You want the truth about 2018 America? Connect the dots! The enclosed words will make you uncomfortable – it should. America, 2018, is not an accident. Much stealth planning, and much stealth money have achieved an astounding reversal of our promise and history. America has been fighting the greed of the upper 1% since 1865. The 1865 – 1900 American oligarchy was/is known as “The Gilded Age.” Much of the top 1% wants to return to it.
Despite some victories – during the 1901-1915 “Progressive Era,” the 1933-1950 “New Deal-Fair Deal,” the 1961-1970 JFK-LBJ era – the top 1% never gave up. They”ve fought against unions [murder, if necessary], progressive taxation, Social Security, the G.I. Bill, civil rights [murder, if necessary], Medicare, voting rights [murder, if necessary],, the E.P.A., etc. When force didn’t work, they’ve used economic-political muscle ]move jobs, plants]; when that didn’t work, they’ve used money to buy politicians, judges, elections.
Too much for you? Please consider these experts. “These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert, to fleece the people.” Abraham Lincoln, 1837. “There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning,” Warren Buffett. “…and we’re winning” is the reason foe this post. When the top 1% wins, the rest of America loses – as has been demonstrated many times here, and from ancient Greece forward.
The American middle class statistical high point was 1947-1973, sometimes known as “the Great Leveling.” And – from the top 1%’s greedy perspective – that was THE problem. Ordinary workers could support families with one adult working. Workers had decent, often union-backed, incomes; they had defined benefit pensions and health care. Top marginal tax rates were 70-90%. There were rich people; they just weren’t obscene rich [as in 2018]. In 1975, the top 1% had 9% of America’s wealth.
But the top 1% wasn’t happy. They revolted against this “excessive democracy; went on the offensive; got heavily involved in politics. Jobs were transferred “south” – usually to non-union sites. Unions were attacked, resisted, subverted [an anti-union industry helped]. American worker’s pay has stagnated since the early 1970’s in purchasing power.
The top 1% also went on the propaganda offensive. Anything that resulted in any kind of “income redistribution” [more pay for common people] was attacked as “socialism/communism.” They began to establish “think tanks” [propaganda mills to justify their conduct with pseudo-theory]. They encouraged, subsidized, university level ideology that glorified “the free market’ [this theory says that everything that happens is controlled by an “invisible hand,” therefore people are innocent, even if criminal]. They wanted to control American thinking at the high school level [right wing textbook committees] and college level – information, books, faculty, departments. etc]. Students at one Florida university revolted against this.
AND – it went much further. Jane Mayer documented much of the infamous Koch brothers’ network in “Dark Money” [Doubleday, 2016]. Check inside the front cover! There is a partial diagram of the Koch’s network of largely tax-exempt “501c4” and “501c6” influence groups, all with misleading and innocent-sounding names [“Citizens Awareness Project”]. There is also documentary “Dark Money” starring Montana, by Kimberly Reed. Even more alarming is Nancy MacLean’s “Democracy In Chains, The Deep History of The Radical Right’s Stealth Plan For America” [Penguin, 2017]. MacLean documents the top 1% intent to remake America in terms of “economic liberty” – the right of capitalists to control 100% of their wealth, their businesses, their “property,” without any government interference, with virtually no/no taxation. The origin of this thinking goes back to John C. Calhoun – he used it to justify “nullification,” “states right’s,” slave owners rights – his “economic liberty.” The “stealth plan” is to rewrite the Constitution to trump majority rule by the lower 90-95% to protect the “rights” of the very rich against the rest of America. No – this is not fantasy, they intend to do it.
What has been happening, steadily escalating, since 1981 is only the most recent era. You need perspective. Start in the 1930″s. Begin connecting the dots….And, remember what Lincoln and Buffett said.
1] Start with “The Plot to Seize The White House,” by Jules Archer {Skyhorse, 2007]. Archer documents the July-November, 1934, plot to overthrow the U.S. government and establish an American fascist dictatorship. Yes- you read that correctly. “Strong evidence” suggests the conspirators were “too important politically, socially, and economically to be brought to justice.” [Didn’t you hear this after the 2008 crash?] Their mistake was approaching Medal of Honor Marine General Smedley Butler as their front man. He refused Congress investigated, issued a February 15, 1935 McCormack-Dickstein Committee report verifying the plot. Google Major General Smedley Butler to begin your journey. In sworn testimony people such as Rockefeller, Mellon, Pew, Pitcairn, and Hutton; corporations Morgan, DuPont, Remington, Anaconda, Bethlehem, Goodyear, GMC, Swift, and Sun are implicated. Prominently involved was “The American Liberty League.” Major newspapers attacked and satirized testimony; coverage was limited; even Congressional testimony censored. Odds are, gentle reader, you have NEVER heard of this until now – by design. It is not discussed in teaching American history – at any level. General Butler was approached [multiple times] as the proposed leader of a 500,000 man American Legion army [the muscle] that would aid the Wall Street-corporate plotters in preventing “socialism/communism” in America. And, for perspective – reflect back on pro-fascist talk and groups in America in the 1930’s. FDR himself said if he failed he’d be the last American president. Also reflect on how “American” corporations aided the Nazis DURING WW II. Examine “IBM And The Holocaust” and “Trading With The Enemy”[ reading this will not be good for your faith in “American” corporations].
