America, The Great Melting Pot, a vibrant and diverse mix of people, cultures, ideas, colors, creeds, culinary traditions... You name it, we've got it here in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. Truly Something to be proud of if ever there was. What is baffling however, is the fact that in a country so diverse, the body politic at large is willing to hand off all of it's power of to one or the other of two (ostensibly) competing political parties - which we now know - basically consist of one party (the rich) and the two competing poles of it's political platform - greed and authoritarian control.This is because traditionally, it worked pretty well. In the days of the monarchy, as long as the king gave 'the people' what 'the people' thought they wanted (i.e. pandered to their greed and self-interest), the people would allow all manner of taxation and authoritarian control over their lives. That is because kings had no actual power, save for the power that was invested in them by the people of the kingdom. Thus the king was an avatar of his people. A foci for their hopes, fear, dreams and desires. As long as their king was bathed in the finest things and was surrounded by enough 'pomp and circumstance', the people felt that they too prospered by proxy. Thus the court was the original cybernetic control mechanism, playing god to the public psyche for the benefit of itself.
Of course, then the enlightenment happened and everything (supposedly) changed. While this feels like ancient history to most 'modern' Americans, monarchy is still very much a real institution in many parts of the world and as such, the techniques that monarchy has traditionally used to maintain order are still being used to this day. The only difference is that - in our modern day, so-called 'democracy' ("the best democracy that money can buy") - it is not the court of kings, but rather the parasitic political dynasties and their capitalist cronies that uses these tools to control us.
In spite of our great technological achievements, the American psyche is still very much hopelessly mired in old traditions. Organized religion, patriarchy, domination and control. Which is to say that much of the time, when it comes to the subjects of politics, religion, technology, science and the economy, the average person has a very hard time making sense of it all (Pink0™ included) - this is largely because many of us are collectively viewing the issues through the dusty old filters of an essentially sixteenth century, feudalist, greed-based mindset. As a result, when it comes to politics, the average American is completely inflexible to the point of lacking adaptability. Most people only really seem to understand the two patriarchal poles of self interest and authority. And as a result of these impulses in the mind of the public, these are the only two types of power that the rich really understand how to wield.
The problem stems from the fact that this is an overly simplistic, shortsighted and utterly useless paradigm for a global, networked world in ecological peril. People are finally waking up to the fact that 'command and control' policies actually create and foster the very political revolt and violent uprising that they are designed to control and undermine. For example: warmongering, the US' imperialist and interventionist policies in the middle east have pretty much fostered an entire generation of people over there that think America sucks and who don't really want anything to do with us. This is of course because their voices are not heard and their story seldom gets told. Even though we are ostensibly 'spreading democracy' what we have actually done was to take over their country gut it and sell it off to America Inc™. Why? Because we needed oil to power our HumVees and to keep our economy rolling. We needed red blooded American males out there driving to Wall Mart to buy more Axe™ Body Spray. We needed to keep the dream alive for another generation of kids.
The Kids Are Alright!
But if you actually talk to the kids, many of them will say: "Hey, this shit is fucked up". They will tell you that they believe in real democracy, the ones we were taught to believe in in our schools. "Land of the Brave, Home of the Free". Not "Land of Rape and Honey". Not patriarchal land of ruthless pirates and thieves. And they feel guilt. Real guilt. They (we) genuinely feel bad for people like the average Iraqi Citizen, who prior to being invaded by gangs of ruthless thugs with smart bombs and drone planes, probably didn't harbor too much anti-American sentiment at all. But some part of our collective psyche wanted them to hate us as much as it secretly hates itself. Of course, it does not even realize this as it's still wearing 'guilts own blinders'. You can tell someone is wearing these when you say something 'socially conscious' to them and they in turn, get a perturbed look on their face and break eye contact with you. This is the awakening of slumbering guilt and a mixture of fear and confusion at having encountered it.Pink0™ does not mince words.
