Does this really look like freedom to you? I remember a time when images like this spoke of oppression.
I feel the need to ramble a little, as I try to make sense of what is going on around me. The second week of April saw some movement in the investigation on the 45th President of the United States. Investigators infiltrated his longtime legal representation. That’s important. Usually this step is preserved for the end. You’ve seen the television shows where the bad guys are actually brought down. It’s a scene straight out of one of those. The only problem with that: bad guys in positions of power are never brought down. They instead thrive. Nothing ever comes of it.
Why is that? Well, I summarized it in a tweet back in April.
The metaphor of #Trumptanic contains a parable of the American electorate… the elite will take all [the] lifeboats, while they get authorities to lock up the rest in steerage to drown. The whole time the elite has convinced steerage/authorities of deregs ensuring their demise. pic.twitter.com/gzGOcLB0Oy
— K. Williams (@KWilliamsAuthor) April 10, 2018
What the hell does that mean?
If you don’t get it, don’t feel bad. You’ve been conditioned to accept things the way they are. The fact that the game is rigged flies over a lot of heads. That’s why you still hear fool words like: hard work pays off, pull yourself up by the bootstraps, and if you want something go out and get it. If only it were really like that. The reality is, that’s just gaslighting. It’s something said to make you think you have a shot, so you don’t wake up to the reality that you’re locked into The Matrix, so to speak. And, it’s all arranged by those in power, as it always has been. (Not that I’m going so far as to talking about the New World Order, because this isn’t new at all.) Imbalance of power is the leverage wielded by the bad guys dictating how we will live (and die).
In many cases, the bad guys (sometimes called bad actors by the media) are sociopaths or psychopaths. The difference between the two: psychopaths are focused and don’t mess up easily, whereas sociopaths are sloppy. Both are dangerous to the well-being of anyone they are in contact with, or have been put in a position of power over. 45 is a sociopath. For the most part, they’re clever enough. In his case, it shows how little intelligence it actually takes to be able to abuse someone. His game is manipulation, and he has learned how to maneuver those he needs to. Of course not everyone falls for his shit. The presence of money, and seeming leverage, assists his efforts with those easily lead by such vice.
That brings us to how Americans lost their freedom and rest at the mercy of a bloated military powerhouse. The elite who were left behind in Europe as part of the colonization of America, had taught others for generations how to manipulate their fellow humans. Sociopathy is a personality disorder that often takes advantage of relationships to gain and wield power for the satisfaction of the individual. Not every sociopath is in a position to make much impact on others, and some don’t really care. In a lot of cases, they are content joking. You might recognize the type, they think practical jokes that hurt others are hysterical, or when people fall down. Pushing buttons is another sign. They find pain amusing. There’s joy in making difficulty. They never seem satisfied unless they’ve upset someone (the current nemesis). They’re happiest when they have someone on which they can focus their disgust (even outright hatred), usually painting them as a terrible person out to get them. Having minions and worker bees, is yet another sign. So, you can see why they are drawn to the political arena, law enforcement, and the like.
The United States was founded in opposition to the old European elitism (real elitism, as in the 1% lording it over the rest of the population, often claiming divine right). Yet, today’s society is imbalanced in the favor of the elites. Checks and balances were put in place in the charter that formed the US government. The directions were to amend that charter to protect and serve the people. It was also amended to help the government run, and be successful in a time when other nations were quite comfortable wresting control of a nation from the established powers. Hence the placement of the 2nd amendment. Its meaning hinges on understanding grammar and that grammar emphasizes a well-regulated militia. Yet, the language has been debated with increasing ferocity for decades. Death threats not being the least of the debates. And thus the average person is left to suffer the consequences, while elites collect dividends on the bloated arms sector.
Throughout the history of the United States, people have been eroding the freedom of others, reserving them for the elite. Slavery is a large example. The founders attempted to make it illegal at the start, as it was hypocritical to the main tenets of the Declaration of Independence (all men are created equal, for one). The southern states, which were well-established as bastions of feudalistic estates, insisted they maintain that way of life. It was give-in on this point and fight that battle later, or fall to England. We all know how that played out. But, do we realize how that established power for elites? Now, remember what I wrote above, about how sociopaths gravitate toward positions of authority.
Continue forward to the Civil War and the late 1800s. American wealth was growing, with deep rifts between the top and bottom tiers of society. The Middle Class was in its infancy, and rather smitten with itself. That’s something the middle has suffered from for a long time. It makes it hard to notice what else is going on (that you’re being used as a buffer against the targets of the sociopath, and that you’re the foot soldiers for the war the elites are waging on majority). Henry Ford, by the way, didn’t pay his workers out of the goodness of his heart. He paid them decent wages to get that money paid in wages circulating back through his company. You may have heard the song about the company store?
In order to keep the wages paid out, which were insisted upon by the decisive outcome of the Civil War, circulating back through the boss’s pocket, regulations and limitations were created, but more importantly, propaganda was undertaken. World War II taught the American government just how powerful propaganda could be in the fight to control the minds of the people. Since, the American people have been regularly fed nationalistic history (like Washington and his Cherry Tree). The underlying message is about the greatness of the nation and the people’s manifest destiny. There is no critical examination of the terrible things done in the name of gaining freedom, such as slaughtering natives and then relocating the survivors to concentration camps. People still say it was necessary because those people were violent. Those people apparently had no rights to the land they were already on when European settlers took it from them and declared it in the name of freedom and justice. See the irony there?
Taking what you want without a thought for those you’re abusing in the process is the creed of sociopaths. Who led the policy and actions of The United States? The elites. Elites formed and ran big businesses, such as the railroads, big steel, big oil…all those trusts that Teddy busted. Slowly, effectively, they wrested the control back out of the hands of the people.
