On the eve of this "historic" election, I question the whole shebang. One thing puts it into perspective, and that's the bailout. Both Obama and Old worn-out man (hereafter, Owom) advocated and voted for it. For years now I've tried to explain my side as an independent, mainly, how both of these parties have sold us down the river. And yet I see friends and relatives biting on the Obama plank as if termites.
That's no small thing. My old man came out of the service, and, with the aid of the GI Bill, he and moms bought a modest house at a reasonable price, just as tens of thousands of families in the post-war era did. They constituted the burgeoning middle class that the American style of capitalism would nurture and extract from in symbiotic (vampiric?) ecstasy. Note; I'm fully aware that that was also a Norman Rockwellian painting, mostly devoid of peeps of color.
That was the creation of American capital's greatest achievement: the middle class.
While there were of course hard interrogations of "the system," most notably the 60's & 70's, they did nothing to overturn the system of a corporate run state system.
And yet, for better or worse, there was economic prosperity in America, albeit at the expense of poor people of color throughout the world, via the new colonialism of global capital.
One of the things I've been telling folks, most notably at the local YMCA where in the steam room coffee housing it up has reached a fever pitch, is that under this administration, four decades of building a prosperous middle class has been trashed.
Let me say that should he win, Obama's election is nothing more than posturing, mere puffery and will do essentially nothing to create true change in America and the world it runs. This is because of the system of capitalism we have that caters to the political donor class (hereafter, "pdc"; thank you, David Cay Johnston) - that class of economic slobs who Obama and Owom helped bail out. Incidentally and lest ye think me fishes too much:
Obama's biggest contributors include Lehman Brothers, JP Morgan Chase, National Amusements, Inc. which is the parent company of Viacom and CBS, Citigroup and, Goldman Sachs which is "his number one banking contributor.
--John MacArthur, president/publisher, Harper's
I single out Barack here because it's a forgone conclusion that Owom is just out to lunch when it comes to anything modern, but of course he is just as guilty of taking from and in turn catering to and serving the whims of the pdc.
But as deluded, mislead and under influence of the ultimate narcotic, money (but in reality the chasing of money), at least those who invest and believe in our system have hope. Let's face it; realistically, it's peeps like me that have no hope.
Just look at health care, one of the major trains speeding down the tunnel toward us. There's a fundamental reason why health care will forever remain privatized and corporate controlled, and it has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with capitalism American style. Too general? Okay, consider, the American health care system is dominated by three industries: HMOs, insurance and drug companies. Any one of those three is a major lobbying source with deep corporate coffers and armies of lawyers waiting to do their bidding. (Because it's their economic imperative; Surprise! Lobbyists and lawyers on this level don't live in East LA) Three of these giant industries together all working toward keeping the system in place (the root of "conservatism" is "conserve," after all) constitutes a tripartite oligarchy that is the bully of bullies. Within this system they cannot be beat.
And anyone who rails against socialism, consider, EVERY SINGLE PERSON in the judicial and executive branches as well as congress has socialized health care - FOR LIFE.
But they refuse to give it to the American people.
I will advocate for Barack over the old, worn-out man simply because he's smarter, more modern and is at least capable of choosing a vp candidate. (again, within the context of our system) But people, my dear mudpeeps, family and friends, don't suffer under the illusion of anything fundamentally changing should Barack win.
Where is the kindness and intelligence that will save us...?
I'm a man without a corporation. ~Paddy Chayefsky
