In Praise of Divine Madness

“In totalitarian states, justice, like truth, is irrelevant.” Chris Hedges, Wages of Rebellion

On the American news networks it’s all Donald Trump, all the time. What outrageous, illogical, insulting or ignorant statement did The Donald make today, and did his latest bit of idiocy equal a bump in the polls? This is all that matters. Trump is fodder for comedians and mainstream media bubbleheads. Trump is a Carnival of One, irresistible to a media machine that thrives on trivia.

Buffoons are nothing new in American politics; we’ve seen them before, and will see them again. What is unusual is to see so many buffoons from one political party at one time. The mediocrity of our presidential candidates – from both parties -- is not reassuring. These hopeless fuckers are the best we can manage? I thought this was the exceptional nation, the world’s beacon of hope…

I like what Bernie Sanders has to say about economic inequality and the urgent need to radically reform a system that makes a few stupendously wealthy and millions abjectly poor, but I am suspicious of Sanders when it comes to foreign policy, particularly the US’s sleeping arrangement with Israel. When this marathon campaign finally ends I have no doubt – none at all – that Sanders will urge his supporters to back Madam Clinton. Bernie will make pious noises about Clinton being the Democrats best hope of retaining the White House and keeping the GOP wolves from conquering all branches of the federal government. I can see the scene now…with passion and conviction Bernie will assure his backers that Clinton will represent their interests, hopes, and dreams...Bernie might even believe this fantasy.

It doesn’t take any imagination to guess whose interests Madam Clinton will represent should she win the White House. Just follow the trail of dollars that leads from Wall Street to her campaign coffers.

Can a nation engaged in endless foreign military conflicts act peacefully at home, or does the mentality of militarism bleed into domestic affairs? I ask myself this question as I struggle to keep track of all the mass shootings in this country. Church, military recruiting office, theater, shopping mall, elementary school, university…have I missed any? The numbers of domestic dead and wounded grow, become staggering, then, ultimately, numbing; the blood is washed away and the victims forgotten. The cycle repeats.

I am reading important but depressing books – The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander and Wages of Rebellion by Chris Hedges -- heavyweight stuff by remarkable writers and thinkers. Alexander and Hedges connect the dots, from an economy that relentlessly searches out the lowest labor cost wherever in the world it may be found, to the failed “War on Drugs,” launched decades ago by that paragon of law and order, Richard M. Nixon, to foreign wars that never end, and to the wholesale takeover of all branches of our government by corporations.

A couple of examples are useful here. First, Anthem is poised to acquire Cigna, and become an even more dominant player in the health insurance industry. Can you spell M – O – N – O – P – O – L – Y? Anymore, this is all American corporations excel at: getting bigger by buying other companies so they can amass more political power, more influence, and more dominance – all, naturally at the expense of consumers. If you think this sort of thing is beneficial, I urge you to book a flight on an American airline.

Two, the case of former Attorney General Eric Holder, who has returned to his rightful corporate home at Covington & Burlington, a power house DC lobbying firm. This means that the former chief law enforcement officer in our country, who had responsibility for prosecuting white-collar criminals, crooked CEO’s who gamed the system and fleeced millions of average people, will now advocate, advise and if necessary defend those very same companies and people.

The revolving door between government and corporate boardrooms is heavily greased and, for this reason, because of this perverted symbiosis, Chris Hedges believes we are on the expressway to corporate totalitarianism. The powers arrayed against us – and by us I mean ordinary citizens who work for wages and don’t employ lawyers and lobbyists – are insurmountable. And yet, it’s imperative that we wake up and resist, even if we are doomed to fail. A quality found in rebels is a divine madness that makes them willing to take on battles they cannot win, but nonetheless must fight.