Is this What Jesus Had In Mind?

'Tis the season! Again... Something has gone horribly wrong.



Black Friday

Small Business Saturday 

Cyber Monday

Christmas

And whichever Madison Ave creation I've thankfully forgotten. 

I'm sure there are still a few people around who load up the family pick up with food and go and give it all to the needy with no strings attached. That has little to do with Thanksgiving / Christmas in current day America. Long gone are the days of reflecting on the meaning of Christmas, Thanksgiving or even Easter. In my lifetime they have all been reduced to mindless consumerism. Thanksgiving= stuff ourselves silly with no worry about the obesity epidemic currently sweeping our country drowning us in a sea of entirely preventable disease, suffering and death. Then, the same night we have all given thanks for what we have, like good little mindless consumers we go off and buy more shit = Christmas. Christmas has morphed into a tool of the machine to keep the machine going. The machine being neo-liberalism. Easter= buying plastic easter bunnies, eggs and fake grass oh and don't forget the chocolate! Things we all need right?


I truly believe without Black Friday and all the mindless consumerism that goes along with it, our current economy would collapse. It will anyway. All the billions spent on advertising are only buying us a little more time. We bullshit ourselves, thinking that the circus can go on and on as we wade through miles of isles of gadgets, clothes, furniture, kitchen gear ad nauseum. There is so much! Surely, it can never end! Who gives a second thought to where it comes from and the long suffering people who make it all working in sweatshops hidden far far away in distant lands? Oh, there may be a headline like THIS from time to time but they are only unpeople. 117 dead Americans would be the lead in story for a week at least (A long time in ADD America). Even here, the scapegoats would be found and sent to jail leaving those truly responsible in the clear (provided they are in a high enough tax bracket). But these 117 plus died in a far off land and man there are deals to be had!

Now ask yourself "does it have to be this way?" and if you call yourself a Christian "is this what Jesus had in mind?" If you answered "yes" to either question, go fuck yourself and stop reading. If you agree with me and answered "no" then there is hope! We can get back to basics like simply helping the less fortunate and asking why they need help anyway. We can reclaim the holidays as both family and reflection time. I skipped the Black Friday hoopla as I do every year and holy shit, the sun is still rising in the east each day. We can control the holidays and not the other way around. Try it, you will feel better and in a small way make the world a better place.  

In addition to WWJD, ask What Would Jesus Think?

Readings 11.18.12

Some readings. 

Petraeus – Scandals and Veterans Day

Once Again—Death of the Liberal Class

ANONYMOUS CLAIMS IT STOPPED KARL ROVE FROM HACKING THE ELECTION BY HACKING ORCA, WE THINK

Occupy's New Offshoot Set to Cancel Millions in Medical Debts

Deterrence in an Age of Decline

If I were King for a Day.

Any a..hole with a computer and internet connection can get on line and complain until the cows come home or the lights go out for the last time. Rare is the yahoo who will offer answers to our problems. Hell, somebody has gotta do it, so I'll take a crack and throw in my two cents worth. It is hard to know where to begin so how about climate change?

Climate change is real and not a left wing conspiracy as some would have us think. We need to get our heads out of our asses about this but how? The oil guys are in the business of providing energy. There are numerous ways to do this but they are stuck in a black dirty energy paradigm. Nasty, but it pays. What can we do to make alternative forms of green energy pay more? Well, there are tax breaks for going green and taxing more for keeping the status quo. More importantly is the need for more consumer education about the true cost of burning those dinosaur bones; shitty air, cancer and stone cold evil dictatorships just to name a few. If the people demand with their wallets green energy the five sisters of big oil will fall into line. Inform educate!

