America: A Nation of Exiles, Misfits, and Second Chances. But has it gone too far?

America. There has always been something truly unique about this country. People of all sorts have been coming here almost ever since its discovery, and they keep coming despite all our faults and failures (and there are many).  Nations, far older than us, are constantly comparing themselves to us. We’ve become the world’s yardstick for practically everything, but who are we really?

We don’t tend to think about it much, but most of those who came here to settle were misfits and exiles. They were people who didn’t fit into society any longer. They came to escape the restrictions their native country had placed on them. For many, they were locked into an economic and social caste system irrespective of their intelligence, ability, or motivation.  

Many were just one slippery step from debtor’s prison. Others had already fell victim to the harsh judicial system, often for petty crimes committed in the name of survival. The lucky one’s found themselves “transported”. This was a way to be rid of petty criminals, social deviants, and malcontents while emptying out their overcrowded prisons and relieving a marginal social safety net based largely on charity.  They were typically sent abroad as “indentured servants” to work off their sentences in places which were often difficult and dangerous (Georgia and the swamplands of South Carolina were often a key destinations).

Meanwhile, others simply wanted to chance to start life over again and a chance to show the world (and themselves) what they could do if given the opportunity, and so they came by the tens of thousands.  Many bore  the same title of “indentured servant” as the felons, though under slightly better circumstances in most cases.

These individuals were mostly young, poor, marginally educated, with very limited opportunities. Many were orphaned. They voluntarily leased themselves out for a set period of time. This usually covered their passage (typically in steerage) as well as their labor with the hopes that, in the end, they would get their chance at a new life. It was a difficult and often risky choice, with many never seeing the end of their bondage, but it was better than what awaited them if they had remained.

A surprisingly large segment of immigrants also came to avoid religious persecution. It was commonplace for each country to have an official religion, often headed by a monarch,  to which everyone was expected to participate, if not in person, then financially. It wasn’t uncommon for so-called “dissenters” to find themselves harassed by authorities, fined, imprisoned, or stripped of everything they owned in order to pay the mandatory tithes. This new country demanded none of that. There would be no state mandated religion.  It’s easy to understand why, to believers, this was seen as the “promised land”.

Not much has really changed in all those centuries since the first Europeans set foot on this continent. We still attract the world’s misfits, exiles, and those looking to start over. America is a different sort of country. It is not a nation which evolved organically over time like Europe or Asia. We came about in less than a blink of an eye in terms of history. We were created as an experiment, born out of a sense of justice, fair play, and individual sovereignty.

 In lieu of having a long history to shape our nation, ours was based a heritage of ideas stemming from the Enlightenment, Judeo-Christian morals, and the philosophies of the Near East, Ancient Greece and Rome.  Even our government was modelled on the Roman Republic. All of which is nicely summed up in our traditional national motto---"E pluribus Unum” (“Out of Many, One”) along with our official national motto, “In God We Trust”, which reflects the desire of many to come here to seeking their religious freedom.   

The Statue of Liberty, which graces the entry into New York, reminds us that we are still a nation of second chances. It’s often the first thing arriving immigrants see. The plaque at its base bears the  famous poem by Emma Lazarus entitled “The New Colossus” which speaks of America as the “Mother of Exiles”. It urges the world to “…Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breath free. The wretched refuse of teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift up my lamp beside the golden door!”

Marvelous words expressing the aim of America to welcome all those seeking to be free, but something has changed since those words were pinned in 1883. America was conceived of as a welcoming melting pot, where all would leave behind the worthless hatreds and prejudices from wherever they came. Here they would become a new people---“Americans”--- sharing a common language with a shared set of values, laws, and uniquely American traditions.

Somewhere along the way something changed. We no longer concerned ourselves with those who come here in defiance of our laws. We stopped being proud to be Americans. Today, we have some 13+ million illegals living here with millions using taxpayer based social services they never paid for. They have no interest in adopting our language, laws, traditions or values. Worse, we have politicians, cities and groups which are fine with that. What happened?

According to a U.S. government budget committee report on the costs of illegal immigrants to taxpayers dated January 11, 2024, 69% of illegal immigrants don’t have an education beyond high school (compared to 35% of Americans) which impacts their work skills and employability. Each individual cost taxpayers approximately $68,000 each over their lifetime or about $42 billion.  In addition, the children of illegal immigrates (including children born in the U.S. of parents here illegally) received roughly $68.1 billion dollars (as of 2019) in taxpayers funded services. Taxpayers also picked emergency care and other medical costs to the tune of $7 billion dollars annually.

Some hid behind the 14^th Amendment, which was intended to provide citizenship for recently freed slaves following the Civil War, in order to claim legal status, thanks “anchor babies” as noted above. More recently, others have claimed asylum status when they’re only seeking employment without applying for a work permit (employment isn’t recognized as a legitimate reason for asylum status under international law).  Still others send their children with strangers and then come seeking to be reunited with them.

Even certain religious institutions blatantly choose to ignore immigrations laws, believing that somehow they are exempt from following the law, and going as far as not just encouraging them to migrate, but providing them with shelter, housing, job contacts, and even how to manipulate the system to access taxpayer based services. Of course, these immigrants fill pews and church coffers, as well as improve their political clout.

We became fixated on the “right” of these individuals to enter our country undeterred while other nations, ever anxious to rid themselves of hungry mouths they can’t afford thanks to antiquated societal norms, openly proclaim that we had no legal right to protect and secure our border.

Somehow, our right of national sovereignty had come under attack while their sovereignty remained securely intact. Immigrants now come, not to be Americans, but to transplant their country, language, values, traditions, and all! Some intend to even transplant their religious values despite not being compatible with ours. We’re the ones expected to conform and adopt, not the immigrant. What went wrong?

Our  English language is treated as unimportant. The government now caters to “diversity” instead of promoting emersion. Immigrants view the taxpayer funded social security net as an entitlement just for being here. They regularly send money home to support their families and community, which is perfectly fine. But why do they refuse to apply for work permits and pay their fair share of taxes to the country which makes it all possible?

At about the same time, we started to see more and more people no longer identifying as Americans. They had become hyphenated Americans, be it cultural, racial, ethnic, or whatever. In addition, the very notion of “American” increasingly became as a form of slander. The “ugly American” of the 1960’s had suddenly returned home.

We were increasingly taught to be ashamed of our collective history. Entire chapters of our history have become distorted and rewritten. Critical thinking skills have been replaced, and with it, the quality of education. Discipline is now seen as a form of suppression. In colleges and universities, students aren’t expected to take responsibility for the debts they willingly incurred despite many earning majors where there is no demand in the job market.

Even the Pledge of Allegiance is no longer publicly acceptable. Neither are displays of the American flag (which is now considered a “trigger object”).  Statues and monuments deemed “offensive” by a select few are defaced, vandalized, and removed.  Individuals with criminal histories are portrayed as heroes while law enforcement is viewed with contempt.

While America has always welcomed various religions, how do we deal with a religion which wants to impose its own religious laws on society, going so far as verbal and physically attacking people, blocking sidewalks and traffic while they “pray”? They become incensed at criticism of their faith but encourage attacks on other religions. In Europe, this has proven to be a disaster as the governments continually cave to their demands while punishing the victims.  

This is all part of a new narrative being preached throughout America---the “Gospel of Political Correctness” as proclaimed by so-called “woke” Millennials and Gen Z. To contradict the gospel in any way is regarded as blasphemy or heresy, often resulting in being  “canceled” (sounds like a euphemism used by the Gestapo or KGB). The good news, however, is that you’re freely entitled to their opinion at any time, whether you want it or not.

