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There we go, we got it Bob! Hi! Sorry, we're running a little bit late.

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Excuse me a second.

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Hey Bob, think fast! [Glass breaking] [Shouting]

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Sorry man!

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Welcome to Culture in Decline, my name is Peter Joseph.

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This show is designed for those that want to be a little bit more skeptical

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about society, because perhaps, you're like me.

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As you stumble around this experiment we call global society,

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you can't help but feel an increasing sense of unease,

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perhaps even frustration, with respect to how we, the human family,

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have chosen to organize ourselves on this little planet.

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The late astronomer and well-known advocate of scientific thought, Carl Sagan,

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in his famed PBS series 'Cosmos', once invited the question:

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If we were visited by a superior species from another part of the galaxy,

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and we were forced to explain to them our stewardship of our planet,

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not to mention the state of human affairs today,

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would we be proud of what we described?

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How would we frame our explanation of how almost half of the world,

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over 3 billion people, are either barely surviving in abject poverty and sickness,

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or are simply dying off unnecessarily

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at a rate of about one person every couple of seconds,

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all occurring in the wake of an advanced technological reality,

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where we could easily feed, clothe and house every family on Earth,

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in a respectable standard of living?

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How would we frame the global warfare;

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230 million killed by their fellow man in the past 100 years alone?

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Based on what, meaningless territoriality, resources,

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dogmatic, obsolete ideologies?

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Again, this all occurring in the shadows of a looming scientific recognition,

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that we are indeed simply one family sharing one household,

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bound by the exact same laws of nature,

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hence the same unifying operational ideology.

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How about our economic system, the bedrock of what defines our society,

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not to mention our dominant motivations?

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How would we explain the reality that, rather than organizing ourselves efficiently,

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as a single system to properly manage this household we share,

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we childishly divide and compete and exploit each other

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through an archaic, completely environmentally decoupled game.

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A game, by the way, which not only appears to perpetuate

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a vast spectrum of social atrocities,

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but now seems to be further destabilizing society,

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decreasing our public health.

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Sorry to say, as an individual,

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I really don't care what you believe, nor do I particularly respect it.

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Why? Because I don't really respect what I believe either.

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There is no evidence to show that any of the traditional values,

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establishments, social structures or common practices

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we have today, will be relevant tomorrow.

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The only thing that appears to stand the test of time, is this very notion of change,

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the ever-evolving understanding of ourselves and the world we inhabit.

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Perhaps, some might think that that's actually the definition of human intelligence.

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What do you think about that? Less about what we know,

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more about how vulnerable we are.

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So when you look out your window, ask yourself.

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Do you see intelligence or do you see dogma?

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Do you see a culture listening and working to realign itself

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with the ever-emerging natural orders as they unfold,

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or do you see desperately stubborn efforts by many,

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particularly those in positions of power,

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trying to keep everything the same to the detriment

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of the entire human experiment?

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You know, like you,

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I might be only one member of this family that is now 7 billion strong.

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And like most families, sometimes it's hard for us to agree.

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But sometimes, things get so bad we need serious intervention.

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The following series is that intervention

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in the hope to salvage what is clearly, a culture in decline.

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From the creator of the Zeitgeist film trilogy

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comes the worst reality show of all time.

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The Real One

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GMP Films presents

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Culture in Decline

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With your guide, Peter Joseph

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It's an election year in the United States

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and some may say it's an election year for the whole world.

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Still the dominant empire, the United States' political system

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has spent roughly 25 billion dollars in the past decade alone.

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An amount of money, if averaged and distributed annually,

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could house and feed every homeless person in America,

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effectively ending the epidemic.

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Perhaps, like me, by the end of this program,

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you'll find that money will be better well-spent.

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Be that as it may, the 2012 presidential election

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is gearing up to be one of the most expensive,

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and ostensibly important elections of all time;

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given the ongoing debt crisis, the unemployment crisis,

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and the vast destabilization we see across society.

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However, I'm not particularly interested in the left or the right,

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or am I interested in any candidate's political merit.

