Beneath all the hurled insults and heated debates, the two factions are actually furiously agreeing with one another the entire time, argues Caitlin Johnstone.
By Caitlin Johnstone
CaitlinJohnstone.com
When you look at U.S. politics, it appears as though there are two mainstream political factions that very strongly disagree with one another. “Divided” is a word that comes up a lot. “Polarized” is another.
It is of course true that a whole lot of emotion flows between these two factions, and most of it is indeed negative. The hot topics of any given news cycle in America will typically involve more than one story pertaining to the vitriolic enmity between them.
But beneath all the hurled insults and heated debates, these two factions are actually furiously agreeing with one another. They’re agreeing the entire time.
They agree that the U.S. government should remain the center of a globe-spanning empire; they just angrily quibble over a few of the details of how that empire should be run, like whether or not the Saudi crown prince should have received some small consequence for dismembering a Washington Post reporter with a bone saw.
They agree that the U.S. should remain the earth’s unipolar hegemon at all cost; they just loudly bicker over some of the specifics in how it should look, like whether there should be the names of Confederate generals on its military bases.
They agree that there should be a massive U.S. military presence around the world; they just furiously dispute small particulars like whether a few thousand of those troops should remain in Germany or be moved to Poland.
They agree that there must be endless mass military violence to uphold the U.S.-centralized empire; they just make a big show of debating whether that military violence should be more focused on Syria or Iran.
They agree that it is necessary to menace the entire planet with nuclear weapons while ramping up aggressions against other nuclear powers; they just rage back and forth about whose finger should be on the button.
They agree that it is necessary to control the world economy with an iron fist; they just squabble about its features, like how and when to roll out a trade war with China.
They agree that the environment should continue to be destroyed; they just fight about the minutia, like whether or not there should be some accommodations made for the profit margins of green energy corporations.
They agree that income and wealth inequality should persist in the U.S.; they just passionately disagree about how it should persist, like whether or not Americans should receive another paltry $1200 stimulus payment this year.
They agree that plutocracy should continue to rule America; they just spar over the minor features, like whether or not those plutocrats should pay a tiny bit more in taxes.
They agree that Americans should remain aggressively propagandized; they just argue about whether it should be by Fox News or MSNBC.
They agree Americans should be closely surveilled and their speech tightly controlled; they just debate the details, like whether or not right-wing pundits are being disproportionately censored on social media.
On all issues that most severely affect real people on mass scale, these two political factions are in emphatic agreement. They just pour a whole lot of sound and fury into the tiny one percent of the spectrum wherein they have some disagreement.
They do not allow for any mainstream discussion of if the oligarchic empire should continue to exist; all their issues, arguments and histrionics revolve around how it should exist.
This is what they are designed to do. They are designed to keep the American populace from clearly seeing what the real debate is, which is why anyone who relies on a worldview which favors either of these mainstream factions will inevitably suffer confusion and misperception. They are perceptual filters designed to hide the only real debate in U.S. politics.
The real debate in U.S. politics is not between the two mainstream factions which agree with one another on virtually everything that matters to every extent that matters. The real debate is those two factions together against those who understand that the entire American status quo needs to be flushed down the toilet.
The real political debate in America is between (A) those who understand that the U.S. empire is the single most destructive force on this planet and is corrupt from root to flower, and (B) those who subscribe to mainstream partisan narratives which by design support the U.S. empire.
If politics were real in America, this would be the debate everyone sees. Not between two murderous septuagenarians yelling over each other about who hates socialism more, but between the side which opposes the oligarchic empire and the side which promotes and protects it.
But politics isn’t real in America. It’s a show. A two-handed sock puppet show to distract the audience while pickpockets rob them blind.
If you want to see things clearly, ignore the fake drama of the sock puppet show altogether and focus on advancing the real debate: that the U.S.-centralized oligarchic empire is corrupt beyond redemption and should be completely dismantled.
Caitlin Johnstone is a rogue journalist, poet, and utopia prepper who publishes regularly at Medium. Her work is entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, liking her on Facebook, following her antics on Twitter, checking out her podcast on either Youtube, soundcloud, Apple podcasts or Spotify, following her on Steemit, throwing some money into her tip jar on Patreon or Paypal, purchasing some of her sweet merchandise, buying her books Rogue Nation: Psychonautical Adventures With Caitlin Johnstone and Woke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers.
