Why through debt, of course! No big surprise there. But the debt being suggested now is not your average run-of-the-mill debt. No, this new-and-improved debt, and it is being explicitly marketed as 'perpetual' - and yes, that's a good thing. Just ask this Establishment frontman (warning: news-related link) extraordinaire; he'll be more than happy to provide details about the wonderful world of perpetual debt.
Most people believe they would recognize a totalitarian coup if it happened to them. I imagine they would regard soldiers marching through the streets endlessly stomping on people's faces as a sure sign of a hostile, authoritarian takeover. Some Stalinesque-looking, mustachioed strong man with countless military honors pinned on his chest demanding he be deified as an undisputed god-leader would probably also be a clear tip-off for most modern people as well.
Yes, these types of totalitarian coups have occurred in the past, but what we are witnessing now is a coup of a much subtler and far more sinister variety. Hate the mustached man all you want, but people tended to understand his in-your-face approach. Past dictators liked simplicity. Flagrancy marked everything they did. The tyranny they spawned was lucid and comprehensible. People generally knew what was going on - and they also knew where they stood.
The Establishment, our modern totalitarians and the governments they control, are also rather brazen, both in actions and in words, but unlike strongmen of the past, barely anyone seems cognizant of the ever-constricting tyranny the Establishment has implemented and is implementing around the world. This is rather curious, to say the least.
Healthy people are locked up within their homes for two months for public health reasons (figure that one out); barely anyone complains. Small businesses, family enterprises, entire industries are obliterated; barely anyone considers the obvious ramifications. The need for increased micro-surveillance and state intrusion into private lives is demanded; barely anyone resists. Churches in the West are shuttered; barely anyone - including most of the clery themselves - raises spiritual concerns. The entire planet is being primed and re-tooled for perpetual, enforced debt slavery; barely anyone raises an eyebrow, let alone anything else.
I guess most people won't notice anything until the soldiers and Big Brother show up. Without soldiers and Big Brother around, there's really nothing to worry about, is there? Thank goodness for democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.
You could argue that our contemporary totalitarians have learned a great deal from their predecessors; that they have mastered the art of the totalitarian coup to such an extent that barely anyone even noticed it when it occurred. Nevertheless, this unseen coup has much more to do with the general public's dullness than it does with the Establishment's ingenuity.
To me, it seems that modern people have become increasingly incapable of perceiving evil, even when it is staring them in the face.
In light of this, I suspect the Establishment must have binge-watched The Usual Suspects for years before they attempted this current coup. They must have. I mean they essentially made a mission statement of the film's most memorable line - "the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."
Well, mission accomplished. On all counts.