inverted_totalitarianism unhinged 'i chronicled the rise of totalitarian corporate power, or what the political philosopher sheldon wolin in 'democracy incorporated' calls 'inverted totalitarianism'. inverted totalitarianism, which does not find its expression through a demagogue or charismatic leader, represents 'the POLITICAL coming of age of corporate power and the POLITICAL demobilization of the citizenry,' he writes. it is a dispersed, faceless power - 'the rule of nobody,' as hannah arendt wrote - that is expressed in the blank, terrifying anonymity of the corporate state. unlike classical totalitarian movements, the corporate forces behind inverted totalitarianism do no boast of replacing decaying structures with a new, revolutionary structure. they purport to honor electoral politics, freedom of speech, the right to assembly, and the constitution. but they so corrupt and manipulate the levers of power internally that democracy is extinguished. the constitution remains in place but has been so radically reinterpreted by the courts and by the executive and legislative branches of government, all serving corporate power, as to be essentially nullified. inverted totalitarianism, wolin writes, is not 'expressly conceptualized as an ideology or objectified in public policy. typically it is furthered by power-holders and citizens who often seem unaware of the deeper consequences of their actions or inactions.' but inverted totalitarianism is as dangerous as classical forms of totalitarianism.' - chris hedges 171205 ... unhinged 'the courts and legislative bodies of the corporate state now routinely invert out most basic rights to justify corporate pillage repression. they declare that massive and secret campaign donations - a form of legalized bribery - are protected speech under the first amendment. they define corporate lobbying - under which corporations lavish funds on elected officials and write our legislation - as the people's right to petition the government. and according to new laws and legislation, we can be tortured or assassinated or locked up indefinitely by the military, be denied due process, and be spied upon without warrants. the US constitution has not been rewritten, but steadily emasculated through a dirty system of judicial and legislative reinterpretation. we have been left with a fictions shell of democracy and a totalitarian core.' - chris hedges 171207 ... unhinged 'the world has been turned upside down. the pestilence of corporate totalitarianism is spreading over the earth. the criminals have seized power. it is not only assange, hammond, abu-jamal, manning, and hashmi they want. it is all who dare to defy the destructive fury of the global corporate state. the persecution of these rebels is the harbinger of what is to come: the rise of a bitter world where criminals in tailored suits and gangsters in beribboned military uniforms - propped up by a vast internal and external security apparatus, a compliant press, and a morally bankrupt political elite - hunt down and cage all who resist.' - chris hedges 171217 what's it to you? who go blather from