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December 28, 2007 at 07:58:12
How to Erode and Destroy Democracy-- a Dozen Tested Strategies by Rob Kall Page 1 of 2 page(s) |
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How to Kill Democracy tips to fascists, dictators, corporatists, militarists, imperialists, neocons, right wingers, theocrats, theofascists and terrorists.
1- Kill the strongest opposition candidate and then pretend that elections should go on as normal, without allowing the opposition party to reorganize.
Examples:
Benazir Bhutto-- strategy-- hamstring security abilities to the extent that the candidate actually writes a letter accusing the government leadership of intentional sabotage of security.
Paul Wellstone-- rush through a replacement candidate and politicize the funeral. Get the mainstream media "partners" to portray the funeral as despicably political to eliminate sympathy for the new candidate. (Expect something like this with the candidate who replaces Bhutto
2- Steal elections using e-voting with non-public software code, no paper ballot records, purges from lists of eligible voters, phone-bank jamming, fraudulent registration drives, where you throw away the registrations of opposition party registrants. Multiple examples in US-- Florida and Ohio, particularly.
Essential-- this only works with weak, cowardly candidates who fail to aggressively work to prevent these actions and then fail to challenge questionable outcomes. This has been relatively easy, since even when candidates do get tough in response to rigged elections, there are plenty of weak, compromised legislators who will enable the election theft. Clint Curtis's campaign is a good example. The Dems in congress allowed the theft.
3-Erode constitutional rights. Violate laws and treaties. Make excuses that there are immanent threats to national security, or that the treaties will hurt the nation's economy. Take the most horrific of these and get the media to boost hysteria and fear, then get the most fascist members of the legislature to push through laws retroactively making the vioilations of the law legal. The majority of sold out legislators will work with your lobbyists and avoid your media mockery and pass the legislation or approve appointees who allow or refuse to not condemn the assaults upon the constitution and international law.
Example-- Mukasey approval, FISA approval, continuation of Iraq war, started on lies.
4-Gradually destroy the economy-- engage in Shock Doctrine Disaster capitalism-- so the nation's citizen's are more worried about survival than maintaining democracy. Naomi Klein has documented how fascist neocon Milton Friedman economists have used this tried and true approach to destruction of democracy in dozen of nations-- usually with the help of the USA's CIA. See Naomi Klein's book, Shock Doctrine for detailed examples.
5- Corporatize the nation- Maximize laws that give corporations human rights as persons. Allow corporations to pollute the election process, so their money is the primary factor in determing the ability of candidates to reach voters, as is the law and policy in the US. Have legislators you own create bogus, chimera laws that look like and call themselves election reform, that are really so full of loopholes that they actually improve the power of corporations while taking away the power of citizens. See US policy for excellent examples.
6- Deregulate the media so a handful of corporate owners control most of the message. Then filter the news so viewers/readers/listeners are turned off to paying attention. Do this by using the same footage over and over again, and numb the viewers' minds with focus on coverage of morally impaired and stupid celebrities, tabloid news- like wierd surgeries, kidnappings, horrific mass murders, strange diseases, detachment of siamese twins... And when you do cover real news, mock the most serious defenders of democracy. Attempt to embarass them, to get viewers and readers to think of them as fools and kooks. Especially, use this mockery approach to sabotage and attack any candidates who are not "with the program" who are surging in polls.
7-Infiltrate alternative media. Hijack comment threads with negative, cynical remarks, or distract commenters from staying on focus. Provoke incivility among regular readers of pro-democracy media.
8-widen class differences. Keep as many people as possible hungry, without health care, worried about where they will get the money to pay for housing, clothing, education, food, medicine.
9- Take advantage of natural disasters to weaken democratic factors-- allow floods, hurricanes, fires to "cleanse" unwanted voters in selected regions. Replace them with high end real estate and corporate assets. Use the disasters as opportunities to spend taxpayer money to reward political allies.
10- Pretend that everything you do is the patriotic support of Democracy, even if it is directly opposed to democracy. Attack the pro-democracy party and organizations as being communist, socialist, fringe, kook, even dangerous to democracy. Depend upon anti-democracy mainstream media ech chamber allies to help pound this message so the fools produced by the dumbed down, "most children left behind" educational system buy these messages. Use talk radio to nail this down. See US education laws and policies for examples. This is already working quite effectively in the US as low international scores indicate.
