Racism and Corporate Greed, America's Original Sins

Of late, the most telling manifestation of white privilege has been the middle class white reaction to healthcare reform. Their belligerent tone and utter lack of legislative critique belies a deeper motivation, a motivation rooted in the right's overtly racist political strategy, the Southern Strategy, of the post Civil Rights era. More to the point, the angry white sentiment toward healthcare was captured by one of the mob's minions who exclaimed, "we're afraid of Obama (because) he's a socialist." Immediately I'm transported to 1981 when Republican operative Lee Atwater boldly and proudly asserted that racist language must be coded in the apolitical narrative of economics:

"You start out in 1954 by saying, "nigger, nigger, nigger." By 1968, you can't say
"nigger" - that hurts you... So you say stuff like forced busing, states rights,
and all that stuff... and all these things you're talking about are totally economic
and a byproduct of them is blacks get hurt worse than whites." - Lee Atwater

In Inglewood, California, a mostly black and Hispanic crowd wait for hours for much needed healthcare, in a scene that could just as easily be from Zaire or El Salvador, while across the country middle class whites defend their privilege with racial slurs and taunts towards Obama. Make no mistake, these whites are defending the privilege of having overpriced health insurance, denying themselves a chance at more affordable healthcare and others a chance at coverage, period. In defending the system of healthcare as white privilege, the racism of the right only serves to further line the coffers of America's dukes and nobles, the corporate elite.

As such is the failing of the two-party system, the American system, which primarily, prevents any major political/economic/social changes from occurring. In the face of major change, however, enthroned corporations play the duped masses off one another inoculating the global corporate oligarchy from any direct challenge to its hegemony. The left would be better served to vote third party, right, or not vote at all - anything but Democrats. The American people are both apathetic and ignorant - one would think that 8 years of the Bush administration would shock people to life. But alas, it is going to take the Republicans causing a worldwide meltdown with their love of militarism, capitalism, and imperialism before Americans will be able to think further than their own skin color and in the collective interest. As it sits now, Republicans almost burn the barn and Democrats half-fix the inherited catastrophes. Let the Republicans go ahead and burn the barn to the ground, and then we can start with something that at least has the chance of not catching fire.