Observations. Inside the Oligarchy

The month of December represents my annual trip north and a highly anticipated reunion with family and friends during the holiday season. It's a welcome down time that brings a moment to catch up on the current state of Americana. This year was particularly interesting as I landed during the wake of a highly publicized, very contentious presidential election cycle. As expected, division greeted me upon arrival.

But this is nothing new—I make this observation every trip home. Clearly, this year was magnified given the election circus but that's to be expected when you consider the underlying dynamics at play. Think it through. An emotionally divided populace is a distraction and therefore, easier to manipulate when the overarching agenda is focused on a purposeful consolidation of wealth and power. And if this is the case, elections are an important component of the process because they embody the illusion of participation while maintaining order within the system.

Sure, the two parties represent recognizable differences but take note of how they are specifically focused on emotional issues that trigger predictable responses. Emotion obfuscates logic. Anger becomes contagious and blame turns inward. And as a diverted public fights among themselves over nuance, those with capital move forward, unimpeded and in control—a peculiar phenomenon when you consider a huge majority of the population is in agreement on most essential issues.

Policy vs. Reality: A Half-Century of Deception

If you doubt my analysis, go back and review all US policies of importance—foreign or domestic—over the past half century. How many have yielded a positive, meaningful impact on the common American citizen? Look at the charts, look at the statistics, look on the streets.

For an accurate point of reference, start with the ‘Reagan Revolution’ in 1980. Over the course of an eight year reign, Team Red tripled the national debt while claiming "Government was the problem, not the solution." And during those two terms, they spent most of their time selling the public a swindle—Trickle Down Economics — that produced the opposite of its promised results.

Next came Clinton and Team Blue. The one-time party of labor, environmental regulations and civil rights decided it was time they got in on the fun. First came NAFTA, followed by China's entry into the WTO, media consolidation via the Telecommunications Act and finally, their most nefarious deed of betrayal: the deregulation of Wall Street. The result? Three major crashes in the first two decades of the 21st century, followed by taxpayer-funded bailouts for the richest amongst us.

At the time, none of these corporate-friendly policies had a snowball's chance in hell of passing under the overtly pro-business Republicans because they had already tried and failed. But Clinton, representing the party of FDR, was able to sell them under the guise of benevolence. "It's going to work out, just give it some time."

Then came Bush and his illegal wars of aggression, the draconian Patriot Act, domestic spying and further privatization of the country's infrastructure—including the military. “Freedom Isn’t Free” became the meme of the decade as our constitutional rights were steadily eroded.

Bush’s debacle turned into Obama, Americas new Black Hope—surely a man of

the people given his racial complexity and humble roots as a community organizer. But nope. Hope died quickly as he handed the keys to his sponsors on Wall Street post housing Ponzi and then forced everyone to purchase private health insurance while spinning it as a Universal Plan. This, as the 'party of the people' held a super majority during its first years in power. The two wars he inherited turned into seven. The poverty rate reached 50 year highs.

Meanwhile, the national debt continued to double with each and every administration. Just like clockwork. The $800 billion assumed during Reagan´s first year ballooned to $20 trillion by the time Obama left for his celebrity life on Martha's Vineyard. Today, it stands around $36 trillion. And as debt rose, so did wealth inequality. The number of billionaires increased commensurately along with homelessness, mass shootings and environmental degradation. Mainstream media became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Fortune 100, ensuring its narrative purposefully favored those who benefited while aggravating those it did not. 

And then came Trump. The grand wrecking ball, or so he claimed. The man who sold himself as the new Team Red. A rebranded, reconfigured form of the Grand Old Party destined to drain the swamp of old and replace it with his kind of new. You know, those with money, seeking more. A billionaire who somehow convinced the working public he would side with them. But a massive tax cut for the wealthiest did nothing for those he promised and everything for the people he represented. The jobs never returned, debt continued to rise, wars festered, coups engaged.

Do you see a pattern here? 

Its the classic 'Good cop, Bad cop'. An act of attrition. A totalitarian tiptoe if you will. Kabuki theater for the masses delivered over time, promoted by a privatized media and sold through sophisticated methods of obfuscation magnified within a belief system that had been built upon decades of indoctrinated mythologies. An ingenious system of deception designed to slowly pickpocket the populace while distracting attention through massive dollops of bread and circus.

Without exception, each party (of the only two available) is elected and ultimately removed for failed promises. Rinse, repeat. The public remains frustrated but stubbornly blames each others' allegiance while never acknowledging the core of their angst is directly related to the system at large. One that embraces the total commodification of our planet (material and living), indentured servitude, monopolistic dominance, corporate welfare, wars for profit, and the purposeful destruction of anything resembling a constitutionally based, representative government that would prohibit all of the above.

Still not convinced?

Take a closer look at what just occurred and is currently taking place.

Trump was elected by focusing the public's ire on two points of contention-Immigration and inflation. But a quick review of the facts reveals both parties were equally complicit in the problems.

Immigration - Crippling economic sanctions levied upon Venezuela during the Obama administration in 2014, then exponentially enhanced by Trump in 2017, fomented a 10-year economic depression so devastating it forced a mass exodus of millions and eventual emigration to the United States. Venezuelan refugees represent the majority of current immigrant inflows. Of course, the business community will ever admit it was their desire for cheaper labor that initiated the problem at its root.

Inflation - Trump signed the Cares Act just before leaving office in an effort to bailout a crashing stock market and the Corporatized America it represents. To be clear, this was the purposeful printing of trillions (aka public debt) representing a number never imagined, let alone actualized. A grotesque windfall of money that became the nucleus of what experts accurately labeled the greatest shift of wealth in human history. And as expected, it eventually made its way into the macro economy causing the inflationary nightmare most are suffering today.

But upon occupation of the White House in 2021, the Biden Administration did nothing to halt the printing or stop corporate price gouging. He just doubled down. Trump's historic tax cuts for the wealthy were left untouched while unions stagnated. Minimum wage remained frozen at 20th-century levels. Private insurance corporations continued their practice of determining life or death. The issue of immigration (illegal or otherwise) was never properly addressed or worse,  purposefully ignored. Further, draconian policies during Covid including mandatory lock-downs proved lethal for small business while the vaccine circus fomented additional distrust of government.

Just more of the same.

And let’s be real—if the incumbent party in a two-party system can’t assume the predictable backlash of financing and supporting the brutal slaughter of women and children in the Gaza Strip—a purposeful attempt at cleansing an occupied, indigenous people from their land while trapped inside of an outdoor prison—then clearly, they do not represent the will of the people. 

So now it's back to Team Red and their self-anointed MAGA agenda. Never mind that slogan failed to materialize into anything of substance for those it was promised during Trumps first term but hey, this is America. Memories are selective.

From a neutral, analytical perspective, it appears the game is almost complete.

The national debt continues to rise in direct correlation with wealth inequality and currently exceeds the country's economic output. The top ten corporations have become more powerful than many nation states, with further consolidation inevitable. Privatization of the commons will increase exponentially along with a massive push to deregulate and dismantle all facets of government agencies-insuring the death of democracy and the collective will of the people.

The gloves are off and the Oligarchs are no longer interested in hiding their agenda. Trump installed thirteen billionaires inside of his administration because they paid to be there. Five more were given front row seats during his inauguration.

They have their interests. And none of them include you. 

Game, Set - Match?

“Be careful. When a democracy is sick, fascism comes to its bedside, but it is not to inquire about its health.”

― Albert Camus