Well, it turns out that Josh Dugger of the famous Dugger Clan of "19 Kids and Counting" is guilty of molesting at least 5 of his sisters. I, along with many other people, have expressed their disgust with a person who would spend so much of his life's energy attacking gays being guilty of monstrous sex crimes himself. Dugger is justly scorned for his terrible hypocrisy. Yet, I have been accused by some fellow Christians of being a hypocrite myself by not expressing Christian forgiveness myself. Who is right? The answer can be found in the true meaning of Christian forgiveness and the darkest meaning of suffering.
Does God forgive Josh Dugger? Does God still love Josh Dugger? Yes and Yes. If Josh Dugger wants God's forgiveness, he just has to repent for his sins and ask for it and it will be granted. This is true for you, it is true for me, it will be true for the worst sinner that ever lived. Because Jesus Christ Died for everybody's sins. Heaven is a choice. We either accept God's forgiveness or we don't. That alone gets us into Heaven. It is easy to see how a lot of secular people would have a problem with this. Seems way too easy. Seems to be a license to hurt people. You mean it is possible that God forgave Hitler? Stalin? Mob bosses? The fact that I am a Christian means I have to say yes. And a lot of good people are disgusted by that answer.
But, do not misunderstand. Just because God forgives our sins does NOT mean we do not have to pay a price for our sins on Earth. A loving God allows us to suffer the consequences of our sins here and now. God does NOT allow us to escape these consequences. Would not a loving parent discipline their children after they misbehaved? Is it not the job of a loving parent to teach their children right and wrong? Of course it is. This is why that the people who say the critics of Dugger lack Christian Forgiveness are so wrong. Dugger must face the just and proper repercussions for his actions just as the Catholic pedophile priests did. Just like we all do for our sins. God is not a "Get out of Jail Free" card. God is a just and loving father who wants the best for us. Who wants us to grow into souls worthy to join him in Heaven for all eternity. The Suffering Servant who died on the Cross for the sins of the whole world does not allow us to weasel out of suffering. It is part of the price we pay for our fallen world and the contributions we all make to its suffering.
Besides, who should be the ultimate beneficiaries of Christian forgiveness in this case? Josh's VICTIMS. That's right. They need to forgive their brother, not for him but for THEMSELVES. They need the grace to give up THEIR pain and THEIR anger so they do not lose THEIR souls. It is my prayer that they allow Jesus into this horrible situation, for THEIR benefit to free themselves. Hatred and bitterness is a prison much worse that the one Josh Dugger needs to be headed to. Christian forgiveness grants them THEIR freedom.
So Josh, I pray to see you in Heaven. After you get out of jail.
Friday, May 22, 2015
Monday, May 11, 2015
Washington Elites Smeared the Best Man For the Job
UPDATE: I'm sure now that all you useless liberal, elitist, superdelegate Democrat assholes are all looking forward to the inauguration of President Hillary Clinton., I am here to remind you that I wrote this just after Bernie Announced!! HAHA!
Now that Bernie Sanders has announced his candidacy for President, you can already hear Official Washington giggling in the background. Too Liberal! A socialist! No chance! Too funny looking! Yep, the Very Important And Serious People have already written Bernie off. Nothing for the Inevitable Hillary to worry about, that's for sure. After all, the last real progressive to run was Dennis Kucinich, and the Very Serious People had no trouble marginalizing him. Never mind that Kucinich was an authentic political hero, saving the people of Cleveland from Enron style gouging when he was mayor. He was funny looking too. Always shunted off waaaay off to the side during the debates. After being allowed to speak a couple times, the VIP's would smile and then let the Serious Candidates speak. You know, the ones standing in the middle, far away from Dennis. The candidates that Understood How Things Work. The ones that understood what was good for the elites was good for all.
So, the elites have already started this process on Bernie Sanders. But it's not going to work. First of all, Bernie is tough and fearless advocate for progressive policies. He has been fighting brave and lonely battles in the arena for many years. He will not be pushed around. He will not be shunted off to the side. The Democratic debates will not be a cattle call with 10+ candidates on the stage. Heck, it might be Bernie and Hillary one on one! He will not let Hillary intimidate him. Hillary will have to defend her cozy relationship to Wall Street and special interests and there will nowhere to hide. Hillary might try to paint him as an extremist, a socialist! But that will not work. Bernie has earned the respect and admiration of many progressives. Here's the rub, his economic policies are not extreme in the least. Nothing that Harry S. Truman could not have gotten behind. Almost all are popular when polled on their own merits, away from the label of socialism! Bernie will be heard and Hillary will have to respond. And no, money will not protect her. Bernie will be outspent, perhaps greatly. But he will raise enough from small donors to get his message out, especially when his message is so forceful. What's Hillary going to do, run attack ads? " Bernie is too Liberal?". I don't think so. Hillary will need Sanders supporters to come to the polls in November if she is too win. She must tred carefully here.
No, Bernie Sanders will probably not be the Democratic nominee. But he is just dangerous enough to derail an overconfident and elitist Hillary. Despite her lip service to progressive causes when she announced her candidacy, Hillary shows few signs of learning anything from the debacle of 2008. She still is excessively cautious. She still shows too much loyalty to too many hacks. Bill and her still seem careless about potential scandals. Finally she seems to be relying too much on her "inevitability". The strategy seems to be: coast to the nomination, and then rely on "emerging Democratic demographics" and the GOP destroying themselves by nominating an extremist.. Hey, it might work. But I wouldn't count on it. Despite all the Tea party moaning about Jeb Bush, I expect the establishment wing of the GOP to prevail as they always do. Then the Tea Party legions will bitch, moan, and then fall into line, like they did for Mitt Romney. And what if Jeb (or Rubio) is the nominee? A swing of 58 electoral votes from the loss of Florida becomes a real possibility. Also, does Hillary and her team have the skills that Team Obama did to win major battleground states? Very much in the air. Finally, what happens in Iowa or New Hampshire when this flabby Hillary runs into the focused and determined Bernie Sanders? Is 40% plus for Bernie in either state really out of the question? Is victory in these states really out of the questions Then what happens? This is why the proper comparison to Bernie Sanders is not Dennis Kucinich. It is Eugene McCarthy. Democrats....beware.
Now that Bernie Sanders has announced his candidacy for President, you can already hear Official Washington giggling in the background. Too Liberal! A socialist! No chance! Too funny looking! Yep, the Very Important And Serious People have already written Bernie off. Nothing for the Inevitable Hillary to worry about, that's for sure. After all, the last real progressive to run was Dennis Kucinich, and the Very Serious People had no trouble marginalizing him. Never mind that Kucinich was an authentic political hero, saving the people of Cleveland from Enron style gouging when he was mayor. He was funny looking too. Always shunted off waaaay off to the side during the debates. After being allowed to speak a couple times, the VIP's would smile and then let the Serious Candidates speak. You know, the ones standing in the middle, far away from Dennis. The candidates that Understood How Things Work. The ones that understood what was good for the elites was good for all.
