{"id":1422,"date":"2011-01-06T12:03:55","date_gmt":"2011-01-06T18:03:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/?p=1422"},"modified":"2013-01-24T13:32:31","modified_gmt":"2013-01-24T19:32:31","slug":"is-the-united-states-a-nation-of-psychological-androids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/is-the-united-states-a-nation-of-psychological-androids\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the United States A Nation of Psychological Androids?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Published in Issue 408 of The Black Commentator on January 6, 2011<\/a>
\nRepublished in thepeoplesvoice.org on January 7, 2011<\/a>
\nRepublished in Woodstock International (Woodstock, NY),\u00a0January\/February 2011<\/a>\u00a0Issue,\u00a0Vol. 2 No. 3, Page 24 (cont. on 23)<\/p>\n

By Larry Pinkney<\/p>\n

\u201cNever be deceived that the rich will allow you to vote away their wealth.\u201d<\/strong>
\n -Lucy Parsons<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIf those in charge of our society – politicians, corporate executives, and owners of press and television – can dominate our ideas, they will be secure in their power. They will not need soldiers patrolling the streets.\u00a0We will control ourselves<\/em>.\u201d<\/strong>
\n -Howard Zinn<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Have we allowed ourselves to become psychological androids – putty and\/or expendable cannon fodder – in the hands of the corporate \/ military elite of this nation and its subservient corporate-stream media?<\/p>\n

The word\u00a0android<\/em>\u00a0is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as \u201ca mobile\u00a0robot\u00a0<\/em>usually with a\u00a0human<\/em>\u00a0form.\u201d Yet, beyond the\u00a0mere physical<\/em>\u00a0aspect of what an android is – is the all powerful\u00a0psychological<\/em>\u00a0component – on the part of who is actually\u00a0in \u201ccontrol<\/em>\u201d of the android. When humans cease to be in control of their own ideas and creative processes we are in essence relegated to psychological androids. As the late political organizer Steve Biko noted: \u201cThe most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the\u00a0mind<\/em>\u00a0of the oppressed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Everyday Black, White, Brown, Red, and Yellow people in this nation have entered the year 2011, under the yoke of the most hideous and vicious forms of national and global\u00a0corporate exploitation\/ domination<\/em>\u00a0[i.e. hegemony] and\u00a0military madness<\/em>\u00a0as yet visited upon humankind. Meanwhile, the nominal black-faced emperor of this insane\u00a0U.S.\u00a0empire piously and relentlessly feeds our sons, our daughters, our fathers, our mothers, our brothers, our sisters, our aunts, uncles, and our cousins into the flaming, insatiable\u00a0ovens of corporate greed and military insanity<\/em>. As we steadily lose our jobs, homes, educational opportunities, futures, and our legal and human rights – we are told that\u00a0war is actually peace<\/em>\u00a0(or at least guarantees peace) and that we must willingly sacrifice ourselves upon the blood-drenched altar of an\u00a0endless<\/em>\u00a0war against \u201cterrorism.\u201d\u00a0Never mind<\/em>, as the late historian, Howard Zinn, pointedly and correctly observed: \u201cHow can you have a war on terrorism when war itself is terrorism?\u201d Moreover, war\u00a0enriches<\/em>\u00a0the coffers of the already bloated corporate elite while simultaneously increasing –\u00a0not<\/span><\/em>\u00a0diminishing – \u201cterrorism.\u201d\u00a0None\u00a0<\/em>of this is lost upon the cunning minds of the corporate \/ military\u00a0elite or the diversionary corporate-stream media.<\/em><\/p>\n

