Are The People Even Aware That The Government Is Waging War Against Them?

September 19, 2009 – Is resistance futile?

By The Cerebral Aesthetic Vagabond

Although the government’s war against the citizens has been waged for decades, beginning at least as far back as Nixon’s “war on drugs,” the war was escalated significantly in 2001, and in the last year or so it’s become an assault so brazen that few can fail to see it any longer, that is, if they can see rather than merely look. What’s peculiar is that the people – aside from those few hundred thousand engaged citizens who marched on Washington on September 12 – just seem to endure it. I suppose that can be attributed to the incremental nature of the assault, which obscures just how far we’ve deviated from the ideals set forth by the founders of this nation, as well as the simultaneous, deliberate and systematic dumbing down of the populace, not to mention the monopolistic takeover of the media by the government’s partners in fascism, who largely share the government’s agenda and don’t hesitate to use their hard won monopoly to serve as the government’s mouthpiece, as long as they can sell a little advertising in the process.

While we were paying more attention to circuses like American Idol than to what our government was doing in our name, our country quietly morphed into a bombastic, militaristic bully that sustains itself today on tribute paid by the rest of the world. Few Americans, however, realize that the rest of the world is doing more than just grumbling about its subservient role – it’s looking for ways to stop paying these tributes to the American empire. When that happens, and it’s only a matter of when, not if, America will have nothing to fall back on. Its factories, with the exception of its military weapons factories, have been shipped elsewhere. Its family farmers have been driven off the land and the land turned over to the government’s partners in the fascist food production system. Americans are in for a rude awakening, and yet few see it coming.

War Comes Home

Of course, the people still do not recognize the product of the seeds they sowed when they sanctioned the country’s various ill-conceived wars against “ragheads,” which would inevitably come home. When a government transforms itself into a war-based government, as ours certainly has, what with its 700+ military garrisons outside the country, it’s only a matter of time before it begins to view the citizens it supposedly serves as the enemy. After all, such a government needs “enemies” to justify its existence; if it cannot find enough of them abroad, it must look for them at home.

We hoped the Abu Ghraib spectacle was an appalling anomaly, but judging from the polls, torture is apparently popular with Americans, especially religious ones:

How is it that the issue of torture, an intrinsic evil in the same moral category as rape and slavery, has gotten divorced from the realm of morality and been given a completely different focus; i. e., does torture “work”?
 
Torture does not provide reliable information; but that’s not the main point. Why is it that religious leaders, by and large, cannot find their voices? Why do they take the course of least resistance, adopting as their model the cowardice of the institutional churches of Nazi Germany? What are the implications for us? (Source: Torture: The Fault Is Not in Our Stars)

I guess I’m not really all that surprised that religious people are more tolerant of such egregious, inhumane practices, since a lot of religious people I’ve known are religious in name only (like the fellow who nearly ran me over yesterday evening in his Mercedes because he was impatient to get to temple). Going to church for many is simply a means to absolve the past week’s sins and clean the slate for the coming week’s sins. And allow me to recall one of the more infamous examples of religion-inspired torture, the Inquisition. If torture were a product, I wonder what brand of torture Jesus would endorse. I’m guessing it wouldn’t be crucifixion.

We’ve become so inured to torture and barbarity that we don’t even recognize it in our midst. Tasers were supposed to be a “non-lethal” alternative to guns, yet every week I read about someone dying from a taser attack, and hundreds have died from tasers in the U.S. and Canada in just the last few years. At least guns kill quickly, especially when the victim is shot forty or fifty times, preventing authority figures from indulging their prurient sadistic tendencies by pulling the taser trigger twenty times, smiling and cracking jokes as the victim writhes in electrified agony on the way to his demise.

The public is no better, having become equally sadistic, even if we lack the imprimatur of “legitimacy” through which to act out our carnal urges. We have to content ourselves with watching tawdry TV shows that specialize in humiliating “contestants” and “perps” alike. Since I spend more time among the public these days, I’ve had more opportunity to observe the disgusting behavior of my fellow citizens, particularly those behind the wheel of over-endowed automobiles, which evidently serve to compensate for feelings of low self-esteem or some other inadequacy.

