Shadows of Government: Top Secret America, A Leftist Cabal, and Corporate Deception (Part 1 of 2)
Nick CarrawayGeorge Orwell once wrote "To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle."
As the prescient author of 1984 predicted, it is harder than ever for the average citizen to stay watchful of what's happening in our world even when the need for vigilance has never been greater. Americans as a whole are a very busy people, and as such, we all cherish any free time we get at the end of the day. What adult doesn't feel the pressure to hold down a job and secure personal success in a weak economy? What parent doesn't face a struggle to raise a stable family in a world filled with distractions and mindless entertainment? What good citizen doesn't recognize the constant effort needed to protect ourselves and our children from the threats of immorality and lawlessness? Amidst this hectic daily existence, it is natural to feel that we deserve some “me time”, a few hours to tune out from what's happening in our country and stop worrying. Do not make this mistake! The handwriting is already on the wall.
Aside from our personal challenges, an American only has to look at the news to see even more reasons for concern. On a national scale, our country is presented with the vague threats of terrorism, endless wars, economic collapse, environmental disasters, disease epidemics, intrusive technology, and much more. Like it or not, we have to rely on larger institutions of government to help us manage all these dangers while we focus on our daily lives. This pact between citizen and state is usually referred to as a social contract, which must be a balanced agreement with certain rules. If citizens violate the laws of the state, they forfeit their personal liberties, and if the state treads on the personal liberties of the citizen, it forfeits the consent of the governed.
More than any other nation in world history, America has made this social contract a success by upholding the rule of law while mindfully safeguarding the rights of the individual against those who would abuse the powers of the state. However, in this current period in our nation's existence, the potential for the loss of personal liberties looms larger in the background of our lives than ever before. Therefore, it is the duty of the average citizen to hold the leaders of our democratic republic to the terms of the social contract that our founder's envisioned. If these terms have been violated, if the balance of power has shifted too far in favor of the state, and if the general will of the people is no longer being served, then we as Americans have a responsibility to renegotiate our social contract through the process of elections and the legislative reform.
But who has time to worry about the theory and practice of politics when our lives seem more stressful than ever before? Consider the possibility that all this stress and anxiety has been purposefully imposed upon us. What if your inclination to check out and take a mental holiday during the crucial months right before a congressional election is exactly what the statists in power want you to do? It may sound like a paranoid conspiracy theory, but more and more evidence comes out everyday that suggests this is not the time to stop paying attention to those who exercise control over our lives.
In America, there are three traditional branches of governmental power; the judiciary, the legislature and the executive branch. Contrary to the visions of our country's founders' who wished for citizen statesmen, most of the individuals working in government have become career politicians, and we now have a de facto ruling class. The bureaucracy and spending of our Federal Government has grown exponentially under the Bush and Obama Administrations, but ironically our leaders' ability to be productive and beneficial to the average American seems to diminish year after year. A recent Gallup poll shows Congress' approval rating at a paltry 11%, the lowest of any year since the poll began in 1973.
This severe lack of confidence in our elected representatives does not seem to stem from a lack of activity either. Congress continues to craft new legislation, but a large majority of dissatisfied American people view its recent offerings as at worst, underhanded attempts to expand government's control and at best, further complications to our already overly litigious society. It is no accident that we continually see new massive laws passed, but never any repealed. It is no accident that we see the same politicians who voted for public policy disasters in the past still in office when it comes time to clean up the messes that they, in part, created.
With so many complex laws on the books and career politicians on the beltway, it is as if the kitchen sink in Washington is clogged up and the garbage disposal is broken. The American government keeps piling up the dirty dishes of society, scrubbing them with soapy new laws and spongy bureaucracy, but without ever bothering to flush out the old dishwater down the drain. The dirty water now has nowhere to go but overflow into the aprons of the American people and flush out their wallets.
In truth, the government may wish to remain so blatantly ineffective for two reasons. First, those in the ruling class are happy with the status quo because they continue to make a nice tax payer supported salary without having to work as much as the rest of us. Secondly, entrenched politicians know that when the average voter becomes disillusioned with the bad news coming out of Washington and more distracted by their own problems, the result is general apathy about the social contract. When a climate of political apathy takes hold, voters tend to freely give their consent to be governed without staying informed and without even a general sense of whether or not the state is holding up their end of the bargain.
