Readings 2.16.13

One day this week I want to explore the relationship between these articles. Things are not looking good. 

-P. 

U.N. expert launches investigation of drones, targeted killings

How Law Enforcement and Media Covered Up the Plan to Burn Christopher Dorner Alive

Gangster Bankers: Too Big to Jail

The NDAA and the Death of the Democratic State

Henry A. Giroux | The Shooting Gallery: Obama and the Vanishing Point of Democracy

Conflict in Business

It seems to me our entire culture is build on conflict; west and even more so here in the USA. The language of business is full of conflict as already pointed out, the war on drugs, the war on poverty, the war on terror (my fav) and so on and so on. What causes conflict? Real or imagined inequality. And here in the USA we grow more unequal by the day (if not the hour). It is a part of our business model; competition is good. The main process of getting a job, resumes, applications, interviews second interviews is utterly dehumanizing. Apply on line, email resumes, network and better maintain a happy positive attitude all the while is only the beginning. Once on the job, things pretty much remain the same. The less your income, skill level and perceived value the more dehumanization you face. People are more often treated like interchangeable parts than flesh and blood human beings. Many companies set competition within their ranks. Who can make the most sales, produce the most widgets and so on and so on. The argument being they produce more. What are the results withing a cooperative model? Has it even been tried? I'm sure it has somewhere and I would like to know the results. One cost of the ultra-competitive model cannot be directly measured in dollars but in plain old human suffering. This does effect the bottom line with people out from stress related illnesses, sabotage and in extreme cases, horrendous acts of violence. With a sharp focus on the bottom line, companies strive to be leaner and meaner, stress meaner. I think to nip conflict in the bud, will take a major change in our culture. I'm still hopeful it can happen.

Unpeople. Names of Children Killed in US Drone Strikes.

Unpeople. Names of Children Killed in US Drone Strikes. 

I cannot support a president or a government that allows this to continue...   