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What I'm interested in, is the entire idea of global democracy

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in the tradition as it exists, and how it is blindly accepted

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by the vast majority of people on this planet, as being the only option

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to satisfy their interests and create good well-being,

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and hence societal management, in its optimum state.

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That's what interests me.

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(P. Joseph) So, rather than debate about who should be the next president,

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why don't we step back and consider some broader issues?

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Such as, I don't know,

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maybe, why we even have a president to begin with?

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What is this, medieval feudalism?

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I thought the days of kings, dictators, and giving one person enormous power,

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was coming to an end. Or, more generally,

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doesn't it seem a little absurd to claim a participatory democracy,

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when the public itself actually has zero say,

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when it comes to the actual decisions made by those elected.

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It's bad enough that those voted in have literally no legal responsibility

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to do anything they might have claimed on the campaign trail.

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But if you examine history, you will find the historical fact

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that the public good has always been secondary to other interests,

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mainly, financial and business interests.

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Of course, this is common knowledge now, right?

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Why did the US government, completely against all known public interest,

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allow the private banking system,

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a system which actually creates nothing,

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to be bailed out to the tune of 13 trillion dollars?

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You have a 14 million dollar ocean front home in Florida.

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You have a summer vacation home in Sun Valley, Idaho.

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You and your wife have an art collection filled with million dollar paintings.

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(PJ) While the public was left out to dry with overflowing private debt,

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job losses and a stagnating economy.

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If we're going to persist with this silly little game we've concocted

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called the growth economy, where the movement of money defines everything,

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it might be a good idea to do the math regarding what might actually help

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this economic system operate at some passable level.

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Therefore, if you raise taxes on the so-called rich,

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you're really raising taxes on the job creators.

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And if the goal is private sector growth,

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you have to recognize that the best way to create that growth

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is to leave capital in the treasuries of the job creators.

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(PJ) If that money spent on the bank bailout was spent on, say...

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relieving private household debt instead,

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while letting Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan

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and all of the other technically meaningless, non-producing financial institutions

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experience the failure and bankruptcy they deserved,

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simultaneously nationalizing the entire US banking system as a whole,

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the US economy might have had a chance. Why?

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Because banks don't actually contribute anything. People with jobs do.

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[If] you want growth in this type of system, you need jobs.

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If you want jobs you need demand,

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and demand requires people having free money to spend.

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So by helping the public debt burden,

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you would plant the true seeds of economic growth.

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As obvious as that may seem, many forget one thing:

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the bailout had nothing to do with helping the US economy,

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nor does it or will it work to help

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any hurting sovereign economy in the world.

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Why? Because we live in a plutocracy, not a democracy,

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and the only true power is actually behind the curtain, not in front.

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The financial and business powers not only own and control this country,

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they own and control the whole planet.

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And no, it's not a conspiracy, it's a value-system disorder.

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As long as a dollar sign is associated with every blade of grass,

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every plot of land, every fleeting thought or invention,

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not to mention judging the merit of individuals

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for their right to life through labor, we should expect nothing less.

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Since the inception of the state itself,

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coupled with the underlying power of money

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as the ultimate driver of human decisions, and hence persuasion,

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the true power has always been financial,

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and those little people you elect into office every couple of years

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they have owners too, and don't you forget it.

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- Democracy: is that something you believe in as it exists today in America?

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- When you say as in "believe in", does it exist? Like forest fires, God,

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or the devil?

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- What is your opinion of the American democratic system as it exists? - It's broken,

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It's deeply, deeply broken. - Democracy, goes, of course, to Greece

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and it's the theory that the people own the government. Is it happening

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in practice, in 2012, in this country? Not close! It's a corporatocracy.

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(PJ) All of this considered, let's now think a little more accurately

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about this whole democracy deal.

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Since the tradition of our democracy has to do with representatives

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elected to apparently do our thinking for us,

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a critical question becomes: where did these people come from?

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Why are they the ones on your TV and not others?