The Civil War taught American businessmen about the lucrative enterprise of arms sales. This is not to say that there were those who came from nothing and built their businesses on the opportunities presented. Indeed, that is the point. For better or worse, the business of war has become the main business of the United States. Look at the bloated defense budget for proof. Look to the continual wars fought, supposedly to preserve American freedom, while they have nothing to do with American freedom (unless you mean profits of corporate elites).
Now, take the rise of arms businesses with a desire to keep the money circulating in the hands of the few (bosses/elites), and add in socio/psychopathy.
We’ve been told to value wealth as a sign of achievement, saintliness, and righteousness. I’ve seen usually rational people become sycophants in the presence of wealthy or notable people. For example, a cleaner in my building thinks the 45th president is a great person because he handed him $50 to do a service for him a few times. His price was $50. Others will bend over backwards for elites at no cost. That rises from the manipulation in our society that extends the narrative of those in power (whether that is wealth, position, or both) through public education of our children (in that nationalistic history). It also wends through parental behavior, entertainment, hierarchy at mom and dad’s work. Thus, the idea that certain positions and wealth insinuate righteousness.
Did you know that The Bible speaks to this? It says not to question authority and power. The rise of evangelical Christian faith in the US has brought with it a lot of patriarchal, pro-elite thinking, which can be found in the book they hold dear. That same book was translated and arranged in the early middle ages to maintain a power structure in Europe, where the people deferred to the papacy (elites).
These narratives and actions are very much the same tactics undertaken by abusers in Domestic Violence situations, although they happen on a grander scale. The purpose is to control the hearts and minds of the majority, so that the minority can maintain the sweet set up they’ve manipulated out for themselves. Power and control requires someone to be overpowered and controlled, after all.
One of the best ways is to convince your target that they need to be reformed, and then lay out all of the reasons they’re a bad person. Make it sound super plausible, and use respected materials to back up the story. Never go at everything at once, either. Pick away little by little over time. For instance, tell kids to get a good education growing up, then when they’re teenagers begin to confuse them by saying that college is for those kinds of people they don’t want to be, if they’re going to get your approval. Tell your daughters they can be anything, but give them baby dolls and kitchens to play with, don’t teach them too much about sports or cars. Tell them how pretty they are, so they value that before they value their ability in math, which would truly benefit their future. Emphasize relationships above career. Likewise, condition boys in gender specific roles. Then, convince them the other is playing games, so that they remain suspicious, at odds. Interpolate that to racial issues. Maybe also, this binary, and being convinced of its necessity as a power play, is why there is such hate for those who fall outside of it. Deviation from any norm will be met with violence, a historical and completely unacceptable human reality—the result of desperately wanting power and control over one’s reality; an inability to cope with change or variation. That too is leveraged by those in power (that’s why you hear dog whistle terms in speeches). Keep the targets distracted fighting among themselves. For example: make one group feel superior to others, and then scare them with the threat of being violated by those others. Othering is a powerful tool in the abuser’s arsenal.
Thus, the elites maintain the 1% vs. the 98% binary by convincing others that they deserve to be where they are, whether it is true or not. However, they’ve tipped the system in their own favor, keeping the money flowing back to them, because money is power and it’s a strong symbol for their authority. They set the tone for culture. The masses consume that culture, completely buying into it. They are taught to reach for becoming one of the elites, to have that money and power. In the meantime, the masses struggle against each other over superficial differences (race, creed, gender, education, etc.).
Things have become tumultuous in this century, because of the availability and push toward education. There is a saying that goes something like, “funny how education makes liberals.” The idea is that bastions of higher learning are pro liberal, but the reality is that the education provided opens they eyes to see how we’re being played against one another over superficial and inconsequential details. You may have noticed how right wing voters demean those with higher education as elitists, or those who have been brainwashed. They also insist that their opinions deserve the same respect as facts. I guess they were out sick on the day teacher discussed fact and opinion.
They also blame unions, who have supported fair working conditions, equal pay, education incentives, and upward mobility. The bosses have worked hard to keep workers from organizing, even resorting to violence to do so. Eventually, like the government arena, they learned to manipulate instead. It’s a long con, but it keeps them from going to jail when a bigger fish let’s them hang on the hook.
When wielding power and control over others, controlling the information they have is deeply important. That’s why the right wing continues to push back on funding education, and why democrats don’t do much to ensure education. Maligning education and educational institutions is imperative. Claiming that Unions, which were put in place by workers to protect the interest of workers, are evil is also imperative.
What this all essentially does is build factions, like teams or tribes. Humans have not evolved past the mindset that team is everything. It even trumps family when the intersections of belief converge (why families disown a gay child, for instance). This is why a lot of people in the United States are against immigration, especially from countries with non-European white people. They’re not part of the team that is envisioned by those people. Much like Patriot’s fans, they’re willing to look the other way when bad things are done, so long as it removes the threat to the vision (winning). “Show me a team that doesn’t cheat,” shouldn’t be an acceptable excuse. It says a great deal about the culture that supports such ideas.
Put that all together and you get a clear picture of how Americans have come to be at the mercy of a bloated military industrial complex, and that the 2nd amendment is just being used to maintain the status quo. It was never intended to guarantee anyone arms, except in the context of a military. Now, that amendment is moot, because the government is capable of raising enough taxes to fund a military. In fact, the majority of taxes is going to the military, and no home arsenal will be sufficient to protect anyone from that organism. Remember this when trying to discuss the matter with someone who is pro 45, pro gun, pro ‘Murica. Pointing out the discrepancies, the mental gymnastics, they undergo to maintain their belief.
The sociopaths are winning and their victims are happily helping them to do so.
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