Semantic propaganda feeds stupidity

[caption id="attachment_7140" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Propaganda"][/caption]

Joel S. Hirschhorn--We would already have had a much needed American revolution in response to the tyranny of the money-fed two-party plutocracy that is destroying the middle class except for one big problem: so much of the American population is just plain stupid.  Too stupid to behave like angry Greeks and rise up in the streets to rebel against the dysfunctional government.

In the never ending fight of Republicans and their cancerous (make that stupid) Tea Party members to gain even more control of the US political system, economy and culture they have fixed on another semantic weapon.  The latest attack on intelligence is the constant use of the term job creators in place of words like the rich or wealthy.  Not just plain Republicans in Congress are doing this, but especially the large crop of Republican presidential candidates.

This bit of cleverness surely was deemed necessary because much of the nation was beginning to appreciate the class warfare going on.  Rising economic inequality, unemployment set in concrete, and merging of the middle class into the poverty stricken lower class were all becoming clearer.

Keep this in mind: As Zuckerman pointed out, the US “experienced the loss of over 7 million jobs, wiping out every job gained since the year 2000.  From the moment the Obama administration came into office, there have been no net increases in full-time jobs, only in part-time jobs.  This is contrary to all previous recessions.  Employers are not recalling the workers they laid off from full-time employment.” Business sectors have discovered that they can maximize profits with smaller US work forces; they export jobs and their capital investments.  And they benefit from all kinds of tax loopholes protected by Republicans so that they pay very little if any US taxes.

A terrific new article by Jeff Reeves makes the case that unemployment will actually rise to over 10 percent, because of anticipated layoffs in the financial, technology, and aerospace and defense sectors.  The data are compelling.  All this despite high profits.

Apple is sitting on an amazing $76 BILLION in cash.  Other than understanding that people are paying too much for their products, just imagine if they invested a big fraction of that on moving manufacturing of its products from foreign countries to the US.  An enormous number of good jobs could be created here.

What were Republicans to do, especially as they used the current crisis surrounding the need to raise the national debt limit to seek huge cuts in federal spending affecting ordinary Americans and prevent higher taxes for the greedy rich and corporate forces?

What better way than to falsely claim and constantly presume that those that should be paying higher taxes are exactly the ones who create jobs and that they would not do so if hit by higher taxes.  In truth, this is a bold lie.  The richest Americans have been paying the lowest taxes in many decades and corporate profits have been enormous, and this reality has clearly had absolutely no positive impact on the unemployment and underemployment plaguing at least 30 million Americans and their family members.

Go back to the post-World War II era when the richest Americans paid very high taxes and you discover that jobs and fairly distributed wealth were created in abundance.

Neither wealth nor jobs trickle down from the Upper Class.  Proper government policies are required to prevent criminally large fractions of the nation’s wealth going to the most greedy and selfish elites.  Those NOT rich that support Republicans are very stupid; they have been brainwashed by the steady stream of Republican lies and propaganda that are used to serve the rich and corporate interests sustaining Republicans with much money.  The return on their investment has proven more than adequate to justify their endless input of money to Republicans.

We probably will soon see President Obama cave in and giver Republicans much of what they want.  There will be major cuts in federal programs that will place millions of Americans in even more precarious economic uncertainty and pain.  And there will probably be far too little increases in taxes on the rich and corporations.  Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security may all be cut in ways that harm many people.

Lies are constantly being fed to the public.  Will you be smart enough to see them for what they are?  The more you face this ugly, disturbing reality, the more embarrassed you will be about the US political system and, hopefully, the more inclined you will be to stop voting for any Republicans or Democrats and participating in our delusional democracy.

Debt crisis insight from the 'Art of Selfishness'

[caption id="attachment_7095" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="John Galt Sign"][/caption]

Carol Forsloff  -  The organization devoted to Ayn Rand’s philosophy addresses the current budget crisis as caused by  those who seek handouts and who should be ashamed of their contribution to the collapse of industrial America by taking from productive members of the culture,

The diatribe against those takers of personal freedom begins with the view taken in Atlas Shrugged, which was the Ayn Rand tome that became the Bible of the Art of Selfishness, which was the orientation and philosophy of the author and her devotees.

The press release reminds us of the prophetic nature of Atlas Shrugged,  that “ portrays the collapse of industrial America as a war between producers and expropriators—just what we see in America today.