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Did you decide that these people are the best choices

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to compete for such critical leadership,

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or have you noticed that the most pronounced candidates

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especially the presidential, sort of come out of nowhere,

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and, through the media, are given credence merely by repetition of exposure?

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The term democracy comes from the Greek 'demos' which means people,

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and 'krates' which means rule.

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The people of a given society express their opinions through votes

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and policy is created by the majority's interest.

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It appears the process was formalized in ancient Greece,

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and has been adapting ever since.

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However, it didn't take long for a bit of cynicism to emerge

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with respect to the process itself, given the fact that

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the entire basis of the idea assumes that the voting public

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actually is educated enough to know what they're doing.

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Franklin D. Roosevelt once acutely stated:

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"Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice

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are prepared to choose wisely.

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The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education."

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Winston Churchill on the other hand, was a little less forgiving,

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stating "The best argument against democracy

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is a five-minute conversation with the average voter."

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And of course, the infamous Mark Twain jumped to the inevitable punch line,

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stating "If voting made any difference, they wouldn't let us do it."

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I would like you to ask yourself: if we were in the ruling class,

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the 'investment ownership class', to paraphrase Thorstein Veblen,

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and we wanted to preserve our interests against any interference,

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what would we do?

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First, we need to take the broadest possible view we can.

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We need to make sure the voting public is as uninformed as possible,

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regarding relevant issues that might contradict our establishment's practices.

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Coupled with that, we also need to eliminate as much independent, logical,

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causal, scientific thought as possible.

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So, let us support an extremely underfunded, outdated,

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and deprived public educational system;

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a system focused on merely getting a person a job one day,

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not teach them how to critically and logically think.

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- The heart of democracy is the basic assumption that the public is well educated

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about critical thought, they know how to think about things and evaluate,

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and therefore they can make proper decisions, right? What is your opinion

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on American education and its effect on the democratic process?

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- I think that we have multiple problems in the education in America.

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One: I think we are dealing with the dumbing down of America.

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- Do you feel that this sort of poor educational system

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actually benefits the establishment? - Oh, absolutely!

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Absolutely! Keep them stupid, keep them easily entertained.

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If they're uninformed, they can't fight back!

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(P. Joseph) However, to further reinforce this,

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we also need to push and reward

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belief systems that support passive obedience;

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belief systems and values that are stubborn, irrational,

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and promote closed thinking.

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Religion becomes super helpful in this circumstance.

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Is it possible, that religion is being politicized,

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and that candidates are using it as a tool?

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I believe that God created the Universe.

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And we're enjoined by Scripture and the Lord Jesus to oppose it with all our might.

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Let us nor pray that God is on our side,

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in war or any other time, but let us pray that we are on God's side.

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May God bless the 7th Day Adventist church.

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I think the God who loves us, the God who gave us life, who gave us our being...

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And so to every sailor, soldier, airman and marine,

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who was involved in this mission, let me say, you are doing God's work.

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If people are groomed to be obedient and follow blindly,

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they are ripe to extend that obedience to others who claim authority.

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Check.

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Next, it's critical we recognize

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a unique, sociological characteristic of the human condition.

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Something we will call 'herd psychology'.

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This is the tendency for us humans, when faced with mass appeal,

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to often behave in extremely thoughtless and malleable ways.

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In the words of Charles McKay, famed author of

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"Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds"

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"Men, it has been said, think in herds;

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00:14:34,336 --> 00:14:37,044
it will be seen that they go mad in herds,

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while they only recover their senses slowly and one by one."

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00:14:41,986 --> 00:14:46,975
However, this doesn't just apply to, say, a soccer riot.

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Such mob persuasion can be generated trough simply shared cultural events.

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Remember September 11th? Talk about mass insanity!

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This event created an immediate crowd madness with fear and revenge,

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00:15:01,383 --> 00:15:05,270
and it didn't take long for the US government, and other governments, in fact,

256
00:15:05,271 --> 00:15:07,581
to harness that madness, and funnel support

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00:15:07,582 --> 00:15:11,142
for draconian legislation and illegal invasions.