This article was re-published with permission.
The views expressed are solely those of the author and may or may not reflect those of Consortium News.
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Wow, right on the money – and a relief to read someone actually say it – the censorship is becoming stifling (like the masks).
Great article and right on target from Caitlin Johnstone. We need a sequel as to how the real debate was squandered and what to do next. Surely, one of the two sides of the same coin will reign for the next 4 years, tightening the screws on the American public and the rest of the world while the planet renders more and more of itself uninhabitable, unable to sustain living creatures great and small. For the people living under the iron heel who will go back to sleep on 11/4, there will be the pretend opposition–talking heads, marching feet, smashing glass, flying bulletsa. But what about the rest of us, woke to the sock puppet show? Fight or flee? Keep breathing or just take a pill and make it all go away? As I stare at my absentee ballot, I cannot even bring myself to bubble for those who are worthier than others. I can’t bring myself to be a willing participant in the sock puppet show. What is to be done?
All absolutely true, Caitlin. If only those with a good education, comfortable lives, decent health coverage also saw the real picture. But they deeply soaked in the Blue Rinse offered by the Blue Head of the Janus and thus are all for Biden (which means Harris really, and surely they know that and that she is a real piece of work) and totally against the Strumpet (TDS).
And they do NOT care a fig that whoever represents the Blue head is, in reality, going to do nothing fundamentally different, believes nothing fundamentally different to those who represent the Red head. They surely recognize that nothing really changes, not for the bottom 50% of the population – oh right, they do not dwell in that group.
And they do not literally dwell in any of this nation’s target countries, so why care? Anyway, they probably also drank on that “exceptionalist,” “we see further” than any other nation therefore have THE right to control the world as WE see fit, Kool Aid…
Neither “candidate” is or was worth voting for. It is, as Caitlin, says: All a sham.
Bravo! This is exactly how journalism should be. It’s called ‘Stepping back from the trees to see the forest’. Well done.
What we’ve been watching this year is two teams, playing the same game, vying for the 2020 trophy. (Democrats are still rattling their sabers at Russia.)
There’s an old German saying, roughly translated, “All in a sack, flog it with a heavy cudgel – You’ll never hit the wrong one.”
Johnstone nails it. She is a superb political philosopher and writer. One wonders if the narrative would have to be edited if Sanders had succeeded or whether it might still change with the rise of AOC and other insightful progressives.
That’s right, that’s why I have to wonder how Biden won the nomination. There were several candidates that were different on many important issues. And all of the polls showed Sanders way ahead of him, and Sanders was on the most popular side with the voters on all the big important issues. I have to wonder if the votes were counted accurately. There’s no legitimate reason that Biden could have won, it doesn’t make any sense logically. The super-rich seem to control everything that happens at this point. And Trump-Biden are the two candidates that the super-rich wanted. How they arranged that is debatable, but that seems to be what we have here. Biden is a friend to Israel and the super-rich, as is Trump. So the rest of the people are excluded basically. I think Biden will give us a better chance at surviving the pandemic at least, and that’s what I think people should vote for. Nobody is more unhappy than I am that he won the nomination. But I also value my life, and he at least will carry out some kind of sane, medically-approved pandemic plan. The other thing to consider is this – the super-rich also favor Trump for sure, so Trump may still win, not because he’ll get more votes, but because the super-rich have all the power here and can do whatever they want. We’re not living in a free and fair democracy, so the will of the people many not be reflected in the winner.
Agree. Definitely something fishy with the Sanders drop. The way he didn’t fight at all tells me that whoever whispered in his hear was a scary Mofo.
Excellent article!
Great article again, Caitlin! no wonder Russia and Iran make it clear that they do not really care which Party wins the POTUS election!
Caitlin…you forgot one important point: one side (the minority party) has organized domestic terrorists working for them and the other…doesn’t. last time these conditions were met, we had half a million Americans die (although to be sure, last time, both parties had terrorists working at their behest). One suspects an American civil conflict would be something you approve of….you know, turning the violence inward. Not sure I’m gonna enjoy living in my own little Serejevo