we live in a corporate dictatorship
El_Kabong
Posts: 4,141
corporations control our media, our view of the world and life. they tell us who is electable and realistic. essentially they tell us who to vote for. it's obvious how much of our governmental policy is catered towards corporate interests and lobbyists have more sway than me and you.
so why play along? the only person who can make a candidate unelectable is you.
so why play along? the only person who can make a candidate unelectable is you.
standin above the crowd
he had a voice that was strong and loud and
i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
eager to identify with
someone above the crowd
someone who seemed to feel the same
someone prepared to lead the way
he had a voice that was strong and loud and
i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
eager to identify with
someone above the crowd
someone who seemed to feel the same
someone prepared to lead the way
Post edited by Unknown User on
0
Comments
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"We've laid the groundwork. It's like planting the seeds. And next year, it's spring." - Nader
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Prepare for tending to your garden, America.
SO TRUE!!!
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
The American Dream
I wanna live in a gated community
I wanna live my life in total apathy
I want corporate op/ed channels to form my opinions for me
Pump me full of fear so I can cling to your distractions
I want to just accept your wild rationalizations
Tell me what to buy so I can fit in
I wanna live my life by what the TV tells me
I'd stop and think for myself but I'm far too busy
I don't wanna know about your problems
I can't afford to help ya cos i'm defined by my possesions
I don't care if you don't have enough, only that I have more
I'm not gonna help cos I'm a greedy little whore
I want to consume overprocessed food and bottled water
the newest usesless contraption for a few months until they come out with something better
I buy magazines just to find out who I'm supposed to be.
he had a voice that was strong and loud and
i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
eager to identify with
someone above the crowd
someone who seemed to feel the same
someone prepared to lead the way
Hehe. It would be fun to mail this to all of the houses in a gated community.
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"We've laid the groundwork. It's like planting the seeds. And next year, it's spring." - Nader
***********************
Prepare for tending to your garden, America.
question: Do you own any of the following: car, house, tv, cell phone?
in the middle of the day in a cul de sac, a man lives maybe with his wife in a big house (maybe 4 bedrooms) and a huuuge yard ... he stands on his driveway and begins to powerwash his driveway inch by inch ... temperatures around the 90's ... for 45 minutes he's running water full bore to clean his driveway that as far as we could see had no dirt ...
all along the interstates in florida are signs of conserving water - but this guy is using it to clean his driveway ... excessive waste of a precious resource by someone living far beyond his needs ... and he does this why? ... because he can - and that is the "american way" ...
Chuck Palahniuk
naděje umírá poslední
I don't think he meant everyone who owns a car, house, tv or cell phone sold his soul. I think he's saying more and more people consider these things and the pursuit of these things more important than anything else, it has become their purpose to own more. They need to have the newest cell phone, the biggest tv, the biggest house... These are things they don't really need, they can easily live without them. They're working jobs, to earn more money, so they can buy more and spend more... But it's not necessary at all. They associate happiness with new things. It's becoming an addiction.
Materialism.
naděje umírá poslední
If you own a house, plant a garden. If I lived more southernly where the growing season is much longer I'd be pretty much eating for free, and only buying meat when necessary, and on sale.
Unless you're loaded and you interest outruns your spending habits, you're only promoting them to carry on and maintain their control over you financially.
I would love to break free completely.
and reveling in it's loyalty. It's made by forming coalitions
over specific principles, goals, and policies.
http://i36.tinypic.com/66j31x.jpg
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Your candidate is unelectable, regardless of the "corporate dictatorship" we live under. Furthermore, your use of the words "our media" is disturbing -- it's their media. If you want media, create your own. Finally, the irony is thick in your complaints about "corporate interests and lobbyists". People like you have been calling for a government "for the people" forever, yet you fail to even understand that your "people" is also a subset, just like theirs. I'd try not to be so disappointed when someone else simply plays your game better than you do.
From Websters: The doctrine of belief that matter is God, or that there is no God except matter and the universe; pantheism.
And the American Heritage dictionary of Culture Literacy: In philosophy, the position that nothing exists except matter — things that can be measured or known through the senses. Materialists deny the existence of spirit, and they look for physical explanations for all phenomena. Thus, for example, they trace mental states to the brain or nervous system, rather than to the spirit or the soul. Marxism, because it sees human culture as the product of economic forces, is a materialist system of beliefs.
LOL...it never gets old
Imagination is a very material thing.
And to that population? Well, if they're all fooled, then the most rational short term solution is to do away with democracy. After all, as far as I can tell, people are voting for the wrong candidates. And I'm being honest with that last sentence.
But the sentence before? What if they're not all fooled? What if, by it's very nature, large scale democracy (like a presidential election), always trends toward the "mushy middle"? That the media doesn't report on fringe candidates as much, because "the people" simply aren't interested in them? Or are "the people" not interested in them because the media won't report? Real chicken or the egg situation right there.