258
00:15:11,143 --> 00:15:15,090
However, this herd psychological tendency is not only very useful

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for implanting and guiding perceived issues of importance,

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it is also critical in setting rigid limits of debate,

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creating the tendency for those who begin to question beyond those limits,

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to be ostracized and rejected by the herd itself.

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You know, if someone talks about

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a more equitable distribution of income in society:

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all the growth that has occurred in our country, over the last decade or more,

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has gone to the upper 1, 2%. "Fucking communists!"

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If someone speculates about the obvious power manipulation and corruption,

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"God damn it! I am so sick of these conspiracy theorists and their lies!

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The Federal Reserve does not collude for its own self interest!"

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And heaven forbid we get those do-gooders

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who want to actually apply modern scientific knowledge

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00:16:03,443 --> 00:16:07,083
and improve society with it. "Yeah right!

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00:16:07,084 --> 00:16:10,505
Feed, clothe and house everybody on Earth with technology?

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00:16:10,506 --> 00:16:13,866
Utopian jackasses!" [glass breaking]

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Remember, probably the greatest way to control human thought,

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is to establish a deep fear of social rejection,

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and associate that fear to culturally taboo subjects.

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So, with that ground work in motion,

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we now have to deal with the pesky problem

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that the public just might wise up enough,

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00:16:35,241 --> 00:16:38,004
and work to maneuver a person into political power,

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that will cause us problems.

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00:16:40,149 --> 00:16:44,409
Therefore, some more specific structural safeguards are in order.

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Basically, we need to make sure that those unwanted candidates,

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00:16:48,733 --> 00:16:53,277
are unable to get anywhere near the major outlets for public digestion;

286
00:16:53,278 --> 00:16:56,385
and if they do, the practice is to treat them like freaks.

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00:16:56,386 --> 00:17:00,792
Are you suggesting that heroin and prostitution are an exercise of liberty?

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What you're inferring is "You know what?

289
00:17:03,528 --> 00:17:07,257
If we legalize heroin tomorrow, everybody is going to use heroin."

290
00:17:07,258 --> 00:17:10,063
How many people here would use heroin if it was legal?

291
00:17:10,064 --> 00:17:12,641
How do we do that? With money,

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00:17:12,642 --> 00:17:15,762
and our corporate constituency has plenty.

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00:17:15,765 --> 00:17:18,339
We just need to make sure the use of this money

294
00:17:18,339 --> 00:17:21,839
for political influence goes uninhibited.

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00:17:21,839 --> 00:17:26,528
In a US supreme court 1976 decision, the freedom for a candidate

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00:17:26,529 --> 00:17:31,071
to use unlimited personal money for their campaign was deemed legal,

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equating spending money with the right of free speech, in fact.

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00:17:34,959 --> 00:17:37,212
What this translates to, in effect,

299
00:17:37,213 --> 00:17:41,013
is the removal of any regulated fairness of expression,

300
00:17:41,014 --> 00:17:44,556
and hence, whoever has the most money has the most resources,

301
00:17:44,557 --> 00:17:47,037
and hence effect. Perfect.

302
00:17:48,208 --> 00:17:50,648
However, lets secure this a little bit farther.

303
00:17:50,649 --> 00:17:53,025
Lets also make sure that our corporations,

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00:17:53,026 --> 00:17:56,686
are given the legal right to promote our little puppets without limit.

305
00:17:56,687 --> 00:18:01,343
Luckily, in 2010, our pals again at the US supreme court,

306
00:18:01,344 --> 00:18:04,167
confirmed that the government may not restrict

307
00:18:04,168 --> 00:18:08,063
political spending by any corporation in candidate elections,

308
00:18:08,064 --> 00:18:12,278
as they are, once again, protected by the 1st Amendment.

309
00:18:12,279 --> 00:18:16,125
So now we can buy mad ad space to promote whoever we want,

310
00:18:16,126 --> 00:18:20,446
as much as we want, drowning the opposition in the media.

