We are aware that the rich right wing in the U.S. is no longer obfuscating their goals. We know that they want to end or seriously adversely impact social programs. We know that they use lies to confuse the public about global warming, education, taxes, gun control and gay marriage. We know that they are in favor of continual wars.
The rich right wing has gerrymandered voting districts to make it difficult for moderates of either political party to win elections. And we know that they use their unlimited money (thanks to Citizens United) to criticize candidates of either party so that their candidates can win elections. And they constantly use Christianity to show their patriotism, while denigrating people of color and Muslims.
This is not accidental; this is their strategy; even if so much of what they say is lies (i.e.: Planned Parenthood).
The reason is that they have been raised in an authoritarian manner, which creates rigidity, avoids compassion, shows dominance & hostility to working with others. They dislike those of us who are not privileged, and see us as threatening.*
With so much money to spend, the rich right wing is able to control most media in the U.S., with the result that many people believe their lies. Noam Chomsky says that the U.S. is an introverted, passive society. When elected representatives make decisions which adversely affect us, we do not take organized action. Instead, we just complain about their wealth, and stop voting. We have become spectators instead of participants in what used to be our democracy.
We are confined; we have stopped thinking critically. We have become spectators in the U.S. oligarchy. We criticize the poor for getting welfare, while we do not question the corporations (and banks) for the welfare they get (which is more than the poor get). We are now frogs in the proverbial soup pot, as the U.S. continually declines. Privatization of public services increases the wealth of the rich while our cities and states are in crisis, unable to sustain adequate public schools. A society which takes from the many and gives to the few is unsustainable.
Our country is sliding downwards. Our economy is being outsourced by so-called Free Trade agreements; driven by multi-national corporations. Many of our cities are becoming very similar to those of the Third World. The U.S. has the highest level of inequality of any other developed country, and the gap is widening. This is no accident; this is class war. Labor unions are becoming extinct. Multi-national corporations and major banks are very class conscious. They avoid paying their fair share of taxes by moving their headquarters off shore. This is called tax inversion. And this moves jobs off shore too.
So many of our families are struggling to stay afloat. They are in serious debt. We are told that unemployment is down, but so many jobs are not stable, and few pay a living wage. Increasing numbers of schools have a vast majority of students in the free/reduced price lunch program (which now may include breakfast). How many churches run out of food and toiletries almost as soon as they get the supplies?
We have fallen for the game plan of the super rich; the new Dark Age. It has been called neo-liberalism or post modernism, but either way, this is re-colonialism: the rich predators are in charge, they are at war with the rest of us, and they are winning.
*Adorno, Frenkel-Brunswick, Levinson & Sanford: The Authoritarian Personality
