Like Theocrats and Plutocrats, Racists persist in pushing their notions of superiority. Consequently, and unfortunately, it didn't take long for racism to raise its ugly head again. In 1973 it was openly avowed by a Southern rock band that defiantly displayed the Confederate flag on concert stages. In fact they even sang a song with lyrics that supported the racist segregationist Governor George Wallace, and dismissed a notable progressive (Neil Young) who had condemned Southern racism in his own song, Southern Man.
That sparked a Southern Pride movement, and since then it gradually spawned the Neo-Confederacy and New Dixie movement, which is openly nostalgic for days of the Antebellum South prior to the Civil War.
That movement then merged with a concerted movement combining Reaganism, Libertarianism, the Neo-Confederacy and right-wing conservative evangelical "Christian" Dominionism. In the political arena it is cloaked by a "patriotic and religious" guise, and it avoids revealing or showing any hint of racism or class distinctions. In fact, it is touted as being driven by "the people," and its proponents thump their bible as they wave the flag.
Its hero and champion is the late Ronald Reagan, or, more accurately, the image of Ronald Reagan that Reaganites have carefully built over the last three decades. That is why, after several decades of pushing right-wing Reaganite propaganda with all its trimmings, that whole movement has succeeded. It is what controls the U.S. Government now.
Our Current Situation and How to Progress Forward
Now in the Summer of 2015 it is painfully apparent to most Americans that the U.S. Government has failed its people in order to favor and provide entitlement and privileges to the wealthiest few.
That fact is obvious to the great majority, even though the great majority is obviously not yet aware of exactly how and why things got this bad, or how bad things really are for many Americans.
Because the propaganda of Reaganism and The Reaganite "Gospel of Prosperity" has so thoroughly convinced mainstream America of its "rightness," most Americans are not yet aware of just how wrong America has become.
That is why Americans must awaken to the truth and learn how we the people can fix it, because there are innovative new legal ways to demand and establish needed reforms. And, if those ways are unsuccessful, once again progressives of every color may have to resort to mass civil disobedience. However, we should be very cognizant of how we should proceed.
If new legal ways do fail and we are forced to resort to civil disobedience, it should be in the same non-violent, peaceful way that Martin Luther King, Jr. espoused -- the way of the peaceful, passive martyr who speaks truth to power regardless of the consequences -- the way of Jesus of Nazareth, the Mahatma Mohandas Gandhi, and Reverend Doctor King.
That is the best way, because it makes observers sympathetic to the demonstrators' cause. It does not give police any excuse for being violent. And, if police do react with violence, it exposes their unfairness and blatant abuse of power.
Of course, we also need to be cognizant of how and why our situation now is different than it was in the 1960s. After all, the commercial network news media is now biased in favor of government (even though it is wrong), and the law enforcement and criminal justice system has been rigged -- just as the whole political economic system has been rigged -- in favor of the wealthiest few and to the detriment of the great majority, and especially to the detriment of the working poor and poor minority populations.
That is why a populist movement to liberate and empower the people must be based not only on an educated assessment of the present reality, but also on an educated view of the past, and an educated view of how a brighter future may be established.
The Truth: The Best "Ammunition" For The War of Words
As has been said, "the sword of my mouth" can be far more effective than lethal weapons, just as the pen can ultimately prove mightier than the literal sword. Believe it or not, the truth can prevail over all the false beliefs and prejudices that divide us. But, the truth must be told in the right way. And the narrative must reveal the full picture so that the great majority can see it.
The truth is that under the Reaganite Police State, protesters and demonstrators are at risk. And while we can mitigate that risk by obeying all laws and ordinances and being smart about speaking truth to those in power, it will help if we fully understand how and why we are in this predicament.
The American law enforcement and the criminal justice systems are rigged in large part because in 1984, in order to quell and discourage dissent, and ostensibly to establish "law and order," President Ronald Reagan produced the unforgiving and inflexible legislation known as the Comprehensive Crime Control Act.
