Jul 11 2009

Court Jester Theater: My what Big Eyes you have Corporate Giants

(11:00AM EST – promoted by Nightprowlkitty)

All the world’s a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;

— William Shakespeare

Court Jesters

In societies where freedom of speech was not recognized as a right, the court jester — precisely because anything he said was by definition “a jest” and “the uttering of a fool” — could speak frankly on controversial issues in a way in which anyone else would have been severely punished for.

Monarchs understood the usefulness of having such a person at their side.

“Welcome To The Machine”

— Pink Floyd

This just in! … an urgent,

Breaking, Non-News Announcement!!! — Listen up consumers!

 Aristocrats

Aristocracy is a form of government, in which a select few such as the most wise, strong or contributing citizens rule, often starting as a system of cooption where a council of prominent citizens add leading soldiers, merchants, land owners, priests, or lawyers to their number. Aristocracy deforms when it becomes hereditary elite.

 Welcome to the Feudal Age

Before a lord could grant land (a fief) to someone, he had to make that person a vassal.

The lord’s principal obligation was to grant a fief, or its revenues, to the vassal; […] it was still the lord’s responsibility to maintain the land, while the vassal had the right to collect revenues generated from it. Another obligation that the lord had to fulfill was to protect the land and the vassal from harm.

The vassal’s principal obligation to the lord was to provide “aid,” or military service.

[…]

There were thus different ‘levels’ of lordship and vassalage. The King was a lord who loaned fiefs to aristocrats, who were his vassals.

 A Day in the life of a Lobbyist

First and foremost, lobbyists must be adept at the art of persuasion, which is the mainstay of their job. They must figure out how to sway politicians to vote on legislation in a way that favors the interest they represent.

[…]

The lobbyist imparts her information with the help of graphs, charts, polls, and reports that she has hunted up or created.

[…]

Sometimes, lobbyists will even sit down and help a politician draft legislation that is advantageous for their interest. Maintaining good relations with politicians who can be relied on to support the lobbyist’s interest is key.

While lobbyists and their employers cannot themselves make large campaign donations to politicians, they can, and do, raise money from other sources for reelection campaigns.


 And the rest of the King’s Court …

 The Joker’s Quid Pro Quo

QUID PRO QUO – Latin. ‘what for what’ or ‘something for something.’ The concept of getting something of value in return for giving something of value. For a contract to be binding, it usually must involve the exchange of something of value.

 2008 Political Ads Worth $2.5+ Billion

TNS Media Intelligence estimates that between $2.5 billion and $2.7 billion were spent on political ads this election season. Television’s share was $2.2 billion.


 The Jester’s Stage, aka The Spin room

A spin room is an area in which debate participants, their representatives, and/or other interested parties attempt to “spin” or influence the perception of a debate, usually among assembled reporters.

 The spin room – oily engine of the political meat grinder
By Jerry Lanson – Dec 12, 2003 – csmonitor.com

The spin room. It’s a concept so integral to modern presidential politics that a friendly debate organizer outside the press room directs traffic. “Spin? That building,” she instructs, pointing toward a sign marked – yes – “Spin Center Media Entrance.”

[…]

“I’ve often wondered what goes into a hot dog,” wrote author William Zinsser. “Now I know and I wish I didn’t.”

His words resonate. Close up, what some refer to as the “pageantry of American politics” seems sweatier and slicker, a cross between a rugby scrum and a barnstorming sales pitch, with each candidate and handler trying to stay “on message,” and each reporter manipulating that message, pushing to get the right sound bite on the evening news or to flesh out that story “angle” for tomorrow’s paper.


 The Fourth Estate

Noun 1. fourth estate – the press, including journalists, newspaper writers, photographers.  A major social class or order of persons regarded collectively as part of the body politic of the country (especially in the United Kingdom) and formerly possessing distinct political rights.

 Jefferson on the Freedom of the Press

“No experiment can be more interesting than that we are now trying, and which we trust will end in establishing the fact, that man may be governed by reason and truth. Our first object should therefore be, to leave open to him all the avenues to truth.

