Linguistic Plaster

     If we examine the fundamental causes of the problems we face in society, we discover that a vast majority are technical. Technical problems require technical solutions; not some corporate-owned, preselected politician's opinion, which is based on subjective, biased notions almost always constructed as a product, and within the context, of a monetary system. Hence, politics, and thus government itself, becomes virtually meaningless when money buys the opinions which are passed on to the general public as near-empirical or immutable. And, so we arrive at an understanding that there is no such thing as "freedom of choice" in any monetary system. Instead, we are presented with a pre-selected wall of choices or set of politicians that we are forced to “choose” from. "Republicans" and "Democrats" are practically one and the same; the only difference being the degree by which individuals claiming such categorical dispositions agree on the same, irrelevant rhetoric. Beyond the obvious, "democracy" has never existed anywhere on Earth; it is simply an illusion perpetuated by the established institutions of this world (mainly the Banks) in order to maintain a systematic exploitative scheme which keeps the slave-public ignorant, misinformed and complacent in regards to the belief that we actually participate. Did you vote on the space program? Did you vote on the educational system? Did you vote on the bailout for the banks; the transportation infrastructure; the energy infrastructure; the war in Iraq; the war in Afghanistan? No—you did not. So, where the hell is your participation?

     In a “true” democracy, we would see 5,000 or more different political parties with an endless series of political, cultural, educational, religious, and societal views—not just two. Everyone could participate because everyone, young, old and everything in between, has the capacity to contribute. But, when politics exists in a monetary-based economic system, lobbying and campaign contributions, which constitute billions of dollars per year, create an inherently corrupt atmosphere in which opinions are given the precedence of “value” over accumulated, relevant data. And so, corruption becomes pervasive throughout society because propaganda is constantly shifted around as factual; especially in today’s technically oblivious social structure which seems to consist of a series of acronyms, initial-isms, and 140-character, grammatically incorrect discourse that is nothing more than the direct product of any industry’s key component—marketing; specifically, the marketing of ignorance-inducing infotainment, competition and inferiority.

     Our society in the United States conditions us to consistently instill within ourselves the idea that it is far better to believe or to have “faith” in something or someone than to actually know something ourselves. Furthermore, we are taught to believe that everyone is entitled to his or her opinion—which, when viewed objectively, is an opinion. However, what is perhaps most detrimental to the Human mind is the fact that we are brought up in a competition-based, fiat monetary system in which we are forced to constantly fight with each other for the necessities of life due to the pretended scarcity generated by the system’s fundamental propensity to keep ‘cyclical consumption’ going. Simply stated, cyclical consumption refers to the employer-to-employee-to-consumer mechanism that drives a monetary-based economic system. An employee works for an employer in exchange for a wage. In turn, both the employers and the employees act as consumers and thus the system perpetuates or cycles. If purchasing power for the employers or the employees ever diminishes the system spirals into a recession or collapses entirely. Unfortunately, this is exactly what has happened repeatedly throughout history in order for the established institutions to maintain authoritative control over the masses by indoctrinating society to the primitive notions of wage-servitude and ‘Everything, Inc. Is the Way It Goes’! Hence, the banks maintaining control over all of us. How? Just think about it: money is created in a bank, and at the end of the day money ends up in a bank. So, who are you really working for? To take this one step further, we clearly have the technology to fully automate virtually all industries and provide a higher standard of living for every Human on Earth by maintaining, preserving and managing all of this planet’s resources intelligently. So, why do you still have to sell your labor in the proverbial ‘open market’ as a commodity in order to share in the true wealth of this world—resources? Quite simply, it is a modern form of global slavery. If this was not the case, we would share this planet’s resources and work towards raising Humans to their highest potential. After all, the fruits of the Earth belong to us all, and the Earth itself to nobody.

