The French author, Andre Gide, wrote in
his book "The Immoralist", "One must allow others to be
right. It consoles them for not being anything else." The most
powerful man in the world, George W. Bush, as commander-in-chief of the
United States military forces is always right. The
arrogance and hubris of the man, intelligently masked by deliberate projected
stupidity, serves as successful diversion from his highly skilled persona
of mass manipulation. Edward B. Toupin, author of "Ego,
Arrogance, and Self-Esteem" writes that,
Regardless of what we feel
or do, we are all simply searching for some type of meaning within our
own individual existence that can somehow take us further.
Slate Magazine reported (June
13, 2003, Profile: George W. Bush, William Saletan and
Avi Zenilman) that the president's net worth is between
$9,634,088 - $26,593,000. With assets acquired at birth beyond most people's
understanding, Bush's moving forward in finding meaning
in his existence presents a clear and present danger to the United States
and to the world. George W. Bush, like his father before him
Herbert Walker Bush is wealth inherited. Their elite status and power
separate them from working people struggling daily to make end
meets. Their search for meaning is very different from the John and
Jane Doe whose jobs they export overseas. The super rich are incapable of relating to what
moving forward means for working people. Their disconnectedness
and isolation from common people won't allow it. The cost of a gallon of
milk or a loaf of bread is never a consideration for the ruling
elite. Neither is paying the rent or medical care a problem.
George W. Bush revealed his
separation from working men and women in the following exchange on February
4, 2005 while promoting changes in Social Security in
Omaha, Nebraska.
MS. MORNIN: That's good, because I work
three jobs and I feel like I contribute.
THE PRESIDENT: You work three jobs?
MS. MORNIN: Three jobs, yes.
THE PRESIDENT: Uniquely American, isn't
it? I mean, that is fantastic that you're doing that. (Applause.) Get
any sleep? (Laughter.)
George W. Bush's public persona
of stupidity is a clever diversion from his ego agenda. Operatives
try to relate the president to the people by projecting an air of
anti-intellectualism. They reinforce a camaraderie of those in
contempt of the more educated. As critical thinking
requires specific set of skills and continuous practice Bush bonds with
those that lack both. Thanks to the glorious educational system that
capitalism has made few citizens today possess critical thinking skills.
As a result, simplistic explanations and directives suffice. When
the regime fails Bush's facade of false common folksiness saves the day. It projects
the blame for its failures onto others and the sheeple follow. The
regime castigates its critics as being part of the problem. No
matter how insane the policy those that are not "with us" and
"against" us. To Disagree with
this administration is to be branded as being in opposition to
it. Team Bush players quickly realize that no disagreement is too
trivial. The majority of the populace sold on team loyalty easily
agree and go along. They prefer associating with their pack over being branded and shunned by it.
The projected image of
the educated liberal and the progressive as the enemy is a well-thought
out project decades in the making. Media talking heads and corporate-state
"news" constantly castigate liberals as being the
problem. Any view, and anyone, left of the neo-conservative agenda is
demonized as preventing the populace from moving forward. The
meaning of life is pre-ordained and liberals are demons in
opposition. Egos sharing common cause rally into action. They
squash dissent and orchestrating media events by screening out and hint of
opposition. This regime's fascist elements
know exactly what they are doing. With the takeover of most radio, television
and newspapers by sympathetic corporations the
co-optation of public opinion is complete. It exceeds Goebbels'
success in shepherding his flock to orchestrated conclusions.
"We the people" thus know who to blame for being
stuck unable to move forward. We do not see our president and his
fascist leaning team as being responsible for any problem. The liberal is. The progressive
is. The intellectual is. The environmentalist is. The
anti-war activist is. The pro-choice people are. The atheist
is. The socialist is. The communist
is. The terrorist is. Take your pick. Anyone other
than the regime is to blame.
It is, however, the axis-of-super-egos
presently in power that are the road blocks to fellow workers moving
forward. The size of the obstruction is
as immense as the size of the administration's huge egos. It is as
large as the mass of the messages delivered over many decades by state schools, religious
vested interests and their minister pimps, television, corporate
controlled media, and the ever-present advertising. We the daily lied-to
masses accept the lies as truth. When these messages, the paradigms of
capitalism run amok become ingrained and internalized, we become thusly defined
associating ourselves with their proponents. Our ego shares a
vested interest with the liars egos.
When we accept the mythology that hard work will
make us wealthy just
like the ruling elite we embrace wannabeism. We want to be like
the wealthy. We want to support
the rich ruling elite and the powerful, not because it is in our own best
interest, rather, because we want to be like them. Perhaps, the
thinking goes, if Ms.
Mornin only had five jobs instead of just three, she could join the rich club alongside the Bushs, Kennedys, Kerrys, Guilianis,
Saudis, etc., of the world. While the working class is duped into
struggling to be like the rich, power is passed on from generation to
generation via inherited wealth. Sons are given access to the best
schools, given companies to play with, bailed out when misdeeds are
committed and transgressions expunged. Being wealthy means never
having to take responsibility. Being part of the elite means never
having to say you're sorry. Being born into wealth means never
having to do either.
William R. Tucker in his book
"The Fascist Ego" (Univ. of Calif. Press, Berkeley,
1975) suggests that (Brasillach) fascism is inspired
anti-modernism and that individual creativity supporting such
sensibilities place the ego at the center of things. As the ego is designed for
ensuring survival a grave danger
is created with the intertwining of the state and the ego. Add
religion and the mixture becomes volatile. The blurred
boundaries increase the probability of "right wing anarchism"
(Tucker) and so an anything-goes neo-con we-know-best and
we-wiil-pre-emptively do it mindset pervades. With that modus
operandi comes the irrationality of arrogance. What nation will
the superpower attack next? Where will be the next Guernica? The
next Fallujah? Where will the next Guantanamo or Abu Ghraib be?
Who will be extremely rendered next? And thereafter, what of
the results? The philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote:
I found one day
in school a boy of medium size ill-treating a smaller boy. I expostulated,
but he replied: "The bigs hit me, so I hit the babies; that's
fair." In these words he epitomized the history of the human race.
And so, the
biggest military power in the history of the world hits upon the weaker
nations. Consider the suffering and death toll from its adventures
in Southeast Asia, and now, West Asia.
Fascism is perhaps the ultimate expression of the
ego lost in its identification with the state. The ego becomes the uber
state. History shows that empires rise and fall. Today's
superpower is yesterday's chapter in the rise and fall of nations.
Without learning from history we are repeating the same mistakes. We remain
a country mired in our own individual national identity. As a result the future is precarious, with the inevitability
of "the bigs", as Bertrand Russell called them, becoming
the "medium sized" or worse, a time when once again the history
of the human race will repeat itself. Is humankind incapable of moving forward?
Perhaps it will someday destroy
itself. If it does, the fascist ego will finally cease to exist.
Perhaps that is the ultimate resolution to planet Earth's dilemma?
You know, there are
different kinds of refugees. There are people who are forced to take
refuge under a railroad bridge because they ain’t got no place to go,
and there are those who take refuge in public office …
Woody Guthrie
© 2005
Jozef
Hand-Boniakowski
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