Once upon a time a particular type of cell cluster evolved the capacity for abstract thought, clawed their way up the food chain, conquered all other life forms on their planet, then spent all their time inventing reasons to be miserable.
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An honest war is as rare as an honest politician.
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Our society fixates on Nazi Germany with such masturbatory fascination because it allows us to pretend that horrific mass-scale evil is just something that was inflicted in the past, by someone else, in another part of the world, and not right here and now by our own government.
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The nation with the worst human rights record in the world is the one that is dominating the planet with endless military and economic violence and working to destroy any country which disobeys its dictates.
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There is nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing that the US empire accuses other nations of doing which it itself does not do. You could swap out “Washington” for whatever targeted government Mike Pompeo is talking about on any given day and it would be a true statement.
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It would help solve so many problems if liberals could just shift a proportionate amount of their hate from Trump to Pompeo.
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Liberals hate leftists for the same reason you’d hate someone at a theater who kept yelling “These are all actors, none of this is real.” Liberals are trying to enjoy a fictional performance about their side being heroic protagonists, and leftists keep disrupting the illusion.
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All you really need to know about Russiagate is that it began with unproven assertions by the US intelligence community and ended up facilitating pre-existing foreign policy agendas of the US intelligence community. Everything in between those two points is empty narrative fluff.
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I have a conspiracy theory that all these US protests were covertly orchestrated by a conspiracy between a brutal authoritarian police state, a political system that has failed Americans in every conceivable way, a civilization that was built on slavery, and end-stage neoliberalism.
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For years Trump supporters have been saying they liked my 2016 anti-Hillary stuff but ever since then I’ve been getting crazier and crazier. If Biden gets in they will start praising my miraculous return to sanity. At no time will it occur to them that there’s another possibility.
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Socialist politicians who won’t adequately defend themselves are like socialist governments who won’t adequately defend themselves: doomed to be quickly subverted and toppled by sleazy imperialists.
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Q: What is capitalism?
A: Capitalism is a wonderful political/economic system which has given us powerful technology, a wide assortment of breakfast cereals, and near term human extinction.
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All the most profitable activities involve inflicting trauma of some sort. War, monopolism, usury, strip mining, fossil fuels, factory farming, ads convincing us we’re deficient, etc. We’ll traumatize our planet bare if human behavior remains driven by profit and competition.
Nothing but a complete global truce on this front will suffice. Nations become extremely powerful by excelling at profit and subsuming anyone who doesn’t, to the point where even nations which don’t worship profit are forced to pursue it out of self-defense.
What we need now is to slow down, turn around, and begin collaborating with each other and our ecosystem. But pursuit of profit is inherently opposed to this. We’re crushing our ecosystem and each other in a mad rat race toward extinction. We must turn and go the opposite way.
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People who use language for communication and understanding shouldn’t waste time talking to people who use language for manipulation and control. It’s two completely different linguistic functions with no meaningful overlap at all. Getting clear on this makes life a lot easier.
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I am envious of leftists and indie media who feel like they have the luxury of indulging in sectarianism and infighting. Must be nice to live in a world that’s being driven to armageddon by sociopaths and yet feel leisurely enough to pour time and energy into such egocentric wankery.
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Saying the CIA is probably helping to foment uprisings against US-targeted governments, when that is literally openly their job, should not be a controversial take to have.
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Acknowledging the bad things your government and its allies have done in the past, but refusing to acknowledge evils they are perpetrating currently, is worse than saying nothing. Because it creates the illusion that things are improving where they are not.
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Cornered animals are dangerous, especially ones with fangs and claws.
Dying empires are dangerous, especially ones with nuclear weapons.
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It should outrage everyone that our governments hide ugly secrets from us at all, let alone imprisoning and torturing people who try to help us find out about them.
We should be making our governments afraid to hide the truth from us. Instead our governments are making us afraid to try and learn the truth about them by brutally punishing anyone who tries. This is gravely disordered.
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Normality has led to a world that is dying and a society that is insane. Be happy with your weirdness.
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Our inability to see with fresh eyes causes us to miss so much. We’re watching out for predators in a world ruled by predators. Struggling to prevent tyranny many years after tyranny already boxed us in. Waiting for a miracle while floating in an infinite ocean of miracles.
~
All we need is to collectively change the way we look at things. That’s it. The door’s not locked. It’s not even closed. We just have to step outside.
Desperate rock-bottom moments are often catalysts for immense change. No matter how bleak it looks, there’s always a chance.
_____________________________
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49 responses to “An Honest War Is As Rare As An Honest Politician: Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix”
I’m dealing with all this endless shit by reading a bit about geology. When you realize how DYNAMIC the earth is, you know nothing is forever. I live near a national park where you can stand on the island and realize you are standing at the BOTTOM of the magma chamber of a super volcano; TWO VERTICAL MILES of rock has eroded from the island. The planet cares nothing for our pettiness and stupidity, and I’m just wondering what happens when our evil creations are swallowed in fire and liquid rock.
Some excellent observation, many of which are not new to me however. My favorite: “Q: What is capitalism?