     The societal “values” we have grown up with have become so distorted by the modern established institution, comprised of a relatively small group of elitist bankers, government officials and corporate CEOs, that most of us are unable to distinguish between the economic systems conducting all commerce in our societies and the governments that are in place to regulate these systems and prevent despotic monopolies or cartels. Viewed objectively, however, these are simply three systems of social control, composed of the same people, vying for total dominance over not only the global population, but each other as well. In truth, it is difficult to even make any distinctions when we witness the same people jumping back and forth between at least two of these systems so often. One moment, a man is CEO of the largest oilfield services company in the world, the next moment he is the Vice President of the United States—along-side the newest in a long line of corporate puppets: Family-Owned, Oil-Operated; President, George W. Bush. Following the botched 2000 Presidential Election “Americans” complacently accepted as ‘not unusual at all’, the controlled demolition of the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers and Tower 7 along with the missile hitting the Pentagon and faked “plane crash” in Pennsylvania on September 11th, 2001 made us even more delusional and led us into two preemptive wars that opened up the Industry to so-called “private contractors” such as Blackwater and KBR—a former subsidiary of Halliburton. But, can anyone really be surprised at all? [UPDATE: May 20, 2015: I want to be clear about this statement. I wrote this almost 5 years ago when I was reading and watching a whole bunch of conspiracy theory literature and videos. At this particular point in my life, I prefer to not even discuss these issues since they automatically cut off conversations and make it virtually impossible to maintain a rational discourse. It's more of a distraction and there are too many pertinent issues to discuss and problems to solve TODAY to be caught up in never-ending debates that solve none. The reason I'm leaving this here is because it is a part of my intellectual evolution and it would be dishonest to remove it.] 

     The corruption we see around the planet is a usual outgrowth of competition. To put it a different way, we must take a giant step back and ask ourselves, without a monetary-based economic system in place enforcing and in fact creating an environment of competition which is the root-cause of almost all of the aberrant behavior Humans routinely chock up to the fallacious idea of “Nature”, what would there be to regulate? Who is going to steal anything if everyone has access to all goods and services at all times free of debt or servitude? What if we created abundance of the necessities of life? We already do! Just take a look around at the nearest multinational corporate supermarket and think about the amount of produce, food, and resources in general that are wasted or thrown out on a daily basis. The Earth itself is nothing but abundant in energy and resources. But, when we allow anyone to declare any part of the Earth private property; when we allow corporations to intentionally create inferior products, to practice wasteful or toxic methods, or to pretend scarcity of resources; when we allow governments to consistently neglect to actually bring about continual change in the Human mind, we are forcing future generations into socio-economic straight-jackets. We are forcing our Posterity into debt-slavery. In fact, we are living an illusion which makes us believe that infinite wants and needs can actually be satisfied by our finite planet. This, of course, is just not possible in any system at all. This is a powerful realization that often we overlook due to the massive “static misinformation” caused by advertising and marketing campaigns which train us to believe we have to have the crap that is constantly thrown in our faces, all day, every day by conglomerate news media outlets; even if the products are designed for profitability instead of sustainability—as most are. What the hell is going on?

     Now, let’s try something new: what if we recognize the Earth as the common heritage of all the world’s inhabitants while implementing technology to relieve Humans of boring, dangerous, repetitious jobs? Perhaps then we may realize our true so-called “Nature” as “intelligent” beings—to maintain the symbiotic relationship between all life on Earth while managing its finite resources with total Human and environmental concern—a resource-based economy. But, to understand why the monetary-based economic system has been perpetually failing to provide for the fundamental necessities of all Human Beings, let us examine one of the most rapidly-expanding, exploitative, wasteful, environmentally and socially destructive ideologies sweeping the world over—neoliberal globalization.

     The term neoliberal globalization simply refers to the expansion of Capitalism to create and encompass an entire global network of trade markets. Although this notion has been applauded and praised to highest regard by the few in true economic hegemony at the top, it has been extremely detrimental to the health, overall well-being, and advancement of the Industry-created Third World. Fundamentally, the capitalist economic system is based on the monetary system; just as socialism, communism, and fascism are based on the monetary system. However, capitalism remains almost entirely contingent upon the idea that competition breeds progress by supplying incentive (money) for new ideas and thus progression of society itself. This falsehood, though it may seem appealing on paper, has propelled Humankind into a new age of exploitation, manipulation, and elitist control. Just as this system has created the richest of the rich, it too has created the poorest of the poor. For, without the poor, there would be no rich. Why?—because the rich get richer off of the poor getting poorer. It is an inherent feature of the system that is too often overlooked or outright neglected. As a result, social stratification ensues and an ever-increasing gap between the rich and poor becomes manifest. As this may come to a surprise to some, it shouldn’t; for, it is the functionality of the system itself to perpetuate constant divisionary lines through the competition-based mindset. In other words, it is a natural outgrowth in any system of competition for people to get left behind with absolutely no consideration at all. Thousands of people don’t starve to death on a daily basis because of a lack of resources—this is a fallacy. Undoubtedly, this is the result of a lack of purchasing power.

