Friday, June 20, 2008
Modern Feudalism
By
Molly the Robin
My name is Molly and I am a robin. I learned to think by seeing myself in car door mirrors. I am a mother who has had several broods of hatchlings. A fellow wrote about my story in Animal Park. He only got half the story right as most people do because you humans think you are not as bad as you really are or not as good as you think you are. I have been reading everything and I am learning lessons from history.
By
Molly the Robin
My name is Molly and I am a robin. I learned to think by seeing myself in car door mirrors. I am a mother who has had several broods of hatchlings. A fellow wrote about my story in Animal Park. He only got half the story right as most people do because you humans think you are not as bad as you really are or not as good as you think you are. I have been reading everything and I am learning lessons from history.
I’ve been reading about feudalism in the Middle Ages. Luckily, the school libraries are closed on week-ends and frequent holidays. I usually find a window partially open where I can fly in and read to my heart’s content in a quiet atmosphere. Today, United States appears to have created a system of Modern Feudalism with a technological twist. The presidency is the Monarch, Congress is the Nobility and Lobbyists are the Courtiers and Supporters including the television media. The Courtiers provide a large pool to draw upon for high positions for government service. The American people are increasingly Vassals with little direct or indirect input into decision-making and legislation. When was the last time a representative solicited your advice or opinion on pending or future legislation? When was the last time you received a satisfactory response from a member of Congress on major issues of the day?
In feudalism war was initiated by the Monarch with input from the Nobility. There was no need to consult or require the approval of the Vassals-the people or to even convince the vassals for the need for war. Today, the president, like the Monarch before him, only needs to suggest the need for war without real proof of its need or without showing a great necessity for war. He only needs to speculate on dire future consequences for not going to war for there to be war. The Congress in the run up to the Iraq war played the role of Nobility quite well by providing the approval and funding for war.
The Vassals are quick to accept the dictates of the Monarch for the majority feel powerless and incapable of effective actions to counter the Monarch. The television media, which is the primary vehicle of information for the Vassals does not question the Monarch, it only reports like a parrot the proclamations of the Monarchy. There is no obligation for the television news to provide the necessary facts and information for a fully functioning democracy. The public airwaves are for profit by its owners and the requirements for providing news and vital information on government are so minimal as to be negligible.
The run up to the invasion of Iraq the mainstream television media did not provide any sustained contrary information to the propaganda of the Monarchy. In fact, it was “unpatriotic” to question the Monarch’s desire to go to war. Even now long after the invasion and occupation of Iraq we know that information for going to war was bogus, unwarranted and deliberately misleading. No action as yet has been taken by the two political parties to provide accountability to the Monarch, which is further indication that we have now a Nobility in the Congress serving the American people.
The funding for the Iraq War goes on unabated by the Congress of Noblemen and Noblewomen. The free press functions only if it is without political censorship. Television news generally with few exceptions provides the necessary censorship so that facts and information contrary to the political establishment never or rarely sees the light of day on the television networks.
Now, a potential new war with Iran is looming and again there is little opposition to it from the television media because it is not their role to provide information contrary to the Monarchy. Issues of national and international import are marginalized on television because there is no effort to sustain the information and facts to justify needed changes in the federal government’s role in food and drug safety, crime, infrastructure, foreign policy, domestic policy, major institutional or corporate scams and myriad other issues facing the nation.
Who did the Iraq war benefit? Oil industry, military contractors, mercenary contractors and builders of billion dollar embassy compounds complete with supermarkets, gyms and secure offices. How was the security of the United States advanced by the Iraq war? Oil and gasoline prices have more than doubled as a result of the attack and occupation of Iraq. The national debt is several trillions dollars more since the president as Monarch took office. The security of the United States is continually lauded by the Monarch and its minions in the press. The fact is that the time between the first and second World Trade Center attack was more than eight years. Eight years from the last attack would be the year 2009.
Monarchs and Noblemen like empires for their wealth and power they can extract and use. The United States by any measure has become an empire with hundreds of military bases and large embassies around the world.
Are the American people better off today with this current vast American empire than they were 10, 50 or 100 years ago? A presidential candidate has said that the U.S. military may be stationed in Iraq for 100 years. A future Monarch would easily say we will be in Iraq for 100 years. A president representing a healthy democracy would never want to station American troops in a foreign country for 100 years or even decide to launch an optional war against Iraq.
The United States may well have evolved into a modern feudalist society and state with its version of Monarch, Nobility and Vassal. It is said that a monarch’s wife once said, “Let them eat cake” referring to the vassals.
As I perch in trees across the country I often see “dollar stores” springing up everywhere. Today, it seems the feudal lords provide their vassals with “dollar stores” for their sustenance and say, "Let them go to dollar stores."