311
00:18:20,447 --> 00:18:22,367
...and double check.

312
00:18:22,976 --> 00:18:25,600
With those broad measures in place,

313
00:18:25,601 --> 00:18:28,893
it is still important to control the basic unfolding

314
00:18:28,894 --> 00:18:31,836
of the electoral process, from start to finish.

315
00:18:31,837 --> 00:18:35,543
The best way to do this, is to create a false duality:

316
00:18:35,544 --> 00:18:38,060
the illusion of competition between parties.

317
00:18:38,061 --> 00:18:43,524
We need a 2-party system that, constantly argues with each other in general,

318
00:18:43,525 --> 00:18:46,998
but still upholds the basic elitist policies

319
00:18:46,999 --> 00:18:50,105
that we need to maintain our advantage.

320
00:18:50,106 --> 00:18:52,687
The beauty of this dominant 2-party farce,

321
00:18:52,688 --> 00:18:56,711
is that it not only gives the public the needed illusion of choice,

322
00:18:56,712 --> 00:19:01,546
it more importantly, oppresses those upstart third parties.

323
00:19:01,547 --> 00:19:05,039
As we know, these annoying self righteous third parties,

324
00:19:05,040 --> 00:19:07,512
have been trouble makers from day one.

325
00:19:07,513 --> 00:19:10,758
The civil rights amendments, women's suffrage,

326
00:19:10,759 --> 00:19:15,931
broad worker rights, child labor laws and other agitations for industry,

327
00:19:15,932 --> 00:19:19,748
all came from these rising third parties, historically,

328
00:19:19,749 --> 00:19:22,901
not from the dominant, established group, us.

329
00:19:22,902 --> 00:19:25,158
So we need to be vigilant here.

330
00:19:25,159 --> 00:19:29,217
We need to get the public so used to this 2-party dictatorship,

331
00:19:29,218 --> 00:19:33,225
that they don't even mind if the two parties are given direct control

332
00:19:33,226 --> 00:19:36,387
over most of the electoral process itself.

333
00:19:36,388 --> 00:19:40,659
They need to have the power of organizing the rules of electoral redistricting,

334
00:19:40,660 --> 00:19:43,743
the primaries, the caucuses, and debates,

335
00:19:43,744 --> 00:19:47,291
and of course, we, the ruling class, will moderate their actions

336
00:19:47,292 --> 00:19:50,626
through lobbying, campaign contributions, you know,

337
00:19:50,627 --> 00:19:56,533
exactly what the free market promises: the freedom to manipulate everything.

338
00:19:56,534 --> 00:20:01,901
Meet our friends: the commission on presidential debates, or CPD.

339
00:20:01,902 --> 00:20:05,263
In 1988, the democratic and republican parties,

340
00:20:05,264 --> 00:20:08,105
or the demo-publicans, as I like to call them,

341
00:20:08,106 --> 00:20:11,286
established the commission on presidential debates.

342
00:20:11,287 --> 00:20:16,408
Posing as a non-partisan institution, the CPD successfully took control

343
00:20:16,409 --> 00:20:20,290
of the most influential election event, the presidential debates.

344
00:20:20,291 --> 00:20:24,365
The CPD, which is a private corporation co-chaired by the former heads

345
00:20:24,366 --> 00:20:29,334
of the republican and democratic parties, decide through secret contracts,

346
00:20:29,335 --> 00:20:33,630
who is going to participate in the debates, and what is going to be talked about.

347
00:20:33,631 --> 00:20:38,185
Those pesky third parties, along with controversial ideas,

348
00:20:38,186 --> 00:20:44,106
can only come into play if the demo-publicans decide they can.

349
00:20:45,013 --> 00:20:49,210
Really, can you imagine what would happen if those annoying social upstarts,

350
00:20:49,211 --> 00:20:51,997
actually were able to up against the trite,

351
00:20:51,998 --> 00:20:57,922
miserable, logic, and narrow subject matter typical of our rigged debates?

