Posted on June 23, 2011 – 09:49 in Features | Steven
Revolution Rock
I was watching the news this morning in the gym and after 90s minutes of continuous coverage of war I really had enough. A lot of people have been talking about popular revolutions akin to what we are seeing across northern Africa and the Middle East and the possibility of them taking place here in the western world. Granted, we sure as hell have enough reason to revolt. Politics are as far removed from reality as they can be at this point- they have taken on Roman characteristics, or really those of a Greek Tragedy. Our economies are being strangled by a few extreme capitalists and the our work is worth shit. One might argue, and I do, that our system of representation and taxation no longer works. My personal opinion is that we essentially live in a corporate dictatorship with the remnants of a democracy left for show.
Rather than opening this point up too widely though I wanted to talk about all the wars we are fighting- actually, scrap that, I can’t call them wars, so let’s call them what they are: imperially & economically motivated robberies by corporations. These robberies are amazingly unjust, morally and ethically wrong and brutal- the cost of human lives & suffering in the past 10 years all for securing potential areas of wealth for the select few are mind boggling. It is beyond me why I feel relatively alone in my outrage against this. Where is the million man march today?
You see, I think we’ve all been conned. One of the main reasons we saw a large popular revolt against the war in Vietnam ( as the picture indicates ) was the draft. People were forced to go to war. It wasn’t the fact that the peace movement won the hearts and minds of people with their notion of peace but the fact that our government was forcing people to die for their ideals & purses. Lesson learned, that obviously didn’t work- as we all saw at Woodstock.
It took a little while, but by the time Reagan came into office the puppet masters had it figured out- figured out how to conjure millions of volunteers to die & murder to further enrich them: Keep them stupid and eradicate the possibility of work for the working and middle classes. You really think that NAFTA or the EEC were some happy hippie peaceful no border ideal?
The main reason, especially for NAFTA, was to allow corporations to move their producing, unionized labour force to cheaper areas to maximize profits- and it’s not like the benefactors of NAFTA or the EEC pay taxes. Combine this with continuos, planned and enforced budget cuts for public schooling across the western world, you end up with a large chunk of your population that really only has two options: work 4 jobs to support oneself let alone a family and drown in debt, or join the military. Et voila, you don’t need a stinkin’ draft. Mix that up with a media that is 100% controlled by the same corporations to scare the shit out of your population and man, you can take over the world and no one will even complain.
So, I think we’ve all been had, and that’s a reason for take the power back. Start thinking & stop dying for another Gulf Stream.