Becoming Attentive

CONSPIRACY THEORIES, we all know, are in style, to say the least, all the rage, to say more, a cultural obsession, to say the most. None, arguably, is more popular or enduring than that which argues that there exists, deeply embedded within the United States government, a secret cabal which secretly either governs the country of has an outsized influence in its governrnance - it becomes a bit vague on this matter- and which consists of people within the federal bureacracy, a secret consortium of mid and low ranking government bureaucrats, thousands, perhaps millions of them. Crazy as that sounds and seems,it enjoys widespread popularity, and has lingered a long time. Most people are familiar with it, many, far too many, gives it credence. This, of course, is complete hogwash. My sister was a career civil servant bureaucrat, and she laughs at the very notion that a couple million government bureaucrats might have than much power and influence,and might be that well organized, and so seretly. She also dismissed, out of hand I might add, any thought that the American government might be in possession of and concealing from the public the actual bodies of extraterrestrials, by the way. If that saddens or angers anybody, I apologize. That does not mean, however, that the system is not rigged. In point of fact, it is. Indeed the entire American political and economic system is rigged to the hilt, owned and controlled by an elite group of wealthy powerful people. Bernie Sanders, among others, calls this the "billionaire class". Other names for it include; the corporate oligrachy, the one percent, Gore Vidal, the late great liberal author and occasional activist put it this way: There are two governments in the United States, the purely cosmetic government with which we are all familiar, consisting of the constitution, the three branches of government, and all the extensions of those two basic institutions, such a s federal law, agemcies, and other entities. Then, there is the real government, the actual system of power which not only owns much of the wealth of the nation, but which consists of a tiny fraction of the population, our ruling oligarchial corporate masters. It is, quite simply, this oligarchy which purchases and owns the political system by funding it, what is sometimes called the "donor class". The billionaire donor class. No, it is not a monolith. After all, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and George Soros do not suport the same candidates and causes as the highly conservative billionaire class generally does. Consider them the exceptions which prove the rule. Billionares have their own best interests, the rest of us have ours, and they are not always the same. The insiduous, hidden oligarchy which owns and controls the American republic is nothing other than corporate capitalism itself,and those who own and control it. This it does in plain sight, with the full tacit approval of the American people, largely uncontested. And, well...whose fault is that? Jefferson said it best: "If the people become inattentive to the affairs of government, the legislators and magistrates shall divide society into two classes; wolves,and sheep." The most obvious fact in the world is that poor people greatly outnumber the wealthy, the ones who have rigged the system, everywhere on Earth. That gives them power thatso far has only manifested in theory, and in isolated instances. If we common poor people ever fully realize what we are capable of, if we work together, we would be amazed at ourselves and what we can accomplish.