A Political Nightmare

I had a dream that the elections were over and within two months, large gated communities sprang up around the country. Each one had an enormous wrought iron gate that had the words "Work Makes You Free" printed over the top, facing outward.

There were well manicured yards in front of all the houses. Each house was white, and there was almost no variety in their design, except that some were much larger than others around them. Each house had two flags flying on either side of the front door: an American flag on the left and the Christian flag on the right. On top of each door was nailed a King James Bible. On the doorsteps were printed instructions on how to pledge allegiance to the American Flag, the Christian Flag, and the Bible; in that order. The pledges needed to be completed before one could enter a residence.

The streets were named for large American corporations. They were cleaned every night with the sweat and tears of union workers. In the center of each community was a very large, tall building that looked like a curious architectural blend of a tabernacle and a bank. Floor-to-ceiling windows reflected the sun. Gleaming Alabaster panels were arranged in alternating rows with wood from Redwood trees.

I entered the tabernacle and saw strange statues in a rotunda that lined the walls. There was a man holding an assault rifle in one hand and a Bible in the other. The rifle was pointed at the head of an effigy of Uncle Sam, who wore a sign reading “... to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States”. Another statue was of a young pregnant woman kneeling in front of a man. Her face was cupped in one of his hands, while the other was pointing angrily at her belly. These statues were just a few among a great number.

At that point a man came to me and asked if I needed help. He wore a pin on his suit that read “Man is not free unless government is limited.” I asked him what the statues were for. He told me they depicted scenes from the “Great Struggles”. I asked him what struggles he was referring to. Exasperated, he turned to me and said “Well. Of course, the three great struggles of freeing corporations from government control, the struggle to eliminate taxes on those whom God has blessed with wealth and prosperity, and the holy mandate to codify Christian morals into our laws.” “Would you like a tour of our facility?”, he asked. I told him that I would greatly appreciate that.

After some time the guide took me up in an elevator. We stepped out to a balcony on the top floor high above the ground. From that vantage point I could see that the gated community was actually a compound surrounded by a vast number of poorly maintained buildings connected by crowded streets. In contrast to the well-ordered streets and sparsely populated gated community, the areas outside were chaotic and desperate. I asked my guide who the sign at the gates (“Work Makes You Free”) was intended for. “Oh, it's for them, on the outside”, he said,“We, in here, have attained our freedom by various means of acquiring wealth”. “So, you don't work?”, I asked. “God, no!”, he answered. “We make them do all the work. They look through the gates at our beautiful houses. We let them believe they can have what we have someday. That provides them with the incentive to continue believing, in spite of the fact that we've taken all the means from them.”

“What means?”, I asked. “Well we took from them or severely limited, access to affordable medical care, ability to litigate against corporations, public education, access to capital for entrepreneurs, access to higher education, expanded democracy through greater access to voting, regulation of corporations, support for organized labor, government advocacy on behalf of consumers, and guarantees of equality through civil rights... among other things.” I looked, genuinely surprised at my guide and asked “How did all this happen?”

“It was simple, really.”, he said. “You see, using the power of media and super PAC money we manipulated them into not voting in their best interests. We divided and conquered by having them identify with hot-button emotional issues (we called them 'God, Guns, and Gays'), instead of the larger, more important ones. We scared them with threats of taxes, looming deficits, and a hidden socialist agenda.”, he said. Then, turning to face me, my guide said, “We stay in power because we vote, and make certain they are so confused that they do not vote.”