So, the elites have already started this process on Bernie Sanders. But it's not going to work. First of all, Bernie is tough and fearless advocate for progressive policies. He has been fighting brave and lonely battles in the arena for many years. He will not be pushed around. He will not be shunted off to the side. The Democratic debates will not be a cattle call with 10+ candidates on the stage. Heck, it might be Bernie and Hillary one on one! He will not let Hillary intimidate him. Hillary will have to defend her cozy relationship to Wall Street and special interests and there will nowhere to hide. Hillary might try to paint him as an extremist, a socialist! But that will not work. Bernie has earned the respect and admiration of many progressives. Here's the rub, his economic policies are not extreme in the least. Nothing that Harry S. Truman could not have gotten behind. Almost all are popular when polled on their own merits, away from the label of socialism! Bernie will be heard and Hillary will have to respond. And no, money will not protect her. Bernie will be outspent, perhaps greatly. But he will raise enough from small donors to get his message out, especially when his message is so forceful. What's Hillary going to do, run attack ads? " Bernie is too Liberal?". I don't think so. Hillary will need Sanders supporters to come to the polls in November if she is too win. She must tred carefully here.
No, Bernie Sanders will probably not be the Democratic nominee. But he is just dangerous enough to derail an overconfident and elitist Hillary. Despite her lip service to progressive causes when she announced her candidacy, Hillary shows few signs of learning anything from the debacle of 2008. She still is excessively cautious. She still shows too much loyalty to too many hacks. Bill and her still seem careless about potential scandals. Finally she seems to be relying too much on her "inevitability". The strategy seems to be: coast to the nomination, and then rely on "emerging Democratic demographics" and the GOP destroying themselves by nominating an extremist.. Hey, it might work. But I wouldn't count on it. Despite all the Tea party moaning about Jeb Bush, I expect the establishment wing of the GOP to prevail as they always do. Then the Tea Party legions will bitch, moan, and then fall into line, like they did for Mitt Romney. And what if Jeb (or Rubio) is the nominee? A swing of 58 electoral votes from the loss of Florida becomes a real possibility. Also, does Hillary and her team have the skills that Team Obama did to win major battleground states? Very much in the air. Finally, what happens in Iowa or New Hampshire when this flabby Hillary runs into the focused and determined Bernie Sanders? Is 40% plus for Bernie in either state really out of the question? Is victory in these states really out of the questions Then what happens? This is why the proper comparison to Bernie Sanders is not Dennis Kucinich. It is Eugene McCarthy. Democrats....beware.
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
What Secular Liberals don't understand about Fox News
I always have to laugh when secular liberals laugh at Fox News when said Fox News is whipping their asses. I watch in half amazement and half disgust as they fire their "enlightenment" weapons of logic, science, and that especially annoying liberal specialty of oh-so-snarky Letterman-Jon Stewart style- dripping- in- irony sarcasm at the Murdoch Machine. Yep, secular liberals giggle among themselves, sip their lattes, and then wonder why the Corporate Capitalist Machine is eating everything in sight with nothing stopping them. Why do these people watch this crap and vote against their interest? Secular liberals are totally flummoxed by the appeal of Fox News. Why? Its because secular liberals ignore the reality of the existence of Original Sin. Their problem is that Rupert Murdoch never forgot.
Why do conservatives love Fox News? Because for them Fox is FUN. Hatred of the people who you think destroyed your life is FUN. Racism is FUN. Watching Bill O'Reilly and the gang rail against the people you hate is FUN. Taking potshots and the Great Kenyan Usurper with the phony birth certificate is FUN. Even fear is fun, if you can turn it into amusement park fear. Its fun to be afraid of ACORN, the New Black Panthers, and whomever is the Scary Fox Monster of the Current News Cycle is today. Like a roller coaster, deep down they know they really don't have much to be afraid of, but every carny barker knows that if you can control the marks' fear, you can sell it right back to them. And if you get a hottie like Megyn Kelly to serve up the fun, so much the better.
This is the work of Original Sin. When it comes down to it, conservatism is FUN. Don't believe that racism is fun? I grew up with racists. They loved being afraid. When you got to the subject of how horrible "niggers" were, you could not shut them up. The stories just went on and on and on... Its fun to look down on the people you hate. Look at the faces of the people who attended Klan rallies in the South. Don't tell me they weren't having fun spitting on civil rights protesters. Mike Royko in his book Boss tells the story of what happened when Martin Luther King tried to integrate the white backlash wards on Chicago's Southwest Side. In between throwing bricks and bags of shit at the protesters, they had time to sing this little version of the Oscar Meyer ditty:
I wish I was an Alabama trooper
That is what I truly want to be
For if I was an Alabama trooper
I could kill the niggers legally.
Oh, they were having fun all right. In fact any Foxoid who reads the above is now laughing his conservative ass off. Things have not changed, Ask the NYPD. Go to Ferguson. Go to Baltimore.
Conservatism has even made religion fun. Most fundamentalist churches now feature the "Rapture". Its not enough that Jesus is going to come again and deliver all the believers to Heaven. Oh no, now there has to be a Rapture (a 19th century invention ,by the way). Not only to Christians get to go to Heaven, they get Leave Behind all those Bad People they love to hate. Sit high in Heaven and watch Obama, Hillary, and all those gays suffer horrible tribulations. What Fun! Don't believe me? The Left Behind series has sold tens of millions of copies. They are loaded with guns and tanks and bombers and a whole bunch of other stuff that gives wingnuts wet dreams. Think this is a joke? Hundreds of lawmakers across America do not think so. Why protect the planet when the Rapture is just around the corner. Won't it be great? Won't it be fun ??
Rupert Murdoch understands all this. The democracies of Australia, Great Britain, and the United States have been broken on this understanding. He understands that the majority of the consumers of media want to have fun. Why give the public understanding of the issues that effect them most. That could be dangerous for Rupert's buddies. No give them fluff, celebrities, true crime and Page Three girls. Give them fun, or at least make them think its fun. ( Don't get the wrong idea, I got nothing against fun. I just don't believe it should come from the misery of others). Fox News is the crowning glory of Murdoch's evil genius. After all, his. worship of the rich policies have made tens of millions miserable. So create a network that expertly convinces the people to blame liberals, minorities, ect.. And make them have fun watching! Satan could not have done it better.
