On the fuckers who own us, austerity, and qualified decision making.

[originalpckelly]

When going gets tough, you start to see who is really high priority for our politicians. The corruption of the government in America extends from the top to the bottom. From shitty little land deals to a major intervention in the economy like saving the "too rich to suffer" from their own incompetence. And if you think the elected Democrats are any better from the elected Republicans, you're a moron. The vast majority of both sides take money from these rich people, and if you think those rich people don't expect something in return for their money, again, you're a moron. I hate to insult anyone, but sometimes the truth must be put in simple terms with strong language.

However, if you think the people really responsible for all this trouble are millionaires and billionaires, you're a moron. You and I are the most responsible people in the world. Things didn't get like this overnight, the younger you are, the less responsibility you have for this mess. But, every single day you let it continue, you own it more and more. You're really the one stealing from the poor/middle class people of our nation and giving it to the rich, not the lawmakers of our nation. The power of a government, and the rich that are slowly becoming more and more like a government, is derived from the consent of the governed.

How can we continue with government-proper that seems to be focused on the interests of the rich, and a growing quasi-government of the rich themselves, serving their own interests?

Inherent in that system is a lack of concern for the interests of the vast majority of us. A system of government that does not serve the interests of the vast majority of the governed must be overturned!

An end to this current trend must come. An end that we, the vast majority, must bring. It does not matter what party you are a member of, do not let the issues the top of the pyramid scheme uses to divide us, successfully divide us. We must be one people, under whatever the hell you think there is that's greater than we are.

This moment is the time for change. Not bullshit change, the kind that's political propaganda, but change that serves the vast majority of us.

I want change that you don't have to "believe" in. I don't want some line out of fucking Peter Pan. "Believe Peter, believe."

Trust me, I'm a fairy, I don't have dust that makes people fly if you believe hard enough. All I know of that works is setting your mind to reality, and trying to change it with concrete actions.

I don't pretend to have all the answers to our problems, but I am good at pointing out hypocrisy. I'm an expert at hypocrisy, because as a human being, I'm damn good at that.

I voted for these assholes we have in power, all Democratic. Hell, I voted for judges in this last election who had D next to their name, without even knowing who the fuck they are. They could be awful, but I wouldn't know.

This system is broken. People who have no fucking clue about the consequences of their actions are controlling this country. The elected officials, unelected cleptocapitalists, and many people in the electorate have no idea of the consequences of their actions. It is a bit much to ask all of us to be informed about every single issue. It's not possible. This system does not recognize the limitations of being a human.

The other day I was reading a version of the Hippocratic Oath, one created in the sixties, and came to this line:
"I will not be ashamed to say 'I know not,' nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient's recovery."

This country is SICK, and none of us possess all of the knowledge and skills to treat it, at least individually. Together we may, but we are overemphasizing the significance of the voice of a few above the many. We are also overemphasizing the will of the uneducated many against the educated few. That's a mindfuck, but I'll try explain it.

TOO FEW people are making decisions about too many things, things they simply cannot know about. Congress routinely votes on bills now, that taken together, could never be read in their entirety. Just the bills, not the information needed to back up the bills and make good decisions about them. Yes, there are committees, but I'm talking about the stuff that gets out of committee. That's assuming that they're not being corrupted by high priced lobbyists or high priced fund raisers.

If we all vote for these members of Congress, the ones who vote on these issues, we are exercising control over other people who are properly qualified in making decisions. We really should have Congresses that govern our areas of expertise, and only if there is no harm, we should be as free as possible in our individual lives. I think we have to re-balance the power of the individual against the society the individual is a part of. It should start with economics, as most of us like have a place to live with proper food and medical care. We also need jobs.

As of right now, I am no longer willing to own this shit anymore. If austerity has to start, let it start with the people who have the most padding to protect themselves from its consequences: the rich.

Resistance could be futile, but I'm not giving up without one hell of a fight. I can guarantee that doing nothing will end up with nothing happening, at least trying to do the right thing will increase the probability of something happening. No one has power over you unless you give it to them. Even if they spy on you in an attempt to gain blackmail-worthy information. Even if they beat you, taze you, shoot you or bomb you. We can all make the conscious decision to resist.

I know this all sounds like some speech to Jews facing the Nazi death camps, but if you really think these people are going to go without some real bad shit, you're a moron. Unless there is such an overwhelming opposition to them, they will use the power at their disposal to attempt to keep that power.

It's my humble opinion that non-violence should be used. The specific goal should be to re-target austerity measures in our country to the rich. Once that is accomplished, dismantling of their grasp on our government should be next. Eventually moving to a system of government where the informed make decisions. (The vast majority of us are informed about our own lives, at least, and one would hope our areas of expertise.)

