Almost everything we argue about is a substitute for the thing we should be arguing about: the immense wealth & power of an oligarchic class, which captures governments, ruins lives and wrecks the living planet. This class redirects our rage at scapegoats. To resist its lies is to resist its power. One problem is that many articulate, confident people are forbidden by the terms of their employment to speak out. To acquiesce in the power that threatens everything is acceptable and uncontroversial. To contest it brings your employer "into disrepute" and could have you sacked. We claim to treasure free speech, above almost anything. But on the most critical issue, very few of us are free to speak. The majority are silenced by fear of censure or loss of employment. This conspiracy of silence looks more like what you'd expect in an authoritarian regime than in a democracy. On the other hand, no one ever lost money by telling billionaires what they want to hear. The airwaves are full of the oligarchs' minions, reciting their creeds as if these were some kind of arcane truth they've stumbled across. Almost every political conversation is dominated by these elite lies. I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to speak my mind, to state what I believe even when it's directly at odds with billionaire power. I'm among the minority allowed to do it. But it's not a privilege. It's a right. And everyone should possess it. (PS: This doesn't in any way mean that I get things right, or that I quickly spot the critical issues. Sometimes I get it drastically wrong. I rely on the rest of you to correct me and alert me - as do we all. Our hope lies in the genius of crowds.)