democracy?

We Americans like to go out and bring democracy to the world. But perhaps it would behoove us to look more closely to what is happening at home before we go out and try to help others. America of all countries is surely not a democracy.

Consider this: the top 1% in this country own more than the bottom 99% combined. If you think a democracy is possible in a country with such inequity, think again. Even if you -like most Americans- secretly dismiss the homeless and the poor, and believe the "true" inequities are much smaller, definitely think again.

More than anything, the so-called middle class, and that includes the upper middle class, are the true victims of this deplorable state of affairs. The middle class are the only ones who have enough money to feed this greed machine. Never mind the poor and the homeless. They literally don't own anything so they cannot be robbed.

The homeless and the poor may very well suffer, but they are not really counted when it comes to wealth. They simply don't count, not just in your secret dreams, but in everyday reality. They are not part of any statistic and nobody really knows who they are or how many of them exist.

When it is said the top 1% own more than the bottom 99%, then the bottom 99% means those people who are not part of the top 1% but are still counted because they have jobs, social security numbers, driver's licenses, jobs, homes, etc. It means the rest of us. The American consumer. The ones who can vote but somehow never seem to use their vote to protect their own rights.

Modern America is closer to a Vegas casino than you think. In its vast halls there are millions of people playing the losing game. They do so because they are led to believe they may one day be rich by playing the game join the rich. But in reality they are slowly but surely robbed of all possessions they have, and -as the recent credit crisis shows- then some.

And where are the top 1%? They are the ones running the casino. You never see them because they are hidden behind the scenes. All you ever see are their enforcers and their highly paid entertainers. In this world the entertainers are called president, senator, and representative. They are the ones that keep you hooked to the machines. And when their magic fails, there are always plenty enforcers to keep the peace.

what change?

It is easy to talk about change. Much easier than making it happen. There is an old Roman proverb that reads, nil nove sub sole. Although 2,000 years old, it is as relevant today as it was when first written. The truth is that over those 2,000 years very little has changed. So little in fact that if we were to magically resurrect the Romans -like the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park- they would not find it very hard to comprehend or adapt to our society.

Sure, they might be in awe when they first see airplanes, cars, cell phones and TV's. But that would not last too long. The Roman elite would quickly grasp how to use these modern tools to further their ancient goals of domination and control. Despite the new toys the basic concepts are unchanged. 

The Romans knew a highway infrastructure was important in ruling the empire. So they built one, and a rather high quality one too. Many of the Roman roads are functional today. How is that for infrastructure? Roman roads can rival American bridges. It is not a big step to go from wagons to semi's. I am sure the Roman architects fantasized about these in any case. It would be no shock to them to see their fantasies become reality.

When it comes to change, take a closer look to see history in action. The people overseeing and administering the financial bail-out and rescue plans are the same people that got us in the mess in the first place. The CEOs of failed companies are now heading the government panels overseeing the rescue operations. The politicians, lobbyists and pundits of yesterday are staffing the new administration. The same very rich are financing it all. Every cycle these guys put in more money and every cycle the elected officials become more beholden to the powers that be. It would not be surprising if we, like Rome, suddenly changed our system to a dictatorship with emperors.

Sure, there are slight shifts every few years. One cycle the more conservative and hawkish members hold sway and then the more moderate and liberal ones take over. But they are all part of the same club. The same families and dynasties that ruled our country in the past century are still at the helm today. Only a few of the old guard have fallen by the wayside due to unfortunate events, and a few new ones have joined. In essence the rulers are the same. So are the rules.

We will inaugurate a black president, but the color of money stays as green as ever. Only the face on the stamps changes. We have a new actor for an entrenched role. A fresh face to sell the same old message.

forbidden thoughts, forbidden words

In America today there are many words one cannot say. We all know of the N-word, the F-word, and other horrible words. These words are considered so vile and evil that we are told not to pronounce them as if doing so would invoke evil spirits or bring bad luck. Children are considered especially vulnerable to such sinister spooks.

Radio and TV broadcasts use beeps to save our ears from hearing these utterances. Ironically enough the very same words are extremely common in movies and paid-for TV shows. It appears that the more strongly society enforces a ban against these words, the more prevalent they become in "protected" media. It did not take long for the consumer society to figure out that people will pay for access to forbidden fruit, even if such fruit turns out to be a bit overripe.

Evil words are the main reason live shows are not really live. They are delayed by a few seconds so the censors can detect and remove the not-to-be-spoken. It is fairly easy to see that such actions have religious overtones. Some religions forbid their followers from pronouncing or writing the word god. So they end up with the g-d word. Young aspiring magicians are cautioned about he-who-cannot-be-named. And we all heard stories about words or spells that can kill. Many fairy tales feature spells cast upon newborn children that can only be broken by true love.

Apart from mere words, there are also things we cannot say because doing so would be not politically correct or not PC for short. While that includes some "magic" words, such as the infamous N-word, it is actually a bit broader than that. In this case, we are warned not to express feelings we may have. For example, we may think that younger people are better than older individuals, or that men are stronger than women, or that whites are smarter than blacks, but we better refrain from saying so. Expressing these thoughts is not acceptable and doing so will get you in trouble. 

People have learned not to talk about these feelings in any setting apart from small gatherings of like-minded individuals. Even then, strangers like Borat or the unnoticed cell phone camera can lead to unexpected consequences. Savvy adults know better than to say anything that could be construed as ageist, sexist, or racist.

These ideas have effectively been outlawed. Not even paid-for media will touch these issues with a ten foot pole. So you may think we have successfully eradicated them. Think again.

Language is a matter of convention. We can always find a way to express our feelings to like-minded individuals. In some cases, you can express something by denying it. In others, you can use an effective code word. And that brings me to the latest code-word of the 2008 political campaign. That code word, my friends, is muslim.

It is not appropriate to say that Obama is different because he is black, especially when black means inferior, not like us, not to be trusted. You would not want to say you won't vote for Obama because you know he is black. Doing so can land you in hot water. But you can easily say you won't vote for Obama because you believe he is a muslim. Even if you know full well Obama is not a muslim, there is no penalty for thinking he really is a muslim.  Or for saying you don't trust him because you think he is "in his heart" a muslim.

Muslim in this context means not like us, not to be trusted. It has connotations of terrorism, of trying to undermine our society, of being un-American, of cruel laws and habits that discriminate against women. It has in effect all the connotations of "black" and then some. Yet it is safe to say. And if worse comes to worse you can always argue that you made an honest mistake. You just thought he was muslim. His name sounded muslim.

It is so safe to use code words that the free media does it all the time. Especially when it comes to political adversaries. It is easy to do too. You can even do so while denying the message. You can say, some spread the rumor that he was a muslim. It matters very little how you say it as long as you connect both words together in some sentence. 

It is the true irony of words. While humans are very sophisticated users of language, they are also very prone to fall victim to simple linguistic tricks. It is often enough to connect two words in a single sentence to plant an idea in people's minds. At the end of the day, the viewers will remember Obama and muslim, but forget anything in between. 

And that is the real danger of suppressing free expression. It often has severe unwanted side-effects. It promotes the use of acceptable words, words that can easily bypass our vigilance and catch us off-guard.

We may forget the words, but the ideas linger. In some cases it would surely be better to say things as they are. Then we would recognize the ideas and dismiss them as false or unworthy of our attention. They would not linger and fester and far less damage would be done.