Part II

Understand this – Rule By the People (read: “Democracy”) is a radically liberal idea (invented, to put it in the parlance of the right, by the first hippies…those cross dressing Greeks, way back in the day).  It is most definitely NOT something that is steeped in Conservative traditions (a single glance at the word this group uses to self-describe is all it takes…a conservative individual is one who likes the status quo, is reluctant to embrace change, etc, etc).  It should be fairly evident, by examining the historical record, that when the Magna Carta was signed in England centuries ago, the status quo got radically upset, and the ruling elite of the day (conservatives, before they called themselves such) grudgingly gave life to the amazing idea that regular people could have a say.  In turn, this led to such things as the “Enclosure Movement” (dividing up the Manorial Estates of the Lords into smaller parcels owned by commoners—read:  redistribution of wealth), the rise of the middle (merchant) class in England, the Industrial Revolution, and pretty much life as we know it today.

Sadly, since that time…since the signing of the Magna Carta, Conservatives have been pining away for a return to the glory days of Feudalism, where the serfs knew their rightful place, undesirables could be dealt with swiftly and decisively without all this “due process” nonsense, borders could be secured by force of arms, wars could be started on the whims of political leaders, people could be spied upon by their own government for simply congregating in groups (the ruling class doesn’t like to see large groups of the peasants congregating, and it’s not hard to imagine why), secret prisons for the “bad people,” discrimination based on skin color and/or religion, tax breaks for the wealthy lords, long brutal hours for the serfs, or, put another way, a lot like what life in the United States is like under Conservative Leadership.

These days, of course, no self-serving, self-righteous Conservative would admit to the notion of supporting Feudalism, but I would contend that, as they have essentially sold their collective souls to the captains of industry (and again, make no mistake, those same captains of industry are buying up liberal politicians too, but not at the same rate, as liberalism is inherently at odds with the objectives of the corporatists), Corporate Feudalism would be an apt description of the aims and goals of the party as a whole (and of course, if you disagree, then you’re not a “real ‘murican,” and well on your way to being branded a Fascist-Commie…however that works).  Corporatists have bought and paid for the Republicans a long time ago, and their real talent is and has always been their ability to convince a significant chunk of ordinary, middle class Americans that what’s good for the uber-rich is ultimately good for them (this is the basis for what became known as “trickle down” economics), that what’s good for Corporate America is automatically and always good for the country, and that if they go along with the agenda of the Corporatists, they’ll (at some point, through dint of hard work and diligence) be invited into that August Body, and will dine at the banquet table of plenty.

Of course, all of this is tripe.  What’s good for the Lords of the Manor is seldom good for the serf in the field.  That was as true in Medieval times as it is today, and corporations do not know, acknowledge, or respect national boundaries, cultures, traditions, nor anything else but their own bottom lines, and this is most assuredly not what is best for America.  As to the last bit…you’ve got a bigger chance of hitting the lotto than you do of actually being invited to the aforementioned banquet table of plenty.

At best, you may be akin to the dog curled up on the floor at the feet of the master, dining on whatever scraps happen to fall on the floor, but most likely, you’ll be in the servant’s shack out back, wondering what happened, and why it didn’t work out like the uber-rich promised it would.

It is a game that’s been going on since man first stopped hunting and gathering, and settled into a more agrarian lifestyle, and it hasn’t really changed all that much.  Interestingly, there are always a significant chunk of the rank and file population that reliably fall for these age-old gimmicks.  They weren’t always named such, but these days, we refer to those people as “Conservatives.”

We shall leave the right-wing pundits to foam at the mouth for a while, and while they’re doing that, we’ll be relying on solid economic understanding, the lessons of history, and good ol’ fashioned common sense to craft a vision of the future that appeals to Democrats across the spectrum, and the centrist Republicans (and those near-mythic “Liberal Republicans” too!) who have been chased from their own party by the insanity of the fringe.

To fully paint that picture, we need to understand Conservative strategy, motive, and motivation.  Then, we need to step back into the past again and figure out what lies behind the curtain of myth that the modern Conservative mind cloaks itself in.

The motive bit is fairly straightforward, and has already been hinted at above.  Corporatists own the Republican Party, and the Republican Party is synonymous with Conservatism.  So…what are the aims and goals of the Corporatists?

These folks actually have fairly transparent and easy-to-understand goals.  They want to maintain the status quo.  Why?  Because in the status quo, they’re on top!  They are the modern age’s equivalent to Lords, Barons, Dukes and Kings…who wouldn’t want to maintain that?  They want more money, more benefits, more profits…more of everything, because “more” makes it easier to stay on top in the future.