Davison's Doodle

And Now, Plutocracy

I’ve begun using the word plutocracy to describe the state of our nation.  It has not always been a plutocracy.  It didn’t begin with Reagan, but he certainly enabled it.  The recent Supreme Court decision that gave corporations “personhood” in elections moved the plutocrats farther down the time line to ensuring their “hostile takeover” of our representative republic promoting democracy to plutocracy: wealthy elite that own government and take from the working and working poor.  It has not always been this way during my lifetime nor of this nation.  The robber barons were dismissed once and it appears that will have to happen again.  The marketing machines are better equipped to convince the working and working poor to vote against their own interests in the name of freedom.  It is interesting that the “activists” label does not apply to conservative judges as well.

Bill Moyers is a problem for some, but I find his search for truth refreshing.  He is a reporter, curious and tough, but polite and respectful where respect is warranted.  I was looking over McLaren’s website and found a few of Moyers words.  Brian McLaren noted, “One of the best and disturbing things I’ve read in quite a while . . .”  I followed the link and have spent the last hour reading, nodding in agreement as well as feeling anger and sadness.

I cannot read words like these and not wondered how western Christianity has aided the worship of prosperity in our culture.  If salvation is only an individual experience then what happens to the community is of no concern.  “I’ve got my Jesus and I’m right with God.”  Accepting Christ is the beginning of a journey not the end.  Youth ministry is missional.  Some think that means “evangelism”.  It does not, for me, mean making more Christians.  Youth ministry is missional as a balance to the plutocracy into which youth are being raised with the teachings of Jesus based in “love God and love your neighbor as yourself.”  It is planting mustard seeds that I may never see provide shelter, leadership, preach a sermon, or serve in youth ministry.   This may not create more Christians, but it might raise ethical people that will reclaim the social balance that is at the heart of the message of Jesus of Nazareth about the kingdom of God.  It is why the parables still confuse, confront, and teach.

Moyers makes the case for my use of the word plutocracy.  It is apparently becoming the “new normal”.  Here are a few paragraphs of his words from a speech in honor of his friend, Howard Zinn.  McLaren was right.  It is disturbing and one of the best explanations of the change from democracy to plutocracy during my lifetime.

Howard Zinn Taught Us That It’s OK If We Face Mission Impossible
Bill Moyers: The following text by Bill Moyers was prepared for for a speech delivered October 29, 2010 as part of the Howard Zinn Lecture Series at Boston University

Now, most people know what plutocracy is: the rule of the rich, political power controlled by the wealthy. Plutocracy is not an American word and wasn’t meant to become an American phenomenon – some of our founders deplored what they called “the veneration of wealth.” But plutocracy is here, and a pumped up Citigroup even boasted of coining a variation on the word- “plutonomy”, which describes an economic system where the privileged few make sure the rich get richer and that government helps them do it. Five years ago Citigroup decided the time had come to “bang the drum on plutonomy.”

But let’s be clear: Even with most Americans on our side, the odds are long. We learned long ago that power and privilege never give up anything without a struggle. Money fights hard, and it fights dirty. Think Rove. The Chamber. The Kochs. We may lose. It all may be impossible. But it’s OK if it’s impossible. Hear the former farmworker and labor organizer Baldema Valesquez on this. The members of his Farm Labor Organizing Committee are a long way from the world of K Street lobbyists. But they took on the Campbell Soup Company – and won. They took on North Carolina growers – and won, using transnational organizing tacts that helped win Valasquez a “genius” award from the MacArthur Foundation. And now they’re taking on no less than R. J. Reynolds Tobacco and one of its principal financial sponsors, JPMorgan-Chase. Some people question the wisdom of taking on such powerful interests, but here’s what Valasquez says: “It’s OK if it’s impossible; it’s OK! Now I’m going to speak to you as organizers. Listen carefully. The object is not to win. That’s not the objective. The object is to do the right and good thing. If you decide not to do anything, because it’s too hard or too impossible, then nothing will be done, and when you’re on your death bed, you’re gonna say, “I wish I had done something. But if you go and do the right thing NOW, and you do it long enough “good things will happen-something’s gonna happen.”