The United States Of America: "We're #1!"
Alan: A fundament of George Carlin's thought - perhaps the cornerstone of his thought - is that, over time, responsible citizenship eroded and eventually transmuted into (capitalist) consumerism.
When the United States crossed that threshold, suddenly, citizens became consumer units.
Here we are, decades later, not so much a nation of sheep as a nation of Pavlovian dogs, although the latter presumes the former.
Consciousness -- however rudimentary it may have been before this sea change -- was conscious enough to realize that "The 1%" (not yet called "The 1%") was essentially hostile to the interests of "the working class."
There was, by The Nature of The Beast, an intrinsic conflict between over-the-top rich people and all the rest, especially "the poor."
And, as a result, "poor people" knew - in their bones - that labor unions (and other forms of "class action") were indispensable if there were to be ANY hope of controlling the irrepressible urge of "The 1%" to sequester all wealth.
I realize this bald statement seems outrageous - impossible on the face of it.
But it is substantively true.
The "dream" of ultra-rich, planet-destroying Capitalism is to make all production automatic, and then, in effect, to "snuff" everyone else.
Whether this yearning to eliminate "everyone else" takes place as a "Final Solution" exterminative event - or as gradual mass sterilization - is inconsequential to "The Filthy Rich" - "The Ungodly Rich."
Make no mistake.
They want it all.
And although the boom/bust cycles at the heart of unbridled, Cowboy Capitalism pretty much ensure enough social upheaval to create epochal revolutions, The Dream endures.
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George Carlin Interview
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