| The Homestead Manifesto Page 3 The Sham: Democracy Unlike capitalism, which is invariably unjust and destructive when operating as intended, democracy seems like a wonderful idea. Emerging from centuries of monarchy and imperialism, enlightened citizens rose up and fought for the right to govern themselves. America�s Declaration of Independence proclaims that �all men are created equal� and the US Constitution, in oversized letters, starts off with �We, the people,� but despite what we may have learned in school, those documents�however bold and eloquent�were not the guarantors of universal egalitarianism that we may think. White male landowners initiated the American Revolution, and the nation that it created was set up to protect their interests. (6) Women, non-Caucasians, and the poor�in other words, most of the people�did not benefit much and have had to fight in the intervening years for equality. They are still fighting. The obvious inequalities that were built into the system have, to some degree, been addressed by these struggles over the past two hundred years. Women now have the right to vote; non-whites cannot legally be held as property; workers have some protections against their bosses. These were not original doctrines of the United States, but they were ideas�originally considered radical and unthinkable�held by people of principle who were willing to stand up to those in power, and were often beaten down or killed in return. The powerful rarely thought twice about using violence to protect their self-interests, but they were in a battle against those who possessed might of another kind: the strength of their convictions. Today, the disparities in the system are not as bluntly obvious; their effects on the nation are not as straightforward. Most Americans play into the hands of the forces behind injustice without realizing it. This is the result of an indoctrination that begins at a very young age�via parents, schools, local communities, and the media�and continues throughout our lives. It is a deep and thorough brainwashing, hard to shake off. From Columbus �discovering� America to the resourcefulness of the �captains of industry,� from the god-like �Fathers of the Nation� to our current president landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier in a fighter jet, it is all propaganda. The degree to which most citizens have bought into the mythology of the United States is incredible. In this land, where the First Amendment supposedly guarantees free speech, just try publicly not standing during the anthem, or questioning the concept of patriotism, or burning the stars and stripes. One is likely to get a punch in the face from an outraged citizen. The political and economic leadership must be ecstatic to know that those being oppressed under such a system will fight bitterly to defend it. We have seen this repeatedly when the call to arms goes out, and young men immediately sign up to fire bullets at an unknown enemy and to risk being killed or maimed for a government that shirks its responsibilities to injured veterans when they return home. The �old lie� is alive and well. (7) Those in power are able to rally the citizenry by appealing to several misconceived notions. First and foremost, of course, is patriotism. American soldier and writer Ambrose Bierce wrote that, �Patriotism is fierce as a fever, pitiless as the grave and blind as a stone.� Many other wise and thoughtful people have pointed out the shortfalls of blindly supporting a government whether it is in the right or not, yet to large numbers of people such unthinking devotion is a prerequisite of being an American. In no instance is this more relevant than in wartime. As parents relinquish their sons and daughters, and spouses their mates, to the military, those family members will shout down anti-war protestors, or others who question the wisdom of sacrificing lives and taking the lives of others for�more often than not�some unclear purpose. Veterans themselves, often ignored by the government when filing war-related injury claims and treated with less than the best care at veterans� hospitals, are the most vocal defenders of the �love it or leave it� philosophy. This is, I think, invariably a need to believe that one�s body and soul were not wasted on a meaningless cause. Other fallacious premises that the government has instilled in most Americans are: that this land is �God�s country,� set aside by a deity for the lovers of liberty; that what is good for US businesses is always good for all of us; (8) that America�s enemies hate us because we embrace freedom and democracy; that those who are well-off are the hardest working and most deserving of their bounty, while the poor are stupid, lazy and immoral. None of these are true, and to govern with such lies as underpinnings is like erecting a building on a weak foundation. The resulting breakdowns in American society are all cracks in the structure that betray flimsy construction. Most citizens will have trouble even entertaining this idea, but the United States has detoured into fascism in the past and, today, in the reign of George W. Bush, we are visiting that repulsive turf yet again. There is an ultra-Americanism, an ugly patriotism that presumes that the United States carries the torch for all that is good and that any people or nation that would oppose the US must be evil. (9) America has a long history of initiating wars and of meddling�overtly and covertly� in the foreign affairs of other sovereign lands. Most of these actions have been and continue to be taken to protect American financial interests. The ruling class has its own security force: the US military. (10) You would never suspect this, however, by reading the textbooks that our children use in social studies classes across the nation. Virtually nothing critical of this country can be found between those covers. It�s all a fairy tale. Money not only dictates when and where the US will use force, but it influences the actions of every part of the government. From elections to lobbyists, from cabinet appointments to government agency regulations, the entire process is rigged. Those who control large amounts of wealth and resources also control the political process and the government. The citizenry trusts that those elected and appointed and hired to work in the best interest of everyone will do so, yet that is clearly not the case. Money provides access and influence. The slimy tentacles of capitalism have, from the very start, slipped into every level of government, all the way to the Oval Office. The United States claims to be a representative democracy, but in fact it is a plutocracy�government by the wealthy. The second President Bush is the most extreme example of this yet. His cabinet secretaries are a who�s who of corporate executives. In the most outrageous cases, Bush has people who are fundamentally opposed to the mission of a department serving in the department�s top spot. Bush appointed, and the Senate confirmed, someone who has hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in chemical and oil companies to lead the Environmental Protection agency; someone with ties to the tobacco industry to be secretary of health and human services; someone who served on a dozen corporate boards to be secretary of labor; someone with strong ties to the biotechnology industry to be secretary of agriculture; someone who worked as a lawyer and lobbyist for corporations against environmental causes to be secretary of the interior; and a host of men with connections to the weapons manufacturing industry to run the defense department. (11) Above all of them stand George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, a pair of millionaire oil industry executives now running the show. The foxes are truly in charge of the hen house, and they got there because the ruling class bought them the White House. |