By Henry McRandall
WRISEUP.COM
Although I’m certainly not a trained psychoanalyst, it’s not hard the diagnose the epidemic sweeping Amerikkka: the masses – the poor, the working class and the middle class – are paralyzed by fear and loathing.
The fear is of terrorists, of taxes, of the “other”, of “the man,” of toxic consumer products, of tainted foods, of corporations, of the banksters, etc.
Americans fear terrorists because the political whores in the national and state capitals and the journalistic hacks in the corporate mass media have a vested interest in serving up this ultimate bogeyman.
They fear taxes because lower taxes are the only thing left to give them any respite after 30 years of falling real wages and soaring real debts.
They fear the “other” because it serves the interests of the socioeconomic elite – the billionaires and mega-millionaires – to keep the anger and resentment of the exploited masses directed at each other instead of at the common enemy – those who already have far, far more than their fair share.
They fear “the man” (meaning police, politicians and bosses) because “the man” is always around to menace what little they have left to lose.
The fear toxic consumer products because they know they can trust neither the corporations that make the products or the governments that regulate and inspect them.
They fear tainted foods because they realize something has gone horribly wrong with the environment and the food chain and neither government nor big business can be trusted to right this wrong.
They fear the corporations because they know – “democratic” elections notwithstanding – the corporations are one half of the real, unelected government.
And they fear the banksters because they know they are the senior partner of the corporations in the unelected, hidden government that truly rules Amerikkka and the world.
And they loathe all the people and all the things that they fear because while fear has become the dominant emotion in the world today, they may be powerless to do anything but loathe these people and things.
“Fear” and “loathing” are two powerful emotions whose inherent concomitance was first brought to public attention by the late, great gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson.
Thompson explored the phenomena as they related to specific places and events.
But the malaise that grips the masses relates now to almost all places and all events. And it will only be healed when the masses – the poor, the working class and the middle class – unite as a single coherent entity – regardless of race, colour, creed (or lack thereof), gender, age, nationality, ethnicity, sexual orientation, handicap or employment status – throw off their shackles and rise up against the corrupt corporate capitalist agenda that is keeping them both bowed and bloodied.