For the purpose of this argument, I'm going to make a couple of baseline assumptions about the readers: You are intelligent, fair-minded, honest, and ethical. From there, I will try to define what that means with the intention of ascertaining whether it is possible to achieve a broad-based agreement about what those concepts mean.
So in order to set the stage for a discussion about this topic, first I will assume that on any given topic people reading this are only interested in the truth (insofar as the truth can be known about anything), and that they will make decisions related to ethics and integrity based solely on their interpretation of the truth of said subjects, and not on their perception of what is popular or widely accepted, personal agendas, biases, tribalism, or partisanship.
I will share my own understanding of "the truth" when it comes to our socioeconomic system in order to present it as a prototype against which the reader can compare her or his own understanding, hoping to identify both, areas of strong agreement, and areas of strong disagreement.
Before I continue, I think it is important I point out a couple of principles (I would like to think) I live by: I genuinely and unequivocally have never been concerned about being popular, or fitting in in any given group or clique, and I have rarely refrained from speaking up regarding injustices or wrongdoing, regardless of the consequences.
My Worldview
Through observation of the world around me, many years ago I came to certain conclusions about our political and socioeconomic system.
Namely, I determined (concluded) that democracy and the political system in the U.S. are an illusion, and a farce. I came to understand that powerful business/moneyed interests were in a decades-long process to take over all the levers of (governmental) power by taking over the political class (establishment) through an elaborate system of legalized bribery.
Also, as far back as the late 1990's I started to develop the notion that this nascent oligarchy was also in the process of setting up what I considered to be a fascistic infrastructure of surveillance and police state-like legal/security system.
I also came to the conclusion that in the final analysis, the effects of corporate media conglomeration was to turn the entire mainstream media outlets into a powerful (mind-numbing) propaganda machine/apparatus specifically designed to manipulate people into accepting a certain corporatist-induced ethos (rampant consumerism, greed, selfishness, fear, willful ignorance, hyper-partisanship, conformity), and to prevent people from realizing (or coming to understand) the true nature of the system.
More recently I've come to understand that this corrupt highly technological oligarchical (NSA total-information-surveillance police state) system has gone global, resulting in a transnational ruling elite (I'm including some reference material at the end of the diary), and that therein lies the reason for both, the similarities with which governments are imposing austerity measures on the citizenry, and the ongoing backlash (which I like to call a "global revolution.")
Readers who are familiar with my work, already know that that is my worldview, since it is a recurring theme in many (if not most) of my diaries.
Now, I've found that when I put these arguments forward, some people react very negatively; some get very angry; some are dismissive and use ridicule as part of their reaction.
I assume some reasons for those reactions: Some may see the argument as me saying that voting doesn't matter, and hence I'm trying to undermine the Democratic party. Others see it as a nonsense conspiracy theory. There may be some who react negatively purely because of partisanship and ideological orthodoxy, even if they know there may be some truth to what I'm saying.
Before I move on, as a point of clarification, I never argue that getting involved in partisan politics, and exercising our right to vote, are not important. I think that as citizens, no matter how corrupt the system may be, we should always exercise every right we have, especially the right to vote, and that we should get engaged in campaigning, and social justice activism in many areas, whether it is the environment, gay rights, women's rights, workers' rights, endangered species, etc.
My argument is more nuanced (I'd like to think). My argument is that because the entire system is run by corporatist cartels (in the final analysis, because of legalize bribery and corruption), the political system is by and large farcical in that it only provides very marginal benefits to the citizenry.
But even so, I still think that it is worth it to participate in it in order to attain those marginal benefits, wherever and whenever we can get them.
Civic Duty, Intellectual Honesty, and Integrity
First, let me acknowledge that the possibility exists that I may be either totally wrong, or partially wrong about the conclusions I've arrived to. For that to happen, there would have to be something faulty with my cognition, comprehension ability, and intelligence (and since we're only human, that's possible), because I've arrived to those conclusions based on my interest in truly understanding the world around me without bias (as much as that is possible), or any personal agendas.
Now, here's a challenge to readers... For many years now I have often been ridiculed or dismissed out of hand as a conspiracy theorist when I've shared these conclusions.
But, since (as I explained above) I have never worried about trying to be popular, accepted, nor fit into any clique, it never crossed my mind to stop speaking "truth to power" because I considered it a civic duty...
For example, for years now I've been hammering away at how Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, Google, and basically the entire national information technology infrastructure was going to be used to gather mass amounts of data about citizens, and that that power was eventually going to be used to control, intimidate, and subjugate the population.
Again, one recurring theme in many of the reactions from readers when I've touched on this topic is to resort to ridicule and incredulousness.
So here's the final question to the reader: When it comes to your world view, to your understanding of reality and of our political and socioeconomic system, do you argue your points from a perspective of civic duty, intellectual honesty, and integrity, or do you think you may be influenced by biases associated to partisanship, misinformation, or personal agendas?
What I'm trying to do here is to encourage people to be introspective about these questions, since I think that at this stage, given the challenges we face as a country, and as citizens of the world, we should all at least agree on the importance of having intellectual honesty and integrity.
My intention in writing this is not to turn it into a polemic about whether my worldview is right or wrong. I've already admitted that, being human and therefore fallible, it is entirely possible that I may be wrong on many aspects of my conclusions.
But I'm trying to see if it is possible to have everybody agree as to the importance of intellectual honesty and integrity when it comes to our civic duties.
Thanks for reading...
References:
- The Treason of the Intellectuals: The power elite, especially the liberal elite, has always been willing to sacrifice integrity and truth for power, personal advancement, foundation grants, awards, tenured professorships, columns, book contracts, television appearances, generous lecture fees and social status. They know what they need to say. They know which ideology they have to serve.
- Top Secret America: Top Secret America" is a project nearly two years in the making that describes the huge national security buildup in the United States after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks
- Global Power Project: Identifying the Institutions of Control: The Global Power Project, an investigative series produced by Occupy.com, aims to identify and connect the worldwide institutions and individuals who comprise today's global power oligarchy.
- America Is Ruled by Billionaires, and They Are Coming After the Last Shreds of Our Democracy: America is a plutocracy through and through -- what are we going to do about it?
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