How does a nation founded on freedom of speech, religion, and association cope with this? How does a nation protect its national security when our borders are ignored?  How do we address the issue of hyphenated loyalties, a declining education system, no common language, or an agreed upon history survive? Historically, nations similar to this  have become ungovernable and ultimately imploded. No nation can be pulled in multiple directions and hold in the long run  (I’m reminded of Yugoslavia, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as well as the Ancient Roman Republic).

I’m reminded of a quote by Theodore Roosevelt (perhaps our greatest president and certainly my favorite). In speaking before the Knights of Columbus at Carnegie Hall in 1915, the former president addressed many of these same issues when he said, “In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this predicated upon the person’s becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American…There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he’s an American , but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room but for one flag…We have room for one language here, and that is the English language…and we have room for but one sole loyalty, and that loyalty is to the American people”.

I couldn’t have said it better Teddy. Well done. The question  which needs to be addressed is whether we are going to heed Roosevelt’s word, spoken some 110 years ago or are we going to go the way of the Yugoslavia past or current Europe? America has always been a country of second chances for those with nowhere else to go. But for us, here and now, there’s no place for us to go. There’s no one coming to our rescue. Republics rarely, if ever, get second chances.

 

Thank you for reading "Another Opinion", the Op/Ed blog page for the "militant middle".  Here at "A/O" we truly value our readers. At A/O we seek the facts as they exist, not partisan talking points.  We hope you find our articles informative and engaging. Comments are welcome, provided they are not vulgar, insulting or demeaning.  Another Opinion is offered without charge and is directed toward all independent and free-thinking individuals. We ask, however, that you "like" us on whatever platform you found us on in order to keep our articles available for free to others. Lastly, in order to keep costs down, we depend on passive marketing, and therefore, depend on our readers to please forward our posts along. Below you will find links to the sources we used in writing this article. Thank you. 

 

Poems: The New Colossus

“Americanism”  by Theodore Roosevelt (1915)

Theodore Roosevelt: No Room in This Country for Hyphenated Americans

Hyphenate American

House Judicial Subcommittee Report: The Costs of IllegalImmigration to Taxpayers

Indentured Servants  

Has Mainstream Media Become a Threat to Democracy?

 

We all know that American has transformed from a Constitutional Republic into a surveillance state under run by an oligarchy or kleptocracy. Corporations literally own both major parties. Their lobbyists write legislation which is beneficial to them.  So, what to the greatest threat to the remnant of our democracy?

According to a Gallup poll taken in late October 2022, the biggest threat is the mainstream media. I guess that shouldn't be too surprising. After all, everything we watch, read, or listen to is owned by just five corporations. Our impressions or opinions are largely determined by the spin they put on any given topic. We dance to their tune.

According to the poll, just 34% of the public trust the media. That's a far cry from the days of Walter Cronkite, Chad Huntley and David Brinkley, Roger Mudd, Frank Reynolds, or Howard K. Smith when the overwhelming majority of public hung on every word they said.

We literally put our trust in individuals like these to tell us the truth about what was happening at home and around the world without any political spin or bias, and rarely was our trust misplaced. We could depend on radio show hosts like Paul Harvey or talk show hosts like Merv Griffith and Dick Cavett.  

But those days are long gone. We've gone from journalists and reporters who were interested in uncovering the truth of what was happening and giving it to us unfiltered. They had the conviction of their morals and integrity as media professionals to do no less.

Today, we live in a world of media celebrities posing as "journalists". The news isn't about facts as much as it about their version of the "facts". It's about manufacturing stories for the sole purpose of garnering higher ratings, which translates into advertising dollars, and manipulating or manufacturing opinions.

The Gallup poll goes on to say that 37% of those surveyed had absolutely no trust whatsoever in mainstream media. That's the highest percentage ever recorded by Gallup. 28% of the responded reported having very little trust in what the mainstream media tells them while just 27% said they had a "fair amount" of trust in what they were being told. 

When broken down by political ideology, we find that on 27% of Independents (the nation's largest political bloc) have any trust in the media. Republicans show the least amount of confidence in the media at just 14% while Democrats have the highest with 70%. Perhaps that's not surprising since studies have shown that mainstream or "establishment" media tends to have a liberal or left leaning bias.

Social media has followed suit with its increasing tendency toward censorship under the false guise of "community standards". Most media sites employ the use of bots looking for trigger words or phrases which is a not-so-subtle means of censorship.  Most of the time these bots will block a posting based simply on the words picked up without any understanding of the context.

When broken down by age and education, the level of confidence in being provided with a accurate and balanced account of a given story varies greatly. For instance, among Democrats those in the 35 to 55+ age bracket strongly trust the mainstream media with a 71% to 79% range. Those under 35 years of age have a slight majority---51%---level of trust.

Now compare that to Republicans in the same age brackets that just 6% to 15% have confidence in what the media reports. Among the pre-35 age bracket, its 16%. As for Independents, the younger groups has a 26% level of confidence while the older age brackets run from 32% to 40% which is still significantly less than Democrats.

When it comes to education, those Republicans who graduated from college with a four year degree had a 11% level of confidence in the media. Those without a college degree had a slightly higher level of trust---12%. For Independents, non-college graduates had a 28% level of confidence while graduates had a 40% trust in the information they were receiving.

However, when it came to Democrats the results were dramatically different. Both college graduates and non-college graduates were virtually the same with 71% and 70% respectively. This seems to reflect a preconceived notion that the information they were taking it was accurate and their level of education (which presumably included honing their critical thinking skills) were unaffected.

Of course one could argue that institutions of higher learning were already geared to pushing a liberal or Left leaning agenda. According to one study, 72% of college students believe that their professors have  political agenda or has sought to influence their student's political ideology.

In another study which looked at all faculty  members regardless of their specialty, 72% self-identified as liberal while just 15% said they were conservative. It's worth noting that conservatives failed to have a majority in any major, including business.  

In a 2022 study, more than 80% of Harvard's faculty self-identified as being liberal (37% said they were "very liberal"). That trend is fairly consistent through these Ivy League institutions which traditionally has turned out many of our political and business leaders. Princeton University is considered the most conservative of the ivy League colleges followed by the University of Pennsylvania  (Trump attended their Wharton School of Business). 

In the area of Communications, Political Science, and English, which produces the majority of media personalities, those who identify as liberal are among the highest. 75% of Communications professors identify as liberal compared to 14% who claim to be conservative. 81% of those who teach Political Science say they're liberal as opposed to just 2% who admit to being conservative. Among English professors, 81% are liberal while only 3% are conservative.

It's worth noting that 55% of Economic professors and 49% of Business professors reported being liberal as were 84% of teaching Performing Arts and Psychology. Conservatives reported their highest percentage---49%---in the area of Nursing along with 39% of those who teach Economics.

It should also be pointed out that one third of students have said their professors have ridiculed them because of their political beliefs and of this one third, 48% believe they've received a lower grade because of their political opinions.

So, if you're like most college students who are focused on maintaining a high GPA, you keep your mouth shut and your opinions to yourself in the hopes of getting a good grade and perhaps a recommendation from your professor to a potential employer.

