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Imogene of the Pacific Kingdom Dager of the Tasman Empire Slumach: The Lost Mine The Pest Maiden: The Perfect Enemy George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography You're Not Stupid! Get the Truth The Right Sex Helen the Transartist Wingbeat The American Reichstag When Leslie Left
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Wake Up, Unplug, and Face the Truth! By J. F. Miglio When I was in Italy a couple of years ago, Italian workers declared a national strike in protest of the economic policies of their conservative billionaire prime minister and Bush buddy, Silvio Berlusconi. Aside from a skeleton crew of hotel workers and cabbies, the entire country shut down for one day, and Berlusconi got the message loud and clear-- back off, Jack! So I got to thinking: Could something like this work in the United States? Theoretically it could, but there is a problem. Italy is a country with many strong labor unions that have solidarity with each other, and when the call goes out to strike, all the workers fall into line. In the U.S., labor unions no longer have that kind of clout, and most American employees are on their own. Which means they are at the mercy of corporate America for their wages, job security, and health care. If Americans were living in a real democracy, they would have a strong voice in the three most important areas of their lives, and they would make their views known to the government vis-à-vis the political process. So, for example, if it were clear that a majority of Americans needed and wanted affordable health care, their elected representatives in Congress would write legislation to make this become a reality. That's the way the democratic political process is supposed to work-- at least that's what the Founding Fathers had in mind. Unfortunately, the election process in America today is a fraud (See Archives for December's article: "How Democrats Enabled Republicans to Steal 2004 Presidential Election.") Moreover, the mainstream news media is little more than a public relations tool of the current administration, and corporate America is the de facto power behind the government. Perhaps I am overstating this a bit, but anyone who denies the validity of the above assertions is living in a Matrix-like fantasyland. So wake up, unplug, and face the truth! Accept the fact that democracy is being unceremoniously lowered into the grave and corporate fascism is the reality in America today. Whenever the term fascism is used to describe the current state of affairs in America, even liberals tend to cringe, because they associate it with Hitler and Mussolini, death camps and brown shirts. True, the U.S. is not there yet, although given the lies and propaganda used to justify the war in Iraq, the civil liberties abuses and torture at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib, and the rigged presidential elections of 2000 and 2004, we're not far way. Add to this unsavory litany the reluctance of the mainstream news media to report the truth about the Bush administration and hold it accountable for its lies, corruption, and anti-democratic policies, and the reality becomes that much closer. In fact the only difference from an institutional point of view between the political fascism of Hitler and Mussolini and the corporate fascism of America today is, Hitler and Mussolini ran their countries with an iron fist with the help and support of large corporations and the national press, whereas in America large corporations run the country from behind the scenes with the help and support of politicians and the mainstream news media. Not much of a difference, for all practical purposes, unless you believe that ruthless, profit-driven multinational corporations act more ethically and altruistically than power-driven dictators. And perhaps many Americans do believe this, if they think about it at all. Which would explain why about half of all the citizens who voted in the last presidential election mindlessly voted against their own self-interests and in favor of candidates who represent the same corporations that brainwash and exploit them on a daily basis The $64,000 question is, if both major political parties and the mainstream news media are in the pockets of the large corporate interests "like so many nickels and dimes," how can Americans-- short of violence or revolution-- fight back and reinstate democracy? Up until now, liberals and progressives thought the answer was by organizing politically with groups like MoveOn.org or Howard Dean. This was a noble effort, but it didn't work against the Machiavellian forces of corporate fascism. It was like sending a college debate team to fight Tony Soprano and his crew on their own turf. ...Read More
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