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Americans Unready
to Revolt, Despite Revolting Conditions
By Joel S. Hirschhorn
06/16/07 "ICH"
-- -- The latest NBC/Wall Street Journal national poll
results vividly show a population incredibly dissatisfied with
their nation’s political system. In other countries in other
times such a depressing level of confidence in government would
send a signal to those running the government that a major
upheaval is imminent. But not here in the USA. Why?
First, here are the highlights of the poll that surveyed 1,008
adults from June 8-11, with a margin of error of plus-minus 3.1
percentage points.
A whopping 68 percent think the country is on the wrong track.
Just 19 percent believe the country is headed in the right
direction - the lowest number on that question in nearly 15
years. And most of those with the positive view are probably in
the Upper Class.
Bush’s approval rating is at just 29 percent, his lowest mark
ever in the survey. Only 62 percent of Republicans approve,
versus 32 percent who disapprove. Take Republicans out of the
picture and a fifth or less of Americans have a positive view of
Bush.
Even worse, only 23 percent approve of the job that Congress is
doing. So much for that wonderful new Democratic control of
Congress. Bipartisan incompetence is alive and well.
On the economic front, nearly twice as many people think the
U.S. is more hurt than helped by the global economy (48 to 25
percent). Globalization does not spread wealth; it channels it
to the wealthy, making billionaires out of millionaires.
I have long asserted that Americans live in a delusional
democracy with delusional prosperity and these and loads of
other data support this view. There is a super wealthy and
politically powerful Upper Class that is literally raping the
nation. Meanwhile, the huge Lower Class continues to lose
economic ground while their elected representatives sell them
out to benefit the Upper Class. Yet no rational person thinks
that a large fraction of the population is ready to rise up in
revolt against the evil status quo political-economic system
that so clearly is not serving the interests of the overwhelming
majority of Americans. Why not?
For a nation that was built on a revolt against oppressive
governance by the British, something has been lost from our
political DNA. We apparently no longer have the gene for
political rebellion. It has been bred out of most of us. And
those of us that urge a Second American Revolution are seen as
fringe, nutty subversives.
Part of the genius of our contemporary ruling class elites is
that they have engineering a state of political and economic
oppression that paradoxically is still embraced by the Lower
Class. The rational way to understand this is that ordinary,
oppressed Americans are in a deep psychological state of
self-delusion. Despite all the empirical, objective evidence of
a failed government, they fail to see rebellion opportunities.
Many still believe they live in the world’s best democracy. But
across all elections considerably less than half the citizens
even bother to vote anymore. Yet, as the new NBC/Journal poll
results show, people are cognitively aware of just how awful the
political-economic system is. Yet they are not feeling enough
pain to seriously consider rebellion. And it is visceral pain
that must drive people to the daring act of rebellion.
Why is there insufficient pain for revolution? This is a deadly
serious issue. What is historically unique about America is that
even the most oppressed and unfairly treated people are
distracted by affordable materialism, entertainment, sports,
gambling, and myriad other aspects of our frivolous,
self-absorbed culture. Even failed school and health care
systems do not drive people, paying enormous sums to fill up
their SUVs, to rebellion. So, Americans are aware of their
oppression, but the power elites have successfully drugged them
with a plethora of pleasure-producing distractions sufficient to
keep them under control. We are free to bitch, but too weak to
revolt. The Internet has provided a release valve for some pent
up anger and frustration. But it too has mostly become another
source of distraction, rather than an effective tool for
rebellion.
Though these new poll statistics make news, those in control of
the political-economic system are not afraid that the population
is on the verge of retaking their constitutionally guaranteed
sovereign power and take back their nation. Thousands of people
like me keep writing books and articles and creating protest
groups and events. Those in power just find new, ingenious ways
to keep the population distracted – if not through pleasure,
then certainly through fear of terrorism. Growing economic
insecurity also contributes to self-paralysis, as do
never-ending political lies.
What a system.
Even as the population has growing awareness of the dire
condition of their nation, the move by the politically powerful
on the right and left continues to seek a new immigration law
that will solidify the selling out of America. Business
interests want more of those fleeing Mexico and other nations to
keep wages low. Instead of Mexicans rising up in rebellion
against their oppressive government and economic system they
escape to the USA. But Americans have no such viable escape
solution. Though global warming will certainly make Canada
increasingly attractive.
So what do Americans have – other than a terribly bleak future?
Where is hope in our dismal world?
In a bizarre twist of history that further illustrates just how
impotent Americans have become, virtually all citizens are
either unaware of or unreceptive to the ultimate escape route
that the Framers of our Constitution gave us. They anticipated
that Americans could become quite dissatisfied with the federal
government. They feared that the political system could become
incredibly corrupted by moneyed interests. They were right.
So here we sit over 200 years after our nation was created
unwilling to use what is explicitly given to us in Article V of
the Constitution – the option to have a convention outside the
control of Congress, the President and the Supreme Court to make
proposals for constitutional amendments. Do we really believe in
the rule of law? If so, then we should understand that the
supreme law of the land – what is in our Constitution – is the
ultimate way to obtain the deep political and government reforms
to restore true democracy and economic fairness to our society.
Make no mistake: an Article V convention has been stubbornly
opposed by virtually all groups with political and economic
power. This is most evidenced by the blatant refusal of Congress
to obey the Constitution and give us an Article V convention,
even though the single explicit requirement for a convention has
been met. This fact alone should tell rational people that they
are being screwed and oppressed. The rule of law is trumped by
the rule of delusion. Our lawmakers are lawbreakers.
Come learn more about the effort to get an Article V convention
at www.foavc.org and become a member. Do not keep witnessing the
unraveling of American society, voting for lesser evil
candidates, and believing the propaganda that putting different
Democrats or Republicans in office will actually improve things
for most of us. Choose peaceful rebellion by using what our
Constitution gives us. Fight self-delusion.
[Joel S. Hirschhorn is the author of Delusional Democracy (
www.delusionaldemocracy.com ); and a founder of Friends of
the Article V Convention (
www.foavc.org ).]
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