The Giant Con Job- 24 Hours that Changed the World
Many of us are still doing a double-take on the events of the past week- did Donald J Trump really incite a failed coup on Capitol Hill? Does the Biden administration now control all the levers of power apart from the Supreme Court? What will be the consequences? How do we deal with this personally, organizationally, and socially? We start here with an overview of the events of last week, particularly the 24 hours between noon on 6 January and 7 January.
This article is the first in a series of five. This series is written in the hope that you, the reader, will benefit from a new way of thinking about the challenges we face together in the next few decades, empowering us to develop effective responses that will help us survive and thrive.
Part 1 — 24 Hours that Changed the World is a synthesis of the events of 6 and 7 January 2021 which illustrates how the invasion of Capitol Hill by Trump supporters, along with the victories of Democratic Senators Warnock and Ossoff in the Georgia by-elections, may have opened up an unprecedented opportunity to tackle the biggest threats to our survival and thrival.
in Part 2 — Tackling Our Challenges Systemically we explore the interrelated challenges we face now as individuals, families, communities, organizations, and nations, which we must successfully overcome if we are to survive and thrive in the coming decades and avoid future con men and con jobs both short and long.
n Part 3 — Reinventing the System, Healing the Trauma we examine what we can do in these traumatic times to stay sane and get better while reinventing the systems that created the mess in the first place.
In Part 4 — The Global Transition Model we will dig deeper into how human societies evolve, and how the Global Transition Model dramatically simplifies what is happening now, and what comes next.
In Part 5 — Effective Regenerative Responses: 7 Fractal Acupuncture Points we’ll investigate the interconnected set of responses we must activate now to design and build regenerative futures that work for all of us and our planet.
Feel free to share and clap for this article if you enjoyed it- thanks! You can find much more detailed treatments of some of the above topics in my recent books- check them out here:
THE GIANT CON JOB
Many of us are still doing a double-take on the events of the past week- did Donald J Trump really incite a failed coup on Capitol Hill? Does the Biden administration now control all the levers of power apart from the Supreme Court? What will be the consequences? How do we deal with this personally, organizationally, and socially? We start here with an overview of the events of last week, particularly the 24 hours between noon on 6 January and 7 January.
Fake news and conspiracy theories travel six times faster than the truth and proven facts. Social media and mainstream media are both designed to maximize revenue through advertising by grabbing as many “eyeballs” as they can with sensationalism and shocks. In the digital world, everything travels at the speed of light to four billion people with smartphones, many of whom have yet to attain a primary school level of education, and most of whom will have, at most, a high school qualification. Critical, systemic, integrated thinking is not one of the things taught in primary or secondary schools, with some rare exceptions. Even in universities, specialization means that most graduates are unable to think systemically about the bigger picture- as they say, the world has problems, universities have departments.
CON — Pronunciation /kɒn/
VERB- cons, conning, conned: Persuade (someone) to do or believe something by lying to them.
NOUN — An instance of deceiving or tricking someone.
Origin- Late 19th century (originally the US): abbreviation of confidence, as in confidence trick.
Confidence tricks exploit typical human characteristics such as greed, dishonesty, vanity, opportunism, lust, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility, desperation, and naivety. Cons succeed by inducing judgment errors — chiefly, errors arising from imperfect information, and cognitive biases. In popular culture and among professional con men, the human vulnerabilities that cons exploit are depicted as ‘dishonesty,’ ‘greed,’ and ‘gullibility’ of the marks. Dishonesty, often represented by the expression ‘you can’t cheat an honest man,’ refers to the willingness of marks to participate in unlawful acts, such as rigged gambling and embezzlement. Greed, the desire to ‘get something for nothing,’ is a shorthand expression of marks’ beliefs that too-good-to-be-true gains are realistic. Gullibility reflects beliefs that marks are ‘suckers’ and ‘fools’ for entering into costly voluntary exchanges.
Accomplices, also known as shills, help manipulate the mark into accepting the perpetrator’s plan. In a traditional confidence trick, the mark is led to believe that he will be able to win money or some other prize by doing some task. The accomplices may pretend to be strangers who have benefited from performing the task in the past.