Lies, Lies and More Lies

I’ve gotten to the point where I believe nothing – and I mean nothing – the government says anymore. All of its “official” statistics are so gerrymandered for political reasons that they are almost meaningless. They are still slightly valuable, however, as a reverse indicator of reality. If, for instance, a government “statistic” shows something is improving, then in all likelihood the truth is the opposite.

I don’t believe a single word uttered by the current occupant of the White House. In fact, besides “his” words (he is merely a mouthpiece) being devoid of any discernible sincerity, his persona makes my skin crawl, as would that of a slick, psychopathic con artist (and I have known such a person). And yet this thinly veiled authoritarian (or perhaps would-be dictator is a more apt term) remains the darling of the “progressive” crowd. I guess that doesn’t surprise me either, since “progressives” are really authoritarians of the left.

Despite the torrent of lies spewed forth by the government and the absurdity of the obsolete terminology used to describe this nation today, people desperately cling to demonstrably false beliefs, such as that this nation is the “freest” nation in the world and a champion of “free markets,” and that the government “cares” about our well being. (Excuse me for a second while I clean up my vomit.)

The psychology of belief retention even when those beliefs are wrong is a pillar of social cohesion and stability. It explains why, once change is effected, even revolutionary governments become conservative. The downside of belief retention is its prevention of the recognition of facts. Belief retention in the Soviet Union made the system unable to adjust to economic reality, and the Soviet Union collapsed. Today in the United States millions find it easier to chant “USA, USA, USA” than to accept facts that indicate the need for change. (Source: Why Propaganda Trumps Truth)

The “global warming” orthodoxy is one of several contemporary examples of the “big lie.” The threat posed by this supposed malady is so dire that only draconian action can save us, and no dissent will be countenanced. The real objective behind this charade is the empowerment of government to meddle in our lives and tax us, and to give enterprising, Nobel Prize winning, self-proclaimed do-gooders an opportunity to line up at the trough of the carbon trading pits, eager to feed off the naiveté of people who care about the environment but make the mistake of trusting their government to tell them the truth.

Deliberate Poisoning

Deliberate poisoning of the populace probably began with the introduction of fluoride to the drinking water, some 70% of which is now intentionally contaminated with this stuff. Some have claimed that fluoride makes people docile, so perhaps that’s why Americans seem so apathetic about the affronts they suffer daily at the hands of their government.

Nowadays we have a more modern, more direct approach to poisoning the populace: vaccines injected right into the bloodstream. Not content to let the populace voluntarily self-medicate with vaccines (in no small part as a result of massive government and corporate propaganda), governments and their corporate partners are on the verge of dispensing vaccines at gunpoint. The motivation is the same as it always is in a fascist system: power for the government and profits for the corporations.

How fortuitous for the proponents of mass vaccination that a “novel” disease should come along right now. Or maybe not:

A virologist who has been researching the A/H1N1 virus has concluded after months of research that the “novel” influenza was re-assorted in a laboratory from eight genes consisting of avian, swine and human type influenza A virus. (Source: A/H1N1 was reassorted in a lab)

Notice the word “novel” in the quotation above? That’s a significant word because legislation and executive orders have recently been concocted that give the government extraordinary and extra-Constitutional powers in the event of the emergence of a “novel” virus. I hardly think it’s a coincidence that a “novel” virus should appear just when the economic situation of this nation, and especially that of its government, is becoming so dire. And how about the irony of us being forced to pay for (through taxes) our own debilitation from these vile “medicines”?

While most people probably get a vaccination out of a misplaced sense of “duty” or as a result of being bamboozled by the health care industry into believing that vaccines actually do anything, people seem to really enjoy medicating themselves with psychoactive drugs. Actually, we know that to be the case with “illegal” drugs, which are also referred to as “recreational” drugs. These drugs are illegal because there is no profit in them for the corporations. Anyone can grow their own marijuana plant, so how can the corporations profit from that? That is why marijuana is particularly hated by the fascist establishment. Antidepressants, on the other hand, are a whole other story. They can be patented and sold for exorbitant prices, fattening the profit margins of corporations and the bonus checks of corporate executives. Since marijuana is illegal, Americans have happily turned to legal, if expensive drugs to escape reality, much to the delight of the corporations that own the patents and the government that doesn’t want a bunch of “unresty” citizens on its hands. I don’t think it’s unwelcome news to the government that our drinking water is increasingly contaminated with antidepressants, but I can’t help but wonder about the source of this contamination.