The Military Industrial Complex  (MIC) needs to be morphed into the Exploration and Science  Complex (ESC). Yeah, give those suckers something better to do than building ICBM's nuke subs and tanks and shit. What could we accomplish if we used all that money and brain power on creating green alternatives, medical research and space exploration? Imagine creating things that actually benefit humanity and are a real ROI (Return on Investment). How would Iraq and Afghanistan look if the cost of the wars had been redirected to locally driven and controlled improvement projects? This is the way to combat terrorism. As we have seen becoming terrorists ourselves only creates more terrorists. This is not hard friends. What would would happen if we tried the opposite?

Capitalism... Sure I like it because I benefit from it. I'm a "winner" if  may use the language of capitalism.  I can sit here in my nice warm house and share thoughts with you worry free. I''ve got two cars, a laptop, desktop and even an Ipad. I'm comfortable. But there is more to life than "Me." Let's move higher if you will to look at the problem from above seeing more and more. Here locally, there are people out of work who are being ground into poverty and lack basic health care. Nationally, there's the same building dangerous currents of paranoia and extremism that allowed to grow unchecked will lead to violence; very ugly violence.  As we go higher above the problem of capitalism, even larger and more unsettling problems appear. Entire nations are living in endless poverty hopelessly indebted to organizations like the IMF and World Bank. Real people wind up hungry and dying entirely preventable deaths while others get rich. This total dehumanization in the name of making money, I find utterly reprehensible. Can we not reform ourselves or better yet come up with a new system that puts every one's well-being ahead of the profit motive? Yes. In fact, we must demand it before the current system destroys us in an oven of war, an over-heating world and unchecked misery. I may not be such a winner after all and in the long run, definitely not. Don't be fooled, we have the resources to feed and take care of everyone. All of our needs not met because of resource mismanagement and a sense of entitlement too many of us have.

More and more are starting to question long held assumptions the world over. I know I am and will try to add more answers later. Critical thinking is our best hope. Here are a few questions I try to keep in mind:

1. Who is telling be this and why?
2. Who benefits?
3. What are they NOT telling me?
4. What are other possible explanations?    

Meet the New Boss! He is the old boss.

After spending 1.6 Billion on the last election not much really changed. Democrats have the Presidency and the Senate while the Republicans still control the House. Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't that where we were before the election circus? What changed? Nothing. The duopoly still remains unchallenged with no real resistance from third parties. The green Party, who I voted for could not even pass the half a million mark. This is according to their own website and is better than they have done before. It is no where near enough to challenge the status quo.

So there will be no: 

Discussion of neoliberalism.
Addressing Israels nuclear weapons
Real health care reform.
Sensible gun control.
Set living wage.
Dealing with the hard realities of climate change.
Punishment for those who tanked the economy.

But there will be: 

Expanding wars for fun and profit.
More severe economic crashes.
Continued poisoning of the environment.
More money to be made in the Prison Industrial Complex.
An ever expanding wealth gap.
Continued gridlock in government.

... In other words, business as usual.

More reading from Dr. Galtung.

Vote Against the Machine! Vote Green!

Frying Pan or Fire? That's the question those stuck in the false paradigm of Democrat or Republican face. Either way, the machine still wins. The two main stream parties both fall well to the right on a political spectrum. I think it may look something like this:

L_______________________C____________( D & R)________ R

Some argue, this is a choice. I disagree. Let's consider the many commonalities of the two main parties. I've argued we basically live in a one party state before on this blog but it is worth revisiting.  Consider the table below:

Issue                                           Democrat                                   Republican
More Wars                                     Yes                                              Yes
Bailouts for Banks                          Yes                                              Yes
Continuing Neoliberalism               Yes                                              Yes
Insurance based health care              Yes                                              Yes
Black energy                                Yes                                              Yes
Demonizing China & Russia  Yes                                               Yes
Hostage to
Citizens United                               Yes                                              Yes
Militarization of police                       Yes                                              Yes
Outsourcing of Government
Functions                                      Yes                                                Yes
Illegal Spying on Citizens             Yes                                                Yes

