Dear George,
To those who say fairy tales are for children I say, Balls! One never outgrows the need for fairy tales. Without them, societies would wither and die away. Like the epic cycles of old, these tales undergo constant evolution as the needs of the elite change.
Look how our understanding of democracy has evolved. Where once democracy stood for civic participation in government, it is now equated with the right to own as much cheap stuff as the neighbors. The democratic citizen is now the democratic consumer.
One of the traditional fairy tales that has underpinned American society is the contrast between the Old World and the New. The Old World is a relic sinking into obsolescence, left in the dust by the dynamic New, which is a model of change and innovation. This has changed. Now, the comparison is between an America that thrives on risk and a Europe that craves security.
Like a good fairy tale, this one takes a grain of truth and distorts it until the truth is no longer recognizable. When we say America thrives on risk, the “America” we are talking about is the ten percent of the population that controls eighty percent of the wealth. They can afford the risk. For the rest of the population, risk is a synonym for insecurity. The energy generated by America does not arise from ambition, but from anxiety and stress.
Where once the work ethic was a staff that supported the individual, it is now a rod in the hands of the elite to drive the drones until they break. Work that was once a source of pride is now a spur driven into the flanks of the working poor.
The uber fairy tale that drives all of this is the tale that tells them that if they work hard they will succeed and climb the ladder of prosperity through the sweat of their brow. In truth, all the hard work gets for the majority is shot nerves, sleepless nights, and sour stomachs.
This helps the corporist state because driven labor is cheap labor. The man kept in the shadow of insecurity and uncertainty will tolerate more that the man whose job is secure. It was this sense of security that brought the mobs out on the streets of Paris, forcing the government to back down on its new employment law. God forbid that should ever happen here. It will not, not with the toothless labor unions that are afraid to say, “Boo!” Besides, our workforce is too far in debt to dare trying.
What is the justification for all of this? It is the corporate fairy tale that it has a moral obligation to maximize profits for its stockbrokers. Deftly, the corporatists conflate morality with psychopathic obsession, and their coffers swell.
Your admirer,
Belacqua Jones
9:01:20 PM
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