2] A very sobering book, “JFK And The Unspeakable,” by James W. Douglass [Touchstone, 2008], documents the November 22, 1963, Kennedy assassination as a plot by the U.S. military-industrial complex to eliminate a man who had begun to “advocate too strongly” for peace. Kennedy had alienated the CIA and military four times: not using U.S.power to support the 196l CIA-backed Cuban invasion; not militarily attacking the Russian missile sites in Cuba during the 1962 “Cuban Missile Crisis;” proposing to end the “Cold War” in his June 10, 1963, Commencement Address at American University; and working closely with Nikita Khrushchev on the 1963 “Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.” In addition to those “offenses”, Kennedy was planning on removing American troops from Vietnam, beginning right after his November, 1963 Texas trip. Because of bad advice and attempts to force him to use military power twice in Cuba, Kennedy made it known he intended to sharply reduce the CIA’s powers. Important side bar here: a key point in ending the Cuban Missile Crisis was Bobby Kennedy’s unofficial visit with the Soviet ambassador in which RFK told the Russians the President feared losing control under military pressure.
It is well known that the Warren Commission’s JFK assassination report is deeply flawed. The contention that Oswald alone fired the 3, and only 3 3, fatal shots from JFKs rear is impossible, for many reasons. A bystander, James Tague, had been struck by concrete fragments from a missed #3 shot. Two Dallas newspapermen took photos. Shot #1 missed – which was quietly ADMITTED by the Warren Commission. Shot #2 hit JFK in the throat from the FRONT [medical personnel labeled it as such]. Shot #5 hit JFK in the back. Shots #8 and #9 hit JFK almost simultaneously, with #9 causing a huge exit wound in the right rear of JFK’s head [which numerous doctors confirmed]. The Parkland medical personnel are threatened with job loss if they speak publicly. The most accomplished combat sniper in”the entire history of the U.S. military,” Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Hathcock said he couldn’t do what Oswald is supposed to have done. Lt.Col. Craig Roberts, a Marine sniper, said: “The reason I know Oswald could not have done it, was because I could not have done it.” Also – there were two coffins – by testimony of Dallas and D.C. people; and JFK’s head wound had been surgically altered in flight. Also – the doctor who did the “autopsy” had NEVER done one!!!, made errors, and burned his notes! Later, JFK’s brain, a map of the murder, disappears. Who has the access??? AND – MUCH more!!!!
THINK – Kennedy is proposing to end the Cold War. This means big bucks in military contracts. It threatens CIA and military jobs, power, prestige. It threatens the entire U.S. foreign policy posture since WW II – Russia as THE enemy. Obviously, well documented, to this day, Russian hostility toward America as the country stopping them. But, as was revealed – and true to this day – Russia was/is a third world country with nuclear missiles and oil. We survived for 40 years with no nuclear missiles being fired – by either side.
Please think very hard on this famous statement: “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence , wether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes.” General and President Dwight D. Eisenhower, farewell message, January 17, 1961. THINK – has any post-1963 U.S. president seriously talked about reducing the :defense” area budgets – and if so, how long did that reduction last? How much of America’s annual budget is spent [that is “on book”] goes to the military-industrial complex?
3] Some analysts have suggested that the 2008-2009 Wall Street bail-out was an “economic coup.” Think – it is well known that the primary beneficiaries, in dollars, were the very same people who helped cause the crisis – Wall Street bankers. The banks got $700 billion to “stabilize” them. Taxpayers who supplied that $700 billion, lost homes, jobs, careers, etc. – largely got nothing. Wall Street then handed out big bonuses [one got about $60 million]. No major Wall Street personnel were prosecuted, fined, or jailed. This, despite an Academy Award-winning film, numerous books documenting the legal offenses committed by Wall Street. The supposed “correction.” Dodd-Frank, was full of holes. No serious financial expert doubts that another Wall Street crisis will occur, because the factors that allowed it weren’t really corrected. For many years, post-2009, the U.S. top 1% got all or most of the wealth created by the American economy – and the bottom 90% continued to struggle. How could this be? Easy – by many testimonies: Wall Street “owns” Congress and the regulatory agencies. Since 1981, the American economy has been “financialized” by Wall Street. Campaign contributions and future 6-figure jobs really work as “investments.”
4] Two recent books, Jane Mayer’s “Dark Money,” and Nancy MacLean’s “Democracy In Chains,” have documented the conduct of rogue, radical right billionaires seeking to remake America. In 1980, conservative icon William F. Buckley, Jr, described the Koch brothers’ views as “Anarcho-Totalitarianism.” Charles Koch’s goal was/is to smash the one thing that could discipline him: government. Radical right billionaires set out to to change how people thought about government. Besides the “think tanks,” they sought to influence college teachings. They “invested” in Ivy League schools, in law schools; they set up “seminars” for judges. Between 2008-2012, 185 federal judges attended “conservative” seminars [with cases pending before their courts]. One big goal was to have judges apply “free market principles” in their legal decisions!!!!!!! The infamous “Federalist Society” has 150 law school chapters and 42,000 “right-leaning” lawyers. See how many current judges were/are “Federalist Society” members – you might be surprised! The Bradley Foundation “virtually drove” the early “school choice” movement attacking public education [ a BIG goal of all parts of the far right].