What this all comes down to is freedom of speech and expression be it verbally or in print. Our Founding Fathers made free speech and expression first when it came to the Bill of Rights along with the freedom to practice whatever faith we wanted, the right to peacefully assemble, and the right to petition the government to address our grievances. So, is this right under threat by the ruling oligarchy?

In a poll conducted on behalf of Times Opinion and Siena College, some 84% of those surveyed said that our freedom of speech is seriously under threat. Some of the respondents---46%--- admitted that they have had to monitor what they say out of fear of some sort of reprisal. Many claim that cancel culture is largely to blame for this. Only 21% said they felt comfortable with speaking their mind.

Proponents of cancel culture claim that its purpose is to hold individuals and groups accountable for their actions or words, while those opposed say that's its nothing more than intimidation and an attempt to force people or groups to self-censor out of fear of verbal or physical attack.  As an aside, 40% of Millennials and Gen Z surveyed expressed the opinion that the First Amendment was "dangerous" and should be changed  to prevent "offensive" speech.

According to a poll by Pew, 58% of those surveyed said that calling people out on social media was justified while 38% said it typically resulted in harsh and often unjustified punishment. a majority of Democrats and liberals---75%----are fine with calling people out while 56% of Republicans and conservatives disagree. They believe that individuals are unfairly being punished or bullied for expressing an opinion, albeit an unpopular one.

So, where does that leave us? It appears that the majority of Americans believe that freedom of speech and expression are under attack. In fact, 59% of Americans who feel we have a serious issued with the First Amendment being undermined. The majority want a media which provides them with the basic facts in which to make their own decision instead of pundits trying to make our decisions for us.

I couldn't agree more. I don't want to listen to a bunch of talking heads trying to talk over one another in what amounts to nothing more than confusing verbal cacophony of noise in an attempt to score more personal rating points which is why I tend to avoid so-called "political talk shows".

At the same time, I don't want some well manicured puppet spin the day's news in a not-so-subtle effort to manipulate my opinion on some issue. They try to talk and act as if they're our most trusted friend, so I for one know I'm being conned right off the bat. It's not so much that I care that they are liberal or whatever. It's the fact that they pretend I'm not intelligent enough to notice!

What Americans want is a media that's honest. Just tell the facts--both sides---and allow us the common  respect to make up our own minds. The same goes for social media which tries to hide its private agenda behind rules and regulations designed to suppress differing opinions. And to borrow from the great broadcaster, Walter Cronkite, "that's the way it is" or, at least the way it should be again.  

 

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Who is the biggest threat to democracy? Most people say themedia

72% of College Students Believe Professors InfluencePolitical Views

ResearchGate: Political Identification of College Professorsby Field

 

More than 80 Percent of Surveyed Harvard Faculty Identifiedas Liberal

Americans and 'Cancel Culture': Where Some See Calls for Accountability, Others See Censorship,Punishment

A Retrospective of Another Opinion's Top Articles for 2022

Starting with our first article on Another Opinion, published back in 2005, we have done a year end review of our most popular top articles. It's an opportunity to review what was trending at the time and what you, our dear readers, was most interested in.  In keeping with that tradition, we will start with number five.

COVID has been with us for what seems an eternity, and with it Dr. Anthony Fauci, the CDC, and the never ending vaccines. Also tied to Dr. Fauci and COVID was whether was (or is) any relationship between the Chinese and the origin of the COVID virus, as well as its possible weaponization against the West. 

We also took a look at the profits being made off the vaccines by Pfizer, Moderna, and BioNTech which equated to a total of $93.5 million dollars every single day (or to put it in perspective, $65,000 every minute of every day). Lastly, we examined the possibility that these vaccines would morph into some kind of government control along the lines of new form of police state (no vaccination card no admission to grocery store or no job).

Our fourth article covered similar ground except the focus was on the obscene profits Big Pharma was making, not just on the COVID vaccines, but on ordinary prescriptions and healthcare in general. As we just covered in our most recent article, the U.S. healthcare system is ranked among the worst of all the developed nations in the world. We have the fewest available hospital beds, the highest medical costs, highest infant mortality rates, and lowest life expectancy of any industrialized nation.   

If that wasn't bad enough, nearly 2/3 of Congress (that's the House and Senate) gets money from Big Pharma. $7.1 million went to Republicans while Democrats received $6.6 million. Meanwhile, in 2021 Big Pharma spent an additional $263 million dollars to lobby Congress!  Also, because of cutbacks in government funding, Big Pharma now provides the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) with 75% of its drug review funding.

So what did they get for their money? How about no capping of drug prices, more control over what your physician prescribes, limiting the time your doctor gets to spend with you, and higher hospital bills for shorter stays. They also got more restrictions on converting higher cost "name brand" drugs into cheaper generic counterparts (under federal law, lower cost prescription medication has to be issued over the more expensive brand names unless there is a medical reason that would prevent a substitute).

Finally, Big Pharma has continued to step up its marketing of many drugs directly to public in order to encourage potential patients to request specific medication and boost sales. Big Pharma also expanded its all out offensive against holistic healthcare (common in Asia, Africa and Latin America).

This also includes preventative treatments and homeopathic healthcare which is an accepted practice in Europe and most of the world.  The outcome would be to make an already dependent and overmedicated population ever more dependent on what some call "controlled poisons" when discussing most prescriptions.

Our third most popular article was about Cancel Culture and the fight against freedom of expression and speech (among others).  Talk show host Joe Rogan made a comment on one of his podcast about disapproving of Biden's call for mandatory mask usage and requiring everyone to get COVID vaccines. It was just his personal opinion. Well that started a "firestorm" of protests from the Left. Apparently Rogan's comments weren't "politically correct". 

The Cancel Culture tries its level best to shame, bully, or intimidate anyone who says or does something which happens to offend them that day. Unfortunately they've been somewhat successful, causing individuals, groups, or even occasionally a corporation to back off. A few have even hired "consultants" to help them make sure that they're content is "PC"!

Nevertheless, the ultimate result has been to make individuals and others hesitant about what they say or do out of fear of backlash. It has caused people to measure everything they say or do. Libraries and bookstores have stopped carrying certain books or carry sanitized version of them. Same goes for movies.

Some TV stations will air censored version of movies or not broadcast older movies because of how some groups were portrayed or because all the actors were white; there were no individuals "of color". No so-called "diversity". But, at the same time, certain radio stations will play songs which encourages rape, violence, murder (especially of police officers) and just about every other depravity you can imagine and call it creative "entertainment" or racial expression. Heck, they even give out awards for this garbage!

It's reminiscent of Nazi Germany, Stalinist Russia or China's "Culture Revolution" in 1966 under Mao Zedong. Whatever the state or party disapproved of was deemed as not socially acceptable (ie: not "politically correct"). As a result, certain books and movies were forbidden or destroyed while radio stations and newspapers were ransacked or shut down with thousands beaten, jailed, or murdered.  

Businesses were boycotted and many were fired from their jobs for holding "contrary" ideological positions. Some individuals were labeled "social misfits" or a threat to the state and sent to "reeducation camps" (a euphemism used for concentration camps). The horror of Kristallnacht (or "Night of Broken Glass") was borne out of this mentality. 

There are lots of things I don't like, disagree with, or disapprove of, be it movies, books, music, or media content. However, in a truly free society, each of us have the right to freedom of speech and expression. If I have an issue with it, I simply walk away, turn the channel, or don't buy what they're selling. It's me exercising my freedom of association and using the power of the marketplace.

