Ever feel like a stranger in a strange land?

[Dover]

The Bigger Arena in the REAL Struggle For Power

If you have been looking at the current power struggles only in the small arena of two opposing political parties, either in the U.S. or in other nations, you'd be missing the real show here. The broader power struggles going on are for nothing less than control of the global marketplace and natural resources among the elite, multi-national corporations and that of governments and especially the citizens of sovereign nations. As these MULTI-nationals (perhaps more aptly called multi-nationless) surrender much of their national sovereignty in order to grow their own power and influence in the global arena, they have become "countries" or "kingdoms" unto themselves without borders. They are the big guns now on this new fenceless frontier, because in this Spaghetti Western the elite are writing the script and inevitably our shrinking governments are being reduced to the role of small town local sheriff. Those who are fighting to protect themselves from the onslaught play the role of the Indians (now called "terrorists") and we as citizen settlers looking for a new start are either with this program or agin-it.

Corporations shun democracies when it comes to input, decision-making and accountability. That is not how they'd rule the world, though they would certainly create the illusion of participatory democracy. In truth, the "citizen" in their pseudo-kingdoms, is the consumer. So essentially the mega MULTI-national corporations and their elite counterparts in the world of Finance are like feudal lords without walls or borders (which is why it is much easier for them to do business with countries who are currently ruled by similar power structures than it is to deal with free democratically-based countries that are accountable to their citizens).

So within ALL parties and governmental departments you find those who are working to complete this power shift away from national governments and toward elite/corporate rule, and those who see this happening and want to create a more democratic world order.

You cannot tell which is which by party affiliations but by their policies, goals, personal affiliations and history (although some candidates/representatives have no problem giving lip service and lies to popular ideas, only to competely reverse their stance once in power). So do your homework and look for discrepencies and listen to that little voice inside you when something just doesn't pass the smell test. Insist on a SECURE voting system so you can be sure that this most fundamental tool of any democracy is safe and reflects your choice.

Those who are working for corporate control can easily be identified.... they support NAFTA, WTO, and other corporate-friendly organizations in their current form, they support pre-emptive
wars/Invasions for resources and contracts, and unilateral decisions that are free of the checks and balances imposed by world governance (using "terrorism" as a pretext for eliminating pockets of resistance).

They are themselves resistant to regulation while gathering further control and regulation of others. They are resistant to the creation of world governance bodies such as a World Court (and/or insist on exemption from its laws) while playing on citizens nationalistic fears of lost sovereignty. Little do the citizens realize that the threat to their sovereignty and rights is coming from these very same corporate lords.

Those who want this corporate world order to dominate are busy co-opting (usually the equivalent of a hostile corp. takeover) OUR governmental bodies and OUR national resources and those of weak nations, while dressing it in nationalism. Enemies and terror and other fears are manufactured as incentive to employ citizens in their profit schemes, resulting in OUR sacrifices of money, services, taxes, and even our lives!
Without us, they could not achieve these goals.

And what does the citizen (consumer) get? "Real T.V." and job loss, fewer services and less financial security, labor with fewer compensations and smaller paychecks. In other words, they are beholding to the company store.

Those people who are trying to create a more democratic world order, balancing sovereignty with these more global relations, are working to create a new form of governance. They recognize we are becoming, essentially, an extended family of nations who are not simply tolerant of cultural, ethnic and religious differences but are the very embodiment of such diversity and inclusiveness.

They can be recognized by their desire to create sustainable growth that is regenerative rather than exploitative of people and the planet. They are entrepreneurial in support of NEW ideas and technology and jobs to support this kind of balanced growth. They do not hoard their gifts and resources, but share it with the world for the greater good.

They understand that in order to cultivate creative solutions one must recognize that this can only happen in an environment of hope, and openess, freedom and diversity. They understand that PEOPLE are our greatest resource and must be protected and nurtured and free.
A healthy spirit and a healthy body supports our planet, our future and our survival.