Rationally, a "fringe" or "radical" candidate cannot be elected president, because then that candidate would cease to be "radical" or "fringe." Louisiana is vastly different than Oregon - but it helps for a candidate to try and reach the most in both; and, let's be honest, our similarities are pretty bland.
Imagination involves many of the senses, but that's not the issue here. The issue here is whether or not imagination is material, and it very much is. Are you of the belief that imagination is some rootless product of the ether? Imagination stems from your brain, and the material structures that comprise it. Damn the material and you damn imagination.
I kinda follow Jello Biafra's MO... Plant seeds of change every day... There are simple things you can do everyday with the materials you possess.
If you are tech oriented there's all sorts of tomfoolery you can partake in.
Go into enemy territory and look for shit to fuck-up.
Send in all those cards that are stuffed inside magazines with free postage. Send a subscription of Guns and Ammo to the vacant house down the street, or better yet send a Playboy subscription to that vile church down the lane.
Have fun being a debaser
I suspect that the answer is a compromise between the two, with a heavier dose of the first.
The media, by its nature, needs to report to people what they believe the people are interested in seeing. However, the media does not know what the people are interested in seeing with any kind of glorious accuracy. As such, it has to accept the risk of guessing, to some extent. And reporting on a charasmatic major party candidate well known to the electorate is a much safer bet than reporting on fringe candidates or unknowns.
The positive answer to your second question above is partly disproven by people here and many elsewhere who do seek out information on fringe candidates and find countless media sources from which they can glean information. Those people, however, are a severe minority and their sources reflect that.
I think the fact of the matter is that if you were to take two media sources with equal reach and have the first devote its attention to a broad review of candidates and races while having the second obsess on a select few issues or candidates, the second outlet would receive many more willing eyeballs. Maybe that's sad, maybe it's not, but it is what it is.
I agree with that.
I have a different dictionary, by the way.
naděje umírá poslední
While I don't know El_Kabong, on a personal level. I think he knows I agree with this in general terms.
But I do believe we have to be conscience of the possibility this could come off as speaking in absolutes........extremes.
There's no doubt a large and significant portion of our population is very much as described up above. But there are different variables and distinct levels of depth Americans find themselves in all of this.
For instance, there's nothing wrong with people having passions.....hobbies..or....interests. It is part of the human condition or humans just being.
Speaking for myself, music is a deeply-rooted and emotionally rewarding (as well as emotionally stimulating) passion of mine. Therefore, I have a lot of audio gear (loudspeakers, CD Players, Turntables, pre amps and power amplifiers) for the purpose of listening to music.
I also have a large collection of both Vintage (NOS and slightly used) and new production vacume tubes; which are not only used in my music listening gear, but also in my guitar and bass guitar pre amp sections for when playing those instruments.
Walking into my house you would find loudspeaker systems ( and the component gear) in almost every room. Of course I also have extensive CD, vinyl LP and DVD collections. Music to me is an art form, and I love many types/genras of music. So I collect a lot of music.
I have a shitload of books as I love literature. I consider good literature an art form, too.
On the other hand, I still don't have a Cell Phone, Ipod, WiFi, Sony Playstation, X-Box, LCD Television, Plasma television or any of the other "latest and greatest" of technology.
And quite frankily, I have no interest in them.
In fact, I still use my Sony and JVC Walkman Audio Cassette players. No portable mp3 storage technology. I couldn't care less.
Everyone has a lot of things they don't need to survive. You don't need a couch to survive. You don't a bed to survive (humans slept for thousands of years on the ground or on piles of soil, moss, hay, grass or weeds.
We don't need forks or knives to survive. Certianly we don't need a computer to survive. Well, for my job a computer makes my job a lot easier.
What we do in our day-to-day lives. Who we help. Who we love. How we think and how we communicate. What we question and what we simply just digest and accept as supposed truths. These are the most important factors, in my opinion.
Last year I started teaching my eldest son to wash his own hands at the bathroom sink. Anyone here who has children knows a three year old will run the water for 10......15...20 minutes while trying to wash their little hands; and how wasteful it is.
So I have been extremely diligent in guiding, teaching and demonstrating to him the act of washing one's hands. I watch him like a hawk on that and he's not allowed to do it on his own till he learns to conserve the water and do it efficiently. Just one example, from a plethora of little every day things we could do to help ourselves and help our planet.
You want to wash your car in the summer? Then have some fun. When a good, heavy downpour comes along, put on a pair of swimshorts (or a bikini for the ladies), grab your environmental-friendly soap and go wash your car in the rain. If your friends are there, you all go out there and do it together. It's a fuckin' pisser.......a blast. Your car gets reasonably clean and you and your friends will laugh your asses off and have a good time. Especially if you have a soap fight:D
I use these examples because they touch on a few (what I consider) important factors and elements in today's world.
Spend time with your loved ones, your family.....your friends. Don't just talk on the phone, go hang out with each other. Connect with other people. spend time with your kids ...interact and engage with them. Have fun with them.