This is not an article about conspiracy theories, nor is it itself a conspiracy theory. It is, however, a systemic examination of how nearly half of the population of the USA, the UK, and much of the rest of the world have become susceptible to con jobs, conspiracy theories, fake news, and giant lies told by charlatans and con artists called populist politicians funded by greedy elites. And, in a nutshell, the ultimate outcome of such giant con jobs is reflected in what the world witnessed with shock and horror during the past week in Washington DC, with the invasion of the American Capitol building by a mob of white domestic terrorists.
How can we inspire billions of consumers and citizens in the developed world to change the failing habits and mindsets of a lifetime that are leading us to ruin? To enable them to see through one of the biggest con jobs of all time, perpetrated by one of the most talented con artists of all time, Donald Trump, aided and abetted by the Republican Party. The events that unfolded in Washington DC and state capitols in the past few days, months and years, were not random. Neither were the events and decisions that triggered Brexit and divided families and countries in the UK and EU- they too were well thought through in advance by an incredibly well-resourced propaganda machine.
PROPAGANDA — Pronunciation /prɒpəˈɡandə/
NOUN — Information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view. “He was charged with distributing enemy propaganda”.
Similar: information, promotion, advertising, advertisement, publicity, advocacy, spin, newspeak, agitprop, disinformation, counter-information, brainwashing, indoctrination, the big lie, info, hype, plugging, disinfo.
Origin- a committee of cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church responsible for foreign missions, founded in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV.
Part 1–24 Hours that Changed the World begins with a recap of the events of 6 and 7 January 2021, which threw into sharp relief the negative and positive consequences of giant con jobs, especially when their cover is finally blown. It’s written in the hope that you will be able to see more clearly the pattern of the long con we’ve all been subjected to for the past four decades since neoliberalism swept the world. The Don Con, now made famous globally by the former real-estate and media con artist Donald Trump, exemplifies the pattern:
· the set-up (e.g. Make America Great Again, Trust Me, I’m a Businessman who Will Clean Up the Swamp, Hey- I Love Jesus and the Bible- it’s my favorite book!).
· the build-up (e.g. I am Simply the Greatest! Build a Wall, Keep the Muslims Out, Take Control of Women & their bodies, Punish China & Mexico for taking your jobs away).
· the short-term payoff (e.g. Punish and Demean People of Color and Urban Elites, Free Food, Drinks and Payments at Trump rallies, four ultra-conservative Supreme Court Judges).
· the corroboration (e.g. Rudy Giuliani, Mitch McConnell and thousands of supporting cast members including highly paid corrupt lawyers, politicians and the Republican Party itself).
The Long Game, however, is to reward rich political donors with tax cuts, a free hand to drill, exploit and pollute, and much more. The greedy elites can hide behind populist politicians to feather their ever-expanding nests, conning the most gullible, least-educated, often rural populations to vote for abstract, jingoistic concepts such as “Freedom” and “Greatness”, in the case of Trump, and “Sovereignty” and “Taking back Control of our Country” in the case of Boris Johnson and Brexit. The dog whistle message underlying most of this is, of course, an appeal to white supremacy and anti-immigration rhetoric- basically, blame the outsiders and foreigners.
This playbook is as old as the human race itself, and we saw it repeated many times over in the 20th century alone in Hitler blaming the Jews and Blacks for Germany’s ills, Stalin blaming capitalism and the corrupt west, Mao blaming the “imperialist running dog” capitalists and “rightists”, Pol Pot blaming the urban elites and intellectuals in Cambodia, and so much more.
But the 21st-century version is much more subtle, relatively speaking. We may not yet have managed to trigger World War Three, as elites in their private jets, dozens of mansions and yachts would run out of champagne and caviar, and that wonderful sense of entitlement and smugness that makes them feel so superior to the little people and “essential workers” i.e. you and me, whether we’re working from home or not. We have, however, pushed our entire biosphere to the edge of collapse and endangered our very own survival as homo sapiens in the next century.
24 Hours that Changed the World- 6–7 January 2021
There we were, innocently celebrating the end of a pretty disastrous year, 2020, and naïvely thinking that 2021 was going to be just so much better, while Covid19 infection and death rates soared in most western countries to levels not seen since the peak in spring 2020. The global pandemic has certainly changed our world, but has it made us any the wiser?
A partial answer to that question showed up in the events that occurred in the 24 hours between midday 6 January 2021 and midday 7 January 2021. These events were unprecedented, shocking, and at the same time inspiring. They were, indeed, 24 hours that changed the world, at least from my perspective. Why do I say that?