"To solve the debt crisis, productive Americans must declare to every elected official that they have a right to their own lives and the fruits of their labor; that government has no right to redistribute their wealth; and that other Americans should be ashamed of themselves for trying to steal it," says Edward Hudgins of The Atlas Society www.atlassociety.org .  "Productive individuals would reject government handouts and thus governments would not run up debts that will destroy the productive."

After pointing out the philosophy according to Rand with respect to producers and those seeking handouts, the Rand view is described as one that encourages producers to seek happiness and prosperity by the creation of goods and services.  These same producers seek justice and protection but otherwise want to be left alone to earn a living.  Those who wish to expropriate from them by government means are working against what is best for society, and now those productive people have awakened to what is called a “moral obscenity” inflicted upon them.

In other words, no bailout, no debt ceiling, no compromise.  Producers are the capitalists who create the value  and “paternalistic politicians” are involved in taking from them through bailouts and free healthcare and stimulus money.  What are these handouts?  Student loans, expanded health care and Social Security, the Ayn Rand group explains.

Rand belief is based on the notion that “your highest moral purpose is the achievement of your own happiness”  Altruism is a word and idea she decries, as the true purpose is not to save others but to maintain one’s own well being and that if everyone sought this same direction, then there would be no need for saving anyone.

As the two political parties struggle over the mounting debt crisis and decide whether or not to raise the debt ceiling, it is important to recognize that many of those leaders were educated in their early years during a popular wave of Ayn Rand materials.  Those who favor the Ayn Rand direction in politics promote capitalism, production and individualism.  They see Social Security, welfare and other programs designed to help the elderly and handicapped as unnecessary in a productive society where people seek to create material wealth.  It is that art of selfishness that is echoed in the halls of the Congress by those who believe that wealth will “trickle down” in some unique way so that everyone benefits from those who prosper.

A similar doctrine to Ayn Rand is this:  “We believe most Americans do not want out-of-control spending in Washington, bailouts, government controls of private businesses, socializing of Americans' health care and other non-essential government-run services,” the signature statement from the Tea Party organization.

Thank You Cornel West

[caption id="attachment_4658" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Cornel West"][/caption]

by Joel S. Hirschhorn - The outspoken scholar and Princeton University professor Cornel West has been viciously attacked by many on the political left, especially supporters of President Obama.  Why?  Because he had the courage to call Obama a “black mascot of Wall Street oligarchs and a black puppet of corporate plutocrats.”   For more of West’s views see this article.



Most of the attention has been on the use of the word “black,” as if the black Cornel West had made a racist comment. In fact, West got it right because he and some other true progressives have condemned Obama for not being an authentic progressive.  Right again, Obama has never shown himself to be a true leftist progressive, even though many on the conservative right may think he is one.  West thinks Obama “has no backbone.”



It is not that Obama is not black enough, as some think West was saying.  It is about the dishonesty, deceit and corruptness of Obama.



What everyone should be praising West for is that he correctly made the point that Wall Street oligarchs and corporate plutocrats have stolen the US government by using vast sums of money to corrupt both Democrat and Republican politicians.



West just told the truth about Obama who got elected because as a candidate for president he received a huge sum from the most awful Wall Street company, Goldman Sachs.



What West has explained is that “poor and working people have low priority in US government policy including the Obama Administration.”  No surprise because West is definitely a true liberal progressive who has been making this kind of criticism very openly for a long time.  Indeed, if poor and working people, as well as all African Americans, would wake up to reality they would abandon Obama, even as the lesser evil.  Obama has told too many lies and done too many wrong things to deserve their support.



Nearly all members of Congress, both Republicans and Democrats, are nothing more than mascots of Wall Street oligarchs and puppets of corporate plutocrats, something that all intelligent Americans, including those in the Tea Party movement, should totally agree with.



Here is something else West said: "The tea party folk are right when they say the government is corrupt.  It is corrupt. Big business and banks have taken over government and corrupted it in deep ways....we've got to think seriously of third-party candidates, third formations, third parties."



Over at FutureofCapitalism.com this point was made: Obama “has basically enshrined the too-big-to-fail banks while also propping up GE and the firms that will benefit from ObamaCare.”  True enough.



We need many more people that get mass media attention to say the kind of things that West has said.  Americans need to be reminded incessantly that their government has been hijacked by rich and powerful elites.



With a corrupt two-party plutocracy elections no longer offer the promise of much needed reforms.  Odds are that Tea Party people will realize that their favored Republicans will also not deliver a rehabilitated, honest government serving the interests or ordinary Americans.



[Contact Joel S. Hirschhorn through delusionaldemocracy.com.]

(Opinions rendered in all op-eds are those of the writers and not necessarily those of this publication)