Remember Occupy Wall Street? If so, what do you remember the most about it? I know that many things may come to mind, but one that should jump at you is the movement's "we are the 99 percent" rallying cry. We all knew what it meant, clearly. We knew it spoke of extreme income inequality, and of the greed and corruption of the 1 percent.
And remember the conditions that led to the Occupy Wall Street popular uprising? A crushing great recession in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis (as the result of pillaging and looting by the Wall Street criminal racketeering cartel), and the effects of over 30 years of systematic dismantling and/or attacks on our democratic institutions, the public sector, public education, the environment, labor unions, and the social safety net, as the result of the imposition of neoliberal socioeconomic policies (pushed by powerful business interests).
Now, did the movement come to an abrupt halt as the result of those issues being resolved? I would hope readers would agree that that is not the case. The movement was disrupted (I argue, temporarily) mainly as a result of a highly coordinated brutal crackdown by the surveillance police state (and as the result of being infiltrated by government agents). Of course there were other factors, some of which were self-inflicted, but I argue that by and large, the movement was disrupted by the the state.
What about the underlying reasons for the uprising? Well, not only they were not resolved or addressed, they've gotten worst; much worst. And so, if that is the case (if my premise is correct), then how come the movement hasn't been able to find its footing to continue the very important work of re-establishing (or maybe finally help bring about for the first time in history) democracy, justice, constitutional protections, and the rule of law?
I've argued for a very long time (even before OWS), that the reason the population remains eerily passive in the face of what is really an increasingly brutal subjugation, oppression, and exploitation at the hands of the tiny little group that make up our ruling class (members of the 1 percent) is because of the effects of having been lied to, manipulated, and co-opted by what I call Left wing liberal astroturf groups.
For the purpose of this discussion, I'm not going to factor in the role of the Democratic party establishment and elections, which although relevant, it's not the focus of my critique...
Of course, there are many dynamics involved in the suppression of the movement, including massive surveillance and widespread infiltration of activist groups across the country by operatives of government-corporate spy networks, but I argue that probably the most impactful reason is the co-option of the movement by astroturf left wing groups, who in the final analysis are working on behalf of the same rich people, the same corporations, the same business cartels as the astroturf grassroots groups of the Right.
Let's examine a couple of examples... Let's start with the supposedly "centrist" Democratic policy group, Third Way. As you may know, Third Way recently penned an article in the Wall Street Journal criticizing progressives like Elizabeth Warren and Bill de Blasio, as reported by The New York Times:
The article — written by Jon Cowan, president of Third Way, and Jim Kessler, its senior vice president for policy — criticizes progressives like Ms. Warren and Mr. de Blasio for opposing measures to cut costs to Social Security and Medicare.
Now, guess who funds the organization? We'll many of them are
Wall Street bankers; others are represent the interest of big corporations, and business groups (cartels), as
reported by
Lee Fang:
But for Third Way, a group founded in 2005 that is highly active on Capitol Hill, the think tank is merely defending the special interest groups that allow it to exist.
Buried inside the annual report for Third Way is a revelation that the group relies on a peculiar DC consulting firm to raise half a million a year: Peck, Madigan, Jones & Stewart. Peck Madigan is no ordinary nonprofit buckraiser. The group is, in fact, a corporate lobbying firm that represents Deutsche Bank, Intel, the Business Roundtable, Amgen, AT&T, the International Swaps & Derivatives Association, MasterCard, New York Life Insurance, PhRMA and the US Chamber of Commerce, among others.
I don't know about you, but this donor list is starting to look very similar to those who fund the Tea Party and other Astroturf grassroots groups on the right.
And what was Senator Elizabeth Warren's reaction to the Wall Street Journal hit piece by Third Way? Well, she sent a letter to the heads of six of the largest financial institutions:
"I am writing to encourage you to voluntarily disclose financial contributions your institutions make to think tanks. In my view, policies by your institutions conceal those contributions from public view are wrong. Greater transparency will benefit your shareholders, policymakers, and, ultimately, the public. "
~Snip~
"When you use corporate resources to support think tanks, there are only two more outcomes from public disclosure — those contributions do not influence the work of the think tanks or those contributions do influence the think tanks' research and conclusions. Either way, shareholders have a right to know how corporate resources are spent, and, even more importantly, policymakers and the public should be aware of your contributions and evaluate the work of the think tanks accordingly."
Now, let's examine the case of the supposedly liberal group/think tank, the
Center For American Progress. I'll start by referencing an article published at
The Nation in May, 2013:
The Secret Donors Behind the Center for American Progress and Other Think Tanks [Updated on 5/24]
CAP has emerged as perhaps the most influential of all think tanks during the Obama era, and there’s been a rapidly revolving door between it and the administration. CAP is also among the most secretive of all think tanks concerning its donors. Most major think tanks prepare an annual report containing at least some financial and donor information and make it available on their websites. According to CAP spokeswoman Andrea Purse, the center doesn’t even publish one.
