» This entry is Part 3, cont'd from Part 2, which is posted here » Using Hitchcock's Notorious KEY Shot to Focus on Political Palms - Part 2. Broken up in order to adhere to principles of web site optimization.
And now, without further commercial interruption, we present the conclusion of today's entry .. beginning with a return of the master.
Hitchcock Returns
That's why I mentioned the Hitchcock shot at the beginning. I want to ZOOM IN on the growing inequality created by the » campaign contribution.
Cuz the average middle-class American has little hope long as corporation$ continue to ply our representatives with intoxicatingly generous checks.
It can only get worse. Just watch-n-see.
My intuition suggests that the players involved here dont really mind if you picket their front gate .. long as they can keep playing their rewarding back-room game.
Just keep your 99% grubby paws off the chauffer-driven limo as it exits the front gate (.. made of imported Italian wrought iron) ..
.. or the Overlords will call someone to come and pepper-spray your ass .. or maybe shoot you in the face with a teargas canister, then flash-bang your unconscious ass when a crowd gathers round to help.
Others have expressed these views more eloquently, but until we enact meaningful Campaign Finance Reform to level the playing field, we-the-people are merely *hoping* that our elected leaders wont sell us out.
It would be unrealistic for us (if not downright foolhardy) to believe our representatives will put our interests ahead of those who fatten their coffers.
Unholy Alliance (Revolving Door Syndrome)
As a result (.. dont take my word for it; do your own research and check the facts for yourself) » Corporations continue to grow increasingly powerful .. thanks to an unholy Alliance of reciprocal quid pro quo with Washington lawmakers.
In this way the self-correcting system of checks and balances devised by our nation's revolutionary founders (.. because they knew too well about the corrupting influence of power) ..
.. is thwarted and compromised, allowing the rich and powerful (in concert with policy makers) to run roughshod over the rest of us.
Sure they talk a good game, because they employ people whose sole job in life .. is to figure out what words and phrases you'll react most favorably to.
But actions speak louder than words. And we see the results of their actions. We live with the results of their actions.
Does it not seem like they're playing good-cop / bad-cop with us? Cuz the good cop and the bad cop are really on the same side, the same team. Both sides are controlled by the same mechanism.
Right now, in the current dispensation of our System, our choices every election season are between one representative of Corporations and another (.. representative of Corporations). We do not even have an opportunity to elect a representative of the People. Much less for the people.
Now dont think campaign reform will solve all our woes. It wont. But without addressing this one issue, it seems we have little hope of making progress on any other. Because we have nothing but our votes and (experience has shown) those can be bought.
The » Point of Systemic Political Infection
2012 is an election year. In the coming months, check out the fabulous record-breaking figure$ that the candidates will be reporting that they are spending on their campaigns.
Ask yourself, "Where is all that money coming from?"
Sure, they are called contributions. But mostly, everybody knows it's really an » investment.
Chalk it up to the cost of doing business. Pay to play. You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. Remember me when you come into your kingdom.
Then remember Hitchcock's Notorious scene. Follow the money .. uh, I mean, the shot.
Watch where it goes. Might take a while to get there, but watch where it goes. That's right » straight to the PALM.
There lies the point of infection, of contamination, of corruption .. of our SY$TEM of government .. right there IN THE PALM. Therein also lies the KEY .. to setting our nation back on track.
[ Kinda apropos that the scene comes from a movie named Notorious. Cracks me up.
I highlighted the word arresting at the beginning cuz I want to arrest your attention .. for a little. ]
The framers of our Constitution basically said » "We have found/met the enemy. And he is us. So we need to protect against us. We need to devise and engineer safety interlocks and protective mechanisms in order to protect us from ourselves." [ Like honorable werewolves do. ]
But the ambitious Washington / Wall Street tag-team has figured out a way to take down the Constitution clan (.. seeing they're no longer here to defend themselves).
Am I saying anything that the whole country does not already know? Anyway, the good news is » we know they are not werewolves.
This is why I predict that whoever raises the most money in the upcoming election will be our next President.
Meanwhile, we (obviously) need to » modify the SY$TEM .. so that PEOPLE are more important than MONEY.
» The Problem
The problem however, is » neither party wants to stop. (Or perhaps I should've said » neither wants the party to stop.) Because both Corporations and Congress BENEFIT from the current cozy arrangement. Immen$ely.
Can you blame them? Would you be strong enough to give lobbyists the finger? Specially if it meant you'd likely lose re-election to a well-funded rival?
I dont like to admit it, but I feel you & I would do the same things .. if we found ourselves in the same situation. This is why I feel the problem lies more with the structure of the system itself .. than with the participants, than with the players.
Sure there are bad apples in every batch, but even if you put good apples in to a bad press (machine/system), you still get out bad juice. And we obvously got us bad juice. (Results.)
Sure, corporations have our Representatives by the balls. But dont think they arent enjoying the massage. =)
"Excuse me, Sir. I'm here to deliver your war chest. Where would you like it? Just need your signature on the dotted-line here."
Too easy.
"Hey, that chest looks pretty cool. Love the shine. How soon can you order me another?"
The current 'arrangement' leads politicians to say one thing (candy-coated promises that tickle our ears) during election season, then change their minds afterwards .. after seeing the light. The glittery light. "My precious."
Have you yourself not found it to be the case that .. those who seek positions-of-authority as a means to compensate for deep-seated feelings of inadequacy .. tend to make terrible leaders?
Because their decisions often reinforce their authority rather than promote the wellbeing of the tribe. Have you not observed this tendency yourself? In the workplace, perhaps? Those with low self-esteem and emotional insecurities always seem to have something to prove.
Doesnt matter which system you subscribe to .. central planning or market forces. Either can be gamed by crafty fellows. (They both have been!) So you see .. we have bigger problems than some ancient calendar. Much bigger.
Seems to me that .. when the wealthy & the powerful both want the same thing (.. such as a mechanism for getting more wealth and more power) .. uh, such a mechanism shalt not be easily disabled.
[ And, or course, if the powers-that-be flat-out REFUSE to cede on this point, which would not be unusual, considering these are people, who, for one reason or another, seem to be strongly attracted to POWER and/or WEALTH .. then uh, does it not appear that AR2 would be our only remaining option?
Let's hope not. ]
It may prove beneficial/instructive at this point to quote a short passage from an article that lists the main reasons for the Fall of Rome (of the Western Roman Empire).
See if you notice the similarities between the Praetorian Guard (the emperor's's private army) and the Wealthy Guard here in the States (.. our politician's private financiers) .. where both groups benefit .. to the detriment of the 'empire'.
See if the 4th paragraph does not ring familiar today. It's listed under the heading » Politcal Corruption, where we read:
The choice [ of who to select as the new Emperor ] was always open to debate between the old emperor, the Senate, the Praetorian Guard (the emperor's private army), and the army.
Gradually, the Praetorian Guard gained complete authority to choose the new emperor, who rewarded the guard who then became more influential, PERPETUATING THE CYCLE.
Compare that paragraph to our "elections" .. where we pick a new "emperor" every 4 years. And how the Wealthy are able to "choose" the next emperor, and how they are then rewarded .. perpetuating the cycle.
I have a 1st grader, who I want to grow up in a country with a bright future. (I also have a good/cool story, btw, about his Xmas present. Remind me if I forget.)