More Profound Than Ruin*

“The emptier our hearts become, the greater will be our crimes.” James Baldwin

In the same way Israel slowly chokes the Palestinians out of existence while the world sits on its hands and averts its eyes, the world is witnessing the slow demise of Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange, who has been in exile in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for nearly eight years -- without, it must be noted -- ever being charged with a crime. Assange, a journalist by trade, has been cut off from the outside world for months and is reported to be in declining health. He is largely denied access to sunlight, fresh air, and medical attention. Ecuador, under pressure from the United States, is said to be in the process of revoking Assange’s citizenship. If Assange is booted from the Ecuadorian embassy it’s likely the British government will turn him over to the United States, which will no doubt mean lifetime confinement or execution for espionage.

Assange and Wikileaks exposed the slimy underbelly of American foreign policy in Iraq and Libya, embarrassed the Clinton campaign, and the political elites will never forget that. They prefer to cover their brutality and mendacity under the guise of freedom, liberty and democracy. The persecution of Assange is a bipartisan gig, one of the few matters Democrats and Republicans agree on. If the United States gets its mitts on Assange, he’ll get the Chelsea Manning treatment, and then some for good measure. All investigative journalists should be watching this cruel injustice with extreme care as the distance separating them from Julian Assange isn’t long. Expose the ugly or uncomfortable truth about empire, feel the wrath. No journalist is safe, and particularly not when the President of the United States calls the media the “enemy of the people” and Saudi Arabia murders a journalist in its own consulate in Turkey.

So behemoth Amazon has chosen sites for its next headquarters, extracting billions of dollars in tax concessions from New York and Virginia in exchange for what it promises will be thousands of high-paying jobs and urban renewal. The latter no doubt means hyper-gentrification, soaring rents and housing prices, and longer commutes for working stiffs who will not be able to afford the price tag. The promised number of jobs will likely be fewer than advertised, which is usually what happens when corporations play cities and states against one another. This sorry game has been going on for decades. Corporations dangle the carrot of jobs, jobs, jobs, and then slam states and cities across the back with demands for tax breaks and infrastructure improvements. It’s basic extortion, and taxpayers usually wind up holding the bag or suffering diminished social services.

Amazon is the avatar of nearly everything wrong with the American economy. Gargantuan size, low wage seasonal workers, shameless exploitation, cutthroat practices. It has been allowed to become a monopoly that has driven thousands of small businesses out of existence, turned main streets into virtual ghost towns, wiping out retail jobs, local brick & mortar stores, bookstores, all because it can withstand selling products at a loss. I’ve seen this happen on State Street in Santa Barbara, the retail backbone of my hometown. Amazon is now competing with FedEx and UPS to control the delivery pipeline. If the US enforced its antitrust laws, Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods would never have been approved. No single corporation should amass the power that Amazon has over so many aspects of the economy. This kind of concentrated economic power naturally turns into political power. Many years ago, singer-songwriter Greg Brown wrote that one day there will be one corporation selling one little box, it will give you everything you want and take everything you’ve got. That’s Amazon. Yes, Amazon makes acquiring stuff easy and quick, but as a society we pay dearly for this magical efficiency. I buy stuff from Amazon, so I’m as guilty as most American consumers, though whenever I hit that one-click button I feel a little sick to my stomach.

Trump sure looks like a frightened man with piss running down his leg. He’s sullen and petulant and more erratic than ever, his statements little more than gibberish. He reminds me of a comedian who has run out of material, who reaches deep into his bag and finds nothing but lint, and can do nothing but repeat himself. Naturally, Trump made a fool of himself on his recent ceremonial visit to France. The French mocked him. Back home, Trump spews unsubstantiated claims of election fraud. The White House is rumored to be a total shit show, a scene of confusion and disarray, turmoil and backstabbing. Trump must sense that the Democrats are coming (if Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer don’t capitulate before the first shot is fired, as Democrats almost always do) with Robert Mueller not far behind, and the rotten facade of Trump World on the verge of collapse.

Here’s a thought to consider from writer Jacob Bacharach, “Poverty—both individual and social—is a policy, not an accident, and not some kind of natural law. These are deliberate choices about the allocation of resources.”

*thank you, William Faulkner