One of the few charms of Our Dim-Witted Leader is his willingness to admit his frequent befuddlement. The latest example is his struggle to understand this year's Academy Award winning best picture, Parasite:
What the hell was that all about?
On this issue, though, Donald Trump is not alone. Americans in general have trouble processing anything concerned with class conflict, social inequality and the deleterious effects of Absolute Capitalism, which are the themes of Parasite.
That a lifelong bloodsucker like Trump would not understand Parasite is not surprising, as this only confirms Jesus' universal truth about human nature: our inability to recognize our own sins (Matthew 7:3-5).
What continually creates exasperation is the American poor's inability to locate themselves in a class struggle. . .
What are the reasons for this?
1). The American poor do not view themselves as poor. The American poor see themselves as an imaginary *middle class* who don't have as much money as they would like. The American poor do not view themselves as belonging to a class of people at the bottom of a social strata. The American poor, if they do acknowledge a class of people called poor, reserve that for people of color and white trash (mostly rural and southern).
This haughtiness of the *middle class* is laughable. They are poor (as this recent headline illustrates).
This term *middle class* is a creation of the political system. Democrats and Republicans stage political theater every election cycle, each claiming to know how best to serve the *middle class.* In reality serving the *middle class* means how best to take what little money the poor have and give it to the rich. That is the economic function of the political system. The term *middle class* is merely an emotional bandage to cover the wound of poverty that afflicts most Americans. By identifying themselves with an imaginary *middle class* of the richest nation on earth, most Americans therefore relieve themselves of the class stigma *poor.* They put on economic airs.
2). Americans are terrified of class conflict. Before they were terrified of muslims, they were terrified of *communists.* The class struggles of theoretical communism became identified with the hapless and cruel failures of Soviet communism during the US - USSR Cold War. To criticize capitalism and to view America as a failed, divided society was considered unpatriotic. Constantly fed the propaganda they were part of an imaginary *middle class* of the richest nation on earth, the average American became disdainful of class conflict. If there were any poor in America, it was their own fault, not the fault of the *system.* Why, everybody knows anybody can grow up to be anything they want in America, if they only are willing to *work hard.* America has a *level playing field.* These simple-minded bromides continue to hold sway, even as the American's standard of living continues to decline.
Given the above points, it is not surprising a pseudo-socialist like Bernie Sanders struggles to gain more votes than generic politicians, even cock-sucking ones. But even Sanders is afraid to tell most Americans they are poor, as he, too, most often addresses his *talking points* to the imaginary *middle class.* Sanders admits the *middle class* will have to pay more in taxes to fund his Medicare for All Fund. . .but the cat is let out of the bag when he says that this *middle class* includes everybody making $29000 or more. My friend, 29k ain't *middle class.* If you make 29k in this country, you're poor.
Sanders' timid criticisms of capitalism evoke hysterical cries of *socialism* from his opponents, whether democrat or republican, because both parties are devoted to maintaining the status quo. Both are beholden to the rich. This is evident when democrats are open about refusing to their award their party's nomination to the candidate who wins the most delegates in the primaries. . .because that candidate will be the *socialist* Bernie Sanders. And because Sanders will not have enough delegates to reach the 50% threshold required to earn the nomination, the democrats will have an open convention, and eventually the nominating process will fall to corrupt back-room deals and *super delegate* whoring. . .the democrat party will pick a *centrist,* meaning someone willing to keep the party faithful to every crooked trick of Absolute Capitalism. The democrat party, as it is currently constituted, will never rally around even a modest critic of capitalism like Bernie Sanders.
But because the American poor refuse to recognize their own poverty, refuse to give up their *middle class* delusion, they will continue to get the president they deserve, whether democrat or republican. No voter in the world is dumber than the American, who continually votes against his own interest, and instead votes for the interests of the rich. It's actually laugh out loud funny how stupid the American voter is, as he proudly marches into the voting booth determined to uphold the profit structure of the health insurance industry! He believes he's fulfilling his God-given duty!
So, yes, then, back to Parasite, it's no wonder the reaction to it in America is:
What the hell was that all about?
