Shock and Awe, Oderint Dum Metuant and the term 1%

It finally occurred to me why I had so much difficulty with the term “1%” as applied to Banksters. It’s a biker term. Someone in the late 50s, a motorcycle enthusiast magazine, had said “99 percent of all motorcycle riders are decent, honest law abiding citizens” (very true) and it was a response to a growing distrust of motorcyclists by the general public. Probably fed to the public by propaganda because the Wall Street types would make more money selling people cars than bikes.
So a lot of the Sonny Barger types (he was president of the Hells Angels) took to tattooing “1%” on their forearms where it would be really prominent. Some undoubtedly were and are Billy.
You know Billy, right? Billy the Badass? Some had never met Billy and others had met Billy and got their lunch money taken and sent home crying. Menacing glares and display of anger can be faked and your average citizen wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.
Me, I ride because I enjoy it, and to get from one place to another in a reasonable amount of time. Never gave a crap about the Leader of the Pack attitude. Although I heard one joke about that, “Any biker who hangs out at candy stores picking up schoolgirls must ride a Honda” which is really unfair to Hondas.
But riding a bike is like flying, on the ground. Also gas-saving. I can see where making people afraid of you would be entertaining to a point.
The point being that people who are afraid don’t enjoy the feeling of fear and take steps to remedy it. Liking shooting your ass right off the top of your legs. That’s not fun.
Then I thought about the Junior Police Explorer argument we’ve been having with people who are obviously minions of the 1%.

The whole “Shock and Awe” and “Oderint dum Metuant” part are actually slogans or mottos of the people who CLAIM to be against terrorism and are, also, minions of the 1%. Oderint dum Metuant means “Let them hate us, as long as they fear us”.

Wall Street is perfectly happy with Terrorism as wielded by various Imperial Military groups. They’re OK with people capitulating out of fear because it means less money in the short run than actually killing everybody and taking the riches off their dead bodies. Like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

But then, some people get a little tired of living in fear-based subservience and rebel. Like the Saudi group al Qa’eida. That’s when things start getting interesting. Somebody using a weapon and threat of death to rob another, the way the U.S. Military does to every-damn-body in the entire damn world…. runs the risk of having to carry out those threats (which obviously doesn’t bother them) or…
Get shot at themselves, which DOES bother them. The Oderint Dum Metuant is supposed to only work unilaterally.
The Police State want to make it unilateral. “keeping” it unilateral isn’t possible because it’s never actually been one way.

Then I was reminded, you know, the Cops and Explorers and Marines etc all have “Operation Santa Claus” feel-good propaganda exercises.
Reminded by one of the MightMakesRight Wing trolls who objected to cops being portrayed in anything other than a shining halo and brilliant white robes.
The Hell’s Angels do toy runs too. A lot of “outlaw” bikers do.
Somehow I don’t believe the trolls are going to just fall in love with Motorcycle Gangs just because of that.

I mean, WE are supposed to bow and worship the cops on the same grounds, but that’s another bit of unilateral Shock and Awe. Maybe the only reason the Hells Angels don’t tear gas people is because they’re not a highly organized worldwide gang, paid by every government, rather than an innate goodness and moral superiority.

Maybe al Qa’eda doesn’t torture prisoners simply because they can’t afford to take prisoners rather than being morally superior to the Army and CIA. Who knows?
Have a happy toy drive for kids. Just remember there are lots of pictures of smiling SchutzStaffel soldiers with smiling kids taken for propaganda reasons.

And remember that Wealth of the 1% is a direct cause of the poverty of the 99%. The only way to insure that such a small group gets to control the vast majorty of the wealth is to suppress everybody else, and that’s inevitably going to mean violent suppression, through violent acts such as imprisonment. Or killing. Doesn’t make any difference to the 1% and doesn’t make any difference to their minions.