The most effectual hitherto found, is the freedom of the press. It is, therefore, the first shut up by those who fear the investigation of their actions.” — Thomas Jefferson to John Tyler, 1804

The Role of a Free Press in a Free Society — DailyKos: Jul 20, 2007

=========================================

Attention! Court Jester Theater — now in Session:

The following is but the Continuing Saga, of Serfdom in the 21st Century.

As ignored cyber-citizens, at least we can still sometimes find an Audience, out in cyberspace.

——————–

A funny thing happened on the way to Grand Mother’s House … some of us grew old and creaky, and sort of lost our way.

A chilly, callous attitude fell upon the land. People who had much, became very afraid it wasn’t enough. People who had little, had a very hard time, flagging down anyone for help.

There were rumors of a big, bad wolf, lying wait in the forest — ready to spring upon, the next unsuspecting victim.

Funny, there once was a day when wolves, were willing to co-exist with people.

But since the regulators and watchdogs, have been so effectively “de-fanged” — well the wolves were afflicted by the hunger for evermore power, and the fierce thirst of unquenchable greed … And those quaint feckless “rules” of society, that the People still cling to, simply became the means, for the predator-class to fill-up their ravenous needs.

The Bankers invented Paper Trinkets, to trade, leverage, and bet, on Wealth that they DID not even own.

The Watchers devised means, of tracking your every action, under the guise of providing security and keeping you safe.

The Factories of the prior age, discounted their Capital Laborers, to the point of making them dispensable.  And then they were cast away, in droves, like yesterday News.

The Scientists were ridiculed, ignored, except for when, their knowledge could be used for more powerful weapons, and the greater tools of exploitation.

The Teachers of the land were constrained, to treat their pupils, like widgets. Afterall, a top-down society, can never have too many interchangeable cogs.

The Health Care Providers were prevented from keeping their sacred oaths — “first do no harm” — by distance pencil pushers, who had lost their souls and compassion.

The Health Care Insurers, devised schemes, to Cancel Policies on the flimsiest excuses — right at the moment, that Insurance was needed most. Their callous legal wrangling, has been the reason for millions of bankruptcies among the villagers. And worst yet, the source of thousands of untold, deaths.

And the CEO’s pulling the strings behind those Corporate Giants, rationalize their wolfish behavior, by claiming “only the strong survive, in a Dog-Eat-Dog World”. … These same CEO’s demand compensation a thousand-fold, of their fodder, in exchange for their thoughtless daily arrogance, behind the thin masks of civility.

Which can leave one to wonder, “What will ever happen, to that Last Dog Standing, in their simple world view?” … Who will the ultimate CEO Kings, and their surviving lackey Enablers, pilfer and plunder then?

“My what big eyes those Corporation Giants have”, God only knows what carnage they’ll wreak next? … Who’s bank account will be next on their menu?

Which poor soul they will sentence next, to a life of misery, and destitution? … or simply perpetual fear and dread.

If only, God would clue us in, as to how we can get those unchecked Predators, to somehow, grow a conscious.

And if not a conscious, at least the fear of retribution. … Some inkling of what real Accountability demands.

But alas, that would require that Corporations were INDEED Persons, and not just the fictitious shadow of them … that they have become.

——————–

(… End of Jester Theater — you will now be returned to your normal programming …)

Good Day!  

and watch your back … it’s a cold world out there!

——————–

Previous Episodes:

Court Jester Theater: the Continuing Saga of Serfdom in the 21st Century

12 comments

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    • jamess on July 11, 2009 at 03:52
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    • #

    or just a kick in the pants.

  2. Your Html skills are impressive.

    Ever read the Philosopher Zizek who has made the Jester and the Knave a central subject of his philosophy.

  3. The platitudes concerning what is happening today go back thousands of years to Aristotle and before. Lemmings are even older so we’ve got a real battle on our hands.  

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