In order to stay sane, sometimes it is better to look at the trajectory we've been on from a purely anthropological point of view; as a witness of history and human behavior.

Not that I expect everybody to agree with my understanding of the situation, but, starting from an honest-to-goodness desire to make sense of what I've been observing for a few decades now, here's what I see: Modern-day would-be tyrants found a way to shield themselves from the public by hiding behind the corporate veil. They then proceeded to use their wealth and influence to systematically take over the levers of power, including government institutions, the media, and, more recently, cultural and higher education institutions (i.e., museums, an increasing number of non-profits, academia).

This process has been taking place in a very systematic and relentless manner for about 40-plus years now (the August 23, 1971 publication of the Powell Memo having been a seminal moment).

Once the corporate cartels consolidated their dominance, influence and power over the political system, they proceeded to push for legislation specifically designed to install a plutocratic oligarchy. The regulatory infrastructure (that protected citizens against fraud, corruption, monopolies, and cartels) was dismantled step by step, via legislation supported by both corporatist "mainstream" political parties. Labor unions were undermined and rendered ineffective, resulting in a precipitous fall in union membership. The Chicago school of Economics' Neoliberal philosophy (financialization of the productive sector; undermining, defunding and privatization of the public sector; privatization of profit, socialization of losses) came to dominate our entire socioeconomic system.

As this process went on, the nascent oligarchy started to put in place the legal, social, and technological infrastructure to help bring about the next step: corporate state fascism. This process accelerated after 9/11.

Legislation that chipped away at our constitutional and civil rights was systematically implemented at the national and state levels. Habeas corpus was repealed (for all "real" intents and purposes); the government claimed the right to engage in extra-judicial assassinations of American citizens. The right to privacy and protections against unreasonable searches went out the window, as a corporatist and government alliance put into place the most sophisticated surveillance police state the world has ever known.

All this being in place, the oligarchy is now moving the system of government towards the next step: purposely exploiting cultural, ethnic, and religious differences within the citizenry in order to turn people against each other in the truest sense of the word. These forces/entities within our "Deep State" have been doing these sorts of thing for many decades in Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and other regions in the world. Now they are turning these tactics inward, here in the "homeland."

And so, anticipating every step of the way, ALEC, the NRA, and other corporatist entities and their lackeys in government moved to pass cookie-cutter states' legislation to arm the right wing; they pushed for open-carry, concealedl-carry, stand-your-ground, and similar policies that would eventually be used to turn a segment of the population highly influenced by xenophobia, nativism, racism, religious fundamentalism, embrace of authoritarianism, into what will essentially be recognized as a first line of defense (or informal shock fascist troops) against the rest of the population, against racial and ethnic minorities, against the LGBTQ community, against social justice activists and intellectuals.

And here we are today, Sunday, March 20th, 2016 (Happy Spring Equinox BTW)!

Like clockwork (the "Deep State" has been operating by the fascist playbook anyways), a fascist strongman emerges to dominate the vast majority of corporate media coverage of the 2016 presidential campaign, having benefited by an estimated $2 billion in free media coverage.

I'm not going to get too deep into the topic of propaganda (saving it for another occasion), but suffice it to say the relentless media coverage (both positive and negative) of the fascist running for president has a net positive effect when it comes to the likelihood of him becoming president.

But, in reality, to the oligarchs, to the "Deep State," it doesn't really matter whether they can push an outright fascist into the Oval Office, or one with a softer approach like HRC, as long as it is either one of them.

The reason for that is because we've already been living in a de facto corporatist fascist state; one that arose in the aftermath of 9/11 and has been entrenching itself ever since.

Of course, there are many people who have been warning us about this situation we find ourselves in for many years now. People like Chris Hedges, Sheldon Wolin (Inverted Totalitarianism), Henry Giroux, and many others, have been both narrating each step of the way and accurately predicting the obvious outcome(s).

But, because of the incredibly effective propaganda emanating from the corporate media 24/7, their voices have been muted (when it comes to their ability to reach a large-enough segment of the population). However, and again, looking at it from an anthropological point of view, it seems to me that a larger segment of the population is finally coming to grips with the reality of the true nature of the system: malevolent, oppressive, corrupt, and exploitative. Yes, unfortunately conditions had to get THIS bad for people to start paying attention; but, as they say, it's better later than never when it comes to something this important.

What do we do now? It should be obvious by now that we have a very serious problem on our hands, starting with the fact (if you accept it as such) that we are living in a de facto surveillance police state oligarchy. It should also be obvious that the solution to this problem will not be found (only) within the political system, since ALL major and relevant political/governmental institutions have been captured, or highly compromised.

The way I see it, we need to do two things: Yes, stay engaged in the political system (not giving one inch), but also look into the concept of participatory democracy, bypassing compromised institutions and forming parallel social structures. We need to deliberately engage in actions with the express purpose of defunding and disempowering the corporate state (boycotts, shifting spending away from corporate chains towards locally owned businesses, etc.). We need to do everything we can to avoid exposing ourselves to corporate media propaganda, which I consider to be the number one (and most effective) way the ruling elite has of controlling the population.

But, most importantly, we need to find each other, connect with each other, act in unison, face to face as much as possible, hearing each other's voices in the real world.

I'm not sure if what I'm about to describe could be seen from an anthropological or anecdotal lens, but, at least for me, my experience has been that by actively seeking the truth about the true nature of the system and connecting with others who feel the same, I've come to understand that the narrow framework of possibilities this brutal (Neoliberal) system pushes 24/7, described by some as "there is no alternative" (to Neoliberalism) or TINA, is based on the oligarch's fear that we could one day awake and realize how truly powerful we are. That, once one frees one's mind from the shackles of corporate state propaganda, the human spirit, our ability to feel, to dream, to hope, to act together, is seen as boundless.

Imagine what would happen once people come to this realization! We would have discovered exactly how .01 percent of the population has been able to utterly control the other 99 percent. The implication of this happening must be truly frightening... to the brutal, corrupt, and exploitative oligarchy.

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P.S. I'm so glad I found you guys! FYI, I also see having been banned from Daily Kos as a badge of honor. Haven't regretted in the least.