The 2010 “Tea Party” was part of the general strategy to dominate and change American politics. The 2010 “Citizens United” Supreme Court decision made it easy for the billionaires to “buy” politicians [witness tax cuts, etc]. The “Tea Party” and single-issue religious right gave the billionaires the ground troops who voted [usually against themselves economically]. What the billionaires want is less regulation – thus attacks on the E.P.A. and climate change denial. They also want to pay less/no taxes – thus the Reagan-Bush II-Trump tax cuts. The effective tax rate on $202 million is LESS than it is on $34,501!!! And – the U.S. national debt [less than $900 billion when Reagan took office] is now over $21 trillion and climbing. Because of this, the right says it will be “necessary’ for the lower 90% to suffer austerity. Cuts will “have” to be made in Social Security and Medicare [which could be fixed simply by eliminating the current $130,000 income S.S tax “cap”]. There you have it – the right’s decision – THEY will not undergo any reduction in their obscenely rich lifestyles, but YOU, Mr & Mrs lower 90% WILL.
MacLean’s thesis: the reactionary billionaires want to “reverse-engineer all of America, at both state and national levels, back to the political economy and oligarchic governance of mid-century [1950] Virginia, minus the segregation.”
To accomplish this, they have “wrest[ed] control over the machinery of the Republican Party..” Refer here, among other things, the annual, highly secret, A.L.E.C. conferences where “model legislation” is proposed and then taken back to state legislatures. This Koch-operated system has been going on for years; it gets Koch-backed laws enacted all over America each year. “Public Citizen” reported actual private conversations by Republican Congressmen among themselves that “donors” were upset they weren’t getting their promised tax cuts, and if they couldn’t get that done, “don’t call us again.” Yes, more than a few Democrats are guilty as well – that is how the game is now played – after the post-1995 Republican “K Street Project” and made worse by “Citizens United.”
The intellectual grandfather of all this is South Carolina Senator and slave-holder John C. Calhoun [1782-1850]; the federal government is the enemy because it interferes with “property owners” disposing of their “property” as they alone see it. MacLean describes in detail how an obscure [to most] intellectual and Virginia professor, James M. Buchanan utilized Calhoun’s ideas in l950′-60’s Virginia. The top 1% dominated Virginia through the Byrd organization. Byrd, and later, Charles Koch, liked Buchanan’s ideas on “public choice” economics [libertarian theories]. Senator Byrd’s ideas would later be called “supply side” economics, “trickle down” economics. Part of this was involved in being against taxpayer-supported public schools.
******* My challenge to you is this: disprove this 80-year conspiracy with FACTS {real ones, not “alternative facts”]. This means no Fox TV, no talk radio, no internet manufactured rumor-“facts’. Start with unspun IRS, GAO, CBO numbers [ not cherry picked, but long term trends]. Then – find a way to explain away: the vast post-1980 income inequality [ compared to 1947-1973]; explain away America’s #37 health care ranking; explain away America’s #24 government honesty rank; explain away the Burger-Rehnquist-Roberts Supreme Court steadily, escalating, rightward hard drift to undue numerous 1900-1970 progressive Court decisions that aided ordinary people; explain away the post-1980 Republican pattern of deliberately sabotaging government [ see John W. Dean’s “Broken Government” as a start]; explain away the corrupt tax structures; explain away the climate denial [Exxon Mobil scientists warned of this in the 1970’s]; explain away America’s sinking mental health [see Wilkinson & Pickett’s “The Spirit Level” and the increasing “deaths of despair”]; explain away half of America living literally paycheck-to-paycheck; explain away no matter which party “wins” – the top 1% ALWAYS wins. Read Naomi Klein’s bestseller, “The Shock Doctrine,” how the top 1% uses crises [like 2008 Crash] to enforce “business-friendly” laws around the world. Think post-9/11, think bankrupt American cities – any “shock” can be used by the top 1% to get something they want.
How to fight back? Simple – educate yourself. Get past the corporate happy talk and the right wing government propaganda – go to critical, respected citizen-friendly sources: Common Cause, Public Citizen, Pulitzer Prize-winning authors, PBS Nightly News Hour, read some mainstream history, use common sense, does it pass the “greatest good for the greatest number” test, get outside your “tribal” boundaries. Then vote intelligently – on the whole person, on the political party’s track record for 20-3-40-50 years.. Then ask yourself this: why did the middle class “golden age” end in 1973? Why hasn’t there been a serious attempt to achieve that period again? For nearly 200 years, the succeeding generation almost always did better – why did that stop??????? Who had, and used, the power to achieve that stoppage? Connect the dots, as much as you’re afraid of what you’ll find.
With Justice For All 