The Shafted Nation: Primer
Welcome to The Shafted Nation, Patriots!
I am a proud patriot of a powerful nation with a long history freedom and equality for all. My question is: Has that history come to an end? The shafted nation will chronicle a noble nation’s reckless decent down the slippery slope of social injustice and political callousness. We are free citizens of a great nation whose greatness is under relentless assault from within and without.
Though many reap the benefits of America’s immense bounty and have escaped the wrath of those who wish to tear her down, the rest of us have been shafted. The immorality of the few is imposed on the majority, those whose only true purpose is to protect us zealously harvest the fruits of our labor, and the silent majority rests in slumber, awaiting nothing, expecting nothing and standing for nothing.
Together we shall awaken the beast. Together we will explore the propaganda and mental programming forced upon us by the public school system and the media so that we can awaken from the hypnosis that chains our minds. Together we can resurrect that long dead and desperately needed savior that is common sense.
I have explored many formats in an attempt to find an entertaining and informative format that allows me to express my views and spark debate. This format will combine all previous formats (with the exception of my fiction novelette) and focus on the social, political, and cultural drama that is being played out throughout this great country. Proud as I am to be an American, we have a lot of work to do if we wish to feed its greatness and starve the carcinogenic elements within it that threaten the vitality of the nation as a whole.
I will answer your questions, I will discuss any news stories you would like insight into, and I will offer random observations of cultural significance or insignificance. America is a financial, cultural, and entrepreneurial gold mine, but the majority of us have gotten the shaft. As long as we dwell contently in that shaft, questioning nothing and accepting everything, we empower the powers-that-be to keep us there.
Welcome to The Shafted Nation, Patriots. Together we will shine the light and recover the greatness within. Ask me your questions, show me the stories that boil your blood, and we will make sense of it all, for we are Patriots!
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Best of The Shafted Nation: Back Issue #1
The Shafted Nation Volume I: Consent To Be Shafted
Welcome back to The Shafted Nation, Patriots!
I wanted to set some important ground rules right off the bat, but screw that; we’ll get to the good stuff and set the rules as we go. The Shafted Nation is an exploration of the American condition. To be true to that ideal, I must recognize the state of our culture. We want instant gratification. Thus I’ll skip the blatherskite and get to the questions:
Bob:
With the middle class being both choked and shafted at the same time, how does the middle class decline and torment be put to an end?
A Patriot:
Good question, bob. You have a keen eye for the shafting you are receiving. This brings up The Shafted Nation rule number one: We are shafted by implied consent.
There are several kinds of violation that a victim can suffer. One of them is violation by force; think of your typical rape scenario. The victim is set upon, acted upon and has no other option. Another kind of violation, one that more aptly describes the shafting of America, is violation by consent; think of your typical domestic abuse scenario. In this case, the victim is set upon and acted upon, but at some point they have an option. The victim has an action they can take to stop the abuse, but a complex series of excuses and rationalizations take place in the victim’s mind that causes them to not take that action. In effect they consent to the violation.
The middle class is, by far the best-positioned segment of our society to enact change. Why don’t they? Are the things they have so valuable that they refuse to risk them to benefit our nation? I think that is a major factor, and the politicians know this and exploit it.
The politicians know that as long as the middle class can afford their summer vacations, their SUV’s, college savings for their kids, and the occasional toy or two for their homes, they are unlikely organize and mount any significant opposition. The same is true of the lower socio-economic strata. If they can get to the occasional monster truck rally, afford a six-pack every couple days, and still have enough to buy a few lottery tickets, then they will lie down too. Yes, I’m being pig-headed and embracing some unfair stereotypes here, but that is how they see us.
Think of the upper class and what the politicians have to do to appease them. Hmm, open the borders to slave labor to increase profit margins and stock values, seize privately owned land under eminent domain and give it to private developers, and overtax the other classes in order to ease the tax burden on the rich and corporate interests. As long as they give each class enough to keep them pacified, their positions are secure. They can shaft Peter to pay Paul as long as long as they sprinkle a little magic happy juice on each party.