"Big Brother" laid down the law as he thought it should be, and he was able to do it because he had been very carefully groomed as a charming television pitch man who could disguise the fact that he was a right-wing partisan ideologue, and instead appear as a fellow citizen who wanted the best for you. That is why he became Governor of California and President of the United States.
That sparked a Southern Pride movement, and since then it gradually spawned the Neo-Confederacy and New Dixie movement, which is openly nostalgic for days of the Antebellum South prior to the Civil War.
That movement then merged with a concerted movement combining Reaganism, Libertarianism, the Neo-Confederacy and right-wing conservative evangelical "Christian" Dominionism. In the political arena it is cloaked by a "patriotic and religious" guise, and it avoids revealing or showing any hint of racism or class distinctions. In fact, it is touted as being driven by "the people," and its proponents thump their bible as they wave the flag.
Its hero and champion is the late Ronald Reagan, or, more accurately, the image of Ronald Reagan that Reaganites have carefully built over the last three decades. That is why, after several decades of pushing right-wing Reaganite propaganda with all its trimmings, that whole movement has succeeded. It is what controls the U.S. Government now.
Our Current Situation and How to Progress Forward
Now in the Summer of 2015 it is painfully apparent to most Americans that the U.S. Government has failed its people in order to favor and provide entitlement and privileges to the wealthiest few.
That fact is obvious to the great majority, even though the great majority is obviously not yet aware of exactly how and why things got this bad, or how bad things really are for many Americans.
Because the propaganda of Reaganism and The Reaganite "Gospel of Prosperity" has so thoroughly convinced mainstream America of its "rightness," most Americans are not yet aware of just how wrong America has become.
That is why Americans must awaken to the truth and learn how we the people can fix it, because there are innovative new legal ways to demand and establish needed reforms. And, if those ways are unsuccessful, once again progressives of every color may have to resort to mass civil disobedience. However, we should be very cognizant of how we should proceed.
If new legal ways do fail and we are forced to resort to civil disobedience, it should be in the same non-violent, peaceful way that Martin Luther King, Jr. espoused -- the way of the peaceful, passive martyr who speaks truth to power regardless of the consequences -- the way of Jesus of Nazareth, the Mahatma Mohandas Gandhi, and Reverend Doctor King.
That is the best way, because it makes observers sympathetic to the demonstrators' cause. It does not give police any excuse for being violent. And, if police do react with violence, it exposes their unfairness and blatant abuse of power.
Of course, we also need to be cognizant of how and why our situation now is different than it was in the 1960s. After all, the commercial network news media is now biased in favor of government (even though it is wrong), and the law enforcement and criminal justice system has been rigged -- just as the whole political economic system has been rigged -- in favor of the wealthiest few and to the detriment of the great majority, and especially to the detriment of the working poor and poor minority populations.
That is why a populist movement to liberate and empower the people must be based not only on an educated assessment of the present reality, but also on an educated view of the past, and an educated view of how a brighter future may be established.
The Truth: The Best "Ammunition" For The War of Words
As has been said, "the sword of my mouth" can be far more effective than lethal weapons, just as the pen can ultimately prove mightier than the literal sword. Believe it or not, the truth can prevail over all the false beliefs and prejudices that divide us. But, the truth must be told in the right way. And the narrative must reveal the full picture so that the great majority can see it.
The truth is that under the Reaganite Police State, protesters and demonstrators are at risk. And while we can mitigate that risk by obeying all laws and ordinances and being smart about speaking truth to those in power, it will help if we fully understand how and why we are in this predicament.
The American law enforcement and the criminal justice systems are rigged in large part because in 1984, in order to quell and discourage dissent, and ostensibly to establish "law and order," President Ronald Reagan produced the unforgiving and inflexible legislation known as the Comprehensive Crime Control Act.
"Big Brother" laid down the law as he thought it should be, and he was able to do it because he had been very carefully groomed as a charming television pitch man who could disguise the fact that he was a right-wing partisan ideologue, and instead appear as a fellow citizen who wanted the best for you. That is why he became Governor of California and President of the United States.
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