'The Kids', (ie. anyone under 65 with half-a-brain - i.e. who are not Republicans or racist tea bags) are alright!... Mostly because 'the kids' are by-and large green when it comes to their attitudes regarding important issues like the environment, human rights, the economy, et al. However, the kids know damned well that their voices are not being heard. They've known it since well before the sixties and they know it now. In some important ways - Not much has changed. But what they want to know (what we all want to know) is: Where the hell are our green, state-subsidized jobs!? Where the hell is our socialized health care?! Where is our energy-efficient light rail system? Where are our morals as a country (and no, I am not talking about sex or 'foul language' on television)?! "We want the world and we want it! ...Right?!"As old EdMcMahon would say: "You are Correct Sir"
"If the Kids Are United..."
We traded slavery for wage slavery. We finally got the civil rights legislation we wanted and the corporations used it pit worker against worker. We finally got the equality for women we wanted and corporations wasted no time opportunistically using it as a wedge to destroy the family selling young mothers the Orwellian dream of Have it all Barbie™. The ensuing Latch Key Kids hit the streets in droves and Punk Rock was born! Indeed, there are many consequences - intended, unintended or otherwise.So where are you going with all of this Pink0™? You told us you were going to give us Macroprosopus, Metapolitics and The Co-modification of Love. So tell us! How Capitalists Get their Nut?
By ripping us off via 'money magic'. Sleight of hand. Three card monte. By 'stealing the green' so to speak. Politics are just a Shell Game (`scuze me: BP, whatever). You have to figure out which of the 3 shells (politicians) contains your issue and when you're distracted, it gets passed-on to the next. It's also a lot like 'keep away'. You give the politician your ball (vote) thinking that he or she will toss it back in the form of legislation that helps you - but instead, the politician tosses the ball to his rich neighbor (corporations). Basically, he'd rather be friends with that kid `cause that kid has a sports car and a swimming pool. Thus, politicians always fatten themselves and their friends and golfing buddies by vampirically feasting on the political capital of the people. Capital that was originally set-aside to build a better future.
Manipulating the Macroprosopus
Lucifarian Gnosticism observes that "god" (i.e. the closest thing to an actual 'supreme being' that can actually be empirically, scientifically, observed to exist) is in-fact: the aggregated collective will of the people (technically: the aggregated, collective will of everything, but it seems unlikely that we'll be giving dogs or trees a vote any time soon). Thus, from a purely humanist perspective - the body politic (the collective will of the people) constitutes 'Macroprosopus' or the "upper face of god". 'Microprosopus' would of course, be the mind or will of the individual. In other words, from an epistemological perspective, collectively: We are ALL god (Macroprosopus).
'The man' knows this and is really quite adept at manipulating this system on both Macroscopic (societal) and microscopic (individual) levels. This is done behind closed doors via what are now known as the fields of cybernetics and generalized systems theory - together with their correlates: information theory, data mining, data modeling, politics and propaganda (all corporate media). This is the real purpose for which computers are - and have always really been - built. Mapping and manipulating the body politic. It's not a conspiracy because capitalists don't need to 'conspire' as such (though, technically - any meeting that takes place behind closed doors could be considered 'conspiring', as could any business deal. So, in that sense: capitalism is itself a conspiracy by it's very definition). They simply follow and propagate the meme of 'Rational Self Interest' (greed and laziness, the ties that bind) and then let the invisible hand of the market (our buying habits) automatically do the manipulations for them. Once 'stochastic resonance' has been achieved, you'd be amazed what metaprogramming cyberneticians are capable of.
But outwardly, it's still just the same old red and blue game. Vote for the king or vote for the queen but you have to vote for one of us even though neither of us actually represents you, your family, or any member of your class - but rather - only represent the interest of Capital. Thus, we have a zero-sum prisoner's dilemma. A no win situation for the people, a win/win for the politicos. Thus, the only people that benefit from professional politics are professional politicians and their corporate sponsors.
