The Cursed Machine

My first-ever post on this blog was as follows:

Who are we? Where are we going? What kind of world do we want to create?

We live in a world of "guided missiles and misguided men" (Martin Luther King). The industralised behommeth of 21st Century "Civilisation" races at full steam towards a destination most thinking people no longer wish to attain. As we hurtle blindly towards our materialistic, nuclear future, we leave behind untold wonders and riches, many never to be seen again. Who built this cursed machine? Who controls it? Should we be trying to stop it, destroy it or re-direct it? Or should we just be jumping off?!?

After centuries of disenfranchisement, subjugation and de-humanisation, the Internet promises to re-empower the individual and unite ordinary people around the globe. Personal web sites like Blogger give us a medium to make our voices heard like never before. This Blog is my voice on the Internet.

At the time, this blog was not even called BushOut and I did not even know exactly what I wanted to do with it. But I was frustrated with half a lifetime spent working within this system. I wanted answers. I wanted knowledge. And I wanted to be able to do something, however small, to help make this world a better place.

I now feel that I have the answers I was seeking and a better understand of why the modern Western world in which I live operates the way it does, and what can be done to improve it. Indeed, I have learned much from twenty months closely watching the Bush cabal's moves, alongside other related news. The knowledge is here in this blog, if you wish to share it.

I have heard the Bush cabal described as many things by many people. Even to call it a "cabal" is probably misleading. The important thing to understand that is is not just George W. Bush, or even his extended family, who control this apparatus. It is a broad conglomeration of powerful people with diverse interests - big business, media, the arms industry, the religious evangelicals and others - who work together to pursue joint and separate interests, almost always at the expense of the public good. The danger is that their ability to work together seems to be growing exponentially, like some multi-headed hydra beast from a science fiction movie, and their power is growing accordingly.

But I think this "Gang Of 500", as they are also known, have made a mistake by stepping out in public so openly. Perhaps, given the growing pressures of globalization, they had no choice. But previously, when they were the faceless powers-that-be, the rich related families whose moves and motives were forever shrouded in secrecy, they had sufficient control of the media, government and law to ensure that any scrutiny of their actions was short-lived and easily dismissed as "conspiracy theories". Now, ironically, although they have even more control of the media, government and legislature, they also have increasingly public profiles. Which makes them easier to target.

For example, just look at the list of top donors to the GOP election campaign. What a perfect start to a fax- or mail-out, or even a global boycott campaign!

Also ironic is the fact that in today's world, many of these powerful entities are shareholder-owned corporations. More on that later.

There are many others who feel this way about the Bush cabal. For example, John Kaminski describes himself as "a writer who lives on the Gulf Coast of Florida, and is acutely ashamed, in this rancid day and age, to be an American." Here's what he had to say at ICH today:

"We have let our world be radically changed by a few evil, rich, white and soulless businessmen who control the information we receive and the appartus that governs us, and now we have let 200-plus years of relative freedom go down the drain simply because these men wanted to make even more money and sold us on a story that convinced us we were in danger from a foreign threat, just like they always do, just like they have always done.

They have changed the character of the world based on a big lie that we swallowed because we failed to have the courage to challenge what they said..."

I think it is not just courage that is required to defeat these people, it is also understanding and love for our fellow citizens - yes, even those who voted for Bush. As Neil Young once put it, even Richard Nixon has got soul.

Some are undoubtedly beyond redemption, or will only see the error of their ways when it is much too late. But others are simply ignorant, misled or suffering under the illusion that these issues are conspiracy theories, or "boring" political matters that have no impact on their lives. The best way to defeat Bush & Co - and re-take control of our own lives, our own world and our children's world - is to reach out to these people, educate and motivate them.

Divided by partisansip and media-fueled lies, we will remain easy prey for the Bush cabal's propaganda. Together, we are unstoppable. As Percy Bysshe Shelley once wrote:

Rise like lions after slumber in unvanquishable number
Shake your chains to earth like dew Which in sleep had fallen on you
Ye are many - they are few...