Reply #7: When wealth becomes the ultimate goal

[demwing]

then things like honor, truth, liberty, and integrity become secondary means to the end. They are mere elements in a process, either usable or disposable, depending on time, place, and circumstance, and the ends justify the means. If you hit the wealth goal, you get a pass on your transgressions. Miss the mark, and you carry the full weight of all you do. Forgiveness does not come cheap.

If we are losing our civil rights, it is because we are losing our standing as civilians, a role we gave up to become consumers. Our value as civilians used to be the role we played in our own government. Participation - voting, civil service, military duty, etc - was once the stock in which this country traded. But a government "by the people" has become government that says "buy, you people!" and our standing now is judged by how much we spend. Corporations, and the uber-wealthy have the ability to spend more than the common individuals, and are judged accordingly.

Sure we have some consumer protections in place, but those are a poor exchange for liberties and rights. We are given a choice between candidates, but what influence does a vote have compared to a donation?

That this country was ever created, that men and women could identify the need for freedom from oppression, and find a way to create paths to that freedom when the common wisdom of the time would have bet on the established royalty, gives hope that this country can be saved. The establishment of today has better technology than of that era, but that also means the opposition has better technology.

The only thing we need is the ability to identify our need.

As consumers, perhaps we just need someone to package the truth and sell it to us.