It’s like the old tree in a forest analogy about who is paying attention. Government, politicians, parties, rights have all changed dramatically and not for the good; at least not if you like personal freedom. Elections used to be about acquiring power, the kind with checks and balances so it never became absolute power.
Now it’s a contest for control, the kind Orwell wrote about in his book “1984.” This change has all the subtlety of a fart in church; everyone has lost their olfactory sensors deadened by the stench of decaying democracy.
Let’s start with the players: The government, Democrats, Republicans, mass media and an electorate. Sound familiar? There is a new one who joined us as the proverbial wolf in sheep’s clothing. These are the oligarchs with wealth that starts with a B and more power than anyone ever envisioned for this democracy. Whereas Rockefeller acceded to the government’s command to break up standard oil, Zuckerberg and his social media buddies make their own rules. We’ll call them “garkeys.”
There are people who have a vision of United States governance that does not include a bill of rights or, for that matter, elections. Most people, myself included, find meeting everyday challenges enough to keep life interesting and the idea of telling someone else how to live just doesn’t have any appeal.
But if life’s two main aphrodisiacs are money and power, where else are you going to go once you have more than you can possibly ever spend? In his book “1984,” George Orwell describes what life is like under this kind of governance. It’s not something our body politic would ever vote for.
Garkey Governance
Orwell describes a major population control challenge for Oceana’s government was wealth destruction, for if the people became too rich, they might realize that Big Brother wasn’t needed and get rid of him. Their solution was continuous war in some remote location no one had ever been to.
Man-made climate change (MMCC) serves that purpose by limiting fossil fuel production. If you plot crude oil price on a graph with consumer spending, it discloses that as the cost peeked at $147 per barrel, consumer spending took a nosedive, idling millions of workers. When comparing the last four years of Bush with the last four years of Clinton, energy cost to a family of four increased by $642 per month. Inability of many families to meet their monthly mortgage payment was no “bubble.”
That MMCC is not supported by any laws of physics is immaterial; in fact, fabrication of a phony scenario with a doomsday alternative has been constructed to keep the population at bay.
Food Stamps or a Job?
Who pays for what has always been at the heart of a political scrum. It’s usually some variation of Vote for me and, once elected, I’ll give you a freebie you shouldn’t live without. Not to worry about cost, it’ll all be paid for by a tax increase on rich people. It’s not free. There is an aspect to this proposition I’ve never heard discussed. Let me use a fictitious illustration.
Sam has invented a new garberdorfer that cuts the cost in half. Every household has one. Sam needs working capital to get started and, through a broker, connects with one of those rich folks who reaches the conclusion that this is an attractive investment opportunity; they conclude an agreement enabling this new business to lift off. Twenty people are employed which reduced the government’s food stamp budget.
A year passes. The business has exceeded expectations and Sam comes back to his original investor for capital to expand the business and hire 20 more people. During this successful year, an election has taken place and changes to the tax laws have increased the levy on those rich folks. Sam’s original investor, feeling the tax bite, is not able to meet his financial needs. Those 20 people he was going to hire will remain on food stamps but perhaps the additional taxes will pay for those.
Rich people don’t sleep on mattresses filled with money and they don’t give up a summer home, a yacht, airplane or luxury car to pay their tax bill
Now you know why a cut in tax rates spurs the economy. Donald Trump understood that.
More Taxes, More Regulation
More regulations beget more bureaucracy and when it reaches critical mass, it doesn’t matter who is president or who controls Congress; my way is the highway. Their only impetus is to get bigger and bigger, which is the reason D.C. is the richest metropolitan area in the country.
Government
It is the final result of all political activity and has the last word on how we shall live.
Democrats
U.S. government has always been a two-party state and Democrats are one of those parties. They have historically represented the interest of the working class and have enjoyed the support of labor unions and minorities. Since third parties have had no success, garkeys opted to control the Dems and expedite their world view.
Republicans
With a few highly notable exceptions, this is a party of the wishee-washees who never seem to quite know what they are doing there or whose side they should be on. If you are a deer in the headlights, you are most likely Republican and will probably get run over.
Media
And then there is the crème-de-la-crème of stupid. When the garkeys showed up, the mass media went from simply biased to liberalism’s holy rollers. Instead of keeping the discussion within the confines of reason and logic, they are like a broken levee allowing the swamp to cover the land. The garks have repositioned the Democrat stance on issue after issue and if you disagree with them, you are racist even though white racism disappeared decades ago as evidenced by TV commercials that routinely mix black and white together.
Electorate
That’s most of us, half of whom bother to vote. We are the largest group of dumb people in history.
What Now?
It’s 2012 and the garkeys’ favorite president has just been re-elected. Annual growth has stabilized at one to two percent and the permanent loss of manufacturing is being accepted as no alternative by the public. Affordable Health Care (AHC) is the first step to single-payer health care and the courts are being cleansed of conservative judges. President Obama is continuing to construct the “new normal.” Perfect!
Then 2016 rolled around. Obama’s heir fell short and Trump interrupted everything, rolling back their “progress.”