The middle class can organize, they can get political, and they can pull some cash out of their vacation funds, pool it together, and put pressure on the government. They can refuse to drink the magic happy juice until we all get the government that we were promised 230 years ago.
Teri:
Which political candidate do you support or feel would or could possibly make the changes we need?
A Patriot:
Teri, Teri, Teri. You are, indeed, among the shafted. You look to the government to fix our problems. Government has one vested interest and one alone: to enrich themselves and gather power and influence. They have no vested interest fixing anything or helping anyone unless it furthers their own prime interest.
Does that mean that we’re forever shafted without the possibility of redemption? How is that possible if they have no interest in our well being? Shouldn’t we find candidates who care about us? Um, no, I’ll explain, and my god, no.
Redemption is possible by, dare I say, getting political. Vote! Get involved! Whatever you do, don’t just vote for president, and don’t buy congress’s propaganda that the president is, in any way, responsible for the health of our nation. Think about it, if you wanted to assemble a winning football team, would you only get involved with choosing a quarterback and let everyone else worry about picking the rest of the team? The strength of our nation is decided in congress, and at the state and local levels. You could have the god of all quarterbacks on your team and lose every game you play if the rest of the team isn’t up to task.
Congress likes the fact that we only vote in large numbers during presidential election years. They like the fact that we blame the president for everything. To extend the metaphor, they can go out there, drop every pass, breakdown every protection scheme, and totally drop the ball on defense and they know that you will yell at the quarterback. Its all a lie they put in your head that works to their advantage.
How do we change them when their interests are dissimilar from our own? Easy, make your problems their problems. Just like the way you don’t care about what they do as long as you get what’s important to you, they don’t care about you as long as they get your votes and don’t have their poor decisions and indiscretions reacted to in overwhelming numbers. There is a treasure-trove of information out there on what your representatives are doing. What do we do with it? Nothing.
Shouldn’t we find someone who has our best interests at heat? Absolutely not. Not only is there no such animal, but even if there were, he or she would be a terrible politician. Politicians are like pets. With proper care, feeding, and training, they’ll be great to have around, but if you drop the ball on any of those responsibilities, they’ll be mean-spirited, lethargic, or undisciplined.
To answer you question, I would support any candidate if he or she were properly cared for, fed and trained. We have lost our way in this country. We want things to work themselves out so we don’t have to worry about them. Those of us who vote feel that we pull the lever for the best candidate and then walk away. Then we are surprised when our pet politician turns mongrel.
That’s all I have for today. We are shafted by consent and it takes proper care and feeding to raise a good politician. Remember that and act on that and we can turn things around. Until next time, bienvenididos a Los Estados Unitos, toldos los bandidos y gentes malos.
Welcome back to The Shafted Nation, Patriots!
I wanted to set some important ground rules right off the bat, but screw that; we’ll get to the good stuff and set the rules as we go. The Shafted Nation is an exploration of the American condition. To be true to that ideal, I must recognize the state of our culture. We want instant gratification. Thus I’ll skip the blatherskite and get to the questions:
Bob:
With the middle class being both choked and shafted at the same time, how does the middle class decline and torment be put to an end?
A Patriot:
Good question, bob. You have a keen eye for the shafting you are receiving. This brings up The Shafted Nation rule number one: We are shafted by implied consent.
There are several kinds of violation that a victim can suffer. One of them is violation by force; think of your typical rape scenario. The victim is set upon, acted upon and has no other option. Another kind of violation, one that more aptly describes the shafting of America, is violation by consent; think of your typical domestic abuse scenario. In this case, the victim is set upon and acted upon, but at some point they have an option. The victim has an action they can take to stop the abuse, but a complex series of excuses and rationalizations take place in the victim’s mind that causes them to not take that action. In effect they consent to the violation.
