for budhaboy - Welcome to Rome

[plural]

In response to this post

you are missing something my dear man

you still think of this along a democrats vs republican line
when Al Gore was the man
who introduced and championed
the customerization of the american public

the plan was brilliant, and was executed almost flawlessly
allow people a level of individual access to government
which they had never had, and which allowed their needs to be addresssed
on an individual basis.

we cheered in selfish greed while they turned us from
citizens [shareholders] to customers

you see by allowing people to address their needs specifically
it removed the greatest power of the citizen
community

it used to be that you had to organize and
rally the people to get the government to respond to you
sure that was harder, but it also vetted out the worst ideas

now people, through the courts and "enhanced" regulatory systems
can go argue and deal with government solely on the basis of their needs
they do not have to frame them in a community sense
or even think about what would be good for the community

but most important in all of this
is who is taking advantage of this new access

it is not joe public
it is the lobbyists
where PACs used to have memberships
now they have mailing lists

all they need is the money now
to work the system
they dont need to rally support

We do not live in a two party system
it is a one party system
and the democrats and the republicans
are both pawns of that ruling party

look at donor lists
the vast majority of large donors
give to both parties
heavily

hedging their bets?

in a way they are

the goal of the ruling class
is what ruling classes always want

to maintain the status quo

so they funnel money to both sides of an issue
so that each side can keep fighting and drag things out
and eventually it goes off into limbo without ever being resolved

you see they only have to appear to be addressing what
the customers want,

if you do not want change to happen
draw two diametrically opposed lines
use rhetoric to draw people to either side
provide equal resources to each side
so that one can never really gain a significant advantage

then people argue it in the streets
watch congress argue it on c-span
until
finally they get bored or move on the next issue
then the original idea
forgotten and ignored gets put aside
perfectly unchanged and
the status quo is preserved

so then the question is

why did it change this time?

why did this election swing in one camps favor?

quite simply because
for once, someone in the ruling class
wanted something to happen

perhaps it is as simple as reversing some of the minor changes
which have occured in the past few years
but
that would be foolish to believe
considering most of those have already been gutted
in one way or another

no there is something bigger in the works
and the war in iraq
[which will start around january]
is more than just a pretext
it is a cloak to hide and distract us
from what is really going on

Remember back in two thousand
when CNN called florida for Gore
the entire bush family came on television
with smug looks on their faces
and said, nope isnt going to happen

they knew damn well
exactly what was going to happen

now
just a few weeks ago
the bush administration
called this election as well
said that not only would the republicans keep what they had
but they would gain seats in both houses

it is not pretty strange
to be so confident when historically
the party who holds the white house
looses seats in congress during an off year election

just to keep the seats they had would be a historic victory for the republican party
but they went a step further with confidence they predicted the most unlikely of scenarios
[according to historcal trends]
and
well you can look at the election results
I do not need to recap them

all of this matters little to me
when it goes south, which it will
I wont be affected

you see my family plays the game
but we have also hedged our bets
in case one of the bigger dogs decides to have our lunch

unlike most americans we have a plan of retreat
houses have been bought
citizenship papers need only signatures
and with the snap of a finger
the entire family moves to a more friendly country

and if anything I have told you
doesnt scare you
that should

Comments

[budhaboy.livejournal.com]

sorry about parking this seemingly unrelated post here, but I started off responding, got sidetracked, then realized I had to take off before I could save it somewhere else...

While what you say makes sense, I have trouble buying into a conspiracy in which a cobble of rich folks controling the world. I'm more inclined to believe that people being flawed are more inclined to work in their own best interests UP UNTIL they have violated whatever morality that is instilled in them.

One could argue that imoral people, given their greater ability to cheat could be more inclined to make heaps of money, and hence be more likely to screw people, but this honestly hasn't been my experience with rich folks (family or otherwise) I have known.

Generally, the richer they were the more stringenly they stuck to a staunch moral code... So much so, they truly wouldn't 'cheat' anyone, as the challenge of winning without cheating was far more provacative than screwing someone and pissing on their grave... where's the sport in that?

[plural.livejournal.com]

I agree completely
and I was not advocating a conspiracy theory

more an understanding of common interests

the people in power have interests in common with each other that they do not necessarily share with the average joe.

I completely agree with you as to the nature of the wealthy you describe, and understand that there are always exceptions to any rule.

I also view it as a flaw in human nature. Of course the other factor which comes into play, is simply education.

not only do the wealthy children have more education, they receive a different education than poor kids, and not just qualitatively, but in focus. The wealthiest kids are trained to replace their fathers and mothers in society and given a level of understanding of how the power structures work that even middle class children are not privy to, because their parents can not pass on such knowledge.

this and the fact that wealthier parents are more in a position to help their children suceed, both through resources and relationships is why we have seeming dynasties, two political examples are the bushes and the kennedys.

I am rambling a bit because my mind is on other matters at the moment but hopefully this will still clear up my thoughts a bit, feel free to pop more questions my way if I am not making sense or being clear in some way

[budhaboy.livejournal.com]

nope.

you are making perfect sense.

But I still think you are still lumping 'wealth' into a mis-defined class.

There are some seriously rich folks that I've known who were far too busy making money to ever give their kids the time of day. They've given them nothing in the way of a 'supplementary
' education you've described.

Similarly, there are people who I've known who are solidly in the middle class who have managed to give their children this same 'supplementary
' education.

Personally, I was made aware of such things, but never paid attention (my older sister is the one who took notes down that road). My parents were always solidly in the intelligentsia and instilled in us a completely different pursuit than power.

[plural.livejournal.com]

with regards to supplementary education
many time that is just a differing focus
at the schools they are sent to

the difference between the boarding schools I was sent to, and the local private schools, I attended, were huge, in both the form and focus of the studies

the first boarding school I went to cost more a year than most colleges, had secret service protecting the campus, and taught me quantum physics in my freshman year because I showed an interest in the subject.

that sort of school environment is entirely different both in form and function from even your average private day school. then you have the connections

in my dorm, ignore the rest of the school, were the children of six high level executives from major international companies, one child who already owned 30% of one such company, two children of senators, one congressmans daughter and a set of twins from one of the largest oil families in texas, who used to whomp on everyone until they rooted for the dallas cowboys.

now I am not saying that only the wealthy provide this sort of education, nor am I saying that all of the wealthy do either, just that for the most part what they teach their children is remarkable different

as for the lumping
wealth is a misdefined class
but to clarify I am not talking up
the upper middle class
I am talking about the upper upper class

but most importantly
even above the education is the understanding
and internalized messages that they instill.

for example, how much money is a million dollars?

this is huge differentiator between classes in america

to most of america it is a lot of money
some mythical amount t

ugg I hate it when comments get cut off

[plural.livejournal.com]

to most of america it is a lot of money
a mythical amount that means eternal happiness

but in reality, a million dollars is not very much money
in business a million dollars is nothing

this perspective greatly skews
the perceptions of what is possible

if nothing else this is a huge advantage

then there is the comfort level
I grew up around CEOs and Politicians
I feel completely confidant talking to them as equals
I have seen some many people I work with simply fold under
the pressure of talking to an executive

they are unable to relate to them
and unable to understand them
which causes fear

not to mention the unspoken protection one gets
when you crew the CFOs racing yacht every weekend
and date his daughter

You see, they thought of me as an equal
not in status at work but in social standing
they looked out for me, gave me advice
not on how to do my job but how to do theirs
because in their minds the could see me at that level

I can not even begin to express
how much of an advantage this comfortability
was to me in my career