A: Capitalism is a wonderful political/economic system which has given us powerful technology, a wide assortment of breakfast cereals, and near term human extinction.”
Reflect that people are also too fixated on what the U.S. is doing and not enough about what Western Europe, the true benefactors of the U.S. empire, may be doing to stay on top.
There’s a reason why Putin made clear, any war with Russia is a war with NATO – Europe as well.
A war between China and the U.S., would be between those two countries and their Pacific allies.
Did you ever HEAR about Socrates, Ms Johnstone? I think you’d like him; Plato wrote down everything he said because Socrates did not believe in writing (too technological, IMO). And, he was really short; maybe a little person? I don’t know. But, my Prof created this great image of Socrates the short guy (maybe, with red hair?) talking to himself in a Greek market (agora? amphora? I forget the word), inspiring an audience, with his wife coming after him because he said the craziest of things and did nothing.
I love the idea that rational thought may have started with the craziest, weirdest guy, who literally accomplished nothing, being chased by his wife looks to likewise end with a similar individual (Trump, with red hair? Red face?)), with everything he touches bankrupted (so, maybe also nothing accomplished?) trying to cling to a spouse (can’t keep a partner; Socrates didn’t want a partner?)).
However, I am an optimist.
seeing Nayirah after so long …..what a horrible thing, tyrants of the highest order
As if our species did not have enough to worry about; this woebegone world of ours is going to get worse!
The substitution of intelligent machines for humans at senior command levels is becoming essential, U.S. strategists argue, because an exponential growth in sensor information combined with the increasing speed of warfare is making it nearly impossible for humans to keep track of crucial battlefield developments. If future scenarios prove accurate, battles that once unfolded over days or weeks could transpire in the space of hours, or even minutes, while battlefield information will be pouring in as multitudinous data points, overwhelming staff officers. Only advanced computers, it is claimed, could process so much information and make informed combat decisions within the necessary timeframe.
This very scary article can be read here:
Tomgram: Michael Klare, Artificial (Un)intelligence and the U.S. Military By Michael Klare
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176745/tomgram%3A_michael_klare%2C_artificial_%28un%29intelligence_and_the_u.s._military/#more
For those who have lots of time to devote to reading the following link should prove to be very informative of how we got to where we are today.
https://www.veteranstoday.com/2020/08/27/555530/
Caitlin, I greatly enjoy your writings. But in reading them I feel that you are only partway where you need to be to effectively make a difference. You understand that we are facing a very serious problem. You understand that to solve it requires a radical solution. But I don’t think you have yet precisely identified where that solution begins. For example, you have written, “The path out of this mess can only lie in the exact opposite direction of the path which led us into it.” Exactly so! But what do you propose? “Turning around and moving into a collaborative relationship with each other and with our ecosystem” Yes, this is true, but you do not spell out precisely how we can do this. And it must be spelled out.
I think that the beginning of the solution requires an overthrow of materialism, the doctrine that nothing exists except matter and its properties. This is the mindset which leads people to treat each other like dirt. Because this is essentially what other people are in the mind of the materialist. There is no question that materialism will eventually fall, since it is based on a logical error. What is the error? It lies in thinking that the real world is an “objective reality” rather than a conceptual product of the human intellect. (Neuroscientists should not find this surprising since it is clear to them that everything which you consider to exist in the real world is somehow physically represented within or in conjunction with your central nervous system. From the perspective of the neuroscientist a human being can experience creation (through the sensory organs) and he/she can model it (with the cerebral cortex), but there is no other way for us to “know” it.) An important consequence of this insight is an understanding that it is simply erroneous to think that a human being is a real world entity. (A human being can be represented as a real world entity for certain purposes, but this does not imply that a human being “is” a real world entity. To conflate the representation of something with the thing itself is a logical error of a kind which our philosophers call a “categorical mistake.”) To imagine that a human being “exists” in the real world is as silly as it would be to think that a geometry instructor “exists” as an element (such as a point or a line) of the geometric theory which he/she is using to solve some problem. We create the real world with our minds. We cannot therefore exist therein.
The insight presented above is something which I have acquired in my effort to understand the Gospel of Thomas. I think that the historical Jesus understood this a long time ago. As an example (one of several which I could offer if this comment were not already too long), consider:
“Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.”
—John 8:23
Read the link above, over 100 pages on pretty much just what you said.
Why are we trying to change the world and remedy its evils if, in the ultimate sense, it doesn’t exist? It’s also a categorical mistake to confuse spirituality with ethics. The former often leads us away from this world; the latter always takes us more deeply into it. Or am I missing your point?
Newton, I think you are missing my point. I have not asserted that the real world does not exist. I believe that it does exist but only as a conceptual model or representation – of what I have called “creation” (but what I could alternatively have called “life.”) Also, what I wrote above isn’t about either spirituality or ethics. It is about good logic versus bad logic.
I provide the solution, and you are not far from it. IN my book THE UNTOLD NATURE OF CHRISTIANITY I debunk the bible, and also provide a code of ethics that will change humanity’s behavior (In the conclusion) =In the conclusion of ANGRY LOUD AND CLEAR TRUTH, i give a solution to all our problems with a blueprint of a new type of civilization, and I even provide some strategies( I have since added more in my mind and in my computer) to get us there. Basically self-sustaining agricultural communities (millions of them-they should be 150 people each)without technology.