Folks, Fox News is a spiritual problem. It will not be defeated by brilliant repartee, policy wonks and their position papers, of even brilliant Obamaish electoral strategies . It certainly will not be defeated by Hillary. To defeat the evil of Fox we need spiritual weapons. We need the strength and wisdom of God to defeat evil. Unfortunately, by being secular, liberals have turned away from the only weapon that that will defeat the right wing machine. They will see this blog as an exercise in fantasy. They will continue to ignore the power of God. They will continue to indulge in all the tired old strategies. And they will continue to get their butts whipped. They will win some elections and be disappointed as the Machine strangles their hopes once again.
But out of the ashes of disaster comes hope. First God whispers, Then He Shouts. Then he SCREAMS. Can you hear the screaming now Secular Liberal? The screams of billions of suffering souls? So much suffering that only a Cross can redeem. Take another look at Jesus, my liberal friend. The Jesus of Marin Luther King, not the stolen and basterdised Jesus of Sarah Palin and Fox News. The only force that can defeat evil. Please. Because, just like you I am sick of losing. For once lets feel the glory of Victory!
Why do conservatives love Fox News? Because for them Fox is FUN. Hatred of the people who you think destroyed your life is FUN. Racism is FUN. Watching Bill O'Reilly and the gang rail against the people you hate is FUN. Taking potshots and the Great Kenyan Usurper with the phony birth certificate is FUN. Even fear is fun, if you can turn it into amusement park fear. Its fun to be afraid of ACORN, the New Black Panthers, and whomever is the Scary Fox Monster of the Current News Cycle is today. Like a roller coaster, deep down they know they really don't have much to be afraid of, but every carny barker knows that if you can control the marks' fear, you can sell it right back to them. And if you get a hottie like Megyn Kelly to serve up the fun, so much the better.
This is the work of Original Sin. When it comes down to it, conservatism is FUN. Don't believe that racism is fun? I grew up with racists. They loved being afraid. When you got to the subject of how horrible "niggers" were, you could not shut them up. The stories just went on and on and on... Its fun to look down on the people you hate. Look at the faces of the people who attended Klan rallies in the South. Don't tell me they weren't having fun spitting on civil rights protesters. Mike Royko in his book Boss tells the story of what happened when Martin Luther King tried to integrate the white backlash wards on Chicago's Southwest Side. In between throwing bricks and bags of shit at the protesters, they had time to sing this little version of the Oscar Meyer ditty:
I wish I was an Alabama trooper
That is what I truly want to be
For if I was an Alabama trooper
I could kill the niggers legally.
Oh, they were having fun all right. In fact any Foxoid who reads the above is now laughing his conservative ass off. Things have not changed, Ask the NYPD. Go to Ferguson. Go to Baltimore.
Conservatism has even made religion fun. Most fundamentalist churches now feature the "Rapture". Its not enough that Jesus is going to come again and deliver all the believers to Heaven. Oh no, now there has to be a Rapture (a 19th century invention ,by the way). Not only to Christians get to go to Heaven, they get Leave Behind all those Bad People they love to hate. Sit high in Heaven and watch Obama, Hillary, and all those gays suffer horrible tribulations. What Fun! Don't believe me? The Left Behind series has sold tens of millions of copies. They are loaded with guns and tanks and bombers and a whole bunch of other stuff that gives wingnuts wet dreams. Think this is a joke? Hundreds of lawmakers across America do not think so. Why protect the planet when the Rapture is just around the corner. Won't it be great? Won't it be fun ??
Rupert Murdoch understands all this. The democracies of Australia, Great Britain, and the United States have been broken on this understanding. He understands that the majority of the consumers of media want to have fun. Why give the public understanding of the issues that effect them most. That could be dangerous for Rupert's buddies. No give them fluff, celebrities, true crime and Page Three girls. Give them fun, or at least make them think its fun. ( Don't get the wrong idea, I got nothing against fun. I just don't believe it should come from the misery of others). Fox News is the crowning glory of Murdoch's evil genius. After all, his. worship of the rich policies have made tens of millions miserable. So create a network that expertly convinces the people to blame liberals, minorities, ect.. And make them have fun watching! Satan could not have done it better.
Folks, Fox News is a spiritual problem. It will not be defeated by brilliant repartee, policy wonks and their position papers, of even brilliant Obamaish electoral strategies . It certainly will not be defeated by Hillary. To defeat the evil of Fox we need spiritual weapons. We need the strength and wisdom of God to defeat evil. Unfortunately, by being secular, liberals have turned away from the only weapon that that will defeat the right wing machine. They will see this blog as an exercise in fantasy. They will continue to ignore the power of God. They will continue to indulge in all the tired old strategies. And they will continue to get their butts whipped. They will win some elections and be disappointed as the Machine strangles their hopes once again.
But out of the ashes of disaster comes hope. First God whispers, Then He Shouts. Then he SCREAMS. Can you hear the screaming now Secular Liberal? The screams of billions of suffering souls? So much suffering that only a Cross can redeem. Take another look at Jesus, my liberal friend. The Jesus of Marin Luther King, not the stolen and basterdised Jesus of Sarah Palin and Fox News. The only force that can defeat evil. Please. Because, just like you I am sick of losing. For once lets feel the glory of Victory!
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Jesus Christ: A 2000 Year Problem for the Rich
You really cannot blame the rich and powerful for hating Jesus Christ. He seems soooo indifferent to the accomplishments of these great people. He says stuff like "the last will be first and first will be last". No wonder people like Nietzsche hated him. What do you mean the last will be first?? Don't you know I WORKED HARD to be first? I DESERVE IT! I am first because I am smarter than you! I worked harder than you! I'm just better than you! My bank account proves it. And now you want be not just to be second, but LAST? And some loser to be FIRST? Crucify this idiot! Or at least get him the hell out of here.
It is amazing that a country like the United States which worships wealth and "rugged individualism" would also call itself a Christian nation. Its almost like we should see a Koch brother wash the feet of a homeless man. So how do be try to take it both ways? How is the USA both greedy and "Christian"
You see, Jesus is not the weak looking hippie type that is depicted on so much bad religious art. He was a radical. He was an earthquake. He was God. And God just doesn't care what Herod or Pilate or the scribes and the chief priests think. He died for us to forgive our sins and then was resurrected so we ALL can have eternal life. All of us. The lowliest soul now can have eternal life by sharing the resurrection of Jesus Christ. By doing this he gives an awesome dignity to those who follow Him. He said it was as hard for a rich man to enter Heaven as a camel to pass through an eye of a needle. Keep in mind that he did not say it was impossible. There are plenty of wealthy people who have followed Jesus and are presumably with Him in Paradise. But the Lord knew his audience. He knew that the vast majority of the rich and powerful would turn away from him. He knew that they would want to be worshipped themselves rather that submit to any other God. So when Christians started to grow in significant numbers in the Roman Empire, the powerful had to do something. Killing Jesus didn't work. Neither did throwing Christians to the lions. But then they came up with their brilliant solution. Steal Jesus. Water Him down. Make Him a tool of the powerful. This strategy has been stunningly successful.
