COASTAL POST (415)868 1600 FAX (415) 868 0502 P.O. Box 31 Bolinas CA 94924 http://www.coastalpost.com email: editor at coastalpost.com April, 2003
Lies and other Market Forces
by Frank scott
"The size of the lie is a factor in causing it to be believed, for the masses are in their hearts more easily deceived than consciously and intentionally bad. The primitive simplicity of their minds renders them more easy prey to a big lie than a small one, for they often tell little lies but would be ashamed to tell a big one."
-Adolph Hitler
Even that foremost demon of the 20th century might not have imagined the U.S. regime’s capacity to both tell the biggest lies, and deceive the public into believing them. Hitler might be dumbfounded at the extent of dishonesty the American people have been subjected to, though not at their “primitive simplicity” in swallowing the mental junk food they have been force fed about Iraq.
Whether or not our court appointed government of fanatics have studied Hitler’s work , they’ve done a hitlerian job of telling the most outrageous lies to to a gullible nation . None so ridiculous as the creation of a monstrously powerful enemy , out of a crippled people and a nasty tyrant. While most of the world has seen through the distortions and propaganda, a majority of Americans have been frightened into believing stories that make the supernatural seem down to earth by comparison.
Despite no evidence to prove such things, many citizens believe that Iraq was involved in the terrorist attacks of 911, has tons of weapons that threaten America, and is dominated by a demon who wants to rule planet earth . At this point, some may think that Saddam Hussein organized the holocaust and arranged the crucifixion of Jesus. The near miracle is that so many have not succumbed to a massive brainwashing that has feverishly promoted a rationale for insanity.
The morally degrading concept of war sanitizes mass murder, by implying it means a battle among equals, with one having threatened or attacked the other. But If a 500 pound ape who beats and rapes a 90 pound woman is having a “war” with her, than the USA is having a “war” with Iraq.
Invisible Iraqi weapons of mass destruction are breathlessly headlined by mass media , while more visibly dangerous economic and social problems are in small print or ignored. An intellectually challenged regime , a morally challenged media and a spinally challenged opposition are silent about our real problems . Such realities are hidden from national awareness with the cover of fantasy terror tales . This program of Hitler-style big lies masks a reality of truthful horrors, while also denying a reality of hope for humanity. USrael’s ruling Repub-Likud party , and its miserably moderate opposition , are leading the nation, and the world, towards a chaos that has nothing to do with Iraq.
Our economy is dependent on an irresponsible consumer credit binge, with Americans spending money they don’t have on products they don’t need, but it has become more dangerous than ever. When people are maneuvered into treating their homes as ATM machines, renewing mortgages at ever lower rates, created in order to put cash back into the marketplace, artificial affluence is created out of very real debt. National book-juggling, beyond what the swindlers at Enron or Worldcom were capable of, has made it appear that we are solvent , when in reality we are broke, and have been for some time .
In a real democracy, such knowledge would lead to a government shakeup and a revamped political process to remove control from the wealthy corporadoes who have brought us into this fix. So, we hear massive lies about menace from an impoverished nation, allegedly representing a horrible threat to humanity. Most of the world understands that the menace originates in the USA, and that the court appointed regime and its spineless opposition are far greater dangers than the megalomanic dictator of iraq .
It is amazing that the nation hasn’t already succumbed to mass hysteria, given the contradictory messages it has received . Iraq disregards the UN, we are told, and that is wrong, but we can disregard the UN , and that is right. Iraq has not honored UN resolutions , so it must be bombed; israel has broken UN rules far more often, so it must receive more American tax dollars. Praise the lord, and pass the prozac.
While our market fundamentalist leaders follow the patriotic teachings of the declaration of ignorance and the protocols of the elders of stupidity, the world grows more frightened, but hopefully aware that only international cooperation can stop this malevolent force that threatens the entire global community .
An America which was getting sympathy from much of the world after 911 - at least, the official world - has transformed that support into deep rooted antagonism. As we further brutalize the suffering people of Iraq, and Palestine , the next bloody act of terror in the USA, whenever it happens, may be welcomed by the rest of the world. We owe this turnabout to a despicable leadership which shames us with its dishonesty, but our complicity makes it worse.
Americans may be the last to learn exactly what their government is up to, but a substantial minority of them are working to join with those world wide who demand peace now, and in the long term, a better world for all of humanity. The present shattering of international and moral laws is nothing new, but its outright blatancy may lead to a greater urge for democracy, and disgust with those who make it impossible.
This rogue regime continues a race war on nonwhite people, while it mortgages the global future to profit a rich, white minority. It “borrows” time, space and money it cannot repay, to support a system the world can no longer afford. Its big lies need to be countered by bigger truths that defeat the new nazis of corporate capital, before they destroy all of us.
Copyright (c) 2003 by Frank Scott. All rights reserved.
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frank scott email: frank at marin.cc.ca.us 225 laurel place, san rafael ca. 94901 (415)457 2415 fax(415)457 4791