The possible effect of Citizen United reminds me of the following science fiction movies!!!

Rollerball. 1975 movie called Rollerball. It stars James Caan as the sports hero Jonathan, Maude Adams as his ex-wife and John Houseman as Mr. Bartholomew, a high-level executive of the Energy Corporation. The film takes place in 2018, where the word is run as a global corporate state. The Energy Corporation is a global energy monopoly based in Houston, which controls access to all transportation, housing, communication and food on a global basis. Energy Corporation sponsors Jonathan’s team. Jonathan’s wife, Maud Adams was taken away from Jonathan by a corporate executive, which simply exerted his power and took her. The game Rollerball is a substitute for all team sports and for warfare. It is designed to bring euphoria to the masses. While the purpose of the sport is entertainment, Mr. Bartholomew, describes it as having a “distinct social purpose”: to show the futility of individual effort. In order to defeat the individual star Jonathan, The Energy Corporation simply changes the rules, so that Rollerball soon degrades into senseless violence, which nullifies any individual effort with humiliation. In the movie Jonathan emerges victorious against the Big Corporation.  This seems unlikely!”

Handmaid’s Tale, a 1985 book and now a TV Special, The Handmaid’s Tale, a work of  fiction by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. The novel is set in a near-future in New England, in a totalitarian theocracy, which has overthrown the United States government. The Handmaid’s Tale is set in the Republic of Gilead, a theocratic military dictatorship formed within the borders of what was formerly the United States of America. It begins with a staged attack that kills the President and most of Congress with a Christian fundamentalist revolutionary uprising, called the “Sons of Jacob”.   The revolution suspends the United States Constitution, under the pretext of restoring order. The new regime, the Republic of Gilead, forms a new militarized hierarchical regime, based on Old Testament-inspired social and religious fanaticism, which creates newly created social classes, with only the elite ruling. In this society, human rights are severely limited and women’s rights are even more curtailed, as women are forbidden to read. The story is told in the first person by a woman called Offred. The character is one of a class of women kept by the ruling class for reproductive purposes and known as ‘handmaids’.”

Elysium. The 2013 film offers deliberate social commentary, which explores political and sociological themes such as immigration, overpopulation, health care, worker exploitation, the justice system, and social class issues. In 2154, Earth  most of the earth’s citizens live in poverty, on the edge of starvation, and with little technology and medical care. The rich and powerful live on Elysium — a gigantic space habitat located in Earth’s orbit. Elysium is technologically advanced with some of its technology including Med-Bays: medical machines that can cure all diseases, reverse the aging process, and regenerate new body parts. A long-running feud exists between the wealthy residents of Elysium and the citizens of Earth. The earth and its multitudes are destined to perish in pollution, drought and rising seas.”

Phase Three, (In the not too distant future) 1) All classes except the oligarchy will disappear in the financial crisis, sometime after 2018. Congress, this time, will not bailout the banks, as conservative Republicans will reject any government sponsored program. Also, without any strict regulations, the banks will be so deeply in trouble with uncontrollable loans and some $350 trillion in derivatives outstanding, that a bailout this time, will be impossible. The banks will close. The New York Stock Exchange will close. The United States government will fail and all functions of government will cease to exist. The only ones that will have any money and power will be the oligarchy. Class warfare will at last come to an end, as the oligarchy will dominate. 2) All national governments worldwide will fail. The oligarchy will then be composed of approximately 2000 selected families worldwide and their Corporations will rule the world. The 2,000 families will hold their estates in walled castles, protected by a paid army. 3) All land and businesses in the world will be owned and ruled by the oligarchy. 4) Most people will be unemployed and uneducated. All those, because of their needed skills, that will have a job, will be Corporate employees and will be designated as serfs or slaves. 5) The world will be at peace at last, as law order will prevail. 6) The oligarchy will eventually move away from earth to either ‘sky lab type 2001 Space Odyssey satellites’, or when it becomes possible, to the moon or Mars. The earth and its multitudes are destined perish in pollution, drought and rising seas.” (Yes I made this up! “Sometimes fiction can be a truer reality, than reality itself”

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Carl M Birkelkbach