If the statists in power see people withdrawing from the political process, do they urge more participation from the citizenry? Certainly not! Rather they encourage disillusionment and distraction by changing the national discussion to frivolous topics and fabricated controversies. This strategy is taking place right now (notice how the Race card is being thrown around by both sides) and if successful by the November elections, the ruling class will have once again consolidated the power of the state, which must come by wresting away individual liberties from a distracted citizenry.
So, if we accept as truth even a fraction of the duplicity of the ruling class as described above, logic begs that the serious observer ask a dangerous question or two. What behind-the-scenes powerful people are supporting our visible, but ineffectual leaders' grab at more governmental authority? And who benefits from the change? In other words, who is really running the show?
A careful look at last week's news items suggest that behind the traditional bodies of federal power, there lurk three shadow branches of government. These are the military-intelligence-industrial complex, multi-national corporations and the ideological arms of Academia and the Mainstream Media; all working in conjunction with the ruling class in order to protect and expand the power of the state.
It is understandable that after the last sentence some of you might dismiss this blogger as a nut-job, and stop reading. But before you give up and go back to listening to mash-ups of the Mel Gibson tapes, consider the following two questions. Where do top business leaders, military and intelligence commanders, elite journalists and professors go for employment once they reach the top of their careers? Most likely they become politicians, get a cushy government job appointment, work as lobbyists, or settle into a public policy think tank. And secondly, what do most politicians and bureaucrats do after they leave their government jobs? That answer is simple: most don't leave until they're forced out. Even then, they can become public speakers hired to give speeches at business conventions or be pundits for the cable news media outlets. So if the powerful in the private sector and the powerful in government manage to stay powerful by reserving lucrative jobs for each other, does it still sound like a conspiracy theory? If you're still here, check back tomorrow to see recent examples of each of the shadow branches current activities.
Reader Comments (2)
I read an interesting article this week about the evaporating middle class and perhaps that is part of the conspiracy theory you present. I will write on it later this week or next, but I am not falling head of heels for your notions.
Democracy is an ugly thing that ebbs and flows with market capitalism. The ideas you present are quite coherent and I do not hear a rant that is far from the line of logic used to decide basic actions.
Democracy and the power to vote, even eschewed by lobbies and bloated polticians, makes us all responsible for the state. We can not take a hands off approach and I think you view to try to comprehend some of the forces that formulate policy is healthy and rewarding, especially when important elections are held twice a year. We need to think about government as much as we think about our own finances or retirement.
The power of the individual is important, especially when in comes to protection of rights of speech, which we do here, and opportunity. But what I worry about and I think is your concern, is that the power of the state, if run by a few, can erode the individual psyche to a point where they become wards of the state, and not active members fighting, in a civilized manner, to create their future.
So much is about balance and coherency. Conspiracy theories attack the transperancy of some organizations, right or wrong, because they seem to be undermining information needed to protect our rights. It is dangerous when press and news come from too few sources or when people stop actively searching for truth.
I like the post because it is actively looking for truth, practicing free thought, and making others aware of ideas, regardless of how painful or perhaps, idiotic, they may seem. I look forward to the second part of the argument and then maybe I will confirm your insanity.
A very fine blog, well thought out and with the occasional tart riposte for humor ( Mel Gibson tapes )
However, there are a few points with which I disagree. Difficulty in staying informed due to a busy life is actually a very poor excuse for not keeping up with current political events. Try that the next time a cop stops you and you say you just didn't know and you might hear the age old cliche " Ignorance of the law is no excuse"
It is the civic duty of every citizen to stay informed and it is both his duty and privilege to vote his values from an informed position. Take a walk through any National Cemetery and you can see the price paid for this privilege. The citizen-patriot today actually has it easier finding the truth and staying informed than ever before ( Internet, uncensored talk radio, publications, etc.)
In addition, the idea that stress and anxiety has been imposed on us to keep us from making intelligent and informed votes might make conspiracy theorists smile, but it is not only a weak and unsupportable argument but gives the power brokers a free ride for more sinister ambitions. Too, the current administration has more nefarious goals than just making " a nice tax payer supported salary without having to work as much as the rest of us", and keeping us in "general apathy about the social contract".
Obama is intent on radical change for America. Rather than supporting individual freedom, capitalism, and the core values of our Founding Fathers,this administration's goal is to make America a Socialist country with every vestige of God removed from the public square. All in the name of tolerence, of course.