America needs a bogeyman
There has always been something about Obama’s economic policy that has bugged me, mainly that he doesn’t have one. Or more to the point, the policy he does have seems to be to do whatever he can to make the matter worse. This has troubled me quite a bit because I couldn’t understand why. I never bought into it just being the piss poor results of the failed Keynesian economic theory, because it seems all too intentional.
If you have never read 1984 by George Orwell, you truly should. It is about a future society that is totally controlled by the state, but that was never the great revelation I got out of the story (or more how bad the society was) – the epiphany, or the great light-bulb above my head if you will, was when it was revealed to the main character that the country he lived in, which has always been at war, was not truly at war with anyone – the conflict was fake. The reason being, the government needed a bogeyman to convince the people that all the overly restrictive laws and state control were necessary to “win the war”.
The Soviet Union was our old bogeyman, and they were an awesome bad guy. They lasted us over 50 years, and until Reagan and Thatcher came along, our politicians played the game. But then they upset the apple cart, and bye-bye to the “imminent threat” to our lives – we needed a new bad guy.
Now for sure we are at war with terrorist, and I by no means believe Islam is “faking it” for the sake of our government’s desire to exert more control over us, but what other things might they be faking, or intentionally causing to force a bogeyman on us?
One obvious one is global warming (interesting how it became front and center in the news following the fall of the Soviet Union). The hyperbole surrounding this issue is staggering to say the least. And we already see the results of this bogeyman. The dismantling of our industry, state control of our power usage (state controlled thermostats anyone?) and the push for global governance are all results of the dire threat that is global climate disruption.
Another obvious one is the economy. But this one is tougher to manufacture – it’s not like global warming where you just lie and trust the hippies and tree-huggers will jump on board. For this bogeyman to work, it needs to be “systemic” – everyone needs to get screwed. This month unemployment number went up to 9.8%, a year and a half after the supposed end of the recession. Oh, and who caused the recession? The idiots will say Bush (and he is to blame for some, and I think he is in on it), but the truth is two-fold, big ass banks and Fanny and Freddie. Who got the bail-outs? Big ass banks and Fanny and Freddie. Who works for the president now? A ton of the jokers that work for Goldman-Sachs, who were one of the first recipients of the bank bail-outs.
This economic “crisis” was created because the global warming bogeyman was not cutting the mustard. We needed something big so that the government could exert more control over our lives. To quote Rahm Emanuel, “Never let a serious crisis go to waste. What I mean by that is it’s an opportunity to do things you couldn’t do before.”
What things? Let’s see. Obamacare? Consumer Protection Bureau? Stimulus Bill? TARP? This new food protection bill thingy? A ton of new folks at the government trough, hopefully perpetually (unemployment insurance)? Anything else?
We could look at stuff our government refuses to fix that all tie into creating the bogeyman. Entitlements like social security and medicare. How about border security. Illegal aliens are an awesome bogeyman, but in the reverse.
With illegal immigration, the actual bogeyman is the majority of American’s who want to secure the border. We are the bogeyman for millions of would be voters (who hopefully vote for Dems, but honestly, what’s the difference?). We are the scary, racist bogeyman who “want to check their papers.” That’s why the DREAM Act must be passed. And we need “comprehensive immigration reform” as opposed to just enforcing the laws we already have. In the minds of the ruling class, our current laws suck, they don’t let enough new voters in, so they are gonna fix the problem.
I hate to say it, but I almost wish the USSR never fell, at least that was a bad-guy I could root against. These false bogeyman the government is thrusting in front of us are much more dangerous, even though they seem less so. The economy hits us where it hurts, in our wallets and purses. The environment covers everything else. Immigration is just a way to stay in power.
So America definitely needs a bogeyman, and brother do we have them in spades. Fortunately the government is doing its best to protect us from these affronts to our way of life – unfortunately our way of life has to irrevocably change to defeat them.
Fleece Me 
You are not wrong my friend. It is the banksters. Not so much Fanny and Freddy; they were more tools than anything else. The banksters have been playing at this devilish game for a very long time.
As for the AGW stuff, I remember back in 1990, I think, at any rate not long after the break-up of the Soviet Union, there was an international conference of communist. What came out of this conference was that they need to forget about continuing to promote communism and revolution. The best way to destroy capitalism would be through use of the environmental movements. It seems to be working for them quite well I’d say.
Absolutely.
Unless I missed it, we’re one of the failed bogeymen. Remember the MIAC and DHS reports? Remember all the screaming that the Tea Parties were the next incarnation of the Klan or the SA? They tried that one too.
The USSR did die, but their proxies are still here, wrecking the havoc that they were programmed to do.
Yep, and the sad part is the commies aren’t even hiding anymore. =(
As I’ve mentioned on here before, read State of Fear by the late Michael Crichton. It discusses all of this in great detail – how we are controlled by the media, acedemia, politicians. The scenario is ficticious but all of his references are real. This should be primary reading for anyone who wants to know what is really going on. It discusses how things changed following the fall of the Berlin Wall, and how we are currently kept in a “state of fear” so that we can be controlled.
Yes, I was going to reference State of Fear as well, but I think 1984 sums it up fairly well. It is a good book (State of Fear) and recommended reading.
The 1984 argument has been used with both parties. I believe you are correct when you cite global warming. Now this is failing people are trying to turn it into helping to prevent people from getting fat, etc. I still consider terrorism to be the most important thing out there, even if some people demonize it as being the bogeyman.
Terrorism and the Peoples Replublic of China are real threats, as was the USSR during the Cold War. Unfortunately, in this day, the Left is actually minimizing the threat from the Middle East because the political correct crowd doesn’t want to offend the Muslim crowd.
Being un-PC is also another bogeyman – how many quasi-constitutional laws have been passed for fear of someone being offended? Hate crimes anyone?
I don’t think terrorism is a bogeyman, but many of the domestic “crisis” are.
Like the oath says, “…defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign AND domestic”…and we’ve got plenty of both. Pick yer poison.
Lets clean our own house first.
I don’t think the people are falling for the bogeyman thing. That’s why they have so many and are plowing on with their agenda even though everyone knows what a fraud it all is. I don’t know why they’re still bothering with the red herring approach.
I would agree with you on that part, why hide when its out in the open? Could it be a form of self-delusion? Do they have to trick themselves into thinking they are doing the right thing during this “crisis”? Who knows?
This administration is trying to remain in a constant state of crisis–the healthcare crisis, the banking crisis, the environment–and they are doing it to push their agenda. Your Rahm Emanuel quote sums up the whole mentality of this administration: Create a crisis that needs attention, and then “fix” the problem with more government intervention.
This administration thrives on crisis. Look at the BP oil spill – they passed a drilling moratorium even though every knew it was stupid and wouldn’t solve anything.
When the USSR failed, many thought that was the death knell of communism. Instead, it became easier for the statist to pretend they can legislate us into utopia. Because they no longer had that embarrassing failed experiment to explain away. They can remain in the theoretical, academic world, which is the only place communism actually works of course.
Let’s hope they don’t make the US the next failed experiment.
Sorry if this is a double post. Just delete one if it is.
You must have pissed someone off at wordpress, they are marking all your comments as spam.
And yes, let us hope the US will not be the next failed commie country.
THANK YOU for letting me know what is going on. I thought, is there a glitch? Is it my computer or what???
Mystery solved. Citizen Tom and Finding Ponies were in my spam box today, which of course is ridiculous too. Wonder if WP is aware of the problem . . .