11- Allow candidates to run repeatedly, without term limits. Eventually, candidates who do not tow the anti-democracy line in all parties will burn out or run out of funding. That will leave, even in the supposed liberal parties, reliable legislators who will keep the anti-democracy program going. Eventually, they will get themselves into key leadership positions, either at the top of the party or just below the top.
Consider Chuck Schumer, Stenny Hoyer, Rahm Emanuel as excellent examples.
12- Build fear into the culture. Say you are fighting terrorism, but engage in international policies that foment and encourage terrorism, helping terrorists to massively expand recruitment and even training of operatives. See Iraq for Islamic terrorists. See the US for anti-abortion Christian terrorists.
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Rob Kall is executive editor, publisher and site architect of OpEdNews.com, President of Futurehealth, Inc, more...)
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author
and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
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| 16 comments |
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Rob
I believe that you are giving those who authored the principles (or lack thereof) of your list far too much credit as broad based outcome strategist's. The culprit in each case is unbridled human nature. Power and greed sum it up nicely. The eventual outcome of each of your numbered points is simply the end result of practicing unchecked human nature; far more so than a well thought sinister plan. Sit on the board of a large company or the town council of Anywhere U.S.A. or for that matter, the ladies sewing club and you will see the same strategies at work. Perhaps not to the degree of harm that you espoused; but at play none the less. by Mike Folkerth (120 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 566 comments [1 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Friday, Dec 28, 2007 at 8:41:11 AM  (0+)
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Reply: The danger of weakened check and balance
Using 'unbridled human nature' to explain unbridled destruction illustrates yet two more human characters that have long helped in mass destruction - the abilty to rationalize anything, and the unlimited ability to create and worship gods. Mixing and maxing out the lust for power, greed, rationalization, and irrationalization form the basis of much of the sordid chapters of human history. If man should learn anything from history, it is that human unbridled tendencies, while cannot be eliminated, must be checked and balanced in order to have a civil society. The US Consitution is the first piece of national doctrine that installs such check and balance based on carefully considered sense. The founding fathers have seen the centuries of horror in Europe due to unchecked and unbridled power and determined not the repeat it. The deliberate subversion of the Constitution domestically, and the disregard of the values it represent in the conduct of foreign and military polices by the Bush administration have resulted in the US being identified as a greater threat to world peace by much of the world. That this can happen in the US is yet another demonstration of how a national leader of mediocre intellect but with unbridled worship of god can combine to do so much damage. The Constitution indeed is fragile unless the people have the strength to use it. Democracy only means majority rules. The Consitution is NOT a democracy - it requires absolute compliance. But who enforces that compliance? The people, 100% of them. by TomK (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 330 comments [22 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Friday, Dec 28, 2007 at 1:24:35 PM (0+)
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Reply: The World according to an American
Tom, nice try. But you really should view the world/ human nature is a larger perspective than that of America and its myopic interests if you did you might see that there is at least one other factor at play that of Context. Many cynical individuals have stated that “history is written by the victors” but this statement misses the reality and should be qualified with the word “official” because real history is written by context. For example Things were simpler and more relaxed in the 50’s but there was lynching the FBI was a personal army for Hoover, racism was rife, family violence was swept under the carpet the list of horrors goes on. History is a ‘job lot” not a supermarket from which we can pick and choose. Part of the reasons America suffers today is Because of the Constitution and its systems because both were designed for a 200 year old context that no longer exists. The US constitution was an admirable document in its day but was influenced by philosophies that have been largely circumvented and frankly it belongs in a museum. It has allowed Corporate Capitalism to take over, corporate militarism to rise, Gordon Gecko’s cry to have a ring of truth and the country to become selfish. And a foreign policy driven by profit rather than common sense, that is the Context today. It is unbridled human nature that created the context and Both are immutable. “your IM mission, should you choose to accept it is to mitigate it’s effects. As usual if you or any of your IM force are caught the Secretary will deny any knowledge of you or your actions…Good luck Tom” this message will…………. by Andris (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 531 comments) on Friday, Dec 28, 2007 at 4:23:23 PM (0+)
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Which is more disturbing
Rob's accurate primer , or rather accurate observation of the way democracy is subverted, or Mike Folkerth's ready acceptance of such as simply "human nature"? by ardee D. (6 articles, 4 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 2377 comments) on Friday, Dec 28, 2007 at 10:06:52 AM (0+)
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Reply: P.S.