Taxing Us To Death

Despite our country being in a depression (yes, it’s a modest depression so far), the government, ever hungry for revenue has been raising taxes and “fees” (a kinder, gentler euphemism for “taxes”) across the board. It seems to believe that the people, much like the government’s own printing press, have bottomless wallets, and that the government can simply raise taxes willy-nilly without repercussions to the economy. Here’s a free economic tip for the government: when people are so tapped out that they are unwilling to assume any more debt obligations, even to purchase the latest snazzy, “must-have” gadgets, they certainly cannot afford more taxes (or mandatory payments to greedy health insurance companies, for that matter, a tax of sorts that just happens to be collected by the private sector).

Although governments are raising taxes and “fees,” they are now finally looking at cutting expenditures. Unfortunately, they are planning to cut useful services, such as police and fire departments, completely overlooking the fact that the only reason to have a government is to provide services. These government people have become so entrenched in their “occupation” that they seem to believe that their “job” is to collect a taxpayer-funded paycheck, and that any service they might happen to provide as a consequence of doing their “job” is purely incidental, icing on the public cake. It’s OK to cut those pesky “services,” but by no means cut administrative staff or salaries, or, god forbid, the lavish pensions. Thank goodness that the city of San Diego will be able to keep funding its precious pension system for ex-employees who are collecting upwards of $100,000 per year for their past years of well-paid service to the city. Laying off the police to pay the pensions might have one beneficial consequence, however: a decrease in taser fatalities, much the way labor strikes by doctors result in a decrease in the mortality rate (and people wonder why I don’t go to doctors).

As if we weren’t already being bombarded on all sides by tax increases, there is one particularly harebrained scheme that just won’t die: the GPS-based automobile mileage tax. Not only will such a tax create a disincentive to drive economical cars, it will be a nightmare to administer. Imagine trying to keep such a system working with hundreds of millions of vehicles. Imagine not being able to buy gasoline because the “GPS computer” is “down” and can’t read your car’s mileage. If they want to tax people for miles driven, there’s a simple device that is already built into every car, truck and motorcycle. It’s called an odometer. I believe the primary motivation for this idiotic proposal is to raise tax revenue because as people have increasingly turned to more economical cars lately, gasoline tax revenues have fallen. The logical solution to a government mind is to punish the people for causing this reduction of tax revenue and ensure that it won’t happen again. However, I think an additional, sinister motivation behind this scheme is to keep track of peoples’ movements, and a GPS tracking device fitted to every car would make that most convenient. Of course, I’m sure the government would never abuse such information. In fact, I’m sure it will tell us just that if this proposal gets close to becoming the law of the land.

Here in California we’re suffering under a drought, or so the government tells us, so the “authorities” have urged us – there’s always the latent threat of “fines” or worse for noncompliance backing up their urges – to conserve water. We complied, reducing consumption by something like 15%. The reward for our civic mindedness? Higher water rates! The government isn’t making enough money now because we’re using less water, so in order to keep the revenue flowing, even though the water isn’t, the government is proposing to increase the cost. (This is just like the mileage tax idea above. We use less, so the government wants to raise the cost. The most important thing is to maintain that revenue stream.) I guess the plan is to tax us if we consume water and tax us if we don’t. Hey, maybe they should just tax us for being alive. Oh, wait, they’re already working on that under the guise of “health care reform.”

