What We Can Learn From the Rich and Powerful

Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me --F Scott Fitzgerald.




Indeed, they are. In all our contempt towards the rich and powerful, our condemnation of their arrogance and profligacy, disgust at their manipulative behavior, anger against their corruption, and fear of their systematically psychotic behavior, we forget that there are certain things we can learn from them. 

The ruling class have a different perspective than just the average commoner of society (you and me). It is their ability to see the broad spectrum of things that we as commoners often overlook, instead busy with the menial tasks of everyday life, too caught up in our own little little worlds to notice that the rich and powerful have much influence over even that as well.

Take for example the case of economic ideology. The rich and powerful know what benefits them. While they carefully devised schools of thought and "think tanks" that preached opposites ("Free Market" Vs. "Keynesian-ism") in order to divide the populace and control the national discussion on economic policy either way, they themselves did not adhere to these mere things as principle, while fooling us to go against our own self-interest.

While the American majority was busy adhering to the ideas of economics like doctrines, the rich and powerful could not care less. They operated on one principle......if it benefits you, employ its devices. Is it so surprising then that when one looks at the historical archives, one can find that the rich and powerful of the world funded (and even to a large extent created) Communism (an ideology that threatened to strip them of their wealth) and Nazism? And continues to fund extreme movements around the world for their sinister goals?

Why? Because they didn't see economic or political systems as doctrines, but rather as tools. And they employed them wherever they saw fit. When the so-called "Free Market" benefited them, they employed it everywhere they saw fit. Whether it was to rob workers of their pay in the late 19th century Western world, or to extract the natural/national resources of poorer continents/countries in the early 20th century and beyond (and in so doing keeping them poor), they did so. 

In the wake of the global banking crisis that led to the World economic depression beginning in 2007-08, the very same supporters of "Free Marketeer-ism," who the very system they praised would see to it that they collapse on their own greed, all of sudden became the biggest proponents of government intervention in the economy, or as they like to term it, "socialism." Having always hated the poor and middle class and decrying people for accepting social services from the government agencies that those people have every right to, they instead became the biggest "welfare recipients" in the history of mankind. 

When they were done using a tool, they put it back in the box. And when done using another, so the same. Still the citizens of the world (including me) did not catch up to this.

Another example is when the U.S.A and the rest of the Western ruling class members devise secret operations to overthrow democratically elected governments, replacing them with repressive regimes, all while paradoxically justifying it in the name of "freedom" and "democracy," and decrying "dictatorships," the very same political system they claim to be against. 

The rich and powerful know that in order to keep in power, and to justify their lunatic behavior, certain structures must be kept in place; such as laws, systems, administrations, bureaucracy, and courts that all rule in their favor.

What can we learn from all of this?

Number one: systems are there for us, not the other way around. The other way around discourages human freedom and individuality, promoting false collectivism and in turn eventually an identity crisis. All these factor into the reason for the lack of resistance against the oppressive state the rich eventually create. 

As systems are tools, they are to be used appropriately. Giving them names like "Socialism/Communism," "Capitalism/Free Market," which caused wedges between people is counter-productive. In either systems, you will find that there are rich and powerful people, which further enforces the point. One kind of system may work very well for one situation, but not perform the same in another. Also, to take one idea and try to stretch it beyond its limits is the tragedy of the human endeavor. We must view systems as what they are: human creations that can be applied accordingly and in bits and pieces to wherever it is appropriate.

It is not good enough just winning a battle against social, economic injustice. A framework must be put in place in order to secure the victory. Once a city is captured, the wise general fortifies it against further incursion. That is what we must learn. Once the interests of oligarchy takes over a system like a cancer, then begins the process of consolidating this take-over. We too, can learn from that on path to victory. 

It is time to broaden our horizons. It is time to see things the way the rich and powerful do. Because if we don't, things will not change for the better.