The best that money can buy.

Politicians.

So the Supreme Court gets everyone in a tither about free speech. Turns out that corporations are people who just happen to speak with money. Now they can talk to politicians as loud as they like with nobody being able to say it's wrong.

It's wrong. (but I'm just a nobody)

No surprise here. They've just made official what many of us have known for a long time. In the US of A, money talks.

The courts are a private club with a high entrance fee. The higher the court, the higher the fee.

Don't believe me? Try going to court without paying a lot of money for a decent lawyer. You won't get any justice, you can't afford it.

Most middle class people can only afford so much justice. There's no competing with the big boys. The average person is bankrupted by the high legal costs of fairly mundane things: disability cases, divorce, property disputes, and what not. Forget about having rights upheld when big money is at stake.

So the corporations and the Bankster class have taken the reins of power pretty blatantly. The free speech ruling from the court is pretty clear. On top of the huge taxpayer bailouts of the big banks, it's a real one two punch. The government has gone to the highest bidder.

It's not a Conservative/Liberal, Left/Right, or Democrat/Republican thing. Bush and Obama come from different places, yet end up doing pretty much the same things. That should tell everyone that the President is not the one in charge. So much for voting on the national level.

Your votes have more impact on the local level, but even there, it doesn't matter all that much. When I go to a New England town meeting, one of the purest forms of democracy in this country, there's only so much that can be decided. Most of the budget and agenda are set on the State and Federal level. The boundaries are set elsewhere, the locals can only run around in the box they've been put in.

What to do about it?

Asymmetrical warfare combined with open source warfare.

Huh?

Okay, don't fight the system where it's strong. Forget about taking up arms and overturning the government. That won't work. That's hitting them where they are strong. Hit them where they are weak.

Don't try and compete with the corporations and super rich in an arena where money makes a difference. We've seen how that works in the courts.

What can we do about the system?

We can disconnect from it as much as possible. Become as self reliant as possible: food, water, energy, and anything else you can do that frees you from the major systems and grids. Work with others. Barter instead of doing things that can be traced and taxed. Deal as local as possible. Don't do business with big banks but use small local Credit Unions. Pay down your debts.

That's not enough. It's a start. It gives you a solid base. However, the battle won't be won just by disengaging from the enemy. As some point, he has to fought.

How?

Indeed, how?

I'm not really sure, but that's where open source warfare comes in. Find something that works, and share it with others. Remember, don't fight the beast where it's strong. This is financial and political Aikido. Use the strength of the opponent against him. Share your successes so they can repeated and improved upon. Share your defeats so they aren't repeated by others.

The web is a great tool for this sort of open source thing. At some point the powers that be will probably be forced to shut it down. (or make is so regulated and unappealing that it amounts to the same thing) At that point you'll know victory is at hand. They can't shut the web without it costing business lots of money. That's a weak point. So ends a lesson in asymmetrical warfare.

All I want is for people to have freedom in their lives, like we were promised.

-Sixbears