We, those who see ourselves as somewhere on the political spectrum in the US; those who have a stake in parenting, schooling, personal and secular and religious communities; not to mention just surviving ourselves...
We look at crisis upon crisis looming.
Perhaps this is something over-blown. Something over-emphasized by Media. After all, a scared populace is an easily led (and misled) populace. It would be no surprise if the owners of the Media Biggies, the 1%, were pleased with that result. Nor politicians.
And who knows how many of these are false alarms? Or, having heard warnings, we respond well and forestall disaster?
Whatever the case with that, there's no denying the palpable and real deterioration going down in this Country, as judged by every meaningful criteria.
Let's take one example.
Cognitive Dissonance: The Financial/Corporate Class.
Our jobs disappear and get shipped to China. The poverty stricken and slaves will work for cheaper than we will. Which nets Corporations bigger profits.
Our Financial Experts tell us this is good for us; richer corporations create jobs plus their wealth will trickle upon us. Lower prices helps customers.
That the jobs created are elsewhere; that the wealth doesn't arrive, but the trickling-upon does; that people better have lower prices if they're going to survive on no and lower wages; ... all this is somehow missed by the Financial Experts.
Cognitive Dissonance: The Political Class
Our Political Leaders, Our Representatives [sic], give economic incentives for our companies to do this to us. Then they make even more trade agreements which give enough power to corporations and other nations so as to govern us, to challenge and change our laws.
All the while, the manufacturing ability we give China lets them create cheap goods which they sell to us. We end up in debt to them. Which debt gives them leverage over our financial policies, our politicians, and our foreign policy. (In fact, we have no way to know if they aren't outright buying some politicians since the politicians on the Supreme Court ruled on Citizens United.)
This debt comes not only from trade and currency imbalances, but from our Permanent Global War on People in Backwaters. These fearsome terrors thousands of miles away in desolate lands and jungles with AK-47s and riding donkeys, scooters, and jeeps. Which subject brings on stage...
Cognitive Dissonance: The Military/Foreign Policy Elite
Who, even at this moment, gather our fleets near China, as part of our current Big Picture where threatening China militarily is supposed to be smart.
And can anyone whose mental processes aren't befuddled by being in a five-sided building all day figure out what China is doing with that wealth our Financial and Political Classes have helped ensure?
Why... they build up their military, with an eye on crippling our capabilities in the area. Which is well-researched and tested because: a) they're spending their wealth on R&D; b) and on education in the sciences; and c) have the means and materials to build effective countermeasures when the R&D delivers. ("d" -- build up industries, and resources, to dominate future business goes partially under "Finance" and partially here.)
(I wish, btw, I had not lost a link to an nationally-broadcast speech the then-Chinese premier gave a day or two after his rise to power. Which was also a day or two after King Bush the Lunatic launched the Iraq War. The Premier said in essence, "Look, you just have to read their foreign-policy strategy publicly written and distributed. First they go to war with the Middle East small-fry, then they come after us. This attack on Iraq shows they mean it. We'll be greatly increasing our military budget starting now." I wish I had that to show that our own bellicosity is the root of China's "threatening military buildup." Which we respond to by... sending 60% of our fleet to their area.)
I don't know how to summarize the foregoing, but I do know nothing's right about any of this, any step of the way.
Now being an American, I think to myself, "The people of the US needs Jobs like we need air; we need cutting-edge industries for sustainable jobs; jobs will heal the deficit; jobs will preserve, even enhance, the social safety-net; we need to stop polluting and contributing to climate change which contributes to health- and survival-issues; we need to get off foreign fuels, and as soon as possible, off the killer fuels.
I'm not the only one who thinks we need those things in response to the crises we face, I'm pretty sure.
So we, plain old Americans of most any political stripe (not all), we think "well, fixing practical problems in life usually boils down to :
Do A, then B, then C, then D. Problem solved, or at least relieved.
In this one example, you make a massive program to convert our nation to using Kinetic Energies (sun, wind, thermal, tidal) to do all those things. Plus put us in good shape for the future.
Plus strengthen our national security; not be as vulnerable around the Middle East and Central Asia's fuels; not really have to threaten China (because securing those Central Asian resources are what that's about, according to Zbigniew Brzezinski and his fellow "experts")...
But our Financial Elites. Our Political Elites. Our Military Elites. They don't do, or even say, anything in that common-sense A, B, C, D fashion. Here's what they give us:
A, B, 7, jingle fly, TACO!
Simply put: Cognitive Dissonance in the Time of Crises.
I don't know the fix for this.
One "big picture" thing I see to do would be gumming up the 1%'s propaganda/agitation machine, which we call Big Media. "Gumming up" would consist of ordinary people breaking into their narratives with real human perspectives. That would be concerted campaigns coming from every direction, the campaigns goal to force their b.s. to stop, and to get real people into the public space instead of the various pundit/partners we get shaping public issues and opinion.
Some way to force Senator Professor General So-and-So to acknowledge they've just offered "A, B, fish, elevator tomato" as if it were anything but madness or bullshit.
I see it as urgent that we get some dot-connecting going on in the Public and Common space.
There's probably other things to do as well. I'd hope people would offer what they imagine we could actually do. One thing for sure: it's going to have to find a way to break out of a lot of our tribalistic fetishes, as far as humanly possible.
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P.S. I'm setting this for 11 am with the Publication manager. I might or might not be here at that time. If not, I apologize in advance for my tardiness in responding to any comments. Thank you.