Back in the 1980s, George Carlin spoke about the American illusion of freedom and the wealthy elite running the country (and the world for that matter). He famously said that when interests align you don’t need a conspiracy in order to accumulate wealth and power at the top while suppressing the middle class. His messages couldn’t be more true today.
We’re living in a time where many Americans are quick to latch onto conspiracy theories, but no conspiracy is needed - the billionaire ruling class has already taken over the world. And they continue their messaging of lies about the environment, about Democrats/liberals, about immigrants, about the economy, about news media, about so many issues that affect our daily lives.
The maddening thing is that tens of millions of Americans believe the lies. Tens of millions of Americans choose intellectual laziness and willful ignorance.
George Carlin also famously quipped that when it comes to world-class bullshit stories, “you have to stand in awe of the all-time champion of false promises and exaggerated claims - religion”.
No wonder then that the ranks of the modern right-wing movement are fundamentally religious. This is a population very prone to manipulation - being manipulated and being manipulative; a population prone to believing in lies and fantastical stories of bullshit and spreading those lies and fantasies as truth, as “the gospel”.
For those who don’t believe that we’re already living in worldwide autocracy, just look at how many real choices we have: only two political parties dominated by money; only a handful of financial institutions; only a handful of insurance providers; only a handful of news outlets; only a handful of medical institutions that manage hospitals; only a handful of major oil and gas developers; only a handful of major retail corporations (research how many of your favorite brands are owned by Walmart or one of the few gargantuan but secretive holding/investment firms).
While I don’t necessarily believe that the drivers of the right-wing movement are religious, they are certainly preying upon the religious, recognizing them for their malleable minds.
If we want our democracy back, if we truly want the power of choice back, we’re going to have to take it back. Now.