You Know You Live In A Banana Republic When

                                                                                     From the Ramparts         
                                                                                Junious Ricardo Stanton
                                                             You Know You Live in A Banana Republic When

    The more I think about it the more I’m convinced the US is a first rate banana republic, my apologies to our Latin American neighbors who for years had to endure that pejorative description of their countries . Here are some reasons the US is in actuality a banana republic: You know you live in a real live banana republic when the government refuses to listen to the people, when the government is out of touch with the needs and wishes of the masses and they don’t care and elections are rigged, stolen or a sham where the candidates are preselected by an unaccountable elite or cabal. You know you live in a banana republic when the elections are so expensive that running for public office is beyond the means of the average person who lives in the country. You know you live in a banana republic when corporations and special interest groups have more influence on shaping public policy and legislation than you do. You know you live in a banana republic when the elected officials ignore the wishes of the people yet bend over backwards to accommodate the special interest groups and monied powers. You know you live in a banana republic when the rich and government hierarchy don’t have to follow the rules they write and routinely get away with violating them. You know you live in a banana republic when the graft and corruption are so rife honest politicians and public servants are the exception.
    

You know you live in a banana republic when there is a gargantuan economic and social divide and the blatant in your face inequality is caused by elites who  systematically and institutionally create the inequity that exploits and plunders the public treasure, controls the economy and dares anyone to say or do anything about it.
    

You know you live in a banana republic when there is a ruthless and oppressive police state apparatus which the rulers encourage and justify on the grounds of “national security”or “law and order” like during slavery, the  anti labor repression of the 1920’s , the COINTELPRO of the ‘60′s and ‘70′s or the current flap with the TSA perverts and bullies. In the US the police are so out of control, police misconduct is at an all time high everywhere not just in the Ghetto. You know you live in a banana republic when the masses are spied upon and viewed as potential threats under the guise of protection and security when it is the government who are the crooks and criminals.
    

You know you live in a banana republic when the Military is sacrosanct and the government deems the military can do no wrong. In the US the military budget for weaponry, espionage and technological gadgets is more than all the rest of the world combined ! You know you live in a banana republic when no military budget is too large, no project over run is too egregious and fraudulent to be questioned or stopped. But that’s not just for military hardware. The US pays experienced mercenaries or “private contractors” anywhere between $500 and a $1000 a day for their imperialist services but only pays an Army corporal about $20,000 a year. You know you live in a banana republic when the government takes away the benefits of their soldiers when they return crippled, maimed, disabled and psychologically damaged from the wars they were duped and tricked into fighting. Today the US government pays mercenaries ten times what they pay their volunteer soldiers.
  

 You know you are in a banana republic when there is no protection or consistency under the law. In a banana republic the oligopoly influences or controls the courts on every level of society. You know you are in a banana republic when the courts are so biased and corrupt they serve as a pipeline to prisons where the poor are herded on the most trivial and often trumped up matters while the rich get off scot free for massive corruption and major crimes against humanity. The US imprisons more of its citizens than any other country in the world, including repressive regimes like Egypt and China. You know you live a banana republic when justice is just a word and the police and courts are so crooked and corrupt they do their dirt right out in the open. You know you live in a banana republic when torture and human rights abuses are the norm and the government openly promotes human rights violations.
  

 You know you are in a banana republic when free thinking is a crime. When you live in a society that demands mental conformity, and resistence to evil and morality is punished by ostracism, scorn , labeling, demonization, and name calling such as “conspiracy theorists, tin foil hatters etc you are in a banana republic. In a banana republic you can be imprisoned or killed ala Malcolm X or Martin Luther King Jr for championing human rights or challenging immoral laws.
    

You know you are in a banana republic when the mass media is used to brainwash people and create a false reality and it is controlled by a small elite either in the government or the corporate board rooms. The media owners limit the free flow of information, thought provoking and empowering content in a banana republic. The US oligopoly wants to shut down the Internet because it is too open and free flowing. It offers too much competition to the handful of corporations who control global media, information and content like Disney, General Electric, News Corp, Time Warner, Viacom and Comcast. The elites want total domination of the airwaves, cyberspace and our minds.
    

You know you live in a banana republic when class strata becomes rigid, and upward mobility is stifled to the point people are locked into debt and grinding poverty for generations. You know you live in a banana republic when the oligopoly wages war on unions and prevents workers from organizing, joining unions or they co-op or emasculate unions altogether. In the US economic apartheid is now the norm, productivity is at an all time high while wages have remained stagnant for thirty years. You know you live in a banana republic when the financial elites can rob and plunder the economic system and the little people get stuck with the bill.  Look at the tent cites popping up around the country, look at all the vets who are homeless and the people out of work who are being forced to depend on charity and dwindling government programs.  If you see or experience any of these things in your town, county or the country, you are living in a banana republic.

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