It's about control

[Ardent15]

There are countless symptoms of the madness we see today in the form of the corporate warfare state. However, I fear that people focus too much on the symptoms, while ignoring or missing the causes.

It should be clear why the government spends billions upon billions of dollars on warfare, both abroad and at home. By "at home", I mean the war on education, the war on health care, the war on drugs, the war on unions, the war on the lower classes, the war on immigrants-the list goes on. The number one reason is because the system demands it. Our system is sociopathic.

For the power-brokers in our political, social, and economic system to practice empathy, taking care of the poor, compassion, etc., it would require them to not only acknowledge that the system is what's hurting the majority and empowering the elite minority, but to allow themselves-the elite minority-to relinquish control.

It is extremely hard for a sociopath to relinquish control over other people-if the sociopath relinquishes control over one person, they will exchange it for control over another person. The same is true of our system: if the predatory capitalists lose control, they have no reason to exist. The whole purpose of the power-grabbing-power for the sake of control-is defeated.

This is why we need to resist, to act in self-defense, and to eventually undermine and destroy this system. It empowers a few at the expense of the many. The world is the cost and scope of the desire for control by the elite few.

[FiveGoodMen]

1. K&R

[the other one]

2. K n R for a thoughtful perspective

Agree or disagree, you gotta respect a rational opinion.

[Ardent15]

3. Thanks eom

[Ardent15]

4. Self-kick for the evening crowd

[William Z. Foster]

5. this is important

You touch on an important subject. So many people think the problem is "greed" - or "unregulated Capitalism" and various other things. The approaches people recommend fall into two categories: 1) reforming human nature (getting more people to "share our belief system") which is long term, problematic, and best left to religion in my view. 2) Reforming the political system. Many will say that these are the ONLY ways to effect social change, and try to close off any and all other discussion. "Until human nature changes, nothing can change" is what the personal choice and personal belief system adherents say. "Realistically, the system is the way that it is, and if you want change you will have to work within the system. This is just reality and you need to accept that" the reform the system crowd says (we can work to elect progressive Democrats!) This always becomes a matter of two steps forward and three backward, at best. While here and there a victory is won, the whole political climate careens to the far right.

Neither of these approaches, which after the 60's replaced community organizing and working outside of the partisan electoral political process, and which have dominated all politics on the left for 40 years now, has worked. In fact, they are reliably and consistently producing the opposite result from that which people intend to achieve.

The reason why these approaches do not work is because the purpose of the system is the same as the method of the system, making it impossible to work from within the system to change anything, any more than buying slaves and starting a plantation would have been an effective method for the Abolitionists. The system is not plagued by greed, it is based on control. We use the relative degree of access a person has to resources as the measuring stick for assessing their social clout, but the resources, the material things are not themselves the purpose. The material things, access to resources and capital gives people control over other people, and it is control over others that people seek. This permeates the entire culture at all levels, from the smallest group up to the national government and including all of the corporations. They are all organized for the same purpose and use the same social conventions and arrangements.

[Ardent15]

6. good post

Many people are missing the forest for the trees here. The critical moment is when this question is asked, "If the system is so bad, how is it possible to fix it?"

The answer, of course, is obvious. You don't fix the system, you replace it with a different system. And that system has to be based on human nature fundamentally, not on the desire for control that the few have.

[bobbolink]

7. And to go deeper, that need for CONTROL is in all of us.

(By that, I mean all of us in this system.... we have grown up with it, and internalized it.)

As we knew in the 60s, we also have to look at ourselves, and lessen our OWN control urges.

Not easy to do, and none of us can do it in a vacuum.

We always want to look at the problem "out there", and while that is necessary, at the same time, we have to look to ourselves.

One huge cleansing process.

[William Z. Foster]

8. yes

But it takes a lot of work to keep it in place, many threats and bribes. It could be relatively effortless to shuck it off for most of us. But a few - those in control everywhere, including the leadership of the party at all levels, the leadership of the liberal and progressive organizations, the group right here - are deeply resistant to any change and fight it at every turn. The people who oppose us are not found just in Washington or corporate board rooms, and certainly not merely at tea party rallies. The battle is right in our every day lives.

[socialist_n_TN]

9. That need for control is also the reason

why you'll never have a "regulated" capitalism long term. Regulation explicitly IS giving up control, ergo you can't have regulation.

[awoke_in_2003]

10. Giving up control...

to BP has worked out REAL well for us.

[bobbolink]

11. DEREGULATION! Rah! Rah! Ra....

ooops.

[awoke_in_2003]

12. Texas deregulated electriciity

10 or 15 years ago. Costs have gone through the roof and maintenance has gone down the toilet. I have a power cable that goes down the side of my property, feeding the block behind me. The wire had been damaged, and for 3 years the fix was to wrap a plastic bag around it and tape it in place. When it tore open, repeat process. They finally replaced the wire, but only because a big wind brought it down. When it is time to solve a crime, follow Chris Tucker's advice in Rush Hour 2- "follow the fat white guy with all the money".

[bobbolink]

13. That story has been repeated around the nation. You would think people would grasp by now...

Deregulation and Privatization are NOT in our best interest!

[William Z. Foster]

14. whose control?

Whose control? That is the issue. we accept now that it is those with the most money who then should control others. Also, that controlling others is what should be rewarded. Public utilities meant that the many regulated few, for the benefit of the many (and without harming the few.) De-regulation means that the few control the many, and do harm the many.

[bobbolink]

15. What I was referring to when I wrote that is the control we have inside *ourselves* toward others.

I see it a lot on DU, and just like the president... if it was control that was done *to* us, we would hate it. But we think it is fine to be controlling of others.

It is quite rampant here.

That is different from the control you are talking about, but *I* see it as part and parcel of the whole thing. i.e..... getting rid of the institutional control would still leave that control we push on each other.

[William Z. Foster]

16. good point

I see what you are saying now. I think you are right.

[awoke_in_2003]

17. We need a resurgence of

oversight in just about every aspect of our society. Not surprisingly, industries have not regulated themselves very well. Whether it is BP, the banks, or utilites, deregulation has wreaked havoc on our country.

[William Z. Foster]

18. it is deeper than that

All of our relationships, every aspect of our lives follows the same pattern. "He who has the gold rules." We assess everyone to determine their social status and clout, as based upon their access to resources, and that rules our lives.

[bobbolink]

19. Time for a Vanier quote... The Gift Of The Poor

The Gift of the Poor
The people with the best sense of what is essential to a community, of what gives and maintains its spirit, are often doing very humble, manual tasks. It is often the poorest person - the one who has a handicap or who is ill or old - who is the most prophetic. People who carry responsibility must be close to them and know what they think, because it is often they who are free enough to see with the greatest clarity the needs, beauty and pain of the community.
- Jean Vanier, Community and Growth, p. 262