Re Jim Andrews;-
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I think therefore I am not?
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I probably prefer the philosophy of Abhinavagupta and Kashmir Shaivism (insofar as I am able to understand it):- Non-dualist, but the phenomenal world is real.
No Clive. I have not asserted that because you (as a relevant example) are aware then you do not exist. Clearly you exist. But you do not exist as an element of the real world. Stated succinctly, there is a categorical distinction between you and a brick. Not only are you not a brick, but you are not even the kind of thing which a brick is.
Jim,
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OK, I was a maybe a bit confused about what you were asserting. That was why I included a question mark.
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I think I am the same kind of thing as a brick, insofar as a brick is made of chemical matter, and so am I . But the chemicals are arranged in a much more complicated way in myself than in a brick. I also have neurons (which bricks don’t have), which are entirely composed of chemicals, which are also very complicated and capable of connecting with each-other, and with the chemical endocrine system, in billions of different ways. So, my body is capable of handling information – chemical, genetic, immunological, emotional, and even (at times) logical.
You have briefly summarized (rather well, I think) the real world representation of what you are. But this representation excludes the fact of your own awareness. From the materialist perspective this awareness is a property of real world entities, essentially a bunch of atoms Do you really buy this? Or is it more plausible that the materialists have gotten the thing backwards. You have created the real world in your mind. It has not created you.
By the way, a bit off the subject but nevertheless relevant to this conversation, those visitors to this website who are familiar with quantum physics will I think be pleased to understand that much of the mystery relating to this branch of physics disappears when we understand that the real world is a conceptual model rather than something which is too “objective” to be so considered. For example, it becomes natural when in quantum mechanics an “observation” (more precisely, a measurement which makes a particular quantum state of, let us say, a particular elementary particle, observable) produces the result that the observable quantum state is a feature of the real world, to think of the “collapse of the probability wave function” (of the Copenhagen interpretation) simply as a discrete updating of the model so as to include that observable quantum state of the particle. As another example, the primary intuitive difficulty with the Many Worlds approach is that to interpret its mathematics we are required to posit the existence of many worlds. But this is also not particular troubling when we understand that we are simply positing the existence of many conceptual representations of creation.
Yes, I believe the real phenomenal world exists independently of my own non-dual mind-body.
I think our awareness of the world has evolved, starting from single-celled organisms that swim away from threatening chemical environments and towards beneficial chemical environments, to the various life forms that now inhabit the planet, including humans, elephants, and dolphins (The elephants and dolphins are interesting because they have larger spindle neurons than primates, including humans, which seems to improve their ability to empathise with others) .
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I wrote the, following in response to someone who raised a similar matter, two days ago, in the comments section to Caitlin’s, ‘Be as Weird as You Want’, article:-
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I believe Antonio Damasio has the answer to this conundrum – see ‘the Feeling of What Happens’ and ‘Looking for Spinoza: Joy, Sorrow, and the Feeling Brain’. The chemical limbic (hormone) system started evolving from the origins of single celled life (prokaryotes), to maintain homeostasis. Some single celled organisms got incorporated into bigger single-celled organisms (in the same sort of way as coronavirus infections happen) and became mitochondria, and, in plants, chloroplasts. This is endosymbiosis – see Lynn Margulis, ‘The Symbiotic Planet’. Thus, multiple-celled organisms (eukaryotes) evolved. Much later, some eukaryotes developed nervous systems and brains, with the cortex – the outer brain layer – being the last to evolve.
This enables feelings, thought, reason, logic etc. It has complicated feedback loop connections to the limbic system, which is largely located deep in the interior of the brain, in the brain-stem, near the top of the spine.
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Because the cortex would make it difficult for us to be born, most of it doesn’t develop until after we are born. It develops throughout childhood and can be deeply influenced by any childhood emotional traumas.
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There is no distinction between mind and body. It is all in the physical brain and body. But it is both ‘nature’ and ‘nurture’. The underlying physical mechanisms are genetically mediated. But the process by which the nervous pathways become ‘hard-wired’, or adopt ‘neuroplasticity’ (creative thought), are epigenetic and respond to the ‘numinous’ (in Jungian terms) – emotions, emotional memory, etc.
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I believe this is the answer to all those who say that we are ‘born bad’ (as in ‘Natural Born Killers’ – Oliver Stone)
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There can be many reasons why our perceptions do not always correspond with what seems like scientifically possible reality – hallucinations, dreams, emotional memories, etc – often having to do with those feedback loops between parts of the system, or to do with neuroreceptors that act as ‘doors of perception’, or information filters, perhaps.
~
I would prefer to leave discussion of quantum mechanics to those who understand it better than I do. I can understand some of it, mathematically, to a limited extent, but I can’t understand it intuitively very much at all.
(Caitlin,) “You understand that to solve it requires a radical solution. But I don’t think you have yet precisely identified where that solution begins. For example, you have written, “The path out of this mess can only lie in the exact opposite direction of the path which led us into it.” Exactly so! But what do you propose? “Turning around and moving into a collaborative relationship with each other and with our ecosystem” Yes, this is true, but you do not spell out precisely how we can do this. And it must be spelled out.”