PAKISTAN

Name | Age | Gender

Noor Aziz | 8 | male

Abdul Wasit | 17 | male

Noor Syed | 8 | male

Wajid Noor | 9 | male

Syed Wali Shah | 7 | male

Ayeesha | 3 | female

Qari Alamzeb | 14| male

Shoaib | 8 | male

Hayatullah KhaMohammad | 16 | male

Tariq Aziz | 16 | male

Sanaullah Jan | 17 | male

Maezol Khan | 8 | female

Nasir Khan | male

Naeem Khan | male

Naeemullah | male

Mohammad Tahir | 16 | male

Azizul Wahab | 15 | male

Fazal Wahab | 16 | male

Ziauddin | 16 | male

Mohammad Yunus | 16 | male

Fazal Hakim | 19 | male

Ilyas | 13 | male

Sohail | 7 | male

Asadullah | 9 | male

khalilullah | 9 | male

Noor Mohammad | 8 | male

Khalid | 12 | male

Saifullah | 9 | male

Mashooq Jan | 15 | male

Nawab | 17 | male

Sultanat Khan | 16 | male

Ziaur Rahman | 13 | male

Noor Mohammad | 15 | male

Mohammad Yaas Khan | 16 | male

Qari Alamzeb | 14 | male

Ziaur Rahman | 17 | male

Abdullah | 18 | male

Ikramullah Zada | 17 | male

Inayatur Rehman | 16 | male

Shahbuddin | 15 | male

Yahya Khan | 16 |male

Rahatullah |17 | male

Mohammad Salim | 11 | male

Shahjehan | 15 | male

Gul Sher Khan | 15 | male

Bakht Muneer | 14 | male

Numair | 14 | male

Mashooq Khan | 16 | male

Ihsanullah | 16 | male

Luqman | 12 | male

Jannatullah | 13 | male

Ismail | 12 | male

Taseel Khan | 18 | male

Zaheeruddin | 16 | male

Qari Ishaq | 19 | male

Jamshed Khan | 14 | male

Alam Nabi | 11 | male

Qari Abdul Karim | 19 | male

Rahmatullah | 14 | male

Abdus Samad | 17 | male

Siraj | 16 | male

Saeedullah | 17 | male

Abdul Waris | 16 | male

Darvesh | 13 | male

Ameer Said | 15 | male

Shaukat | 14 | male

Inayatur Rahman | 17 | male

Salman | 12 | male

Fazal Wahab | 18 | male

Baacha Rahman | 13 | male

Wali-ur-Rahman | 17 | male

Iftikhar | 17 | male

Inayatullah | 15 | male

Mashooq Khan | 16 | male

Ihsanullah | 16 | male

Luqman | 12 | male

Jannatullah | 13 | male

Ismail | 12 | male

Abdul Waris | 16 | male

Darvesh | 13 | male

Ameer Said | 15 | male

Shaukat | 14 | male

Inayatur Rahman | 17 | male

Adnan | 16 | male

Najibullah | 13 | male

Naeemullah | 17 | male

Hizbullah | 10 | male

Kitab Gul | 12 | male

Wilayat Khan | 11 | male

Zabihullah | 16 | male

Shehzad Gul | 11 | male

Shabir | 15 | male

Qari Sharifullah | 17 | male

Shafiullah | 16 | male

Nimatullah | 14 | male

Shakirullah | 16 | male

Talha | 8 | male

YEMEN

Afrah Ali Mohammed Nasser | 9 | female

Zayda Ali Mohammed Nasser | 7 | female

Hoda Ali Mohammed Nasser | 5 | female

Sheikha Ali Mohammed Nasser | 4 | female

Ibrahim Abdullah Mokbel Salem Louqye | 13 | male

Asmaa Abdullah Mokbel Salem Louqye | 9 | male

Salma Abdullah Mokbel Salem Louqye | 4 | female

Fatima Abdullah Mokbel Salem Louqye | 3 | female

Khadije Ali Mokbel Louqye | 1 | female

Hanaa Ali Mokbel Louqye | 6 | female

Mohammed Ali Mokbel Salem Louqye | 4 | male

Jawass Mokbel Salem Louqye | 15 | female

Maryam Hussein Abdullah Awad | 2 | female

Shafiq Hussein Abdullah Awad | 1 | female

Sheikha Nasser Mahdi Ahmad Bouh | 3 | female

Maha Mohammed Saleh Mohammed | 12 | male

Soumaya Mohammed Saleh Mohammed | 9 | female

Shafika Mohammed Saleh Mohammed | 4 | female

Shafiq Mohammed Saleh Mohammed | 2 | male

Mabrook Mouqbal Al Qadari | 13 | male

Daolah Nasser 10 years | 10 | female

AbedalGhani Mohammed Mabkhout | 12 | male

Abdel- Rahman Anwar al Awlaki | 16 | male

Abdel-Rahman al-Awlaki | 17 | male

Nasser Salim | 19

"Stop the world, I want to get off." Part I

Inactive Activism. 

A few thoughts. 

Is activism truly dead? We re-elect Obama and it seems far too many people think everything will be cool now. Occupy has all but disappeared with a few wonderful exceptions, Occupy Sandy and here locally, Occupy Greensboro's Energy Working Group are two that come to mind. Did the FBI destroy the movement or did it just run out of steam? It seems no where near as strong as it was in 2011- early 20012. The movement managed to change the national dialogue from one of austerity to addressing the concerns of the 99%. Obama caught on fast and co-opted the message of Occupy for his own political gain. Romney was not that sharp clinging to the losing strategy of no billionaire left behind.  Sadly, the billionaires still won. Everything is business as usual. 

This got me to thinking about different types of descent, actions and protests that are the most effective. I'm no expert, just a questioning kind of schmo. Speaking truth to power is a good start and that was in my opinion, one thing Occupy has done so well. Simply put "...they got bailed out, we got sold out." That's the easy part. The hard part is offering a workable alternative. Occupy did but the message was not put forward by the main stream media. Real change is not in their interest. If those of us who want things like the end of corporate personhood, the rotting out of our democracy by money, neo-liberalism and continued trashing of the environment; we are going to have to stop playing the game. 

Delegitimize it. Stop voting in rigged sham elections. Turn off the TV. Stop borrowing from banks. Walk the walk on fossil fuels. Stop buying stuff made over seas in unregulated dangerous sweat shops. We are addicted to our comfortable lifestyles and like any addict know the drug is bad for us but cannot stop ourselves. Yet at the same time wonder why change for the better seems only a far off illusion. But all is not hopeless. What is the first step? 

We admit we were powerless over our addiction - that our lives had become unmanageable. 

I think we are only on step one. All along the political spectrum can agree thing are not going well. We come at problems form different narratives but at least recognize many of the same problems. We have to move beyond the narrow confines the current paradigm allows for. We have to conclude neither political party can save us and or bring on the massive change needed to avoid catastrophic loss of life here on Earth via climate change, deadly wars and slow violence. I think the only way forward is to stop playing this game of self-destructive addiction. We have to do more than demand change. We have to embody change. More on that soon.         

Written post soon.

New writing soon.

Thinking on an idea I call Inactive-Activism.

Within the next week.

-Paul

Readings 1.15.2013

If you think we're done with neoliberalism, think again

SYNDICATED COLUMN: Murder by Prosecutor

The Foundation of a New Democratic Economy Is Worker Self-Directed Enterprises

A wider war looms in Myanmar

A brutal manifestation of patriarchy

Bully Stuff

I prefer a give and take style of speaking. One has to be very very good to stand and give a talk for an extended period of time. I may get there sometime but feel I have a ways yet to go. To keep people in it so to speak, I like them to participate. So I'll ask questions and have others speak as well. I think this is something we are missing. How often are we asked to be herd in an open and free way? All too often, we are isolated in our own bubble suffering silently. Yes, I like to blog and post stuff on Face Book but that is no substitute for meeting with people and sharing together. So what did I get out of sharing dialogue last Tuesday? The topic of bullying came up and it is too important to ignore. It got me to thinking and I decided to look a little closer at the issue.