2). Americans are terrified of class conflict. Before they were terrified of muslims, they were terrified of *communists.* The class struggles of theoretical communism became identified with the hapless and cruel failures of Soviet communism during the US - USSR Cold War. To criticize capitalism and to view America as a failed, divided society was considered unpatriotic. Constantly fed the propaganda they were part of an imaginary *middle class* of the richest nation on earth, the average American became disdainful of class conflict. If there were any poor in America, it was their own fault, not the fault of the *system.* Why, everybody knows anybody can grow up to be anything they want in America, if they only are willing to *work hard.* America has a *level playing field.* These simple-minded bromides continue to hold sway, even as the American's standard of living continues to decline.
Given the above points, it is not surprising a pseudo-socialist like Bernie Sanders struggles to gain more votes than generic politicians, even cock-sucking ones. But even Sanders is afraid to tell most Americans they are poor, as he, too, most often addresses his *talking points* to the imaginary *middle class.* Sanders admits the *middle class* will have to pay more in taxes to fund his Medicare for All Fund. . .but the cat is let out of the bag when he says that this *middle class* includes everybody making $29000 or more. My friend, 29k ain't *middle class.* If you make 29k in this country, you're poor.
Sanders' timid criticisms of capitalism evoke hysterical cries of *socialism* from his opponents, whether democrat or republican, because both parties are devoted to maintaining the status quo. Both are beholden to the rich. This is evident when democrats are open about refusing to their award their party's nomination to the candidate who wins the most delegates in the primaries. . .because that candidate will be the *socialist* Bernie Sanders. And because Sanders will not have enough delegates to reach the 50% threshold required to earn the nomination, the democrats will have an open convention, and eventually the nominating process will fall to corrupt back-room deals and *super delegate* whoring. . .the democrat party will pick a *centrist,* meaning someone willing to keep the party faithful to every crooked trick of Absolute Capitalism. The democrat party, as it is currently constituted, will never rally around even a modest critic of capitalism like Bernie Sanders.
But because the American poor refuse to recognize their own poverty, refuse to give up their *middle class* delusion, they will continue to get the president they deserve, whether democrat or republican. No voter in the world is dumber than the American, who continually votes against his own interest, and instead votes for the interests of the rich. It's actually laugh out loud funny how stupid the American voter is, as he proudly marches into the voting booth determined to uphold the profit structure of the health insurance industry! He believes he's fulfilling his God-given duty!
So, yes, then, back to Parasite, it's no wonder the reaction to it in America is:
What the hell was that all about?
[Some people do not understand how America's *capitalist* economy functions. Its function is to take money from the poor and give it to the rich. One small example serves as a model for the economy in general, and if one keeps this small example in mind, one will see its practice again and again in similar forms throughout the economy:
The poor person, not earning enough money to live on, despite working at least 40 hours a week, borrows money from the rich, in this example, in the form of a *credit card.* The rich persons lends money to the poor, but then demands the poor person pay it back with interest. . .and if the poor person is late in making payments, additional fees and fines are demanded. This is the entire structure of the American economy, from the individual level, represented here in the credit scam, to the corporate level, in which the rich reverse the process, borrowing money from the government in the form of *tax incentives* and then never paying it back (see here).
The beloved American economy, in text book jargon, is a high-cost rentier economy. Its GDP is empty, consisting mainly of the Finance, Insurance and Real Estate (FIRE) rents, profits and capital gains while the nation’s infrastructure decays and its labor is reduced to a part-time *gig* economy.
In non-textbook jargon, the American economy is a usury economy, and usury, as we know from the Bible, is a sin. Thus, the idiot American voter is faithful to a sinful system.]
The poor person, not earning enough money to live on, despite working at least 40 hours a week, borrows money from the rich, in this example, in the form of a *credit card.* The rich persons lends money to the poor, but then demands the poor person pay it back with interest. . .and if the poor person is late in making payments, additional fees and fines are demanded. This is the entire structure of the American economy, from the individual level, represented here in the credit scam, to the corporate level, in which the rich reverse the process, borrowing money from the government in the form of *tax incentives* and then never paying it back (see here).
The beloved American economy, in text book jargon, is a high-cost rentier economy. Its GDP is empty, consisting mainly of the Finance, Insurance and Real Estate (FIRE) rents, profits and capital gains while the nation’s infrastructure decays and its labor is reduced to a part-time *gig* economy.
In non-textbook jargon, the American economy is a usury economy, and usury, as we know from the Bible, is a sin. Thus, the idiot American voter is faithful to a sinful system.]