352
00:20:57,923 --> 00:21:02,603
But for the nurse, the teacher, the police officer who

353
00:21:02,604 --> 00:21:06,281
frankly, at the end of each month, they have a little financial crisis going on.

354
00:21:06,282 --> 00:21:09,987
They're having to take out extra debt just to make their mortgage payments.

355
00:21:09,988 --> 00:21:12,226
We haven't been paying attention to them.

356
00:21:12,227 --> 00:21:15,114
If you look at our tax policies, it's a classic example.

357
00:21:15,115 --> 00:21:18,411
I'm sorry to interrupt Mr. President, but I couldn't agree more.

358
00:21:18,412 --> 00:21:21,550
However, don't you feel that the tax policies

359
00:21:21,551 --> 00:21:25,340
and other common acknowledgments about what is hurting the average American,

360
00:21:25,341 --> 00:21:27,793
is actually quite benign, when compared to

361
00:21:27,794 --> 00:21:31,023
the very foundation of our economic system?

362
00:21:31,024 --> 00:21:35,862
You know, making money out of debt, charging intrest on it that doesn't exist,

363
00:21:35,863 --> 00:21:40,487
which means that there's always more outstanding debt than there is money to pay for it.

364
00:21:40,488 --> 00:21:44,183
Of course, that lends itself to more debt being created to cover it,

365
00:21:44,184 --> 00:21:47,861
and essentially, failure and bankruptcy is inevitable.

366
00:21:47,862 --> 00:21:51,233
Not for the upper classes as much as the lower middle classes.

367
00:21:51,234 --> 00:21:55,403
Why? Because the lower classes are the ones taking the loans

368
00:21:55,404 --> 00:22:00,669
for their home and their car, while the upper class are making interest income.

369
00:22:00,670 --> 00:22:03,967
Rather than paying interest, they actually make interest

370
00:22:03,968 --> 00:22:06,985
through their deposits and investments.

371
00:22:06,986 --> 00:22:11,280
Obviously, this secures a massive growing class divide, structurally.

372
00:22:11,281 --> 00:22:15,041
Is that not something worth considering?

373
00:22:20,791 --> 00:22:23,614
As a final point about the CPD,

374
00:22:23,615 --> 00:22:26,967
our corporations can now directly donate to them,

375
00:22:26,968 --> 00:22:32,437
hence the parties, imposing our financial influence, and hence agenda, even more,

376
00:22:32,438 --> 00:22:36,617
making another end run around that pesky legal legislation,

377
00:22:36,618 --> 00:22:41,084
barring corporations from contributing directly to political campaigns.

378
00:22:41,085 --> 00:22:43,085
A beautiful end run.

379
00:22:44,708 --> 00:22:48,129
However, nothing is perfect, and you can't be too careful.

380
00:22:48,130 --> 00:22:52,470
Sometimes, good old fashioned, time-tested tactics are needed.

381
00:22:52,471 --> 00:22:57,615
Nothing is as old-fashioned, as good old direct electoral fraud.

382
00:22:57,616 --> 00:23:00,950
Let's get some of our corporate buddies to build some voting machines,

383
00:23:00,951 --> 00:23:03,187
with really terrible integrity,

384
00:23:03,188 --> 00:23:06,568
and get them in as many critical spots as we can.

385
00:23:06,569 --> 00:23:09,577
Yeah, I know, it's sloppy. It has already become public,

386
00:23:09,578 --> 00:23:13,376
that the machines can be hacked remotely, with about $10 of materials,

387
00:23:13,377 --> 00:23:15,725
and an 8th grade science education.

388
00:23:15,726 --> 00:23:19,626
But, since most Americans are completely distracted by their debt,

389
00:23:19,627 --> 00:23:23,016
lowering standard of living, and ongoing job losses,

390
00:23:23,017 --> 00:23:26,617
the liberal media falls on deaf ears.

391
00:23:30,354 --> 00:23:31,954
So, let's recap.