I know that Mr. Folkerth is not giving in to the forces of evil, nor is his stance as simplistic as I have made it out to be.... by ardee D. (6 articles, 4 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 2377 comments) on Friday, Dec 28, 2007 at 10:08:16 AM (0+)
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Destroying democracy
by Kent Welton (71 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 63 comments [5 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Friday, Dec 28, 2007 at 12:58:13 PM (0+)
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"The Prince"
The article nicely sums up the strategies described in Machiavelli's "The Prince", updated for modern times. Thanks, Rob. by John Danforth (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 98 comments) on Friday, Dec 28, 2007 at 1:39:58 PM (0+)
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Well done, Rob!
This only thing to be added to this commentary is the fact that this has gone on by design since 1600. (Yes, I know people have always done these things on an individual level, but I'm talking empire-building here.) The public's natural self-defense of their mind, body and soul have been enroded to nothing over a large time-frame. We have been lied to (by omission) via religion, education and government. When people have no response to being slapped around, mentally, spiritually or physically, they have become complete slaves, who "love" their slavery. Yes, I'm preaching to the choir, because those intelligent enough to read this and OpEdNews, are NOT those I'm talking about. I'm just hoping that readers do lead-by-their-actions on a daily basis. by Edward Ulysses Cate (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 232 comments [9 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Friday, Dec 28, 2007 at 1:45:52 PM (0+)
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How to Erode and Destroy Democracy
1- Kill the strongest opposition candidate. you dont have to, Hitler didnt kill anyone. 6- Deregulate the media so a handful of corporate owners control most of the message. the mere fact that you have to pay a sh*tload of money to get a station approved is the best way to keep the small guy out, i think the best solution is not to charge any fees or put any obstacles for strating a radio or tv station and make sure that one entity or corporation cannot own more than one tv, radio, or newspaper at the same time. Oh by the way, MSM is already centralised and they are all big goverment lovers. 12- Build fear into the culture. the goverment invokes terrorism whenever it wants the right to rally behind it blindly, and it invokes global warming to rally when it wants the left to rally blindly behind it, goverments don't want debate they want obedience. by .Dughman (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 32 comments) on Friday, Dec 28, 2007 at 2:55:06 PM (0+)
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Reply: A more careful review
Dughman writes:1- Kill the strongest opposition candidate. you dont have to, Hitler didnt kill anyone. Are you kidding? 2- Steal elections using e-voting with non-public software code. e -voting should have never been allowed As to elections, it’s long past time the “independent management model” is implemented, since government-run elections clearly seek to obfuscate, complicate, disenfranchise and otherwise subvert the will of the people in as many ways as they have the audacity to pull. The reason “the acts of pinochete and other sadist sh*t heads” should “be used against capitalism” is because Milton Friedman’s Chicago Boys implemented, backed, and praised Pinochet and other “sadist sh*t heads” as Klein describes in the Shock Doctrine. Capitalism and private property rights, dear deluded writer, are destroying America, creating an income gap disparity the world has never before seen. Ownership is a myth enforced thru violence. Read The Shock Doctrine. Or read Gangs of America, or Confessions of an Economic Hitman (although Klein’s Shock Doctrine takes those two books to the next level). Authoritarian communism, as well as neoliberal capitalism (e.g. allow capital to flow freely across borders, but not labor) are two different evils of the same coin: elites amass wealth at the expense of the vast majority. Instead, democratic socialism offers a better solution, not more capitalism – the very nature of which requires bottom-line policy to supercede all other considerations. 9- Take advantage of natural disasters to weaken democratic factors. Im assuming here you refer to katrina, i doubt new orleans has any true effect on elections, this disastor was ignored for financial reasons not political ones, go check whos benefitting financially from this distruction. Again, Dughman, you miss the obvious. The financial benefits were politically decided (and violently enforced) by usurping the homes of the poor. Political will of elites reigns, once again, at the expense of the people. You cannot segregate the political from the financial. 10- Pretend that everything you do is the patriotic support of Democracy, even if it is directly opposed to democracy. patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel, also keep in mind that this is a constitutional republic not democracy, washington said it best: democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding what to eat for dinner. The US form of government is called a republican democracy. by Rady Ananda (182 articles, 374 quicklinks, 49 diaries, 1718 comments [201 recommended, 2 rejected]) on Tuesday, Jan 1, 2008 at 5:38:34 PM (0+)
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He Lives, He Lives.......Chicken Little that is.
