Today, I hereby announce that I am a class warfare candidate for the US presidency in 2012. If elected, I will use the occasion of my inaugural speech to declare that “I’m a class warfare president.”
I’ll add: “It’s you and me – members of the 95% - against them – members of the 5%. And you know who you are.”
No one should fear I’m urging mobs to take to the streets to smash windows and overturn cars. No one on our side will fire a shot – nor will they come to think that they have to. My version of Class Warfare will have an elegance about it that will earn it the distinction of being Classy Warfare. Winning this war will require finesse, since (and let’s face it) the other side can outgun us.
George W. Bush had once famously declared, “I’m a war president.” That was back on February 8, 2004 during a White House TV interview, in reference to the Global War on Terror.
An even more important war is the one I’m declaring here and now. This war has been going on for a long time, though most people don’t know it. To be sure, the Elite know it. They never trusted the masses (that’s you, my fellow 95-percenters), they interact with us on a daily basis thinking of us as their natural (though dormant) enemy, and they raise their children to think the same way.
My aim is to wake up that dormant 95% and give them a voice, a focal point (my campaign for the presidency) and a strategy*. I stand before you as the recruiter for the virtual army that has to retake the United States from those who believe in minority rule. And if you think the majority rules in this country, just ask yourself: Why does the Senate filibuster still exist, which allows the will of 41 to override the votes of 59?
The Elite knows it doesn’t have the numbers to rule. So they rely on divide-and-conquer tactics, ably assisted by corporate control of the media, party control of public institutions, and Elite control over major corporations. By turning the 95% against itself, that majority can’t focus on the real job at hand – making sure government stops running for the disproportionate benefit of the few.
To be sure, factions within that 95% are dedicated to their various causes and social views. But those factions should join forces to insist on the level playing field which will be to our mutual benefit. We should start with reaffirming our faith in the justice of the “one man, one vote” doctrine, then proceeding to replace all Dem/Pubs in Congress with independents. As I’ve written before, that can’t happen yet since there aren’t many independents on the ballot. However, we can start with an important first step: “If you can’t vote for an independent, vote against the incumbent.”
Many might feel that would invite anarchy, but all it really does is remove us all (especially the politicians) from our comfort zones. As for inviting anarchy, tell me – aren’t we perilously close to anarchy now? As for comfort zones, that, my friends, is the key. If people can’t overcome their brand-name programming – if people can’t stop behaving so predictably – we’ll never obtain the changes that will empower us. Just as there are people who think soft drink choices boil down to Pepsi vs. Coke, there are those who can’t imagine pulling the voting machine lever for any candidate except a Democrat or a Republican.
And they certainly couldn’t imagine (gasp!) sabotaging the system by intentionally voting for someone they detest, simply in the name of voting against the incumbent. But we need more sabotage of this nature. For instance, now is the perfect time for Democrats (or independents, who rarely vote in party primaries) to consider sabotaging the GOP’s upcoming presidential primary season. Go ahead, cast your ballot for Rick Santorum or some other bottom-feeder, just to skew the results. Or vote for Ron Paul. It might be your only chance to do so, since the media seems hell-bent on ignoring him.
Most people don’t realize how vulnerable the primary voting system is. Well, they had better start realizing it pretty quickly and using that insight to their ultimate advantage. Remember: The governing Elite hates unpredictability. Anything you can do to undermine their confidence will force them to make mistakes (as a result of lashing out). And that can only work to our advantage.
Inspired by Bush’s speech**
I was inspired to declare Class Warfare, ironically enough, by these words spoken by George W. Bush:
“This is an impressive crowd – the haves and the have-mores. Some people call you the Elite. I call you my base.”
Bush spoke these words back in 2000 at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, basically a fundraising event for a bunch of hoity-toities. To this day, I can’t believe a man who would be our president would have come right out and called the Elite “my base.” Obviously – by those words and subsequent actions – Bush never intended to be a president for all of us. So I’d like to return the favor by declaring myself – not to be a candidate for all of us, but only for the haves and the have-lesses.
Maybe Bush felt pretty good about himself representing the Elite. But I could feel even better about myself representing the 95%.
What could divide us?
There was a time when politicians lined up to swear allegiance to a proposed constitutional amendment to ban the burning or desecration of the American flag. That’s not a hot button issue any more, especially since there wasn’t any coherent way to put such an amendment into words. But rest assured, there are and always will be other issues to divide us:
· For or against a woman’s choice to birth or abort?
· For or against gay marriage?
· For or against building an illegal immigration-proof fence on the border with Mexico?
· For or against Right to Work laws?
· For or against separation of church and state?
I’m not going to call any of these issues “petty.” They are important. But they’re not so important as to blind us to the need to unite in order to get that level-playing field that is so sorely missing. They’re not so important that we overlook, because we’re too busy hating other factions, the need to create an environment where Dem/Pub candidates cannot automatically count on our support.
There is one other thing that could divide us: A lot of people don’t identify with the interests of the social class they’re in but, instead, with the interests of the class they’d like to join. I think it was George McGovern who complained (and I’ll paraphrase): A lot of voters didn’t like my tax reform proposals since they thought they would win the lottery someday and be rich enough to enjoy the tax breaks that they should (as members of the class they’re actually in now) oppose.”
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Steven Searle for US President in 2012
Founder of The Independent Contractors’ Party
“Aren’t you tired of being so shamelessly manipulated?”
Contact me at bpa_cinc@yahoo.com
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