Summary: A cold clear look at the tactics and order of battle of us vs the 1%, plus some thoughts what we must do to win.
What distinguishes the 1% from the rest of us? Many things, such as their fantastic wealth, income, and power. But perhaps the most important differences are that they have a clear view of the America, plus rational well-funded plans to reshape it into a form that better meets to their needs. It’s why they are winning.
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(a) The Powell Memorandum.
Sent by Lewis F. Powell, Jr. on 23 August 1971 (2 months before his nomination to Supreme Court) to Eugene B. Sydnor, Jr., Chairman of the Education Committee of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Titled “Attack On American Free Enterprise System“, it outlined a strategy for large corporations to rollback much of the New Deal reforms on business.
(b) Creating the mythology of tax-cuts as the magic elixir
“Taxes and a Two-Santa Theory“
by Jude Wanniski, National Observer, 6 March 1976.
“The only thing wrong with the U.S. economy is the failure of the Republican Party to play Santa Claus. The only thing wrong with President Ford is that he is still too much a Hoover Republican when what the country needs is a Coolidge Republican.
“These statements, seemingly absurd, follow naturally from the Two-Santa Claus Theory of the political economy. Simply stated, the Two Santa Claus Theory is this: For the U.S. economy to be healthy and growing, there must be a division of labor between Democrats and Republicans; each must be a different kind of Santa Claus.
“The Democrats, the party of income redistribution, are best suited for the role of Spending Santa Claus. The Republicans, traditionally the party of income growth, should be the Santa Claus of Tax Reduction. …”
(c) Slash essential funding for the government
In his 14 July 1978 testimony to Congress (9 years before becoming Fed Chairman), Alan Greenspan first described the “starve the beast” strategy.
“Let us remember that the basic purpose of any tax cut program in today’s environment is to reduce the momentum of expenditure growth by restraining the amount of revenue available and trust that there is a political limit to deficit spending.”
(d) Building the infrastructure to win
As always, the people are more important than the actions. The 1% find, fund, and nurture the careers of people like Powell, Wanniski, and Greenspan. The Shame Project unknowingly documents this patient, well-funded construction of a counter-revolutionary movement. Find promising young people, fund and direct their careers. With them they built organizations to promulgate your ideological goals. This is patient investment, intelligently planned, of the kind that reshapes nations.
There is no longer effective opposition to the 1%
The only organization opposition came from labor unions, which had the resources to do similar things (on a smaller scale). But our society consists of competition among factions, and organized labor has been crushed. infiltrated by organized crime, intellectually divided, too-often focused on narrow self-interest — they have been crushed by larger and smarter forces.
None of this implies conspiracies. Any more than for open-sourced software. Just an open-sourced insurgency, such as that described by John Robb (author of Brave New War, website here).
This does not make effective opposition to the 1% impossible to build. But it means the irrationality, emotionalism, and fecklessness that characterizes most opposition (eg, the Occupy Movement) are luxuries we cannot afford. Only a steely gaze on reality, a cold determination to see the truth — whatever it might be — will provide the basis for building organizations to oppose the 1%.
Emotional rhetoric has its place, especially when seeking mass support. In the later phases, not at the beginning. The 1% has the money. They have the team. They have the momentum. The clock is running. What will you pay for America to win?
For More Information
If you liked this post, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. See all posts about the Republican Party, reforming America: steps to new politics, and especially these…
- Origins of what may become the 3rd American Republic (a plutocracy).
- Why Americans should love Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings – we live there.
- We’ve worked through all 5 stages of grief for the Republic. Now, on to The New America!
- Compare our New America to the America-that-once-was (a great nation).
- Watch as plutocrats mold us into a New America, a nation more pleasing to their sight.
We will need movies like this, too. Eventually.