     So, instead of improvidently wasting irreplaceable resources, subjecting the Human population to a system of debt slavery, and wreaking havoc on the entire global ecosystem, perhaps we should align ourselves with natural processes while living within the carrying capacity of Earth; which, by the way, is a technical issue. Again, technical problems require technical solutions—not some arbitrary law or resolution which simply plasters over problems and offers no ‘real’ insight into the root-causes of such problems. A resource-based economy, and thus the intelligent management of Earth’s resources through the liberal application of technology, will undoubtedly provide our global Posterity with an unprecedented foundation upon which a future of true advancement can flourish like never before in all of Humankind’s history. It is simply a matter of understanding.

     Well, what if we examine other economic systems, such as communism, fascism, or socialism? Unfortunately, when attempting to compare the similarities or dissimilarities of any developmental approaches that are discussed on corporate-news media or in propaganda-filled, biases-generating textbooks, it becomes evident that none of these approaches offer any truly viable solutions. Every idea advanced is still framed within the context of monetary-based economic systems and none even acknowledge that the ‘real’ problem might be the economic systems themselves (the root-cause.) Therefore, it becomes nonsensical to even compare them along any divisionary lines, because fundamentally they are all one and the same. It is like drawing imaginary divisional lines to segregate Humans based on a fallacious notion of “race;” for, when we take the most objective observation we are capable of (since it is impossible for Humans to be entirely objective,) it becomes manifest that we all are one and the same—we all simply comprise the Human Race.

     Capitalism, communism, socialism, fascism, structuralists, neo-liberalists, activist organizations, NATO, the UN, liberals, conservatives, democrats, republicans, the IMF, the WTO, the World Bank, the Federal Reserve, lobbyists, politics, democracy, freedom, patriotism, economic sanctions, Structural Adjustment Programs, war, poverty, depravation, and all the other –isms, -ists, -tions, -tys, and –cys, are symptoms of the underlying problems we face as a globally-pervasive species. As stated earlier, the only ‘real’ problems are those common to all Human Beings and the environment which sustains us all. So, how do we provide basic necessities of life and maintain the health and well-being of nearly 7-billion people while living interdependently with the environment? This is undoubtedly a technical question. And, until we realize this, linguistic plaster (our cherished Band-Aid of choice), which comes in the form of laws and resolutions, will be the paradoxical cure-all to the social diseases created by its very existence. We are but One species, sharing One planet; One system; One. I am you; you are me; and we are everything that we conceive.

War!--What is it Good for?

     Throughout the history of Humankind, war has been a purportedly inescapable plague that has devastated millions of lives; doing so recently while simultaneously destroying the environment which sustains all life on Earth. And because this supposed necessity of war has taken such an all-encompassing toll, we have been repeatedly conditioning ourselves to believe the irrational argument that it is in our “nature” to be at war. However, when we examine the fundamental factors which actually generate such propensities, it becomes clear that the environment has played the largest role influencing aberrant behavior that directly leads to war. Likewise, the environment plays an equal role influencing constructive behavior. Thus, the notion of Human “nature” is unveiled as a fallacy; for, there is no such thing as Human Nature—there is only Human behavior. And this behavior, which can be translated throughout the animal kingdom here on Earth, is undoubtedly influenced most by our environment. And so we arrive at an understanding that if all species are influenced most by the environment, and that environment is either abundant or scarce in resources or basic necessities of life, plants and animals will react accordingly because they have to; not because it is in their “nature.” Examining our own past, we find that for hundreds of thousands of years, Humans lived in a synergetic relationship with the environment as well as all other species on Earth. In other words, there was balance or equilibrium pervasive throughout the entire ecological system while the carrying capacity of the Earth was virtually self-regulating. Why? It was simply a matter of “intelligent” species’ technical capabilities; or their lack thereof. But then something happened in the mid-18th century. A revolution was taking Great Britain by storm—The Industrial Revolution.

     Until this particular point in Humankind’s history, scarcity was perhaps the most significant factor contributing to war within our own species. But, with the advent of technology capable of creating abundance with little or no Human labor, even relieving Humans from slavish conditions, it is logical to assume that war, as well as all of the tendencies and rationalizations created by scarcity, would have disappeared altogether. Sadly, this was not the case. Rather, technical capabilities flourished substantially in the 18th Century while intellectual advancement remained stagnant, at best. However, it was not until the mid-19th Century in the relatively young United States that technology began a trend of literally exponential growth that eventually led to the Middle East in the 1920’s. There, “American” and European corporations discovered and began exploiting the vast oil fields the area contained. It was only a matter of time before war would again be called upon as the only option by nations failing to find prudent ways to bridge their differences while failing concurrently to realize and then utilize technology for what it truly is: an extension of Human attributes.

