“War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.”
– 1984, George Orwell
Big Brother, from George Orwell’s novel “1984”, is my term for all forms of government, both Corporatist and Marxist, that reject the concept of individual freedom and responsibility and replace it with centralized control and regulation of thought. In the case of the US, there are both Fascist (Corporatist) and Marxist (Progressive, Socialist, Democrats – all just synonyms for the same philosophy) forms of Big Brother, and both work to subjugate the populace for their own purposes.
Marxism
Marxism in all its forms, ranging from “progressive” Democrats/Socialists such as AOC, Bernie Sanders, to the outright Communist Zohran Mamdani, all share a common agenda to reshape society to their collectivist vision. Whether they truly think that government is the answer or they know that they are advancing the Marxist agenda to reshape society from equality of opportunity to equality of outcome, the end result is the same: poverty for the masses, power for the party leaders.
Fascism
” Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power.”
– Benito Mussolini
” Fascism is capitalism in decay”
– Lenin
Fascism is the complex evil twin of the Marxist movement, which is well underway in America. As corporations centralize power and stifle competition, they increasingly leverage government influence to enhance their monopolies. By agreeing with and helping write laws to “regulate” themselves, they are, in reality, creating barriers to entry from competition. In this sense, they are “frenemies” of the Marxist progressives, whom they leverage and manipulate in order to increase their own power.
Besides banking and the military-industrial complex, the other significant example of corporate fascism is in the medical industry, in particular, pharmaceutical companies, but also in hospitals and the medical industry overall. Between hospitals, health insurance, and pharma companies, consumers’ choices are increasingly limited as all aspects of the health care system are reorganized to maximize profit for the shareholders as opposed to patient care and quality of outcomes.
With private equity a growing player in buying up and then shutting down hospital chains, or purchasing ambulance and emergency services, these players are seeking to get into businesses where consumers have little to no choice for needed services, and they can charge whatever they can get away with.
Democracy
“When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.”
– Benjamin Franklin
Throughout history, all attempts at democracy have inevitably failed, starting with Athens and Rome, and leading to the US today, where the failure is still in progress. The patterns expressed in earlier attempts are repeating themselves yet again. Pandering politicians and increasing taxation, as those who take steal from those who make, with the politicians arranging the swindle, both skimming for themselves and using the proceeds to grow the base of those who are indebted to them for their welfare.
It seems that the concept of democracy is like a cancer. When starting out, it is a normal cell that performs useful functions, benefiting society. However, as it grows, it consumes more resources, not for the benefit of its host, society, but for its own growth and survival. In the late stages, it consumes practically all resources as it continues its relentless growth, and in this way, it is no different than a cancer that kills as the tumor consumes all the resources of its host, choking off vital functions.
The founders of this country were keenly aware of the dangers of democracy as a form of government. To counter the danger of mob rule, they explicitly designed the Constitution to limit the power of government and divide power across different branches of government, as well as limiting the franchise to those who had a vested interest in good governance by being landowners or taxpayers. In spite of their efforts, their controls have been degraded over time by expanding the franchise to those who contribute nothing to society and only take from the government, and as a result, Benjamin Franklin’s warning is now being played out.
Laws are now made by corporate lawyers to benefit corporate interests, with the corporate-owned media spinning the story about how this is all for the benefit of the plebes paying for it. The military, financial and healthcare sectors have been totally consumed by this pathology. Can the MAGA movement reverse this trend? Only time will tell.
Is there a way out of this trap? If there is, it will rely on building a society structured around self-reliance, duty, and responsibility, with all shared institutions limited to the smallest extent possible and with regular review and expungement when the purpose of the institution is no longer being met. We must turn on its head the truism that there is nothing more permanent than a temporary government program or measure. Likewise, we must make representation as a politician, not a lifetime role where the greatest showman wins, but a civic duty that all capable citizens are required to support.