Crusade in the name of Jesus! Start wars in the name of Jesus! Start a pogrom and kill Jews in the name of Jesus! My way of worshipping is the right way, and if you do not do it MY way, then off with your head! The risen, resurrected Christ was mostly ignored, left to the province of saints, his message of hope for the poor and eternal life usurped my kings and princes of the Church. By the time Christianity made it to these shores, it pretty much forgot what Jesus was all about. The Puritans burned witches, "heretics" and killed Indians in the name of Jesus. The Spaniards were going to convert the Indians to Christ. They converted them to smallpox instead.
So is it any wonder today that Christianity in America offers almost no resistance to the corrupt, corporate machine that is devouring America now? Water down Jesus and turn the Awesome Power of God into baby food for the masses. Look at the timid priests and ministers who dare not upset their dull, fat, suburban flocks. Reduce Jesus to the Holy Sex Nanny: it doesn't matter how you treat your neighbor as long as you refrain from all that dirty stuff, and oh yes, The Is Nothing More Important Than Abortion. Then there is the Prosperity Gospel. God wants you to be RICH!! Not rich yet? It must be YOUR fault. Or, lets not even try to make our world a better place. Wait for the Rapture instead! The earthquake that is the Risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the one force that gives every soul the power, strength, and endurance to change this world and to live eternally into the next, gets swept under the rug, and is replaced with ....what? Nothing that the princes of the world have to worry about, that's for sure.
Or do they? The world might think that God is dead but he is not. The earthshaking power of Jesus Christ is available for all those who believe, no matter how lowly their earthly station. Its the world whose soul is dead, not Christ's. I see so much despair in liberal land, thinking that the Koch Brothers and their ilk have defeated us forever. Its time for us to start over. Forget what you think you already know about Christ and give Him a chance. He is not just the (false) god of Sarah Palin and the wingnuts, but an earthquake that can shake up your life and that of the world.
No I am not a fool. Got any better ideas? Or are we just going to stand around and let the plutocrats destroy our communities, our country, and our planet? I am not living in la la land. All I know is what we are doing is not working. Take a second look at Jesus Christ. Refresh your soul with His hope and His power. Lets use that power to finally take our world away from those who would destroy it.
It is amazing that a country like the United States which worships wealth and "rugged individualism" would also call itself a Christian nation. Its almost like we should see a Koch brother wash the feet of a homeless man. So how do be try to take it both ways? How is the USA both greedy and "Christian"
You see, Jesus is not the weak looking hippie type that is depicted on so much bad religious art. He was a radical. He was an earthquake. He was God. And God just doesn't care what Herod or Pilate or the scribes and the chief priests think. He died for us to forgive our sins and then was resurrected so we ALL can have eternal life. All of us. The lowliest soul now can have eternal life by sharing the resurrection of Jesus Christ. By doing this he gives an awesome dignity to those who follow Him. He said it was as hard for a rich man to enter Heaven as a camel to pass through an eye of a needle. Keep in mind that he did not say it was impossible. There are plenty of wealthy people who have followed Jesus and are presumably with Him in Paradise. But the Lord knew his audience. He knew that the vast majority of the rich and powerful would turn away from him. He knew that they would want to be worshipped themselves rather that submit to any other God. So when Christians started to grow in significant numbers in the Roman Empire, the powerful had to do something. Killing Jesus didn't work. Neither did throwing Christians to the lions. But then they came up with their brilliant solution. Steal Jesus. Water Him down. Make Him a tool of the powerful. This strategy has been stunningly successful.
Crusade in the name of Jesus! Start wars in the name of Jesus! Start a pogrom and kill Jews in the name of Jesus! My way of worshipping is the right way, and if you do not do it MY way, then off with your head! The risen, resurrected Christ was mostly ignored, left to the province of saints, his message of hope for the poor and eternal life usurped my kings and princes of the Church. By the time Christianity made it to these shores, it pretty much forgot what Jesus was all about. The Puritans burned witches, "heretics" and killed Indians in the name of Jesus. The Spaniards were going to convert the Indians to Christ. They converted them to smallpox instead.
So is it any wonder today that Christianity in America offers almost no resistance to the corrupt, corporate machine that is devouring America now? Water down Jesus and turn the Awesome Power of God into baby food for the masses. Look at the timid priests and ministers who dare not upset their dull, fat, suburban flocks. Reduce Jesus to the Holy Sex Nanny: it doesn't matter how you treat your neighbor as long as you refrain from all that dirty stuff, and oh yes, The Is Nothing More Important Than Abortion. Then there is the Prosperity Gospel. God wants you to be RICH!! Not rich yet? It must be YOUR fault. Or, lets not even try to make our world a better place. Wait for the Rapture instead! The earthquake that is the Risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the one force that gives every soul the power, strength, and endurance to change this world and to live eternally into the next, gets swept under the rug, and is replaced with ....what? Nothing that the princes of the world have to worry about, that's for sure.
Or do they? The world might think that God is dead but he is not. The earthshaking power of Jesus Christ is available for all those who believe, no matter how lowly their earthly station. Its the world whose soul is dead, not Christ's. I see so much despair in liberal land, thinking that the Koch Brothers and their ilk have defeated us forever. Its time for us to start over. Forget what you think you already know about Christ and give Him a chance. He is not just the (false) god of Sarah Palin and the wingnuts, but an earthquake that can shake up your life and that of the world.
No I am not a fool. Got any better ideas? Or are we just going to stand around and let the plutocrats destroy our communities, our country, and our planet? I am not living in la la land. All I know is what we are doing is not working. Take a second look at Jesus Christ. Refresh your soul with His hope and His power. Lets use that power to finally take our world away from those who would destroy it.
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Movies Like "American Sniper", Police Brutality, and the Decline of America.