     World War II ushered in a new era of economic growth due to massive exploitation by corporations that benefited directly from perpetuation of war. So, when France and England began losing grip on their colonies, the United States (specifically U.S.-based, multinational corporations) stepped in to set up a strategic alignment for a so-called “fair-share stakes” in the oil fields. But Iran sought to nationalize the oil so that Iranian citizens would directly benefit from the export profits. As this meant that the U.S. corporations’ profits would be substantially reduced, the CIA conducted a coup to oust President Mossadegh and place the former Shaw back in power. In turn, the Shaw privatized the oil fields, benefited by receiving millions of the profit, and left practically the entire Iranian citizenship with nothing to eat, contaminated water to drink, and sand for shelter.

     In the two decades following WWII, the U.S. supported the Baath Party as well as Saddam Hussein. Under intense pressure from corporations, OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) agreed in 1972 to raise the price-per-barrel from $3 to $22. As a result, Iraq decided to nationalize its own oil fields and, subsequently, Hussein was labeled a terrorist leader by the United States government. After serving for 11 years as vice president, Hussein became president and began a sweeping purge of his so-called “opponents”—Iran being attacked without provocation. In a Stockholm Case Research Institute study, it was discovered that 52 countries supplied to either Iran or Iraq; and 29 countries, including the United States, supplied both sides. A1988 policy by the U.S. Dept. of State gave massive loans to Iraq to purportedly finance agricultural and business ventures. The funds instead were used to purchase weapons, helicopters, as well as bacterial cultures. “We had no idea that Saddam Hussein would be using chemical weapons on his own people,” claimed David Welch of the State Dept. “If we had known all this, uh, well we would have made our policy quite different in 1988, I’m sure.”

     OPEC kept prices stable in 1989 by limiting the amount of oil member countries were allowed to produce. In other words, this was an organizational sanction with government approval for the pretended scarcity of crude oil. Kuwait, literally drawn out of Iraq with more imaginary lines by the British in 1928, exceeded this limit by 20% which drove down global oil prices. Knowing that Iraq lost about 80% of its oil income, the U.S. antagonistically told Iraq that there was no defense agreement between the United States and Kuwait. Any candid mind would be keen to the fact that this was obviously a means the U.S. would use to elicit an invasive response from Iraq. And, although the United States never provided any satellite pictures of the supposed Iraqi buildup of soldiers along the border of Kuwait, the first Bush Administration lied to the Saudis ultimately to gain access to Saudi Arabia and eventually secure stakes in the oil fields. In the words of Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, “Oil is too important to be left to the Arabs.” So, on August 7th, the Saudi government accepted the Administration’s request and without even notifying Congress, “American” soldiers began flying in.

     Meanwhile, at the U.N. headquarters in New York City, politicians attempted to plaster over problems with the same old, ineffective rhetoric. And although the idea of “peaceful resolution” seems to have been echoed throughout this convention of bureaucrats, U.S. troops were synchronously being built up in Saudi Arabia. What the United States was doing, preparing for invasion by building up troops along the Iraqi border, was exactly the reason given to “American” citizens for declaring war against Iraq! Propaganda and fear campaigning by corporate and government collusion proved once again successful in maintaining mass-ignorance. For, if “American” citizens were not bombarded with WMDs (Weapons of Mass Delusion) being dropped by their own government, perhaps these citizens would have realized that war was mounting while Congress, the body constitutionally given the responsibility of declaring war, was only just convening to begin discussion of even commitment of troops; let alone to declare war. Ultimately, the Bush Administration delusively scared nearly the entire U.N. Security Council into believing that diplomatic negotiations would be futile and that war would be the only way. And so, bombings began on January 15, 1991 at around 3:00 AM local time in Iraq. Despite assurance from the U.S. government that there would be no civilian casualties, according to former Attorney General Ramsey Clark the equivalent of seven and a half Hiroshima bombs were dropped on Iraq in just 42 days. However, these so-called “surgical strikes” turned out to be indiscriminate bombings that destroyed integral life-support systems, such as water purification, power-, even food-production plants, and killed perhaps over 100,000 civilians.