Of course, the traditional, 2-dimensional, 2-axis political spectrum as it's typically represented doesn't have the institution of corporations listed anywhere on it. It tells us the difference between "authoritarianism" and "individualism" and attempts to show us where these concepts seem to intersect with "progressive" and "conservative" ideals, but it doesn't even attempt to address: haves, the have-nots, corporatism, labor, or the staggering impact of technology.
Thus, a more accurate mapping of the actual body politic would probably more closely resemble a sphere, a hexagon, or an isometrically projected 3D cube as a gradient color-wheel - similar to what one sees when choosing a color in Photoshop. The hexadecimal color chart (below) that web developers use to quickly find the color codes that they are looking for is also a great example.
Color theory is important because Americans sub-consciously attach a great deal of importance to the symbolism of colors. Especially when it comes to the old Red White and Blue. The most effective subliminal messages are the ones that are hidden in plain-sight. Thus, the very name Glade Plugins constitutes sex in advertising.
In color theory, we learn about the difference between radiant colors (from a light-source - like say for example: a red light bulb) and reflected colors (reflected off of an object - like say for example: a red apple). Due to the physics of light, colors behave very differently in the two different contexts. For instance: if I shined a red light and a green light on the same spot, I would get yellow light. Whereas if I mixed red and green paint I would probably get some horrible grey or brown color. The explanation for why this is the case is long, involved and outside the scope of this document.
Suffice it to say, the political will of the people is a lot like the behavior of light - bright, shiny ideas over here, fiery rage of there. But what you actually get back from the political process after capitalists, lawyers and politicians have taken their cut (of the top, mind you it is capital after all) is a lot like reflected light: instead of a bright future, we get dull colors and washed-out hues. Instead of bright green technology, golden education and bright-red socialized health-care, we get the browns of contained water and unusable farmland, the dark blues of unemployment and the bleak greys of suburban sprawl and an ever expanding sea of concrete. Just like what we are collectively doing to the environment.
The kings and their courts of course, knew all about the significance of colors. Hence, purple is a color symbolizing royalty, as kings were often clad in red and queens in blue (for example: queen of the Catholic Church, The Virgin Mary and the bright, 'royal blue' tunic that is so often associated with her), the Fool was of course, often clad in bright green or pink or some other garish color and so on... Ancient societies being far more insightful than we often give them credit for, figured out that with the right pigments and the proper presentation, they could easily captivate all of those poor people who had probably never seen even seen colors like cobalt blue or electric purple. Back then, just to look upon such colors was quite a treat to the ancient people who's lives were often about as exciting as eating unseasoned goat stew and gruel. Surely, anyone who's garment's blazed with such fluorescent glory were truly a representative of the gods!By deciphering and codifying this psychological control technique. The ruling class was able to pass on this information to the next generation of autocrats. As such, it is still with us. It constitutes a segmentation or de-granularization of the aforementioned political color-gradients into a set of flat, intersecting color fields that no longer represented what people actually think about politics - but rather, what we think that we think. In other words, it became possible to manipulate the body politic by 'coloring' things to look like other things (as in the expression: "smear campaign"). This goes along with political doublespeak: for instance: calling corporate-socialism: "free market capitalism". Those who remember the book '1984' will recall Big Brother sayings things like "Freedom is Slavery", and so on...
Fast forward to modern day America™. You cannot turn on the news or watch a dot of political coverage without being smothered in reds and blues. Apparently, the news media thinks that our political spectrum looks like this:
But why these colors? Why red gren and blue? Because believe it or not, the human eye is basically only capable of seeing 3 colors: Red, Green and Blue. This is because we only have 3 photo-receptors in our eyes: Red, Green and Blue. Thus, human beings as a species are subconsciously, biologically programmed to think in terms of Red, Green and Blue, though most of us are not even aware of the fact. Thus, we are biologically programmed for an RGB Democracy.
