What's the Point?

The first destructive step usually taken by abusers of power is to DEHUMANIZE. As soon as the targets are made to be less than human, classically, perhaps thought of ANTS or INSECTS, there they can be crushed or exterminated. A British right-wing commentator recently referred to some immigrants as "roaches". You get the idea. And it's not purely ideological. The left dehumanizes on a regular basis, calling people "morons" or "troglodytes" if their views and beliefs are less cosmopolitan. But make no equivalence per se, we are generally faced with fascism, extremist militarism and nationalism from the right. Which goes hand in hand with religious extremism -- Fundamental christian and muslims at the top of the list for dehumanizing 'non believers' and 'infidels' so they can be exterminated, removed from existence leaving only the Flock Of Faithful.

The past century has been a long slide into an era of pure corporate hegemony over planet earth. 

Sure -- there are still places you can escape it all, get off the grid. But those are rapidly disappearing. We are now 'plugged in' on so many levels...money/banking, consumer activity, communications, social media. 

In each realm, it's fine to have business underpinning the machinery...but we head every day further into a monopoly situation in each case. Something to be monitored closely. But that's not a popular cultural desire - to Watch The Watchers.

In the west, especially the US, the church has been powerful focusing tool to get people on board with the Greatest Myths Of All Time, identifying and correcting any form of dissent. Through time this has taken on horrific and deadly form, fortunatelyu we are floating through a time when you can question this fantastic situation and not be beheaded, at least on most of the planet.

Islamic extremists at the center of their Concentric Circles Of Madness (all Abrahamic religions have them, and so do a couple of the other ones) will still do so for the slightest offense. And in the not-so-distant past, Christian mind-control in Europe including beheadings for stating that the planet was round or that the prescribed 'god' was not your choice. Not to mention the murderous Crusades that lit a lot of the Blowback Fires still Burning.