I found this post (& picture I made) from 2 years ago, that I surprisingly still feel is right on point for this holiday season. While 2 years ago, I had hoped the Plutocratic forces that are destroying our Democracy would be swept aside, this has, unfortunately, not come to fruition. In other words: the old man Potters of the world are alive and well.
They’re working hard to create uniform Pottersvilles all over the country, (a.k.a. Anytown U.S.A.) pushing decadent consumption (alcohol, gambling, consumerism) and seeking to break solidarity of the middle and lower classes by turning us into consumers. All they while they brand this “democracy†and through a vast expansion of media consolidation, they are discouraging descent, calling the right of protest, one of the oldest and most sacred American traditions, “unpatrioticâ€.
It is no secret that our country has headed down the wrong path. The economic, political and social gauges are all reflecting decline. China and Russia are on the rise and we’re locked into a state of continuous war. Ol’ George Orwell’s classic 1984, may be proven true yet, and I’m not even talking about all the Big Brother stuff, which is also ringing loudly in our faces.
While this New Year has brought us less to be cheery about, the aforementioned forces have not won yet and 2007 brought us significant change in the public consciousness and the first rallying cries of a major backlash. The Left, badly damaged from the destruction of the FDR coalition is coming back strong, and in all places, even on the Republican side, real grass roots populism is trumping the Reganesque elitist “phony populismâ€. The powers that be are scared and pushing people like Hillary and Giuliani on to the masses. To compare to It’s a Wonderful Life again, the townspeople did not sell out to old man Potter, and while he isn’t going anywhere, the tide has turned.
The upcoming election will be pivotal to the direction of this nation. Fortunately, it appears to me, that we are headed for an era of major reform. Education, health-care, regulation of industry, less war, more homefront, relaxed criminalization of marijuana, reform of the prison system, alternative energies, less free trade and more public works are rising, even on the Right, as answers to the problems 30 years of Reagan & his wannabes have brought us.
While it is only going to get worse before it gets better, I feel encouraged. Bush is effectively being contained. He still gets to veto child health care and sign billions of wasted money in Iraq, but he can’t do too much more damage at this point, as all America is deeply engaged in his replacement. I can feel a new age is upon us, an age of true Progressive reform, which will restore the American Republic and crush the second American Empire. The brotherhood and sisterhood of our Republic is returning and the selfish, empty, consumption-based individualism is burning itself out.
It’s about damn time!
So, as you sit around the tube watching the same damn movie you watch every year, try to watch it again for the first time to see what I’m talking about. It really is as American as Apple Pie.
Oh and one last thing, Happy Holidays from Soapblox.com. May 2008 bring us a renewed era of hope and prosperity!
The following is an excerpt from Soapblox.com / December, 2005:
I just got through watching a traditional Christmas classic, It’s a Wonderful Life. If you have not seen the film, you should make the effort. It is perhaps one of the greatest pieces of Americana Progressivism that ever did exist. It simplifies the struggle between good versus evil as any film does of course, only this film sides with the working and middle classes (especially in those days when the middle class was very small). Oh yes, as the above image shows, the Mr. Potter of modern times is good old Dick Cheney, and his little lackey (that goes for you too!) is our naive El Presidente, who preside over a party that cuts taxes for the rich, then cut education, Medicare and student loan funding. They even tried to destroy Social Security!
To read the rest of the article, click here.