Red, being at one end of the visible spectrum, blue/violet at the other, and green smack-dab in the middle. The visible spectrum displayed in linear fashion, is illustrated in the chart below. As you can see, if you go past red - you get into 'infra-red' (wavelengths of light that are no longer visible to the naked eye) and so-too, in the opposite direction you get 'ultra violet' (also invisible to humans - except when reflected off a phosphorescent object).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RGB_color_model
Take the GREEN PILL, Neo!
(Prefferably Marinol or Ginko Baloba, avoid corporate petroceuticals at all costs)
Cold war era Capitalists™ and Communists are basically the same greedy, patriarchal, authoritarian pig, just dressed up differently in competing color-schemes. The Communist Pig was - like Iron Man™ - Red and Gold. Why Red and Gold? Red, because red symbolizes war, blood, fire and control - MARS. The Communist Pig was a bloodthirsty tyrant that crushed his own people under an Iron Fist (we don't hear about it as much as we do with the Nazis, but guys like Stalin were also responsible for horrendous atrocities inflicted upon the Soviet people, death camps, et al.). Gold, because in an enormous, ostensibly "Communist" society, one then needs a 'central planning authority'. These guys (of course) end up becoming an elite political over-class (gold)... And now look: we're back to the very same class-ism that Communism was supposed to do away with.
Red because in spite of all of his talk about "free markets", what he really wants is "Socialism for the Rich": he wants the state to look out for him and his corporate cronies, who will then of course be "free" to bleed the American people (and the 'developing world') dry like a... Well, like a stuck pig. Red also, because many of us are warlike savages who just want guns, meat, pussy, football, beer and Grand Theft Auto! Red is - and has always been - Mars, the war god. Thus, the red in our flag is the red of our own autocracy. Our own personal form of Communist dictatorship. Except here, it's the GOP. "Destroy the family-" Lenin said, "-and you destroy society". Echoing Socrates, Engels and Marx before him, he set out to do just that, hoping that a new society - with the State as the ultimate father - would replace the family as a sort of bureaucratic father-figure. Sounds a little like our public school system.
White because traditionally, that's who America has always really represented: rich white people who want the state to look out for rich white people and their corporate cronies - who will then of course be "free" to bleed every other race in America (and the 'developing world') as well as the poor, the sick and the disabled like dry like a... Well, like a stuck pig. White also, because of the white-collared criminals who constitute the establishment. White symbolizes variously: bones, teeth, stones, "cleanliness", "order", "surrender" and "purity", as well as "Kether" and the 'planets' Pluto and Mercury (as in a 'mercurial plutocracy').
Blue (with stars) because, in spite of all of our talk about "freedom" and equality, he US has always been sort of a police state. In fact, all states are police states, that's what a state is. Thus, a government without police is like a cop without gun - which only works if no one has guns. [Good luck with that by the way you true blue liberals out there. If you think you're going to take away the guns of the American people, you're going to have an uphill battle. Between the constitution, the police, all of the private militia, and gun loving guys like Pink0™, nothing short of high powered microwave weapons wielded by an army of robotic drone soldiers is going to get US to give up those arms. (Then again, the technocrats have successfully developed high powered microwave weapons and armies of robotic drone soldiers, so it will be interesting to see how long it takes for them to unleash them on the American people a la 'Terminator' or 'Hardware'). Blue of course, symbolizes: authority, state-power, "law & order", police and judgement. Blue is - and has always been - Jupiter, the authoritarian patriarch.
Personally, if I had a choice (which apparently I don't, or I wouldn't be ranting about all of this on my blog) - I would not be handing my political power over to Mars (war) and Jupiter (law). There is already more than enough laws and wars in the world. Not that I believe in representational government (I can represent myself thank you) - but if I had to pick a style of leadership and an associated planet / color / symbol to go with it - it would be Green, Venus, Stella Matuna, the planet of brotherly and sisterly love, harmony and understanding. Or, as the ancients called her: Lucifer, the light bringer.
And if not her, then Mercury, the "messenger of the gods" (aka: 0 - the F00l).
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