Political Application of Integration Techniques of Globalized Economic Theory: Past and Futuristic Examples Presented in the Media

Scribd Link for Media Enhanced PowerPoint File (PPTX) Download Option (Recommended)

Rise of the Deified Corporate Oligarchy as a Monarchial Feudalist Society Surrogate

After re-watching Dogma and NBC's Kings Episode First Night, I present for the blogosphere's consideration:

Posit:  With the corporation legally defined as a person, the identification of the corporation has been deified given the amount of power and influence corporations wield in the livelihood of the populace. 1% of the US population controls over 50% of its wealth. Corporate protocols and Corporate activities define and dominate how our lives our conducted. For a great many individuals, celebrity is something to aspire. Corporations, "high society", and celebrity ARE the modern manifestation of monarchies and the subsequent subordinate effects of "benevolent feudalism" do exist in US culture and have and will ALWAYS exist .

Result: No matter the political and/or religious ideology of a nation and its specific customs or methods of representation, elements of monarchial and feudal protocol will always exist in a culture.

Discussion/Thoughts?

The War on Terror as a Subset to A Long Standing Socioeconomic War

Posit

The current state of the economy , the dissatisfaction of the general populace with the socioeconomic allocations within the USA sphere of control, and the impacts of the globalization and the socioeconomic meltdowns and unrest overseas were a heads up to the US oligarchical structure to prepare for action.

Analysis

The ongoing War on Terror (WOT) is the current fear-based motive to create a somewhat 2 dimensional (2-D) reactionary Hegelian infrastructure to implement a rigid controlled hierarchical social infrastructure to maintain order leveraging ongoing legal initiatives to achieve a stable state under the guise of security and safety. Keeping any discourse in such a society (i.e, limiting different views, perspectives, and other dimensions of an issue) to a 2-D argument allows for easier manipulation and control of the state in maintaining stability. Media blackouts, fluff journalistic pieces, and framing of discussions as a strictly liberal/conservative argument are the most apparent of modern examples. This type of control has existed regardless of the ideology practiced by a government and society throughout history. It is easier to maintain control of a populace if the populace has limited or no information on an issue

The current US power structure is facing a classic double front war-time dilemma, but the WOT is NOT the major element; in fact the WOT can be seen as subset of combating radicalism within a socioeconomic war (with the modern instance of Al-Qaeda invoking alternative interpretations of Islam as their rallying point), that has been at the heart of the modern conflicts , and indeed all conflicts in general.

Framing the "war" from a socioeconomic perspective, the 2 fronts that the USA faces immediately, is the growing unrest of the general populace with the socioeconomic allocations within the USA sphere of control, and addressing the rising economic capabilities of Central Asia [with IMF analysis here] coupled with the trade deficits, competition, and financial issues brought about by the EU and globalization.

Now as a reminder of basic military theory (since the prominent proponents of the NDAA Sec 1031 and 1032 are arguing is such terms), a two-front war is one in which fighting takes place on two geographically separate fronts. If an army must divide its forces to address 2 threats simultaneously, that army's chances for success diminish, sometimes greatly.

The First Front

Addressing the home front as the first theoretical front the USA faces, has been relatively straight forward for the current US power structure to address. The implications addressing the "wartime" issues through the broad language of Sec 1031/1032 in its current form (with the vague language as to who decides or when termination of hostilities end in addition to potentially contradictory language between Sec 1031 and 1032 regarding US citizenship disposition), is a reactionary 2-D response of dealing with the potential issues that may arise with the perceived internal threat to the US. The language of the current Sec 1031/1032 is broad enough to include instances of socioeconomic protest and dissension as encouraged examples of terrorism if deemed as such by authorities.

