CARPETBAGGERS STILL RULE AMERICA!

Following the end of the bitter Civil War in America, many Northern Unionists came to the demoralised Confederate South bringing altruistic ideas for reconstructing the South and helping the slaves to adjust to their new-found freedom. Some were dedicated teachers and some were divinely-inspired missionaries. But not all!

Some of the visitors, well educated and middle class, brought their belongings in bags made from carpet, a cheap but serviceable material. Their eyes, ironically, may have shown flecks of compassion but their minds were sharply focused on assessing economic and political opportunities that might happen to come their way. Others even carried dodgy land titles and fraudulent share scripts and documents promising fictional loans. They became known as carpetbaggers, a derogatory term used to describe exploitative men who came from afar and just happened to stumble or trick or push their way into positions of power and wealth then left again.

As time went on, many of the carpetbaggers, who originally were lawyers, newspaper editors, businessmen, even Confederate soldiers and employees of the railroad and industry, etc, became quite rich and, unsurprisingly, largely forgot about their modest altruism and plans for a short stay. Wealthy family dynasties began to form in South as they did elsewhere in the land of equality and freedom and tolerance. Humans after all are fairly predictable, ‘cream’ floats to the top and all that.

Carpetbaggers, the ones who stayed, began to take up political positions as disgraced Confederate parliamentarians were disenfranchised. Of course the carpetbaggers fitted neatly into the Republican side of politics as did Freedmen, free blacks, and Scalawags (native white southerners). Sadly, the Reconstruction faltered and segregation of freed slaves was made law. There was much swapping of power between Republicans and Democrats across the Southern States which continues to this day.

Now what has this brief outline got to do with America today you ask? It seems to me that the ghosts of those exploitative men in suits who initially carried their belongings in bags made from cheap carpet still hover menacingly over the American landscape. Their progeny probably rule Congress and the Senate, sit on the boards of Multi-national companies, or shape and manipulate simple minds as Media Moguls.

Not only do carpetbagging types hold most of the power in the polluted American air from the Pacific to the Atlantic coasts but they also roam freely across the earth, their sharp, greedy eyes and dollar-sniffing noses working overtime. However, their bags are no longer made from carpet but from the finest leather.

But Friends, the new breed of carpetbaggers are not content with simply exploiting other nations by legal means. That’s far too slow and besides, many folk around the world are sick of being exploited. Look at that cheeky Chavez who thumbs his nose at American interests and is nationalising like crazy.

No, the new breed of carpetbaggers, exploiters supreme and innovators par excellence, Now Exert Control Over The American Military and, using fear to disguise their real motives, openly use military force to create economic benefit.

Bush, the Big Daddy of All Carpetbaggers, not content with his conquest of Afghanistan and Iraq and the economic opportunities that have been opened up, is about to get the American military to drop nukes on Iran. This is not as he claims to rid the world of an imminent evil threat but simply to provide even more economic opportunities for trans-national, carpetbagging corporations involved with land and resource development, armaments, manufacturing, etc, (as well as to consolidate American control of oil).

Friends, carpetbaggers who carry dodgy land titles and fraudulent share scripts and documents promising fictional loans are one thing. Carpetbaggers who carry nukes in their bags are taking the obnoxious, exploitative notion of carpetbaggery much too far.

Nuking parts of our planet for economic gain is pure, insane bastardry!

Surely it must be stopped.

P.S. My thanks go to Wikipedia for providing a background to carpetbagging in the U.S.