International corporations. Businesses as dictatorship.
What is the actual governing principle that we live under day by day? How much autonomy do we enjoy? What about free speech? How free are we, truly?
If you have a job with a company, and especially with a large corporation, you most likely live under constant threat of impoverishment and hunger. You must watch what you say and do and be careful not to disobey or worse, anger whoever you report to.
Because in America, you need money to survive, the “safety net” is a shredded mess and your employer can fire you at will. Furthermore, your employer is strongly encouraged, under our system, to pay you as little as possible or, ideally, nothing at all.
Renaming firing with the ridiculous transparent euphemism “downsizing” simply reveals how much those in charge want to deny this reality, and persuade everyone that this cold cruelty and greed is a good and necessary thing. It is neither, unless you accept the rules of late-stage capitalism which treats human beings as a means to an end for the few wealthy people on top — the undeserving rich — to seize every last dollar of value on Earth for themselves.
We live in a sick sick culture created by a sick sick system. Furthermore, this system recognizes this itself and the beneficiaries use their considerable resources to cover their shit with roses. But this tactic is beginning to fail.
Or, sure, there are still plenty of rabidly loyal fools who will literally kill themselves and their own children to defend the nonsense ideology of their wealthy overseers. In fact, this group seems more rabid and crazy than ever. But both these foolish ideologues and the “rulers” are losing their credibility. The reality of their (inevitable) failure to control events is having an effect. In fact, that’s the very reason for their desperate behavior.
The Reagan administration changed the direction of the country, not only with regard to policy but — more significantly — culture. Since that time, greed is good and the purpose of everything is to maximize profits. Not to turn a profit. To MAXIMIZE profits. By any means necessary.
We have been pummeled with messages declaring that this is good, this is pragmatic and that any alternative is either disastrous or impossible. Any modification of this principle has been labeled communism, socialism or tyranny.
This is, of course, gaslighting of the most cynical kind. Because the proponents of unfettered plutocracy (which is the right term for the system we live under) ARE the tyrants.
In a very real and direct way, the “bosses” demand obedience under the threat of poverty and hunger for you and your loved ones. There are all kinds of rationalizations why this isn’t the case, and, of course, some lucky people have enough money at their disposal to avoid or delay that fate if they are fired. That doesn’t alter the larger truth.
Most people have little money and virtually no cushion no matter how hard they work. In fact, the most desperate people work two or three jobs and still cannot earn enough to have any real security. Work is portrayed as an opportunity and any time spent NOT to make the rich richer is considered wasted or stupid. The exact opposite is the truth.
Your time is your life and a life spent making greedy wealthy morally inferior others richer is a wasted life.
I cannot improve on the words of Bukowski who wrote:
“How in the hell could a man enjoy being awakened at 6:30am by an alarm clock, leap out of bed, dress, force feed, shit, piss, brush teeth and hair, and fight traffic to get to a place where essentially you made lots of money for somebody else and were asked to be grateful for the opportunity to do so?”
Change is Coming
While people apparently can be controlled by fear and propaganda (i.e., lies) for a long time, this cannot continue forever because reality ultimately has an effect. In our case, the system itself is unsustainable for many reasons. The relevant one is that the “winners” are literally destroying the habitability of the planet. This Earth is rapidly approaching the point where it will be impossible to continue civilization, much less an unrelenting cruel corporate capitalism.
Right now we are at the stage of denial and obfuscation as we see increasingly severe and frequent wildfires, killer storms and heatwaves. This is just the beginning, as scientists have warned us for decades. Under the iron boot of plutocracy, any effort to fight climate doom has been prevented. To this very day, the use of fossil fuels is INCREASING and we are given more excuses and no meaningful action to save our planet and our children.
Nature is not fooled.
Of course, it will be physically impossible for this system to continue. The disruptions are evident now, and will only get worse until collapse comes. The only question is, will the collapse come in time for scientists and engineers (the people who have ability and who know things — unlike politicians, ideologues and other “leaders”) to save us or at least help us avoid the worst?
I don’t know. Nobody knows.
What Should WE Do?
Sadly, under the current system, we have little influence over what the decision maker do. But we are morally obligated — for the sake of the next generation — to do what we can.
The truth is, I don’t know what the best strategy is, and I have changed my focus several times already. But here’s my current thinking:
- Speak out with the truth and don’t give any quarter to the lies that are killing us.
- Try to persuade individuals who are in a position of power to change course for the sake of their children. (I do not underestimate the difficulty of this.)
- Be kind to each other, even to those who are doing the damage, because changing our culture to emphasize our common humanity might just help to save us all.
What are your thoughts? What will YOU do? What are you doing about it NOW?