Moreover, the Patriot Act implements controls at specific functional levels (personal profiling as well as information and financial transaction monitoring and examples of supporting analysis, among its items), with the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) ostensibly implemented to combat economic losses for online venues. SOPA has provisions to implement firewalls that would address the piracy issue, but may be leveraged under NDAA Sec 1031/1032 and the Patriot Act to control information in the name of counter-terrorism action since piracy by definition can be construed as a terrorist act.

The Second Front

Addressing the rising economic capabilities of Central Asia coupled with the trade deficits, competition, and financial issues brought about by the EU and globalization as the secondary front of a theoretical US socioeconomic war may be significantly problematic. 3 major issues on this front face the US: maintaining competitiveness in global markets, reducing the trade deficits, and preventing the devaluation of the USD.

We've marketed ourselves as a country in so far as the bling and the image of the good life pretty well. However, aside from technological and intellectual based exports (iPods, Software, R&D etc), key manufacturing sectors which support the tenants that create such an image need addressing. US materiel exports must improve and increase. As a 2002 Study suggests, education of the US workforce doesn't match the current needs of a global economy, and the population currently qualified to handle the current job need is low (i.e., we need more math and science based professionals). The data shows improvement as of 2010, but the number of advanced degrees pursued by foreign students versus US students is still high. Much of the talent sought by many US corporations to fill such positions is recruited from overseas. This inherently creates a vulnerability to the US.

This situation impacts US competitiveness and the trade deficit, but if the devaluation of the USD or the USD potential removal as the World Reserve Currency occurs (as was being considered by the G20 and the IMF on February 10,2011 with deliberations ongoing), maintaining the US way of life will be significantly more expensive to the point of increased protests and dissension, if not outright revolution.The current power structure most likely is aware of this situation and is implementing the current 2-D initiatives to quell potential unrest on the 1st front (as seen in the current Oakland and UK/European unrest).

Political Metaphor for Our Time?

The power structure has left the secondary front wide open. Theoretically, if the power structure wants to strengthen its position on the second front, it would encourage the education and training of the US populace to address the needs on the second front. This would satisfy the competition and deficit issues and possibly mitigate devaluation of the USD and unrest on the 1st front. However the potential US workers considering international assignments must adjust their expectations in so far as the wage and benefit expectations for potential globally based opportunities may not be what potential workers expect.

If the power structure chooses NOT to address the 2nd front in this manner, then the power structure will most likely stick with the status quo monetary solution to the second front as seen with the EU bailout packages. This solution is HIGHLY contingent upon the global financial community deciding NOT to devalue the USD and leaves the 2nd front open to attack . If the 2nd front is left open to attack, the power structure agendas and motivations MUST be scrutinized and determined beyond the WOT rhetoric. An analysis of what benefits are gained by such exposure to globalization effects, and which entities ultimately benefit from such exposure must be undertaken. This situation is ideal for manipulation and abuse by current and future power structures and administrations, regardless of any well meaning intentions. At this point, the situation for such a scenario will pretty much play out like a modern day version of Star Wars Episode I thru III (had to be geeky! LOL)

A Cautionary Reminder from Kirk and Spock


The current issues and situations presented in this discussion must be considered in terms of global impacts rather than strict US terrorism impacts to understand elements outside the WOT which may have a greater impact on the liberties on rights given by the Constitution. Education of the issues in this matter are imperative and individuals must take personal responsibility to gather as much information on issues and decide for themselves what to do. Complacency and blind acceptance have been the beginning of decline of great societies throughout history.

Insights? Comments welcome and highly encouraged




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112th Congress HR1540-CR Sec. 1021 Thru 1028 & SB1867 Sec.1031/1032: Operation BLACKBRIAR LITE?

UPDATE: December 31, 2011. IT'S SIGNED. The decline of the New Rome has begun. Along with a signing statement that DOES NOT guarantee that other administrations won't abuse the counter terrorism provisions. Maybe the signing went something like this:

Political Metaphor for Our Time?

View on ExposureRoom

Have we become characters in the same sick play?





