Drinking the Same Kool-aid

Al Gore, and I must be drinking the same Kool aid. I wonder what you have heard about his latest book, The Assault on Reason? Probably not much, so great has been the main stream media's suppression of the content. Why is that? Perhaps because the MSM are one of the perpetrators of the assault Gore describes.

The Assault on Reason, is largely an indictment of the Bush-Cheney administration, book ended by essays on political philosophy. How we came to find ourselves in the current state of affairs, and our prospects for extracting ourselves and saving democracy in the United States of America.

I was astounded by this book. Not because it produced any revelations, but because it validated so many of my own feelings on the current state of our political economy. In a way I find this scary because it is often dangerous to have ones ideas validated. One’s thinking becomes less critical. However, in my case, as long time readers of my missives may recognize, my ideas are so far out of the box, so far from the main stream, any validation in any form can be profound, and to find someone as prominent as Gore, espousing thoughts that parallel my own is indeed scary.

I have certain central themes in my ideas about our political economy. Cardinal among these are that conservatives are neo feudalists, intent on dismantling our republic and re establishing an aristocracy, that mass marketing controls the vast majority of Americans, and that the confluence of the above have resulted in a marketplace that is no longer free as described by Adam Smith in Wealth of Nations. These are Gore’s central themes as well.

Prior to the age of enlightenment, European society was controlled by 2 forces, Royalty and the Church. The power of both over the masses was by “divine” right, The relationship was symbiotic and self validating. The Church confirmed the divine right of Kings to rule, and the King confirmed the power of the Church. A convenient concentration of both wealth and power in the hands of very few. The invention of movable type resulted in the broad dissemination of ideas based upon reason. These ideas pushed royalty and organized religion from their preeminent positions in society. The idea that power (political and economic) resides in the individual is the fundamental thesis of the enlightenment.

Gore identifies the 4 members of the reactionary coalition who are the antithesis of the enlightenment. These are: Economic royalists (who fund the whole proposition), foreign policy hawks, a cabal of pundits (who enforce the dogma), and extreme religious conservatives and fundamentalists. Gore goes on the point out how successful this coalition has been. How in just 40 years they have brought us to the brink or past it. To a point where democracy in America no longer really works as the framers of the Constitution intended. From my perspective this is by design and has culminated in the reign of the Bush-Cheney regime.

At this point, I highly doubt very many of my tiny readership have bothered to read, let alone think about the above ideas. We have become so disinterested in civics, let alone political philosophy, that individuals like myself and Mr. Gore are branded as exceedingly strange. Even the best educated among us do not want to think about these issues. They feel their civic obligation begins and ends at the ballot box. Politics and political discourse are fine as infotainment, but taboo if there is any action or thought required. Again I would argue this is by design. This is the manipulation of the electorate through mass marketing to achieve outcome desired by Gore’s economic royalists. “If wealth can easily be exchanged for power, then the concentration of either can double the corrupting potential of both” (Pg. 73)

The bulk of The Assault on Reason, reminds me of the Declaration of Independence. As Jefferson did with George III, in a highly organized manner, Gore lays out the grievances against the George W. and then sets forth an indictment on a charge of violating our Constitution and the principals at the core of our republic.

Gore shows the courage of a leader. Something, with the exception of Dennis Kucinich, lacking in our current crop of Democratic presidential candidates. Gore is very brave indeed. It has long been my contention that had he been president in 2001, the attacks of September 11, would never have happened. Gore concures. Gore states that the failure to connect the dots, pre 911, was due to incompetence rather than design, but in his categorical denial of this being by design, he is brave enough to state this possibility. Anything other than denial, exposure of this dirty secret, would bring down our system and foment revolution. At this time in our history, given the state of the public mind, a revolution would play into the hands of the neo feudalists and religious extremists.

Gore sees salvation of or democracy in the displacement of the medium of television by the more interactive medium of the internet. The viability of democracy in the United States is dependent upon the engagement and participation of the governed. Television and mass marketing create a system where influence can be spread far and wide though the use of propaganda based upon an intimate understanding of human psychology. The internet provides a means for individuals to reassert themselves. Time shifting is making television less effective, so the coercion of the the economic royalists has shifted from overt adverts to covert content as in the Fox program 24. As the internet becomes the dominant medium, Gore feels it will be more and more difficult for the neo feudalists to have such a one sided influence on the public. Providing of course that we prevent them from controlling this medium as they do television.

My only criticism of Gore’s work is that it is overly complex. The first step in systemic change is the dissatisfaction of the intellectuals. Perhaps this is Gore’s intended audience. It is certainly not a work that will interest a wider audience. The ideas presented are rooted in the philosophy of the enlightenment. Something it seems, very few people in the United States care to think about, or understand anymore. Again I would argue this is by design.

There is a Persian proverb that one can only be one step ahead of the people to lead them. If someone is two steps ahead the people cannot see the goal and will not follow. The conservatives / economic royalists have been very effective at using deceit and misdirection to push the public consent in a direction that does not serve the public interest. Until we learn to counter those deceits and misdirections in a way more compelling than those currently in control we will never put power back into the hands of the people.