The Real (Secret) Political and Economic War Being Waged Today

[SebastianBlue]

Drop what you are doing and read the linked article. Then read Nancy MacLean’s work on the subject. It applies to most everyone active on this forum, whatever their country of origin, political affinity, or world view.

The US, UK, and many other nominally democratic nations are at an inflection point. The wealthy elite are attempting to create an omnipotent oligarchical power structure to fully replace representative government (and even capitalist or socialist economic systems).

Once more, they are currently succeeding.

Little-by-little they are chipping away at democratic institutions and—more destructively—the systems of law and order themselves. This is being led by many false ‘conservatives’ and ‘neoliberals’, who are really proponents of fascism and despotism, with none more zealous than the Koch brothers. They have been on a many decades-long mission to conquer the courts in America, Britain, and elsewhere. Because of the way the US and UK justice systems are designed, if they are even mostly captured by the wealthy elite (via sympathetic or controlled judges and jurists), oligarchical power will be nearly absolute for generations to come, regardless of the popular will or which political party is in power. It will allow for the complete gutting of social support programmes, public education, democratic frameworks, legal protections, and nearly all mechanism for public recourse, all of which are already underway. But a truly captured judiciary will enable full realisation and block any challenges. It will eliminate all semblance of civic influence.

And how we choose to respond to this clandestine programme (and many others like it) over the next decade will likely decide whether the majority of people in the western world have any power at all (over government, industry, or their own lives) in the future.

As I have said many times, the real war being waged right now is not a culture war, but a class war. The former is being stoked to distract from the latter. And it’s working a treat, as the majority of us non-elites scream and slap and stab each other over (largely) fabricated or relatively unimportant grievances. We all understand the concept of divide and rule, but we are missing it being done to us right now.

We have to ask ourselves this question and then act on the answer: Are we to be engaged citizens with some measure of agency or are we to accept our role as serfs in the new feudal system?

If we keep fighting the culture war, ignoring the class war being successfully waged against us, there is only one answer.

Meet the Hidden Architect Behind America's Racist Economics

Nobel laureate James Buchanan is the intellectual linchpin of the Koch-funded attack on democratic institutions, argues Duke historian Nancy MacLean

www.ineteconomics.org

 

[malg]

Yeah right, regardless of your political affinity! That could be lifted directly from the Guardian or CNN - neither could be described as 'fair, even handed reporters of world events'....as bad as the Mail and Fox News.

 

[SebastianBlue]

Yeah right, regardless of your political affinity! That could be lifted directly from the Guardian or CNN - neither could be described as 'fair, even handed reporters of world events'....as bad as the Mail and Fox News.

As I said, if we non-elites keep zealously fighting the culture war, the more power we will collectively lose, until what little we have left is gone.

The wealthy elite that are part of this clandestine programme see our squabbles over political ideology and laugh all the way to the pantheons of power. We’re feckless schmucks to them, freely giving up our agency for the temporary satisfaction of making our perceived opposition “cry”.

And, frankly, if we continue on the path we are on now, they’re right.

By the way, did you read the full article? It’s not something you would see on the Guardian or CNN (and definitely not the Mail or Fox News), especially not these days given the shift to neoliberal ownership and narrative control that works to help stoke the culture war (largely because that is what makes money now).

 

[urban genie]

It's Saturday night, its me birthday, I am in town having a pint or 10

I will read it in the morning, bit much to digest atm.

 

[woody1968]

This government is the thin end of the wedge - I originally thought it was a self destruct governmentbut now I think not even the Tories are that stupid- something is definitely going on - not sure it’s Armageddon but it is something

 

[SebastianBlue]

It's Saturday night, its me birthday, I am in town having a pint or 10

I will read it in the morning, bit much to digest atm.

Happy birthday, mate! Hope you have a great weekend of defying the will of the wealthy elite! Oh, and get off your phone and enjoy being out! ;-)

 

[SebastianBlue]

This government is the thin end of the wedge - I originally thought it was a self destruct governmentbut now I think not even the Tories are that stupid- something is definitely going on - not sure it’s Armageddon but it is something

Yeah, this isn’t an alarmist post, this is a “it’s already happening, wake up” post. It’s not even as clandestine as it seems. The Koch brothers and other like-minded entities have been at this for decades. They understood this sort of change was not going to be achieved overnight. And their efforts hinge entirely on most people being too distracted by naive point-scoring nonsense to sustain any real challenge to them.

Social media was a huge windfall for their programme, as well. It has allowed them to divide and conquer at a rate and degree previously unfathomable. It also helped to further develop the desperate need for immediate satisfaction; the desire for clear results now over thoughtful, methodical action toward a larger goal. It has shortened attention spans. That undermines the sort of strategic thinking and sustained collective action required to combat their various campaigns to achieve the oligarchical power structure. And it has made it easier to stoke infighting within similar ideological factions, creating further division. I am sure they can’t believe how lucky they are that Facebook and Twitter came about.

And, more disconcerting, most people unwittingly lap up the manipulation. We’ve seen that time and again.

 

[Gorton_Tubster]

I'v been having slightly the same thoughts on a smaller scale, and every now and then I come on here and shout for revolution.

But its happening, I dont think its a conscious thing like the illuminati or something, worse, I think its natural human behaviour, Its the logical next step for those that are rich, powerful, own the media, especially in these times with the technological advances we have made and the swing of power from govn to tech companies, the mass influence over peoples personal points of viwew, to the point they'll believe anything... just humanity following its natural path. Hence we need a revolution :)

 

[SebastianBlue]

I'v been having slightly the same thoughts on a smaller scale, and every now and then I come on here and shout for revolution.

But its happening, I dont think its a conscious thing like the illuminati or something, worse, I think its natural human behaviour, Its the logical next step for those that are rich, powerful, own the media, especially in these times with the technological advances we have made and the swing of power from govn to tech companies, the mass influence over peoples personal points of viwew, to the point they'll believe anything... just humanity following its natural path. Hence we need a revolution :)

I actually agree that most people contributing to the various campaigns aren’t doing it with conscious malice. As you said, it is just the natural progression of wanting to protect wealth (just as feudal lords and aristocrats did in previous eras). And, in the case of those non-elites that regularly defend and shill for billionaires, it comes from the misguided belief (partially fostered and encouraged by said billionaires) that they will one day be a member of the wealthy elite and so need to protect their future wealth and ability to enjoy it.

But the Koch brothers, their varied offshoots, and a few like-minded entities definitely are doing with intention (and conscious malice in some cases). They are largely attempting to direct and manipulating the other wealthy elite and the non-elite alike to their common goal.

There is too much empirical evidence to dismiss that long-running programme. MacLean (and a few others) has done an excellent job exposing their efforts via personal correspondence, public statements, and related organisational documentation.

A new American and British oligarchy (the latter to be exploited by the new American oligarchical class, with some intentional irony) has been their dreams for quite some time.

And they are getting closer and closer to realising it, tragically.

As you said, we need a (as peaceful as possible) revolution to avoid fully becoming new age serfs.

 

[The Future’s Blue!]

Over the last few years, the extremely rich have wanted to get even more rich, more than they could ever spend. So what is their aim apart from power?

Maybe they all want to get into space like we’re seeing, but why is that?