The Religious Right and the New Feudalism

The first republicans, recognizing that the world was set to be polarized along a rift determined by the world's opposing philosophies, showed great foresight in seizing the linguistic moral high ground and claimed the designation "The RIGHT" as their banner. Leaving the scattered, unorganized masses opposed no option but to identify themselves as "The LEFT" (or else be called the wrong).

The noble houses, masters of the arts of bargaining, accumulating wealth and maintaining privilege, were supporters of and supported by a strong centralized governing body, namely the land owners who were in lawful possession of the means of food production (since they were the makers and manipulators of  law).

The workers, captured slaves or dispossessed peasantry had no choice but to work the land upon which they found themselves, and were allowed to keep just enough of the fruits of their labours to sustain life and breed new workers. Generations of landless serfs were caught in the web of dependency on the landlords, who maintained the feudal system through the enshrined concepts of inherited wealth and private property.

So, not surprisingly,  the nobility were always the firmest upholders of the status quo, and employed armed guards and armies to defend these rights against all comers. These families insinuated themselves into positions near the throne to be supporters or rivals of those enthroned who ruled by divine (church-granted) right.

By employing/exploiting artists, scientists and rewarding most useful expressions of "popular" opinion, the patrons of the arts picked the creators of a culture which best expressed their aims and ambitions. Those selected for these honours were less likely cast doubt on the ones to whom they owed their success and so the arts and sciences of any place and time would naturally reflect or serve the institutions under the control of the leading, upper class, arbiters of taste and bestowers of glory. Those dissenters who dared question the validity of the class structure were easy to trivialize, labelled as crazy or, if they became too popular, eliminated.

 The ruling class came to be so entangled with the best aspects of civilized life that any attempt to extricate them would seem to threaten the entire edifice of civilization, the economy and individual security. Obviously it was much better to suffer the outrageous iniquity than to risk descending into utter barbarity. The ones who would suffer most and should have worked together to change the arrangement were instead forced to compete with each other for the scraps which trickled down from the heavily-laden dining tables of their "betters". Individuals would contend for the more rewarding positions of servitude, jobs and positions in service of the paymasters, or settle for their benign neglect rather than openly defy a whole society at the risk of imprisonment, ostracism or death.

Today, especially in America where 80% of the wealth is held by 1% of the population The working "middle class"  are the new peasants and poverty is now slavery.    

  We, the people, who in the pyramidal scheme of things comprise an overwhelming majority, continue to compete for favours rather than cooperate in a fragmented world where the manipulators of the game are nowhere to be seen. Having set out the rule of laws and enforcing obedience, the masters are untouchable, non-combatants like referees in a life and death struggle to survive. Their lofty position frees them from the role of players, who need to spend most of their precious time earning a living. We work to  support the parasitic corporations and elevate the top layer of management to far-removed lands of prestige.

We have been repeating this pattern daily over the centuries, by simple everyday actions. We participate in our mass culture by attending entertainments. We go to the movies or crowd into stadiums to witness music concerts or sports contests and in doing so we donate our collective wealth, dollar by hard-earned dollar  to the Big Entertainment Conglomerates, which then pay dividends to the stars they create. In our millions we toss our tribute into the collective pot to be shared among the collectors, further entrenching their monopoly of the media: newspapers, magazines, massive stadiums and the telecommunication infrastructure.

The potential exists for these events to consolidate the masses in a common cause; but most often this unity finds expression through soccer riots or rock concert hysteria. We are hypnotized by the spectacle, isolated observers, removed from the show by the geography of designated seating and we can only influence the proceedings by lending our support or by refusing to participate.

More of us watch the news than those who create the stories. And when we do become the subjects of news reports it is usually as tragic heroes, villains or victims of tragedy.

So what can we do?
The world seems to have been run along these lines since the beginning of history, because the memory of
times preceding the written record has been relegated to the age of Myth, the Golden Age when all humans were equally at the mercy of the gods and goddesses.

I think most of us actually know what ought to be done to set human society on a more sustainable, equable course; but would prefer to leave the taking of drastic measures to others. Some of the things we have become accustomed to must be sacrificed. Some of us know people who have taken some of these steps. Some of us are these people.  

The first step in effecting actual change is to identify those businesses whose aims run contrary to the good of the world. This is made more difficult by the persistent misuse, by these same interest groups, of the news media to disseminate material promoting their efforts as "progress", offering limitless energy and promising to feed the world. Be skeptical of such claims.

Withdraw your support from these deceptive, wrongful industries. Vote with your dollars, shop elsewhere, find alternatives. Though it is not easy to find ways around the monopolies of energy, oil and other polluting practices there are options if you're prepared to adapt your habits for the sake of long-term benefit to the entire planet.

Avoid the use of money wherever possible. Exchange services, goods and information freely or by barter. All currency is taxed. Remove yourself from the grid. Invest in renewable energy and ergonomic housing. Grow your own or support your neighbours who do. Reuse, recycle and reduce dependency on centralized  resource distributors. Get inventive. Do more with less. Build what you need, create beauty and utility. Give away what you don't need. Share information, technologies and things.

Meditate as an alternative to consuming time-wasting entertainment and distractions. A positive attitude and constructive, esteem-building activities will do far more for your health and well being than all the doctors, therapists and medicines.

Build community. Help create situations where you can gather to enjoy each other's company. Celebrate, raise spirits, spread love and share your lives with your neighbours. Seek out the people whose lives, practices agree with your aims and offer whatever kind of support you can, even if nothing more than encouragement. Allow the idealists to prosper.

Cultivate an appreciation of the absurd. Be amused by the ironies abounding in the world. Laughter is the most potent tool of change. Point out the prevailing  ridiculous attitudes and activities you see.
The greatest fear of tyrants is that they will  not be taken seriously.

The GREAT LIBRARY online musical theatre collaboration. Support your local idealist
http://www.recordingsunlimited.com/great-library.htm