I see no argument whatsoever for voting for Romney. If you feel otherwise, I'd like to hear it as long as "he's not Obama" is not the main reason. He's the fire in my analogy above. Obama is, you guessed it, the frying pan.  The lesser evil is still well... evil. If you doubt any of the above, please consider the following:

Why I'm Voting Green- Chris Hedges

If You Vote, You Can't Complain Ted Rall

Hillary's Bones Stan Goff

Why I won't Vote and You Shouldn't Either Stan Goff 

I see the points about not voting but I'm not ready to completely throw in the towel. I voted my conscience, and voted for neither mainstream candidate. I went Green.  The only way to end the Duopoly / Oligarchy is to delegitimize it. I believe he only way to do that is stop playing the game all together. There are alternatives. Find one that works for you.

Some say it is a wasted vote. I submit if you do not like the similarities above, yet still voted for either Romney or Obama. YOU are the one who wasted a vote. Why not vote FOR something? Before giving me a ration of shit, read the Green Platform and tell me specifics on why Obama or Romney are better.  

Vote Against the Machine! Vote Green! 

Flavors of Violence II

Domestic Violence- Physical, verbal and emotional abuse from a family member such as a spouse or parent. According to Silent Witness National Initiative the overall trend of domestic violence was going down but their stastics end before the current recession started. With job loss and economic hardship I think it is unlikely the downward trend has continued. Add to that people are stuck in marriages they do not want to be in. So the cycle continues. To reduce this form of violence will take nothing less than a total transformation of our culture. For more information see The Domestic Violence Resource Center.

Sexual Violence- From the WHO -
"Sexual violence is a serious public health and human rights problem with both short- and long-term consequences on women's physical, mental, and sexual and reproductive health. Whether sexual violence occurs in the context of an intimate partnership, within the larger family or community structure, or during times of conflict, it is a deeply violating and painful experience for the survivor." 

I'd like to add men and children also can be victims of sexual violence.

It is not about sex but power. Here in the USA, being powerful and aggressive is valued and encouraged for men while these same traits are discouraged in women. In some circles having sex is equated to a "conquest."   However, this is only one of many causes. Another is dehumanization. Women or other victims are reduced to "objects" rendering them undeserving of basic rights and protections. This occurs often in high conflict areas such as wars. The sad cold truth is sexual violence is still culturally acceptable. If you are on this website, you are only a few keystrokes and clicks away from images and videos of torture, humiliation and rape of women men and even children. Continued gender stereotyping is everywhere. "When she says NO she really means YES."  As stated before sexual violence can include both male and male and female and female as well as male and female. Sexual violence can be against children as well. Again, will take a huge culture change to greatly reduce the often hidden amount of sexual violence that takes place every day.

Structural Violence- Cultural and governmental structures put into place which do harm to communities and peoples by putting into place a built in inequality. Israel's treatment of Palestine is a clear example. Even so called free societies are not free of structural violence but it can be more subtle. American "culture wars" is a more subtle form. Women and members of the LGBT community are singled out for unequal treatment based mostly on religious beliefs. This denial of equal treatment under the law not only harms others but also keeps the existing power structure in place. Gays are denied the same basic rights and freedoms as married heterosexual couples. The most powerful use "culture wars" to help maintain their positions. While you are voting "against" gays, you are unknowingly voting for the removal of social safety nets, more war profiteering and increasing income inequality.  Neoliberalism.

Slow Violence- Slowly unfolding harm done to entire communities or peoples. The poisoning of air and water that leads to suffering and illness. Some examples of this include areas of unsafe resource exploitation, denying entire groups of basic rights and freedoms and manufacture and distribution of unsafe products.   

Johan Galtung

"I understand violence as the avoidable impairment of fundamental human needs or, to put it in more general terms, the impairment of human life, which lowers the actual degree to which someone is able to meet their needs below that which would otherwise be possible. The threat of violence is also violence."




[Johan Galtung, Kulturelle Gewalt; in: Der Bürger im Staat 43, 2/1993, p. 106]

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