Global Research

When will Americans recognize that theirs is a polarized, politically segregated society, not unlike those they helped create in Iraq and Palestine?

When will they come to the realization that their political process is nothing more than a collusive duopoly and, as such, borderline totalitarian? There is no opposition political party of substance, of courage and, of course, there’s no real choice between two political parties. When will Americans refuse to participate in sham federal elections? When will they recognize that all the accumulated data from study after study clearly shows that America is in real crisis across the entire socioeconomic, political and foreign policy spectrum? The list seems endless: changing demographics and ignorance of inclusion issues, leadership deficits, trade imbalances, sky rocketing health care costs, increasing unemployment, enormous consumer debt, impending foreign currency competition with the US dollar, trumped up wars on terror, embracing torture, assassination and spying, sweeping Katrina/New Orleans under the carpet, and on, and on, and on. 

When will Americans realize that at this moment, the world stands one or two decisions away from WWIII, which would likely see the use of nuclear weapons and subsequent genocides and holocausts that may make those of the 20th Century seem pale by comparison? And the solutions offered to clean up this mess? Re-engineering, outsourcing, tax cuts, budget cuts, creative destruction theory, trust in the market and God, more security and the tired refrain of 911, to name some. (On the 911 matter: how is it that the UK, Germany, France, and Spain could deal with “terrorists” without proclaiming their world had changed?)

All the standard solutions have failed. If you think the foregoing is a bunch of bunk, take the time to look at the trends in the American education system.

The cornerstone of America’s strength is its system of universal public and private education. America’s education system is the true melting pot of America. It brings together Americans from all walks of life: parents, guardians, students, educators, first generation Americans, the rich and the poor, the bright and challenged. The education system houses America’s greatest resource–its youth. The industry most deserving of the moniker critical infrastructure/vital to national security, is not some power company or defense contractor, it is the American system of education. It produces America’s greatest product: informed and tolerant, open-minded young citizens. But that’s collapsing too. And if that is allowed to happen, the country will surely perish from within.

Mommy? Daddy? What Class am I in?

The president of the College Board (SAT Testing, etc.), Gaston Caperton, recently reported that educators across America fear a growing danger of creating a two tiered population of lower and upper income students. Dr. Gary Orfield, professor of education and social policy at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, said data shows that the period of expanding and affordable college access for all Americans that existed between World War II and the mid-1970s is drawing to an end due to weak national, state and local leadership/vision, declining state and federal resources, large tuition and fee increases, a retreat from civil rights, an increasing reliance on standardized tests and, of course, economic/globalization issues. And in a new twist, there is a siphoning off of education funds from the super-poor in America to the newly emerging poor: the American middle class.

Caperton noted that James Johnson, Professor of Management at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, indicated that some Americans are now going to India for heart bypass surgery because it is so much cheaper and the hospitals are safer. Moreover, the skill sets of American, Indian and Chinese doctors are equal. Johnson remarked that, “The job competition from throughout Asia is formidable, implying that cultural values combined with educational rigor in that part of the world makes the competition brilliant.” Yet, Johnson’s solution to the problems mentioned by Orfield comes right out of a corporate board room: reengineer college admissions to include more diversity, reengineer America’s universities on the corporate model and, oh yes, become more entrepreneurial. Orfield wasn’t kidding when he said that America has weak leadership and vision.

As American education goes, so goes the country. America is in the midst of a shift to a two-tiered class society based on economic data showing alarming income disparity and the concomitant destruction of public government.

The Nationalist-Globalist Class (NGC) runs the show and consists of corporations/media, foreign interests/agents, nonprofits and the like. The NGC’s enforcement arms are the three branches of American government, housing the two party system, its agencies/departments and, of course, the US military. They are insulated/protected from the daily grind of American life and, at the first hint of attack/natural disaster, are whisked away to the safety of their bunkers. Vital to the NGC are its American Disciples–those millions upon millions of Americans who believe the myth and propaganda generated by their corporate and religious masters. They have signed on to The Covenant of the NGC. In this they are the American equivalent of Hamas in Palestine. The American Disciples offer a religion that grotesquely merges commodity with religious faith, and censor anyone who seriously threatens their system. They are found in the form of the local auto mechanic, with the W Bumper Sticker, or the computer technician with the John Kerry Bumper Sticker. On the national stage, it’s George Bush and Hillary Clinton, or those like John McCain and Barak Obama. What do they have to offer the world that hasn’t been seen or heard before?