It is obvious that America is a nation in decline. It is in decline because it is in the stranglehold of elites that are amoral, greedy, selfish, and incompetent. Business elites that run once great companies into the ground in search of short term profit. Political elites that would sell their souls to the Devil for a campaign contribution. Media elites which glorify themselves in their own shallowness and stupidity. "Rugged individualists" in business and the military who trip over each other to suck off the people's taxes and government debt. Never mind the lives they ruin or the blood they cause to be shed. Yep, they have turned a once great nation into a kleptocracy, a giant whorehouse for the rich and powerful. God? God is an elitist's bank account. God is in the toys they will die with. God is what they do with their genitals. In fact, the elites believe they are God themselves. The other 99% of America? Screw them. They exist only to steal from and/or to enslave.
But, in their reptilian minds, a certain uneasiness creeps in the back of their brains. How long can we get away with this? How long can we keep shipping their livelihoods to China and India so we can line our own pockets? When are the little people finally going to rise up against us? Will we be able to collect our next bonus? Keep the hedge fund growing? Keep stealing outrageous salaries from "stockholders", most who only own the stock for less then a second? How long will they bleed and die for our wars of profit? Indeed, how are we gonna stay on top when the bubble blown from our latest idiotfest explodes?
Well they got two very old ideas, used by parasitical elites since the dawn of civilization. The frick and frack of societal fraud. They are propaganda and thuggery.
Propaganda like "American Sniper" . As America slides deeper into the abyss, the more desperate, shrill, and vapid the voices are that try to convince the little people that everything is going to be "alllriiiiiight" Don't worry your little heads about it. America is still great, still number one! USA! USA! USA! Don't worry about what the thinking and logical side of your brain is telling you. Thrill to the sight of Chris Kyle blowing away the freaking ragheads! Let Megyn Kelly and the other bimbos on Fox tell you that a return to greatness is just around the corner when we finally get rid of that awful Kenyan usurper in the White House and put a proper white man there. This type of propaganda is already overweening and its going to get worse as conditions in America get worse. There is already a super, high tech jet, military flyover over every NFL game. It is much cheaper for the elites to sprew out this garbage then to, say, stop stealing the bounty of this once great country. Having killed off the God that might save them, it is so easy to sell the masses on the idea that their highest ideal is cheap patriotism.
Propaganda will be enough for the vast majority of the masses. For the minority of dissenters, what is needed is violence. Thug Power. Movements like Occupy Wall Street scare the hell out of the elites because it inflames the guilty conscience that still burns in their dying souls. So, call out the police, dress them up like Robocop, and have them kick the crap out of the dissenters. The murderous brutality against Michael Brown, Eric Garner and so many others too numerous to mention is not to "stop crime" or "fight terrorism" but to crush the inevitable dissent and unrest when the little people finally get sick of being screwed. Start with the blacks and white activists who never bought into the elites bullshit in the first place. Mix the violence with propaganda to make the majority think that violence is directed to those people. Get the majority to cheer on their own destruction! By the time they come for "ordinary white folks" it will be too late. Or so the elites hope.
But I remain eternally hopeful myself. Hopeful that the masses will tire of the vapid exhaustion that is American life in 2015. Hopeful that the elites will destroy themselves with their greed and ignorance. Above all, hopeful that the God, whose power can help us rise above anything, can prevail. The way things are going, it looks like our only hope.
But, in their reptilian minds, a certain uneasiness creeps in the back of their brains. How long can we get away with this? How long can we keep shipping their livelihoods to China and India so we can line our own pockets? When are the little people finally going to rise up against us? Will we be able to collect our next bonus? Keep the hedge fund growing? Keep stealing outrageous salaries from "stockholders", most who only own the stock for less then a second? How long will they bleed and die for our wars of profit? Indeed, how are we gonna stay on top when the bubble blown from our latest idiotfest explodes?
Well they got two very old ideas, used by parasitical elites since the dawn of civilization. The frick and frack of societal fraud. They are propaganda and thuggery.
Propaganda like "American Sniper" . As America slides deeper into the abyss, the more desperate, shrill, and vapid the voices are that try to convince the little people that everything is going to be "alllriiiiiight" Don't worry your little heads about it. America is still great, still number one! USA! USA! USA! Don't worry about what the thinking and logical side of your brain is telling you. Thrill to the sight of Chris Kyle blowing away the freaking ragheads! Let Megyn Kelly and the other bimbos on Fox tell you that a return to greatness is just around the corner when we finally get rid of that awful Kenyan usurper in the White House and put a proper white man there. This type of propaganda is already overweening and its going to get worse as conditions in America get worse. There is already a super, high tech jet, military flyover over every NFL game. It is much cheaper for the elites to sprew out this garbage then to, say, stop stealing the bounty of this once great country. Having killed off the God that might save them, it is so easy to sell the masses on the idea that their highest ideal is cheap patriotism.
Propaganda will be enough for the vast majority of the masses. For the minority of dissenters, what is needed is violence. Thug Power. Movements like Occupy Wall Street scare the hell out of the elites because it inflames the guilty conscience that still burns in their dying souls. So, call out the police, dress them up like Robocop, and have them kick the crap out of the dissenters. The murderous brutality against Michael Brown, Eric Garner and so many others too numerous to mention is not to "stop crime" or "fight terrorism" but to crush the inevitable dissent and unrest when the little people finally get sick of being screwed. Start with the blacks and white activists who never bought into the elites bullshit in the first place. Mix the violence with propaganda to make the majority think that violence is directed to those people. Get the majority to cheer on their own destruction! By the time they come for "ordinary white folks" it will be too late. Or so the elites hope.
But I remain eternally hopeful myself. Hopeful that the masses will tire of the vapid exhaustion that is American life in 2015. Hopeful that the elites will destroy themselves with their greed and ignorance. Above all, hopeful that the God, whose power can help us rise above anything, can prevail. The way things are going, it looks like our only hope.
Monday, January 26, 2015
America 2016- Sympathy for the Devil
The Rolling Stones' "Sympathy For The Devil" would probably make most people's top 10 lists of best rock song of all time. I don't know if Mick and the boys really believed in the Devil, but if they did, I would imagine that they got him pegged pretty well. "Let me please introduce myself, I am a man of wealth and taste" sings Jagger. Not a little red creature with horns or a psycho like Charles Manson, but a master of disguise.
I will never be Mick Jagger, but I can play devils advocate. What if you could create Hell on earth? Yeah, you could start wars and open up concentration camps, but wouldn't it be more fun if you could create Hell and make people think they are in some sort of Heaven? What would you do?
Well, you could make them obsess with self and ignore their neighbor. You could even package it as "rugged individualism". You could ply them with cheap material comforts while they agonize over deep seated desires not being fulfilled. What is the meaning of life? Dying with the most Toys!! Hey, the Koch Brothers sure have a lot of them. Ply them with inane "entertainment" or mind altering drugs. Go see "American Sniper" or just take a freaking Xanax. If they go to church, bury them in self help goo or the Prosperity Gospel. Anything to keep them away from worshiping the One which can fulfill all their deep desires and wipe away their oceans of tears.
