It's spring time; a time of resurrection and change. The sun rises a little higher in the sky every day to awaken flora which responds by sprouting fresh, colorful new blossoms. Critters go out in search of new mates and participate in this glorious process. In America, new elections have been scheduled and politicians are out buying votes by making empty new promises for change, if only we would elect them.
I am sitting on the porch swing watching a pretty a red Cardinal attack himself in a car mirror. With flapping wings, slashing claws and a punching beak, he flies against the mirrored glass crying out in anguish and frustration. The little bird has apparently laid claim to the breeding rights on his little acre of his and is determined to drive off any rival who dares to intrude on this domain.
Mr. Cardinal reminds me of the average American voter. Conditioned by constant exposure to a carefully scripted charade, he believes that a two-party system exists in his country. One party, he is told, will protect and defend him against the asserted intrusions of the other. He must therefore choose an ally to support and, of course, an enemy to fight against by default. Then, having chosen, he is to proceed to beat himself into a stupor hopelessly trying to solve a problem hidden beyond his ability to comprehend.
I am sitting on the porch swing watching a pretty a red Cardinal attack himself in a car mirror. With flapping wings, slashing claws and a punching beak, he flies against the mirrored glass crying out in anguish and frustration. The little bird has apparently laid claim to the breeding rights on his little acre of his and is determined to drive off any rival who dares to intrude on this domain.
Mr. Cardinal reminds me of the average American voter. Conditioned by constant exposure to a carefully scripted charade, he believes that a two-party system exists in his country. One party, he is told, will protect and defend him against the asserted intrusions of the other. He must therefore choose an ally to support and, of course, an enemy to fight against by default. Then, having chosen, he is to proceed to beat himself into a stupor hopelessly trying to solve a problem hidden beyond his ability to comprehend.
Behind the looking glass, however, both imaginary parties have merged and aligned themselves with a third to form a syndicate which operates solely to serve its own interests and not those of the American voters. The syndicate, led by a handful of international bankers and financial speculators, appoint career politicians to positions of power and use a network of private banks to control them. Every few years, the voter is presented with a two-ringed circus and allowed to vote for, and be ruled by, a set of politicians who owe their allegiance to the syndicate that placed them in positions of power.
For the bankers and politicians, it is a win-win system as long as Mr. Cardinal is kept unaware of his role in the game. The banker prints unlimited paper debt out of thin air and lends it to the politician who spends it to enhance his personal power. Mr. Cardinal is then taxed to repay the debt, at interest. The banker becomes mega-rich, the politician becomes mega-powerful and Mr. Cardinal, believing that he is being served, becomes enslaved.
This is not a new, ingenious system. It is an old, corrupt one that exists whenever a people lose their moral compass and bow low to others who proclaim themselves to be the masters. Several hundred years ago, Thomas Jefferson warned of the consequences of following this course:
"The modern theory of the perpetuation of debt has drenched the earth with blood, and crushes its inhabitants under burdens ever accumulating. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks... will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered... the issuing power should be taken from the banks, and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs."
In America, and across the world, people are beginning to wake up and the syndicate is, of course, beginning to punish their dissent. Here's hoping that Mr. Cardinal soon realizes that the enemy he fights is himself and decides to put his efforts to better use.