The liberal class has become a useless and despised appendage of corporate power and all hope lies n

Monday, October 17, 2011

The liberal class has become a useless and despised appendage of corporate power and all hope lies now with those in the street

which is one of the main reasons why ows has picked up such a head of steam so quickly...

chris hedges...

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An ineffectual liberal class means there is no hope of a correction or a reversal through the formal mechanisms of power. It ensures that the frustration and anger among the working and the middle class will find expression now in these protests that lie outside the confines of democratic institutions and the civilities of a liberal democracy. By emasculating the liberal class, which once ensured that restive citizens could institute moderate reforms, the corporate state has created a closed system defined by polarization, gridlock and political charades. It has removed the veneer of virtue and goodness that the liberal class offered to the power elite.

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But the liberal class, by having refused to question the utopian promises of unfettered capitalism and globalization and by condemning those who did, severed itself from the roots of creative and bold thought, the only forces that could have prevented the liberal class from merging completely with the power elite. The liberal class, which at once was betrayed and betrayed itself, has no role left to play in the battle between us and corporate dominance. All hope lies now with those in the street.

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Corporations are not concerned with the common good. They exploit, pollute, impoverish, repress, kill and lie to make money. They throw poor families out of homes, let the uninsured die, wage useless wars to make profits, poison and pollute the ecosystem, slash social assistance programs, gut public education, trash the global economy, plunder the U.S. Treasury and crush all popular movements that seek justice for working men and women. They worship money and power.

<...>

What took place early Friday morning in Zuccotti Park was the first salvo in a long struggle for justice. It signaled a step backward by the corporate state in the face of popular pressure. And it was carried out by ordinary men and women who sleep at night on concrete, get soaked in rainstorms, eat donated food and have nothing as weapons but their dignity, resilience and courage. It is they, and they alone, who hold out the possibility of salvation. And if we join them we might have a chance.

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/a_movement_too_big_to_fail_20111017/
logspot.com/2011/10/liberal-class-has-become-useless-and.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AndYesIDoTakeItPersonally+%28And%2C+yes%2C+I+DO+take+it+personally%29

(the money was too good).

Since ordinary folk can't afford to be liberal, we are settling for "pragmatic and progressive". And coming soon, Vengeful!

I know plenty of "ordinary folks" who are extremely liberal.

If ordinary folks "can't afford to be liberal", is that an argument for conservatism?

of the people to devolve into a co-conspirator that would have us all as slave labor feeding the wealthy, a country where those that have nothing to contribute to the wealth of the few are left to perish as useless eaters. A country where bloody empire for the profit of of an out of control military industry and a thriving new mercenary industry are gorged on the blood of those that are no threat to us in any military sense. A modern form of feudalism that is developing before our eyes.

Without a party to protect us from the unwavering desire of some to re-create this nation as a neo-feudal fascism it's rebirth will continue unabated on it's course toward the neo-feudal goal.

They are beginning to see that they are on their own now against the purchased post-partisanship that will lead us to that goal faster or slower, but on the same course, ever rightward ever more cruel and ever more a threat to their well being and happiness.

We are almost there and there appears to be nothing to stop it.

I blame us that are on the front of liberal thought for allowing our party to so easily be taken over by the republican castaways that dare claim to be more than what they are, purchased lackeys of the wealthy elite.

I blame myself for allowing myself to be used as shamelessly as any trailer park GOP member that would support and vote for what is demonstrably against their best interests and the interests of over 98% of the citizens of this country.

I blame the party faithful for so easily adopting and even cheering well known and deeply damaging right wing policy simply because they follow the party line (policies that they are well educated about and once fought against).

I blame the party itself for being so easily bought and co-opted by the policies of the Heritage Foundation and The Chamber of Commerce simply for a pittance in campaign contributions.


Without a party to oppose the neo-feudalists, what is left to stop them?
What can we do?
What can YOU do?

WHAT THE HELL CAN I DO!

The last sentence describes not only my feelings, but also the feelings of a growing number of citizens that can not help but see what is happening because it grows more blatant every day.

They're limousine liberals. BIG difference.