That's what I think. What do you think?

(Sorry about the long-ass rant. :P)

[midnight]

1. I think you are pretty close to the conclusion that is coming

to many of us.... Someone with more understanding of the laws should be able to layout an alternative to this nonsense called congress....

[notesdev]

2. I share your view on the key point

Too much power is concentrated in DC over too many things and there is no way in the world that that much power can be exercised in a responsible and just manner. As much power as realistically possible ought to be released back to the states and local governments which will be able to make for themselves better decisions (on average, anyway) than a central government can do.

I think it also contributes to the acrimonious nature of public debate these days. A lot of people who would prefer to ignore government altogether are unwilling draftees into political combat due to the reach of government into every corner of not only public but also private life.

[Hardrada]

3. These are good points.

[Hannah Bell]

4. I think there's a contradiction; you say "you & i" are the people most responsible for the situation

not the rich, but then you say even the congresspeople don't know what's in the bills they pass -- then you say the rich should be the ones subjected to austerity.

the rich write the bills. being a (relatively) small, organized group with overlapping interests & lots of money, they can effectively buy politicians to pass the bills they write. they can hire people to carry out their diktats. & they can pay media to harp on phoney issues that keep people a disorganized mass. a small group can control a disorganized mass without much trouble.

In my mind, it *is* "the rich" who are responsible for what's happening because "the rich" are an organized, self-conscious grouping pushing such policies, while "the rest" are disorganized, largely unconscious of their "class interest," and subject to the constant propaganda of elites, which basically creates their consciousnesses & organizes their lives from cradle to grave.

and that's the other "weakness," if i can put it that way, in your essay. ok, you want to push back. now what? how to do that? for starters, how to gather enough people to your cause to make an organized demand on power, or take power back?

historically, competing interests among elites or sub-elites have helped to organize "movements," contrary to the popular mythology which has it that protest movements originate with brave individuals who draw mass movements to them magically by force of personality and the righteousness of their cause.

it generally doesn't happen that way, even more so in the present day when just attaining visibility over the media cacophany is very difficult. the biggest anti-war protests in history (iraq war run-up) got many times less publicity than the vietnam protests which were a fraction of their size.

the only folks that seem to be organizing people today are the funders of the tea party, the funders of the charter school/ed deform movement, the funders of the christian right, etc., -- all inherently reactionary, right-wing to fascist.

no one is funding "the left" significantly or using their already organized resources to mount much organized fight-back -- the unions are caving or actively collaborating; the churches have signed on with the right; putatively leftish orgs seem to act as appendages of the democratic party, delivering sternly worded speeches when the dems cross lines but rarely mobilizing people except for money or email campaigns (which i personally mistrust).

when i look at the political landscape the only mass bases i see remaining that could easily be organized is low-wage workers, largely immigrant, & university students. and in fact, those are the two places where there *is* some serious push-back happening. but i myself don't have any significant ties anymore to those arenas, and i doubt that students, immigrants & walmart workers are going to be enough unless they receive support from the larger society.

people say: "oh, the internet is a great organizing tool!" but say you want to organize people via the internet to do X, how do you even get any significant number of eyes on your site in all the jumble of sites trying to draw eyes to do Y, Z, A< B< C? People only have so much time; they work, they have families and obligations; they want to do something *effective,* and some dork's website isn't likely to seem *effective* unless it gets media credibility.

i agree with you that "austerity measures" generally are a good target, but since a large proportion of the population believes such measures are a necessary response to developments in "the economy," they're not likely to be interested unless it's hitting them personally, or unless something happens that makes them see the functioning of "the economy" in a different light.

so personally, since i have neither the connections nor resources to even think about helping to organize some national movement to defy austerity policies, i'm thrown back on the "think local" thing: what are my talents, who do i know, what need do i see where & how can i bring people together where i am?

my thought is local organization around specific issues or study-type/infoshop-type groups that have the potential to evolve as events do. social security, foreclosures, unemployment, education cutbacks (college/public schools), & cutbacks in medicare are some of the areas that have big ramifications even on the local level and can to some extent be addressed locally -- city & state level. a push-back even on the local level sends ripples and pressure up the chain if its effective, and introduces the "threat of a good example".

i read people saying, "we need to do this, that, the other thing," but i rarely read people who've seriously thought about who the "we" is they're speaking to, or how to bring this "we" together, or even find it - the nuts & bolts things. i'm not trying to put down your post, just saying this is the piece that's missing -- people are frustrated & angry, but are not in practice on these things & still waiting for a white knight. the danger of the times is that they'll attach themselves to anything that looks like a white knight & often find black knights in disguise.