Marvin Gaye said it best in his hit song ( written by him) :
Whoa, oh, mercy mercy me
Oh, things ain’t what they used to be, no no
Where did all the blue skies go?
Poison is the wind that blows from the North and South and East
Whoa mercy, mercy me
Oh, things ain’t what they used to be, no no
Oil wasted on the oceans and upon our seas, fish full of mercury
Oh, oh, oh mercy, mercy me
Oh things ain’t what they used to be, no no
Radiation underground and in the sky
Animals and birds who live nearby are dying
Oh mercy, mercy me
It seems that this writer finds myself crying more often than not. Watching a scene in a film where there is either a touching moment or one of sadness and I tear up. Reading about the abuse of an individual by others and I reach for my hankie. Reminiscing the days bygone in my life with friends from my youth and the water flows from my tired eyes. Listening to a song from the past that always touched me and I just have to cry. Placing all that into perspective, it still is a ‘ weakened sister’ to what saddens me now. For when one is a sensitive soul one cannot avoid the pain that this current American empire hammers into me. Wherever one turns there are a myriad of instances whereupon this system just ramrods itself into my psyche.
There was and is always greedy, selfish bastards who pull the strings. The Super Rich continually have their lackeys in government, media, and parts of the masses to do their bidding. Goebbels would be so proud, if still with us, to see how easily the propaganda works. The true end result has always been to get John and Joan Q Public to follow their lead… always against their own self interest. The Vietnam debacle was proof positive, whereupon millions of my fellow citizens supported the BIG LIE that we were supporting democracy abroad… when we still never truly had it here at home. Fast forward to the two phony Iraq Wars 1 and 2, when the duo of Bush bastards ( with plenty of aid and comfort by the REAL DEEP STATE) sold too many of my fellows their Kool Aid. Lunchbox Joe made sure to go along to get along with them… and now he’s Commander in Dementia. The embedded media always followed the piper to lead many Americans over the ‘ Cliffs of reason’. They sell us war and disinformation and we buy it!
Wherever one looks there are holes in Dike Americana. The corporate beast poisons our water, air, food and our bodies ( compliments of Big Pharma). Profit trumps ( no pun intended) over one of the major premises of government: Oversight. If it can be sold it will be sold. Buyer beware! This ‘ Beast’ is now in control, as stated by Mr. Jensen , head of the network that Howard Beale worked for in the 1976 hit film Network:
Am I getting through to you, Mr. Beale? You get up on your little twenty-one inch screen and howl about America and democracy. There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and ITT and AT&T and DuPont, Dow, Union Carbide, and Exxon. Those are the nations of the world today. What do you think the Russians talk about in their councils of state? Karl Marx? They get out their linear programming charts, statistical decision theories, minimax solutions, and compute the price-cost probabilities of their transactions and investments, just like we do.
We no longer live in a world of nations and ideologies, Mr. Beale. The world is a college of corporations, inexorably determined by the immutable by-laws of business. The world is a business, Mr. Beale. It has been since man crawled out of the slime. And our children will live, Mr. Beale, to see that perfect world in which there’s no war or famine, oppression or brutality. One vast and ecumenical holding company, for whom all men will work to serve a common profit, in which all men will hold a share of stock. All necessities provided, all anxieties tranquilized, all boredom amused.”
Perhaps when more of us sensitive souls come to the realization that the **** has already hit the fan , viable protest will finally occur. We won’t need the barricades to make our point. No, as corny as it sounds , the truth has to spread more quickly than even Covid. For, even if the masters of deceit wave all their magic wands to divert us, TRUTH is too strong to dilute.
Philip A Farruggio is regular columnist on itstheempirestupid website. He is also frequently posted on Nation of Change and Countercurrents.. He is the son and grandson of Brooklyn NYC longshoremen and a graduate of Brooklyn College, class of 1974. Since the 2000 election debacle Philip has written over 500 columns on the Military Industrial Empire and other facets of life in an upside down America. He is also host of the ‘ It’s the Empire… Stupid ‘ radio show, co produced by Chuck Gregory. Philip can be reached at [email protected].
