The Frankfurter School

When I talk to some of my friends about the dire situation this country is in and how our democracy has been dismantled, our rights taken away, with a press that exists to anesthetize us rather than inform us, I am invariably met with the same optimistically skeptical response.  “Things aren’t that bad,” “Don’t you think that’s a little extreme,” or “Oh come on, Bush is almost out of office and things are getting better” are the general tone and gist of the stock responses I get.  I always try to engage people productively in my answers, but obviously I think that our democracy is in critical condition and dying on the operating table.  I tend to believe that people who don’t recognize that just don’t know what’s going on or are burying their heads in the sand rather than facing harsh reality.

We live in an authoritarian police state which is very close to completing the alignment and consolidation of government and corporate power in order achieve total and unchallenged dominance over every single one of its citizens.  But the exercise of that control is currently invisible and not affecting most people’s day to day life, so there is very little awareness or alarm.

So rather than dismiss or belittle your optimism, or your doubt that things have really gotten as bad as the words that I am using might imply, I will agree with you and tell you why most people I know have absolutely nothing to worry about.

The people who are experiencing illegal detention, imprisonment, police brutality and torture fall into categories of people that you don’t.  They are either illegal immigrants, criminals or terrorists, or rabble-rousers who have engaged in questionable activities.  And if a few innocent people get caught up in an attempt to rid our country of these vermin, it’s better than allowing them to go free.  It is far more important for us to be “safe” than to worry about the rights of people who had poor enough judgment to associate with unsavory types and get themselves arrested.

You have money.  You can afford legal help and advice and are in the privileged position to challenge any accusations of wrongdoing in our legal system which grants favor and privilege to those who can afford the legal maneuverings.

You don’t do anything illegal.  Well, nothing big anyway.  You may occasionally bend some rules, drive faster than the speed limit, or take generous deductions on your taxes, but you are essentially a good upstanding citizen and have no worries about selective enforcement of laws or harsh methods of interrogation because you would never deserve such treatment.

You have nothing to hide.  If the FBI raided your house they would find no contraband or any reason to put you in jail.  There is a slight possibility that they could carry things out of your house in full view of your neighbors that could cause you some embarrassment, but nothing that could get you arrested.   The NSA would not find any reason to arrest you based on your internet browser history, though it’s possible that if it were given to your employer, your insurance company or made public, there could be some unfortunate fallout. But just because the government is now legally able to do this does not mean it is going to happen to you.  Things are pretty good.  You are allowed to go about your life, make choices, and generally do whatever you want.

The subjects of the King George led relatively happy lives when the American Revolution took place.  Not everyone under Pinochet, Franco or Mussolini was unhappy.  The aristocracy is usually able to go about their lives happily, and as long as they do not go against the dictator’s orders they were free to choose a life for themselves, shopping, playing, eating, and doing as they wished.  Only people who wished to break the rules in some way were subjected to indefinite imprisonment in the Tower of London or disappeared in Chile.  Most people avoided this fate.

When the United States constitution was written, it was done so in order to guarantee certain rights and liberties to people, and to declare them to be inalienable.  Although it constructed a system of government that allowed power to be maintained by landowners, it mandated a country where the rule of law took precedence over the rule of men.  Many Americans gave their lives fighting for these rights and this nation.  The first ten amendments to our constitution, known as our Bill of Rights, have each been abridged and restricted, and we are now a nation without accountability and no longer under the rule of law, with two political parties more interested in maintaining power than restoring checks and balances to our democracy.

But no, it’s probably not that bad.  You’ll probably be fine.  What could happen?