Wednesday, September 23, 2020
Tuesday, September 22, 2020
The Eve of Doomsday?
2020 is just the gift that keeps on giving. What do we have so far? A global pandemic filtered through political tribalism (mostly here in the U.S.). Cops murdering brown and black people setting off protests, riots and looting the likes of which we have not seen since 1968. Once again politics moves in and we miss the forest through trees. Instead of addressing concerns, we yammer on about lawless thugs, looters and the new bogeyman on the block, Antifa! Yes! that's right in today's America it is criminal to be Antifascist. I don't know about you cats but my Granddad, and two great uncles fought fascists and imperialists in World War II. Here in the Trump-side-down world of the Trump years people are actually learning to be afraid of Anti-Nazis, young people taking to the streets for justice and even the Democratic Party. You've seen the ad's. Will the police come when you call in Biden's America? "They" burnt down my business and the cops could not help me! Fear, Fear and yes more Fear...
I only dislike one thing more than Democrats and that's Republicans. How do they want to govern? They don't. They only want to abolish taxes for the richest among us, defend their own very narrow view of freedom (It is against my religion to insure your sexual health) and sew fear and hatred of anyone non-white and or anyone who makes under 30K a year (basically poor people of any color). The Republican Party has been the party of FEAR and NO for my entire adult life. They have given us staggering levels of income inequality, wars of choice and kick and scream "socialism" whenever it is suggested government do something to actually help people. Where is the Republican replacement for the Affordable Care Act? NO, that might help somebody! How do they respond to protests? Oh yeah, ridicule and water cannon. Never a single word about why they are protesting is spoken. Stagnant wages for the last fifty years / crushing personal debit? More tax breaks and cuts for the richest corporations and people will fix it! Republicans have phantom problems to solve like voter fraud. I'm sure this is more dark work of Antifa. Where is our opposition party,
The Democrats? They, for the most part, go along with much of the above offering a little hand-wringing here and there and low-grade grade school level political theater. See, they too are paid for by the same people to keep the existing power structure in place no matter the cost to the world for as long as possible. In any sane country (country with a healthy democracy and a critical thinking populace) the Trump Crime Family would have never got into power in the first place. Our brave Democrats have done little more than jump up and down and turn red faced. They have been totally ineffective. I'm sorry if this is news to you but here we are looking at a possible four more years (or more?) of Trump family rule. If this is good news to you, careful what you ask for. What are the alternatives?
Vote for the Green Party? Stay home and do nothing? Vote for Trump and a quicker and painful death? Vote for Joe Biden to buy a little more time before complete collapse? Most likely, I'll vote for Joe. I like the Greens because I'm voting FOR something. But Trump has to go. One party rule is not for me. The Democrats are the only viable alternative. I have no illusions they can be reformed. I do think they will provide more stability and thus give us time to figure out better ways forward. I'm hopeful young Americans, given the chance, will completely reject the party of "NO," tax cuts for the rich and _____phobia. Stay home and do nothing is lame. How will you explain that to your grand kids? "Yeah, I figured the problems would just solve themselves." Do something! Even if it wrong! Just try!
And Remember-----
The sun will rise on November 4th no matter the outcome. The wheels of life will keep on turning. I don't like the "fight" analogy so many are fond of. Keep fighting, fight harder and so on are worn out. We need a new approach and time to figure it out. Hate can and often does win in this world. I, for one, think we can and must do better.
Tuesday, September 1, 2020
Quiet Trepidation
I feel the covid / 2020 blues almost as soon as I wake up. I can go places at my own risk. I worry for my brother, a paramedic, running Civid patients everyday. I think about my old work family going in every day to help the unemployed. I often wonder is it only a matter of time before I get covid. Will it the mild asymptomatic version or the express lane to the cemetery version? What about you? I know you are fighting your own battles and have your own worries. It only human. We like things to run smoothly. We like regularity. We may not admit it but we like certainty. 2020 is doing it's best to turn everything upside down. I can feel it in traffic via less courteousness and over aggression. I can see it in the eyes of fellow shoppers both masked and unmasked. Don't want to wear a mask? Fine but let your kid go without one? That is some kind of crazy ass narrative flowing through that cat's skull. "Look at all of these sheeple-(a term I detest) all masked up and afraid. Not me, not my kid." Yeah fine go ahead and risk your own life but your kid's? That kid is gonna be sure pissed off if he reaches adulthood and reads a history book about 2020! Corona cannot wait until fall!
Our national government is doing nothing about the pandemic or all the dire economic fallout. They decided to leave town and maybe deal with it or not when they return to Washington D.C. Meanwhile, cops keep being cops continuing to gun down black and brown people with impunity. When those people protest and loot to express their outrage, they are met with militarized police and white national types itching for a new "civil war" utterly clueless what such a calamity would really be like. (As someone with a Master's Degree in Conflict Resolution, I think this is highly unlikely. Our economics and demographics does not point toward civil war... yet.) Should the protesters stop until after the election? NO! Then Emperor Donald will lie about how he alone put down civic unrest for another bump in the polls. I'd like to see even more protests and better yet a national strike of some kind. Just keep in mind violence only benefits the state as they wipe the streets with your remains to the cheers of the crowd as fascism puts down deeper and deeper roots. If you are a protest organizer and some jackass starts talking guns and shooting cops, that individual is a cop in all likelihood. Send them packing! Want the elites to really squeeze their ass cheeks together, I recommend very large PEACEFUL protests and work stoppages. Shut Shit Down! This is a long process and about far more than this year's election. Now there are even questions about the peaceful transfer of power.
The peaceful transfer of power is one of our keys to stability. That seems under threat. The closer the election the more dicey it may be. The economy depends on a stable government and the rule of law. If we allow the crime family another four years, kiss any positive goals for our country good-bye. We can only expect more tax cuts, more deregulation and even more outlandish behavior. That's if we are lucky! The path to complete destruction is full of pain, violence and mass murder. Not a place we want to go. And can somebody / anybody wake up Joe Biden and the sleeping Democratic Party?
"I'm not Trump," is not a slogan for victors. I thought we learned that last time! Low on enthusiasm? That's fixable. Lead from the front, Joe- give us something to get excited about. Time's wasting but it is not too late. Have a dialogue with protesters. Pick an issue and run with it; taking climate change seriously, not just police reform- justice reform, a real national plan to deal with covid and his friends waiting their turn (the next covid / pandemic) or economic inequality. There are tons more! But you gotta lead from the front. Why the Democrats always let the Republicans frame the issues and dominate the news cycle is beyond me...
One last thing... If Trump does win (unlikely but damn sure possible), the world will not end. Sure it will be a major setback, but not the end of history or time. We will do what humans always have done when faced with adversity; adapt, adjust, improvise, rethink, organize and overcome.
KEEP MOVING FORWARD!!!!!!
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