In this regard, you are absolutely right, Jim. Writers such as Caitlin and Tim who are aware of the fatal flaws of the present whatever-you-want-to-call-it system/Matrix are very good at pointing out those flaws and how narrative control maintains this flawed system, but Caitlin and Tim, as well as the vast majority of people like them, are, so far, anyway, not describing in detail a “better” system, which is IMO an absolutely necessary first step in motivating people to behave in a way that eventually brings that system into reality.
The perhaps insumountable problem is that people who have been raised in the present system/Matrix are literally not capable of describing in great detail a better arrangement. Again, they are perfectly capable of bitching about very specific “things” that are wrong with the present arrangement, but they become “tongue tied” the moment they are called upon to describe something better. People find the mere request that they do that both ridiculous and repulsive. Why? Because “experts” should be doing that! “They” should be looking out for us.
As we should know by now, “they” are not going to do that and “they” never will. If you do not know that by now, you really are stupid.
The bone simple foundation stone of an arrangement that will successfully replace the present one for another thousand years is as follows.
Do unto others what you would have them do unto you.
It is the opposite of what we have been “taught” since Day 1 or our lives — that greed is good and that all 7+ billion people have to do when they wake up every day is get out of bed and “look out for No. 1” by doing literally whatever it takes, and everything will turn out just fine for humanity.
It won’t. (Do the vast majority of the members of the bewildered herd even care that it won’t?)
It’s very easy to see why the “Golden Rule” must be the foundation stone of a relationship between family members and “expanding out to” immediate neighbors because, quite obviously, it’s the one and the only solid basis of a good relationship.
The perhaps insurmountable problem is acting on that foundation OUTSIDE of that small area — for example in business relationships and even inter-national relationships. It is perhaps insurmountable because those relationships are presently based upon “competition” and, for lack of a better expression, “getting the upper hand” by “whatever it takes” — AKA “all options are on the table”. Putting into practice (“living”) the Golden Rule would be too disruptive.
The microscopic percentage of the population that owns or controls the vast majority of wealth and LARGE SCALE capital equipment is going to do everything in its power to keep the present arrangement EXACTLY as it is. “All options are on the table” and that includes, for example, destroying any candidate who proposes to end the US’s economically-vitally-necessary endless wars.
Unless the members of the bewildered herd can elect politicians who in one way or another elucidate the Golden Rule as their fundamental political platform, the human race will cease to exist. This is because the present arrangement requires perpetual growth of the human population in order to generate profit for that microscopic Elite AND, again, in the case of the US economy, perpetual enemies and perpetual wars in order to justify the not only perpetual, but perpetually I N C R E A S I N G, “defense” budget.
Although it seems to be impossible that the mainland US could be seriously damaged by anybody else on the planet, the other nuclear powered nations of the world who are being increasingly victimized and cornered by the US are going to strike back. That is not only possible; it is inevitable should the present arrangement continue. The US government psychopaths are bettting the existence of humanity on the belief that they (“the US”) can do literally ANYTHING they want and the US will never suffer damage, because the psychopaths believe that their victims would rather suffer subjugation and perpetual occupation and exploitation than annihilation from a US nuclear counterstrike. The psychopaths are wrong.
Again, candidates for federal public office who espouse the Golden Rule (rather than US Exceptionalism as the justification for world-wide hegemony) for better relations between people dometsticaly, and with the people of the rest of the world internationally, must somehow be elected and that means that voters must somehow vote for them. If that does not happen, and IMO that right soon, humanity will suffer a nuclear catastrophe.
Jim, I think that rather than focus on the differences between bricks and human beings, you should instead describe/focus on the differences between human beings and terrestrial plants that are rooted into the ground. What are the differcences and why/how did those differences evolve? (Hint: Plants are rooted into the ground; human beings are not. What could that possibly have to do with anything? IMO, everything.)
The globalists who are really in charge, have planned a 500 million population goal for 2025. The deaths will be arranged for by vaccinations. There will be herding of homeless people into the 1000 FEMA (internment)camps throughout the US. Foreign countries likewise. It is a world-wide fascist police state planned-totalitarian. The Vatican under god satan has planned it, they were behind Hilter. i prove all this (except covid-which I can prove also) in my books-especially ANGRY LOUD AND CLEAR TRUTH-which has a blueprint for a perfect civilization that would stop and prevent all world problems, plus a way to get us there, to which I have added some more ideas since publishing the book. YOu would do well to read it.
When I told Clive that there is a categorical distinction between him and a brick my point was simply that while the brick is not aware Clive is. I hope he noticed. I think this is a very important thing for each of us to notice.
Thanks Jim,
I have been aware of my awareness for a long time. As I thought I had made clear in my previous reply to you.
Good for you, Clive. I had acquired the impression from what you had written that your view was that you are the same kind of thing as a brick but that you are more complicated chemically.
.
