If we, as a democratic society, believe that the inalienable rights of Man are a universal principle applicable to all persons everywhere, how are we not faulted for our government's consistent and perpetual violation of those rights in countless instances worldwide? Does a society as a whole bear responsibility for the actions of it's government? If so, is this due to a reflection of the society on it's government, and if not, is the opposite true? More properly propositioned, if the belief system upheld by a people is projected so inconsistently as to suppose it is no more than empty rhetoric, what then does a society take as the core of it's belief system--the truth or the propaganda?
These are critical questions, as much in the Collapsion as in any other Era. The citizens of the United States are often reminded that they have the freest and best society in the world, that theirs is a leading, if not the leading culture, and that their nation stands first economically, politically, militarily, and morally(all obvious contradictions to the previous notwithstanding--the argument is crude but not ungrounded). It isn't necessary to expand on these beliefs, or debunk them, because the average citizen has very little to directly compare their condition to, thus the factual basis of these ideas is never presented, or if they are, in a very broad and unimaginative exercise that pits plus against minus. If a Frenchman were told that his was the best and freest government in the entire world, he might balk. He might point out a number reasons why his society and government are in need of correction and repair and then continue by giving a list of differences between French society and other European societies that illustrated real ideological and cultural variations that may not necessarily be dressed up as a kind of "zero sum game".
There then is a clear indication of the "spin" involved in keeping the American rabble stable--keeping telling them they are #1 long enough and they will believe it. I have found that this is a remarkable knee-jerk reaction that US citizens often have whenever given constructive criticism about their society and government: But we're the greatest country in the world! Everyone wants to come here! We are the envy of the entire world! Even if our country has it's problems, we're still the best compared to any other government.
In order to understand how it is that such a murderous and destructive nation can honestly label itself a defender of democracy, we have to first understand that the US citizen will regard his country as almost faultless, and thus any pronouncements concerning the benevolence, humanitarianism, justice, and integrity of his country will be taken as instant truth--understandable, of course, because as we know, he has no reliable measure. In this case, atrocities can be refuted, mistakes admitted but explained, and ravages committed by corporate driven policy excused under the paper thin guises fed instantly to the voter via concentrated media. That the fruits of such inhumanity are to be found on store shelves everywhere only helps to reinforce the idea that whatever our leaders are doing , they must be doing it right. Thus, facts such as corporate profiteering, slave wages, murder, oppression, and money, money, money do not enter into any of the talking head discussions on television. It is always presented in "us against them" format on the reliable "zero sum game" model.
Yet, the American people absolutely believe they are free. They believe they should be free and that other people should be also. They often cite the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, they vote in strong enough numbers to somewhat validate the system as a whole, and as much as they are repeatedly failed by those they elect to office, they labor doggedly on under numerous taxes, gross injustices, and outright criminal enterprises built around them.
So then, the government is clearly NOT a reflection of the society, and thus the people do not bear responsibility for the crimes of their government. Moreover, the fact that a massive, multi-billion-dollar media machine exists to not only mask these crimes but excuse them when presented only further absolves the citizen of complicity. Yes, they have lost freedom of speech and expression. Yes, they have lost freedom of religion and freedom of privacy. Yes, they have lost the right to a trial by a jury of their peers. Still they will insist on their freedoms being real, being true, being inviolable. For this reason, who can blame them for not questioning the truths of their belief system? And when they do, what is the answer? Keep voting!
On the left and right alike there has been of late the tendency to list "what must be done" in order to "fix" the problems in the US. Often these are tweaks, fine-tunes, and bandages. Sometimes they are grandiose shifts in overall governmental focus or outright abandonment of whole departments and whole laws already active, or, as one commentator put it, "a change in the spiritual and progressive values of our representatives in Congress."
This is comical. In all cases, basic human nature is taken completely out of the equation, as if these problems we have today with the economy, with the law, with the military, with corporate power, and with foreign entanglements are just a series of "miscues" or blunders that our blinded leaders stumbled into. At one moment these folks are detailing the hierarchy of political corruption extending from the mayors office to the White House, and the next minute they are naively painting a picture of potential bliss if we could just "pass the right laws" and "elect the right people".
They can not face the truth of the matter.
The truth is that even as the US populace stands firm in it's belief in it's own freedom, it has already lost. It is as if one were drowning because they refused to believe they mortal(how could I be drowning if I'm immortal?) Thus, it is very easy for the worst and most vile atrocities to pass unnoticed and unchallenged because the herd is tamed, or maybe just drugged with beer, cars, football, skirts, Facebook, and any number of other entertainments of an edible, material, audible, or visual nature. They aren't paying attention because their attention is too often diverted--by design.
When a society is fed all the most carnal stimuli to replace independent thought, deepest Reason, and meaningful Spiritual contemplation, it means that the weight of absolute evil bearing down on them from above is eating away at their very existence. It means that those in control are employing every means possible to keep them cowed, deluded, obedient, and passive.
It means the game is over.
It means the bad guys won.
It means that the "masters of the universe" have finally achieved "the end of history".
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