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

Sunday, April 26, 2015

American Politics: A House of Mirrors

Click here to access article by Ulson Gunnar from Land Destroyer Report. (Note: I normally post articles from their original sources, but in this case I couldn't find it in New Eastern Outlook.)

Gunnar aptly uses the metaphor of a carnival house of mirrors to describe what it is like for the average American who is subject to Empire propaganda everywhere in his/her life. These Americans have long lost all grounding in reality and think that the distorted images in this house of mirrors are real.
We must understand that for special interests that collectively control trillions of dollars in assets, profits and infrastructure all over the planet, the last thing they are willing to do is allow for the existence of a system that might actually put into power a form of authority above their own, that would set policy predicated upon the interests of the people, rather than their own. They have the money, the power and the ability to ensure policy is set to suit them, and them alone, and they clearly have done just that.
He then goes on to see the implications of this for the election system which those on the outside of this house of mirrors, our ruling capitalist class, use to further deceive us that we have real choices when we vote, and thus live in a "democracy"--the biggest illusion of all.