The Remainder

The Fractional Class (FC) occupies the second tier of American society. These are the millions of remainders–those Americans who are nothing more than temporary renters in the behemoth domestic and global system run by the NGC. They own tiny fractions of the stock and housing markets. They have minor input in their respective workplaces. They volunteer on weekends at the local homeless shelter. They go to dinner and a movie once a week and find solace in television entertainment. They must borrow heavily from the NGC to make their lives and those of their children work. In their homes, they argue over invoices/bills at least once a week.

Yet, The FC is not easily labeled as conservative, liberal, idealistic, realistic, republican or democrat, nor do they want to be. They want to be countrymen and women who are respected for their love of life and community, their tolerance and strength, the flexibility to adapt to change, and the recognition that making a profit or entering the military is not the highest calling in life. 

The FC overflows with those who know that the NGC is destroying the social compact of American society, the environment, local communities and the community of nations. The FC understands that America must talk to the world and, moreover, take care of its own people ravaged by natural disasters and under the care of sick political leadership. They are the bloggers, the community activists, the artists, the realtor’s, the cooks, the temporary workers, the unemployed poor, the working poor, the poor middle class, and the upper middle class that has gone as far as it can go. They are opposed to low wages, raped pensions and benefits, free markets that are non-free, racism, homophobia, collapsing infrastructures, religious intolerance, war, dependence on foreign nations, the police state, the lies, the staged debates/speeches, religious leaders who preach from palaces, corporate/government intrusions into their homes, and “freedom” as administered by the NGC.

The FC is hungry for change, for a new social compact, for taking chances. They are frustrated, angry and fearful of the future and are very afraid to take a stand against the NGC. But in them lies the only hope for breaking the NGC and ushering in a new era of possibilities.

The Final Solution: Theirs or Yours

The time for preferring the penned and spoken word over the sword of action is coming to an end. The NGC’s Long Wars, as annunciated in the Pentagon’s recent Quadrennial Defense Review (didn’t Sun Tzu said there is no instance of a nation benefiting from prolonged warfare?) that embrace fascism, torture, and assassination will become the norm rather than the exception. As the public listens to the beat of the war drums, the political and economic assassination of social programs and other elements of the nation’s infrastructure are taking place. By the time Americans turn their attention to the rape and pillage of pensions and benefits, it will be too late. Absent those, they will be forced to work ‘til they drop dead on the job.

All of this has been covered over and over again and reported on the Net via Blogs, Portals, foreign news outlets, and—to a degree–the MSM (as here in this piece). Now it’s all repetitive messaging. Now is the time for action, for The FC to mobilize and develop a plan that focuses solely on the state and local levels.

The NGC’s machinery must be broken and crushed. Here are some suggestions.

Break the NGC Political Duopoly, Myth & Propaganda Machine

• Talk politics with fellow citizens for more than two minutes!
• Boycott federal elections.
• Refuse to donate to the two parties/candidates.
• Don’t participate in national polls/surveys.
• Political Detox: get off the habit of watching/listening to federal politicians-officials.
• Infiltrate the two political parties—wage psyops campaigns against the duopoly.
• Create anti-NGC parties at the state and local levels. Seek local offices.
• Pressure state legislatures and local governments.
• Force states and localities to follow the Maryland State Legislature’s lead. NGC member WalMart was forced to pay some minimal health benefits to workers (governor’s veto overridden). Take the next step—increase wages, decrease hours given greater productivity of US workers.
• States and localities need to find $3 trillion for repairing collapsing cities, roads, schools, sewage plants, water pipes and electrical grids along with refunding social programs for its citizens. New types of compensation that combine a living stipend with payment in the form of a home or automobile, health care or college tuition are options. Go beyond the labor for cash model.
• Tune out MSM and cable news on TV/Radio. Cancel fee-based subscriptions to newspapers, political publications, newsletters.
• Perform research via Net for facts on the news, the latest government statements. Don’t rely solely, if at all, on the NGC MSM.
• Don’t support corporate media/content providers if at all possible. Turn off the TV/Radio
• Don’t let the children get programmed by popular shows that mirror adult fare. Saturdays are full of Teen TV shows that mimic news programming, reality, game shows.
• At a minimum, keep the NGC out of the K-12 classrooms. Don’t let the NGC overrun America’s universities. On that note, The FC must monitor university/college investment practices and stop the NGC from turning young Americans into American Disciples.
• Detox the American Disciples. Fact-based argument gives them convulsions. Keep pounding away at them.
• Don’t confuse position or rank with either intelligence or common sense.
• Making a profit and wearing a military uniform are not the highest callings in life. There are hundreds of professions equally as important.

John Stanton is a Virginia based writer specializing in political and national security affairs. He is the author of America 2004: A Power But Not Super, and co-author of America’s Nightmare: The Presidency of George Bush II. Reach him at [email protected]