Real liberals fight for the rights of the 99% and practice what they preach. They drive midpriced, if not cheap, cars and live in solidarity with ordinary people.
Limousine liberals profess to fight for the 99% but live like the 1%.

call DLC Liberals. Fox sometimes calls Clinton Liberal.
Bayh Liberal.

Liberal is in the eye of the Beholder.

In class politics, liberal has a definite meaning. I'm not into relativistic political labels. That's why I'm a commie. You KNOW what I stand for and it ain't relative to nothing else in the political spectrum.

his article isn't understandable.

articles I've read by him, I think that Hedges is approaching the term in SOMEWHAT of a Marxist, or at least old school leftist, sense.

To Marxists the "liberal" class would equate anywhere from the petit bourgeoisie to the MARXIST middle class, i.e., the direct handmaidens for the bourgeoisie, self employed doctors, lawyers, etc. They're part of the system, although SOME will AT TIMES side with the proletariat in the class struggle. They were also instrumental in putting Hitler into office in Germany when they went AGAINST the proletariat. I think that he's saying here that they've turned their backs on the working class a long time ago and, ergo, they've become part of the problem rather than the solution.

"The Fascists will shoot you.
The conservatives will applaud the Fascists.
The moderates will watch the executions on TV.
The Liberals will cry over your grave and feel guilty for turning you in to the Fascists."

SDS saying.

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Jackoffs.

...but 'Pinochet' is spelled 'P I N O C H E T', not 'Z E L L M I L L E R'

:) :hi:

But seriously, I agree with you. It's like when Steve Whats-His-Name asked on Faux whether or not Warren Buffet was a Socialist as a rhetorical. These are the same people who say GWB was liberal. Are you frickin' kidding me?!

We know it is a very uncomfortable truth. Money has taken over both Parties. How can we deny it?

The DLC is NOT liberal. Obama is NOT liberal. Yet both those are labeled as liberal by M$M and Faux News in order to keep moving the country farther right.

So grateful for OWS. It has given me hope and marching and occupying Times Square on Saturday re-energized me. It felt great (even when I got a bit nervous about the cops)!

Those on the left will have to either become begrudging corporatist and support them hoping to teach Keynesian economics to those that refuse to learn (in my opinion a quixotic adventure)

Or else we will finally have to face the fact that the party we have been trying to bring back to it's former glory of standing for the people, their rights and their livlihoods has now finaly after all attempts to revive, died on the table.

It is now a corpse propped up next to the Republicans to maintain the illusion of a choice. Even if the corpse wins it will only be used as a vedntriliquist dummy for banks , oil, and military talking points.

We have to stop holding up the corpse like some political version of weekend at bernie's. and admit that we must gather together in the wilderness and ally ourselves with the Unions the workimg poor and the poor and begin the work of forming a party that will stand for what Democrats once did, revive the platform of FDR and give it not lip service but support and expression in legislation submitted by a third party, The son of the Democratic party so to speak, now that it has died and left us with simply another Republican alternative, it must be reborn or be lost to history.

The Corporate political employes have stolen our name for their abomination. So we will be forced to choose a new one, perhaps Labor Party, or just go with the Socialist Democratic party.
It will take time, but we are getting nothing but Reagan and worse from the corpse right now, so we have finally reached a point where we simply have no other options left to us except to breathe life back into the principles and ideas that fought back the last assault of the super wealthy.

If we just go along to get along with either party all we will get is neo-feudalism.
I prefer to fight for the only ideas that brought shared prosperity and a moral and secure nation.

The corpse is dead, any more time spent on it is time spent on our own destruction. They will only bring us third world wages without security, a land where only the ultra rich can know security and joy.

If this fails, it will only be a matter of time before the hungry and sick that can not get help will explode in numbers and then explode in bloodshed. Once the rich prince said "let them eat cake" or more precisely, "let them eat peas", they stopped hiding the green skin of the corporate corpse as the stench became too pungent to continue to ignore.

beginning in 1945 as an FDR liberal that hurts. I do not even know what I think. I do support OWS and I think that we are going to come out of this as an entirely different country/world. I even hope so. Yet now I do not know who I am. I lean toward socialism if we have a change but I think that we have to elect Obama now in order to keep the country out of rethug hands. I am not expecting miracles from anyone who is running the government now. They seem more lost than I am. Does anyone else feel like I do?