We everyday Black, White, Brown, Red, and Yellow people watch racial and national tensions\u00a0heighten<\/em>\u00a0as economic resources become\u00a0ever more scarce\u00a0<\/em>for common folk, while\u00a0the rich become even richer<\/em>. We watch as the most repressive and unjust political and economic laws are passed and enacted against the people of this nation – in the name of so-called \u201cbipartisanship\u201d and then swiftly\u00a0spun away<\/em>\u00a0by a treacherous, complicitous corporate-stream media. We watch as\u00a0arguably<\/em>\u00a0the most\u00a0articulately<\/em>\u00a0draconian president in the history of this nation, adroitly\u00a0sets the stage\u00a0<\/em>for a\u00a0blatant<\/em>\u00a0corporate-fascist state all in the name of \u201chope and change.\u201d\u00a0We watch in horror as the political, civil, and human rights of an entire nation are skillfully banished into obscurity, right before our very eyes.<\/p>\n

How could political, economic, and social conditions have become so bleak in two years?<\/p>\n

Notwithstanding the undeniable fact that the\u00a0previous<\/span>\u00a0<\/em>Bush\/Cheney administration\u2019s policies were\u00a0clearly and utterly reprehensible<\/em>, the answer is relatively simple. Many people were simply\u00a0not paying attention,\u00a0<\/em>thus allowing themselves to be euphorically swept up into a frenzy of\u00a0non<\/em>-critical thinking in futile anticipation of the fulfillment of the\u00a0superficial<\/em>\u00a0so-called \u201chope and change\u201d double-speak rhetoric, which was dangled like a poisonous carrot, by those who make up the\u00a0present<\/span>\u00a0Obama \/ Biden administration<\/em>. Moreover, instead of heeding the wise words of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. when he said to judge people based upon the \u201ccontent of their character,\u00a0not\u00a0<\/em>the color of their skin ;\u201d so many\u00a0did\u00a0precisely the opposite<\/span><\/em>. Thus, with the\u00a0overwhelming<\/em>\u00a0backing and support of the corporate \/ military elite and corporate-stream media (for which major corporate support\u00a0should<\/em>\u00a0have<\/strong>\u00a0–\u00a0but did not<\/span><\/em>\u00a0– sound deafening mental alarms) Barack Obama became head of the\u00a0U.S.\u00a0empire. Another crucial factor as to how and why everyday people could have been so thoroughly bamboozled is the\u00a0shameful betrayal<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0by much of the Black intelligensia\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0so-called Left and \u2018progressives\u2019 in their support for the double-talking, corporate Barack Obama. They, for a certainty,\u00a0knew<\/em>\u00a0better<\/em>! However, this betrayal and complicity, on the part of an inordinate amount of them,\u00a0continues<\/em>\u00a0to this very year of 2011. Nevertheless,\u00a0and despite them<\/em>, a\u00a0growing<\/em>\u00a0amount of\u00a0just plain everyday<\/em>\u00a0Black, White, Brown, Red, and Yellow people have begun to pay serious attention to that symbolic \u201cman<\/em>\u00a0behind the curtain<\/em>\u201d [i.e. the android-maker], and are\u00a0legitimately<\/span>\u00a0<\/em>hopping mad.<\/p>\n

Many of the people of this nation were insidiously lulled into a slumber – a slumber from which some are now beginning to awaken. The android-like psychological state of so many is beginning to be replaced by the pain of betrayal and the recognition that the Obama \/ Biden regime (notwithstanding the Obama and corporate-stream media double-speak) has, over the last two years\u00a0repackaged and accelerated<\/span><\/em>\u00a0the Bush \/ Cheney policies of war abroad and economic, legal, and political disenfranchisement at home.<\/p>\n

Moving Beyond the Pain of Betrayal<\/strong><\/p>\n

Understanding<\/em>\u00a0that the corporate Obama \/ Biden regime and the scandalous Democrats\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>Republicans [i.e. the Republicrats] in Congress have, for all practical purposes, established and codified into law, a very real (and often not-so-subtle) police-state in this nation, must serve to strengthen the resolve of everyday people to throw off this unacceptable and intolerable situation. This \u201cpeace\u201d prize-toting, constitutional lawyer, and purveyor of war – Barack Obama, has despite himself, done something\u00a0incredibly valuable<\/em>: He has demonstrated for all\u00a0conscious<\/span><\/em>\u00a0people to see that\u00a0mere\u00a0<\/em>color or gender, etc. must never be the lone deciding factor(s) by which crucial choices and\/or political decisions are made. He has demonstrated that superficiality is precisely that –\u00a0superficial<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

