Evolution of Consciousness

Freefall: America, Free Markets, and Sinking of the World Economy is the excellent new book from educator/economist Joseph Stiglitz.

Loosely structured around the story of our recent “Great Recession,” Stiglitz not only does a fine job of explaining what happened from an economic viewpoint, but also includes politics, culture, and history within his scope of vision. The author should also be commended for remaining calm and reasonable as he discusses this monumental calamity of human greed and folly. Some great restraint exhibited there.

One insight I really appreciated was drawing a parallel between the fall of the Berlin Wall, representing the end of Soviet-style Communism, and the fall of Lehman Brothers, representing the end of American-style Capitalism. The interim period (1989-2008) Stiglitz calls “American Triumphalism,” which I thought was a fine name for it. [It is interesting to note how well the hubristic “Project for the New American Century” (1997-2006) fits into this particular narrative, and that those same PNACers have now coalesced into yet another think tank called the “Foreign Policy Initiative.”]

This is a book Americans could really benefit from reading, as Stiglitz provides plenty of solid, sensible recommendations on how to pull out from the nosedive we’re in.

The Nation magazine features an excellent article by Lawrence Lessig, this week, titled “How to Get Our Democracy Back.” In it, he examines the problems of money in politics and offers some good ideas for solutions.

More info on the subject can be found at Fix Congress First.

Maybe they overreached a little too far this time. Perhaps the five black-robed neo-fascists just handed us a gift. The gift of clarity.

The Supreme Court’s recent ruling, giving corporations unlimited influence in politics, represents a giant goose step toward the Corporate State, where Big Money makes all the important decisions in government, and the citizen/rabble get to vote on things like how well Tom DeLay shook his booty on Dancing with the Stars.

The power grab here is obvious, and it has served to wake many people up. There is a growing movement, now, towards drafting an Amendment to the Constitution, to simply clarify the fact that corporations are not people. The stupidity of the notion illustrates just how far we have fallen, but it is sorely needed, for this legal fiction of “corporate personhood” is at the root of how Concentrated Wealth has managed to wrest all political power away from We the People.

Democracy is on the ropes in America. Norquist has got the baby in the bathtub, a cruel smile on his face as he plunges it underwater, watching it cough and sputter. It’s time for us to wake up and fight, or it’s going to slip away.

Here’s a couple places to get started:

1. Free Speech for People
2. Public Citizen

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.