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

Tuesday, August 10, 2021

Posts that I especially recommend for Tuesday, August 10, 2021

Weglarz attempts to explain, using his own personal life experience, this phenomenon as indoctrination and propaganda by "oligarchies" (rich people) and "authorities". Even if we explain that the "authorities" fear the oligarchs because the latter hold authority over their careers does not explain this phenomenon, but it leads to an explanation. It is my firm conviction that the system, a capitalist system, upon which the "oligarchies" depend on for their wealth and power, is the underlying cause for nearly all of the problems of inequality, social justice issues, and wars from the 20th century until now. (I laid out this argument in this post.) 
 
Apparently, the oligarchies, and their employed authorities, have been so successful at creating "realities" that Weglarz hasn't yet attained consciousness of this system that makes inevitable nearly all the problems which we currently face. As the capitalist class inevitably concentrates control (and wealth) in ever diminishing hands, they have created most of the crises which we fear will end us all as a human species. Nevertheless, he goes a long way to explain how most of the American population is so gullible.
One of the filters in the Propaganda Model propounded by professors Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky is stoking a fear of communism.1 The establishment’s anti-communism has never abated in the United States. The elitists require a populace fearful of communism to protect their own misbegotten wealth accumulation. Thus,the bugaboo of communism must be opposed wherever it arises.
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