The fundamental-visual-aide political change of the last half century or so?
The Left’s very recently going from decades of denouncing Big Brother and The Man – to embracing and rabidly defending Big Brother and The Man.
And no – not “Big Brother” the TV show.
Back in the Hippie 1960s – co-opted from George Orwell’s literary masterpiece “1984” – “Big Brother” was Big Government:
“Big Brother wields total power ‘for its own sake’ over the inhabitants. In the society that Orwell describes, every citizen is under constant surveillance by the authorities, mainly by telescreens (with the exception of the Proles). The people are constantly reminded of this by the slogan ‘Big Brother is watching you’….”
And “The Man” was Big Government – and Big Business. As in:
“The phrase ‘The Man is keeping me down’ is commonly used to describe oppression. The phrase ‘stick it to The Man’ encourages resistance to authority, and essentially means ‘fight back’ or ‘resist,’ either passively, openly or via sabotage.”
The Left adhered to those definitions – and their opposition thereto – for decades. As recently as the early 2010s, the Left was pushing “Occupy Wall Street”:
“Occupy Wall Street (OWS) (was an) extended protest against economic inequality and the corruption of corporate law….”
As in: Big Government corrupting corporate law – to the advantage of Big Business…and the upper-crust 1%. To the deleterious detriment of the 99% – as in “We are the 99%”:
“A political slogan widely used and coined during the 2011 Occupy movement. The phrase directly refers to the income and wealth inequality in the United States, with a concentration of wealth among the top-earning 1%. It reflects an opinion that ‘the 99%’ are paying the price for the mistakes of a tiny minority within the upper class.”
More recently, the Left has foisted upon us Antifa:
“A left-wing anti-fascist…political movement in the United States.”
Except today’s dystopian political landscape – is fascism incarnate.
The unholy, harmonic convergence of Big Gov and Big Biz that now dominates our daily existence? Leftists are HUGE fans.
More and More, Leftists Are Siding with Big Business
Joe Biden’s ‘Unity’ – Unites Leftists and Government Bureaucrats Against US
To wit:
Big Tech is comprised of the hugest Big Businesses in the history of the planet. To get there – Big Tech ain’t been the best of corporate citizens. When Big Tech isn’t woefully underpaying their employees – they’re paying them nothing at all.
Modern Slavery Exposed In Big Tech Supply Chains
Big Tech provides Big Gov with Orwell’s “constant surveillance.” “Big Brother is watching you” – by proxy.
Big Government and Big Tech Are Partnering to Track Us Everywhere
Big Tech and Big Gov collude to mass censor speech.
How Big Government Has Been Colluding with Big Tech to ‘Outsource’ Censorship
In exchange for all the assistance, Big Gov gives Big Tech MASSIVE doses of cronyism.
How Did Big Tech Get So Big? Massive Government Cronyism
And where’s the Left on all this?
How Big Tech Seduced the Left:
“In the 1960s, liberals stood up to IBM to defend free speech. Now they cosy up to Silicon Valley….
“Recent developments suggest that many are willing to cede far more power to Silicon Valley….”
Which beings us to the Big Banks.
Just like Big Tech and all the other Big Businesses, Big Banks have long been colluding with Big Gov. This particular unholy alliance – caused the 2008 global economic collapse:
“For years prior, Big Gov had Big Banks make many millions of idiotic home loans – to people everyone knew couldn’t pay them back.
“Big Gov backstopped the loans with government entities Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae – which purchased many of the bad loans five seconds after the Big Banks made them.
“Thereby clearing the Big Banks’ books of many of the toxins – but not until after they made obscene fees on the transactions
“This market-warping cronyism fostered a massive, noxious, moral hazard mess. Many global trillions of dollars became entangled in this inevitably crashing disaster. When the houses of cards came down – the entire world economy collapsed.”
After which….
The Federal Reserve’s ‘Breathtaking’ $7.7 Trillion Bank Bailout:
“A new report on the 2008 financial crisis reveals some shocking numbers that dramatically exceed the $700 billion TARP bailout.”
As recently as 2018, Leftists opposed this massive Big Gov-Big Bank collusion.
It’s Been 10 Years Since Banks Were Bailed Out and People Were Sold Out
Oh, how the mightily pious have fallen.
Today, we have Big Tech’s Big Bank – Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) – collapsing in a self-inflicted woke heap.
And Big Gov is racing to bail out their Big Tech-Big Bank cronies.
US Regulators Say SVB Customers Will Be Made Whole
Big Gov is bailing out their Big Tech-Big Bank cronies – because their Big Tech-Big Bank cronies demanded it.
Mark Cuban Had Millions at Failed Silicon Valley Bank
SVB: Mark Cuban and Bill Ackman Used Their Influence to Corner Regulators:
“Influential voices from Wall Street and Silicon Valley used social media to urge regulators to rescue Silicon Valley Bank depositors. The strategy worked.”
“The strategy worked” – ??? That’s almost difficult to believe.
And where is the Left? Where is Antifa? Where is Occupy Wall Street? Where is the long-held opposition to Big Brother and The Man?
All long gone.
Because you don’t oppose Big Brother and The Man – when you are Big Brother and The Man.