Colonized by Corporations by Chris Hedges

I found this very good article and it expresses my feelings on the subject. Plan to get the book mentioned in the near future.

www.truthdig.com...
Posted on May 14, 2012
By Chris Hedges

In Robert E. Gamer’s book “The Developing Nations” is a chapter called “Why Men Do Not Revolt.” In it Gamer notes that although the oppressed often do revolt, the object of their hostility is misplaced. They vent their fury on a political puppet, someone who masks colonial power, a despised racial or ethnic group or an apostate within their own political class. The useless battles serve as an effective mask for what Gamer calls the “patron-client” networks that are responsible for the continuity of colonial oppression. The squabbles among the oppressed, the political campaigns between candidates who each are servants of colonial power, Gamer writes, absolve the actual centers of power from addressing the conditions that cause the frustrations of the people. Inequities, political disenfranchisement and injustices are never seriously addressed. “The government merely does the minimum necessary to prevent those few who are prone toward political action from organizing into politically effective groups,” he writes.

Gamer and many others who study the nature of colonial rule offer the best insights into the functioning of our corporate state. We have been, like nations on the periphery of empire, colonized. We are controlled by tiny corporate entities that have no loyalty to the nation and indeed in the language of traditional patriotism are traitors. They strip us of our resources, keep us politically passive and enrich themselves at our expense. The mechanisms of control are familiar to those whom the Martinique-born French psychiatrist and writer Frantz Fanon called “the wretched of the earth,” including African-Americans. The colonized are denied job security. Incomes are reduced to subsistence level. The poor are plunged into desperation. Mass movements, such as labor unions, are dismantled. The school system is degraded so only the elites have access to a superior education. Laws are written to legalize corporate plunder and abuse, as well as criminalize dissent. And the ensuing fear and instability—keenly felt this past weekend by the more than 200,000 Americans who lost their unemployment benefits—ensure political passivity by diverting all personal energy toward survival. It is an old, old game.
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reply to post by ofhumandescent

It's actually kind of funny that people en masse do not recognize their enemy, but rather follow a herding instinct that is propped up by "targets" promoted by controlled opposition. I encounter this so often, it's just sad but what is even more disheartening is that even when you provide all the evidence and arguments, people still do not "see." Politicians are easily interchangeable in this society we live in. They take orders, make appearances and provide the curtain behind which the true money power hides.

Cheers - Dave

reply to post by bobs_uruncle


Very good reply and insight. Thank you so much for your thoughts on this matter.

“The best books... are those that tell you what you know already.” ... -George Orwell.

reply to post by ofhumandescent


it is in the greed and colousness of evil that leads to its down fall,
it is peace and non violence that breaks the illusion that the elite are the same
they are so inamered in there own image they forget that it is the same illusion they cast upon us
the illusion is fading away from us while they marvel at there own reflection, convinced the illusion is somehow real.

when people wake up to the illusion, they wake others.
this wave of illusion breaking is gaining speed and strength untill the elite themselves see their own reflection as we do,
this is when things change, when people see their elites see themselves as we do,
and we turn away from them forever.

xploder

reply to post by ofhumandescent

All you can do is tell people what you know from experience or logical deduction. I have come up against government and military corruption a number of times, little things like a billion or so in illegal arms deals, $150 million tax and public funds fraud, passenger planes being blown out of the sky to advance an IMF agenda, etc. Nothing too heavy, so I do operate from a position of experience and many people know this (waves at Jim at CSIS and Adrian who is a retired ambassador) but it doesn't help. The operation of society is perverse, pervasive and becoming seriously more invasive.

But, you cannot make someone see, who will not open their eyes.

Cheers - Dave

It is my opinion and I believe I'm right.
People do not revolt as they have those pie in the sky dreams.
If I hold on long enough, I'll win the lottery or something will click and I'll be rich and or famous.
But in order for this to happen, I must be a good servant.