American Feudalism
I don’t want to abolish government, I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub. [Grover Norquist]
Glen reacted rather strongly to Dennis Miller’s suggestion that protesters comparing Bush with Hitler should be physically beaten. And while I always cringe when someone brings up the “Hitler” label — for Bush, Saddam, Kim Jong Il, or anyone else — it has crossed my mind more than once that, as a nation, we were in danger of replacing our democratic government with a fascist one. As Glen pointed out to me today, with the PATRIOT act we already have the groundwork; with so-called PATRIOT II the only thing keeping us from fascism and widespread civil rights abuse will be the good intentions of our leaders.
Even though I have entertained ideas of American fascism or Stalinism — even to the point of designing a flag I consider inflammatory enough I won’t present it here — I’ve resisted using that term outright. It just hasn’t felt right. But now analysis at Common Dreams has me considering an alternative I had not actually considered. We may be watching the final rise of American feudalism.
In the feudal system the government is the government of the wealthy. The wealthy themselves have near absolute control over their serfs — the non-wealthy. The government is generally weak, dependent upon the Lords of the land for taxes and military support. In Feudalist France, the Duke of Normandy only recognized the French crown as a courtesy. The monarchy was small enough that one could drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub if one wished. With this kind of absolute power — determined by wealth and maintained by force — those who were rich ruled the roost and government existed at the whim and for the convenience of the wealthy.
This is, in a very large sense, the kind of system we are recreating today here in America. A number of “free market” ideals are being pushed far beyond reasonable boundaries, in the process striping American citizens of their rights. After all, the Constitution guarantees that the government will not establish religion — but says nothing about corporate restrictions. The Constitution guarantees freedom from government interference in free speech or freedom of expression — but says nothing against corporate restrictions of the same. As our executive, judiciary, and legislative branches turn their backs on public interests to serve corporate interests, the ideal of a free citizenry is being slowly abandoned.
The Bush administration — an unelected administration chosen by a corporatist Supreme Court — has focused almost entirely on serving the interests of corporations and the wealthy over the individual. Having successfully convinced the American Public that environmentalism is a fuzzy granola liberal-whiner issue (instead of the perfectly sensible notion that you shouldn’t piss where you drink), corporations are now free to kill serf-citizens with pollution and without retribution. Having convinced the rank-and-file that any regulation of corporations is an impingement on human freedom and a threat to their jobs, corporations are now free to lie, cheat, and collude their way to profits without fear of government enforcement of anti-trust laws. Having convinced the judiciary that threats to corporate interests by private citizens endangers the capitalistic environment, “tort reform” is on track to defang public oversight and corporations can readily threaten and sue private citizens for expressing their opinions about products in a public space. Corporations have been given the green-light to police bathroom visits, email use, and computer use by employees — all in the name of defending against corporate espionage.
In the end, although the Constitution guarantees rights, it will finally be worth only the paper it is printed on — because the Government, starved of taxes and forced to hobble itself by corporatist interests — will be unable, even if willing, to defend its citizenry from the predation of corporatist exploitation.
This is capitalism unbound taken to its furthest extreme. This is the terminus of capitalism. This is what happens when we leave monopolies alone too long and allow Microsoft, Disney, Time Warner, Verizon, and those like them the ability to “win” the capitalist game. This is the end result of saying insistence on trust-busting is “just a lot of whining from people who’s stock didn’t do so well” or “poor people asking for a handout.” We become CEOs or we become serfs.
If there’s any consolation to it, though, it’s that many of the neo-conservative corporatist dupes will ultimately be right here in serfdom with me. Do they think they will be rewarded? Hell no. The corporation always needs more serfs.
On the other hand, we could defend ourselves; if we can convince those around us that people like Norquist — eager to drown the government in the bathtub — are the real anti-Americans.