     After taking Kuwait in 24 hours, and then southern Iraq in another 24 hours, an unexpected uprising to Saddam’s regime took place on February 26th. Fearing that the premeditated plan, undeniably set up by his Administration, was going awry, Bush stopped the war the very next day and an official cease-fire was issued on the 28th. By March 3rd, a deal was obviously made by the U.S. government and Hussein’s regime. In a sudden turn of events, the U.S. then supported the regime to supposedly allow Iraqis, namely Hussein, to eliminate the rebellion in the south; as if over 100,000 allied troops would fail to achieve that end. After the war, the U.N. Security Council passed more practically useless resolutions that were meant to ease the hardship of Iraqi citizens. The council also passed Resolution 688 which allegedly established a No Fly Zone in Northern Iraq. However, Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies revealed, “There is no reference in any U.N. resolution to the establishment of No Fly Zones in Northern and Southern Iraq.” More acts; more resolutions; more sanctions; and more plaster; yet no viable solutions. In fact, Bill Hartung, an International Arms-Trade analyst stated, “After the Gulf War, U.S. arms manufacturers and the Pentagon took advantage of making new arms sales to the Middle East at the rate of about $1-billion a month.” All the while, Iraqi citizens, men, women, and children, were literally starving to death and deprived of even the most basic medical supplies. It makes one wonder how our “value” system became so distorted over the years as to render an imaginary concept such as profit superior to the well-being and tangible necessities of all Human Beings.

     On the coalition side, thousands of veterans began to report medical problems such as achy joints, memory troubles, falling ill, and that they were getting rashes with no explanation. It was later uncovered that during the 70’s and 80’s, the Pentagon began secretly testing new rounds made from a portion of the billion and a half pounds of depleted Uranium-238 which the Department of Energy had accumulated. Although the U.S. government was well aware of the extensive research conducted on rats about the fact that as a highly radioactive material, Uranium settles in the lungs, kidneys, liver, muscle, testicles, and can even travel through the placenta from mother to child, the Pentagon tried ardently to suppress this information; even its own July 1990 report which documented the potential for a ban on such radioactive material—based on an assumption that most people exposed would be soldiers and perhaps even civilians on the battlefield inhaling the dust after rounds being fired. Unfortunately, this information did not reach the soldiers; and so thousands camped in contaminated areas for up to two months with no warning or any idea at all. At the Basra General Hospital in Southern Iraq, doctors stood virtually helpless, due to economic sanctions that withheld the distribution of vital medical supplies, and were forced to stand by and watch children die at a rate of 1 or 2 a day. The radioactivity even caused an 11 year old girl to somehow contract ovarian cancer!

     In conclusion, the number of lies told by the government of our wonderful United States about the events surrounding the entire Gulf War is completely mind-numbing. But, this is just one example of the many consequences which have been the result of distorted social values, such as plutocratic mentalities, deceitfulness, exploitation, corporate aggrandizement, and misinformation, being passed down through 3 generations of Bushisms. To the elitists, corporate CEOs, and government officials, we are all simply Human guinea pigs. Even in WWII, soldiers were told to stand outside to witness atomic bomb tests; in Vietnam, Agent Orange, another fine chemical “defoliant” produced by U.S. corporations, was indiscriminately dumped all over Vietnamese and “American” soldiers alike; creating a host of health issues due to its high toxicity. Currently, 15 countries still produce ammunition out of radioactive waste. But what we must remember is this: As long as people perpetuate the notion that war is a necessity, manufacturing and selling weapons to all sides, essentially creating an unstable environment that inculcates the illusionary ideas of profit, private property, and self-interest, as well as highly misinterpreted notions of patriotism, freedom, and democracy, war will undoubtedly persist on a global scale. And, due to the latest failure in the long line of oil junkies, George W. Bush, we are now fighting two seemingly endless wars against an enemy that is so broadly defined, the next “terrorist” even has a good chance of being you—it all depends on whether you have a “valuable” resource or commodity (your Human labor) and are willing to give in to governmental and corporate demands or attempt to go against the redundant cycle of lies and corruption to become disillusioned. But, we have a chance to reclaim ourselves; to reclaim each other; and to reclaim the environment—it just depends on the choices we make as individuals in our collective system. The only ‘real’ issues are those common to all Human Beings and the environment which sustains the global ecosystem. Until this understanding becomes globally accepted, we will continue making decisions subjectively, based entirely on personal biases, insufficient information, and opinions, instead of arriving at decisions by utilizing the vast knowledge base we have accumulated over the course of our existence.