 George Grosz satirizes the false patriotism and misplaced
optimism of postwar Germany in his Republican Automatons. I share his
sentiment about modern Americans. The nation has allowed itself to be
bled white by militarism, false patriotism, and materialism until it has
become an empty head shouting advertising and political slogans and waving
a flag like every day was the 4th of July. It does not require a conspiracy
to explain how this occurred: normal people are normal by virtue of not
rising their heads up from the sand long enough to see what is going on
all around.
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- Nor does it require any special insight into the workings
of Satan to explain why normal people stay normal even when it is obvious
there is no such thing as normalcy. It only requires opening both eyes
and seeing without a filter, seeing that tree over there without the
concept of redwood getting in the way. Humans are gregarious herd animals
and so long as nothing happens we like to think that nothing will, and
then when it does we like to think it will not happen to us, and when
it does we like to think that we are being victimized by outside evil
and not by our own cupidity.
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- So while we have a good time hunting down the master
plot our nation burns around us and rather than fight back we prefer to
pin the blame on someone else. This happened in Germany as well of course
and while we are not Germany, we are I am afraid in a situation that is
unhappily reminiscent of that which brought a Hitler to power.
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- Today we see a government that holds the populace in
contempt and ironically a populace that holds it's government in contempt
as well.
- Alas, which side is more right? Is it the fault of the
government that the "People" don't look past the ads and slogans
when they chose to not vote? Or the fault of the government that the
votes are stolen? Really, is it the fault of the Fox that he is in charge
of the henhouse? The chickens agreed that gerrymandered districts, lavishly
funded campaigns, old fashioned mudslinging and media buys are the proper
way to determine who decides on affairs great and small and without a
peep they put up with it over the years until now they learn they are
insolvent.
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- It is not a surprise that 58 million Social Security
recipients in an election year are told there is no cost of living increase.
And this is not because the money is not there, it is not a surprise
because the governing class is indifferent to 58 million voters. And
this I submit ought to give one pause for thought: why is it that these
58 million voters can be counted on to squeak but not shout or fight
back? It is because the governing strata has ensured that the choice
in the casino is all with the House. If you vote, you vote forte House.
If you do not, you vote for the House. House always wins.
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- Quite logically 58 million angry voters matter not at
all and by extention your vote doesn't either. Yes you can vote against
one rascal, but the rascal you vote for is no matter how squeaky clean,
forced into the system and the logic of the system is that the game must,
like the game show, go on. Even then if you rise up with arms, overthrow
this system, the system you install will resemble it or be much worse.
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- What then is to be done? I suggest that this problem
of governance requires real work.
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- In brief, as much power as possible has to devolve to
the populace.
- Of course then we have another problem, one that vexed
this nation from the outset and one that has not been solved. No man
is good enough to govern another man without that man's consent, but can
a man consent to be being robbed blind in the name of good government?
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