Heading Towards Despotism...

First things first... Watch this;

 

Despotism is by definition;

government by a singular authority, either a single person or tightly knit group, which rules with absolute power. The word implies tyrannical rule; it suggests a form of government which exercises exacting and near-absolute control over all of its citizens.

and can be rated by the 4 variables that were explained in the video.

Let's see where we stand;

1. Respect

The current contempt for authority is disturbing at best, leaders in our country, people that have been elected and people who have not been elected are willing to openly challenge the validity of our court system. Judges who do not fall in line or do not decided in a certain way are labeled "activist" or even compared to "Nazis" and of course who can forget;

"Over 100 years, I think the gradual erosion of the consensus that's held our country together is probably more serious than a few bearded terrorists who fly into buildings," (Pat) Robertson said on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos."
"I think we have controlled Al Qaeda," the 700 Club host said, but warned of "erosion at home" and said judges were creating a "tyranny of oligarchy."

It is this type of dialog that gets people saying; "Hey, he is just a Judge, I don't have to listen to what he says, he is un-American and he can't tell me what to do". The sad, no, I mean the scary thing is that this is ok; this type of rhetoric is openly talked about on news outlets such as Fox News which feeds into the homes and minds of millions of Americans every night.

If you no longer fear the "rule of law" then "the rule of law" no longer exists.

Also; the attack on universities and higher education, this just boggles my mind, the open and callous disdain for higher education is going to be the down fall if there ever is one. The one institution that encourages and promotes critical thinking skills is under attack, and has been for the last 20 years. The right is engaged in a vicious attack against tenure for professors who are trying to instill in their students the ability to question their leaders and to question the actions of those leaders.
You see this is a central tenet in the new Republican philosophy; teach the kids to not think for themselves, teach them that they need a leader, that they cannot or are not able to make their own decisions.

Conservatism relies on self-affirmation

2. Power

The concentration of power is an issue that we have the power to control, and yet we fail to do so. We continue to vote the same people into office time and time again. Forgive me, but Kennedy and Kerry? I mean come on; we cannot expect things to change if the minds who affect that change stay in office for 20+ years.

Now let me tell you this, I love Clinton; Bill that is, and I don't have much of a problem with Hillary. But I do have a problem with two families controlling the presidency for almost a quarter of a century; this in the case of a successful Clinton run for the presidency (which I personally don't think will happen). What is the point of a limited number of people controlling our country? No matter what side of the aisle you are on; for our democracy to be successful we need constant new blood, we need new ideas. 

3. Economic Distribution

From Understanding Equality (PDF);

* The bottom 40 percent of all households have only
about 1 percent of all the wealth in the nation.

* The top 1 percent of all households have nearly 30
percent of all the wealth; the top 5 percent, 55 percent
of the wealth; and the top 20 percent, 80 percent of
the wealth.

Lets face it; in a capitalistic society money rules. We also allow this too. We (this by no means everyone, just as a society) put value in someone's wealth. We admire people who drive expensive cars and have large houses. Call it house envy.

We as a society no longer place individuals with superior thinking skills or philosophical ideas on a pedestal. We put Paris Hilton on one because she was born into millions.

Republicanism relies on the destruction on of the middle class; they rely on the money being controlled by one particular group of people. As they are all about control, control over our minds and control over our wallets.


4. Information

Two words; Fox News. Control of the media is the primary power grab of Despotism. Control the media, control the people.

Now this doesn't all fall on the shoulders of Fox News by any means, the right wing propaganda machine has been hammering away at the media for years and years. With think tanks, watch dog groups etc...

I see the effects of media control every day, living in Idaho I am of course surrounded by wingnuts who spout the same rhetorical crap that they heard Michael Savage or Sean Hannity talk about on the radio that day. I noticed something the other day driving to lunch; I turned on Laura Ingraham and listened to her blather about the 9th circuit court's decision on declaring the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional. Not only was she rife with inaccuracies, she was straight up lying. As I like to say when talking to right wingers; "You're either lying or you're stupid, choose one".

Well after a bit, before I became nauseated, I switched over to NPR and they were airing the John Roberts hearings live. They were not commenting, they were not reducing the banter to short audio clips, they let it all air live, they let me make up my own mind. NPR trusted me, the listen to make my own decision about the nomination of Judge Roberts, by listening to Judge Roberts.

As great Idaho Liberal Bill Cope once said (and I stand beside this comment with all of my heart);

The real question isn't why public broadcasting has such an affinity for liberals, but why liberals have such an affinity for public broadcasting.

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We are headed towards despotism and some would say the argument can be made that we are already there. We have to be careful and we have to make wise decisions in the coming years, other wise we will become a society known only to history books.

As I firmly believe, there is no "balance", there is no "red" and "blue"; there is only a "right" and a "wrong". And as an American, true to the core, I will fight for what is "right" with all of my heart and my entire mind.