This is an historical inevitability, I suppose. The way the ego swells with power, identifying capacity with justification and denying the unsightly blemishes in the mirror, attacking those who insist on trying to maintain standards of internal honesty…. this is our America, and has been for a while.
We cannot say that this is comprehensively the will of the American people. But the sad truth is that this is at least not anathema to the will of the people. It is easier to remain ignorant. For those who are a part of the Establishment, it is easier not to argue. Our current course, the decision to torture and make war, is very much the will of all those who participate in the creation and dissemination of politics and “news.” It is the will of everyone else to not have to worry.
The other part of the problem is that the opposition leadership has abdicated. There is no debate, no contest. Not on this, not on nukes over Iran, not on corporate malfeasance, not on the “PATRIOT ACT,” not on the prison industrial complex, not on the military industrial complex, not on the centralization of media power and its alignment with the interests of one political party….
It has been conceded by everyone in the halls of power that the system is stronger than even a large group who know better. The culture of the times has beaten down any impulse to stand on principle. Eventually we must hold accountable those who could but do not represent an opposition with strength and passion. Do they fear martyrdom, or more do they fear marginalization? No one wants to be Crazy Al Gore. Shunned and beaten like a pin~ata.
But something must be said! If these messages will not be carried forth by those who position themselves as leaders, then we must find ways to lead. What will you do? How will you get the word out? This is the time for making waves, while it is not yet being punished. How obvious is your dissent?
What we are faced with is a cult of power. The insight provided by thoughtful people neither strengthens the aura of America the Powerful nor the god-realm aspirations of the television hosts and producers, so we can not expect to see it.
The truth is a bitter pill to the delusional, and we are caught up now in a furious storm of self aggrandizement. Historically, these storms do not just blow over. First, for whatever strange mythological reasons, we must rage and howl and the wounded and bereft must moan and mourn.
I do believe that we in blogland can make some difference, but to me it is a matter of “creating a buzz,” finding approaches to penetrate the very selectively permeable membrane of American Media Consciousness.
This will only happen when it is undeniably a growing concern. When there are really pressing concerns about dissent. And then it will be demonized. But then, most people just want to go back to sleep. There will be a growing demand to make the noise go away, and the politicians will either clamp down or compromise. Some change will occur, and clamping down, no matter how hard in the meantime, fails in the long run.
I wish it was not this way. It saddens my heart. But I do not see any governors in the system. We are careening more and more out of balance. Please tell me I am wrong.
Is this cynical? It seems only founded in an honest reading of history. We can make little real progress in the domain of masses of people. The overwhelming majority of human growth occurs in individual lives. When the awareness of specific means to improve the common lot is widespread, then there develops a pressure to make such changes in societal structures. That is not often, and it is not now. Our task now is simply to mobilize some kind of popular dissent, to make known to a wider audience what the best reasons for a different course are. We can worry about anything else later on.
