Earlier tonight the title of a New York Times article caught my attention: "Brazil’s Leftist Ruling Party, Born of Protests, Is Perplexed by Revolt." The reason it did, is because it reminded me about an argument I've been making regarding the situation here in the United States: The rampant corruption and increased oppression of the increasingly fascistic ruling elite will not end until they are forced to back down.
If there are still rare readers who don't know what I'm talking about, I'll add some reference links at the end of the diary regarding "rampant corruption," and "increased oppression," but in the meantime, I'll get to my point.
Also, for readers who still cling to the notion that what's happening in Brazil is not a revolution, but a "protest" by middle class young people who are "not happy with the slow pace of economic development," notice that even the New York Times is using the word "revolt" in the title of their article...
The article begins by recounting how Fernando Haddad, the mayor of Sao Paulo, and a "rising star in the leftist governing party," decided to take a trip to Paris to lobby for the 2020 World Fair to be held in his city, while the protests were heating up. Upon his return, a week later, he was welcomed by an angry group of protesters rallying outside his apartment, and others smashed windows of his office building, angry because he initially refused to meet with them.
How such a rising star in the leftist governing party, someone whose name is often mentioned as a future presidential contender, so badly misread the national mood reflects the disconnect between a growing segment of the population and a government that prides itself on popular policies aimed at lifting millions out of poverty.
The emphasis is mine
To me, those two phrases, "badly misread the national mood," and the "disconnect between a growing segment of the population and a government," are the key elements in my argument.
It explains why once the political class in a country has been totally engulfed by corruption (like in the U.S., Brazil, the U.K., Greece, Italy and other countries), only through a massive popular uprising (or revolution) can the citizenry end the tyrannical oppression that results from rampant self-serving corruption of the political class.
Why is that? The modern day version of tyranny and oppression is fueled by a ruling class ethos that emanated from the Wall Street Global Criminal Racketeering Cartel. Basically what has happened is that through elaborate massive pyramid-like scams, Wall Street has devised all kinds of financial instruments which in the final analysis are nothing more than schemes (fraud, scams) to extract inordinate and excessive amounts of profits from the natural environment, and from the citizenry.
As part of the culture of massive corruption, they have, over many years, developed mechanisms to allow them to conduct political bribing schemes--legally.
Discerning (and awakened) readers may know by now how it works... Bribery at the front end through campaign contributions, and bribery at the back-end with lucrative "consulting" gigs for them, their families, and close friends. It's basically a Global Financial Racketeering mafia (no offense meant to the real mafia).
But here's what happens... As this self-serving system entrenches itself, the criminal perpetrators (Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Insurance, Wall Street, Big Surveillance, i.e., Booz Allen, ALEC, and the entire political class of both major parties), start to see reality in a very distorted manner; they start living within their own bubble of perception.
So they become totally unable to see themselves as the debased, craven, greedy, vicious tyrants they are, and most importantly, they can't see, nor understand, the brutality and oppression to which they are exposing much of the citizenry.
Basically, what I'm saying is more elegantly and succinctly explained by George Carlin:
So, I argue that that is why these so-called "leftists" who now hold governmental power in Brazil are "perplexed" at the people's revolution now unfolding.
And I argue that the reason is because the bubble they've become ensconced in. If you scratch below the surface, you'll find the same type of arrangement you find in the corrupt U.S. system, where financial and business interests are paying off politicians to do their bidding, el pueblo be damned.
And that is why the citizenry in Brazil find the spectacle of the government spending billions and billions of dollars in worthless stadiums for the World Cup and the Olympics, while the people suffer under the weight of corruption, poverty, and neglect, so appalling.
And again, go and find out how all this is being financed. Who are the financial institutions behind it? What type of cozy relationships exist between the financial/construction sector and the myriad of politicians involved with the development of these sporting events? You'll find a putrid cesspool of corruption, fraud, waste, and abuse--but let el pueblo eat cake.
As of the time I'm writing this diary, the governments of the cities that had instituted a bus fare high (in Brazil), had already backed down and rescinded them. But again, they (the ruling/government elite) are so blinded by their greed that they still don't get it... The bus fare highs were the match that lit the revolution on fire.
Now they won't be able to walk it back... Especially in the face of the brutality with which the police (i.e., corporate goons) assaulted peaceful protesters.
Now they have a fucking revolution in their hands!
My point? No voting, no signing of petitions, no writing on blogs, no expressing frustration, will end the increasingly fascistic road we're taking as a country. The banks will continue their pillaging; the politicians will continue their depraved, craven money-grabbing. The sadistic war criminals in the Bush administration will not be prosecuted. The perpetrators of the biggest financial heist and looting in history in Wall Street will never know the meaning of justice, of the rule of law, and will continue their pillaging. ALEC will continue pushing thousands of laws around the country, with the help of their bought-off politicians--laws that are fascistic in nature.
The increased brutality and oppression will continue affecting those most vulnerable (at first), but it will eventually engulf the whole society ("And then they came for me").
At this point the corruption of the ruling class is so entrenched, the hubris so endemic, and their sense of power so absolute (because of all the fascistic total-information-awareness surveillance police state), that only a massive, massive, and relentless, sustained popular uprising by the people will be able to dislodge the creepy mortal grip these sociopaths have over our collective necks.
Again, as I always say, I think this could be done in a (relatively) peaceful manner, but time is running out. The more entrenched these shifty corporatist sociopaths become, the harder it is going to be to reform the country and re-establish the rule of law and regain the constitutional protections we willfully gave up in the name of false security.
I'll leave you with this, so you can reflect on it...
This is what democracy looks like:
Oh, how much this reminds me of CNN and the rest of the debased "news media" in the United States!
Video of a Brazilian television host, José Luiz Datena, discovering during a live broadcast that a majority of his viewers disagreed with his opposition to the recent wave of protests.
Here are more similarities with the U.S. media
Anger at the early coverage of the demonstrations on TV Globo and other networks led some supporters of the movement to post their own edited highlights of the protests online, like one compilation showing violence used against demonstrators in São Paulo that begins with titles promising “to show you what television will not show.”
- The New York Times
It's time to OCCUPY! No one-day rallies are going to do it. It needs to be massive, well-organized and relentless.
Reference:
- The Untouchables - FRONTLINE investigates why Wall Street’s leaders have escaped prosecution for any fraud related to the sale of bad mortgages.
- The United States of ALEC - Revealing the hidden world of ALEC — corporations and state legislators colluding to write laws and remake America, one statehouse at a time.