Evolution of Consciousness

The Supreme Court — the same cabal that swept in the Bush/Cheney Abomination — just ruled (5-4) that corporations can now completely dominate government with unlimited dollars. This pretty much seals the corporate takeover of this country. Say hello to fascism.

Unless the people revolt, I think the American experiment in democracy is pretty much over. Capital won. Serfs up!

Here are the robed retrogrades responsible for driving the latest nail in the coffin…

Author/journalist Chris Hedges has written a good book called Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle (July 2009). The work is divided into five sections, each one examining illusions in different fields: literacy, love, wisdom, happiness, and America.

My reading experience was rather peculiar, in that the interest level ramped up rather slowly. It started out wobbly, picked up steam as it went, and really soared at the end.

In the crisply written closing chapter, “The Illusion of America,” Hedges delivers an excellent overview and critique of the current State of the Nation. If you find yourself bogging down in the earlier sections, skip ahead — but do not miss the final chapter.

Sobering, because it sees without illusion, this sort of clarity of vision represents the best antidote to what ails us. Without a clear understanding of our situation, we can’t fix it. Books like this are, therefore, very important. Read it, and pass the word.

These are troubled times. Few would argue with that. So the big question is, What’s wrong?

The answer is that we are living under the tyranny of the dollar. Power is solidly in the hands of corporations, or big money. Everywhere you look, you see the effects: money controls everything, and perverts everything. The concerns of real people are marginalized, so that big money can have its way. So the question then becomes: How can we, the people, fix this?

And the answer to that is actually quite simple: corporations are not persons. This goes right to the legal/political heart of the matter. We need to get the Supreme Court to acknowledge the obvious fact that corporations are not persons.

Once that is established, corporate lawyers will not be able to abuse the Bill of Rights, as they do now, on their clients’ behalf. The Amendments were obviously drafted with real people in mind, but corporations have found a way to bend our rights to their favor, by making the ridiculous claim that corporations are persons.

For instance, corporations are able to pump unlimited sums of money into lobbying by claiming their right to the First Amendment. It’s an obvious perversion of a citizen’s right to free speech, but that’s how special interests now justify their ability to essentially own our government.

So we need to get very clear on this distinction: corporations are not people (and people are not corporations). They are two distinctly different entities, and each needs its own set of rights and regulations. We have to stop the muddling, and once we do, we’ll have gone a long way toward clearing up the problem.

Fortunately, there is an excellent book on the subject: Unequal Protection: The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Theft of Human Rights (2002). The author goes into good detail about how this folly of “corporate personhood” came about, how it is currently being abused, and — most importantly — how we can go about fixing it. I recommend reading this book and acting upon the advice within.

History is important, as are the stories we tell ourselves. Lately, we’ve been failing on both fronts: remiss in understanding our own recent history, while swinish ideologues narrowly frame our stories in false and misleading ways. These are depressing times.

But I believe/hope/pray the darkest days of this cycle have passed, and it is now imperative that we educate ourselves, so that facts might inform our stories, about where we’ve been and where we’re going. Toward that end, I’d like to recommend some reading…

Threshold: The Crisis of Western Culture
by Thom Hartmann, July 2009

I’m listing this book first for a couple reasons: it’s the most recent, and it does a fine job pulling together the many and disparate threads of this subject in a concise and accessible manner. It’s not a perfect work, but if you read only one book on this list, there is a good argument for this being the one.

Moyers on Democracy
by Bill Moyers, May 2008

Soaring and inspired collection of speeches given over the past 30 years, all around the topic of American democracy. Drawing upon his considerable experience in both politics and journalism, Moyers has much to offer.

The Conscience of a Liberal
by Paul Krugman, October 2007

A well-written history on the rise and fall of that great American phenomenon of the twentieth century, the middle class. Roughly spans FDR to GWB, thus providing a good grounding in the recent history of our collective economic fortunes (or lack thereof).

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism
by Naomi Klein, September 2007

A detailed look at how economic hegemony has been practiced by American financiers over the past few decades. At times long and ponderous, this work remains important for illuminating how economic concerns have trumped human concerns.

Politics: Observations and Arguments, 1966-2004
by Hendrik Hertzberg, July 2004

This collection of essays, from a brilliant and accomplished writer, is as much a pleasure to read as it is instructive. Hertzberg is often at his best explaining nuances of wonkery, such as how we could improve the American electoral process.

Wealth and Our Commonwealth: Why America Should Tax Accumulated Fortunes
by Chuck Collins and William H. Gates Sr., January 2003

Excellent treatise from a couple of wealthy guys on why they — and their brethern — should be taxed, fairly and responsibly, for the benefit of all. Written in response to the selfish and greedy attack on the estate tax by those rich kids in the Bush/Cheney Administration.

So, there’s six of my favorite (fairly recent) books on politics. If you have any recommendations, I’d like to hear them.

Remember that holiday pounding Israel gave Gaza last winter, taking advantage of the last dark days of the Bush Administration?

Well, in April of this year the United Nations initiated an independent investigation into violations of humanitarian law, and by September that fact finding mission was reporting “strong evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity” and calling for an “end to impunity.” Sounds good, right? Wrong…

Last Tuesday, the House of Representatives took time out of their “busy” schedule to vote on a bill titled “Calling on the President and the Secretary of State to oppose unequivocally any endorsement or further consideration of the ‘Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict’ in multilateral fora.” (Turns out “fora” is the latin plural of “forum.”) I think a better name would have been “Hear No Evil, See No Evil” (the accompanying graphic could be two of the three monkeys, since “Speak No Evil” remains on vacation).

The billed passed easily, 344 yeas (yeah, Mike Thompson voted “yea”) to 36 nays. “Impunity” has nothing to fear with this mob at the helm. Here’s what Congressman Kucinich had to say, just before the vote, “Because if this Congress votes to condemn a report it has not read, concerning events it has totally ignored, about violations of law of which it is unaware, it will have brought shame to this great institution.” Mission accomplished.

What can we do about all this nonsense? Let’s start by prying Barnacle Mike out of our congressional seat (California’s First District). Until we start sending representatives to Washington to represent our interests, nothing will get better.