I'm feeling all thoughtful today

Sun Tsu said (approximately) a very good tactic is to change the ground on which a battle takes place … that, for instance, when your enemy is prepared for a forest battle, it's a good idea to tackle them in the marsh. Conservatives apparently took that advice to heart in the early 90s. By finding a pejorative name for every progressive initiative, they redefined "liberal" and changed the battle to one where the progressive impulse had to be defended, rather than assumed good as had been the case since the 60s.

In order to turn that perception, we need what the Conservatives had in "Liberal" … a label that's simple and readily identifiable with the target. They got lucky or smart and snagged the word that was the actual name by which their opponents were known. I think we need a term for their policies that shows it as not for the benefit of the common man so progessives can step up and protect them from it.

So I've been thinking. What scares the hell out of me about this regime? Well, the fascist tendancies I see developing, the execution of an obviously long-calculated plan that has the removal of our rights as a key element thereof, is pretty fucking troubling, if you ask me. The influence Corporate America is visibly exerting is equally disturbing. And the fact that it is more openly theocratic than several Middle Eastern nations makes them all the more sure they're right as they spread the American way of life across the planet like a paste made from Wonder Bread, mayonaise and Coke.

Militarism, corporatism, fascism, false prophetism. That pretty much sums it up. I think the first two, and the slippery slope to the third, are obvious to everyone. I think some of those who see the fourth one have no problem with it and some who might will have a problem with you for pointing it out. So I think about the simplest name for this that will be recognized as applicable.

What I've come up with as a description is "corporate police state." I think the whole Conservative agenda can be seen as the result of this organizing principle: that all their initiatives either get us closer to absolute corporate freedom or a privacy free, monitored society.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 5/17/2003 06:31:13 PM |