Our second most popular article for 2022 was the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. Our focus was on why President Putin invaded his southern neighbor. There's been a long history between Russia and Ukraine dating back to the Kievan Rus in 832, but that didn't spark the invasion.

Following the end of WWII, Soviet Russia created a buffer state composed of Eastern European nations it had liberated from the Nazis and pro-Nazis. It was Stalin's intention that Russia would never again be threatened by the West (Sweden's King Charles XII in 1707, Napoleon had invaded in 1812 and Hitler in 1941). However, with the USSR's implosion starting in 1989, these states were left to their destinies.

In 1990 then President Mikhail Gorbachev was assured by U.S. Secretary of State James Baker that NATO would "not advance one inch eastward", and yet by the end of the 20th Century, all of them belonged to NATO. This meant the Russia faced NATO tanks, troops, ships, and missiles all along its western frontier. The one exception was Ukraine, which at the time included the valuable Crimea with Russia's second largest military and naval bases at Sevastopol on the Black Sea.  It also had something else. Vast oil and gas resources.

The United States and some EU countries helped orchestrate a coup to remove President Petro Poroshenko and his pro-Moscow government with pro-Western Volodymyr Zelenskyy (to help "spread democracy" no doubt).  Some claim that in exchange for Western support a deal was made for access to the oil and gas rich Black Sea.

Almost immediately Zelenskyy began saber rattling about full membership in NATO, which, if granted, would completely surround Russia on the west and put Sevastopol not only in danger, but would threaten Russia's access to the Mediterranean Sea.  Putin continued to warn Ukraine, the West, and the United States that NATO in Ukraine would not be tolerated.

When it became apparent that NATO would approve Ukraine's application for full admission, Russia moved to secure the Crimea and protect its military installations, as well as its control of its oil and gas reserves. When that failed to make Ukraine back off, Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Since then, the world has turned against Putin (with one lone exception, the Belarus).

Meanwhile, despite a full court press, Russian troops have failed to fully subjacent Ukraine which has militarily exhausted the former Super Power. As a result, Russian troops have focused on securing the pro-Russian Donbas provinces in Eastern Ukraine.  How this war will turn out is anybody's guess.

Some are predicting an eventual chemical, biological, or tactical nuclear strike, which seems unlikely. Others suggest a coup against Putin, which is possibility. There have been massive protests throughout Russia and a growing unrest among senior officers in the Russian military while in Ukraine, thanks to Western media and U.S. public relations and marketing firms, Zelenskyy has achieved near mythic status. Meanwhile, Western (mostly U.S.) energy companies are keeping a close eye on events.

Finally, our most viewed article for 2022 was, in part, about the sudden and dramatic rise in food and gas prices, but at its core it was about the growing power of the Corporatocracy and ruling Oligarchy which has seized control of America.

We pointed out how just five corporations control over 95% of everything you read, watch, or hear. It even controls your entertainment, from music and movies to video games. We discussed how four companies control practically everything (65%) we buy at the store, from clothes and electronics to food. 

We told you that four corporations own 85% of all meat processed in America while three controlled 66% of all pork.  just 15 cent of every dollar spent went to the farmer (most food production, however, comes from giant corporate farms owned by mega corporations, which are heavily subsided by the government.  When it comes to fertilizers, 65.8% of the market is owned by four companies.

Take a look at technology. Only five companies own 80% of the market. When it comes to energy---oil and gas mainly---a relatively small group runs it all, while suppressing alternative energy sources such as wind and solar.  Meanwhile, there's only about 30 companies which totally dominate the our financial markets.  Globally, they are about a dozen. Most of them are Chinese owned.

These companies are part of (indeed the core of) the global Corporatocracy which runs the world. They certainly run the government of the United States. It's senior board members are part of ruling oligarchy (or as some prefer, kleptocracy) that call the shots in Congress, the White House, and the Judicial system. Their lobbyists write our laws that we are told to obey.  It has nothing to do with "socialism" or "communism", although those names are bandied about to make us fear them. Why? Because they fear the people---us.

We've provided a link to these articles below so you can re-read them or perhaps read them for the first time in the same order as above.  We hope you found these, as well as our others articles informative and useful. Ever since our first article was published in July of 2005, we've tried our best to provide you, our dear readers, with accurate non-partisan information. No slant. Just facts. We even include links to our sources in case you want to delve deeper.

If you enjoy our work, please pass it along. We don't have a marketing department and therefore depend on you to help spread the word. We also ask that you "like" us on whatever platform you're using so our articles can stay in front of people. A lot of these platforms don't like what we have to say since it goes against their corporate line (toeing the line has never been one of my strong suits).

Finally, we would like to thank each and every one of you for taking the time to read Another Opinion. We sincerely couldn't do it without your help. Have a happy, healthy, and safe New Year in 2023. Take care everyone.

 

If you want to know more about this article's topic, please check out the links below. If you enjoyed the article, please consider passing it along to others and don't forget to subscribe. It's free! Lastly please be sure to "like" us on whatever platform you use to read anotheropinionblog.com. It helps with the algorithms and keeps our articles in circulation. Thank you! 

 

Dr. Fauci: The Man, Myth,Legend...and Schemer?

Big Pharma: A Monopoly in Need of a Cure

Joe Rogan and Cancel Culture: Freedom For Some But Not All

Understanding the Real Reason Why Russia Invaded the Ukraine

 

Who Wants to Play Monopoly?

 

 

These "Disunited States of America": Secessionist Movements in America

There's no question that the United States is a deeply divided nation. It seems that we're split along practically every measure one can think of, from politics to race and ethnic identity to social, economic/class, and  regionalism. Several studies point out that we as Americans haven't been this deeply or broadly divided since the 1850's, the decade just preceding the Civil War, which, after 157 years, remains our nation's bloodiest conflict.

While the numbers vary, depending on the study, most estimates put the death total at around 620,000. That's more than the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican-America War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, and the Korean War combined!

The causes resulting in the Civil War were varied. Certainly the issue of slavery was part of it, but it was by no means the sole cause. Other issues such as tariffs, state's rights and sovereignty, taxation, the admission of new states as "free" or "slaveholding", and so on were just as important.

One of the principal issues of the Civil War was over the right of succession with the many of the states (and not just Southern ones) supporting the idea that states voluntarily joined the union, and with the consent of its citizens, had the same right to voluntarily leave. 

However, many Northern (and some Southern) leaders opposed the notion of succession, holding that joining the union was essentially a one way street. This was particularly true with many business leaders on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line who had a vested interested in maintaining the union's integrity.

The highly industrialized North also had a far larger population base to draw on compared to the more sparsely populated agrarian South. As a result, it was this combination of industrial might and population which ultimately prevailed at Appomattox  in April of 1865.

Today, the United States is facing a similar dilemma. The majority of American citizens are sick and tired of being sick and tired of a corrupt and dysfunctional federal government which, like a plague, is affecting state and local governments.

Approval ratings for not just Congress and Presidency have been dismal for decades. However, the approval ratings for America's top ten institutions---the pillars of the nation---are just a bad. Even the judicial system, including the Supreme Court, are viewed as part of the problem.

The only key institutions which still has any semblance of popular support among the people is law enforcement and the U.S. military, although that support does not extend to the Pentagon which viewed as part of the government.

Part of the reason for the distrust of the government, which includes the Democratic and Republican parties, is the fact the overwhelming majority of Americans believe they are no longer represented (a belief which is supported by varying surveys). We can't even trust that our own votes are being counted!

