The Enemy is Us

As a country, we are terrible at self-reflection. We cannot dare look in the mirror. What would we see looking back? We had a brief moment in time where we were the "good guys." That was decades ago in the Second World War and for a short time afterward. We crushed the expansionist dreams of Japan with one hand and put an end to Germany's "Master Race" madness with the other. Then we helped both rebuild (along with much of the rest the world). We saved South Korea from the dark rule of the Kims. Sometime afterward we lost our way.

Was it the Communist scare of the 50's? Was it with Kennedy's assassination or Nixon and the "Southern Strategy?" None of these helped. A little later we added the deadly mix of religion and politics and the new Golden Rule. You know, "He who has the gold makes the rules." Let's not forget our much older (unacknowledged) transgressions; genocide, slavery and colonization. How do these affect us today? Well, there are a number of people who think we can do no wrong, have never done anything bad and our leadership is unquestionable and infallible. The ethnic cleansing of the west and the horrors of slavery are glossed over in most schools if they are taught at all. Colonization? Forget about it! How can we expect a nation incapable of self-questioning to hold itself and it's leaders accountable? We cannot.

We look on as the show trial in the Senate follows the script we all read before. Almost everyone knew Emperor Donald would not be convicted of anything. We do nothing. Our so called opposition Party oozes corruption incapable of learning anything from the last election. They squirm around trying to find a candidate unoffensive to their millionaire and billionaire masters. The will of the people be damned! Now it is the turn of the courts to cash in their independence. They are stacked with judges who are far more concerned with the rights of property owners than civil or human rights. Our three branches of government have merged into one, The Executive.

______________________________________________

How about a look in the mirror friends? We are going down "faster than groupies on the Limp Bizkit tour bus." We face financial collapse, climate collapse and ecological collapse. You have a choice. You can accept this fate assigned to you by others or fight like hell.
                 

Keep on winning with Emperor Donald

The pundits are practically ejaculating all over themselves talking about how great the economy is doing. Low unemployment, low interest and a soaring stock market makes for a rosy picture indeed. We vote with our wallets (and whoever we would rather have a beer with because that's important). So does that mean four more years or even The Donald for a lifetime self-appointment to the presidency? Would enough of us even care? Yeah, sure the economy is chugging along at the moment; the food is still getting to the cities, crime is down and society is still functioning more or less. There is only one little problem. It is not sustainable.

Debt. Running a massive debit seems to be the American way. Hey, watch your share grow here. I've never been a debt worry wart But at some point this will matter. What happens when our credit runs dry? No more wars to watch on TV. No more bailouts for banker-gamblers. Even the wealthy will have to start paying taxes! Funny how one political party has gone quiet on this issue (unless we ask for something that may help people). Debt will kill off the good times by itself. But wait there's more! 

Climate change. Man made, God made or made by space aliens secretly taraforming the Earth for their own ends, this IS happening.  I'll go with man made. Because you know, SCIENCE. Things are going to change fast in often unpredictable ways. They are not going to be good for humanity. Hey, the planet will be just fine. It is just us and many other life forms that are screwed. Even our good friends in National Security understand this. Putting our fingers in our ears and screaming LALALALA does not change what s happening one bit. None of this is good for a functioning economy much less a society. The next item is a true killer as well.      


Massive income inequality. This never works out well. Here is a brief overview of some of the consequences. It is also a hard thing to stop once it is going. Consider wage stagnation for the last fifty or so years. The .1% running away with all the money always backfires spectacularly sooner or later. Here is some more good general reading on income inequality.     

 ___________________________________________________________________________
This explains a lot. Hypernormalization - a long doc but well worth your time.         

Good News Readings 1.7.2020

Remember despair is the best weapon of your enemy. I'll post some positive stuff from time to time to help keep us all going. There is still a lot of good and reasons to be hopeful in this world. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2020! 

Solar-powered Plant in Kenya Gives Thousands of People Clean Drinking Water After Five Years of Drought

Here are 19 things that made the world a better place in 2019

Canada wants to welcome more than 1 million new immigrants in the next three years

 Make it better: 22 positive, practical things you can do

99 Good News Stories You Probably Didn't Hear About in 2019

 

 

 

 

A Reading 1.5.2020

The Age of Last Chances

A good summary of the messes we find ourselves in at the start of the roaring 20's. The Earth will go on with or without our civilization.

War with Iran? Probaby Not.

So General Soleimani was probably not a nice guy. It was his job to do Iran's bidding all around the Middle East via Qods Force / Sepah-e Qods /Qods Corps / Jerusalem Corps. They were not exactly showering their neighbors with flowers and greeting cards. But let's not knock the dead guy. So now what happens?

Iran has more to lose than the USA. Any war will be fought in their backyard or even within their own borders. They may be able to pull off a few terrorist attacks here but that's not anywhere near the dangers they face from the US military and our good friends, the Israelis. Iran knows this. They will have to retaliate but not so much to further provoke a president with mounting troubles here at home who needs a new war with 24/7 media coverage.

The US does not need a new war to add to our list of on going conflicts and concerns. Our military has been run into the ground for almost twenty years now. Remember Rumsfeld's backdoor draft? Then there is the ever cagey Kim Jong Un. Who knows what he is going to do. Oh, sure we could fight him too. But who's gonna loan us the money? Look at the national debit clock! Sooner or later our creditors are gonna pull the plug. One or two more wars may do the trick. Lastly, there the logistics. Sending a few thousand troops does not make an invasion force. To invade Iran would take troop numbers with six or seven digits. That would take longer than Emperor Donald has in office. We are not really going to re-elect him, are we?

