The Reason For Our Discontent

By Michael Parish

One chronic tendency in our public discourse, and one that I'm gravely ill of, is that of referring to politicians as "leaders." This is a misnomer, as these individuals are not "leading " towards anything. Having the power to enact policies that affect the lives of a populace is not "leading " them. It's merely controlling them. This obvious fact can easily be concealed with allusions to the country's future (typically trumped up with favorable historical references) as if 21st century America possessed some sort of grand telelogical destiny. But those future glories are mere illusions devised to sell campaign commercials. In reality, all that's left is a nation of sheep dogged by a tiny pack of predatory wolves, unsure of the future but sure it will be an ugly one.

In this morass, politicians may not be "leading" their subjects directly, but they certainly influence their political behavior. A well-off Harvard boy with no experience but moneyed connections and a fashionable image can inspire millions to cast their votes for him. All it takes is a miasmic media blur of inspirational sloganeering-"Hope" (hope for what?) and "Change" (change to what?). People won't demand greater specifics than these. And elected "leaders" aren't the only ones...this description applies just as easily to media figures and ideologues.

If the Magic Negro can manipulate the minds of morons on one side, then the talking (air)heads over at Faux News can do the same to those on the other. This leaves us with a tug of war between two blindfolded teams, amusing to watch but going nowhere fast.

Coaching the competitors on the right is Glenn Beck. Beck is a prominent peddler of the kind of capitalist cultural mythology his viewers gobble up with glee. And well he should be as he's the archetypical American success story. Where else but in America could a recovering boozehound and adult convert to Mormonism get not only his own T.V. and radio shows, but shows that people actually listen to and take seriously? And they do take him seriously-in fact, the entire Tea Party "movement" is a byproduct of his on-air clownery. He cries and they mobilize. This examplifies two things-the poorly run condition of our opinion-molding institutions and the dead on arrival social activism they inspire.

In a society where people are conditioned to the role of passive recpients, they don't venture forth in search of knowledge with which to base their actions. Nor, in our high tech hive of worker bees, do they have time to. Instead, they recieve their political impetus the same way they recieve everything else...sequestered on the Lazy Boy, remote in one hand, bag of Doritos in the other, passively absorbing their information the same way they recieve everything else...in the smallest, most accessibly tailored bites. In this anesthesized condition, any brand of snake oil can be sold successfully, with the customers oblivious to the worthlessness of their purchase.

And so thousands of Americans take to the streets in protest of ghosts. Middle and upper middle class suburbanites have been conned into thinking they're victims, that the poor are oppressors. That the "free market capitalism" which, as well know, "is what made America great" is under attack from an undercover Marxist president. That an expanded welfare state and government mandated corporate patronage qualify as "socailism." Like all delusionals, they are intensely driven by their beliefs. This manifests itself in such heroic displays as shouting down pinhead politicians at Townhall meetings and yelling through bullhorns at rallies.

The lesson here is the need for a Vanguard or elite to rally the troops and assume leadership roles in resistance movements. Contrary to the populist view of the Left, genuine radical movements originate at the top and then slowly work their way down to the bottom, through the siezure of opinion-molding institutions. Trickle down revolution. That Beck and his cohorts have been the ones at the helm of those institutions is the reason hy this has not yet happened. In order to whip the disenfranchised into purposeful action, it is our responsibility to throw these charlatans out on their asses. Until that happens, the American Right, as Yockey so succiently put it, will remain "the dumbest in the world."