Historically the United Nations sent observers to various third tier countries to ensure that elections were properly held; where women and others (mostly minority religious or ethnic groups) would be allowed to vote. Those observers would ensure that all the votes cast were valid and properly counted.

Ever since the election of 2000 and the matter of "dangling chads", we've continued to have charges of improper elections. Are we looking at the prospect of the United Nations sending observers to the United States to do the same thing?

America, as most citizens know by now, is no longer a democratic Republic. We've become a neo-fascist Corporatocracy; a surveillance state controlled by a super wealthy elite commonly referred to as an oligarchy or a kleptocracy.  For them, it's all about control, be it of assets, resources, or even us.

Corporate lobbyists write legislation that corporate funded politicians vote on. Corporations financially underwrite both political parties, which ensure that Independents and third party candidates are essentially barred from participating. They control the media which influences everything we hear, see, or read. They even determine our distractions, which often include subtle (and not so subtle) political messages embedded in them.

Is it any wonder Americans are looking to break free from this broken hamster wheel? One way is succession. Polls show an average of 37% of Americans would like to see their state secede. In some regions it's as high as 60%!  In this article we will look at a few of the movements looking to break out of this dystopian zoo and start anew. We'll start with state oriented groups first and then look at other breakaway groups.

First is the Alaska Independence Party (AIP) which advocates for self sovereignty. Like the Libertarian and Constitutional parties which are popular in Alaska, the AIP supports gun rights, home schooling, the privatization or deregulation of some public institutions such as utilities or prison management, and a government of limited scope.

As an aside, Alaskans pay no state income tax thanks to revenue generated from the production and sale of oil and gas. Residents also get a annual check from the state based on a percentage of the profits generated by the sale of Alaskan oil and gas. The AIP has been around since 1984, and while it has no elected representatives, has shown a sustained growth in membership.

California has two separatist groups, the California National Party (CNP) and the California Freedom Coalition (CFC). The CNP, founded in 2017, is based on what it calls "California nationalism", social democracy, and environmentalism. It considers itself to be center left, progressive and "big tent". Like the AIP, it has no elected members.

The CFC was created in 2017, and has been the more successful of the two California parties. The CFC is merger of the California Freedom Coalition Education Fund and the California Freedom Coalition Advocacy Fund. It also maintains a think tanks which focuses on issues relevant to the state such as federal overreach, illegal immigration, and taxes.

The Aloha Aina Party is one of the stronger secessionist groups. It promotes the restoration of the Kingdom of Hawaii or creation of a Hawaiian Republic. It came into existence in 2015 with the intent in restoring Hawaii's independence and promoting Hawaiian native culture, religion, traditions, and language.  In 2020 its state candidates received as much as 20% of the vote. Thus far none of their candidates have been elected to office.

The Texas Nationalist Movement is all about restoring the Republic of Texas as permitted in the state constitution (Texas was an independent nation for nine years before joining the union in 1845). In 2020, the Texas Republican Party included a plank in its platform which stated that the state had the right to ignore any laws which infringed on the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and reserved the right to succeed from the union. The plank passed with a 93% approval rate.

In June 2022, a plank calling on the Texas legislature to approve a referendum on whether the state should succeed from the union on a 2023 ballot was passed. However, as of the latest poll taken in 2016, support for succession declined with just 26% in favor. 59% opposed and 15% were undecided.

Vermont and New Hampshire both have active secessionist movements. Vermont, which had previously been an independent republic, is represented by the Second Vermont Republic while New Hampshire has the Free State Project (FSP).  

The Second Vermont Republic was formed in 2003 as a "non-violent" citizen network and advocacy movement calling for the full restoration of the formerly independent Republic of Vermont along with the end of "corporate and federal tyranny" over the state.

New Hampshire's Free State Project is one of the more interesting separatist movements.  Like Vermont, New Hampshire has a large number of politically independent voters. However, the FSP is pushing to recruit libertarians to the state in order to create a state based on libertarian ideals.

The aim is get a minimum of 20,000 libertarians to move to the state. As of February 2016, the goal was meet with  20,000+ individuals having signed letters of intent to relocate. By May 2022, about 6200 had moved to the state. In addition, unlike the other separatist movements, 17 Free State members have been elected to the state's 400 member legislature. The Free State Project was created in 2001.

Lastly is the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. Efforts to make Puerto Rico the 51st state have been going on for decades now. Each time their attempts come up short. It seems that Puerto Ricans want to go the other way. In fact, it has one political party, the Puerto Rican Independence Party, three advocacy groups, and two military organizations pushing for a independent Puerto Rico. Efforts to break free of the United States has been ongoing since 1904.

Non-state organizations seeking to create separate entities within the U.S. are numerous. Most tend to be racial or cultural.  The Republic of Lakota is one such group. It's comprised of Native Americans activists who want to create a completely separate indigenous nation within the U.S. At one point, the organization was headed by the leaders of the American Indian Movement (AIM). Currently there are 566 federally acknowledged Native American tribes and 355 official reservations scattered throughout the United States which already function as semi-anonymous nations.

Aztlan is a Chicano (Mexican-American) based movement seeking to reclaim a mythical land it believes was once owned by Chicanos. Roughly, the area encompasses the central and southern Western states including Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Southern California, and Texas.

The movement is supported by a well funded political organization named "UnidosUS" (aka "La Raza" meaning "The Race") which was founded in 1968 and has chapters in five major cities, as well as four Hispanic and Chicano advocacy groups as well as a paramilitary group known as "The Brown Berets". UnidosUS has a budget of approximately $59,307,000 along with an endowment of $142,261,521.

The Republic of New Africa, founded in 1968, is a black nationalist group which claims Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina as the new independent homeland of all black Americans. The idea of a separate black nation, which is viewed as racist, is supported by the Nation of Islam and the New Black Panthers. 

There is also the League of South (LS) which calls for the creation of a independent nation comprised largely (but not exclusively) of former Confederate states which it calls the "Southern United States". Although typically referred to as being "white nationalist" and "racist",  what is proposed would be non-racial, conservative, and Christian. The League of the South was formed in 1994.

In addition to these secessionist or political independence movements, there are several others such as the bioregional Cascadia, which includes Oregon, Washington, and the Canadian province of British Columbia, was originally proposed in 1843. The more recent Northwest Territorial Imperative seeks to create an exclusive all white European "ethnostate", also in the northwestern portion of the U.S..   

Just as every empire broke into numerous independent nations, which in turn merged and morphed over time into new countries, there's little doubt that a similar fate will befall America. Many of the divisions already exist and the foundations are starting to form. Politically correctness, reverse racism, and cancel culture with its intolerance to free speech, while popular in the short term, will only hasten the eventual creation of a new "Disunited States of America".

 If you want to know more, please take a look at the links below. If you enjoyed the article, please consider passing it along to others and don't forget to subscribe. It's free! Lastly please be sure to "like" us on whatever platform you use to read anotheropinionblog.com. It helps with the algorithms and keeps our articles in circulation. Thank you! 

 

New Poll Reveals Percentages of Americans Who Want to Secedeby Region

Shocking poll finds many Americans now want to secede fromthe United States

List of active separatist movements in North America

Aztlan, The Mythical Homeland of the Aztec-Mexica

UnidosUS

Are US Black separatists groups on the rise?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Fourth of July and What It Means Now

The Fourth of July. America's 246th birthday. It marks our break from a despotic and out of touch king and his government. It began over the issue of taxes and not having a say in the laws imposed on us. Our Founding Fathers valued individual freedom, free speech and assembly, freedom of press, a fair trial, self determination, freedom of (and from) religion, and the right to bear arms to preserve those and other rights.  Many valued those freedoms more than life. Some 25,000 patriots would agree. 