392
00:23:32,816 --> 00:23:35,146
Free thinking people tend to recognize

393
00:23:35,147 --> 00:23:38,081
the need for ongoing adaptation and change,

394
00:23:38,082 --> 00:23:42,298
so we need to make sure education supports the existing tradition,

395
00:23:42,299 --> 00:23:47,164
through mere rote learning, not critical, logical thought.

396
00:23:47,165 --> 00:23:50,679
Next, we establish clear limits of debate in the culture,

397
00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:53,257
and make sure those who go beyond the pale,

398
00:23:53,258 --> 00:23:57,738
are shutdown by endless ridicule and debasement.

399
00:23:57,916 --> 00:24:00,357
Then we need to harness the herd psychology,

400
00:24:00,358 --> 00:24:03,425
and guide it through our media, to either identify

401
00:24:03,426 --> 00:24:07,350
with the issues we need in the forefront, or distract them outright.

402
00:24:07,351 --> 00:24:09,505
As far as large scale influence,

403
00:24:09,506 --> 00:24:11,971
we need to have the freedom to do whatever we want,

404
00:24:11,972 --> 00:24:14,747
and to use our vast corporate wealth to influence

405
00:24:14,748 --> 00:24:18,407
both public opinion and the candidates themselves.

406
00:24:18,408 --> 00:24:23,357
Our legal status as a corporate person, now ensures our free speech,

407
00:24:23,358 --> 00:24:25,633
and hence free spending.

408
00:24:25,634 --> 00:24:29,153
Next, we create the public illusion of competition and choice,

409
00:24:29,154 --> 00:24:33,249
and gain as much control over the election process as possible.

410
00:24:33,250 --> 00:24:38,107
Our demo-publican pawns, with our endless sponsorship and lobbying,

411
00:24:38,108 --> 00:24:42,045
now handles this well, including the restriction of public debate,

412
00:24:42,046 --> 00:24:46,196
and the denial of all interfering third parties.

413
00:24:46,197 --> 00:24:49,902
If that wasn't enough, screw it! We'll just reorder the ballot counts ourselves,

414
00:24:49,903 --> 00:24:56,783
with the black box voting hacks in the most influential electoral states.

415
00:24:58,383 --> 00:24:59,983
And so it goes!

416
00:25:00,558 --> 00:25:02,720
Since the beginning of civilization,

417
00:25:02,721 --> 00:25:06,323
those in power have successfully restricted the interests of the majority,

418
00:25:06,324 --> 00:25:10,382
by regulating their values, by controlling resources through money,

419
00:25:10,383 --> 00:25:14,199
not to mention controlling the very processes that exist to challenge them.

420
00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:18,519
Is it a conspiracy? Do such powerful men meet in dark rooms,

421
00:25:18,520 --> 00:25:20,849
and work to figure out how to keep their power?

422
00:25:20,850 --> 00:25:23,496
Actually no, not as much as you might think.

423
00:25:23,497 --> 00:25:27,462
You see, the hilarious thing about all of this, is that such a process

424
00:25:27,463 --> 00:25:30,342
of manipulation is actually self-generating,

425
00:25:30,343 --> 00:25:32,877
justified in a step by step manner,

426
00:25:32,878 --> 00:25:36,652
with basic self-interest guiding the whole way.

427
00:25:36,653 --> 00:25:41,458
You see, the real corruption is not occurring in back-room meetings, or at the docks;

428
00:25:41,459 --> 00:25:45,531
the real power resides in how you, the public,

429
00:25:45,532 --> 00:25:48,605
actually perpetuate, condone and support

430
00:25:48,606 --> 00:25:52,580
the very underlying systems that oppress you.

431
00:25:52,581 --> 00:25:56,453
Final thoughts: many watching this program's content,

432
00:25:56,454 --> 00:26:00,326
will likely interpret the broad farce known as American democracy,

433
00:26:00,327 --> 00:26:03,076
or really the farce of global democracy, in fact,

434
00:26:03,077 --> 00:26:06,461
as a system in need of better regulation.