Is Operation BLACKBRIAR underway?

or Operation BLACKBRIAR LITE (aka, SB1867 Sec 1031/1032) an its twin HR1540-CR Sec 1021 thru 1022?

HR1540-CR p.655 line 23 is a bit vague on when and who decides the WOT is over.

A Little Reminder from Operation Blackbriar Operational Chief Noah Vosen (about 40 seconds into the clip)

Here's a decent summary of SB1867 Sections 1031 and 1032 and HR1540 Sections 1021 thru 1028

Let Emperor Palpatine explain.





Are TPTB still stuck in their tower/bunker using their Netflix account in overdrive
to get ideas or is it an illusion?

They must love Star Wars and the Bourne Trilogy so much so as to make metaphors into reality!

Makes one go hmmmmm. Remember the only true power we have in our country is being informed, educated, taking individual responsibility, and exercising the idea of "1 person 1 vote" when it needs to be counted!

Insights? Comments welcome and highly encouraged

Remember,“Evil flourishes when good men do nothing.”[British statesman Edmund Burke]

"Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement: and when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. " - George Santayana ,Reason in Common Sense (1905-1906)




Here's the Daily Show's take in the issue:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Arrested Development
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Show on Facebook

Occupy Wall Street: Why the French Revolution Analogy Really Can't Work in Practice and Globalization & Devaluation as the Silver Lining in the Cloud

If there was ever a case of blatant revisionist history and media it is the current analogy  of the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement and the French Revolution (FR).

There are numerous blogs out there comparing and contrasting the attributes  between OWS and FR.
Fundamentally, the true difference between the two, is that the French lower class mistakenly believed that simply removing the monarchy would solve the wealth and sociological differences that existed between the classes. In the years following the Revolution, the revolutionaries found out the hard way that implementing a government and maintain infrastructure essentially replaced one type of bureaucratic institution and corruption with another.

Now if the supporters and activists of the OWS keep this in mind, they must remind themselves that the leaders that can effect the change that they seek are also under the influence of the institutions that the OWS wants changed. Even if extreme political actions and martyrdom were undertaken, ultimately the lobbying practiced behind the scenes in the House and Senate, would ultimately water down any perceived gains from such action. (see the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Controversy)

The instantiation of global capitalism and outsourcing that is a key underlying job issue of the OWS movement has dictated the jobs growth for the past few years. It must be remembered  that the credit market issues are also a rallying point for the OWS. This issue is more of an lobbying institutional issue that will be difficult to change because of the Catch-22 situation explained earlier.

Ironically, globalization and shifts in international currency markets which may devalue the dollar may force lobbyists and corporation to recognize the normalization effects of globalization to the point where manufacturing and jobs are potentially created. This benefit has drawback in that a devalued dollar ultimately increases the price of certain consumables and imports. Obtaining credit will be difficult, but if the institutions and lobbyists play it smart in reforming the credit market to accommodate the potential incomes created in the wake of increased employment as well as address other credit market issues, the OWS may get a victory although it may be a Pyrrhic one.

Portrayal of Wars through the Ages: The Power of Media and Information Access in War time

With the advent of radio, television and ultimately the Internet in the later half of the 20th century, there's no denying that increased access to information has significantly changed that way society views wars and conflicts.  From Homer's the Iliad to the correspondents of both World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, and ultimately both Gulf Region conflicts. the power of information access has fundamentally changed how I and may people view the pursuit of conflicts.

A Little History from a Geeks POV

Communication development throughout the ages can be portrayed in terms of logarithmic and exponential growth. Just think, going from weeks months and years of waiting for information of a war during ancient times through the late 1800's to instantaneous updates in our most recent conflicts. Things have certainly changed both for the better and for worse. Increased capability in communication has given society a powerful resource to convey ideas to a mass audience. But as Peter Parker's Uncle Ben told Peter (aka, Spiderman),"With great power comes great responsibility". The responsibility in this context is the use of information, disinformation, reporting propaganda and marketing during wartime.