Everyday people in this nation must grasp the\u00a0international<\/span>\u00a0<\/em>nature of the struggle for justice and human rights\u00a0world wide<\/em>. The corporate 21st century fascists are attacking everyday people\u00a0around the world<\/em>. Indeed, that is the nature of what is often referred to as [corporate] \u201cglobalization.\u201d We must understand that globalization means wealth for the tiny rich elite, and austerity and pain for the vast majority of just plain everyday people – in this nation and throughout the world. Just as the corporate elite\u00a0inside this nation<\/em>\u00a0are about the business of economic strangulation as it attempts to pit everyday people\u00a0against each other<\/em>\u00a0– exactly the same objectives are practiced internationally under what is termed \u201cglobalization.\u201d<\/p>\n

The people of the\u00a0United States\u00a0must recognize that our struggle\u00a0here<\/em>\u00a0for political, economic and political justice and human rights is\u00a0intertwined<\/em>\u00a0with those of everyday people in\u00a0Haiti, in\u00a0Spain, in Greece, in\u00a0Germany, in\u00a0Norway, in\u00a0Venezuela, in\u00a0Brazil, in Argentina, in\u00a0Palestine, in\u00a0Zambia,\u00a0in\u00a0every nation of every corner of Mother Earth<\/strong><\/em>!\u00a0Internationalism<\/em>\u00a0must be the answer of everyday people to the blood-sucking bane of\u00a0globalization<\/em>. We are\u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0alone – no matter what the corporate-stream media might try and have us believe! This planet belongs to\u00a0everyday people<\/strong>\u00a0– not to the vampiric corporate elite. We must be the guardians and sustainers of this planet. We must tell\u00a0our own stories<\/em>\u00a0–\u00a0present our own narratives<\/em>\u00a0– for the present and the future.<\/p>\n

As we the people intensify in our struggle here, let us remember our brothers and sisters around the world. No!!!\u00a0We will not be the psychological androids of the corporate \/ military<\/em>\u00a0elite<\/em>\u00a0– in this nation or anywhere else. Let us move beyond betrayal to an\u00a0actualized and<\/em>\u00a0sustained<\/em>\u00a0vision of renewal! Organize, Organize, and then Organize\u00a0some more<\/em>! What is at stake? Our very existence, that of our offspring, and that of the planet itself!<\/p>\n

Onward my sisters and brothers! Onward!!!<\/p>\n

Larry Pinkney<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0is a veteran of the Black Panther Party, the former Minister of Interior of the Republic of New Africa, a former political prisoner and the only American to have successfully self-authored his civil\/political rights case to the United Nations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In connection with his political organizing activities, Pinkney was interviewed in 1988 on the nationally televised PBS News Hour, formerly known as The MacNeil\/Lehrer News Hour, and more recently on the nationally syndicated Alex Jones Show. Pinkney is a former university instructor of political science and international relations, and his writings have been published in various places, including The Boston Globe, San Francisco BayView newspaper, Black Commentator, Intrepid Report, Global Research (Canada), LINKE ZEITUNG (Germany), 107 Cowgate (Ireland and Scotland), and Mayihlome News (Azania\/South Africa). He is in the archives of Dr. Huey P. Newton (Stanford University, CA), cofounder of the Black Panther Party. For more about Larry Pinkney see the book,\u00a0Saying No to Power: Autobiography of a 20th Century Activist and Thinker<\/a>, by William Mandel [Introduction by Howard Zinn]. (Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0to read excerpts from the book.)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Published in Issue 408 of The Black Commentator on January 6, 2011<\/a>
Republished in thepeoplesvoice.org on January 7, 2011<\/a>
Republished in Woodstock International (Woodstock, NY),\u00a0\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[31,4,26],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1422"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1422"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1431,"href":"http:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1422\/revisions\/1431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}