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The More You Blow

The More You Blow in the Army

While the good ol’ boys from Nebraska are fighting the untold millions of Muslim Islamic Muslim Brown Extremist Terrorists, it’s important to realize that there’s a war going on in America too. And that war is against the homosexuals who want to practice their sexual deviance willy nilly while us good hearted Christians are locked at home, stuck watching reruns of Survivor and wondering when Jesus will drop more AIDS bombs to cleanse the population.

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Thoughts of the Average American

“The violent deaths of untold thousands of anonymous brown people disturbs me, but I have a televised sing and dance competition to watch.”

“The role of ideologically-driven shadow groups dictating public policy does not bother me”

“That non-threatening colored person running for public office has a nice smile, but I will surely never vote for him.”

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“All of this talk of fraud and abuse of power makes me uncomfortable. I need more sexual predators to direct my hate and anger towards.”

“Ever since 9/11 occurred roughly 1500 miles from my place of residence, the idea of people with different skin pigmentation makes me nervous.”

“I believe the national politician when he says the easiest way to combat terrorism is by bombing poverty-stricken civilians in a far away place.”

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“Homosexuals and science belong in California and Massachusetts.”

“The invisible outer space superhero of my monotheistic belief system is the best.”

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“A life of willful ignorance of my government’s indiscretions is the life for me.”

“An extra-marital affair between two consenting adults is a more impeachable offense than falsifying intelligence to create a regional conflict.”

“When it comes to rational and intelligent discourse, I look to the two screaming people on the national news program.”

“I blame untold millions of foreigners for a stagnant economy and unemployment, rather than an underfunded education system and the mass exodus of multinational corporations from American soil, facilitated by mass funding and corruption of the political system.”

“I don’t care how much it makes sense for my family, I do not want universal health care.”

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“A long life of monotonous work has been quickly placated by the commercial with melodramatic music featuring fictional characters I’ve learned to experience my life through.”

“Surely the only way to inform people weary of our global ambitions of our good intentions is by branding their religion as violent and backwards and trampling on their culture as much as possible.”

“I am glad there is finally a fair and balanced media outlet that will pro-actively reinforce my judgments and stereotypes.”

“The discomfort and cognitive dissonance I live with in this country is easily washed down with water mixed with high fructose corn syrup and genetically modified food.”

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Anti-Capitalism in Five Minutes or Less

Have you ever wondered why capitalism is an inequitable system that subjugates not only people but the political system they choose even in a democracy, resulting in a hegemonic relationship that makes your government a subsidiary of the economy? Have you ever thought that maybe, just maybe, money is another resource with finite allocations that necessitate that one person having more means another person having less? Or were you too busy twiddling your D to the latest round of American Idol while buying Hello Kitty toilet paper to notice that your government has been hijacked by rich white males who want to perpetuate their system of control? Either way, Robert Jensen has a nice summary of all things wrong in our stubborn little Western world in ‘Anti-Capitalism in Five Minutes or Less‘.

Capitalism is admittedly an incredibly productive system that has created a flood of goods unlike anything the world has ever seen. It also is a system that is fundamentally (1) inhuman, (2) anti-democratic, and (3) unsustainable. Capitalism has given those of us in the First World lots of stuff (most of it of marginal or questionable value) in exchange for our souls, our hope for progressive politics, and the possibility of a decent future for children.

And with the real nail on the head:

2. Capitalism is anti-democratic

This one is easy. Capitalism is a wealth-concentrating system. If you concentrate wealth in a society, you concentrate power. Is there any historical example to the contrary?

For all the trappings of formal democracy in the contemporary United States, everyone understands that the wealthy dictates the basic outlines of the public policies that are acceptable to the vast majority of elected officials. People can and do resist, and an occasional politician joins the fight, but such resistance takes extraordinary effort. Those who resist win victories, some of them inspiring, but to date concentrated wealth continues to dominate. Is this any way to run a democracy?

If we understand democracy as a system that gives ordinary people a meaningful way to participate in the formation of public policy, rather than just a role in ratifying decisions made by the powerful, then it’s clear that capitalism and democracy are mutually exclusive.

Let’s make this concrete. In our system, we believe that regular elections with the one-person/one-vote rule, along with protections for freedom of speech and association, guarantee political equality. When I go to the polls, I have one vote. When Bill Gates goes the polls, he has one vote. Bill and I both can speak freely and associate with others for political purposes. Therefore, as equal citizens in our fine democracy, Bill and I have equal opportunities for political power. Right?

And of course, the final blow to all you capitulaters and compromisers masquerading as pragmatists (if you loved America, you’d question it’s institutions):

One of the common responses I hear when I critique capitalism is, “Well, that may all be true, but we have to be realistic and do what’s possible.” By that logic, to be realistic is to accept a system that is inhuman, anti-democratic, and unsustainable. To be realistic we are told we must capitulate to a system that steals our souls, enslaves us to concentrated power, and will someday destroy the planet.

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Thoughts of the Average American

As Imagined By Network Executives:

“If I cannot see sports scores, stock reports, and weather forecasts scrolling across the bottom of the screen at all times, I will kill myself.”

“I can’t wait to see this overweight middle aged comic and his disproportionately attractive wife deal with their adolescent children in a humorously unorthodox, though ultimately conservative manner.”

