The U.S. government's control over individual citizens is beyond measure. Most of us grow up in government run schools (which dish out nearly identical programming to every student nation wide) then graduate only to find ourselves working from January till June every year for the rest of our lives to pay our taxes. Try to live outside of this matrix at your own peril (Waco and Ruby Ridge). Individual civil liberties are being siphoned off at an alarming rate via federal legislation and the government aspires to maintain detailed database files on each and every one of us. It is also my contention that capitalist empires (wealthy private interests) have predominant control the U.S. government and are therefore primarily responsible for this state of affairs i.e. a handful of people dictating the thoughts and affairs of millions to ensure that the overwhelming majority of citizens stay within narrowly defined parameters of thought and action. But isn't this cookie cutter "collectivism" essentially the fundamental complaint that pro-capitalists lodge against socialist and communist models of government?
Aren't the reigning capitalists in this country responsible (at least indirectly through lobbyist efforts, campaign financing, etc.) for the very same things that their supporters abhor?
And should it be any surprise that such would be the case? Isn’t it in Standard Oil’s financial interests, for example, to ensure that alternative energy resources are not harnessed and, as a result, we all end up driving nearly identical vehicles run by highly inefficient, toxic, gas combustion engines?
It seems to me that our brand of capitalism is basically a communist dictatorship in the hands of an elite private sector who are not even EXPECTED to be concerned about anything other than their own personal wealth (as opposed to a communist GOVERNMENT that would at least be expected to be concerned for EVERYONE).
Opinions?
