COASTAL POST
(415)868 1600 FAX (415) 868 0502
P.O. Box 31
Bolinas CA 94924
http://www.coastalpost.com
email: [log in to unmask]
October, 2003



Fear of Democracy

by Frank Scott


At the recently failed WTO meetings, the  poor south told the rich north
to buzz off. In diplomatic language, of course. Whether the  global
majority   living under the reign of  capital  will succeed in its
struggle against the  ruling minority  is a matter of hope for most, but
terror for others.

The appalling poverty of billions of people results from the  criminally
unfair system of  production and distribution of the earth’s wealth .
That  system  is headquartered in the USA, where the nation’s riches
enable it to mask the gap between its top and bottom with  cosmetics and
diversions  not available to most of the  world. But that system is
creating greater stress for global  society , and all other forms of
nature.  That is reflected here at home, where  a propaganda machine
terrorizes citizens with tales of fabricated demons, Instead of relaying
information about real dangers. But people are learning.

Support for our court appointed regime is finally weakening. A  war
against a fictional threat has become  an even more murderous drain on
life, liberty and the pursuit of sanity. More Americans have been killed
since the attack officially ended, while those  who were supposed to
greet their liberators with tossed rose petals are  often lobbing
grenades instead . Long suffering  iraqis died by the thousands during
combat,  and still barely survive in the anarchy and chaos of daily
life.

In a democracy, the  regime which got us into this war by selling a
package of horrendous lies, would be impeached and jailed. But given the
dreadful Democrats , we will be lucky to just defeat these fanatics with
whatever wretched lesser evil they appoint to carry the  banner of
slightly more humane imperialism, with slightly less murderous butchery.

Our economy’s  inhuman priorities cause millions of dollars in tax
benefits to appear for  our ruling class , while millions of jobs are
made to  disappear from our working class . This is wonderful for
corporadoes  who don’t have to pay those salaries, but terrible for
those  unemployed, and for the economy that needs their purchasing
power.

Even the moronic witch doctors who run this freak show  know It’s
impossible  to sell products to people without money.  The only way to
move more goods and services  is to extend  more  credit, so that
people  continue  consuming things they often don’t  need, frequently
don’t   want, and usually  can’t afford.

A nation carrying trillions of dollars in public debt has citizens who
carry an equal cumulative amount in personal debt. But unlike
governments, citizens can’t float loans or bond measures;  bankruptcy is
the only  relief for an indebted consumer.  How many bankruptcies can
our economy  absorb? What if a political movement is formed around the
idea of not  taking on any more debt? What would happen if that
movement insisted on canceling, or withholding payments on the existing
debt, as poor nations are  doing? No wonder there is tension in the air.
The poor south may be suffering far more,  physically,  but the  rich
north could be nearing a mental breakdown  .


Antidepressants can  put a smile on a debtor’s  face , but they can’t
put money in an empty bank account. If such exists; in a nation
dependent on low wage workers , paychecks are often cashed at interest
gouging store front firms that prey upon the working poor who have no
banks . As these mainly immigrant workers prop up the economy’s
structural basement, the idiotic Patriot Act makes it harder for them to
enter the country and do the dirty work that helps  keep the great
American mall from running out of stock or customers. Is schizophrenia
a synonym for capitalism?

While the regime scares us with invented signs of menace, it is  clear
that the terror originates in our economy and its political leadership,
who are presiding over a program of endless war and growing debt. They
could briefly get away with lies  about poisoned air in New York, or
Iraqi WMDs. But the poisoned political air that  threatens to smother
democracy is creating a stench that cannot be deodarized by any
propaganda .

People may react in anger, panic or fear,  but their reaction itself is
a cause for hope. Despite confusing  polls that show both understanding
and ignorance - and  reflect the questions asked as much as the answers
given - treating Americans like ignorant children doesn’t work.
Conflicting messages that contradict experienced reality are only
serving to destroy fake democracy, and may help bring about the real
thing.

Citizens may be herded into voting against new demons created by
propaganda, as in California, where, despite being a member of a ruling
class family, a platitude spouting Hollywood airhead is depicted as a
combination of Satan, Hitler and Bin laden.  But more than ever, they
will also choose alternatives and show growing disgust at the
consciousness controlling  machine that treats them as idiots. They are
coming to understand more than their manipulators.

The war on terror is a murderous lie. Its purpose is to instill panic,
while  filling the pockets of those who already have more, by emptying
the pockets of those who have much less. Lying  about terrorism’s origin
, meaning or likelihood of reoccurrence, is criminal manipulation of the
public trust.

When political leadership tells lies, and major media  repeats them,
what are people to think? How can we understand a reality  so distorted
by those who supposedly bring its meaning to us? And yet, significant
minorities continue to  see through those lies, and take action against
them.

The nation, like the world, is moved by forces still out of its control,
but slowly, surely,  change will come. When the impulse of the American
public catches up to that of the rest of the world, the ruling minority
will have good reason to fear. And make no mistake, what terrifies them
is the threat of real  democracy. The only  question is whether we can
create it in time.

Copyright (c) 2003 by Frank Scott. All rights reserved.

             This text may be used and shared in accordance with the
             fair-use provisions of U.S. copyright law, and it may be
           archived and redistributed in electronic form, provided that
            the author is notified and no fee is charged for access.
           Archiving, redistribution, or republication of this text on
          other terms, in any medium, requires the consent of the author

frank scott
email: [log in to unmask]
225 laurel place, san rafael ca. 94901
(415)457 2415   fax(415)457 4791