This country has become an e-mail, text message, PM and cell phone society. A distant and cold society.
When's the last time you gave your best buddy a good hug? Not a gay hug (for all the homophobes):D;) But just an ..."I love you like a brother and I'm grateful to have a great friend like you in my life" ....hug.
When's the last time you gave your mom....your dad....your sister.....your brother...your neighbor a good hug?
Fuck, I know one person in particular who was more "emotionally moved or upset" when Heath Ledger died, than, when people she has actually known in real life have died. What the fuck is that all about!?!?!
Heath Ledger?
This country became so superficial....so Pop Culture obssessed. So caught up in materialism.
Then it turned into this demented and (what I consider sick) voyeurism of watching so-called "reality-based" television shows. Where people air-out all their personal and intimate details and dysfunctions..... they dismiss any sense of integrity, self-respect and common sense, while making complete and utter fools of themselves; all for a few dollars.
And so many Americans sit back and eat it all up and enjoy this dispicable spectacle. Why? Does it make them feel better about themselves? Do they take pleasure in seeing other people lower themselves to such repulsive levels?
Same thing with Britney and Lindsey Lohen. Why do American love to watch these people self-destruct, breakdown...get tore down and fall on their faces?
It says a lot about our culture. And we're not the only ones. People from a lot of other countries are in the same boat.
Break the detatchment and connect with ...you know.....other human beings.
Break the corporate walls they have built around you. With their technologies...their distractions .....their mindless entertainment. They want us to be divided, distracted, too busy, too tired, too intolerant, too impatient.....too isolated.
Reach out......touch...hug...talk...laugh...cry....be happy...be sad......but do it together. Not apart.
InMyTree, your post above was cool as hell. Nicely done.
The bottom line is that people have to find their happiness. And some people are going to find it differently than you will. And some will never find it, sometimes because they're not able to or sometimes because they choose the wrong path. But so long as any of us wishes to pretend that there's one path to happiness, then we're going to end up standing in the way of those who truly need to take a different road than we took or or taking. It's a long and winding road, boys and girls, and there are many intersections. Try to be careful.
Is that from Fight Club?
Glad you connected with it.
But, there are some upsides... you know. Like, I am glad that massive airliners are made by big corporations, rather than some dude and his drinking buddies in a barn in Nebraska. And those airliners aren't cheap to make (try building one in your spare time and see). The same goes for corporation that make automobiles and medicine. I don't want to share the roads with inept drivers talking on cell phones in cars they've assembeld in their driveways to take medicine from chemists who make them in their Meth labs.
I WISH... corporations had a conscience and would dial back on the greed thing. I WISH that people didn't want ALL the money and were just happy being wealthy and comfortable. But, in a Capitalist society... my wishes will never come true. There are too many people that truely believe you cannot be rich enough.
So, instead of laying all the blame at the doorsteps of Corporations... I think that all of us need to shoulder part of the blame... for our own personal selfishness and greed that created and continue to feed these monsters.
Hail, Hail!!!
but take a look in the real world of corporate dictatorship and its affect on working stiffs
GM and the Canadian Auto Workers. GM basically said screw you we're not negotiating, in fact, we are closing the plant in 2010.
Why is 2010 important - take look
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2007-11/23/content_6275543.htm
FAW plans to build auto factory in Mexico
(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-11-23 15:29
China First Automobile Works Group Corp (FAW) will build a Mexican automobile factory and next year plans to begin importing cars into the country to capture its growing middle-class market.
Grupo Elektra SAB, Mexico's largest electronic-goods retailer, said in a statement today that it has formed a partnership with FAW to build a US$150 million factory in Michoacan state. It's set to open in 2010 with capacity to make 100,000 cars, becoming the first Chinese auto plant in Mexico.
--Hello America, How does this double talk work. We are led to believe that illegals are taking our jobs - when its clear that the big corporations are giving our jobs to cheap laborers. Thus, if we deport the illegals they become another source of cheap laborer in Mexico, so we're still screwed by the corporations. OH and IN keep an eye on Chyrsler.
None of the current presidential candidate have spoken about how to protect workers, communities, hell the State as whole from the impact of such large lost of revenue. States put out a lot of incentives to get these type of businesses, there should be at least some type of reparations penalty when these corporations decide they want to closeup and move. Although no presidential candidate can keep a corporation from moving they can seek legislation to heavily penalize these corporations so that the already financially strapped State doesn't have to bear the full burden of a corporate decision.
Had one of those workers simply left the plant and gotten a better job, would you have negatively accused him or her of "not negotiating" and abandoning the corporation?
but this is where americans fail to acknowledge their role in this situation ... you want to pay low prices for your goods and stuff - well, these are the consequences ... imagine if people were willing to pay the true cost for goods and services?? ... that is why america subscribes to imperialism - growing wealth through exploitation ... and we are part and parcel of that scheme ...
nicely done