About 6,000 patriots died in battle. Some died as prisoners of war (mainly in British prison ships which were rife with diseases and malnutrition). Another 18,000 died from disease, not to mention hundreds of women and children who died, often from starvation and disease as much as from the war itself.

Since the conclusion of the war in 1783, America has been engaged in 104 wars, "conflicts" and interventions (of which nine are considered "losses" and 13 are categorized as "inconclusive/draws"). The majority were part of a series of prolonged engagements against Native Americans, in what amounted to a semi-official policy of genocide over the control of land and resources.

In what is unofficially called the "Indigenous Holocaust", an estimated 1,500 attacks by settlers against Native American tribes have occurred since 1776.  Although no one will ever know for certain how many died from direct conflict, disease, enslavement, starvation, forced marches (such as the Trail of Tears) or ill prepared encampments (or reservations), an estimated 100 million Native Americans have perished since 1492, with most of it coming after the founding of Jamestown in 1607.  

Our bloodiest war was the one fought between each other, the Civil War, which surpassed all our wars before or since. An estimated 750,000 men (or about 3% of the population) died between 1861 and 1865.  By comparison, we lost 116,516 in World War I, 305,399 in World War II, and 58,209 in Vietnam. 25,000 died during the Revolutionary War. 15,000 in the War of 1812.  Hundreds of thousands more died following the war's end in 1865 from diseases, famine, or injuries.

From 1946 through 2000, the United States has been involved in approximately 81 overt and covert interventions in foreign elections, not to mention 64 attempts to overthrown existing governments including seven coups. Since 2001, there has been 28 coup attempts just in Latin America! Apparently "self determination" applies only to governments the Washington ruling elite approves of.

 We value free speech so much that it's listed first in our Bill of Rights. We believe that the free and open exchange of ideas is essential for creating and maintaining a vibrant nation. An informed citizen is a powerful citizen. But that's all changed.

The media spins the stories it selects to correspond with its political perspective. It tries to manipulate our votes with their "endorsements" and editorials. Various internet platforms routinely block us, censor us, delete us, and penalize us for not following their "standards". Is it any wonder we no longer trust the media?

According to a 2021 Pew Report, just 35% of Americans trust the media, which is the second lowest percentage recorded (the lowest was 32% in 2016). 34% said they have no trust at all in the media while 29% said they had little faith in the media.

The poll also reflects our growing divide as a nation. 31% of Independents (the nation's largest political bloc) trusts the media while the majority of Democrats---68%---still do. Compare that to a mere 11% of Republicans.  How can a democracy survive when the majority of the population doesn't believe in what it's being told?

Well, it can't. At least not for long. The control of information and even entertainment has been a hallmark of every dictatorship. "Bread and circuses" was the byword of Imperial Rome, which willing sacrificed its freedom for security.  Keep the citizens fed and entertained (and their attention sufficiently diverted) and you will have a compliant population. Some things never change.

In America, just six corporations control 90%+ of all media and entertainment outlets. That includes video games, radio and TV shows, movies, internet content, books, magazines, newspapers, theme parks, and so on.  Control the message and you control what people think. Today, in addition to controlling the message, they attempt to control the language.

Political correctness (or "PC") first came to the forefront in the early 1980's. Originally  intended to make language less "offensive" and more inclusive for certain groups, it evolved to remove specific terms and phrases from common usage.  Most saw it as censorship; an attempt to force specific behavior on the public in order to create a indoctrinated population governed by peer pressure.

Those who resist this new politically correct "wokeness" find themselves subjected to a form of control known a "cancel culture", which is an attempt to impose acceptable language and behavior and punish that which it finds unacceptable. Can you imagine what the Founding Fathers (sorry--- I mean the slave exploiting wealthy white male chauvinist oppressors) would have thought of this?

America was not founded as a democracy per se, but as a Constitutional Republic. Rather than a direct form of government (the definition of a democracy), the voting citizens (which was then restricted to white land owning males) elected individuals to represent the community's interests (a republican style government) based a governing document. In this case, a constitution.

As an aside, it should be noted that the Founders opposed political parties, which they thought would be divisive and divert power away from the people and towards special interest cliques. They also opposed a professional political class, fearing it would be as corrupted as Parliament was in London.

These citizen representatives were expected to volunteer their time and to serve a set amount of time in office before returning home to resume  their private lives.  They would naturally be reimbursed for any expenses incurred in the execution of their duties while in office, but weren't paid a regular salary.

Today we have not just professional politicians, we have a professional political class which is divided along partisan lines and are answerable solely to their corporate masters. Money has replaced voters as the single most important factor in modern politics. Campaigns are so intentionally expensive that ordinary citizens can't participate. Thus, Congress has become the sole domain of millionaires. They spend the bulk of their time raising money for party chieftains and self promoting "leadership committees" while corporate lobbyists write the legislation which becomes law.

Thanks to the four partisan evils--- gerrymandering, Citizens United, unlimited terms, and control of the media, the majority of the professional political class are immune to the wishes of the citizens. They do and vote as told by their corporate bosses with near impunity. There's another aspect to our failed political system most of us have not taken into consideration---representation itself.

The fuse which sparked the American Revolution was taxes. It wasn't over whether we should or shouldn't have taxes. Obviously nothing is free. It was the matter of representation. The colonists believed they weren't properly represented in Parliament, especially over the matter of taxes,  which was being imposed on them without consultation or consent.  Not so different now is it?

Our present form of government is based on a "winner take all" political system. That is, whether you're an Independent, Democrat, Republican, or a third party doesn't matter. If your candidate loses, you aren't represented for the duration of the term. Given the four evils of partisan gerrymandering, Citizens United, unlimited terms, and control of the media, that could be damn near forever!

So what to do?  Well, you can suck it up and accept the fact that you have no say in the bills passed in your name or in the taxes you're forced to pay. You could incur the time and expense of moving somewhere gerrymandered by your party, which is great unless you're like the majority of Americans who are Independent and quite literally aren't represented by anyone (which also applies to third parties too). But since your party is corporate bought and paid for anyway, what good will it do you?

I can't help but wonder what our Founding Fathers, who literally put everything on the line, including their lives, would think. They would have rejected corporate control of the media. If you're not a Democrat or Republican, you're prohibited for participating in most political debates or have access to big dollar donations. This would be their antithesis of freedom of thought and speech.  

The notion of money being the equivalent to "free speech", the basis of Citizens United, would have been abhorrent to them since it implies that the wealthy are more important than the ordinary citizen. Had such a measure been considered in their time, they would have shown up with pitchforks, tar and feather with a serious intent on using them!  We did nothing. Bitched and moaned a little I guess.

They would be appalled by a professional political class comprised of millionaires or the government being openly controlled by "special interests" cliques in the form of corporations; of where laws affecting the People are written by the representatives of and benefit of these corporations; not by those elected to office that express purpose. Corporate welfare would have been a non-starter. No one and no business was "to big to fail".   

They would have fumed at the idea that the People were forced to pay to bail out mismanaged businesses or engaging in overseas wars and conflicts for the financial gain of a few.  They believed  everyone was entitled to an equal opportunity to pursue whatever their definition of success was, not to a guaranteed equal outcome, and certainly not at the People's expense.  

