I've been told that here we are a "reality-based community." I do see some signs of that as finally, after years of outright hostility towards people who were trying to point out that the Democratic party establishment is on the take by the same moneyed corporatists cartels that own the Republican party establishment, more and more kossacks are beginning to accept that obvious fact.
But there is a topic I want to check on to assess whether we are actually making enough progress when it comes to being a "reality-based" community. I'll keep it short, since I think it is pretty straightforward...
You do know that so-called stand-your-ground, concealed-carry, "castle-doctrine," and many other laws and regulations having to do with arming the population to the teeth have been pushed by corporatist business cartels like ALEC, and the gun industry, and the myriad astroturf front groups and think tanks they fund, right?
Now, you may ask, "why would 'business' groups, or corporatist cartels would put so much effort on arming the population?"
Let's get a couple of facts out the way: The U.S. is in the final stages of a transition towards a plutocratic corporatocracy. I'm going to save space here and instead recommend these three information resources as support to this statement: "America Is Ruled by Billionaires, and They Are Coming After the Last Shreds of Our Democracy," Lawrence Lessig: We the People, and the Republic we must reclaim.
And by now, you must also be aware about the fact that the entire U.S. mainstream media has the overall effect of a mind-numbing propaganda machine that serves the interests of the corrupt ruling class by spreading lies, misinformation, and false narratives. I'll direct you to this information resource: "America's Sell Out Intellectuals and the Perks They Get."
Now, after getting that out of the way, hopefully by now you see where I'm going since if those two facts are accepted as such, then the rest is easy to understand...
The ruling elite is currently engaging in a massive looting and pillaging of the country's wealth, mainly by increasingly exploiting and subjugating the citizenry.
Whatever is left of democracy is being systematically dismantled, along with our constitutional rights. The proper functioning of government is being purposely atrophied by a well-planned and systematic de-funding strategy.
That's where all the talk about "entitlement" reforms and "austerity" is coming from.
As this happens, the social safety net is dismantled, and with it, the social fabric starts to unravel.
Eventually this creates a siege mentality on affected groups, starting with the very poor and dispossessed, followed by those who are near poverty, and up the economic ladder.
This eventually exacerbates divisions based on economic class, ethnicity, religious beliefs, etc...
When conditions get sufficiently bad (due to increased austerity policies, which by the way, are being imposed on purpose), once you flood communities with guns, and once you put in place a regime of laws that expand the justification for justifiable homicides, then you've created the perfect conditions for people to start shooting at each other.
Once people start shooting and getting away with it, then the business cartels keep pushing more and more boiler-plate laws expanding the justification for more shootings.
Eventually this will bring about a situation where you will have mainly right wing groups across the country armed to the teeth, emboldened to intimidate social justice activists as the conditions deteriorate due to the imposition of austerity, i.e., purposely defunding the proper functioning of government (of the the people and by the people).
What's behind all this? That's also pretty straightforward. What these fascistic business cartels are doing is taking down the regulatory infrastructure, the social safety net, and etc., in order to eventually align labor costs to those of developing countries. Yes, folks, it's about money; it's about putting a fascist boot on your neck, figuratively and literally.
So there you have it. That's what's happening.
Now, some people may refuse to believe that there could be people so evil as to purposely and systematically help in bringing about the conditions for this type of mayhem.
Think again. These billionaires funding this stuff are as much as fascists thugs as any other tyrant in history.
You haven't seen half of what these people are capable of--yet.