Random But Related Thoughts...

-Wars, once started, take on a life of their own. No one can claim to predict the actual outcome. 

-Starting a war with Iran, and whoever else jumps in, will only accelerate our decline.

-Trump does not care. No one he knows will be in harm's way. 

-Political violence here when things go bad? 

- Get to know some of the people we are going to war with. They are only people after all.  
 
  

         

Bernie is a Start, Not a Savior

Bernie is not our savior. No one is. Yes, I like Bernie Sanders and think he is the best candidate for president. But without support from congress there is little he can do. Without congress; medicare for all, a Green New Deal, fair taxes, a strong safety net- forget it! After Obama Care, Obama lost congress and got little else done. Even Emperor Donald has got nothing done without congress. The little time he had congress he squeezed through a tax break for the 1%. What else? So much for the great deal maker. Today's Democrats are Republicans without the racism, religious fanaticism and disregard for science. However, they still vote for massive military budgets, favor finance and the status quo (See Joe Biden). A congress full of these "Democrats" are not going to help Bernie or the rest of us. Getting Bernie elected is still a long shot. Please understand this is only a small first step. The rest is up to us.

We are going to have to do a lot of work to turn things around. If we are serious at all, be ready for massive protest and civil disobedience. If congress is given the choice of do the right thing or we are going to burn it all down, the might just do the right thing. For too long we have lost the notion of "we are the government." Of the people by the people and for the people has morphed into of the rich for the corporations and by the lobbyists. Both Parties have traded in voters for their own power, comfort and wealth (LIFE AFTER CONGRESS). Once can argue it was never a democracy in the first place, just a stable platform used to suck the wealth out of us and rape the Earth. This topic is beyond this post. The big question is do we have enough freedom left to save ourselves? We will need to make mass protest and civil disobedience a new but ever-present normal. It will be a time of uncertainty and discomfort. Change always is.

A WORD OF CAUTION       

Some may think violence is a shortcut. It is a shortcut...  To losing. Violence is a tool long ago mastered by the state be it Russia, Iran or the ole USA. The use of violence in protest and civil disobedience gives the state license to crush any opposition violently, bloodily and thoroughly. Your AR-15 is no match for drones bombing your house / neighborhood from 18,000 feet. Yes, they can and yes, they will while others watch it all on live TV. So get those violent fantasies out of your head and stay away from anyone encouraging such thoughts. They are not helping. Government are getting quite sophisticated at undermining questioning of any kind. It is going o be a rough ride. There is no guaranteed outcome. There is no historical bent towards justice. Like always, we will have to struggle for it. We can and may indeed lose. We must try.          

Living in Stories

We live in stories created by society, family and ourselves. All us Americans know we live in the land of the free and home of the brave. The land where our first President, the original George W. chopped down a cheery tree and then fessed up to the  crime. The people who survived the Great Depression and then fought fascism in World War II, you now know them as The Greatest Generation. The winners of the cold war watched as the Soviet Union  came crashing down. You get the idea. Each family also has stories as well full of vivid larger than life characters. I have crazy Uncle Chip, the bookie, and wild eyed Uncle Mike, the drifter. Both spawn stories to carry us through the longest, coldest and darkest of nights. Then there is Grandpa LaVack who lived the Greatest Generation life to the fullest. He went through the Great Depression, was almost killed at Pearl Harbor raised four sons after the war. Earning retirements from the US Navy and the State of California, he passed away comfortably in his own bed at the age of 91. I could fill a book with family stories as I'm sure you can as well. Then, there our our personal stories. At birth, the doctors said I'd never walk. I've walked across college campuses, around in many airports. I've walked in London, England, Varna and Sophia Bulgaria, Saigon and Hanoi, Vietnam. I've taken pee stops in states all across the Union for whatever that's worth.

In each and everyone of us there are countless stories. Listen closely to the stories others tell you. They will reveal themselves in many ways. I used to listen to stories at the Employment Office everyday. One Pakistani dude told me how his ship left him stranded in New York. In time, I came to see why. He was not the nicest person I met there but interesting in a sublime sorta way. Another cat fresh off of "Contracting" in the Middle East told me of his plans to move to the Dakotas, get a CDL and drive trucks in the then booming fracking industry. The dude had his act together. Then there were the criminals. Sadly, they never stop paying for their crimes. Finding life sustaining work is almost impossible and the rest of us wonder why recidivism rates are so high. Listening to stories was one of the coolest parts of the job. Yeah, stories are cool and all- so?

What does story telling have to do with Unpeople?

A lot. There are countess people and groups who's stories are ignored. The odd ball asking for money at the exit from I-40 to ?? has a story. A few people read the sign and give a little cash. I don't because another story I hear is they are not as needy as they seem. True or not, who knows? The high, homeless guy making me and my pal nervous years ago? I did not ask his story. Nope. The people who proudly display the rebel flag in the county south of here? No one cares to ask why. American Indians still living in soul-crushing poverty seldom make the national news for anything good or bad. Looking out beyond our borders, there are countless groups looking just for acknowledgement, chocolate slaves, laborers in Saudi Arabia and ship breakers. Let's not forget the world's shanty towns and city dump dwellers. These stories are just starting to get out. Let's hope they do. Nothing like sunshine to fix things.

There is more to stories.... Soon.