection and rights (OSHA, NLRB) "I owe my soul to the company store..." Good luck on those retirement plans, BTW.
WHO will be the next Trust-Busters (like a second-coming of Teddy Roosevelt?) Who will possess the courage, determination and morality to turn over the tables of the money-changers and confront the robber-barons of our generation ? They sure as shit won't be Republicans. They won't be moderate (i.e. corporate) Democrats, either.
WHEN, if ever, will they be elected ? Can they be elected under our currently rigged system?
Can someone like Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren make an impact without the support of a grass-roots movement behind them?
WHEN will our country awaken from its stupor, if ever, and start electing politicians who will represent the interests of the public?
Donald Trump is not an example of the decline our democracy; the mountain of money which he sits upon represents the real threat.
* yes, I am not ashamed to admit that, within every Democrat beats the heart of a Socialist.
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