Thursday, September 16, 2010

On Malaysia Day, a lesson from America...

There is a great deal we in Malaysia can learn from monitoring the economic and political flux in America - and no one better qualified to inspire us in the right direction than the magnificent Swami Beyondananda aka Steve Bhaerman...

Obama or Nobama, It’s Still Up to Us
September 15, 2010

By Steve Bhaerman

With Obama AWOL, the Evolutionary Up-Wising Must Proceed Without Him


“For the past generation, the Republicans have been playing hardball … and the Democrats have been playing hardly-have-balls.” ~ Swami Beyondananda

Well, what do you know? It’s happened again. The hopium has worn off, and in the sober light of morning we see that the white knight we hoped would save us (albeit a slightly darker white knight) has left us bereft. And our wallet is missing.

Progressives are bewailing the betrayal of progressive principles, but it’s worse than that. From the very first appointments – or should we say, disappointments – the Obama Administration installed more of the usual suspects instead of the unusual ones we had hoped for. The economic elites in power simply switched uniforms from red to blue. Bottom line, Obama bailed out Wall Street and bailed on Main Street.

True, the bail out was put in place by the Bush Administration. But it was given legitimacy by Obama, and in that one move Obama lost the independent voters who saw a glimmer of hope, a possibility that the unmitigated rule by the power of money could be counterbalanced, if not overcome.

He coulda been a contender. Instead, Obama took an apparent dive – and a bought us all a one-way ticket to palookaville. As to the “why,” take your choice. There is a really excellent article in the September, 2010 Vanity Fair that attributes Obama’s plight to a “broken Washington.” It’s a pretty inside-the-matrix analysis, but it’s valuable in showing the relationship between the American Devolution and the influence of money. In 2009, the article says, lobbyists spent $3.5 billion to leverage legislation. As an indication of how things have changed in just one “degeneration,” here is a quote from the article: “In the 1974 congressional elections, total spending on Senate and House races came to only $77 million. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, by 2008 the figure was $1.36 billion, with lobbyists providing a significant amount.”


In other words, Congressional campaigns cost seventeen times as much as they did 35 years ago. No wonder the Democrats have devolved into “Republican Lite.” They have felt obliged to follow the money instead of lead the conversation. As Ralph Nader wrote recently, “… the Democrats do not have a progressive philosophy.”

Other analyses are less forgiving, and portray Barack Obama as a Manchurian candidate riding the Trojan horse of “change” into the White House. A fact sheet distributed by St. Pete for Peace offers as much evidence as anyone needs to indicate that Obama’s prime allegiance is not to we the people but to the corporate state.

So … who or what is the real Obama? Is he an Aquarian visionary hamstrung by a dysfunctional system, or an inside player whose purpose all along was to low-jack progressivism on behalf of the corporate state?


And the answer is … it doesn’t matter.

It doesn’t matter because nothing could, would or will change without an independent political movement of “we the people.” Even Obama hinted at that during his campaign, telling the American people, “It’s about you.”

And now, nearly two years after the election, and more than a year-and-a-half since the inauguration, there is no independent citizens movement. We have the same third and fourth parties limping along, and the truth is we don’t need a new third party in America.

We need a new first party.

To have that, we must give up hopium, and end the dope addiction (i.e., our addiction to electing dopes who don’t really represent our true interests) that has so severely weakened the body politic that we the people have become a non-factor in governance, diverted from the real issues by bipolar politics and a media side-show.

Here is my declaration, prayer and intention:

May the 2010 mid-term election be the last bullshit election held in America.

May it be the last election, where “mosque-debating” obfuscates the real issues of who’s in charge, and who’s in charge of who’s in charge.


May it be the last election where people’s hard-earned money – not to mention the hardly-earned money spent by the economic elites – is used to perpetrate lies, distortions and manipulative misinformation.


May it be the last election where the mainstream corporate media calls the shots of what gets covered.


May it be the last election where only money talks, and where “free speech” is free – unless of course, you want it to be broadcast widely, in which case it costs lots and lots of money.


And the Good News Is…?

There is good news, folks … but only if WE make it.

[Read the rest here.]





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