Purse told me that CAP “follows all financial disclosure requirements with regard to donors…. We don’t use corporate funds to pay for research or reports.” But she flatly refused to discuss specific donors or to provide an on-the-record explanation for why CAP won’t disclose them.
[The emphasis is mine]
But then, a few months after the claiming that "the center doesn’t even publish one," they of course did, as reported by
The New York Times:
Think Tank Plays Down Role of Donors
Big banks, lobbying firms, health care companies and major Silicon Valley players are all among the corporate sponsors of the left-leaning Center for American Progress, according to the first official tally of its corporate donors, released Friday by the group.
The disclosure comes only a week after Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, ignited a debate in Washington over whether such corporate donations to prominent research organizations result in academic-styled policy papers and newspaper opinion pieces that are designed to move corporate agendas.
[The emphasis is mine]
Now, here's a question... Do you think that if it wasn't because of the tireless (real) investigative journalism done by The Nation, which had already identified many of these donors, CAP would have produced their "first official tally of its corporate donors?" What was the reason for the obfuscation to begin with?
And here's the best quote, as reported by the NYT:
Most of the major think tanks in Washington take corporate donations, in addition to contributions from foundations that sometimes have ties to corporations or to the executives associated with them. Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress, said the donations have no impact on its work.
“This is an institution that tries to find the right answers,” she said in an interview on Thursday. “It does not answer to the agenda of any of its individual supporters or corporations.”
[The emphasis is mine]
Sure.
Now, why did I write all that? Here's my angle on these things... I don't know how to better emphasize the fact that things are really, really bad. A revolving door of influence-peddling corruption has engulfed the entire system. The rich paymasters and their puppet politicians (and the astroturf grassroots organizations) are currently engaged in a perverse, frantic feeding at the trough orgy of greed.
I'm talking about a veritable tyrannical and exploitative ruling elite--wearing a nice smile. It's a velvet-glove corporate state fascism.
There will be no meaningful reforms initiated by these people. They are going to tinker around the edges, talk a good game, pretend they're busy doing something, but in the final analysis, they're just collecting the money and serving their paymasters.
As I've always argued, yes we do need to remain fully engaged in the political process; vote, campaign, volunteer, phone banks, putting up posters, registering new voters... All that needs to continue, but it is not enough.
What's the other thingy that needs to happen? A massive and relentless peaceful uprising capable of stopping the machine cold! So it can be repaired. In other words, Occupy Wall Street was on the right track, but it got derailed for the reasons I explained above. Given the situation, the movement should have grown a hundred times its initial size and continue spreading across the country like wildfire. And yes, it should have adapted, changed tactics, etc., but it should have grown and it should have had staying power until it garnered the strength to force the corrupt system to change, to bring about much needed reforms.
Unless and until that happens, we are going to see the abuses not only continue, but accelerating... All kinds of oppressive laws and regulations will continue to spread; the ongoing looting by the Wall Street racketeering cartel will continue apace; pensions are going to continue to be looted; all kinds of neoliberal policies will continue to spread; the debased, crass, revolving door of corruption by the political class will get even worst, bringing about all kinds of dire consequences for the people.
What we are witnessing is an extremely debased and corrupt system. I understand that part of the problem so far is that this fact hasn't become apparent enough, but I argue that because of the rapacious greed of the ruling elite, more and more people are going to come to the sad realization that the system has turned predatory.
And I argue that even though right now, as you read this, there are many activist groups across the country standing up against the oppression, the last step needed in order to gain the strength (and organization, strategic thinking, discipline, and staying power), is for them to form strong coalitions capable of both, coordinating local and national actions of peaceful resistance on a sustained (days, weeks, months, even years) basis.
If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning.
They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what a people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both.
The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. Men may not get all they pay for in this world; but they must pay for all they get. If we ever get free from all the oppressions and wrongs heaped upon us, we must pay for their removal. We must do this by labor, by suffering, by sacrifice, and, if needs be, by our lives, and the lives of others.
- Frederick Douglass
But in order to do that, we have to come to terms with the fact that we have been (and are being) infiltrated, and co-opted (and manipulated) by the ruling elite minions; by the security state; by
corporate spies; by fake liberal and progressive organizations that are actually serving the interests of their funders.
We need to know who is lying to us; we need to keep it real. Knowledge is power.
I think this is going to happen, and I think that in the spring and summer of 2014 we'll see it spread across the country like wildfire. Let's do it right this time!
We live in the world that your propaganda made, but when you think you are strong, you are weak. Your lies tell us the truth we will use against you. Your secrecy shows us where we will strike. Your weapons reveal your fear for all to see. From Cairo to Quito a new order is forming. The power of people armed with the truth.
-- Julian Assange / Calle 13 multi-viral
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