By the way, Clive, have you ever wondered what students of Zen Buddhism get so excited about when they have what they call the “satori” experience? (They also call this experience “kensho,” which translates into English as “seeing into one’s true nature.”)
Our awareness arises because we are more complicated chemically.
~
A difference between myself and a Buddhist seems to be (as far as I can understand it) that Buddhists believe the phenomenal world is an illusion (or ‘maya’), whereas I believe the phenomenal world is real – as, apparently, do Kashmir Shaivites.
“Once upon a time a particular type of cell cluster evolved the capacity for abstract thought, clawed their way up the food chain, conquered all other life forms on their planet, then spent all their time inventing reasons to be miserable.”
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There are actually (many, many) people on this Earth who have convinced themselves they are happiest when they are miserable. And don’t try to help them out of their misery. They will yell and scream like you are taking a child’s favorite toy away.
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“I have a conspiracy theory that all these US protests were covertly orchestrated by a conspiracy between a brutal authoritarian police state, a political system that has failed Americans in every conceivable way, a civilization that was built on slavery, and end-stage neoliberalism.”
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And some people say nothing works anymore! Ha! Efficient coordination and working together for a common purpose!
.
“Q: What is capitalism?”
.
A: Capitalism is a political/economic system which has produced a handful of stinkingly filthy rich people, billions upon billions of others living in poverty, lots of Grifters on the payroll, and a wide assortment of breakfast cereals with some really bad crap in them.
“All the most profitable activities involve inflicting trauma of some sort.”
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How to identify a bad person from a good one: A Good person tries at all costs to avoid inflicting trauma on others. A Bad one lives to inflict as much trauma on others as possible.
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“Desperate rock-bottom moments are often catalysts for immense change. No matter how bleak it looks, there’s always a chance.”
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Desperate rock-bottom moments are when we are introduced to our true selves for the very first time. What emerges is either The Superman/woman we were waiting for all these years, or the Whiny Child who looks awfully familiar who starts up a whole new round of crying and yelping.
Pay attention to the boundaries of approved thought…
In the face of growing concern about online content and antitrust investigations, the monopolistic positions of Silicon Valley’s Big Tech giants have increasingly come under scrutiny. As a result, they have all been ramping up their lobbying capacities by recruiting well-connected insiders.
The Wall Street journal revealed that in 2019, Facebook increased its expenditure on lobbying by nearly 25 percent, to $12.3 million, through the first nine months of the year. Amazon notched a 16 percent jump in lobbying outlays, to $12.4 million. Apple boosted its spending by eight percent, and Microsoft by nine percent.
The main goal of this is the protection of their existing and future businesses. When Facebook announced its move into the financial sphere by unveiling plans for a global cryptocurrency, it drew a barrage of trenchant criticism. Undaunted, it hired seven new outside lobbying firms to work on financial issues, including two former aides to the GOP chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. Amazon, too, has brought on seven additional outside lobbying shops since the middle of 2018, including former members of Congress and congressional aides who work to influence federal spending.
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/499102-facebook-apple-tiktok-tech/
Only wish Caitlin would read up on psychopathy; she practically describes it perfectly in her first para, yet I don’t recall ever seeing her use the term psychopath(ic) to describe the zionist, billionaire ruling class. She will, for whatever reason, lob in the softball “sociopath,” and there’s an important difference: psychopaths are born with an untreatable, incurable mental defect; sociopathy is learned, is treatable and curable.
The main psychopathic trait is an uncontrollable drive/ lust/ need for control, power, wealth and prestige, and he (mostly male) will stop at nothing to feed that lust, incl lying, cheating, stealing, and killing. He is particularly attracted to the following professions: law, church, police, military, and politics (and probably others I don’t recall). And, no, he is not necessarily a serial killer. In fact, you probably wouldn’t even recognize him. Unless, perhaps, you were married to him.
I’d like to encourage Caitlin (and anyone else) to read world renowned expert Dr Robert Hare and/ or his books “Without Conscience,” and “Snakes in Suits.”
If there is such a thing as a “psychopath”, if it is not just a label for any violent person who psychiatrists dislike a lot, are you sure that people are born with that condition? Is it genetic? If so, by which genes is it carried, and how does it express itself in terms of protein, or enzyme, or hormone, chemistry? Or is it a cultural product of violent or authoritarian societies? Are there “psychopaths” in non-violent societies? What do anthropologists say about this?
If there are “psychopaths”, I can agree that Pompeo and Trump, and many other politicians, might fit that category. I am just questioning how people become psychopathic, and whether it is a useful label to pin on people.
No doubt there are many other such ‘doctors’, besides him and as many different definitions of a psychopath as there are such ‘doctors’; in fact psychopath isn’t even a medical term. As far as knowing what a psychopath is, I can very well assure you that Caitlin knows damn well what a psychopath is. I just want to add that I’ve lived with psychopaths my entire life and are they bad? Yes, they are, but they aren’t Satan, they’re totally, socially, enept people just trying to survive in a world that they can’t comprehend. In a word, psychopaths need love too. Probably incurable but maybe not.
Lynn,
~
Yes, I have met a few, possibly incurable, violent people, too. I agree with you. The real answer must be to try to create a less violent, and less authoritarian, society. Or, in psychedelic terms, a better global ‘set & setting’.
