Jim's Daily Rant. Uncheckemate.

I wrote this Rant in 2005. I am now back working on the Co-Op Villages project. It will be needed soon.

Un-checkmate

As a result of globalization, the United States now has two principle industries:

war, as a result of the military industrial complex and the looting of the rest of the

world through its multinational corporations.

During the past fifty years our democratic form of government has been hijacked

by the lobbyists of that military industrial complex and those multinational

corporations. We have now arrived at the point that the direction our country

takes is dictated by those lobbyists. The voiced opinions of the common citizens

no longer matter contrary to the wishes of our founding fathers. How could this

have occurred?

Many of us as children wondered how Hitler could have remained in power. We

pondered how the citizens of Germany could have allowed their government to

cause a world war killing 20 million people. How could they have stood by and

allowed this horror to unfold? And now we know: one day at a time - because it

was profitable.

In our political situation, we too find ourselves frozen for that same reason. We

wage war and arm other countries because it is profitable to our businesses. This

is also why we export our jobs, quit manufacturing and instead import, escape our

pension debts, etc.

So why do we do it to the peril of the common citizen? Why don’t we stop this

madness before it goes further? Why don’t we simply change what we are doing?

I suggest it is because we can’t. We are in checkmate; we are powerless to move

from our current position. What is ironical however is that we willingly allowed

ourselves to be placed in checkmate!

We allowed ourselves to be maneuvered into the corner by believing we all

deserved to live as the wealthy. Madison Avenue convinced us of it. Advertisers

proved we couldn’t live without it. Our 401(k) plans dared us to demand

maximum returns on investments in multinationals. The military industrial

complex scattered itself over all 50 states to insure that we would fight for its

growth. Our multinationals leave just enough jobs behind to secure our support.

All in all we allowed ourselves to be bought out. We have no alternatives; no

other jobs; no place else to go. And yet our personal investments are tied up in

the very machines that are destroying our way of life! We have the proverbial

tiger by the tail.

The reason no one has stepped forward until now to offer a comprehensive

solution solving most of our problems is because we are in checkmate because of

those investments and the fear of losing the few remaining jobs - we can’t see

ourselves letting go of the tiger. So we continue moving closer to that

catastrophic cliff.

Our option out is to reduce support for the run away industries by moving

displaced workers into co-op villages, returning to them more than they forfeited

by letting go. In affect, this gives a citizen the option of unchecking himself.

When enough citizens have unchecked themselves, those industries will have

been deflated enough to where they can now be brought back under control, yet

still remain in business. This is the only way out of the mess. We have to offer

lifeboats to remove enough people so the overcrowded pleasure boat can stabilize

itself before it capsizes.