OpEdNews - Page 3 of Article: Charles Sullivan: Fighting Capitalism One Essay at a Time

Angie: There is also Brazil's very effective Landless Workers Movement, or in Portuguese, Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST), which is the largest social movement in Latin America with an estimated 1.5 million landless members organized in 23 out of 27 states, and its huge successes lie in its ability to organize and educate. Would educating the masses be a good first step?

Charles: Absolutely. Nothing can happen until the people understand what is being done to them. That is the primary difference between Latin America and the USA. South of the border the people are aware whereas here they are indoctrinated and controlled. Things are happening in Latin America while the people here are watching Survivor and trying to get out of debt. But the people are slowly (much too slowly) awakening here too, and that is a good sign for Democracy.

Angie: One of your most frequent criticisms of the US is the incredulous disparity between rich nd poor. The percentages are staggering. What is the cause for this ever widening chasm? Do you see it changing, and, if so, how?

Charles: Your point is illustrated by some recent statistics. The top 1% of the American population averages $15 million in net worth. Middle class holdings are $81,000. 30% of households have less than $10,000 in holdings, and 17% of households have a negative net worth. And this is said to be the wealthiest nation on earth!

What we have in America is the ideology of Robin Hood in reverse. The rich are robbing the poor. No one should be permitted to get rich on the misery of others. In Venezuela people matter more than corporate profits. If the Plutocracy could bring back chattel slavery, I am quite certain that they would do so. Think about all that productivity without having to pay wages or benefits! But, of course, the people might rebel against that.

Angie: In your article, Victims of Creeping Fascism, your focus centered on " the demise of the American experiment" wherein you describe "the dreams of democracy, justice, peace, and hope" as "receding into the dim recesses of ever more distant memory" [1]. Elaborate on what you see as America's fall into fascism. Is it already too late? If not, what do you see happening next?

Charles: In addition to its long-standing Plutocracy, we are witnessing the emergence of the Gestapo state -- the police state -- in America. Our hard won freedoms and civil liberties are quickly eroding. The NSA, the FBI, and the Pentagon are spying on law-abiding citizens, including religious groups like the Quakers. People are being sent to prison without being charged with crimes. They can be held indefinitely without legal counsel, and placed on trial before military tribunals, and even executed.

So if you speak out against war or any other injustice, the president may be able to imprison you indefinitely by classifying you as a terrorist. Speaking truth to power is becoming an act of sedition. This follows the historical pattern. Eugene Debs, a union leader and a socialist, was repeatedly imprisoned for speaking out against war early in the twentieth century. Then there was the era of McCarthyism in the 50s.

Now the neo-conservatives are in control of everything, including the commercial media. The people are so indoctrinated by the media that they are nearly comatose, and, hence, useless as citizens. They have little intellectual curiosity about the world, and they believe what they are told. The majority of the people do not have a clue about what is happening to them. The world is laughing at us. Why are Americans so damned obedient and gullible? Their minds are programmed by the most sophisticated propaganda apparatus ever devised, and they are much too obedient to authority.

Elections are rigged and capital orchestrates the entire process, rendering the vote null and void. These are dangerous times. I fear that things are likely to get much worse, after which one of two things will occur: America will descend into the depths of hell or the people will awaken and revolution will erupt. That is why I write -- to awaken the slumbering masses.

Angie: The United States has a curious government structure with seemingly no real difference existing between Democrats and Republicans. If the current administration were removed from power, it would be replaced by another with a different name but with the same mindset. The US government reminds me of a house rotting from within. If it is not dismantled and rebuilt from the ground up, it will disintegrate because it is the system, itself, that is at fault here, a system that allows for lost votes, stolen elections, and a shameful lack of democratic process. You once described this as a fault that lies in the unfounded belief that a poison tree can bear edible fruit. Can it be fixed, and, if so, how?

Charles: Your perceptions are quite accurate. No, the system cannot be reformed. It must be dismantled and built anew as a Democratic institution. The system is riddled with malignancy. The electoral process is controlled by special interest money. It is little more than a legalized form of bribery -- a sham that should never be mistaken for Democracy. That is why I get so frustrated when people think they are going to change the system through the vote alone.

We have a situation where industry is writing the regulations it is supposed to abide by. Washington is swarming with corporate lobbyists like flies around a pile of dung. The government is infested with Dung Beetles, and that cannot be good.

Even on the local level the process is controlled by special interest money. In Morgan County here in West Virginia it is the construction industry and developers who place their people in control of the county government. The result is that our rural county is slated for extensive development, despite widespread public opposition.

America did not achieve emancipation from England by voting. Understand I am not saying that people should not vote, but they must understand that voting can at best bring about only minor reform, not the kind of sweeping change that is needed. Capital will not allow it. The poison tree can bear only poison fruit. When capital controls every aspect of the electoral process, it also controls the outcome of the elections. So the working class people have no real representation in government. If they ever figure that out, things will change and probably very quickly.

Voting serves the interest of the people only where Democracy already exits; and that is not what we have here. We must change the capital system in order to make voting meaningful again. Non-violent revolution is the only cure I see for what ails this nation, and we are nowhere near that stage. So we must continue to grow the resistance; to educate and cajole.

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