Saturday, November 12, 2016

The Revenge Of The Forgotten Class

This is a powerful article. Honestly, it’s heart-breaking on many levels. The suffering and social abandonment of well more than one hundred million Americans. And, the similar abandonment and exploitation around the world is just mind boggling. 

One interesting note in this article is that Trump won the white working-class vote by 40%.  That is an unprecedented rout. Literally. I’d like to expound upon this a little bit given I have talked about the ego, attachment, loss, etc. on here as it pertains to economics and sociology. ie, That those who experience a sense of loss would be those who revolt against this system.

As noted on here in the past, if a person never has something, they cannot become attached to it. (ego) So, there there is no sense of loss or any of the emotional responses to loss.  A substantial amount of the African-American population in this nation has never had the opportunities of an ownership society or to own property to any substantial degree as they have dealt with endless social violence in the form of denial of access to capital. (Private, for-profit banks, corporate capitalism and the state.)  Although, to be fair, there is no other nation on earth that has given people of color so much opportunity for ownership.  But, my point is that the state has denied a large amount of the African-American population their democratic rights and that has meant there is no loss of attachment and the associated emotions in a large swath of the African-American population. So,  much of that population is easily controlled by class and hierarchy through institutionalized fear and demagogy or state violence.  ie, Because they have been denied their own self-determinism, they have been forced into subjugation of state policies. The 1960s black movement clearly had this at their core. Martin Luther King was one element of that movement but there were other more radical, and frankly, more truthful members of that movement who clearly understood their oppressors and sought their own determinism. Many of those people are not well-known. But, one I respect and admire for his stand against the state was Malcom X.

Similarly, immigrants throughout our nation’s history have generally come from repressive regimes and, thus, have never had access to any type of ownership society or any individual rights to speak of.  So, they are also easily controlled by the state. We see that all throughout history as well as today.  At first, Europen immigration to the Americas was to escape state violence and have an opportunity to lead a life unfettered by the state.  (There was also  forced capture by the state as were European indentured servants, African slaves and later, Asian and Latino slavery.)

But, since this land became a nation state, a major driver for immigration, first from repressive Europe, and then other repressive cultures, is the need for forced labor or slave labor required by corporations, class and hierarchy (the state).  Immigrants generally come to this nation with nothing and, thus, are easily controlled and, thus, forced into wage slavery by class and hierarchy. That is the major driver for the massive central and south American immigration swell in the last thirty years as this country has been completely taken over by corporate capitalism. (As noted many times, Ronald Reagan, deregulated private, class-based capital. And Clinton deregulated its borders. Deregulating private, class-based, for-profit capital has created a society where more than half of the people in this country are clearly economic slaves.)

But, then you have a white, working-class population that has experienced some degree of opportunity for ownership, property and economic success. (This group also includes people of color regardless of ethnicity. But, the majority are white simply because of demographics and historical state violence.) This population is experiencing massive loss of attachment to what they once had and what has been stripped from them by their masters. (the state or class and hierarchy) So, they are experiencing a massive sense of loss to that attachment. The law of large numbers, through population demographics, places white working-class Americans squarely in the largest voting block within this space.  That is what is driving much of the rage and attempts of bargaining with this system that led to the complete voting repudiation of Washington and the election of Donald Trump.  It is the people who experienced some modicum of success and the attachment to what they once had who are fueling this revolt. And, mind you, as I have noted for years, well before any of the social dynamics started revealing themselves, we are in the midst of a second revolution in this country. And, rightly or wrongly, they have selected Donald Trump to wage that war against the state.

I’m just completely amazed at how Godless people are in this world. That’s what I take away from this ProPublica article. The complete lack of empathy and concern or connection to their fellow man. The more successful someone is economically, (Spends their lives grubbing for money and power) the more Godless they are. This is exactly what Soviet dissident, Andre Amalrik, wrote about in his prophetic book in the late 1960s that predicted the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union.  He wasn’t many years off in that prediction either. Amalrik noted that the professional class enriches itself through the state. (State violence) And, thus, will almost never be the source of truth or the change necessary for humanity to be free of the state. And we see their pathological self everywhere.  They literally can’t believe Donald Trump won the elction. (The mainstream media, the political establishment, Hollywood, the ruling economic elite, etc.)

This country is definitely divided and those who experience any level of success are almost all holding onto their attachment of the system as it exists today. (ego)  This will ultimately lead to their own suffering as the system eventually abandons them as well. And, the systemic contradictions of corporate capitalism, including the inherent violence of class and hierarchy and the inherent violence of a system based on competition creates, will essentially create its own demise. This system, like all state created isms (capitalism, socialism, communism, fascism, militarism, corporatism, etc) will destroy itself regardless of any bargaining and emotions associated with attachment that we are currently witnessing today. Whether that bargaining is with those who supported Clinton or Trump.

“A life is either all spiritual or not spiritual at all. No man can serve two masters. Your life is shaped by the end you live for. You are made in the image of what you desire.” – Thomas Merton

What does everyone do every day they wake up in this country? They grub for money. Not because that is necessarily what they want to do, although corporate capitalism and the state glorifies grubbing for money because that is the only way moochers and parasites (class and hierarchy or the state) is able to strip humanity of its surplus value. Or, pathologically steal from the productive capabilities of humanity. 

People grub for money because this system, or any system of class, forces them to do it. This, as noted on here in past posts, was the reason why the Jews viewed the Roman Emperor as the anti-Christ. And Roman money to be the mark of the beast. Money is a control system or institution of the ego. It is the mechanism through which the state forces humanity into economic submission and slavery and then strips them of their labor and their wit. It forces humanity to serve mammon rather than our own self-determined, inner guidance system or our higher power.

posted by TimingLogic at 12:57 PM