>From: [log in to unmask] (Viggo Andersen) >Date: Sat, 5 Sep 1998 09:56:50 +0200 >Sender: [log in to unmask] > >There is more at the site: http://www.efn.org/~valdas/contents.html > >Valdas Anelauskas is a Lithuanian and former Soviet dissident now >living in US. His life story: http://www.efn.org/~valdas/author.html > >Viggo. > >http://www.efn.org/~valdas/america12.html > > "The most potent weapon in the > hands of the oppressor is the > mind of oppressed." > - Steve Biko > > And how do the rulers of this system justify such > terrible atrocities as pushing millions of innocent > children deep into jaws of poverty? Well, simply by painting > the poor themselves as the sole cause of their poverty... As I > see it, all this welfare reform is really about shifting the > blame, from the rule of a wealthy elite whose policies have > made a moneyed mockery of democracy in America, to the most > vulnerable, powerless, and impoverished sectors of American > society. > > This brutal attack upon poor recipients of welfare assistance > is just a continuation of the characteristic reactionary > tendency in American society to blame the poor for being poor, > to blame the victims of capitalism for the conditions the > system has imposed upon them. Victims of this inhumane system > are portrayed here as "freeloaders wheedling handouts from the > hardworking taxpayers." > > The ruling class in America has jettisoned the idea that they > have any responsibility for an unemployed people they no longer > need as workers. All they have to do now is get the whole > American society to see it that way. Those who are unemployed > or homeless, who need social assistance, are demonized here by > the power elite and their media puppets in order to convince > American ignorant masses that poor people deserve no help at > all. > > One of the major instruments of class warfare in modern > American society is a very sophisticated corporate propaganda, > which justifies all unconscionable and barbaric attacks on poor > by dehumanizing them. "It is one of the most awesome and > effective propaganda systems that has ever existed in world > history," says prominent American dissident Noam Chomsky. > > The most potent method the U.S. governing class uses is to > create a pseudo-thought system which hides the real causes of > poor people's slavery and powerlessness by placing the blame on > the slaves themselves for being such failures in this "great > capitalist society," with its "opportunity for all." > > The rulers of this system chastise the poor for the problems > faced by all working people. As historian and political > scientist Francis Fox Piven said, "A lot of people [in America] > are living on the edge now, working harder than ever just to > stay even. That anger is easy to direct against poor people." > > Many Americans still tend to believe that poverty is the plight > of those who are unable or simply unwilling to compete -- that > poverty is a sign of personal failure, rather than the > consequence of an unjust economic system. As a society they are > trained to believe that the poor deserve to be poor, and the > rich deserve to be rich. > > "Americans have always been pretty hostile to poor people," > says Francis Fox Piven, "And with this [welfare] reform, there > is a kind of heritage being invoked of hard work and standing > on your own. Those slogans are now used to grab the money and > single out the poor as the scapegoats in American society > today." > > The notion that only individuals themselves are fully > responsible for their own fate is one that is already deeply > ingrained in the American mentality. Because Americans learn to > believe that hard work will always be rewarded they often > masochistically blame themselves for their failure to succeed > in this cutthroat system. > > The ruling class plays to the deep, defining streak of American > morbid individualism, the mythology of "if you work hard you > can make it," and the sense of pride in economic independence. > Belief in the American myth that "everyone can make it" remains > like a national creed here -- despite the fact that each day > millions of hard-working poor Americans are not "making it." > > The most powerful tool of the U.S. power elite in its class > warfare is the corporate ownership of the means of > communication, which it uses to shape "public opinion." Ninety > percent of the U.S. media are owned by fewer than 20 > corporations that therefore dominate public discussion and > debate; these corporations determine what people will talk > about and the limits of the public discussion. > > Major U.S. corporations now control much of the access to minds > of Americans and the selection of the subjects that they are > encouraged to think about from day to day. Twenty corporations > own and control 90 percent of American radio and TV stations, > newspapers, magazines, book publishers and major movie studios. > These corporations determine what people will talk about and > the limits of public discussion. > > The American public receives their information from this > corporate-owned