Americans have serious problems to sort out sooner than later. The problem with our problems is that they are so ill-defined by the mainstream media (TV, radio, print) upon which too many of us depend for our news diets. So the first order of business is to accept that the mainstream media is no longer a reliable source for relevant, need-to-know information. In fact, much news is deliberately manipulated, crafted, and often contrived to elicit a specific response from consumers, one designed to benefit the agenda(s) of an increasingly apparent goal - globalization.
If Americans are to successfully address our problems, we must first define, then simplify terms; we need to get on the same page, even if we disagree on ideology, policy, etc. By defining terms, we can better understand the issues, communicate our ideas, and allow meaningful solutions to percolate for implementation. The mainstream media is deliberately vague and devoid of solutions of any kind, allowing each of us to individually fill in the blanks, and giving us infinite meanings and very little to actually agree on together. It is a strategy that has been working beautifully on the American people, keeping us continually divided and impotent.
First, we have to agree on exactly what we mean by globalization, and who is behind it (i.e., who benefits the most from aggregating nations' resources). The "who" also needs to be clarified. Referring to the elite, one percent, corporations/monopolies, government, United Nations, liberals, conservatives, progressives, communitarians, immigrants, illegals, right wing, left wing, extremists, terrorists, etc., is convenient rhetoric for the mainstream media to keep us blaming general somethings, but never specific someones - again, leaving us impotent to even find a starting point for each of us, as individual Americans, to create change.
We need to start identifying the real culprits. For example, not all bank employees are banksters, but certainly the leadership of the large central banks and finance-sector cartels are culpable for privatizing profits and socializing losses. This is true for most of the leadership of the mega corporations in each of the primary industries on the globe. Not all leaders of corporations are in the one percent. In fact, the number of actual culprits is not as large as we might imagine. And not all are part of mega-corporations; some are leaders in academia, foundations, associations, unions, and of course, the leadership comprised of politicians and bureaucrats in the planets' numerous governments, regardless of political structure or ideological direction.
It is vital to understand that every single U.S. government entity - whether a city, county, township, borough, state, region, judicial district, or the United States itself - is a registered corporation in and of itself, with assets, liabilities, and a Dunn & Bradstreet number. Understanding this structural relationship is critical in understanding how so much financial criminality is occurring with few to no consequences. It is time for Americans to stop blaming corporations over governments because governments are corporations. And it is time for Americans to stop blaming government over corporations because corporations are government. The two socioeconomic structures are connected in every way, like a two-headed snake. The left and right are two wings of the same bird of prey, and political differences portrayed by the mainstream media are pure theatre.
Most of the commentary we hear on mainstream media is carefully crafted rhetoric that is almost all opinion, and very little actual, informative substance. Our minds, and too often our hearts, are directed to thoughts and opinions based on so little factual data that it is akin to mind control. We allow it because it is the path of least resistance: easy, convenient, not burdensome, requiring very little response or action on our part. No society can live free, let alone thrive, with so little actual engagement in its civic/political processes - whether local, state, or national - by its populace.
Never forget that it will be our generation, those of us who are alive today, that will bear the legacy of lethargy, apathy, and the demise of the unprecedented American Republic [not a democracy] under the rule of law. It is we early 21st-Century Americans who will be credited with the abdication of stewardship over a concept of governance based on individual equality under the law, where majorities cannot infringe on minorities' rights, and whose Constitution expressly restrains any government from the same.
Which brings me to the second problem: the insidious replacement of Common Law with Administrative Procedure Law in every level of government - local, state, and federal. It is Administrative Procedure Law that allows the pervasive rule-making by agencies for the larger purpose of creating revenue streams for the public sector. It is Administrative Procedure Law that gives ever-increasing authority to public-sector bureaucrats over American lives, including penalties and fines that can take our individual liberties and resources. Most of this authority is patently unconstitutional and is contributing to our government morphing from an agency of protection to one of suppression and lawlessness.
Americans should know that when Congress passed the Affordable Healthcare Act (Obamacare), they also delegated complete authority for rule-making without congressional oversight. Congress itself does not have the authority to give up its own oversight. The U.S. Constitution protects us from such illegal acts, but only if the American people challenge the legislators if such criminal conduct occurs.
The federal judiciary cannot be counted on to uphold the Constitution on behalf of "we the people" because it is a federal branch of government in favor of more government control, not less. This explains the countless rulings that have upheld lawless acts of Congress and the various federal agencies over the decades. It would be like asking your own father to rule on a dispute between you and your neighbor. Who do you think he will favor in such a circumstance?
We the people have enormous power and standing in our own governance, but we must choose to act on it, engage in it, and participate with it. If we ignore our own part in the American governing equation, what else but predatory interests should we expect to prevail?
We have all heard of the power of the purse. We can choose not to do business with entities that are contrary to our interests - or, conversely, we can greatly support those entities that support our interests, whether financially or with volunteerism of time. We have all also heard of the power of the vote. We do not have to wait for legislation to impose term limits. We can impose our own in the voting booths: one term for Senators, three for House Representatives - no exceptions. At a minimum, never forget that when an elected official (most especially a state legislator, county supervisor, or city councilman) violates his or her oath of office by not protecting your rights, we can vote him or her out, regardless of political-party affiliation. It is we voters who consistently give these politicians a pass and reelect them, over and over again, based on nothing more than party considerations. Most voters have no clue what business their legislators are conducting on a daily basis. Why do you think the two-party system has such influence and does all it can to keep us as divided as possible? The real truth is that most American voters are much closer on issues than we know, but the mainstream media's concentrated efforts to keep us blaming one party over the other keeps us from realizing all the common ground and finding real solutions.
The power of our individual vote is total leverage. The career politicians want one thing more than the the limitless funds the special interests provide: they want to be reelected. Nothing matters more to most of these men and women. If each really believed he or she would be held truly accountable, no amount of special-interest pressure could persuade them to continue acting against the people. Which brings me to problem number 3: the corruption of American elections. We must all engage in ensuring that America's voting system is clean, honest, and 100-percent accountable and auditable. If we do nothing else, each of us can at least contribute to this effort. Visit BlackBoxVoting.org to familiarize yourself with the serious threat(s) to our elections at every level of government.
If we individually commit to recognizing the vast manipulation and misdirection of the mainstream media, and allow ourselves to define terms together, we will be on our way to saving our future.
