Currently, there is a brutal and relentless war against regular folks, against the citizenry at large, against the middle class. This war is driven by unquenchable greed, sadistic pleasure by the ruling elite in the face of truly horrible consequences, a sense of entitlement and privilege, and total indifference to the suffering inflicted on the population.
The people I'm talking about are not that hard to identify; they are a very small number of people. Think of the heads of the criminal racketeering financial enterprises in the U.S., leading the top 5 or 6 banks. Think of the heads of Wall Street firms which engaged in massive fraud (with full knowledge and purposely, and with full intent) that resulted in the looting of the national treasury (ultimately extracting wealth, income, and status from the citizenry). Think of the Democratic and Republican political establishments, which are controlled by unprincipled, greedy, money-grabbing politicians on the take which are implementing orders by the criminal corporatocracy--for private gain.
Think about what could also be described as criminal racketeering government agencies in the form of the FDA, FCC, FAA, Department of the Interior, and many other "regulatory agencies" whose top echelons are controlled by treasonous, greedy and unprincipled individuals who have turned their backs on the concept of "public servant" in favor of personal gain (lobbying jobs for them, their associates and family members, contributions, fraud, abuse of of power).
Then compare and contrast the two worlds this situation has brought about. In one of those worlds, think about the countless fundraising shindigs (bribery events) where people walk about backslapping each other, well-dressed, drinking, eating, listening to nice music (sometimes live music), driving nice leather-seat cars, BMWs, Mercedes, Porches, Lincoln, etc., private jets, yachts, all manners of luxury, fresh elaborate flower arrangements, VIP tickets to sporting events, concerts, high-paying jobs with firms with the express purpose of influence peddling...
That world, made up of corporatist criminal cartels and their servants in the political class, has become more entrenched, more secured in their knowledge that they face no serious opposition to their world view. In fact, many of them (most) have no idea about the true horrific consequences of their actions--because they are surrounded by luxury, privilege, and a sense of entitlement.
The other world is one where over 90% of the population has lost a huge piece of the economic pie, which has brought about a situation where income inequality in the U.S. is at the highest level of any country in the world, and the worst in our history.
What are the consequences of this? They are so many; the truly horrific consequences are countless; where does one begins? The average person does not have the cognitive ability to truly comprehend the horrific consequences directly resulting from this level of wholesale corruption.
But one may try... Can you get into the head of a head of household, a married father of 4, who all he wanted was to pay off his mortgage, maybe help his kids get into college, and eventually retiring, and is instead sitting at the kitchen table with piles of bills and confusing mortgage statements, and eviction notice, all caused by straight up fraud and abuse by a criminal financial cartel protected by our government?
How many people like this, breaking down under the weight of financial catastrophe have lost it, grabbed a gun, and shot their kids, wife, and then took their own life? Would you care to guess? Is it one, two, ten, one hundred, two thousand?
What other consequences are there? Again, countless misery; people breaking down from stress; resources taken away from schools, public services, policing, infrastructure repairs. All of this so massive amounts of wealth and power are rapidly taken, stolen, looted, into the hands of the ruling elite--the corporatocracy made up of business criminal cartels and their government puppets.
An yet, somehow these monsters are able to manipulate the system so people remain disconnected from each other, confused, and this results in a situation where millions of people victimized by the same (easily-identifiable) culprits, suffer in (mainly) in isolation. When the sheriff comes and throws their belongings in the streets as the result of a rob-signed foreclosure, they suffer alone. When the "hidden" number of homeless children increases to unprecedented levels, it's like nobody sees them. When otherwise responsible and proud people resort to food banks, they do it in shame, sometimes hiding so neighbors won't notice.
I don't want to look the other way. I don't want to fog my mind with entertainment, and TV, and gossip about Hollywood stars, and athletes. I want to meditate, and try to expand my ability for empathy, and try to "feel the pain, the despair, the suffering" of every single person that has been directly (and indirectly) affected by the easily-identifiable crimes perpetrated by easily-identifiable true vile criminals in the form of corporatist criminal racketeering cartels and their puppets in government.
I want to understand the true nature of these parasites of society, the true consequences of their actions, and as I understand these consequences, with an empirical and clear mind, I want to react as a normal human being would react in the face of such abuse and criminality and sense of entitlement: With deep-seeded hatred and antipathy, with a lust for justice, and yes, actual vengeance.
And I dream with the possibility that a large enough number of people would first, understand the true genesis, the true nature of the evil that has been brought on our fellow citizens, and as a result would feel so offended, so violated, so defiled by this brutal and criminal system, that they would have no option than to also feel a sense of rage, and hate, and lust for justice in the face of the institutionalization of injustice, and crimes committed in broad daylight with total impunity.
And if these citizens were to grow in numbers and become very highly organized, and focused and disciplined, and came up with very specific and cohesive strategies to take on the criminality head-on, their lust for justice and the hatred for the ruling class criminals would fuel their commitment to not rest until every single motherfucker banker who engaged in fraud is properly investigated, prosecuted and convicted (if proven in a court of law), and until every politician on the take (currently the political establishments of both corporatist parties) is removed (through a powerful political awakening and actions), and until every fucking government agency with leaders on the take (most federal regulatory agencies) is removed and replaced with true public servants.
Rage, deep-seeded hatred, and lust for justice against the perpetrators of crimes and corruption that results in unspeakable misery is not only normal but necessary.
Any progressive movement that does not understand this will remain mostly ineffective because the forces aligned against the good people of this country, against fairness and justice and decency, are truly ruthless and will not give a fucking inch unless they are forced to do so.
“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”
- Frederick Douglass