Los Angeles Police Action Video

A nice video of police breaking up a peaceful demonstration in Los Angeles: The commentary by some of the people in the demonstration is very good. It's becoming increasingly clear that the United States is dominated by industries that cater to every human emotion in proportion to its (buying) power.

The military caters to xenophobia. The military's business is to encourage animosity between cultures, to create an atmosphere of fear in and out of our country.

The health industry caters to fear of sickness and dying. The health industry's business is to interpret every malady as something that could be a sign of something worse, to encourage unnecessary tests, to encourage unnecessary treatments, and to prolong them as long as possible under the guise of standard treatment, health, and safety.

Politicians provoke fear and stir up hatred to curry favor with their financial backers. Republicans fly the banner of the military by speaking on dangers abroad. They fly the banner of religion when they speak of the corruption of morals. Democrats fly the banner of pharmaceutical companies when they speak of the diseases that could be cured by stem cell research, and they fly the banner of non-profits and local governments when they talk about the economic woes of the poor and our troubled schools.

The police cater to fear of anarchy. The speaker in the video correctly ascertains that the police are provoking confrontation, not preventing it. That is their business.

One can look at each of these industries in a positive light, because the positive light is there. They really do provide their services. But they also push as hard as they can to make themselves necessary, and to capture the minds of those they serve.

So one shouldn't ask if we need more military to fight terrorism, or more health care to fight disease, or more incentives to fight global warming. Instead, one should ask, do we need more fear of foreigners, more fear of disease and death, or more fear of the dangers of environmental collapse.

Here is some Colbert Report footage of Congressman Dana Rohrbacher flying the flag of terrorism.