You didn't have to say it, as it was clearly implied. Corporatism isn't 'fueled' by the common man. Go ask the average Joe whether or not he supports corporatism. He's not going to say yes. Buying products =/= support for corporatism; that's not even a valid argument. People buy products out of necessity or desire. People do not buy products as a symbol of advocacy for corporatism. How can I be held responsible for a decision or action which I was never involved with? How can I be held responsible for the number of innocent people who have died as a result of drone bombings in the Middle East, for example? I had no say in any of that, on any level. Just because I live in America? What kind of argument is that? The government is too big and powerful. I'm not manipulated, I'm coerced. I don't refuse to question authority or government, I do it every single day. I am just one person. The only way I can viably influence government on any level is to vote, and voting doesn't amount to that much in the grand scheme of things. Your patronizing was mildly amusing, though. What are you even talking about? 'Stepping outside the issues'? Wtf does that even mean? You don't know anything about me, or Buddy, or 'people' in general... or what they do in terms of political pursuits. Your entire argument is little more than broad generalization and assumption. You're so concerned with blaming everyone that you've failed to realize the reality of the situation and the existence and extent of coercion which is practiced which has established the status quo that we are all subject to in the here and now. What have you done to change government policy, exactly? You act as if there is some obvious way to change government policy and action which all of us common folk are ignorant of.
I only participate in the government functions that are necessary for me to live comfortably. I pay my taxes, I obey traffic laws... Obviously there are some things I don't agree with my government about, but I don't let them define the way I am going to live my life. I define it. I just don't want to be part of a system where these kinds of decisions are being made. Government isn't supposed to be in any part of our personal or religious lives, including drug use, marriage, ownership of firearms, education, etc. Government isn't supposed to be that invasive with our foreign policy, either. We shouldn't be sending young Americans to their death, reinstalling governments in areas we have invaded, and killing many Iraqis and Afghans while we're at it. I don't think this bodes well for us in the end. Government should MOST CERTAINLY not be involved with the amount of business it is involved with. Monopolies are created and held in place by the monstrosity that is our government. The military industrial complex would not exist at all if not for the government officials being in bed with the businessmen. I don't want to be a part of any of that, and I can't control any of those decisions in any way. So I won't pretend that I do, I hope you start realizing the same thing. Patriotism isn't just going along with your government, it is standing apart from your government when it does wrong.
You're right. People buy products out of ignorance and denial. They don't know that these corportations are destroying people of 3rd world countries and their environment. Ask the 'average joe' if they really know the extent of damage corportism has, not just on their small businesses and farm domestically, but on a global scale. Others simply refuse to accept what's really going on. Continue to live as a battery, sucked dry till the day they die. If it were purely about necessity and people were content with having enough to be alright then I don't believe people would've become a product of their environment instead of the other way around. How do people show their grievences towards corporatism? It becomes you're involvement, and everyone elses' when we as a people allow our government to continue their policies and bullshit. People are to blame when we stand by, let the media, fashion, pop-culture, trivial politcal arguments, the rate race, and divsion distract us from what's going on. On our little blue planet, insignificant to the universe, but dear to our hearts, we've let greed, hunger, and disregard for life flourish. It's sad. I wasn't attempting to patronize, I apologize. I haven't done anything. It's like you said my one vote is insignificant to the greater scheme of things. But, people continue to indulge in a lifestyle at the cost of others' lives. It's easy to ignore our responsibilties but ignoring the consequences is a bit much. This may not apply to you. I'm going to make another assumption and this is because I've seen it in a majority of my classes. People simply do not care. You're right though, the level of manipulation is extensive. But, what does it really take? A little bit of curiostity and eagerness. We're all human begins, we call connect on some level. Where's the love?
I feel you. I do realize how messed up everything is and I don't want to be apart of it either. I got caught up in hopeful thinking ..thanks for responding, glad to discuss
@ Felt First of all, your arguments seem to presuppose that people in general acknowledge and understand what corporatism is. This is not true as is apparent by the rhetoric of the news media. People falsely blame capitalism in place of corporatism. As opposed to what? What do you think should be done instead?
People need to question. People need to watch something other than rhetoric of news media. People need to stop living in bizarro world. I mean you step outside the rhetoric of news media, don't you? You attempt to grasp issues at hand by analyzing different sources of news, right? Maybe, without some bias, cool. What I'm trying to get at is, why can't others do the same?
Not everyone values the same things in the same ways. I find economics, politics and philosophy fascinating, enjoyable and stimulating from an intellectual standpoint. This is my subjective value of them, and I can't necessarily expect everyone else to value such things in the same or a similar way. Other people find comfort or pleasure in the bias of mainstream news media, or the entertainment media which doesn't relate to political thought, but that doesn't mean I value such things as entertaining, comfortable or pleasurable. To be clear, I'm not attempting to make a distinction between what value is 'right' or 'wrong', as I mentioned before value is subjective. People have a right to be knowledgeable or ignorant about any given subject due to the axiom of self-ownership. But I would raise the question: Should those who do not value economic, political or philosophical subjects be relied upon to make decisions, judgments or discourse regarding those subjects? To phrase it another way; would you go to an auto-mechanic to have brain surgery? But this would then beg another question; how does one become qualified to make decisions, judgments or discourse regarding these subjects? Is this a fundamental flaw of democracy, or simply a case against the State?
Honestly, this is not entirely due to innate taste someone has in their interests. A huge part of the population simply ignores things like economics, politics and philosophy because of a broken education system. From personal experience, I find that the people who at least go on to a higher education (i.e. college) have more interest in said things than those who don't. Graduating isn't even a requirement for such a change in thought processes, either. Unfortunately, due to the madhouse that is the primary school system, and idiotic programs like "No Child left Behind", fewer and fewer people (as a percentage, not a number) are going on to higher levels of education, and are ultimately being educated through biased media and teachers whose jobs have become keeping their jobs instead of educating. If we want people to start worrying about the actions their government takes (and ultimately to change those actions) we have to work on getting people educated about the way the world actually works. Unfortunately, many of the powers that be don't want this type of change, as a herd of stupid and scared citizens is far easier to manipulate than a well-educated group. This is why things like "N.C.L.B" and less education into sciences of all varieties (chemistry, biology, physics, mathematics, sociology, psychology, economics, etc. etc.) are being implemented.