It’s Class War, Hidden In Culture War
Without addressing economic injustice, the culture war will rage on.
I’ve never liked being identified as a ‘Democrat’. I am definitely quite liberal and progressive, however I don’t buy our two-party system. We’ve been hacked from the very beginning. Here’s why:
In the USA we prioritize our industries and corporations in a hyper-free market version of capitalism above all else (neoliberalism). We have prioritized de-regulation and anti-tax to extreme, convinced by the corporate/industrial threat that they will ‘go out of business or move away’ if we do not. I’ve also heard it called ‘Cowboy Capitalism’ which describes the cultural aspects underlying these economic policies, which I wrote about in my blog post ‘Small Town America, Where I Grew Up’. We prioritize wild west freedoms, especially for industry, as if we are still living in the American Frontier era.
On top of that we subsidize corporations to insane amounts, around $181 billion each year in fact. We bail them out when they go under, they’re ‘too big to fail’. It’s something called Corporate Welfare. And when it comes time to help actual US citizens, it’s demonized as ‘socialism’.
Meanwhile corporations have monopolized into massive conglomerates that have re-shaped every single industry in this nation. Shutting down small businesses, outsourcing for cheaper labor and basically dominating every aspect of our society from farming to healthcare. The middle class has shrunk and the wage gap has grown.
Government initiatives to prioritize growing industry wealth are praised. Government initiatives to prioritize citizen health are demonized as socialism.
These conglomerates and billionaires have infiltrated our government, and won a case designating corporations as ‘people’ through Citizens United so that they can elect and pay our politicians through PAC & Super PAC campaign financing (deep state much? Talk about deflection).
These oligarchs that dominate international corporate industries, which BOTH parties serve, have successfully divided our nation – ‘It’s those liberal democrats who want DEI programs taking your jobs!’ ‘It’s those conservatives who are white supremacists!’ ‘The economy is bad since women are now in the workforce and not at home making babies so men can work! It’s the immigrants! It’s the trans people destroying the fabric of society’ ‘It’s a deep-state bureaucrat problem!’ ‘It’s a government waste problem!’ ‘They’re trying to create a socialist state by regulating industries and taxing wealth, where you won’t be able to have any identity and you’ll lose all your freedoms!’ ‘If you regulate us industries, before you know it they’ll regulate you!’
All a grand deflection from the corporate conglomerations that have re-shaped every single industry in this nation leading to deepening economic inequality. A deflection from the truth of where job cuts go and why (shareholder gains). A deflection from the truth behind ever skyrocketing prices IN SPITE of increased automation, in a profit-hungry corporate world that requires constant growth and ever-rising profit margins to sustain itself. And all of our elected officials on both sides have been working for these corporations for many years now.
The fear and anger over economic inequality that comes from a system that prioritizes industry over people is justified. When you have a culture obsessed with fame & wealth, selling everyone a millionaire dream to the ‘lucky/strongest’ individuals sets most people up to be angry and disappointed in a system that was never built to benefit the majority.
Of course racism, discrimination, sexism, extremism in the form of Christian Nationalism (a minority btw), and all the rest exists- but if we as US citizens don’t wake up to the fact we are being played on both sides of the aisle, this will all continue to get much worse. We can keep worshiping money and industry freedom over our own health, wellbeing and economic justice – or we can stand up, inform ourselves and decide that we the people want a government that works for PEOPLE and not corporations.
Really dive deep on everything you’ve been told & taught about how our society and economy ‘has to be’ and ask yourself who that actually ends up benefiting? We have decades of evidence to pull from. Notice the fear mongering that happens. Notice where it’s got us. There are other options.
Nations around the world are creating ‘wellbeing economies’ that focus on the health of people and planet in ADDITION to economic prosperity. Not just on shareholder wealth and the push for virus-like constant growth, which is destroying our natural resources.
Check out this episode of Freakonomics – ‘Is economic growth the wrong goal?’ about the ‘doughnut economy’ that takes into consideration the environment and resources. When we allow ourselves to get creative and think outside the power-based supremacy oriented value system – there is a lot of possibility.
Continuing down this path of unrestricted growth and consumption will only lead to more poverty and widening classism. And the more people face economic inequality, the more vulnerable they are to propaganda diverting blame to marginalized groups. The more vulnerable they are to fear, hate and willingness to sacrifice stability, rule of law and democracy for the hope of economic improvement. It’s a wedge for things like authoritarianism and fascism, where people eagerly hand their freedoms over to a ‘tough savior’ that they think will solve everything.
My primary hope out of everything that is currently happening in US politics right now is that it leads to a massive awakening to this class war that is hiding in the culture war. That people activate and start participating in our collective progress – advocating for a system that benefits the people’s health, not just corporate wealth. They want us disengaged. They want us hopeless. They want us in-fighting.
There must be a balance between a free-market capitalist system and investment in communities – a balance between extraction and replenishment.
Do social issues like racism & sexism still need awareness and addressing? Obviously. Absolutely. And they are all intrinsically intertwined. The colonialist mindset that is still alive and well is directly linked to the prioritization of extraction of resources, from planet and people, for the sake of growing wealth for the ‘superior’ and dominant groups. But the culture war will only worsen until we address the economic inequality that has resulted from the class war.
People around the world are dreaming differently. And the good news is we don’t have to wait for the broader system to change. We can start subverting it by creating our own wellbeing economies with neighbors and local communities. We can start shifting our values and having conversations with people in our direct vicinity. Oppressive systems, economic or otherwise, know the power of collective action which is why they’ve shaped such a hyper-individualistic society and why we must re-learn how to work in community.
Want to learn more? Check out these resources:
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