"You look well," said the Mad Hatter to the White Rabbit.
"I'm medicated," whispered the Rabbit. "I should buy stock in Big Pharma." A sigh. "I miss you at the group re-education sessions--I mean group therapy."
The Hatter chucked. "Honesty is not always the best policy, my dear bunny."
"Well, I need your help," the Rabbit said. "Thanks for coming to my rabbit hole. I don't know what's up or down any more."
"That's exactly where you're supposed to be. As former CIA Director William Casey so succinctly put it, 'We'll know our disinformation program is a success when everything the American public believes is false.'"
The Rabbit shook his head. "I miss the world I grew up in. Yes, I know it was just as corrupt behind the scenes, but I miss believing in a good present and a better future. And the Easter Bunny."
The Hatter gestured towards the Rabbit's sofa. "Well, how about you lie down there and tell Uncle Sigmund all about it. I picked up a few counseling tricks in the funny farm, you know."
The Rabbit plopped on to his couch and began, "I don't really think I'm crazy. But things are going down the rabbit hole. I think the world that I'd like to see back--or just see--is a good old Northern European social democracy."
"What does that mean to you?"
"Well, first off, peace. No more war. No more empires, colonization, genocide. We take the trillions of dollars going to the War Industry and return it to 'We, the people of the United States of America'. We build homes for everyone, even if they're small. We provide Medicare for all, prevention and treatment, free and low-cost. We take drug prices out of the hands of pharmaceutical companies and tie them to the minimal cost of manufacture--illness and injury should not be profit industries. We rebuild our infrastructure, repave roads and fix bridges and tunnels, expand public transportation and green automobile alternatives, such as electric cars; and transition to environmentally safer energy sources such as water, wind, and solar. We fund schools that provide good educations in English, Math and Science, History, and the Arts, as well as teach critical thinking; and we fund and pay for teachers at a level that demonstrates their value to our society and our future generations. We provide day care and after school programs that engage children and keep them safe, while their parents have safe and rewarding jobs near their homes that provide enough income to afford to feed, clothe, and house their family. We re-energize struggling neighborhoods by providing supportive police and social services. We legalize all drug and substance use, and channel overuse and mental health issues to high-quality medical resources for help. Prisons should not be run for profit and should remain a last resort only for violent offenders who risk others' life and limb."
"You mean you don't want to see all the crooks in Washington as guests of the Prison Industry?"
"Actually, no. White collar criminals and crooked politicians would be better 're-educated' by losing all of their ill-gotten gains--returning all the money to the public coffers--and being required to wear an ankle bracelet and live in under-served communities to rebuild the communities that their .001% pillaging has destroyed."
"So you think the threat of living among the hoi polloi would keep them on the straight and narrow?" The Hatter's tone was dripping with sarcasm.
"Hey, this is my fantasy. You're just supposed to listen. So, jobs for all in the USA. Healthcare, Housing, Education--did I say free college tuition? A clean and green environment. Flourishing arts, music, philosophy, literature. Freedom for religion and from religion. Pristine parkland and clean seas. No fracking. No oil. Local governments in which community participation leads the way to responsive and responsible leadership."
The Hatter yawned. "Look, I only have 50 minutes here. Where's the Beef?"
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