I’m posting this piece, not because I agree with the author’s prescription for change, but because it illustrates the frustration so widely spread these days. Organizing “radical acts of civil disobedience to disrupt our current political system” will bring about repression, not change. Lots of us voted for change in 2004, 2006, 2008, and last month. We didn’t get the change we wanted; in fact, we might find ourselves in even more serious trouble, should the Republicans make good on their threat to shut down the government in February. Personally, I don’t see how a peaceful revolution can occur – we as a people are so at each other’s throats, pointing fingers and screaming at each other that the oligarchy just sits back, laughs and says, “buy, buy, buy!” Therein lies the answer to our difficulties. Don’t buy any more than you need and certainly don’t buy from Corporate America. Every dollar that you give to them just compounds the problem. Instead, barter, participate in the underground economy, get food from local farms if possible and shun Corporate America whenever possible. Start building a new economy, an economy that provides for us, not for them. I’ll post more articles in the near future providing examples to emulate.

The following article appeared on the Online Journal on October 21, 2010.

Why a Peaceful, People’s Revolution is the Only Way to Take Back Our Government

By Carmen Yarrusso

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” –John F. Kennedy

In God-blest America, the land of the free, our founding fathers’ sacred idea of a government “of the people, by the people, for the people” has become but a cruel joke — along with that “godamned piece of paper” we call our Constitution.

Our political system is openly rigged against the best interests of the American people. A massive market mechanism is securely entrenched in our political system where political influence is openly bought and sold. 10s of thousands of highly-paid middlemen called “lobbyists” facilitate the legal transfer of millions between moneyed special interests and our so-called “representatives” in Congress.

This very lucrative business of buying and selling political influence (which wouldn’t be very lucrative if it didn’t produce very lucrative results) has become the driving engine of our government. Our so-called “representatives” in Congress vie for millions in legal bribes in return for delivering billions of our tax dollars to moneyed special interests. It’s pure folly to think our current political system could possibly look out for the best interests of the American people.

Looking Back 10 Years

Just ponder what our government has done to us (not for us) in the last 10 years alone. It’s utterly mind boggling. The best interests of the American people have been sacrificed to moneyed special interests time and time again. But that’s exactly how our current political system is designed to work.

The banking industries paid millions in bribes for a legal license to steal billions from the American people. When greed got them in trouble, our so-called “representatives” gave them billions more of our money. But that’s exactly how our current political system is designed to work.

After the health insurance industry paid its bribes, our so-called “representatives” refused to even consider single-payer (despite its proven track record of providing cheaper, superior health care, and providing it to all citizens). Instead, millions of Americans will continue to suffer (or go bankrupt or die) for lack of health insurance. If a policy would significantly reduce the profits of moneyed special interests, it’s simply designated “off the table” by our so-called “representatives.” But that’s exactly how our current political system is designed to work.

In the last 10 years, our so-called “representatives” shared nearly a billion in bribes from the “defense” industry. In return, they doubled our defense budget to $700 billion (equal to all other countries combined!) and lied us into unnecessary, endless, expanding wars that will ultimately cost us trillions (aside from the extreme human costs).

Our so-called “representatives” are cutting social spending just when the American people need it most. Yet they continue to spend hundreds of billions on weapons of mass destruction to “protect us” from our enemies. But most of our “enemies” are purposely created by our government’s blatantly unjust foreign policies (that openly support regimes that oppress millions of human beings) and by our violent military occupations of their homelands. Without a perpetual supply of “enemies,” “defense” industry profits would plummet.

If that weren’t enough, our so-called “representatives” have worked hard to keep America the number one weapons merchant on earth. Our so-called “representatives” continue to support the sale of billions in weapons to oppressive regimes around the world, which creates still more “enemies,” which creates more special interests profits, etc. But that’s exactly how our current political system is designed to work.

All these outrageous government actions are exactly what we should expect from a government openly for sale to the highest bidder. Moneyed special interests paid for these outrageous government actions, and they got what they paid for. We, the people, got screwed.

We, the people, are just government-controlled fodder for moneyed special interests. But that’s exactly how our current political system is designed to work.

Real Change is Impossible Under Our Current Political System

Our current political system guarantees our so-called “representatives” will continue to pass and sustain legislation that transfers billions of our hard-earned tax dollars to moneyed special interests. Why “guarantees”? Because members of Congress who oppose moneyed special interests are promptly punished, ostracized, or replaced (if their offense is great enough). For example, dare to oppose the AIPAC and your days in Congress are numbered.

Further, our current political system guarantees both moneyed special interests and our so-called “representatives” must participate in this influence-peddling scam against the American people (because they’d be stupid not to). Big corporations would be at a competitive disadvantage (and would cheat their shareholders) if they refused to buy political influence. Likewise, our so-called “representatives” would be at a competitive disadvantage getting elected or staying in office if they refused to sell political influence. But that’s exactly how our current political system is designed to work.

The upcoming midterm elections are merely melodrama for the masses. Our “choices” have all been pre-chosen for us by moneyed special interests pumping millions into the process. Besides, whoever wins will be forced to play by established political rules that guarantee moneyed special interests will always come ahead of the American people’s best interests.

For weeks before the elections, the lackey mainstream media (using colorful pundits) entertain us with political melodrama. They arouse us by pitting one segment of the American people against another. They make millions bombarding us with empty, emotional, 30-second TV ads that are little more than name-calling or patriotic platitudes.

Congressional elections are sheep fighting among themselves for their favorite pre-chosen wolves. Congressional elections merely determine which segment of the America people gets screwed by which moneyed special interests group. But that’s exactly how our current political system is designed to work.

The Catch-22 of Taking Back Our Government

Trying to reform our current political system using that very same corrupt system is just futile folly. It’s like trying to fix your broken arms using your broken arms. Our current political system is designed to be reform proof. It has well-established mechanisms to protect and maintain the status quo. That’s why “campaign finance reform” and all other such efforts to “reform” our current political system from within are doomed to either fail outright or be so watered-down as to be useless.

rev-o-lu-tion
–noun
1. an overthrow or repudiation and the thorough replacement of an established government or political system by the people governed.

Congressional elections are just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. We can’t vote our government back to us. A peaceful, people’s revolution is the only way we can take back our government. The multibillion-dollar business of buying and selling political influence (currently the driving engine of our government) must be overthrown, repudiated and thoroughly replaced if democracy is to survive in America.

This massive influence-peddling scam must become our number one political issue because it underlies and thus greatly affects all other issues. If we don’t get big money out of our politics, our democracy and our well-being will continue to decline and surely we’ll take the rest of the world down with us.

We can’t afford to sit by like sheep meekly waiting for slaughter. We must find ways to hinder and harass the corporate state at every turn. Nothing will change unless we, the people, begin to organize radical acts of civil disobedience to disrupt our current political system, upping the ante until this massive influence-peddling scam is thoroughly exposed and eliminated.

We, the people, must take back our government by peaceful revolution because it will never be given back voluntarily.

Carmen Yarrusso lives on a river in a small town in New Hampshire. He often writes about uncomfortable truths.