Rob, A wise man once said evil like beauty is in the eye of the beholder......and both are fleeting. You show me a time when most of these things weren't in play. You like a lot of authors on this site tend to talk in absolutes plastering labels on everything. It seems that by labeling something the belief is that it is now understood and thereby control it. The problem is one form of control is as obscene as the next the intolerant left are as bad as the rabid right. Life isn't a series of right or wrongs it/we are a continuum from one extreme to the other. Apart from distracting and or sensationalizing the situation dissertation like this are as productive as laying poisonous eggs like the cane toad. [all that does is breed more poisonous creatures] . I would like for all this brain power turned to working out ways to live/prosper/overcome toxic human nature and its lead creation Context by Andris (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 531 comments) on Friday, Dec 28, 2007 at 4:51:41 PM (0+)
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Reply: you're confused
The constitution is not the reason we find ourselves caving in to tyranny. Subversion of the constitution is what brings us to where we are today. The constitution is a document which very CLEARLY protects INDIVIDUAL liberty. Not corporate liberty, not the liberty of religious icons... etc. It is our own inability as constituents to make our legislators legislate under the constitution and our own unwillingness to stop corporate corruption of our system, a failure to understand that when there are 190 countries in this world and we have permanent bases and troops in 130 of them we are definitely acting beyond our constitutional scope and have been for decades, combined with 50 years of public education teaching us that the government is "good" while wiping out the true and diverse accounts of history so that it can be cleaned with a nicer kinder version. This is far more devious than simple human nature. None of this would be in good keeping with the constitution and it's principles of INDIVIDUAL libery. That is why we find ourselves wondering if we should make a left or right at tyranny lane. Ron Paul 2008 Curtis for congress by tiffane (4 articles, 2 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 47 comments [1 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Saturday, Dec 29, 2007 at 11:52:24 AM (0+)
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Informative Article - But One Matter Supercedes all others
Very few that are informed and knowledgeable disagree that the United States is now a fascist nation. Sugarcoat it, play is backwards or forward, and the result is the same - corporations and not the people control our society. None of this would be possible without the complicity of the Mainstream News Media. If the truth were to be told, millions of Americans would be on the streets demanding change and accountability - but a population that is kept in ignorance has no reason to rebel or even demand that they receive "real news" rather than spin and propaganda if they aren't aware of the core issues that are destroying our economy, reducing our constitutional rights, and allowing criminals to guide our foreign policy and other issues too numerous to mention. We all spend a lot of time working to inform the public of the real news, but in the final analysis, when we're pointing our fingers at Bush, Cheney, and the cabal of thieves that are stealing the American dream - the MSM stands guilty of the betrayal of America, and as a New Year's Resolution, we all need to concentrate more on those that have aided and abetted those who are criminally culpable in the destruction of our country. The "truth will set you free" is an age old adage that is still true - but our MSM is hell-bent on keeping the truth from the general public, and to succeed in reclaiming our democracy - an all-out campaign to effectively combat the MSM is necessary and vital to further the cause of democracy. If a jury never hears all of the evidence, a conviction is impossible. As long as the bulk of our population is kept in the dark, fascism and Bush's criminal enterprise will flourish and expand - and those that have been lying to America must eventually face the music as well; To look the other way or support criminal behavior should be a crime, and when we look at S 1959, if it was a real Bill that actually was designed to prevent the "Violent Radicalization of Americans", the arrests and destruction of fascist America's MSM would top the list of those who are guilty of attempting to destroy our country. William Cormier by William Cormier (152 articles, 11 quicklinks, 21 diaries, 418 comments [9 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Friday, Dec 28, 2007 at 8:24:23 PM (0+)
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ROB
As in this article, I notice in most OpEd articles the failure to make any distinction between democracy and the actual American form of government--a constitutional Republic. This blurring of the line between two distinctly different forms of government is, quite simply, one of the most powerful tactics that our corporate rulers use to subdue us. Democracy is oftentimes the opposite of freedom, and the more that democracy is expanded, the more individual rights are restricted. In fact, as democracy expands, political, cultural and economic standards tend to decline. This result follows from the obvious effect that expanded democracy increases the numbers of voters with less knowledge of politics, culture, and economics. Might I suggest an excellent and very readable, short book by Fareed Zakaria, entitled, "The Future of Freedom, Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad," published by W.W. Norton & Co., 2007, 2003. We need to change the semantics of our arguments from preserving and expanding democracy to preserving and expanding liberty. This is an idea that Americans understand. Then, within the context of preserving and expanding liberty, we must envision ways of curtailing the freedom of non-persons like corporations. by W.M.L. (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 537 comments [52 recommended, 1 rejected]) on Saturday, Dec 29, 2007 at 7:01:29 AM (0+)
