Political Terminology – The 2 minute FAQ to knowing everything necessary to understand American politics (Version 3)

The French National Assembly during the French Revolution.

The Spectrum

Left and Right: The terms left and right originated in the French Revolution to describe the seating arrangement where the sans culotte (people to poor to own trousers) were not represented by anyone, representatives of the proletariat and petite bourgeoisie demanding "movement" (what we would call progress) sat to the left of the speaker, so called moderates on each side clustered in the center around the speaker, while the representatives of the bourgeoisie, aristocracy and clergy demanding order (or what we would call conservatives) sat on the right. In the USA there is no left, because the USA is an oligarchy and the people have neither representation nor control. Obama correctly characterized himself as being right of Nixon, who was far right of center.

Left: The 99%. The poor, workers and professionals. Progressives. Congruent with millennials and postmillennials. Currently unrepresented in the US. (We're talking about the true left, here, not the fake left, that is the Liberals, usually Democrats.)

Center: Eliminated or co-opted by the oligarchs. Does not exist in US politics.

Right: Traditionally the crown, the bourgeoisie (bankers, owners of the means of production (factories, big stores, the media, etc.) and money lenders) and the church. Wealthy conservatives. Ranges from Republican fiscal conservatives, through all shades of Democrats to those Republicans and Libertarians right of Attila the Hun.

Regime: A system under which progress occurs. [Any country whose government is called a "regime" in the US media, is a nation classified as an official enemy by the ruling oligarchs). The use of "regime" for the USA is wrong. The USA is a system under which regression occurs.

American Parties

Republicans: A right-wing party completely owned by the oligarchs, that doesn't hide the fact that the peasants should be starving except during elections. Republicans have more trouble than Democrats, other than Biden who at least has the excuse of senility, at formulating actual sentences using real words. Now represents less than 25% of Americans.

Democrats: The same, only more so, but they usually use a lubricant. Democrats can speak well and lie a lot, pretending to be more interested in the interests of the 99%, but unable to do anything about it, because of Republicans. Like the Republicans, the Democrats also represent less than 25% of Americans.

Libertarians: The same, only they tend to imagine that Americans are not selfish enough and have added drugs.

Green Party: The only party with the national presence needed to win an election not owned by the oligarchs. Their worst enemies are themselves.

Identifiable American Political Demographics

Boomers: While Boomerism began with the Boomer generation which typifies it, boomerism includes everyone stubborn, stupid and senile. In other words, boomerism is a mind thing, not an ageist statement.

MIPs: Millenniums (who outnumber everyone else), Independents (who outnumber everyone else), and Progressives (who outnumber everyone else). If they get their heads straightened up before our extinction and organize to oppose the oligarchy, they may save us all.

Progressives: A person who thinks that change in the face of scientific, technological and social development is a good idea or at least necessary.

Liberals: Liberals are the descendants of the frightened aristocrats and plutocrats who watched the French revolution in dismay and invented liberalism as a kinder, gentler version of feudalism to maintain their wealth, power, and necks. The US was founded as a liberal oligarchy and remains that way today, less the kinder-gentler aspects because they are no longer necessary once the sheep are persuaded that they need the oligarchs that are eating them one at a time to keep them safe from the dangerous wolves out there.

Conservatives: Like the status quo and being terrified of change, resist it.

Neoliberals: Advocating a laissez-faire policy of fsck the poor. When used by Democrats, it means fsck the poor for their own good.

Neoconservatives (aka neocons): Israel first. Americans should use military force to protect Israel (and American [GLOBAL] pre-eminence). In other words they are blatant world supremacists.

Systems of Government
These may be, and usually are combined.

Economic Systems Masquerading as Political Systems

Feudalism: This is where the wealthy and powerful are the children of the wealthy and powerful. Feudalism evolved as humans adopted farming and invented government and religions between 14,000 and 5,000 years before present, as the planet warmed after the last ice age, limiting the ability of people to live as happy hunter-gatherers.

Capitalism: Capitalism amounts to neofeudalism although it refers to an economic system, rather than a political system, although many Americans are under the impression that it is an economic system preferred by their god thingies. Capitalism implies the private ownership and control of the means of production, pillage of the environment and rape of the people. Capitalists are invariably people who seek to privatise profits while socialising losses. Capitalism invariably relies on three thefts to work its magic of transferring wealth from the poor to the wealthy and powerful. Theft of the commons (eliminating the ability of people to support themselves without working for the oligarchs), theft of labor (because profit is created by not paying labor the value of their work), and, the theft of the environment (which capitalism despoils).

