US of Assholes

voting is a smokescreen which perpetuates illusory freedom. it is a happy pill which makes the masses feel as if they are making a difference.

America is not a democracy. has never BEEN a democracy. and never will. America is a REPUBLIC, set up to make MONEY for a few already filthy rich white men, and the hell to everyone else. there is no such thing as "free-market" (as envisioned by Adam Smith), never has been, and never will. America's economic system is more like a serfdom, with a few lords owning most of everything, and the rest work their asses off as slaves. just look at the recent statistics on CEO pay versus empolyee salaries.

the ideas of American "freedom" and "democracy" are the Big Lies that no one doubts, and more than any other beliefs put forth by propaganda, responsible for efficiently keeping people ignorant and passive.

regarding the following videos: it's not a matter of what the country has come to, it's a matter of the underlying, deep rooted sickness showing through. (thanks to Milton for some of the links):

UF Student Tasered During John Kerry Speech

a nation of zombie sheep. hundreds just sitting there staring while the guy is dragged away screaming for help.

Nomos notes: "also disturbing how "don't tase me bro" has turned into a pop culture meme divorced from the context in which it was uttered. It's on t-shirts already. "bro" became an excuse to turn it into a saying on the level of "don't have a cow man" and laugh at him instead of taking a position." makes me sick.

Citizens Arrested for commiting FREE SPEECH in Washington DC

don't know the local laws on assembly, etc., are, but assuming the people interviewed are not lying through their teeth... the authorities are obviously so confident that the American people have been turned into such helpless worms that they can get away with this outright violation of civil liberties. and they 1. are right 2. can and 3. will.

President Bush bill pardons himself for his war crimes

Bush also bought 100,000 acres of Paraguay, which he is making into some kind of retirement mega-fortress, heavily armed and guarded by miliatary personnel. it sits on top of the largest water supply of S. America, and the country has also recently, conveniently, granted immunity to all war criminals.

thought of everything didn't he -- tell me again what an "idiot" this man is

which brings us to the final piece in this post:

The Bush Gang: "A veritable juggernaut of competence."
by Jack Riddler

excerpt: "Those who call the Bush mob "incompetent" make a fatal error. On some unconscious level, they seem to think that these criminals somehow share any of the goals of decent human beings, and have therefore "failed" to produce good results. But that, of course is the idea that motivates the Bush crime family: to produce evil results that happen to enrich their own class."

Humour: media / politics

just saw the Simpsons movie and was thinking this:

humour can be liberating, defiant, or even insurrectionary, when you laugh in the face of authority. but in "The Media" humour becomes a very efficient tool used by authority to pacify- a way to shrug off and ignore things we need to change and deal with ----- often it is the very thing we are laughing about: this shrugging-off and ignorance. Simpsons Movie exemplify this. we are in a dire situation, yes, and we are still behaving in irresponsible ways willfully ignoring the consequences -- it's all true but let's have a good laugh about our own suicidal stupidity and not take any of it seriously. it's all just entertainment isn't it, and a good laugh will make the viewer sleep well and wake up in the morning to do exactly like Homer.

the priviledged and smug self-entitled (ironic how rarely people deserve their riches, and how all of them feel that it's their god given right) take nothing seriously, and a smirk (often ironic - how's that for meta-irony?) always hangs about their faces -- life is a party/commercial and they are always witty, pleasant, and in good cheer.

in fact, there is an INABILITY to be serious. not even for a moment. the world would come crumbling down if one becomes serious -- fear of appearing to not be a good sport or even (GASP!) unhappy. as if all the things swept under the Happy Rug™ will come crawling out and take over if in "leisure" time we do anything other than go-with-the-flow, and project anything other than good humour.

i suppose like Zizek says, the official position is irony, sarcasm, and poking fun.* so i guess there are only 2 things left to do: 1. be the confrontational serious party-pooper or 2. over-identify and become a super swanky cheese-ball / party animal who actually makes others slightly uncomfortable because of how much one is (perversely) enjoying EVERYTHING and finding it all absolutely hilarious ALL THE TIME.

*while politicians display sanctimonious forced seriousness and phoney caring, the proscribed, encouraged, to the point of being mandatory, behavior for people in everyday life is a happy-go-lucky ironic distance, and this "shrugging-off" with a laugh. in the office, in a bar, in almost EVERY social situation. save, perhaps, funerals.

in my experience "caring" or being serious is definitely discouraged in society. I've "ruined" enough dinner parties to know. (yikes!) but this is very likely more true of the United States and perhaps of LA in particular than other parts of the world -- where the overwhelming feeling is one of "everything is and will always be just fine". and the creepy feeling that there is something wrong with you "if you are not as happy as people in commercials appear to be".

a friend pointed out guys like John Stewart are probably more a part of the problem than anything aproaching any kind of attempt at solutions -- the effect they have is more pro-status-quo than pro any kind of change.

in fact, fake democracy loves guys like Stewart, because in response they can dish out the endlessly annoying party-line: "well at least we are allowed to criticize blah blah blah" - one of the best reinforcements for illusory freedom. while in reality the Daily Show just makes people laugh about things they should be angry about and gives them a free pass to go on with biz as usual.