2012 Elections on the “Planet of the Apes”

 

 

“Regardless of whether a democrat or a republican is elected…
the politicians always get in.”

-Hippie Proverb

 

Timothy Leary, PhD had a saying… “If you want to talk politics, you have to get down on all fours.” Human politics is essentially an extension of mammalian pack predation. Earthling mammals can be broken down into two distinct groups… predators and prey. Make no mistake about it… although humans are classified as mammals, the more impactful distinction is… humans are predators. As pack-driven, strategic predators, humans are exceptionally good at it.

Given the success of the human species (order: Primate, family: Hominidae, species: Homo Sapien), it is not an overstatement to say that we are living on the “planet of the apes.” Physiologically, humans have the same characteristics as all predators. Their eyes are in the front of their heads, allowing for binocular vision… they have big ‘ole canine or cuspid teeth, capable of rending the flesh of their prey… you get the picture. Being social animals, humans excel at hunting in packs. As in all pack behavior, humans are more aggressive when in packs. The recent GOP and RNC national conventions are two cases in point.

Like the other great apes, politicians demonstrate all of the classic simian displays of aggression. They flail about, beat their chests and vocalize, threateningly. When all else fails, they fling poop. Again, we need look no further than any political stump speech to observe elaborate ritualized displays of primate dominance behavior, similar to those documented by anthropologist Jane Goodall, in observation of our closest cousin, the chimpanzee. Both democrats and republicans are typical specimens.

Not that the underlying philosophic concepts of democracy and republicanism are without merit. The democratic principle of the greatest good for the greatest number has honorable intent. Likewise, individual liberty and the personal freedoms that are safeguarded within the principles of a republic are admirable… in concept. The ideals of a democracy and a republic are arguably noble notions. The current socio-political dilemma within the United States is not driven by the ideals of democracy or republicanism… it is driven by those primates who call themselves democrats and republicans. It is these monkeys (read: elected officials) who, through their inaction are causing all the trouble.

We’ll get to the democratic president and his republican challenger in a moment, but first, let us examine a much easier target… the one hundred twelfth United States Congress. These guys have spent the current session playing partisan politics and pissing away their timely opportunity to do their jobs. They did nothing… except fund raise. As a result, no significant legislation has been passed, nor is it likely that any legislation will be taken up until after the election in November. Does anybody really think that this legislative body will do anything to address the combination of automatic spending cuts and the expiration of Bush era tax breaks, both of which are triggered in January? Question: What is an 8-letter word for monkey? …Congress!

The truth is, with a completely dysfunctional legislative branch of government, the U.S. will deserve any resulting downgrade of credit worthiness imposed by “New World Order” lackeys such as Moody’s Investor’s Service or Standard & Poor’s. It’s ironic too… because from the perspective of the NWO, the U.S. economy is in a unique position to take advantage of the current global economy, if only politicians had the guts to act. Maybe this is an example of poetic justice.

Speaking of lackeys, let’s take a peek at that buffoon (or should I say baboon?), Mitt Romney and the other suspect, Barak Obama. If Mitt and his Neo-Con bosses (I’m looking at you, Paul Wolfowitz) manage to blunder and/or buy their way into the White House, get ready for World War III. These guys are going to march directly into Iran to finish the job they started in Iraq and Afghanistan. Their justification is, of course, weapons of mass destruction… sound familiar?

Sadly, it’s not clear that Barak is much better. The proliferation of the use of military drones under Barak’s administration is alarming, to say the least. It is just a matter of time before this militarized technology transitions into a domestic police technology. Barak’s continued bragging point of killing Osama bin Laden is just plain creepy. Really? …sending a black ops unit into Pakistan on a revenge mission to kill bin Laden is something to brag about? Is that the kind of operation that the supposed leader of the free world should condone?

So… to sum up our current political situation as we head down the home stretch in the 2012 elections: We have a dysfunctional legislative branch of government who’s inaction has been the primary continuing cause of our economic crisis… we have an executive branch who’s pretty darn hawkish and “business as usual” considering the fact that he ran as the “hope” candidate in ’08… as far as the judicial branch goes, consider the 2010 ruling: Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission …need we say more?

“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being
governed by your inferiors”

 

- Plato

 

If monkeys are an analogy for politicians... Piggies is an analogy for the 1%

 

 Is it any wonder that extreme skepticism and cynicism dominate the mood of the American public? Is it any wonder that we must resort to sources like “The Daily Show” and “The Corbert Report” for our political analysis? Even popular push-back against the political machine, such as The Tea Party from the right and Occupy from the left, seem lack-luster as we close in on November. It appears as if we get to choose from a list of bad choices this fall.

For all intents and purposes, contemporary politics has gone utterly insane. We mean this quite literally. Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity was “doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results.” The continued escalation of war… the unashamed expansion of empire and military adventurism… the dismantling of the middle class… the commoditization of the political system… this all seems… feels… completely insane.

The difference between Mitt and Barak is that Mitt has no clue that what is going down in the world today is insanity… honest-to-god, complete systems failure insanity. To Mitt, it’s just “Business (with a capitol B) as usual.” Mitt mistakes political and social insanity for normality. This is the world view of the new global capitalists. Extract the Earth’s resources for profit… global warming be damned!

We suspect that Obama at least knows that the current socio-political situation is insane. He appears to be an intelligent man… his early experience in social justice and activism suggests that he comprehends the importance of human integrity and diversity. Surely he grasps the precariousness of letting capitalism run amok. The question is… will he, or can he address these social ills, if re-elected?

An undeniable result of the contemplation of all this is… apathy. A lot of people… especially our young and brightest… when taking a critical look at our political structure… conclude that they have no reason to participate in such a broken system. “Why vote? …it isn’t going to change anything”

We have no logical reply to this… but offer an illogical one. Participate anyway. Broken as it is… the U.S. representative democracy, balanced by, and operating within a constitutional republic, is a resilient form of government. Even if popular opinion deems the system broken beyond repair, vote anyway. For in the words of Buckminster Fuller… Dare to be Naive! Throughout this tattered old republic’s short history, it has always been the naïve dreamers who made this country great.

Don’t expect leadership from politicians, though. In truth, politicians don’t lead… they follow. They react to situations, after the fact. No… leadership is going to have to come from us… the naïve dreamers. It’s a brave new world out there… and in these uncertain times, we place our faith in, place our bets on… dreamers. Dreamers… poets… heretics and shamans... for at the end of the day… any nation of people is only as great as their shamans.