media, whose task is to lie. The purpose of the > media in America is to cultivate public stupidity and > conformity in order to protect the rule of the economic elite > from interference by the masses. Media stereotypes perpetuate > the myth of affluence and encourage Americans to feel that they > as individuals, have failed, rather than that this society has > failed them. > > The U.S. propaganda machine, which is called here "the public > relations industry," was created by powerful corporations in > order to control the public mind. They recognized that critical > thought would be the greatest hazard facing them on their way > toward obscene profits through exploitation. > > American society is trapped in a system of private tyranny. The > tyrants here understand that they have to control people's > minds in order to rule and keep the status quo. They understand > that real democracy would be the greatest threat to private > tyranny, just as it is a threat to state tyranny. Therefore, > all huge public relations industry with its massive propaganda > campaigns put a lot of effort to sell Americanism and the > "harmony" of American capitalism. > > The corporations own the media and can promulgate the fairy > tales of the ruling class 24 hours a day. Its lies, which take > various devious forms, some outrageous and some subtle, are > essential for the survival of this brutal system of oppression > and exploitation. Together with the glorification of the > capitalist market, the vilification of the poor is used here to > justify the frenzied accumulation of wealth by the few at the > expense of the many. > > Repeat a lie often enough and loud enough and with enough power > behind it and it will come to stand for the truth, as Dr. > Goebbels liked to say. So it is with a sophisticated propaganda > regarding welfare and the poor in America. Ever since Ronald > Reagan conjured up images of so-called "welfare queens" getting > rich by ripping off federal assistance, American society has > been moving toward a social climate that allows to abdicate > responsibility for social ills such as poverty and homelessness > that this system produces. > > The propaganda machine has done a great job. The myth of the > moral depravity of the poor became such a powerful emotional > rallying cry in America that it has taken over public > discussion of poverty and obscured rational analysis. The > touchstone of all propaganda is that it is felt as the truth. > It is impervious to rational analysis because it does not > depend on any rational analysis for its galvanizing appeal. > > By demonizing the poor, the burden of responsibility for their > misery is shifted from the handful of obscenely rich Americans > who own the capital -- and hence possess the power of life and > death -- to a convenient scapegoat: the victims of the > greed-driven, dog-eat-dog economic system themselves. If you > are not rich, if you are not "making it," then you are the only > one to blame... Such is American ideology. > > These propaganda lies, endlessly repeated, not only undermine > the development of communication and organization, but divorce > people from their own common-sense experience and the economic > reality of their lives. All the public debates are then limited > to pseudo-discussion of mental and moral inferiority of "lower > classes" or an "underclass," which by definition deserve the > substandard life they themselves have caused. > > According to this mean-spirited ideology, any problems > individuals may have are their own fault, because they don't > have the right "values," don't take "personal responsibility," > make the wrong choices, etc., etc. The term "underclass" is > widely used here to stigmatize millions of poor Americans, to > brand them "unfit," "unmotivated," "unwilling," or "unable" to > do their part to achieve their piece of the so-called "American > Dream." > > But the enormous effectiveness of this ideological propaganda > is only possible, however, because it is merely a secularized, > modernized version of a religious myth of predestination > created by the 16th century Puritan theologian John Calvin. > This doctrine states that every human being is created either > damned or saved by God prior to birth. Thus the task of man or > woman during his/her life is no longer to do good, to be > charitable, to love neighbor, but only to discover whether he > or she is damned or saved > > And what is the sign of eternal salvation? Success, defined by > wealth, is the absolute sign that one is saved by God from the > start, while, of course, failure, as defined by poverty, is the > certain sign of damnation. This is the myth of the damned poor, > which spread through American culture giving its moralistic hue > and its deepest justification. After all, if the poor are > damned anyway, it is perfectly righteous to make their lives a > hell on earth. > > This prejudice is the cornerstone of the American ideology, the > infamous Puritan Ethic. This Puritan Ethic formed the limits of > rational thinking in American society. It became a core of > belief in the "American Way of Life," which is a real religion, > the True Faith in the United States of America. > > When a fellow human being falls to the ground, the decent thing > to do would be to bend your shoulder to the task of helping > that person back to his or her feet... As the Ancient Roman > philosopher Seneca put it almost 2,000 years ago, "Our > relations with one another are like a stone arch, which would > collapse if the stones did not mutually support one another." > All of the world's religions affirm compassion and the sharing > of material resources. > > As we can read in the Bible, the early Christians adopted the > teachings of Jesus strictly: "No one said that any of his > belongings was his own, but they all shared with one another > everything they had." There are over 600 verses in the Bible > devoted to compassion for the poor and contempt for the rich. > The example of Jesus and the early Christians stands as a > standard calling the modern societies to avoid an excessive > concentration of wealth that imposes poverty upon large numbers > of people. > > Well, this is certainly not the American Way of Life. And > they're even proud of it! Typical of American social psychology > is the craving for profit, a proprietary mentality, an > every-man-for-himself attitude, and complete and utter > selfishness. They have simplistically atomized the wide breadth > of society, with its diverse range of human needs, abilities > and creativity, into antagonistic individuals seeking personal > gain at any price. Individualism and money are exalted over > community values. Ronald Reagan's British friend Margaret > Thatcher once chided, " There is no such thing as society." > President Reagan's budget director David Stockman put it > plainly: "The people are not entitled to anything." > > Blaming-the-loser is linked here with praising-the-winner. > Based on the assumption that the "successful" are inherently > "better" people, this dog-eat-dog attitude, supposedly based on > Darwin's theory of evolution, considers human life a > struggle-in-the-jungle in which only the strongest survive. > Survival of the fittest ... Each victory requires another's > defeat and those who emerge on top deserve it, because they are > superior people... > > This circular reasoning -- they are superior because they win; > they win because they are superior -- is as obvious as it is > wrong. But it is deeply imbedded and widespread in American > society. Even worse, this logic is used to argue that > government intervention to increase economic opportunity is not > justified because only the wealthy few are entitled to what > they have. > > In accordance with American ideology and its refined propaganda > the wealthy are hard-working people blessed by God and > therefore deserve their good fortune. On the other hand, the > poor are lazy, shiftless, dependent upon handouts, and take > from but contribute nothing to society. Money given to the > wealthy creates jobs. Money provided to the poor makes them > lazy, and saps their moral fiber. > > The poor here in this cutthroat society are simply excluded as > almost nonhumans who have earned their miserable fate, and > therefore deserve it. Consequently, they should receive no aid > and definitely no compassion. If they currently receive > taxpayer money from the "welfare state," it should be cut off > forthwith ... This is what American mean-spirited ideology > dictates. > > It says that any form of entitlements make people lazy and > dependent. Support programs of any kind become a form of > tyranny as they "interfere with individual liberty" for only by > liberating individuals from meddlesome state interference will > they be free to recapture and exercise their rights as > Americans. And of course there is enough real tyranny, > interference and oppression in the U.S. government for people > to respond to this line of reasoning. > > A couple of years ago, a poll by the Roper Center for Public > Opinion Research asked whether "government should provide > everyone with a guaranteed basic income." Only 21 percent of > Americans agreed -- about a third of the number of Germans (58 > percent) or Britons (66 percent), or Italians (69 percent). > Asked whether it's "government's responsibility to reduce > income differences," only 39 percent of Americans agreed. That > compares with 66 percent of Germans and 80 percent of Italians. > > This concept of non-intrusive government held by Americans, > molded by the U.S. public relations industry, allows government > to go on about its business protecting the enormous property of > the wealthy few and maintaining the status quo. Released from > protective legislations, regulations and restrictions on its > use of the labor, the U.S. capitalists are freed of any > barriers toward maximizing their profit. Police, prisons and a > growing apparatus of government repression guarantee the > protection of their interests. Thus the U.S. ruling class > openly attacks the notion of equality and democracy, while at > the same time hypocritically claiming to preserve it. >