Communism/Marxism: Communism is public ownership and public control of the means of production. People who realise that with the collapse of employment caused by automation, that the people need to own and control the means of production or die tend to lean towards communism.

Socialism: Socialism is the private ownership and public regulation of the means of production. Socialists are people transitioning to communism, living in countries that regulate the economy to ensure that the needs of everyone are met, not just those of the wealthy, or living in other countries and advocating for this. Socialism is a transient system, ultimately leading to communism, where the people control both the government and the means of production.

Evaluism: Evaluism is a regime based on the explicit prioritization of sustainability (we all rely on the same environment), the interests of the future (who will always outnumber the present unless we become extinct), the interests of society (as we are all components of, and dependent on society), the individual (as society is made up of individuals) and the economy (the economy is simply a measuring instrument, allowing us to maximise good and avoid wasted effort). An evaluist society follows the platinum rule (treat others as they would wish to be treated) and is based on reliable ethics:  First do no harm. Then do what good you can. Respect people’s wishes for themselves. Respect privacy, but not at the expense of others. Treat everyone equally.

While most Americans think that the following terms are interchangeable, they actually do have meanings of their own:

Monarchy: What American Republicans (think Bush) and Democrats (think Kennedy and Clinton) wish they had.

Nepotism: Promotion of relatives. Seen in the USA's curious urge to support dynastic leadership, even after being screwed by them, rather than performing cephalectomies*, for example Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton.

Oligarchy: Rule by the wealthy and powerful. The real power in the US is held by our totalitarian oligarchs. A small group who value no opinions or interests but their own, and plan to kill most of us anyway. The oligarchs control the US via the Republican and Democratic parties and total control of the military, industrial, financial and media complex. While most plutocracies (government by the wealthy) are oligarchies, not all oligarchies are plutocracies, as some have power without wealth (Kissinger was a notorious example) and others have wealth without power (Trump is a perfect example). The USA is an oligarchy, and probably has always been one, although in previous times it paid more lip-service to being a republic with pretentions to democracy. In an oligarchy the only people represented are the oligarchs, the rich and powerful who manage the country to benefit themselves and only themselves. As nobody but the oligarchs are represented, and they resist any change in this at all, there is no left and they tend to the totalitarian.

Representative Democracy: Pretending to have a democracy while nobody but those wealthy enough to bribe the representatives are represented.

Republic: A way for the oligarchs to rule with the support of the peasants by pretending that the peasants are represented, but controlled by ensuring that only the oligarchs get to select who does the representing.

Constitutional Republic: A way for the oligarchs to pretend that there are limits to how badly they will screw their peasants.

Characteristics of government

Direct Democracy: The only form of government immune to bribery and regulatory capture is a direct democracy, because only in a direct digital democracy would you have to bribe a majority of the people to cheat the system. Digital technology makes creating such a system possible and easy. It is important that the system be auditable and verifiable, so that anyone can detect cheating, and it must be possible to undo the actions of cheaters, in order to earn trust. In a Direct Democracy, votes should be weighted for location, involvement and tested expertise (perhaps with experience or educational equivalences).

Totalitarian: A government like that of the US, where people the government disagrees with are killed, brutalized or jailed, explaining why, with less than 5% of the world's population, we have over 20% of its known prisoners, more than any other totalitarian state in history.

Nazis: Fascist racists (from German National Socialism in the 1930s, which like the Democrats who are opposed to democracy, were opposed to socialism).

Fascists: The intersection of money and government (From Mussolini's Italy of the 1930s, which like America today, was governed by corporations for corporations). Also when the government is controlled by private interests (Roosevelt).

Uncategorized

Guillotine: A device which improves the temperament and ethics of oligarchs by reducing pressure on the torso and stress in the neck.

Making America Great Again (MAGA): The USA has always grated, so there is no need to make it grate again.

Random Shit
When Americans say “Marxist”, “Fascist”, “Totalitarian”, “Communist”, “Nazi”, “Socialist”, “Liberal”, “Chinese”, “Russian”, “Soviet”, “North Korean”, “Iranian” or “USSR”, or permutations on this, they usually do not know what they are talking about, but know that it means something horrible that they should not want. The amount of formal education received does not change the degree of ignorance exhibited unless they attended Stanford (xenophobic, may work for the CIA). Harvard (extremely xenophobic. Likely to work for the CIA) or Yale (most xenophobic. Probably works for the CIA).

Similarly when they Americans say “Liberty”, “Democracy” or “Freedom” they mean that they want to murder you and steal whatetever you possess, but with the best of all possible intentions.

[post-views]

Puke if you must

This bloodsoaked monster is probably the most evil person on planet earth https://t.co/nGq2H1EPHt

— Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) April 9, 2020