The Founders strongly opposed "foreign entanglements" which didn't have a direct impact on our national security.  How would we justify overthrowing 92 democratically elected governments because we didn't like their domestic policies or meddling in 81 elections in an attempt to elect one favorable to our corporate interests, especially when they were replaced with brutal dictatorships?

They would equally be nauseated at the thought of partisan gerrymandering or unlimited terms, which are done for the sole purpose of depriving individuals from having a say in their own representation and creating a de facto monopolistic partisan gripe on a district.

So, what is the message of this Fourth of July? Sadly, it's no longer to honor the sacrifice made by the patriots who fought and died to give us this nation or to celebrate our liberation from a despotic government. If it was, it should be as a national day of reflection and atonement, not of celebration. The Republic they bequeath to us no longer exists. It has been replaced by a neo-fascist Corporatocracy.

Their America, a democratic based Constitutional Republic celebrated the sovereignty of the individual. They envisioned a government just big enough to protect individual rights. Yes, it had flaws, but any endeavor created by Man is inherently flawed because the nature of Humanity is itself flawed.

Nevertheless, the political system they created was designed with the necessary tools to make adjustments; to rectify those flaws as we have periodically done. Yet what moved it from the realm of philosophical debate to reality was accepting that the state was no more than the sum of its citizens. The individual was its foundation. Not wealth. Not divine right or religion. Not origin, race or gender.

What they envisioned has now been corrupted into a neo-fascist Corporatocracy. A merger of impersonal corporations and government, managed by a handful of unimaginably wealthy individuals for the sole purpose of control, be it assets, resources, government, or us---their economic serfs.

They've replaced concepts like citizenry and with consumerism. Self-reliance for debt. National pride for globalism.  They built a cyber prison of surveillance around us and call it security. They manufacture wars for profit and call it spreading democracy. They censor speech , manipulate thought, restrict where we go, and control our bodies. This, they say, is freedom.  They control the government; write laws for their benefit, and have us pay for it all and tell us it's managed democracy. 

Perhaps it's time to revisit the writings of our Founders and rekindle what it means to be an American. Perhaps then we will again have reason to celebrate the Fourth of July. Then again, perhaps we will create a new day of liberation and independence.

If you want to know more, please take a look at the links below. If you enjoyed the article, please consider passing it along to others and don't forget to subscribe. It's free! Lastly please be sure to "like" us on whatever platform you use to read A/O. It helps with the algorithms and keeps our articles in circulation. Thank you!  

 

List of wars involving the United States

Counting the Dead: Estimating the Loss of Life in theIndigenous Holocaust, 1492 - Present

 

How Many Died in the American Civil War

Fourth of July weekend marred by violent shootings acrossthe U.S.

21th century U.S. coups and attempted coups in Latin America

 

 

Joe Rogan and Cancel Culture: Freedom for Some But Not All

It seems like the establishment media, especially social media, has gone into overdrive to try and manufacture a media non-event into something resembling a "story". I'm talking about, of course, this "tempest in a teacup" over podcast host Joe Rogan remarks on Spotify which some on the Left disapproved of.  The result is the predictable backlash of the Cancel Culture's "PC" clique. 

The hubbub started a few weeks ago with Rogan making a statement opposing mandates and masks. That's his personal opinion. Rogan is also something of a "shock jock" who enjoys stirring the pot. Now (right on cue), videos from 2017 are popping up where Rogan was making light of the politically correct minefields whites have to tap dance through while others get a pass. Again, his personal opinions.

The latest is from Andrew Yang. He originally came out and agreed that Rogan, while somewhat crude, wasn't a racist.  Now, he's caved to pressure from a relative handful of Left Wing nuts (he's apparently of being called names), has reversed his position and has decided that Rogan is racist after all.

As some of you may remember, Yang, who is of Taiwanese ancestry, is a former Democratic presidential candidate. He's also a businessman and founder of a political action committee, the Forward Party which promotes a non-partisan approach to politics. Supposedly Yang also knows Rogan, and has admitted that Rogan regularly interacts and works with blacks. Yang even said that he had never known of any racist issues, but that was evidently before caving.

As an aside, the Forward party claims its "Not Left Not Right" and its goal is to create a new third party and breaking the rule of the Corporate owned Democrat/Republican duopoly.  It supports Rank Choice Voting, something called "Human Centered Capitalism", "Fact-Based Governance", a Universal Base Income, and a government based on "Grace and Tolerance" since people are fallible. Apparently they're indecisive when too.

Others, some of whom having overestimated their clout, have opted to leave Spotify include Neil Young, Graham Nash, Stephen Stills, Joni Mitchell, Nils Lofgren, India Arie, and author Brene' Brown as part of a "protest" that either Joe Rogan goes or they go. So far, it looks like Rogan is remaining. However, Spotify is now adding a "disclaimer" , warning listeners that Rogan's podcast may include "triggering" language. I guess that means having your blanky at the ready. 

For his part, Joe Rogan has denied being "racist" but has agreed to soften his usual acidic shows for the benefit of...who exactly? Joe's audience is mainly pretty conservative. Not that many "light weight" types listen to his podcasts, but I suspect there's a few trying to bait him, but whatever.  He's also repeatedly spoken out against Biden's mask mandate, as well as mandatory Covid-19 vaccinations.

Frankly, I'm not much of a fan of Joe. I've never found his podcast particularly entertaining. I get the impression that he's trying to fill Rush Limbaugh's shoes while using a Howard Stern or Don Imus format (both of whom also got into trouble over a racial remark). But, if so, that might explain all the manufactured ado over essentially nothing.  Of course, nowadays, it doesn't take much to set people off on some hissy fit.

 Lord knows that people aren't suppose to speak their mind or have independent thoughts outside the collective.  The Establishment Media, after all, provides the dicta to what's news and what's not or what we're suppose to think and say.  It tells us who to like or vote for, what is or isn't important, how to feel or look, and ultimately, what's socially acceptable or not.  In short, it conveys the ideals and attitudes that we are suppose to adhere to.

The Establishment Media is what's responsible for the current social and political climate in America. It rides roughshod over the herd mentality it creates.  It serves as the mouthpiece of the ruling Oligarchy on behalf of the Corporatocracy which has replaced our Republic. Cancel Culture is its bastardized offshoot, along with political correctness, "wokeness", and instant offendedness de jure.

As a political writer, the majority of my work is posted online. I've learned that if we stray too much from the accepted script (aka "guidelines") or "cancelled", which included being shadow blocked (something I know well), suspended or removed from our host site. They also restrict how often our posts are cycled through. We're also trolled, chastised, censured by self-important "fact finders" or called names (just like on a playground except they hide behind their keyboards).  It's all part of the "Cancel Culture".  

 Don't fret about Joe though. People like Rogan or Stern may take a hit, but they've got a pretty good management team that plays the game well. In fact, the so-called "controversy" typically boost their audience.  People love to live vicariously through others into today's media driven society.  

That's why we love watching shows like "The View", "The Bachelor", "90 Days and Counting", and other "reality shows" .  Face it, we've devolved into a voyeur society. We rather watch other people do what we wish we could do. That's, in part, the premise behind "The Running Man" and "The Hunger Games".

We wish we had the guts to stand up or speak out against "the system", but we prefer the comfort and safety of our couches while stuffing our faces and yelling at the television. As close as some get to standing up is playing video games where they exist in a virtual world with no consequences for our actions...or mistakes and almost always emerge as the hero.  That too is part of the Cancel Culture.