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Reply: AMEN
I've been seeing the words democracy and republic thrown around by left and right, used as a devisive aid. I love the article but instead of democracy (we have no more of a democracy than we do a true republic any more), I think we should be trying to save liberty. Individual liberty as prescribed in the constitution. No where in the constitution is the word corporation mentioned. Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what's for lunch. LIBERTY IS A WELL ARMED LAMB CONTESTING THE VOTE. Our representatives are chosen in such a way that our choices are gone long before any so called "election" takes place. We don't end up with these people by accident. Yes, when we end up with a real candidate (not too often), Clint Curtis, Bob Bowman, Kevin Zeese, Barry Kissin, Ron Paul and a handful of others, the corporately owned (fcc deregulated) mainstream media never lets them see the light of day unless they are being attacked by that media. It's time to know your candidate and ditch your party folks! I am a former democrat who switched to vote Ron Paul. No other candidate deserves my vote. Period. And no other will get it. This partisan thing is getting really old really fast and is neglecting the country which is being flushed down the toilet. Both demopublcans and republicrats have completely betrayed the will of the American people (which has been manipulated by fear mongering). They have only given way to more fear mongering and a bigger war state with no end in sight. We have gon from a rubber stamp congress to a rubber spine congress. There are 190 countries in this world and we occupy 130 (we have for decades). ARE WE ANY SAFER FOR IT??? Let's stop this party loyalty before our children wake up with nothing. LET'S VOTE FOR OUR KIDS. LET'S VOTE FOR AMERICA. Clint Curtis is the only candidate trying to expose election fraud (yep they're rigged. As a whistleblower he has inside information). Marginalized by his own party and ignored by MSM. Ron Paul is the only candidate trying to expose and stop The North American Union, Fed (owned by the international bankers who control our $ system), IRS, FBI, CIA. NAFTA, CAFTA, GATT, ICC, WTO, Real ID, Police state/war state, etc. Marginalized by his own party and attacked by MSM Cint Curtis For Congress Ron Paul For President That's how this lambs voting by tiffane (4 articles, 2 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 47 comments [1 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Saturday, Dec 29, 2007 at 2:10:19 PM (0+)
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Right On
Rob gets it very right. Bhutto assassination has all the trademarks of a CIA whack. Do I have evidence to support this? No. Just past performance. Shot groupings in Pat Tillman's head indicate he was executed by a sniper, not killed in a 'friendly fire' accident. he was taken out. Even after the truth came out, this was covered up by the MSM. Should have been banner headlines -- Tillman Murdered. But the MSM gets its marching orders from the NeoCons. And it's only getting worse. The latest FCC rules changes could eventually doom all alternative media and leave Murdoch and gannett in control of the message. And the America people pretty much have no clue even still. I had an e-mail correspondence with Helen Thomas wherein she indicated she knew the truth about 9-11 and was prevented from doing anything about it. The mention of the Clint Curtis campaign is an interesting one, because he likely did win in 2006 down in Florida. Curtis went door to door after the election collecting signed affadavits from voters showing how they really voted. needless to say, the results were way off from the official totals. And the Democratic-led congressional panel refused to even consider his election challenge. The Dems themselves are actively working to keep everything status quo. Perhaps they still just don't get just how bad the NeoCons are. I worry for John Edwards. If they don't rig the primaries and he actually wins, he will surely be assassinated by 'al Qaeda' just before the election, giving Bush reason to enact martial law and suspend the elections and keep this fake 'war on terror' going indefinitely. The mainstream media will parrot the official line and no one will ever dare raise the thought that the most likely suspects are at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Alan Colmes the other night was talking about not believing the government story on Bhutto's death. Yet he lacks the same inquisitiveness about the NeoCons and 9-11. I hope Kucinich is eliminated from the race quickly, because that way he'll get the 9-11 hearings he promised back on track. He obviously pulled them due to not wanting to rock the boat for his campaign. by Neoconvict (5 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 4 comments) on Saturday, Dec 29, 2007 at 2:43:54 PM (0+)
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