In the four-year reign of terror, incompetence, grift, bad hair, lousy golf, and lying that began with the election of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States of America, the Republican party under Trump was pushing the world toward a minimum of 3C overheating and making things worse by gutting environmental and social legislation that has been in place since Nixon signed the Environmental Protection Act in 1970. Trump pulled the USA out of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, designed to ensure there would be a livable future for generations to come. Then Joe Biden won the presidential election in November 2020.
Before yesterday began, it looked like President-Elect Biden’s $2 trillion planned green new deal would face blockages in a Republican-controlled Senate, along with any other legislation needed to address the most pressing issue of our time. But in the following 24 hours, events unfolded that may mark a tipping point in keeping global overheating to 1.5C if the Biden administration and business can follow through with their plans in time. They would then join some 28 other countries who have now committed to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, and China, which has committed to net-zero by 2060. (see http://bit.ly/netzero2050-28 ).
Yet in the 24 hours between 6 and 7 January 2021, we simultaneously held our collective breath and were also ultimately able to breathe freely again, all at the same time. We saw a swing to the Democrats in the Executive and Legislature, even if the Supreme Court is now dominated by ultra-conservatives. No guarantees, mind you, which is why this section of this article might have been entitled: “24 Hours that Could Change the World”, not: “24 Hours that Changed the World”.
So, before we get to what might make the difference between “Could” and “Will”, let me share with you my own personal experience of the events of the past 24 hours, as they unfolded.
Georgia’s Always on my Mind
Around midday on 6 January, the victories of the Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff in the run-off Senate races in Georgia were confirmed, giving the Democrats a majority of one in the Senate. 24 hours later, around midday on 7 January, the certification of the Electoral College results confirming President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris was announced. In the intervening 24 hours, Republicans in the Senate and House attempted to block Biden and Harris’ confirmations, as Trump supporters invaded Capitol Hill, four people died and 50 police officers were injured, with one now dead.
It all began at noon on 6 January 2021, as I watched an inspiring video of Rev. Raphael Warnock thanking his supporters for helping him win his Senate seat in Georgia, and posted the following on Facebook:
“Raphael Warnock speaks of the “Beloved Community” that Dr. Martin Luther King dreamed of. As the newly elected and first-ever black Democratic Senator for Georgia, having won against a racist, Trump-loving bigot of a Fox news blonde stereotype accused of financial fraud with her running mate, it is very moving for me to hear the words he speaks right now in thanking his supporters. 12th son of a woman who picked cotton for white ex-slave owners, Warnock is is a tribute to the good that can be done by people of any color, anywhere, if they dare to dream big and follow through. Congratulations Raphael!!
Here’s hoping Jon Ossoff, his fellow candidate for Senator with a lead of 17 000 votes over the corrupt Republican Trump supporting Senator, who is also being prosecuted for financial fraud, is also declared as the victor shortly. (He was). A Senate majority, the Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer (Dem), finally, Use this moment wisely, team Biden- you’ve got one good shot at delivering bold, unstoppable change the world so badly needs now.”
Meantime, at a Trump “Stop the Steal” rally the other side of Capitol Hill, at the bottom end of Pennsylvania Avenue, hours before a terrorizing mob overran the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani clambered on stage and urged the very same crowd that would later turn violent to embrace “trial by combat”. Trump then added fuel to the bonfire in a rabble-rousing 70-minute-long speech vowing to “never concede” the election and urging his supporters to march to the Capitol to pressure Republican lawmakers to act with “the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country” by rejecting states’ election results that show Biden won.
White Terrorists Incited by Trump Invade Capitol Hill, Five Die, 50 Officers Wounded
Ten hours later, having watched the scenes on Capitol Hill of a Trump-supporting mob of white terrorists incited by President Trump and his henchmen a few hours earlier invading the House and Senate, and the call out of the National Guard by Vice-President Mike Pence later that day to clear the mob, I posted the following:
“Watching the unbelievable scenes of National Guard and Police forming a perimeter around Capitol Hill after Trump supporters broke into Senate and House causing Pence and everyone else to be moved into safety. A female terrorist was shot and killed during this “protest”. (Four people died during the invasion in total, 50 police officers were injured).