Soren Kierkegaard one said something to the effect that the greatest tragedy to befall a human being is not despair but being in despair and not knowing it. Is not that the perfect description of America in 2016? I pray for the agony of my poor tortured Lonely Nation.
I will never be Mick Jagger, but I can play devils advocate. What if you could create Hell on earth? Yeah, you could start wars and open up concentration camps, but wouldn't it be more fun if you could create Hell and make people think they are in some sort of Heaven? What would you do?
Well, you could make them obsess with self and ignore their neighbor. You could even package it as "rugged individualism". You could ply them with cheap material comforts while they agonize over deep seated desires not being fulfilled. What is the meaning of life? Dying with the most Toys!! Hey, the Koch Brothers sure have a lot of them. Ply them with inane "entertainment" or mind altering drugs. Go see "American Sniper" or just take a freaking Xanax. If they go to church, bury them in self help goo or the Prosperity Gospel. Anything to keep them away from worshiping the One which can fulfill all their deep desires and wipe away their oceans of tears.
Soren Kierkegaard one said something to the effect that the greatest tragedy to befall a human being is not despair but being in despair and not knowing it. Is not that the perfect description of America in 2016? I pray for the agony of my poor tortured Lonely Nation.
Thursday, November 6, 2014
The Tyranny of Bad Ideas
The Democrats got crushed. Again. They're being buried by billionaire money even as they desperately grab for some of the money themselves. Its looking bad for the middle class as their concerns are being drowned by the billionaire bucks. Its looking bad for American democracy as people are wondering why should they vote if their votes are just going to be ignored. Finally, its looking bad for the planet as billionaires use their power to enhance their short term profit while their actions doom future humanity to misery and yes, death. Its not murder if you are a Koch brother! Yep, there's plenty to get depressed about. The power of evil is overwhelming. The billionaires crush decency under a pile of filthy lucre. What can possibly stop them.
That's the bad news.
The good news is that we are not as weak as we think we are. The billionaires empire is not real. It his held together by imaginary ideas. The billionaires power is just a concept. We are prisoners of bad ideas. We are prisoners of our own minds.
When I went to law school, we were terrorized by a contracts professor nicknamed Cal. Another nickname for Cal was the Terminator, as in terminating your dreams of becoming a lawyer by flunking Contracts. To add insult to injury, he loved to humiliate you when he called on you. I will never forget the day he called on me and my brain just shut down in terror. It was one of the most humiliating experiences of my life. I hated and feared Cal. Most of us did. We would snigger behind his back and say that what did HE know, he never stepped into a courtroom! We would hold him in scorn for his very short professorial work hours and his well known propensity to overindulge in certain liquid refreshments, not to mention sexism that would not be tolerated today. Effing Cal!
It was only later, when I got out in the "real world" when I discovered that Cal was a genius. And it was just under my nose.
You see, when I first stepped into Contracts class, I wondered what the fuss would be about. Just read what it the contract and enforce what it said. Easy! But this was Cal, and he kept saying the same thing over and over "A CONTRACT IS JUST A CONCEPT!'. Over and over. But I was to dense (or too petrified) to understand what this meant.
The very first case illustrated this. It was from England in the middle ages. It was a very simple case. A nobleman promised a commoner to pay all the expenses to let the commoner to attend Oxford. Just when the commoner is ready to go, the nobleman reneges on the deal and refuses to pay. The commoner sues. Open and shut case right?
Make the nobleman pay. He promised! All of our feelings or fairness and morality are with the commoner.
Not so fast. The court sided with the nobleman.
Why? The court decided that the contract lacked "consideration". What is consideration? Ask ten different law professors and you will get 10 different answers. In layman terms, it means that each party to a contract has to get something from it. Mutuality of obligation. Quid pro quo. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. The court ruled that since the commoner got everything from the agreement and the nobleman got nothing, there was no consideration, therefore no contract, therefore the nobleman did not have to pay.
Of course, the vast majority of us law students missed the forest for the trees. Instead of railing against the unfairness, indeed the absurdity of the court decision, we desperately tried to figure out what "consideration" was. Cal would ask various students, like random gunfire, what "consideration" was and he would destroy all their answers. Because there were no right answers. Because "consideration" was just a concept. Like the contract itself. By calling a contract "just a concept" he was saying "hey kiddos, its all bullshit!!" After all, it seems obvious that the court wanted just to help the powerful nobleman by pulling the concept of "consideration" out of the blue. But most of us law students were not ready for such cynicism. We wanted the keys to the magic kingdom of LAW. I was so desperate to put by hands on "consideration" that I ignored Cal's decree. Big mistake.
People often talk about the "sanctity of contracts". Baloney. Contract law is just the study of how we let certain people weasel out of their promises. So we lawyers create concepts to trump the concept of a valid contract. Concepts like "no offer", "no acceptance", "misrepresentation" ,"no consideration" and on and on and on. Cal warned us! Most of us didn't listen.
It gets worse. A contract is a concept that relies on the fiction that both parties have the same freedom and power to enter freely into an agreement. Real life tell us this is false. The concept of "contract law" has proved elastic enough to favor the interests of the powerful at the expense of the masses. The powerful get to strangle the masses with the fine print But here's the rub. These concepts only have power if we allow them to as, concepts are nothing but creations of the mind, and minds can be changed.
That brings us to another of our favorite powerful concepts, the corporation. A corporation is simply the idea that investors, in pursuit of a certain project, can only lose the amount of their investment. That's it. Its called limited liability, and its one hell of an idea if you want people to invest in a risky project, even a project for the common good. But we lost the idea that a corporation is just a concept. We can limit a corporation to a certain time period. We did it before. We can limit the things a corporation can do. We did it before. We can regulate it. We can tax it. We can KILL it if we want. A corporation is a person? Really? Did you really THINK about this? Corporate personhood is just a concept, and an insane one at that. It only exists because it helps powerful people. It exists only because of inertia. It only exists because we lack the imagination and the courage to imagine something better. You can sneer at this and say this is just obvious. But if that is so, why are we letting the Koch Brothers and their ilk destroy our Earth?
Want to stop Exxon-Mobil? Want to stop Goldman Sachs The Vampire Squid? Want to stop your favorite sibling unit? Simple. Tell them they no longer have limited liability. Tell their stockholders that each and every one will be liable for ALL the damage they cause. (of course money is just a concept too. See below.) That destruction of the planet shit will end right quick. Of course , the apologists of corporate power will say that their way is the only way. Or they will say there are only two ways; if you are not a capitalist you must be a communist. Baloney. There is a third way. There is a fourth way. There are a million ways. There are as many ways as the human imagination can dream. The corporation is just a concept. We are prisoners of our cowardice and lack of imagination. We are prisoners of our own minds.