435
00:26:06,462 --> 00:26:11,606
The ACLU, Democracy Now!, Michael Moore, Occupy Wall Street, Annie Leonard,

436
00:26:11,607 --> 00:26:15,312
and other intelligent and outspoken activist institutions and figures,

437
00:26:15,313 --> 00:26:17,792
seeking what they call 'change',

438
00:26:17,793 --> 00:26:21,689
all actually operate within the same presupposition:

439
00:26:21,690 --> 00:26:25,222
"If only if we could better regulate monetary and corporate power,

440
00:26:25,223 --> 00:26:27,543
we can fix the world."

441
00:26:28,292 --> 00:26:28,692
No.

442
00:26:30,322 --> 00:26:33,799
I'm sorry to say that until the social premise itself,

443
00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:37,181
and hence the fundamental psychological drivers of our economy;

444
00:26:37,182 --> 00:26:41,313
imbalance, scarcity, narrow self-interest, exploitation and competition-

445
00:26:41,314 --> 00:26:45,209
until those are altered to the extent that the system begins to reward

446
00:26:45,210 --> 00:26:49,366
and reinforce collaboration, human and ecological balance,

447
00:26:49,367 --> 00:26:55,245
efficiency and sustainability, nothing is going to really change.

448
00:26:55,246 --> 00:26:59,378
In a sociological condition, where everything is based on advantage over others,

449
00:26:59,379 --> 00:27:03,428
what we call corruption today isn't actually corruption at all;

450
00:27:03,429 --> 00:27:05,889
it's just business as usual.

451
00:27:05,890 --> 00:27:08,619
Seriously, what did you people expect?

452
00:27:08,620 --> 00:27:12,084
In an economy where everything is for sale by the very ethic inherent,

453
00:27:12,085 --> 00:27:16,429
underscored by the false notion that we can't possibly work together intelligently

454
00:27:16,430 --> 00:27:20,706
to benefit all, no level of supposed corruption

455
00:27:20,707 --> 00:27:23,267
should surprise any of us.

456
00:27:25,310 --> 00:27:28,787
In short, to assume we're going to perpetuate this economic philosophy here,

457
00:27:28,788 --> 00:27:33,158
and then contradict it over here with the idea that certain elements of society

458
00:27:33,159 --> 00:27:37,263
should be off-limits for monetary manipulation and gain,

459
00:27:37,264 --> 00:27:40,224
is completely naive and absurd.

460
00:27:41,137 --> 00:27:45,947
But don't take my word for it; just sit back and watch the ebb and flow

461
00:27:45,948 --> 00:27:50,591
as we move from one set of corrupt, damaging practices to the next.

462
00:27:50,592 --> 00:27:54,947
Sure, we'll slowly fix a few issues with our in the box thinking,

463
00:27:54,948 --> 00:27:58,430
but until the whole system is addressed at its core,

464
00:27:58,431 --> 00:28:01,059
unfortunately, it's all mostly a waste of time

465
00:28:01,060 --> 00:28:03,933
and improvement would be very little.

466
00:28:03,934 --> 00:28:08,698
Until we grow up to that level, sit back, relax, enjoy the show

467
00:28:08,699 --> 00:28:11,837
and until next time, I'm Peter Joseph

468
00:28:11,838 --> 00:28:16,158
an agent and victim of a culture in decline.

469
00:28:17,958 --> 00:28:20,879
Please note that no demopublicans were injured

470
00:28:20,880 --> 00:28:23,350
or abused during the taping of this show.

471
00:28:23,351 --> 00:28:28,631
(However, it appears their extinction might be imminent.)

472
00:28:29,805 --> 00:28:33,799
This broadcast was made possible by generous grants from the Rockefeller foundation,

473
00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:36,706
George Soros, the Theosophic Society, the Bilderberg Group;

474
00:28:36,707 --> 00:28:39,808
the Council on Foreign Relations, the new world order, Alex Jones

475
00:28:39,809 --> 00:28:42,623
and the satanic death cult known as the Zeitgeist Movement.