“It would help solve so many problems if liberals could just shift a proportionate amount of their hate from Trump to Pompeo.”
Why? I call myself a liberal (the old fashioned, social democratic, Corbynite Labour kind) and I loathe Pompeo with every fiber of my being. Trump is just an egotistical POWM (privileged old white male) who’s intoxicated with the sense of power that calling himself president gives him. Pompeo is a prime example of the worst of the worst, the scum of the scum.
None of this helps in the slightest.
And “Once upon a time a particular type of cell cluster evolved the capacity for abstract thought, clawed their way up the food chain, conquered all other life forms on their planet, then spent all their time inventing reasons to be miserable” is worthy of something the late, great Terry Pratchett might have written.
MIkey Pomps, the Consigliere …
Ms Johnstone, in this article alone there must be at least twenty to thirty bumper stickers and T-shirts. Here are my favorites for today:
Q: What is capitalism?
A: Capitalism is a wonderful political-economic system which has given us powerful technology, a wide assortment of breakfast cereals, and near term human extinction.
All the most profitable activities involve inflicting trauma of some sort.
War, monopolism, usury, strip mining, fossil fuels, factory farming, ads convincing us we are deficient, etc. We will traumatize our planet bare if human behavior remains driven by profit and competition.
It would help solve so many problems if liberals could just shift a proportionate amount of their hate from Donald Trump to Mike Pompeo.
I am envious of leftists and indie media who feel like they have the luxury of indulging in sectarianism and infighting.
Must be nice to live in a world that is being driven to armageddon by sociopaths and yet feel leisurely enough to pour time and energy into such egocentric wankery.
Cornered animals are dangerous, especially ones with fangs and claws.
Dying empires are dangerous, especially ones with nuclear weapons.
I truly adore these witticisms; please keep them coming!
Ms Johnstone, I do not use twitter or facebook, nor do I engage in useless arguments trying to get other human beings aware of anything. I do not have the fortitude for that. However, there are many poeple that have something wise to say about many different topics; such as yourself. While reading this fine article I thought to myself; I am an ardant admirer of Ms Caitlin Johnstone and her website, where do I get the T-shirts, hats, beads, bumper stickers, etc., etc. that contain her very numerous on-line witicisms??? Caitlin for Emperor – Caitlin for whatever!
Enhance your soul every day-follow the Buddha Ms Caitlin as she speaks the truth! The article that inspired these thoughts is here:
Obama Is Wrong, Trump Doesn’t Use Twitter Enough by Tim Kirby!
https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2020/08/27/obama-wrong-trump-doesnt-use-twitter-enough/
Re;- “Once upon a time a particular type of cell cluster evolved the capacity for abstract thought, clawed their way up the food chain, conquered all other life forms on their planet, then spent all their time inventing reasons to be miserable”:-
Maybe, but the problems are more cultural than genetic, as I tried to indicate in the evolutionary note that I wrote on this blog a couple of days ago, in response to the “Be as Weird As You Want” article.
But, I agree with Caitlin on all of the main points in both of these articles. I’m not criticizing weirdness. Some people probably think I am a bit weird, myself.
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“What we need now is to slow down, turn around, and begin collaborating with each other and our ecosystem. But pursuit of profit is inherently opposed to this. We’re crushing our ecosystem and each other in a mad rat race toward extinction. We must turn and go the opposite way.” May Covid-19, which has, at least temporarily, stopped the neoliberal shark from swimming (and thereby breathing), stopped so many of our gerbil wheel lives from spinning on endlessly, meaninglessly, be the beginning of The Great Turning. The global pandemic has this potential, if we come together and demand fundamental change–health of people and planet prioritized over profit– instead of bickering about whether the pandemic was intentional or accidental, whether masks or social distancing effectively protect us, whether a rushed-to-market (and thus potentially unsafe) vaccine will soon become available, etc. Like impeachment and Russiagate, these are bogus issues, distracting us from the genuine ones that Caitlin and other independent truth-seekers (like that other Johnstone, Diana) identify, explore, and seek to build solidarity around. Whether we agree or disagree about this or that detail in their analyses, let’s stand with them and with each other in doing our part to bring about what sometimes seems impossible–The Great Turning, which must occur and WILL occur if enough of us can bring ourselves to believe in it…and in ourselves.
I love reading the work of your beautiful mind! Peace.
The US will never, and I do mean never, be politically capable of changing it’s “foreign policy” unless and until Americans are given a detailed alternative to their present “war way” of making a living and no D or R candidate is spelling out such an alternative.
But there is still a faint glimmer of hope. Trump proved that a complete political outsider could/can “go around” the MIC and be elected, but Trump paid a helluva price when he shook hands with Putin in Helsinki. That summit proved that the US MSM is also an MIC tool and that the MIC’s pockets are very deep — in fact, infinitely deep.
Trump’s mentioning during his 2016 campaign that it would be nice to have good relations with Russia was the reason that Trump has had to endure the siege of the Deep State for the past 4 years. Shiff’s impeachment “witnesses” spelled it all out, letter by letter. If the US does not fight Russia in Ukraine, it will have to fight Russia in the US.