You might say to yourself "You're dreaming! They have too much money!" But money is just a concept too. Say you walk into your neighborhood's best pizza joint. The owner cooks you a delicious concoction with everything on it. You hand him a tiny, crumpled piece of green paper with the number 20 on it. You leave with the pizza. The owner gets the piece of paper. A space alien from a barter society would find this transaction ludicrous. This type of thing has become so routine that we don't see the incredible leap of faith it takes. The ONLY reason the pizza guy takes a twenty for his labor is his FAITH that he can exchange it for something he wants in the future. That's it. If the pizza guy and the rest of society loses this faith, the 20 dollar bill becomes toilet paper, only less absorbent. There is no way out of the fact that money is just a concept. By the way,
please don't tell me money backed by gold would solve this dilemma. Sure, gold and diamonds are real. The idea that they are worth many conceptual units such as dollars is just a concept. Good luck trying to trade your gold for food during the apocalypse. So why are the Koch brothers "rich' while the overwhelming majority of us are "not rich' or even "poor"? Its not even the fact that they have huge piles of green paper. The are "wealthy" because somewhere in cyberspace they have a very big number next to their name, while the overwhelming majority of us have a much smaller number next to ours. ( If you want to accuse me of envy, so be it.)
This can explain a lot of the paranoid behavior of the superrich. A lot of us say "Why are they grasping for more, more when they have so much! Can't they relax and enjoy it?" No they can't. Much like a person who cleans portajohnnies for a living is an expert on shit, these guys are experts on money. It defies reason to believe that these mostly very intelligent people don't recognize the precarious conceptual position of their wealth and power. Woe to them if the rabble ever found this out! It would be over for them. Indeed, one of the reasons they stay in power is that the average person does not understand money by their very lack of it. To a poor person, the suffering caused by the lack of this concept called money is very real. Money just a concept? No, it was the thing that enabled him to feed his kids for the first time in three days. To him money is not a concept. Money is magic.
And the Koch Brothers want to keep it that way. Why do you think they have jumped in politics with such force?They don't need more money. They need to take it from the masses. Why do you think they are so obsessed with the minimum wage? Shipping jobs overseas? Downsizing? Crushing unions? Lowering Taxes? Yes, they want to lower taxes to increase their own wealth. But that is a secondary reason. They want to lower taxes to destroy the very idea of the common good. To destroy the government's ability to bring about the common good. To keep the rabble poor. To keep them thinking desperately rather than conceptually. Poor people usually do not challenge the power structure. They are too busy surviving. It is only when a person gains the time to think does she gain the luxury to think conceptually. The superrich can't let that happen. They cannot let people know the precarious reality of their position. They cannot let Toto pull the curtain on the Wizard of Oz. The rabble must be impoverished. The rabble must be filled with fear. The rabble must not THINK.
That last paragraph was painful to write. This next one is even worse, for I am a follower of Jesus Christ and a man of peace. Ultimate power does not flow from the concept of money, even if can buy a lot of politicians and a lot of 30 second attack ads. Ultimate power in this sinful world resides in the control of violence. When control of violence is in the hands of a benevolent government, this is a good thing. It keeps us peaceful and secure. But our government, as it gets controlled by the superrich, it gets more violent.. Policemen who look like Robocop routinely crack the skulls of people who dare question the Billionaire Empire. The strategy of the superrich is to keep the masses impoverished and fearful. But the terrible truth is that ultimate control of violence rests with the masses. The American Revolution. The French Revolution. The Fall of the Berlin Wall and the iron curtain. Ultimate power does not reside with the plutocrats. It rests with us. This article is NOT a call for violence. It is a call to unleash our peaceful power by realizing that the enemy is not as powerful as we think. It is a call to realize that the only thing enslaving us is our own bad ideas. We have the power to stop the plutocrats by releasing ourselves from our chains. Is it scary? yes. Change always involves risk. We can unleash strange new forces when we leave our comfort zone. But change we must.
Yes, the power of the plutocrats is illusory. The damage they cause to the planet and the souls on it is very real. There is no excuse for us not to act.
That's the bad news.
The good news is that we are not as weak as we think we are. The billionaires empire is not real. It his held together by imaginary ideas. The billionaires power is just a concept. We are prisoners of bad ideas. We are prisoners of our own minds.
When I went to law school, we were terrorized by a contracts professor nicknamed Cal. Another nickname for Cal was the Terminator, as in terminating your dreams of becoming a lawyer by flunking Contracts. To add insult to injury, he loved to humiliate you when he called on you. I will never forget the day he called on me and my brain just shut down in terror. It was one of the most humiliating experiences of my life. I hated and feared Cal. Most of us did. We would snigger behind his back and say that what did HE know, he never stepped into a courtroom! We would hold him in scorn for his very short professorial work hours and his well known propensity to overindulge in certain liquid refreshments, not to mention sexism that would not be tolerated today. Effing Cal!
It was only later, when I got out in the "real world" when I discovered that Cal was a genius. And it was just under my nose.
You see, when I first stepped into Contracts class, I wondered what the fuss would be about. Just read what it the contract and enforce what it said. Easy! But this was Cal, and he kept saying the same thing over and over "A CONTRACT IS JUST A CONCEPT!'. Over and over. But I was to dense (or too petrified) to understand what this meant.
The very first case illustrated this. It was from England in the middle ages. It was a very simple case. A nobleman promised a commoner to pay all the expenses to let the commoner to attend Oxford. Just when the commoner is ready to go, the nobleman reneges on the deal and refuses to pay. The commoner sues. Open and shut case right?
Make the nobleman pay. He promised! All of our feelings or fairness and morality are with the commoner.
Not so fast. The court sided with the nobleman.
Why? The court decided that the contract lacked "consideration". What is consideration? Ask ten different law professors and you will get 10 different answers. In layman terms, it means that each party to a contract has to get something from it. Mutuality of obligation. Quid pro quo. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. The court ruled that since the commoner got everything from the agreement and the nobleman got nothing, there was no consideration, therefore no contract, therefore the nobleman did not have to pay.
