Gimme That Old Time Globalism

“These are the times that try men's....” well, not “souls” exactly, because those have been under siege for a couple of generations at least. How about “reasoning power”, or the ability to think logically and in a linear fashion? That may actually be a handicap in these times, given the preponderance of fake news, news about fake news, fake news about fake news, ad infinitum. The notion – popularized in “The Realist” of fond memory – that “the truth is silly putty” may be the most rational position to adopt at this point. Certainly the meltdown of the mainstream media over the Trump phenomenon has caused many to question how long since said media have even been in their right minds. Or – were they ever in their right minds? Have they always been feeding us propaganda on behalf of the Regime? And has world news ever been any more dependable than the bogus and instantly contradictory news flashes in “1984”? Are we to go back to a more primitive time when we could only trust what is before our eyes, or under our noses – and even be skeptical of much of that? Are we, in short, mere pods in The Matrix, whose life energy is continually siphoned off in order to serve as the power source for the Regime?

Regardless of one's answers to the above questions, it has to be striking that President Trump enjoyed what amounts to a hero's welcome at the annual love fest of the ruling class at Davos. He marched into the belly of the New World Order, and of globalism, and more or less took over the room for as long as he was there. And these are the people who erupted in outrage way back when he announced his candidacy, and have been working non-stop to defeat him ever since – in concert with their allies on the domestic front, of course. During the campaign, he preached anti-globalism, and was thus accused of being – gasp! -- a “nationalist”, but also a “nativist”, and, in short order, a “fascist”. (And this is from people who have plenty of experience with both nationalism and fascism, so they ought to know.) The globalists quaked in their boots until they remembered that, number one, they were still in charge (and continue to be), and number two, had plenty of ways and means of keeping him from winning the election (against Hillary Clinton, an ultra-globalist if ever there was one), and, in the wildly unlikely event that he won anyway (they obviously grossly underestimated the percentage of “deplorables” among the American electorate), from ever succeeding in enacting even the tiniest piece of his agenda -- the latter effort which continues in full force, and which includes most of the executive branch, of which Trump is the titular head.

But now he rides into their midst, knocking over buffet tables piled high with caviar and foie gras, and everyone is all smiles. Or are they? What I really suspect is that those – you should pardon the expression – shit-eating grins are not unlike the ones that greeted Obama or Hillary Clinton every time they descended on Wall Street. They are not expressions of love, or admiration, or support, but of fear. And it's not as if politicians are all that powerful, ultimately – but they can be annoying, especially when they manage to translate their pet peeves into laws which then have to be, somehow, dealt with. The Regime will go to great lengths not to be inconvenienced, in other words; efficiency is key.

There are times when pretended friendship is preferable to open hostility and opposition, and this was, undoubtedly, one of those times. After all – or so they reason – America is still in their back pocket, politically and economically, so do we really have to worry about this... anomalous figure who somehow managed to occupy the White House, for who knows how long? Isn't it better to just “grip and grin” and wait it out? Because, after all, globalism is the wave of the future (as it has been as least as far back as Trotsky), and no power on earth, or above or below the earth, is going to stop it. So why get all riled up? Like some dangerous guest at a cocktail party, it's better to just flatter him and keep his glass full until he gets bored and leaves. Otherwise he might run amok and start breaking things and hurting people's feelings.

Or have they had a change of heart? Well – Trump has certainly tossed his opposition to perpetual and non-winnable war onto the ash heap of political history, and that would certainly cause the globalists much relief. We haven't heard a whole lot about free trade lately; Trump's approach to business is more along the lines of the tax bill, which promises what amounts to one-time amnesty for corporations “repatriating” their overseas profits. (But if the Democrats take over Congress next year, watch them de-patriate those profits so fast it will make your head spin.) I imagine the Regime can take that hit if free trade survives intact, which it seems it will. And on the domestic side – well, the Regime doesn't worry about domestic politics in America; it's “noise level” as long as the programs they care about are fully funded, which it appears they will be.

So it is just possible that Trump has crossed some magic line that divides the enemies of globalism from its friends – not that he's a full-fledged friend, but at least they can expect no serious opposition. (One might say that he wandered onto the reservation.) But if that's the case, why haven't they called off their minions and shock troops in the American media, entertainment, the Democratic Party, academics... and now the psychiatry profession? Because those elements are still fighting the war as if the war is still raging, the way Andrew Jackson fought the Battle of New Orleans after the peace treaty had been signed. Or – maybe they haven't gotten the memo yet. Or – maybe the Regime wants them to continue to exert pressure, just in case Trump gets any funny ideas about wandering back off the reservation. But eventually it's going to dawn on someone that getting rid of Trump is no longer Job One – and that will leave a lot of members of the Resistance without gainful employment.

See, the thing about the Regime is that they care only about enhancing their power, influence, and wealth – and those priorities don't necessarily make them pro-American or anti-American... or pro-Democratic or pro-Republican... or pro-”deplorables” or pro-”snowflakes”. All we are -- and this is true right up to the “highest levels” (which is another word for the presidency) -- are tools, and resources, and capital. As long as we “perform” (the way investments are said to “perform”) we are kept alive, fed, housed, and treated to a perpetual stream of brainwashing and propaganda as to how delightful it all is. But if we should fail to perform, then there are options – one of which is simple extermination, but that seems too crude and ham-handed for our enlightened times. Another option is sucking the life out of a movement through repeated assaults – political, economic, and physical. (It worked just fine for the Black Panthers and the “black power” movement, for example.) Another is letting it run its course while insuring that success is impossible – as witness the Bernie Sanders movement, which was undercut and sabotaged by his “friends” at the DNC. And another is making them think they have won, while fatally co-opting their leaders – and examples of this are many, among them the civil rights movement.

In our time the twin populist movements, “Occupy” and the “Tea Party”, have both been allowed to run their course. “Occupy” morphed into Feel the Bern, which then morphed into the Resistance, or at least a segment thereof. The Tea Party bifurcated into pro-Trumpers and anti-Trumpers, both of which are still actively pursuing their agendas. But the point is that they have been compartmentalized – which is a much better strategy than overt, outright oppression. After all, think of all the revolutionaries who got their start in prisons. Prisons are no place to put politically dangerous people! For one thing, it gives them too much free time; “Mein Kampf” was written in prison, lest we forget. It's much better to just let them do their thing, gather a group of followers, fail to ignite anything of significance, and than fade into pathetic irrelevance. (I note that the Soviets had the habit of liquidating political enemies, whereas Chairman Mao would occasionally send them off for “rehabilitation”. His was the more subtle approach – and guess which of the two regimes survives to this day.)

So, to sum up – globalism is intact and, basically, invincible. It's not the wave of the future; it's the present, and we live there. Trump made a bunch of new friends in Davos, and they will see to it that his path to enlightenment continues – at least until they can replace him with a someone who is more amenable to manipulation. And the best news (for them) is that globalism is now the mainstream position in the U.S., at least among those who have any real say in the matter. The stubbornly pro-Trump segment are scratching their heads more every day – is this what we voted for? They're starting to get that “bait and switch” feeling. And many are falling away. They realize, on some level, that the war they thought Trump was going to fight for them was already lost on Election Day, and in fact had been lost for decades; it only took the election of Trump to confirm that fact. But one could also consider this one less thing to worry about: We are the world, and the world is us. We are living in the dream of the “Dreamers”. There are no borders, and no nations. And we all love Big Brother, whoever he or she is, and wherever he or she resides.