Current Affairs Essay

And because of this apathy, because most Americans don't bother to be politically informed and proactive, the corporate elite can't lose. They buy and sell the politicians, they own the mainstream news media, and they control the messages and imagery disseminated to the mass public. They've got it all!

As a result, the cycle of misinformation continues and average Americans go on their merry way, not even realizing their way of life is disintegrating and they are being played for saps. This is what distinguishes corporate fascism from political fascism. There's no front man in corporate fascism. George W. Bush is not Hitler, the corporate collective is, i.e., all the largest and most powerful corporations in the country. Bush is simply their current mouthpiece, their latest bitch. And at this point in time, the only real opposition to the misinformation and propaganda disseminated by the corporate collective via their political mouthpiece is the alternative press.

To illustrate: Take the build-up to the Iraq War. When the New York Times and other "respectable" mainstream news organizations were validating the Bush administration lies about WMD and Saddam Hussein's links to al Qaeda, who challenged these assertions with the most impact and conviction? The alternative press!

When CNN and other "legitimate" mainstream news organizations were maintaining that George W. Bush won the 2004 presidential election "fair and square," who uncovered massive election fraud and led the fight against the easily hacked Diebold machines? The alternative press!

There are many other examples, from renewable energy to global warming to national health care. Almost always, the alternative (progressive) press is out front on these issues, and it takes years before mainstream reporters cover them with the seriousness they deserve. And then, only after they can no longer successfully hide the truth or deny it.

Of course the last thing the corporate elite want is an enlightened population of critical thinkers and political activists. It would ruin their rigged game of capitalism and cause Americans to demand a real share of the economic and political destiny of the country.

So to all of you Americans who are too busy or too lazy or too selfish to take the time to access alternative publications online and participate in democracy by organizing or protesting or somehow making your voice be heard, I have a question for you: What are you going to tell your children or grandchildren when they ask you: "What did you do to stop the corporate fascists from taking over the country, Daddy?"