Of course, the vast majority of us law students missed the forest for the trees. Instead of railing against the unfairness, indeed the absurdity of the court decision, we desperately tried to figure out what "consideration" was. Cal would ask various students, like random gunfire, what "consideration" was and he would destroy all their answers. Because there were no right answers. Because "consideration" was just a concept. Like the contract itself. By calling a contract "just a concept" he was saying "hey kiddos, its all bullshit!!" After all, it seems obvious that the court wanted just to help the powerful nobleman by pulling the concept of "consideration" out of the blue. But most of us law students were not ready for such cynicism. We wanted the keys to the magic kingdom of LAW. I was so desperate to put by hands on "consideration" that I ignored Cal's decree. Big mistake.
People often talk about the "sanctity of contracts". Baloney. Contract law is just the study of how we let certain people weasel out of their promises. So we lawyers create concepts to trump the concept of a valid contract. Concepts like "no offer", "no acceptance", "misrepresentation" ,"no consideration" and on and on and on. Cal warned us! Most of us didn't listen.
It gets worse. A contract is a concept that relies on the fiction that both parties have the same freedom and power to enter freely into an agreement. Real life tell us this is false. The concept of "contract law" has proved elastic enough to favor the interests of the powerful at the expense of the masses. The powerful get to strangle the masses with the fine print But here's the rub. These concepts only have power if we allow them to as, concepts are nothing but creations of the mind, and minds can be changed.
That brings us to another of our favorite powerful concepts, the corporation. A corporation is simply the idea that investors, in pursuit of a certain project, can only lose the amount of their investment. That's it. Its called limited liability, and its one hell of an idea if you want people to invest in a risky project, even a project for the common good. But we lost the idea that a corporation is just a concept. We can limit a corporation to a certain time period. We did it before. We can limit the things a corporation can do. We did it before. We can regulate it. We can tax it. We can KILL it if we want. A corporation is a person? Really? Did you really THINK about this? Corporate personhood is just a concept, and an insane one at that. It only exists because it helps powerful people. It exists only because of inertia. It only exists because we lack the imagination and the courage to imagine something better. You can sneer at this and say this is just obvious. But if that is so, why are we letting the Koch Brothers and their ilk destroy our Earth?
Want to stop Exxon-Mobil? Want to stop Goldman Sachs The Vampire Squid? Want to stop your favorite sibling unit? Simple. Tell them they no longer have limited liability. Tell their stockholders that each and every one will be liable for ALL the damage they cause. (of course money is just a concept too. See below.) That destruction of the planet shit will end right quick. Of course , the apologists of corporate power will say that their way is the only way. Or they will say there are only two ways; if you are not a capitalist you must be a communist. Baloney. There is a third way. There is a fourth way. There are a million ways. There are as many ways as the human imagination can dream. The corporation is just a concept. We are prisoners of our cowardice and lack of imagination. We are prisoners of our own minds.
You might say to yourself "You're dreaming! They have too much money!" But money is just a concept too. Say you walk into your neighborhood's best pizza joint. The owner cooks you a delicious concoction with everything on it. You hand him a tiny, crumpled piece of green paper with the number 20 on it. You leave with the pizza. The owner gets the piece of paper. A space alien from a barter society would find this transaction ludicrous. This type of thing has become so routine that we don't see the incredible leap of faith it takes. The ONLY reason the pizza guy takes a twenty for his labor is his FAITH that he can exchange it for something he wants in the future. That's it. If the pizza guy and the rest of society loses this faith, the 20 dollar bill becomes toilet paper, only less absorbent. There is no way out of the fact that money is just a concept. By the way,
please don't tell me money backed by gold would solve this dilemma. Sure, gold and diamonds are real. The idea that they are worth many conceptual units such as dollars is just a concept. Good luck trying to trade your gold for food during the apocalypse. So why are the Koch brothers "rich' while the overwhelming majority of us are "not rich' or even "poor"? Its not even the fact that they have huge piles of green paper. The are "wealthy" because somewhere in cyberspace they have a very big number next to their name, while the overwhelming majority of us have a much smaller number next to ours. ( If you want to accuse me of envy, so be it.)
This can explain a lot of the paranoid behavior of the superrich. A lot of us say "Why are they grasping for more, more when they have so much! Can't they relax and enjoy it?" No they can't. Much like a person who cleans portajohnnies for a living is an expert on shit, these guys are experts on money. It defies reason to believe that these mostly very intelligent people don't recognize the precarious conceptual position of their wealth and power. Woe to them if the rabble ever found this out! It would be over for them. Indeed, one of the reasons they stay in power is that the average person does not understand money by their very lack of it. To a poor person, the suffering caused by the lack of this concept called money is very real. Money just a concept? No, it was the thing that enabled him to feed his kids for the first time in three days. To him money is not a concept. Money is magic.
And the Koch Brothers want to keep it that way. Why do you think they have jumped in politics with such force?They don't need more money. They need to take it from the masses. Why do you think they are so obsessed with the minimum wage? Shipping jobs overseas? Downsizing? Crushing unions? Lowering Taxes? Yes, they want to lower taxes to increase their own wealth. But that is a secondary reason. They want to lower taxes to destroy the very idea of the common good. To destroy the government's ability to bring about the common good. To keep the rabble poor. To keep them thinking desperately rather than conceptually. Poor people usually do not challenge the power structure. They are too busy surviving. It is only when a person gains the time to think does she gain the luxury to think conceptually. The superrich can't let that happen. They cannot let people know the precarious reality of their position. They cannot let Toto pull the curtain on the Wizard of Oz. The rabble must be impoverished. The rabble must be filled with fear. The rabble must not THINK.
That last paragraph was painful to write. This next one is even worse, for I am a follower of Jesus Christ and a man of peace. Ultimate power does not flow from the concept of money, even if can buy a lot of politicians and a lot of 30 second attack ads. Ultimate power in this sinful world resides in the control of violence. When control of violence is in the hands of a benevolent government, this is a good thing. It keeps us peaceful and secure. But our government, as it gets controlled by the superrich, it gets more violent.. Policemen who look like Robocop routinely crack the skulls of people who dare question the Billionaire Empire. The strategy of the superrich is to keep the masses impoverished and fearful. But the terrible truth is that ultimate control of violence rests with the masses. The American Revolution. The French Revolution. The Fall of the Berlin Wall and the iron curtain. Ultimate power does not reside with the plutocrats. It rests with us. This article is NOT a call for violence. It is a call to unleash our peaceful power by realizing that the enemy is not as powerful as we think. It is a call to realize that the only thing enslaving us is our own bad ideas. We have the power to stop the plutocrats by releasing ourselves from our chains. Is it scary? yes. Change always involves risk. We can unleash strange new forces when we leave our comfort zone. But change we must.
Yes, the power of the plutocrats is illusory. The damage they cause to the planet and the souls on it is very real. There is no excuse for us not to act.
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