Trump failed to stop the protest, and in fact, continued to incite it while telling protesters to “go home” while adding “I love you”. He is now totally isolated, and it appears Pence is in charge with Joint Chiefs of Staff, and House and Senate leaders. The end of the madman will be swift, I am certain.”
If only it were that simple.
Order Restored, the Senate Confirms the Presidential Election Results
Then, early yesterday, on the 7th of January 2021, Vice President Mike Pence officially certified the election results in the Senate and confirmed President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris after turbulent scenes in a divided House and Senate, as seditious Republican representatives and several Republican Senators sought to overturn the votes of the American people. A closing prayer was said in the Senate chamber by Rev. Barry C. Black, the Senate chaplain, and Retired Rear Admiral, that acknowledged the violence:
“These tragedies have reminded us that words matter and that the power of life and death is in the tongue,” he said.
I was moved to post this:
“Words matter. Life and death are in the tongue. Inciting white domestic terrorists to commit federal felonies aimed to overthrow a supposedly democratic state going about its business is a federal offense. Trump is a criminal. Will the impeachment and 25th Amendment proceedings that have begun in the House now actually be passed and enacted so that this madman is finally put down? Biden will take the oath on 20 January and become the 46th President of the United States of America. But will the 70 million Trump supporters ever wake up to reality?”
What Would Make the Difference between “Could” and “Will” Change the World?
Finally, after a tense 24 hours, just before midday this morning, I posted this:
“This is a massive opportunity to stop global overheating getting any worse or running away- and we must act now. Let’s now focus on what matters most, as justice takes its course with the 45th President and madman and his delusional followers and enablers.”
Sadly, despite his support for the Paris agreement, President Obama failed to grasp the nettle of climate change sufficiently hard to ensure the US commitments under the Paris agreement would not lead to a 3C overheating outcome. He was also obstructed by a Republican Senate for six of his eight years in power in enacting the necessary legislation, though he did what he could through Executive Orders.
The fossil fuel, mining, and chemical industries, along with other major contributors to runaway global warming such as cement, construction, and the fossil fuel-powered vehicle industry, invested in the Republican Party for 40 years, ensuring they eventually got their major payback with the election of Trump. The fascistic cult of personality led by Trump steamrollered any objections to turning the clock back forty or more years. It was the best government money could buy for polluters and exploiters without a conscience.
President Biden now has an unprecedented opportunity to implement a green new deal that will create millions of new jobs, remove fossil fuel subsidies and invest in the technologies of the future including renewable energy and carbon drawdown solutions in most industrial sectors. The worlds of finance and business have already spearheaded major transformations in delivering the green shoots of a regenerative, inclusive economy, but consumer behavior and lifestyles across the developed world will have to change.
How can we inspire billions of consumers and citizens in the developed world to change the failing habits and mindsets of a lifetime that are leading us to ruin? To enable them to see through one of the biggest con jobs of all time, perpetrated by one of the most talented con artists of all time, Donald Trump, aided and abetted by the Republican Party. The events that unfolded in Washington DC and state capitols in the past few days, months and years, were not random. Neither were the events and decisions that triggered Brexit and divided families and countries in the UK and EU- they too were well thought through in advance by an incredibly well-resourced propaganda machine.
These events were meticulously planned to incite ordinary men and women with white skins who have been left behind by the creative destruction of the agricultural and industrial economies by fossil fuel, mining, and chemical companies and the urban elites of the digital economy, to act as pawns of greedy politicians, businessmen, and moneymen, in a much bigger game with huge rewards for the successful few.
This article is the first in a series of three. This series is written in the hope that you, the reader, will benefit from a new way of thinking about the challenge we face together in the next few decades, empowering us to develop effective responses that will help us survive and thrive.
Part 1–24 Hours that Changed the World begins with a recap of the events of 6 and 7 January 2021, which threw into sharp relief the negative and positive consequences of giant con jobs, especially when their cover is finally blown.
Coming shortly:
Part 2 — Tackling Our Challenges Systemically explores the interrelated challenges we face now as individuals, families, communities, organizations, and nations, which we must successfully overcome if we are to survive and thrive in the coming decades and avoid future con men and con jobs both short and long.
and
Part 3 — Effective Regenerative Responses: 7 Fractal Acupuncture Points investigates the interconnected set of responses we must act on now to design and build regenerative futures that work for all of us and our planet.
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