The middle class is, by far the best-positioned segment of our society to enact change. Why don’t they? Are the things they have so valuable that they refuse to risk them to benefit our nation? I think that is a major factor, and the politicians know this and exploit it.
The politicians know that as long as the middle class can afford their summer vacations, their SUV’s, college savings for their kids, and the occasional toy or two for their homes, they are unlikely organize and mount any significant opposition. The same is true of the lower socio-economic strata. If they can get to the occasional monster truck rally, afford a six-pack every couple days, and still have enough to buy a few lottery tickets, then they will lie down too. Yes, I’m being pig-headed and embracing some unfair stereotypes here, but that is how they see us.
Think of the upper class and what the politicians have to do to appease them. Hmm, open the borders to slave labor to increase profit margins and stock values, seize privately owned land under eminent domain and give it to private developers, and overtax the other classes in order to ease the tax burden on the rich and corporate interests. As long as they give each class enough to keep them pacified, their positions are secure. They can shaft Peter to pay Paul as long as long as they sprinkle a little magic happy juice on each party.
The middle class can organize, they can get political, and they can pull some cash out of their vacation funds, pool it together, and put pressure on the government. They can refuse to drink the magic happy juice until we all get the government that we were promised 230 years ago.
Teri:
Which political candidate do you support or feel would or could possibly make the changes we need?
A Patriot:
Teri, Teri, Teri. You are, indeed, among the shafted. You look to the government to fix our problems. Government has one vested interest and one alone: to enrich themselves and gather power and influence. They have no vested interest fixing anything or helping anyone unless it furthers their own prime interest.
Does that mean that we’re forever shafted without the possibility of redemption? How is that possible if they have no interest in our well being? Shouldn’t we find candidates who care about us? Um, no, I’ll explain, and my god, no.
Redemption is possible by, dare I say, getting political. Vote! Get involved! Whatever you do, don’t just vote for president, and don’t buy congress’s propaganda that the president is, in any way, responsible for the health of our nation. Think about it, if you wanted to assemble a winning football team, would you only get involved with choosing a quarterback and let everyone else worry about picking the rest of the team? The strength of our nation is decided in congress, and at the state and local levels. You could have the god of all quarterbacks on your team and lose every game you play if the rest of the team isn’t up to task.
Congress likes the fact that we only vote in large numbers during presidential election years. They like the fact that we blame the president for everything. To extend the metaphor, they can go out there, drop every pass, breakdown every protection scheme, and totally drop the ball on defense and they know that you will yell at the quarterback. Its all a lie they put in your head that works to their advantage.
How do we change them when their interests are dissimilar from our own? Easy, make your problems their problems. Just like the way you don’t care about what they do as long as you get what’s important to you, they don’t care about you as long as they get your votes and don’t have their poor decisions and indiscretions reacted to in overwhelming numbers. There is a treasure-trove of information out there on what your representatives are doing. What do we do with it? Nothing.
Shouldn’t we find someone who has our best interests at heat? Absolutely not. Not only is there no such animal, but even if there were, he or she would be a terrible politician. Politicians are like pets. With proper care, feeding, and training, they’ll be great to have around, but if you drop the ball on any of those responsibilities, they’ll be mean-spirited, lethargic, or undisciplined.
To answer you question, I would support any candidate if he or she were properly cared for, fed and trained. We have lost our way in this country. We want things to work themselves out so we don’t have to worry about them. Those of us who vote feel that we pull the lever for the best candidate and then walk away. Then we are surprised when our pet politician turns mongrel.
That’s all I have for today. We are shafted by consent and it takes proper care and feeding to raise a good politician. Remember that and act on that and we can turn things around. Until next time, bienvenididos a Los Estados Unitos, toldos los bandidos y gentes malos.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
First day on the job
Today, my involvement in the Black Diamond Writers Network paid off yet again. I found blogger.com and i look forward to sharing my views with a new audience.
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