People are beginning to see things from this broader perspective as they become frustrated with the current system that is now barely recognizable or functional. Nothing seems to fit. 'Up' has become 'down' and suddenly we are like Alice in a not so wonderful wonderland of new rules and values that we didn't ask for (Cheney coined the term for us. It's the "new normal"). Some in the current administration seem to be running around screeching "off with their heads" without rule of law or even reason....or they create new self-serving laws (the Patriot Acts for instance) in support of their own secret agendas. Feelings of disorientation, disenfranchisement, of being left out or in the dark by ever increasing exclusivity and secretiveness is beginning to have the effect of sounding internal alarms. Awakening minds are finally penetrating this darkness and illuminating the truth.

In this strange land we are not represented by those who we've "elected" to serve and listen to us, but instead feel the gap in qualitative exchange, input and receptivity widening. And in fact, our representative or our party have become walking contradiction, or rather, seem to be operating under some other set of rules, goals and values to which we are not privy.

It's essential that we all broaden our peripheral and long range vision so we can begin to focus our energies for change and demand accountability where it will do the most good. In short WE THE PEOPLE need to be awake and become aware of the broader arena in which we are participants if we are to become empowered to take the reins of our own destinies and that of our nation's and the planet's.

[KoKo]

1. Interesting post, Dover. I think all over the world people (in small

groups, now) are beginning to see how "Globilization" is not really working in dealing with our "humanity towards each other and our earth environment." At some point the crushing boots of uncontrolled capitalism causes folks to wake up and look at the giant above. To question the manipulation and greed for what it is. And, eventually to start a movement to fight back.

There's much going on out there. In little ways that will grow a new movement, I think. We will have to deal with the tyrants until they are toppled and hopefully it won't be the way the Iraq Invasion was carried out, but by ever steady perserverance in trying to do what we can do in our small ways until new voices are heard and are so loud that they can't be drowned out by Corporate Controlled Media, Bush Dynasty or any other agents of Opression working in our world today.

[Dover]

3. Yes, I agree. I think people are going to have to really grok this

corporate powershift and it's implications fully in order to effectively organize against it...although even those who are not fully aware of this bigger picture, but are defending issues, supporting new forms of governance and working toward certain goals to bring more democratic changes to globalization, can still be contributing to the larger change.

[Bandit]

2. Senator Kerry gave a speech yesterday about this very issue

He basically called corporations who moved "overseas" to avoid paying taxes traitors. He said he would restrict the government from doing any business with such a company if he were elected President. I'm wondering what he has done as Senator about them.

[Dover]

4. "Free" Trade

Op-Ed Contributor: Second Thoughts on Free Trade

January 6, 2004
By CHARLES SCHUMER and PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS

The original case for free trade, made two centuries ago,
looks a bit weaker in the face of the modern global
economy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/06/opinion/06SCHU.html?ex=1074425957&ei=1&en=b02157a47ef8353b

Excerpt:

....new political stability is allowing capital and technology to flow far more freely around the world. Second, strong educational systems are producing tens of millions of intelligent, motivated workers in the developing world, particularly in India and China, who are as capable as the most highly educated workers in the developed world but available to work at a tiny fraction of the cost. Last, inexpensive, high-bandwidth communications make it feasible for large work forces to be located and effectively managed anywhere.

We are concerned that the United States may be entering a new economic era in which American workers will face direct global competition at almost every job level — from the machinist to the software engineer to the Wall Street analyst. Any worker whose job does not require daily face-to-face interaction is now in jeopardy of being replaced by a lower-paid, equally skilled worker thousands of miles away. American jobs are being lost not to competition from foreign companies, but to multinational corporations, often with American roots, that are cutting costs by shifting operations to low-wage countries.

Most economists want to view these changes through the classic prism of "free trade," and they label any challenge as protectionism. But these new developments call into question some of the key assumptions supporting the doctrine of free trade.

The case for free trade is based on the British economist David Ricardo's principle of "comparative advantage" — the idea that each nation should specialize in what it does best and trade with others for other needs. If each country focused on its comparative advantage, productivity would be highest and every nation would share part of a bigger global economic pie.

However, when Ricardo said that free trade would produce shared gains for all nations, he assumed that the resources used to produce goods — what he called the "factors of production" — would not be easily moved over international borders. Comparative advantage is undermined if the factors of production can relocate to wherever they are most productive: in today's case, to a relatively few countries with abundant cheap labor. In this situation, there are no longer shared gains — some countries win and others lose...cont'd