No applicant for a job in the Deep State Department will get that job unless they espouse exactly what those witnesses espoused. The HR dept should have a sign on its door stating “Russiaphobes only”.
Present reality is that politicians are selected by voters every two or four years. None of the present politicians are going to change absolutely anything about the election system or rules of campaign financing (bribery). Therefore, to stop the MIC and change the US’s war-based economy, antiwar candidates must somehow get elected WITHIN that very same system. If that does not happen, the US is doomed to suffer financial or nuclear destruction.
(Furthermore, if the US cannot develop an economic system that does not absolutely depend upon perpetual population/economic growth, humanity will certainly suffer an environmental disaster. IMO, designing and implementing such an alternative economic system will be far more difficult than getting antiwar POTUS and congress people elected, which is really saying something. When people cannot even agree upon the meanings of words as a vitally necessary first step, this may simply be a bridge too far for the supposedly most intelligent species on the planet.)
Again, for the present moment, here in reality-land, at least the number of voters who voted for Agent Orange have to somehow be enticed into voting for an anti-war candidate for POTUS and a majority of anti-war candidates running for seats in the legislative branch. That is the one and the only way that the MIC is going to go away.
How do antiwar candidates “entice” millions of voters all across the 50 United In Warfare States Of America, who make their living in the MIC or its spin-offs, into voting for these anti-war candidates? That is the question, not whether “to be or not to be?” If those candidates can not be elected, the US, and perhaps all the other nations of the world, are not going “to be” for much longer.
To entice those MIC etc. voters, those anti-war candidates are going to have to promise that if they are elected they are going to maintain the present DoD contract system, so that these millions of voters will not lose their jobs; but their jobs will be to produce all the great things that will improve the lives of all their fellow citizens. And by “improve” I mean that instead of making military aircraft that will in a few years end up sitting in a bone yard, they will make, for just a few examples, wind turbines, solar panels, bullet trains, etc. The services or electric power from these devices would not be “free”, just as the weapon systems of today are not free.
Which would millions of voters enjoy more, the benefit they receive from weapon systems, or electric power, a trip across the country in an electric-powered bullet train, etc.? How would millions of voters feel about the US becoming energy independent in very few years of spending under a slightly-altered DoD contract system?
If I were an anti-war candidate, I would propose to millions of voters that the nation create another “Liberty Ship” program (again, under the existing DoD contract system). Liberty Ships were the workhorses of World War II. They were built in 13 states by 15 companies in 18 shipyards. The first of 2,710 Liberty ships, the SS Patrick Henry, was launched in September 1941, after 150 days of construction. (The shipyard was built at the same time as the ship.) Under this highly automated ship-building system, the SS Robert E. Peary liberty ship was built in 4 Days 15 Hours 29 Minutes.
These were not small boats, not by a long shot. Here are some specifications.
Displacement: 14,245 long tons (14,474 t)
Length: 441 ft 6 in (134.57 m)
Beam: 56 ft 10.75 in (17.3 m)
Draft: 27 ft 9.25 in (8.5 m)
Propulsion: Two oil-fired boilers; triple-expansion steam engine; single screw, 2,500 hp (1,900 kW)
Range: 20,000 nmi (37,000 km; 23,000 mi)
Capacity: 10,856 t (10,685 long tons)
Again, in just a few years of assembly-line development, one of these vessels was assembled in only 4 Days 15 Hours 29 Minutes. Imagine such an assembly line system for relatively simple wind turbines, bullet trains, vehicles of all types, etc.
This is what anti-war candidates have to promise those millions of voters in the MIC in order to capture their votes. Unless anti-war candidates specifically propose such a detailed transition from a war-based economy to one based upon peace, they will not be elected and the US MIC’s perpetual wars will go on until the nukes start dropping.
The above is the one and the only realistic, practical, politically acceptable way that humanity has a future. But will capitalists be as eager to increase the national debt for peace as they are for war?
Again, IMO, we are going to see and INTESIFICATION of the already-intense anti-Russian rhetoric which may lead to a rabid anti-Russian candidate being elected president. Maybe AO will become that balls-to-bones rabid anti-Russia, anti-China candidate that the Deep State has always wanted him to be. AFAIK, Mr. Potato-Head can still push a button and if he isn’t, empty head Kamala will push it for him.
Of course Mr. Putin will be watching what transpires in the US. What is he going to do if he sees a rabid anti-Russian elected president – say one who promises to force Russia and China to “come to heel” by the even-more-aggressive use of the US military power? What would YOU do?
Americans’ choice is simple. Either somehow organize / design a peace-based economy, and that right soon, or suffer nuclear devastation.
