This thought comes at a time when poor attitudes and ignorance are fomented by today’s elite powers and their Olympus Mons financial reserves. The “Lamestream Media”, as the rebellious conservative outsiders tend to label it, is nothing more than a tool for them.
History has proven time and time again that professionally disseminated ideas via channels carrying intrinsic public power. What is this, exactly? Let’s just say more weight is given to those possessing power of celebrity, elected or appointed title, social or military rank, recognition and so forth. In the last 20 years or so, the “official” channels have wielded more power than at any point in history. The (Mis)Information Age, you see. Never mind all those cogent delineations; with the exception of an outlying percentage, the public at large are small fish darting around in deep, dark waters—a bait ball for predators. The “small” folks don’t like to hear this—the truth. Similarly discovering you’re just a copper-topped battery in the Matrix. A fantasy film with a bit of hard-core realism tossed in. It sucks.
Ah, but there is this great equalizer in which we firmly believe: our Constitution and our vote. No matter how rich and powerful someone becomes, their vote counts no more than yours. Yeah, but …
Rigged? How so?
That’s probably the very first question a detractor posits. You’ve been hearing elections are rigged for most of your life. You’ve witnessed many examples of it too: Poll workers charged with tampering, mailed votes in contested districts go missing, votes from dead people, hanging chads, purposely confounding ballot item descriptions, paid minority groups being bussed around to several districts that have unsophisticated balloting systems, gerrymandering, special delegate statuses that count more than true representation. The list is exhaustive but you get the idea.
We want to believe the United States is a democracy, but it’s simply not in practice. You’ve heard that nasty word “oligarchy” before, haven’t you? It’s a popular belief that the good ‘ole USA is actually that – a country controlled by a relative few people. Your vote is a token gesture masquerading as a sacred right under the Constitution. Well, here comes the Godwin’s Law straight away:
Those dang Nazis were masters of public perception. I think we all know it. The German population proudly marched down the path of evil without batting an eye. Many of us became sickly with the same feeling when Bush—I mean Colin Powell—made a half-assed WMD pitch to invade Iraq. With some exceptions, the angry American majority was simply out for blood and they got it. Mission Accomplished. So, was Goebbels correct, or is his meme a case of contextual power of authority? It certainly feels like it applies. What about Herman Goering’s nifty little meme?
The quote passes the fact-checking, so it’s accurate to state Goering actually said this while imprisoned for the Nuremberg trials. It’s one of those greasy, foul-smelling macro concepts that may very well be a bible truth, but we immediately look the other way as soon as someone brings it up. Yep—Godwin’s Law defined. Heck, by having a Godwin’s Law in the first place we’re creating an emotional barrier. Sure, bring up the Nazis! That horse is way beyond beaten, dead, and blown dust. My guess is many of you scrolled down my text, saw the memes first and thought, “Oh brother … it’s one of those posts.” Yep—the Godwin Effect.
So, yes, Mr. Trump, the election—our entire system for that matter—is rigged and perhaps always has been. Life goes on for the weak and the powerful. What can we do about it?
A few things come to mind: Write a candidate in, vote 3rd or 4th party, expose systemic manipulation, GET INVOLVED.
Wait, is that always the preferred route? Get involved? Well, yes and no.
Take Mike Rowe’s piece on encouraging everyone to vote. I happen to agree—fully. I can’t do it either. Too many people are nowhere near qualified as informed voters. This is where disparity begins with the U.S. system. This is where the info wars start and end. This is the cesspool of manipulation. But this is where power resides, and the elite has known it for a very, very long time.
Get over it.
