Surviving Capitalism (Not) : The Death of Irony, Or, University Of Penn's Secret Meetings On Secret Laws

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Monday, January 13, 2014

The Death of Irony, Or, University Of Penn's Secret Meetings On Secret Laws

Click here to access article by Dustin Slaughter from The Public Record.

When the author, a journalist, was barred from attending this meeting, he asked for an explanation. This is what he got:

The main point of the discussions is for policy makers, academics, and others who are involved,” she begins, “to enter into dialogue with one another in a way that allows all of us to move up the learning curve, so that we become better-informed academics and policy makers become better-informed. [my emphais]

This article says a lot about the kind of society we live in, not explicitly, but implicitly. I think a more accurate translation of this statement is this:

People who have a stake in the ruling class are here to discuss this sensitive issue and need to do this away from the prying eyes of the public over which they govern.

Of course, the liberal writer cannot make such an observation in writing even if he/she consciously wanted to do so. You must realize, if you don't already, that one does not get access to major ("respectable") websites, or any other media, if one zeros in on what our masters in the ruling class need to hide: the class-based system widely advertised as "democracy" or "of the people, by the people, and for the people". Hence, the need for secrecy. The people in attendance at this meeting are part of, or crucially serve, the governing class, and what they discuss and do must remain secret--just like so many other matters of the ruling class. (And, of course, the fact that there is even a ruling class.)

One important point that was made explicitly was...

...how deeply entrenched this - and so many other non-state funded schools like Penn - are with the defense industry.

What is left unexpressed here by the liberal author is that the "defense" industry is a crucial part of the ruling class's power and profit, and that academia, as a subsystem, is also thoroughly under the control of this class as are all institutions.