Evolution of Consciousness

Glenn Greenwald takes a look at the disgruntled mood of the electorate this year: “Why Do Voters Hate Incumbents?”

This desire for change from the citizenry is good, and certainly called for, but in order to usher in truly healthy change and growth, it must have some footing in reality. There must be a modicum of understanding and intelligence behind it. We don’t want to throw the bums out, only to replace them with something worse.

I think the challenge in this country right now is to combine the revolutionary energy of the right with the progressive intelligence of the left. It’s time for the people of this country to come together against the wealthy and powerful elite. We’ve got to put the old Party divisions behind us (along with the psuedo ideologies that have powered them). It really is time for something new.

David Michael Green approaches the subject from a different angle in “Fear Comes of Age“; and Robert Scheer makes an attempt to close the circle with “Who’s Afraid of Rand Paul.”

A great new essay from David Michael Green, called “Suicide by Regressivism,” examines the supreme illogic of the Teabag rant.

It strikes me as pompous and presumptuous, how this recently contrived temper tantrum has assumed the mantle of the original Boston Tea Party (1773). Here’s how one “Tea Partier” explained her position to The New Yorker:

“Government is for the post office, and to defend our country, and maybe for the roads. That’s all.”

Really? That’s all? (And I like how she maybe-ed the roads, like she’s thinking: if everyone drove a Hummer, then we wouldn’t have to pave at all.) Maybe this modern-day patriot ought to expend another millisecond of thought on the subject. I think a better name for the new movement might be “The TV Party” (2010), to honor the true source of propaganda that actually drives the thing (Fox News).

Not to slight the influence of Hate Radio, which I recently sampled…

A couple months ago, I caught Glenn Beck doing his radio show and was struck by how unhinged his presentation is. He sounds like he’s on the brink of a mental/emotional breakdown. Having heard so much about this guy, I didn’t expect such a whiny, victimized tone, but now I think I see what he’s doing.

Beck’s job is to sing a siren song to the frustrated American, all those people who have been on the receiving end of trickledown for too long. Now that Reagan’s economic sham has played out, Americans are thoroughly worn down and feel their backs against the wall. They know they’ve been had, but are unsure who did it or how it happened.

So Glenn assumes the sympatico tone of hurt, anger and desperation, in order to establish a bond with his target audience. Once the bond is established, his mission is to pour into those beleaguered ears yet another round of policies to benefit greedy wealth. A tall order, to be sure, but this frontman seems to be earning his lucre.

Then, about a week ago, trolling the AM dial once again, I heard a fellow named Michael Savage going absolutely ballistic on immigration. He was whipping up some white-hot fear and hatred with his listeners, using the argument that Mexican men are culturally inclined to rape “our women,” and we (American men) are wimps if we continue putting up with it. Upon hearing this, I realized I was listening to a modern-day Goebbels. Replace “immigrants” (or “terrorists”) for “Juden” and the echoes are unmistakeable and alarming.

There is too much of this sort of irresponsible, dangerous dis-info-tainment in our media these days. Sinister forces are at work in this country. Americans need to be aware and vigilant, to avoid complete disaster.

Glenn Greenwald tells the remarkable story of a little website called WikiLeaks.org. Here’s their mission statement:

Our publisher, The Sunshine Press, is an international non-profit organization funded by human rights campaigners, investigative journalists, technologists, lawyers and the general public. Since 2007 we have exposed thousands of military, political and corporate abuses — fighting off over 100 legal attacks to do so. No WikiLeaks’ source been ever exposed and the organization has yet to lose a legal case. Our disclosures have triggered many reforms, including the removal of two corrupt national governments. We have found that knowledge is suppressed because of its power to change and that only new knowledge brings meaningful change. Ultimately, the quality of every political, economic and personal decision depends on understanding the world and how it came to be that way. By revealing the true state of our world, through millions of pages of suppressed information, we are creating the primary ingredient for a better civilization. Although our work has won many awards, it is your strong support that preserves our continued independence and strength.

Greenwald’s story focuses on a few of their more recent releases. One is a CIA document acknowledging that even though the majority of French and German citizens are against the ongoing occupation of Afghanistan, apathy prevails and their governments remain involved in the aggression. In order to perpetuate this highly un-democratic arrangement (while also anticipating an upcoming “bloody summer” in Afghanistan) the report recommends ways to manipulate public opinion and perpetuate citizen apathy in these countries. It’s a remarkable read, and a glimpse into the depth of political “marketing” that American tax dollars fund these days. A second document comes from the Pentagon, discussing WikiLeaks at length, and suggesting ways to damage or destroy the fledging effort.

I recommend reading Greenwald’s article first, for some good overview and context, and then diving into the pertinent documents…

1. “The War on WikiLeaks and Why It Matters” (Greenwald article)
2. “Afghanistan: Sustaining West European Support for the NATO-led Mission—Why Counting on Apathy Might Not Be Enough” (CIA document)
3. “Wikileaks.org – An Online Reference to Foreign Intelligence Services, Insurgents, Or Terrorist Groups?” (Pentagon document)

After delving into this material, I could not help but think of the Star Wars series, pitting the ragtag Rebel Alliance against the all-powerful Empire. Here’s how the editor of WikiLeaks explains himself:

This information has reform potential. And the information which is concealed or suppressed is concealed or suppressed because the people who know it best understand that it has the ability to reform. So they engage in work to prevent that reform . . . .

There are reasons I do it that have to do with wanting to reform civilization, and selectively targeting information will do that — understanding that quality information is what every decision is based on, and all the decisions taken together is what “civilization” is, so if you want to improve civilization, you have to remove some of the basic constraints, which is the quality of information that civilization has at its disposal to make decisions. Of course, there’s a personal psychology to it, that I enjoy crushing bastards, I like a good challenge, so do a lot of the other people involved in WikiLeaks. We like the challenge.

“Calling All Rebels,” by Chris Hedges, is a surprisingly inspirational essay on the rather daunting subject of revolution in America. With our backs to the wall, the time to saddle up approaches.

If the Democratic Party were interested in surviving, it would follow the lead of Representative Anthony Weiner (D-NY) in this video…

The Republican ideology is dead, it just doesn’t know it yet. The practice of the current Democratic Party (being an ever slightly more-conflicted, more-subversive version of the out-and-out Republican corruption) is also headed for extinction. Ignoring the citizenry is simply unsustainable in the long run. You can only exploit the people for so long, before they revolt or perish.

I don’t think the Republicans have any chance of surviving, long term, since representing big business is in their DNA. If the Democrats (and I realize that’s a huge “if”) were to come clean and swear off the bribery, they could hasten both their renaissance and the Republican demise. One fell swoop. But that would take courage and foresight, and I don’t see that coming from many entrenched quarters yet. It is, however, refreshing to hear it every once in a great while, so kudos to Weiner for that!