Like far too many, I too experienced being bullied. Thank goodness it was not for too long, just one semester around 5th grade. I went to a new school and did not fit in. I quickly found myself friendless, alone and in day to day misery. I'm not sure what it was. Before this time I never had any real problems in school. In the new school I was met with a mixture of cold indifference and utter contempt. I never suffered direct violence but felt the threat of it was always looming. This may be worse.  Each day was a struggle to get through but sad to say I never shared these troubles with anyone. Why? At the time, we had just bought a new house and my Grandmother had moved in with us. She had been my best friend and perhaps my biggest advocate my whole life. We learned she had cancer which proved to be fatal.  I did not want to ad my problems on top of what we were going through so I just muddled through each day as best I could. My parents were no fans of the public schools and at the end of the semester decided I'd be going to a private school. Thank god the nightmare was over. Looking back I did not handle it well at all. What could I have done different? 

In hindsight look back from decades later with the advantages of a lot of experience and much education, I'd say I need to let someone know what was going on. I never had a problem with communicating with Mom and Dad. I could have let them know. I could have asked to meet with a school counselor or even the principal. Perhaps I could have done a better job of befriending a few fellow students. Now I'd say the most important thing is not going it alone. If I had to deal with that crap for several years, my life could have turned out very differently in a negative way. I'm not trying to blame myself, just thinking of better options than the "keep it to myself" one I chose. Why do students feel the need to put down and hurt others? As we all know this had lead to suicides. So why do kids bully and what does it do to them? 

Kids bully for a number of complex reasons. I think the most basic reason is they gain a sense of power. Schools tend to be more about disempowerment than learning. The students have no say in what they study for the most part and coercive controls are employed to manage behavior. Cliques form and those who are not in are "out" and as a result subject to dehumanization. When a person is reduced to an object, anything can be done to them. Peer pressure can exacerbate the problem. The bully is egged on by his peers. If a kid comes from an abusive home where he or she lives in fear, bullying may be an outlet by providing a sense of power. If this twisted "need" to be seen as powerful goes on, it can lead to unhealthy relationships, continuing a cycle of abuse and time in a state correctional facility, you know prison.                

I think much of bullying come from how schools are run and structured. There are far too many similarities between a prison and a typical public school. Kids, the same as inmates, have very little control over their own lives. They are told where and when to be somewhere. Told what to do and sadly subject to unreasonable searches. This is a whole other subject all to it self. If you want to explore it more, check out the movie / documentary The War on Kids. It is disturbing viewing and obvious we need real education reform that gets away from our long outdated education model from the 1800's. This cannot be fixed over night. What can we do in the mean time? 

Just punishing the "bully" may make us feel better but does little toward resolving the issue for the long term. People are complex and thus there are no easy one size fits all answers. Cases need to be looked at on an individual level and examined holistically. We need to be asking what in Johnny and Jenny bully's environment is creating the perverted need to put down, pick on and hurt their fellow students?  Are there unaddressed issues at home such abuse (physical, verbal and emotional)? Could it be peer pressure driving and egging on the behavior? The cycle of pick on someone and be rewarded for it has to be broken. Anyone who has gone through the ordeal of American public schools has seen this. Students who reward the bully (saying your cool, I think you are funny or joining in) need to be called on to individually explain their actions to their classmates as well as their parents. In other words, the must be given an opportunity to reflect on and explain their actions. There appears to be plenty if information on how not to become a victim of bullying. Lookhere, here and here. There are tons more. All this is well and good but has anyone asked why are are there bullies in the first place? We need to hold up a mirror to our communities.

I come from an alternative dispute resolution background and I feel our current "punishment only" does little to solve problems such as bullying. As I mentioned in the previous post the future for a non-stop bully is not all that good; bad relationships, less education and into the abyss of state corrections come to mind. The bully is also a child let's not forget. Many so called indigenous groups deal with actions that hurt the community differently than a focus on punishment. Rather, the community of the offender, in this case the bully, is called together to discuss the harm done, what caused it and how it will be repaired. We have to do more than say bullies are bad because if we are not careful this may lead to their dehumanization and the very cycle we are trying to prevent just acquires a new target. We need to take a holistic approach that examines a community capable of producing children who delight in the suffering of others.

This may be getting away from the overall topic of this blog but as someone who has been both a perpetrator and a victim of bullying I feel compelled to address the topic further. Plus, I got a really good response to the last post on this topic. Let's keep the conversation going. Please comment.