“To entice those MIC etc. voters, those anti-war candidates are going to have to promise that if they are elected they are going to maintain the present DoD contract system, so that these millions of voters will not lose their jobs; but their jobs will be to produce all the great things that will improve the lives of all their fellow citizens.” Bravo. The most radical and practical idea out there right now is MMT’s job guarantee (JG) proposal. The gist is that the federal government, which is the issuer of the fiat currency presently used to fight endless war and preserve plutocracy, would instead use that fiat money to become the public employer of any willing worker unable to find suitable employment in the private sector. Decent wages and benefits would be part of the package, which would up the ante that the private sector would have to meet to draw employees away from a revitalized public sector. A job guarantee of this nature would also facilitate societal transformations from petro-based energy to renewable energy; from building weapons to manufacturing, in ecologically-sensitive ways, useful and necessary goods; provide a huge labor pool to meet crucial environmental and humanitarian challenges, etc.–all of the sorts of socioeconomic transformations you envision and advocate. Another excellent Australian blog, that of MMT founder and economist, Bill Mitchell, lays this out in lively and exhaustive fashion, and I urge readers of Caitlin’s blog to spend some time nosing around what’s become known as “billyblog.” Bill, a musician himself, occasionally throws some great music into the mix to liven things up even more.
file:///C:/Users/John.MEADOWS/Downloads/2709750_The%20Next%20Normal.pdf
The Next Normal takes a good look at Capitalism, Fascism, Communism, Populiasm, Central-Bankism and outlines some related isms, now being evolved. It’s useful information, quite politely written, but you can gather a lot of meaning.
“A peace based economy” … It really is as simple as that. Thanks.
Spoiler alert
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The iconic picture at the top of the article is from the lead-up to Iraq Invasion One.
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“Babies were being thrown from incubators”
– Daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the United States
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It was cited a million time by the media as well as POTUS and US Senators as a rational for invading Iraq.
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A million times. How many times had anyone heard that Kuwait had been slant drilling a mile or more under and across the Iraq border to steal oil and this precipitated Saddam’s invasion.
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A million versus Zero
About honesty. i, as a newcomer to this website, made a post which was responded to by a Mr. “Mann” with a very humorous retort, which I took as being insulting, especially since it ended in a “fuck you” to me. At first I thought it was all a put-down, and totally uncalled for. It included him railing against me for promoting my books. In response, I asked the website leader if this was proper procedure, regarding both my promoting my book, and to be honest, his “behavior.” This was a mistake. May I add that shortly after submitting this response, I looked at his retort again, and perceived that it was full of sarcasm and humor, and had actually been a humorous praise. But then I got a real angry response, and it was deserved. IN my flustered attitude at being caught as a tattle-tale, I wrote that the reason for my tattle-tale was solely that I wanted to know if I could promote my books. AS i illustrated a minute ago, that was only a part of the reason. There has been noble attempts by Mann to get me to man up about this misunderstanding, and here it is, as he has been trying to have me do. I thank him for encouraging me to have full integrity. I am known to have impeccable integrity. There is a thing about that word. It is one thing that is very hard to recover once lost. LIke virginity. I have been encountered with much more challenging reasons to lie,and will in the future, so this should never have happened. It was not a big challenge that was forcing me to lie, I just was in a very small predicament, and being the new kid on the block, took exactly the worst avenue to respond in. I will do my best to never let it happen again.
This website ignores paragraph-breaks, that is why your post looks like one big lump. It is a pain to read a lump.
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You can fake out this website and get paragraph-breaks by inserting a period . or whatever
(Caitlin uses a ~ as you can see in the body of her article).
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Don’t make a lump. You’ll feel better and we will too.
There may be a more attractive solution found at
https://qwerty.dev/whitespace/
I am giving it a test right here – line 1.
I am giving it a test right here – line 2.
Did my test produce a paragraph break between lines 1 and 2?
I used the feature from the above website called “en space”.
Now I will test the HTML Entity given for the “en space”
I am giving it a test right here – line 3
I am giving it a test right here – line 4
What happened, if anything between lines 3 and 4. I will know
after I post.
For fun I followed the website’s link to Fancy Font Generator.
Wonder if that works on this website. Sample of script font:
ℯ ℴ ℴ
What It Means to Be Liberal
https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/what-it-means-to-be-liberal
The definition of “Liberal” has bee long established.
“Liberals” are willing to accept the minimum amounts of change to the system that are necessary to avoid a revolt. This contrasts with “Conservatives” who think everything was perfect and great back when the King could send in his thugs and kill and torture any who object.
We see this right now in the USA, as the “Liberals” feel that the solution to the problem of a bullying, intimidating police force that has declared war on the nation’s citizens to be to apply changes to the police manual in the section of approved restraint holds. But of course, the “Liberals” are horrified by calls to Defund the Police or to in anyway meaningful way restrict the currently unrestrained power of the police.
While the “Liberals” wring their hands and want to call committee meetings, the Alliance of Police and Right-Wing, pro-Trump fascists are killing us in the streets.
Excellent article. Our environmentsl movement has been hijacked by climate change which allows them to collect more taxes. The politicians must be highly amused at how they defanged environmental groups as they continue to pollute our ecosystem.
The safest place to live is 500 miles away from where no nuclear weapons are currently targeted. Of course that does not assure survival from the initial blasts but it will help. Make no mistake the dying US empire will be the first to strike with nuclear weapons but not the last.
The United States dropped two nuclear weapons on Japan to prove to the entire world that this country has no governmental restraint whatsoever. We will kill and kill and keep on killing.