Information Access During War and the Shaping of History

The Sun Tzu quote,"Every battle is won or lost before it is ever fought." has be countlessly applied to the control of information in examples of wartime. Control of information has become  challenging in recent years with the availability of so much information and although ancient wars suffered primarily for the technology limitations of the era in terms of the overall time information is conveyed and received, the control of the content of information has been constantly applied throughout history to shape outcomes.

Examples can easily be applied recent history with propaganda and news reels of the middle at latter 20th century. It interesting to note the tone of the information presented as time progressed during this period:


Typical 1940 News Reel


1960 Vietnam War Video Compilation (Image Entertainment)

Gulf War Era Propaganda (Rt.com)

The Soapbox: Media Introduction of the Human Factor in the Portrayal of War

It is human nature to always portray an unpleasant subject such as war in the best light. Allegation of governments and politicians of manipulating situation an facts to justify positions on war is not limited to the Iraqi and Gulf War. Such allegations have extended throughout the modern era, most notably the conspiracy of  available intelligence prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Pentagon Papers for Vietnam and the activities leading up to 9/11.

Since the advent of radio TV and the Internet , people's desire and sense of entitlement for information conflicted with established needs for secrecy during wartime. The increasing availability of information is a challenge for institutions that wish to control and manipulate a political, diplomatic, or sociological  reality or outcome.  Often times, punditry, disinformation and legislation become the tools to control the flow and access to information. However in exercising these tactics, society may respond in open criticism of such action to the point where such institutional action is ultimately ineffective.

It may be argued  that a natural response of criticism to institutional practice of platitude promotion, hypocrisy, secrecy, disinformation in the modern age is the media introduction of movies, TV shows,  opinion editorials, comedy shows and blogs as a modern soapbox  that presents an individualistic impact of subjects such as war so as to balance out the intangible idealism of a cause that is undertaken which may difficult to support by society given the availability of information.

Each major conflict of the modern era has been represented through first person account dramatic movies in response to the high level intangible ideals promoted in the name a conflict. Movies such as "Saving Private Ryan" and "Band of Brothers" for World War II, "Apocalypse Now" and "The Deer Hunter" for Vietnam, to "Jarhead", "Stop-Loss" and "Traitor" for the Gulf War and the War-On-Terror, have given a balancing perspective to the patriotic fervor often espoused by the political establishment.

Information is ultimately a resource that can be clearly used to effect historical and sociological change. Its use in conducting and criticizing war is ultimately dependent upon the intended use of the information by institutions such as the government, corporations, the main stream media, and general members of society.

Musings of a Member of the 99%

I'm Lorenzo Bonado. Just one of the many persons out there that are finding their voice in the blogoshpere to share my perspectives on what I see everyday as I (like the vast majority of the the people) do what they need to to do to make it in the harsh cruel world each day.  But  here's the kicker: I find myself wondering what will society in the future (say 100 to 200 years from now) say about the current state of affairs if the only references to our time period were the movies we've made, the sound bites we've created , and the opinions that are written.

Sure, I know that debate has raged on with anthropologists and archeologists for ages, but now the opportunity for the 99% of us to chime in to keep the story straight using the communication resources that would make previous generations of historians envious and keep them in awe. Personally, as an exercise in objectivity, I like to place myself in the mindset of a person that only knows of a particular history though the evidence available and form a perspective based on the evidence (e.g, movies, media, and posted opinions), with no clue as to the conext that created the evidence upon which I use to form my perspective. Once I create that view, I step back and critically analyze the view using context of my personal experiences and look for the "What the F!" moments.

Put simply, if a person's great grandkids posted a blog article on the stuff their grandparents were watching back in the day, would they get it right?

Well this blog is my way of shouting out my views on movies, media, topics and opinions (funny and not funny, good and bad) with the question posed, " Is this the way we want to be remembered?"