None Dare Call It RELIGIOUS FEUDALISM
By Loren Adams, 27 December 2009
The king taxed the peasants to poverty while the royals were
exempt from paying any. Reason? Unjust tax codes were a design of
the rich, by the rich, and for the rich. That was the “targeted tax-cut” which
invariably became law. “He who hath the gold maketh the rules.”
The Dark Ages was the birthplace of “Trickle-Down
Economics.” The caste system was embraced, the church was simply a ruling arm
of the monarch, and slavery was legitimatized by the religious righteous.
Republicans constantly decry labor’s “class warfare,” but
this is the real war being waged across America. The cultural war is basically
a derivative of class warfare – where the ruling class has employed white
evangelicals to do their bidding: divide and conquer.
During the Dark Ages, wealth was exclusively inherited, not
earned. The legal system was purchased like a commodity resulting in juryless
trials, military tribunals, pronouncements by a king acknowledged as sovereign
and commissioned by God to rule as if the voice of Providence Himself,
executive orders usurping representation, taxation without representation, etc.
Anyone disputing the monarch’s sovereignty was designated a traitor and
summarily executed, tortured or banished to dungeon. These were the markings of
the Dark Ages. Are they not similar to contemporary Republicanism so glaringly
demonstrated during the Bush years?
America’s founders rejected the monarchial system where its
legitimacy hinged on approval by the religious supremes. The “separation of
church and state” concept of the new republic was established for that
reason. Now we are sliding back into the realm where the head of state
rides to power on a religious beast, where any successful candidate must be approved
by the predominant religious system to win. Even our beloved Barack Obama
during the 2008 campaign felt he must do pilgrimage to Saddleback Church and
later pay homage to Pastor Rick Warren at Inaugural.
The Dark Ages were not only dark from plagues, they were darkened
from ignorance, superstition and greed. The religious right denied the world
was round; anyone disputing this “God-derived” doctrine was executed or
imprisoned. Science was equated with Satanism. Thus, discovery, invention,
innovation, and commercialism could not flourish, and the West plunged into
poverty. Does America not see the similarity? A religious system that wages war
on science, denies climate change, rejects evolution, and edits Texas texts for school children to include praise for Limbaugh, Beck and Palin is a system
geared toward destroying not only scientific and environmental thought, but the
foundation of economy.
The religious system was USED to gain power for monarchs
similar to the way current political operatives USE the religious to further
their own aims. In the Middle Ages, the doctrine of the “divine right of
kings” precluded civil liberties; the king/queen equaled “divinity.”
Potentates (royals) were considered surrogates of God. Power was
passed down from father to son — Dynasties divinely ordained by entitlement. So,
when we hear of world leaders or presidents bequeathed the title “Man of God,” watch
out. It may not be long before civil liberties and human rights become
casualties in the name of national unity and security — and with popular
support — the masses duped by superstition. Remember the Bush theocratic
dynasty.
History has witnessed its booms and busts (some massage as
“cyclical market adjustments”). History repeats itself. We were at the core of
an unparalleled economic boom at the close of the Clinton years —
measured by purchases, low unemployment and budget surpluses. There were more
jobs than people to fill them; illegals streamed across the border. Now we’re in
a deep recession as a consequence of buying into Republican Dark-Age mentality.
What caused history’s busts? When capital is
concentrated among the wealthiest, history warns of ominous collapse. The
bubble bursts. It happened in 1837, 1857, 1884, 1893, 1907 and 1929. In
all depressions there was glaring disparity of income: The poor — poorer,
the rich — richer.
Prosperity is the result of healthy circulation of currency
where the vast majority have robust purchasing power. When wealth fails to
circulate but is dammed up by a concentration at the top, the economy falls and
results in depression or severe recession. When the rich accumulate an
overwhelming portion of the wealth, their house of cards comes tumbling down
because there remains few to buy the goods sold by the wealthy to sustain the
lifestyle.
Sure, other factors – such as over-speculation, Wall
Street insider trading, anti-labor trade agreements, deregulation, and tax
policies determined by greedy special interests – drive the economy into
the ditch. But are not these all related? The world is loaded down with the
cancers of Bernie Madoffs and Kenny Lays before downturn metastasizes itself
into poverty, crime and collapse.
Consider this ominous fact: The average American’s income
has remained flat since 1977 — 33 years ago, while the income of the
richest 1% has more than tripled — 228% (Center on Budget and Policy
Priorities). CEOs (corporate executive officers) incomes rose 400% in
the 1990s to $10.6 million annual income per capita, while take-home pay for
the average American, the 80%, rose zero percent.
Real life experience bears it out. Most Americans don’t
enjoy the purchasing power they once did when a one-income family could raise
children, purchase a home, car and college education for their kids. Now both
parents work (if lucky enough to have a job) and still can’t keep up, resulting
in less quality education, poor family relations, rising crime, and an eroding
moral foundation.
Some in this country never learn from history. The greedy
are blinded to the fact that refusing to care for others less fortunate
ultimately leads to their own demise. The underlying truth may be that
these tightfisted characters are not so much concerned about accumulating
wealth as widening the gap. Yes, they delight in seeing the
difference. Class consciousness means more to them than money in the
bank. Thus, the motive defines the power struggle.
Thom Hartmann’s depiction of America’s economic and
educational decline is accurate.
The political will of the radical right is more stubborn than
ever. Not only do they want to defeat Health-Care Reform, they want to rid
the country of any safety-net, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and any
other “socialist” program. It’s all “socialism” or “communism” to them. .
. “un-American.”
They hide their greed behind such noble causes as
“individualism,” “patriotism,” “character & family values” and “national
security,” but all the while their ultimate aim is the same. Proudly they wave
the flag and claim to be the lead standard bearers for patriotism; all the
while we recall they’re missing in action when it really counts; wealthy family
ties shield them from risk. Only the rich initiate wars, mostly the poor
fight them. The double standard of justice comes from obscene wealth.
Principles can be compromised at a price. And so can religion, their primary
weapon of choice.
In similar manner, they buy off religious organizations and
congressmen, hire the best lobbyists, and manipulate enough voters through the
religious system to change laws for their benefit. Their aim? To
further concentrate the wealth and leave the rest of the country destitute if
need be. Their “compassionate conservatism” is hypocrisy cloaked in a
sound-bite.
In future years it will be written that the real enemy of
our times was not communism or socialism (as many Tea-Baggers scream), but
rather the re-emergence of a form of feudalism in alliance with theocracy or
what The Family (“C-Street”) calls “Dominionism.” The Handmaid’s Tale was not
too far off.
In place of mote-defended castles surrounded by thatched-roof
shanties will be “gated communities” [sporting high-tech surveillance to keep
the homeless and servant-class out] surrounded by metal trailer shanties
housing 21st Century serfs. Recall “Hoovervilles”? The new shanty-towns should
be aptly named “Bushvilles.” We’ve come a long way in 1,200 years or so. 