What If the Rich and Powerful ...

Nov 18, 2021

What if the very rich and powerful came to the realization that the gross inequalities that resulted from their insatiable greed and squandering of wealth had become so unbearably painful to others that they needed to convince their fellow Americans it was not their their squandering of wealth, but rather it was the poor, gays, blacks, Asians, immigrants and their more compassionate fellow Americans who were the real social and economic enemies of the middle class. How would they implement such a plan?

What if they were able to use their wealth and influence to employ a host of platforms including unregulated cable news networks, Internet social media sites and hostile foreign governments to propagate their lies, create an atmosphere of resentment and fear, brainwash gullible fellow citizens, and propagate the misconception that their more compassionate neighbors and politicians, inspired by their religious beliefs and ideals, were in fact stupid, mindless, un-American and somehow linked to a sinister godless Communist ideology that intended to take away their basic human rights.

What if they were to sponsor sophisticated think tanks that refined their message, and human networks that were able to identify and nominate politicians who craved power and were willing to be bought by the rich and powerful -- politicians financially beholden to them who in turn spread their conspiracy theories and preached that liberalism was fundamentally godless and anti-Christian rather than an expression of compassion and consistent with the Gospel message?

What if they recognized that the teachings of mainstream religious denominations about compassion and social justice contradicted their message, and yet they were able to generate sufficient fear and resentment to convince those with religious convictions that the teaching of their faith about compassion and social justice should extend only to those in their immediate community and not to refugees, immigrants, gays and those of a different race or religion?

What if they determined that they needed the support of the more faithful members of key religions denominations, and as a result gave lip service to certain non-monetary tenants of those religious denominations regarding issues such as abortion and homosexuality, and in so doing were able to co-op the faithful and their religious leaders into promoting their cause and the candidacy of those they nominated?

What if, based on their message of fear, lies and distortion, the rich and powerful were able to nominate and elect one of the most greedy and dishonest members of their wealthy class? What if he quickly learned from the success of totalitarian regimes that creating an atmosphere of resentment and fear and telling lies over and over would eventually change the perspective of many average Americans who heard his message, so that he created a cult of believers who were unwilling or unable to discern any evidence to the contrary. What if he was able to intimidate and eliminate anyone from his own party who did not agree totally with his message and methods, and whenever he was caught in his deception, rather than having to admit his dishonesty, he was able to effectively attack the messenger and claim that the news was “fake”?

What if from time to time their message of lies and distortion did not resonate as effectively as they had planned, such that members of the opposition party were being elected, but yet they were able to convince many of those they had brainwashed that those elections were fraudulent, that democracy was failing, and then convince politicians who feared loosing power to tinker with the democratic process, creating voting restrictions that would keep them and their cronies in power?

Is it conceivable that a group of the most wealthy and powerful would be so greedy as to carry out such a plan and in so doing thwart the workings of democracy, the tenants of the faith they profess, the will of the majority of Americans, and in the process would be willing to unleash the most violent supporters of those lies? Is this just another conspiracy theory, or should we diligently "examine the evidence" and "follow the money"?