“I don’t see enough petty, selfish individuals in my daily life. Therefore, I will tune in to tonight’s scheduled reality television show.”

“You cannot make a television show too stupid for me to watch.”

“I was going to change the channel until the network reminded me, halfway through the first commercial break, that the program would ‘be right back.’ I had previously been under the impression that the program was lost and would never return.”

“I find this sitcom intellectually challenging.”

“I am completely unaware of the fact that the corporation being investigated by the FBI in this news segment owns this news station. Even if I were aware of this fact, I would put great faith in the objectivity and journalistic integrity of this enormous media conglomerate.”

“Becker is not on TV enough.”

As Imagined by a Music Executive:

“I’m glad this rock band has a limited repertoire of similarly progressing power chords. If their songs were more creative, it would confuse me, and I would not buy their album.”

“As a member of the African-American community, I readily identify with this hip-hop artist’s misogynistic views and propensity towards crime.”

“That beautiful and scantily clad young woman, whose name escapes me at the moment, is my favorite musical artist of all time.”

“It’s a good thing my carbonated soft-drink came with one free music download, for I would have felt uncomfortable downloading free music on the internet.”

“Finally a halftime show that combines my love of hard-nosed championship football and pre-pubescent teen-pop!”

“I will buy any CD that produces sound.”

As Imagined by Politicians:

“I am upset that I work full time and still fall below the poverty line. I blame queers and people of another race.”

“Clearly, the best way to reduce crime is to build more prisons. Evidence linking poverty and crime is flimsy at best.”

“At least both candidates favor education initiatives with humanitarian names that direct money towards arbitrary and biased standardized tests. Hiring more qualified teachers and rebuilding crumbling inner-city schools would yield questionable results.”

“The rich do enough for this country. They should not have to pay higher taxes than the rest of us.”

“I fear that we might one day be attacked by a country whose economy is based almost entirely on trade with the United States. Therefore, we must spend more on our military than every other nation combined. This will make other countries feel more secure, and they will whore their underclass to us rather than initiate an arms race.”

“Morality is derived from creatively interpreting apocryphal texts, not the desire to reduce human suffering.”

“If we give free health care to poor people by taxing the super-rich, the economy, and quite possibly the universe, will collapse.”

“I see many distinct differences between these two courageous candidates.”

“Congratulations on successfully side-stepping another important question and leaving me lost in forest of vague rhetoric and empty catch-phrases. You’ve got my vote.”

“One American life is worth approximately ten European lives, four hundred thousand African lives, and fifteen million Arab lives.”

“A presidential candidate’s war record is the deciding factor in his ability to oversee the American economy.”

“The rich white liberal cares about me more than the rich white conservative, though they both care about me very much.”

As Imagined By a Marketing Executive:

“I prefer the product with the attractive salespeople.”

“I was heretofore unaware of the maximum safe duration for a chemically induced erection.”

“That recognizable athlete scores all those points because of his brand-name sports beverage, right?”

“This song reminds me of my youth. Therefore, I will buy.”

“I can only afford $74.99 on a new pair of old looking blue jeans; $75 is just too much.”

“I would have gone to an amateur poetry reading rather than the monster truck rally had the gentleman on the radio commercial not been yelling.”

“Wow. I had no idea smoking was so bad for you.”

“If I buy this face cream, I will be as beautiful as the actress endorsing it.”

“After hearing rap music on their commercial, I can now trust this giant white-owned corporation to fulfill all my consumer needs. It no longer bothers me that the CEO eliminated all employee benefits to build his own country club.”

“There is very likely buried treasure somewhere in the backyard of my suburban Chicago home. If only there were a way of detecting the presence of metal underground.”

“Yes, I have been injured recently. And, no, I hadn’t considered litigation until this trustworthy family man suggested it.”

“I can’t believe I voted for a politician so soft on crime. I will not make the same mistake this election. I am also far more likely to vote for the smiling candidate in the color photograph.”

“This electronics super store has so many things I need at such great prices that I might just kill myself.”

“With that many explosions, how could the movie not be good?”

“I will enjoy your inexpensive, highly potent alcohol responsibly.”

”This celebrity who appears to be in good physical shape must be an expert on health and nutrition.”

“When passing a car dealership with a catchy jingle, I will remember that they have fair prices and know that I am a busy man. When I finally have some free time, I will buy the first safe, reliable, and easily financed automobile I see.”

Via Cracked, a step above soliloquy from anonymous middle american.

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Do you think he exploded his cognitive dissonance on her chest?

Or did it end up in the toilet bowl? It turns out that several high ups in the Bush White House were frequent customers of the DC ‘Madam’ (why is a female pimp called a Madam, by the way? When I think of Madam, I think of my French tutor), including this pedophilia-in-waiting Randall Tobias, a former U.S. AID director who partook in a wonderful loyalty oath, that, wait for it, made employees swear not to get prostitutes:

Former U.S. AID director Randall Tobias, who resigned yesterday upon admitting that he frequented a Washington escort service, oversaw a controversial policy advocated by the religious right that required any US-based group receiving anti-AIDS funds to take an anti-prostitution “loyalty oath.”

And want to know something even more sickening? Guess who got a Purple Heart. George Bush. I’m done. Seriously.

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