The System

I have read and re-read the last two posts on my blog and there is little there that I would want to retract. What is needed is clarity --- definition.

What is interesting about the present political scene in the US is the remarkable tendency toward extremes. And what are these extremes? They are, as I've suggested, idealistic visions. And, as such, they are mostly so far away from the realities of our situation that they are largely meaningless. What I have been asking myself is who profits from this; hence, what is it that stabilizes this situation.

The answer, it seems to me, is very clear. It is "the system" that profits from this bizarre fighting among extreme positions. The more heat the better! That's because, the more heat is vented between the opposing extremes, the less anyone will seriously notice what really is at work in this country and, for that matter, the world. In point of fact, it is close to irrelevant who is president or what party is in office. Indeed, the more extreme the differences between parties and candidates, the better off the system is --- because the less we will take cognizance of who it actually is that wields power.

Liberals and conservatives, libertarians and anarchists, democrats and republicans, greens and independents would all be a lot better off if they would stop arguing among themselves and would start focusing on the larger system that controls the realities of their world. In my opinion, one does not need to look far. Just look at the very small number of people in the world who own the enormous majority of the world's wealth. Then, try to figure out how they are all tied together. That is "the system." In my opinion, politics is irrelevant; it is simply a way in which the system keeps us all tied into its own stability. So long as we think that we exercise some kind of control, the system is safe. It can continue to function underneath it all.