This fantasy world has been created for us as a way to vent off anger, frustration, and gives us a false sense of having "accomplished" something (they also comprise the core of so-called "fact finders"). We play a video games or watch a movies to emerge ourselves into some plot or character who saves the world or whatever. Meanwhile, the Corporate beast goes merrily on its way, having defused itself of any real threats to its control.  Who needs freedom when you can have "virtual freedom"?

There's a great line in the movie, "The Longest Day", in which Richard Burton's RAF fighter pilot character, Flying Officer David Campbell, says "the thing that's always worried me about being one of the few is the way we keep getting fewer". There's a great deal of truth in that statement. Those of us who do speak out often find ourselves isolated by the powers that be. When I first started writing articles back in 2004, there was about a two dozen of us locally. Now, there's just one...me. Nationally, it's the same story.

Some who posted on sites like YouTube found themselves blocked, censored, and defunded; sometimes even before their video was even posted!  In some cases, their video library was even deleted. For a few determined individuals, they've found other platforms to host their videos, albeit taking a hit in audience numbers and income. However, hundreds, if not thousands, folded out of frustration.

A few continued to write, post videos, do podcasts or radio shows have cut back on content. They no longer freely say what they want to say. They're afraid of being harassed, stalked, defunded, or being "cancelled" again. Several changed their formats to something other than political.  

That's the "self-cancelling" portion of the Cancel Culture, which is perhaps the most insidious since it forces you to second guess or silence yourself. You're no longer able to "speak your truth" out of fear. You have effectively imprisoned yourself to the delight of the ruling Oligarchy and it's "woke" minions.

Speaking of truth, the Cancel Culture has a funny way of defining theirs. However, hypocrisy seems key. If someone is white, Asian, Hispanic, male or non-feminist female says or does something it disapproves of, that individual must immediately apologize or face retribution. They must express the deepest remorse, seek forgiveness, and make some sort of restitution.

Case in point, if someone makes a comment or joke about race, they're usually suspended, if not fired. Same goes for comments not supportive of BLM, feminism, or LGBTQ.  However, comments and jokes about whites, Asians, Hispanics, or straights are okay. But understand this is a one way street.

Fairness and equality should allow everyone or no one to make similar comments or jokes about other groups, but this isn't about fairness or equality. It never has been. It's about creating two classes. One of the "oppressed" and one of the "oppressor". Don't believe me? Pay attention the next time you watch a standup comedian or almost any of the comedies on TV.

As the great Mel Brooks said, political correctness is "the death of comedy". Once, openly laughed at bigots, racism and racists on all sides. Now we're afraid too. The comic genius added that because of political correctness, movies like "Blazing Saddles" or "Young Frankenstein" couldn't be made today (or the "Blues Brothers" or "Smokey and the Bandit") Yet, we have movies like "White Chicks" featuring two black men in drag as white blonde girls.

Nick Cannon, host of "The Mask Singer" and several other shows on MTV, made an anti-white and an anti-Jewish comment. He was fired. However, after he offered an apology (of sorts) for his anti-Jewish remarks, he was rehired. Whoopi Goldberg was recently suspended for two weeks for making anti-Jewish and anti-Holocaust comments. Anyone else would have been fired.  On the other hand, look at what happened to Mel Gibson for making similar remarks. The guy is still an outcast in Hollywood.

Lastly, while we're still on the topic of double standards, let's take the 2021 miniseries "Anne Boleyn". While there have been other movies about ill-fated Queen of England, what makes this one stand out is that "Anne" is played by a black actress, Jodie Turner-Smith.  While she is a very accomplished actress, should she be playing the Queen of England? (disclaimer: Anne Boleyn and her sister Mary are ancestors of mine. Their origin was Norman, an admixture of Norse and Northern Frank, and Celt).

What about the British TV series "Merlin", which is about the great wizard, King Arthur and his court where Queen Guinevere is played by Angel Colby, another talented black actress. No one said anything, but was that acceptable?  The Arthurian story is central to the self-identity of the British. It's part of their national character as much as Helen of Troy and Achilles are for the Greeks or Siegfried is to the Germans.

Let's put it another way. What if an Asian actress played Tina Turner? Is that politically correct or should the Cancel Culture overrule artistic license? Could a Hispanic portray Martin Luther King ? Would everyone be okay if a white guy played Michael Jackson or Barack Obama?  How about a black guy playing Bruce Lee or Cesar Chavez? And in the realm of "fat chance", what do you think would happen if transgender actor of any race was to play Jesus, Moses, Buddha, or Muhammad? Yikes!  As an aside, Jews would be least likely to object over someone gay portraying Moses.  Ironic isn't it?

Where political correctness should have stepped in (but didn't exist at the time) was in the making of Westerns where Europeans were made up to play Native Americans and Mexicans, especially given that there were ample Native American and Hispanic actors available! Same goes for actors doing blackface (except in 1993, when Whoopi Goldberg's honey at the time, Ted Danson, did a roast for Whoopi in blackface.  Hollywood said that was okay).  Now, political corrected has gone too far the other way.

Fear is a powerful weapon. It causes self-doubt and silence. It's the "mind-killer" as Frank Herbert, author of the "Dune" series, wrote. On some occasions it forces people to turn on others...and themselves...by joining with the mob to silence others. There's a Faustian security in numbers. There's also intimidation too, which is the slimy underbelly of the Cancel Culture.

The Cancel Culture thrives on fear. It's power is there. It seeks to hide the truth. Political correctness would have no objections anyone of another race portraying someone of European origin, but not the reverse. The Cancel Culture would ensure that no one spoke out or objected less that be censured, fired, or purged. It has confused the etiquette of free speech with the right of free speech; of being respectful, and in its place imposed denial of free speech. It's the same type of fear mongering the Nazis spread during the 1930's and 40s. It's the same too as the McCarthy Era "Red Scare".

When it comes to expressing one's opinion about a topic, particularly something like Covid or vaccines, what gives the Cancel Culture the moral right to slap anyone down and tell them they don't have the right of free speech? The Founding Fathers didn't include an addendum to the 1st Amendment saying that we had freedom of speech and expression except when someone else disagrees with the mob.

If the politically correct "woke" individuals and groups behind the Cancel Culture truly want to celebrate and embrace diversity as they claim, they need to first start with diversity of thought and opinion. They need to move beyond the superficial like gender and skin color and look to ideas.

Cancel Culture is the unholy spawn of Political Correctness brought into being by the emotionally insecure and intellectually coddled. It attempts to hide the very things it advocates, namely openness and diversity. It strives to protect the artificial bubble of "wokeness", which acts as security blanket using forced compliance, intimidation and censorship in the name of "freedom of speech" for some, but not for all.  Somewhere Stalin, Mao, and Hitler are smiling.

 I don't know that I'd agree with Joe Rogan anymore than I would Whoopi Goldberg, Nick Cannon, Mel Gibson, or anyone else who has faced censure.  But I do know that I would, as the 18th Century French philosopher, Voltaire, reputedly said,  "I may not agree with what you said, I will fight to death for your right to say it". It's time to put an end to doublespeak of closed minded "wokeness", incorrect political correctness, suspend Cancel Culture and get on with freedom of expression and diversity of ideas.

If you want to know more, please take a look at the links below. If you enjoyed the article, please consider passing along to others and don't forget to subscribe. It's free!

 

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