A few days ago I saw Chris Hedges a world renowned war correspondent and educator. He is on a book tour speaking about the collapse of the empire known as the USA. He spoke about the importance of speaking out against the condition of our country. He spoke about how corrupt our nation has become through the use of propaganda.
In this lecture about the fall of the empire Chris Hedges acknowledges the use of the three strikes law to fill our prison systems with nonviolent offenders. The prison system has been largely filled because of the reforms put in place under Bill Clinton. Although Hedges doesn’t directly acknowledge the American Legislative Exchange Council it was their policy which was enacted by Clinton.
In the USA we have been watching as a corporate coupe happens “in slow motion” this creeping totalitarianism has been building for hundreds of years, it is largely enforced by the police. Police use strong arm tactics to bust up unions and protests. Any group or individual who could potentially present a threat to the status quo is hidden by media and ignored by politics. The condition of our free press has been a huge benefit to the ruling class, because people still trust the institutions of reporting despite the fact that they are owned by billionaires who have been exposed for their bias in reporting.
One of the most striking aspects of this lecture was when Chris spoke about the dangers presented by the “Christian heretics” in the USA. He speaks to the dangers of misguided religious people who take snippets from the bible as justification for ethnic cleansing and homophobia. In the USA we have so many religious extremists that consider themselves warriors of the “one righteous god” these religious extremists are now in our governmental cabinets and judicial chambers. They are creating policies which put people back in the closet and ignoring science which doesn’t jive with their good book.
“Trump has no ideology” in essence trump is an has created an empty space for the fascist christian right to occupy. We tolerate and accept their behavior despite the fact that the values they uphold go against the values which the people of the USA pretend to uphold. The fascist right and apologist left both stand by while our military veterans are thrown aside, while our soldiers torture and murder in foreign lands, while our children in the USA face hunger. These are not the values of a nation of caring individuals, and the mega churches speak directly to the disparity between the haves and the have nots.
The police in the USA are a corrupt force of irrational violence. They are brought in to crush popular movements and infiltrate community groups. The police are a mechanism for intimidation and fear. Their presence keeps people on the sidewalk, and prevents the people from asserting not just their rights guaranteed by the constitution but also by the universal declaration of human rights. Despite the fact that the goons are sworn to uphold and defend the constitution. But these human rights violations are just about never prosecuted. The judges and lawyers will not hold the police accountable for their criminal behaviors. As a Water Protector who lived in the Standing Rock prayer camps for five months under constant surveillance, under oppressive media reporting of untruths, under military occupation of the North Dakota National Guard I can say without doubt that the military and police do not uphold the rights of Indigenous peoples. These violent gangs are nothing short of mercenary squads acting on behalf of their corporate overlords.
As the empire collapses the serfs are beginning to rise up and stand against the oligarchs, this has created a situation where the public has become largely discontent with the status quo and the institutions of the public are crumbling. Schools, hospitals and housing all collapsing from neglect while the military receives record funding levels each year. The people who delegate these funds are so deeply in the pockets of the military industrial complex that they will never be free to vote their consciences. They must maintain their campaign funds, and as such have to kiss up to those who can fund the campaigns. The political class and the military industrial class are wholly connected, which is precisely why we must abolish each of them. Representative government only works when the will of the people is upheld. The fact that the senate and congress have abandoned the needs of we the people while continuing to prop up corrupt institutions of war let’s you know that the coupe is complete. The USA is a military dictatorship.
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