In America today, personal gain and economic advantage often trump social responsibility and concern for the commonwealth. In America, it depends on who you are. And who you are, very much depends on where you stand socioeconomically. As Edward Burmila put it recently, you are only as free as you are wealthy. For proof, look at what has happened during the pandemic: the economic elite has gotten richer, and people of limited financial means have died disproportionately.

Yes, life is worth living (per Fulton J. Sheen), but life is worth losing, too (per George Carlin). Sheens Life is Worth Living was a popular, 1950s television program. Life is Worth Losing is Carlins 2005 comedy album. Seemingly disconnected public expressions tell a tale about America. Its a tale about how a minority group has gained control of American society. Its a tale of subversion, strategy, and persistence. Regaining the edgevital for democracycertainly wont be easy and probably wont happen soon even if Trump exits The White House.

Life is Worth Living featured a Roman Catholic priest, the Reverend Fulton J. Sheen. Featuring isnt the right word: Sheen was the show. Televised nationally from 1952-57, LWL drew as many as 30 million weekly viewers. With hypnotic gaze, riveting presence, and resplendent dress, Sheen used a chalkboard to etch his arguments. In the episode shown here, Sheen launches into a lecture about the right to own property and rails against excessive wealth, calling it Monopolistic Capitalism. Sheen asserts that those who enable the accumulation of wealth (that is, employees) should share equitably in owners profits. To make that happen, Sheen supports participatory management and co-ownership of industry. Speaking professorially through most of the program, Sheen becomes emotional at the end.

Sheens program aired during the McCarthy Yearsa time when fear-mongering and conspiracy theories were the coin of the realm, and critiques of American capitalism werent taken lightly. But Sheen, who was staunchly anti-communist, stood above the fray.

Ill bet that Sheen was a Democratic Socialist long before that term came into public use. At issue is what America might have become had it pursued Sheens line of thinking. It didnt.

As we reflect on what Sheen said nearly seven decades ago, we know his thoughts arent unfamiliar. Ill bet that Sheen was a Democratic Socialist long before that term came into public use. At issue is what America might have become had it pursued Sheens line of thinking. It didnt.

Enter Life is Worth Losing, a George Carlin comedy album recorded in late 2005 and co-presented as an HBO special. In one routine, Dumb Americans, Sheen explains why dumbness serves an important political purpose. He calls it The Reason (listen, 6:40ff). The owners of Americathe wealthyown you, Carlin proclaims. They dont want people capable of critical thinking. They dont want educated people. Why? Its against their interests. They dont want people sitting around the kitchen table talking about how badly theyre getting (F-bomb) by the system. They want people who are just smart enough to do their jobs, but not smart enough to question whats happening to them. (Dumb Americans had 11,682,000 views on YouTube as of August 8, 2020.)

Carlin believed Americas wealthy minority (and their compatriots) had taken control by subverting systems in their favorthings like pouring money into elections to support candidates wholl do their bidding, engaging in electoral subterfuge (e.g., gerrymandering, voter suppression), getting their people in executive posts across sectors, and dominating organizational boards, locally and nationally. Theyre also adept at taking advantage of Americans soft spotsgood at throwing bones (e.g., tax cuts), using scare tactics (e.g., others ideas are radical), blowing dog whistles (e.g., White America is in jeopardy), and diverting attention from matters they dont want in the spotlight (e.g., Trumps tweets).

Yes, its about money and the influence that comes with it, but its about much more than that. These folks have a game plan, an associated set of strategies and tactics, and momentum, too50-years worth.

A half-century ago, a man by the name of Lewis F. Powell (soon to be U.S. Supreme Court justice) was flummoxed by successes achieved by the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. He was also perturbed that one of his own, namely Richard Nixon, had the audacity to establish the Environmental Protection Agency.

Powell believed firmly that social causes were dominating public and political attention, and he wanted to change that predilection. As counterstrategy, Powell proposed that the Conservative and business community embark on an organizing effort to serve commercial interests. In 1971, he wrote a 34-page treatise entitled, Attack on the Free Enterprise System (referred to generally as The Powell Report). In it, Powell wrote expressively and persuasively about how forces were conspiring against free enterprise. He submitted the report to the leadership of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, ending the missive with these words: The business and enterprise system are in deep trouble and the hour is late. (italics added)

Greenpeace has called the Memo a corporate blueprint to dominate democracy. It is that and more. Three things are apparent if you take the time to read Powells memo. First, Powell wrote in detail and across sectors about specific things that needed to be done. Second, if you reverse the timeframestarting with today and looking backyoull be amazed at how many of the things Powell referenced in general terms have become a reality (e.g., tax cuts, smaller government, Fox News, Citizens United, painting higher education as liberal). Third, Powell had clear sailing. While the Left has had episodic successes over the past half-century, it didnt (and doesnt) have a coherent, strategic, and sustained approach to achieving preferred objectives.

Without counterforce, the circumstances referenced by Sheen and Carlin have become deeply ingrained in Americas culture. Understanding just how deep is like peeling an onion: just when you think youve uncovered the revealing layer, another layer awaits. One example is systemic racism, a topic that is getting plenty of attention these days and for good reasons. But in her new book, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent, Isabel Wilkerson contends theres much more to the story. Sunil Khilnani describes it this way: Racism is only the visible manifestation of something deeper. Underlying and predating racism, and holding white supremacy in place, is a hidden system of social domination: a caste structure (italics added) that uses neutral human differences, skin color among them, as the basis for ranking human value.

Maintaining social divisions, then, becomes le passe-temps de choix (the pastime of choice). Too many Americans seek rewards that, by design, flow to the few. In an exchange transaction, affluent Americans give back to society. But as Anand Giridharadas writes in Winners Take All, a good share of that philanthropy isnt about changing the system so that more people can live The American Dream. Its about helping people cope with the system that exists (a caste system in Wilkersons parlance).

Long before Wilkerson and Giridharadas were writing, two other messengersone sacred (Sheen), the other profane (Carlin)delivered similar messages. Fulton J. Sheen framed it discerningly, Monopolistic Capitalism. George Carlin called it out. The system is rigged, and the tables are tilted.

The zeitgeist then is the zeitgeist today. Americans have tons of skin in the game. We rely on others wealth for jobs and promotions, in politics, at nonprofits, at universities, and more. When it comes to power, influence, and (in many ways) control, America as plutocracy trumps America as democracy.

What are the odds of that changing? Without a Progressive coup, theres no chance at all. Yes, there have been and will be episodic wins, but Americas moneyed interests dont worry about losing a battle here and there. What matters is winning the war. And they are.

Frank Fear

You can listen to this article on Anchor, Apple, and other podcast platforms. Tune to Under the Radar with Host Frank Fear.

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Sheen and Carlin Had 2020 (In)Sight - LA Progressive