Let me be perfectly clear -- this is exactly where wedge issue politics leads. It is all part of a divide-and-conquer strategy to make sure we are too occupied with fighting our fellow citizens and neighbours to notice that the wealthy and powerful are bleeding us dry and making the lives of millions more difficult so that they can enrich themselves. The income gap between the top and bottom of the economic ladder is larger than it has ever been in North America and poverty is at an all time high in the United States as the middle class is being systematically eroded by debt and economic mobility is being stifled by the high cost of health care and education. But any suggestion that the rich are mercilessly exploiting the poor is greeted with pearl-clutching about "class war" and accusations of socialism by the people controlling public discourse.
We are treated to the latest tawdry escapades of people like Paris Hilton and reassured that the system works and is fair when she gets arrested for possession of cocaine, but ask yourself whether a 30-year-old hispanic hotel chambermaid with a couple of prior convictions would have gotten off as lightly in the era of zero tolerance? And while we are fed scapegoats ranging from Muslims to Mexicans, from "Cadillac-driving welfare queens" and "secular liberals who want to take your guns" to "ivory tower intellectuals" and "crooked unions" --we very rarely hear about the new robber barons like the Koch brothers, and when we do, the pushback in the media is massive and immediate.
We are being played for suckers.
(crossposted from the Woodshed)
Good post, Rev. And excellent catch on that film.
ReplyDeleteYou left out this Lindsay Lohan person. I have no idea who she is, but for some reason she makes the news every f*cking day!
ReplyDeleteI left out Lindsay Lohan because, while she is now mostly notorious for her misbehavior, she first became famous as a child actor. She actually did something to become famous, and she doesn't come from wealth. Paris Hilton (of the Hilton Hotels family) on the other hand, first became famous for being a wealthy spoiled skank. She is in the public eye to remind us all that wealthy people have problems and concerns just like us "regular folks" and that the rich are punished for their sins just like we are. Of course, if they found cocaine in my car in Las Vegas and I'd already been convicted of a couple previous crimes, I would be going to prison for several years. She won't be.
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