The Death Of Freedom

Not content with controlling our food, water, health and movement, the government is even tinkering with minutiae like baning incandescent light bulbs and “large” TVs. How about banning air conditioners, or banks of recessed ceiling lights, or swimming pool pumps, or garish Christmas light displays, or rechargeable electric vehicles, all of which consume more power than a “large” TV? Does it ever occur to the people who propose such drivel that people already pay for their consumption of electricity? To my knowledge, the electric companies don’t give the electricity away for free, and if a person consumes more electricity, they pay more for it. If there aren’t enough power plants to power all of our electronic toys, whose fault is that? Perhaps that of government “planning” commissions, which don’t hesitate to approve one new housing development after another, regardless of whether there’s enough electricity and water to run all those new houses. I’m sure the fact that housing developments generate lots of new tax revenue for the government has no bearing on the decisions of the “planning” agencies.

Someone I know was complaining that they had to go get re-fingerprinted this Saturday morning in order to renew their notary license, because the FBI rejected their first set of fingerprints as not good enough. Aside from the spine shivering idea of needing to obtain FBI approval to engage in one’s choice of occupation, the person who was complaining about having to jump through these hoops just accepted it as a reasonable occupational burden! I would find another profession! Sadly, this person is but one of many I know who simply tolerate such affronts to their freedom to earn a living however they wish.

It seems as if people have lived without freedom for so long they’ve forgotten what it tastes like. I keep wondering how long it will be until people say “NO!”, but I’m starting to believe that will never happen. The government has invested enormous sums of money into studying the psychology of populations under conditions of adversity, particularly from the perspective of controlling popular will. Perhaps through medicating, terrorizing and dumbing down the populace, the government has succeeded in its long sought endeavor of controlling the population. Perhaps the people are incapable of resisting anymore because they are incapable of seeing, feeling or thinking anymore. I see so many people who are truly happy in their state of blissful ignorance. They don’t want to know the truth; they don’t want real freedom; they want only to live in comfort, regardless of the cost, as long as that cost is kept largely concealed. Give them bread and circuses and they are content to tolerate their chains of bondage as long as they aren’t uncomfortably tight and don’t clash with their other bling.

Why am I so disappointed by the apathy of the populace? After all, they can be bought off cheap. For a mere $4,500 rebate (taxable, by the way) they will chain themselves to a new car for five years. For a tax credit of just $8,000 they will chain themselves to a new house for ... until they can no longer make the payments. No wonder house prices have risen by double digit amounts in some markets lately.

Meanwhile, the government continues to wage its war on us. Is it too late to resist?

Update – 21 September 2009

Well, this is a timely article titled, The Economy Is A Lie, Too, by one of my favorite writers, Paul Craig Roberts. It opens with:

Americans cannot get any truth out of their government about anything, the economy included. Americans are being driven into the ground economically, with one million school children now homeless, while Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke announces that the recession is over.

That’s but one of many no holds barred assessments made by Mr. Roberts. Needless to say, I couldn’t agree more.

Update – 24 September 2009

Above I expressed puzzlement at the source of pharmaceuticals in our water supply. I didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but suspected that it was coming directly from pharmaceutical companies. Well, here’s a new article, titled U.S. Pharmaceutical Factories Dumping Huge Quantities of Drugs Into Public Sewers, Rivers and Waterways, that reinforces my suspicions. The only remaining question is, “Why?” Is it just a cost-saving practice or is it secretly intended to involuntarily medicate society into docility?

Update – 28 September 2009

There could be no more succinct image of the government’s war against the civilians than this one from the recent G20 (i.e. NWO) get together in Pittsburgh.

Isn’t that a scene right out of a harrowing science fiction movie? Too bad it’s real! And the descriptions of the unprovoked, rabid attacks by police on protesters are breathtaking, even for one like me who long ago foresaw today’s reality. In fact, some claim that the police themselves were acting as agent provocateurs amid the “protesters,” which is not only believable but reinforced by ample precedent.

The events in Pittsburgh also demonstrate an element of “blowback.” A country that engages in militaristic adventures abroad inevitably follows the same path at home when the “troops” come home. Where do people think all those ex-soldiers go? To work for police departments, for one. And they don’t see “us” as Americans, but as the “enemy,” little different from all those “insurgents” in Iraq, or Afghanistan or Pakistan. One can only hope they run out of money before they are able to cinch closed the noose they have planned for us.

The End