There’s a feud on the American political left right now which (as usual) breaks down more or less along the lines of center-left “Bernie in the primary, Clinton/Biden in the general” progressives angrily opposing a push towards meaningful change from those further to the left.
It all started when comedian and lefty commentator Jimmy Dore made a video arguing that House progressives should refuse to re-elect Nancy Pelosi as House Speaker unless she puts Medicare for All to a floor vote. Dore’s argument has been endorsed by many high-profile voices on the left, and it has also been attacked as self-defeating and unreasonable by many others. I won’t name names in the latter camp because I personally avoid left-infighting like it’s a crazy ex boyfriend, save to say that among them is the most prominent progressive in the House of Representatives, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Problem w/ this idea is that there isn’t enough thought given to step 2.
The Dem votes aren’t there yet, and with a razor-thin margin the Dem NOs are > margin.
So you issue threats, hold your vote, and lose. Then what? If you want to know who’s opposed look @ cosponsor list
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 12, 2020
One common argument against Dore is that by pushing AOC and other House progressives on this issue he is in some way demanding that they do something that will damage their political careers, the unspoken premise being that progressive politicians will be retaliated against by the Democratic establishment if they actually try to advance progressive policies. None of them ever seem too keen on discussing the massive, outrageous implications of such a situation or why it should not be fought tooth and claw by the left instead of accepted and complied with.
I haven’t seen any convincing arguments why Dore’s suggestion should not be implemented, but I have seen many strong arguments for why it should, like this one for Current Affairs by Briahna Joy Gray or this one by Rising‘s Krystal Ball. The pandemic and a Democrat-controlled House presents a once-in-a-century opportunity to shove hard toward getting Americans the same healthcare rights afforded to everyone else in every major country on earth and forcing all House Democrats who oppose it to expose themselves to their constituents instead of passing the blame to the Republicans. With things getting more and more desperate, waiting for the next once-in-a-century opportunity to even begin pushing is a ridiculous proposition.
Most of the energy going into this debate has been focused on personalities; on AOC, on Dore and on his critics. But really this is just the latest manifestation of a perennial dynamic whose roots go much deeper.
The entire revolutionary struggle, ultimately, is a battle between movement and inertia. Wherever you’ve got a political status quo that needs changing you’ll find revolutionary-minded forces pushing toward change and guardians of the status quo making clever-sounding arguments for why the smart strategy is to remain motionless. When the status quo is destructive and unsustainable, as this one unquestionably is, the ones pushing for movement are always on the correct side of the debate.
Proponents of inertia always try to get people hung up on whether or not the specific details of the movement being proposed is exactly perfect in every conceivable way. They’ll point out that it might not succeed, as though you only get a finite amount of movements you’re allowed to make. They’ll act like any potential flaw is grounds for remaining inert, as though needing any every movement to be flawless is a standard we apply anywhere else in our lives. They’ll act like any move you make in a given direction will necessarily be the trajectory you will remain on forever, pretending you can’t simply course-correct as needed once you’re in motion.
They’re like the Lethargians in The Phantom Tollbooth, saying “you can do anything as long as it’s nothing” and making every argument they can come up with for why you should remain in the Doldrums forever.
We are stuck. Stuck in the Doldrums. Stuck in a power-serving holding pattern that is driving us toward death and dystopia.
What do you do when something is stuck? Do you insist that every movement you make to un-stick it must be perfect? Must be a movement you would keep making indefinitely without ever changing direction? Make sure it’s only ever a movement in the exact direction you want to move in?
Of course not. When something is stuck, you wiggle it around. Back and forth, shoving it this way and that in an attempt to create a little space which will allow movement. If your tire is stuck, you’ll move it in whatever direction you need to move it to get it unstuck, with the understanding that you can continue driving forward once you’ve freed yourself from whatever was holding you in place.
In the same way, our job here is to create movement. We don’t need to worry about offending Nancy Pelosi or upsetting the plans of the Lethargians in the sludge pool. We’ve just got to get things moving, with the understanding that we can continually course-correct once movement has begun. We’re on track to extinction via climate collapse or nuclear armageddon with an authoritarian dystopia looking very likely in the interim unless drastic changes are made, so our safety is not in remaining motionless.
The illusion that safety lies in inertia is due to a glitch in human perception called status quo bias, which causes people’s default assumption to be that keeping things the same is less risky than change even when that is plainly not the case. If you’ve ever been stuck up a tree as a kid you’ve experienced status quo bias very concretely: if you remain too afraid to release your grip on the branches swaying in the wind, you remain in a position that is entirely unsustainable.
That’s where we’re at right now, collectively as a species, all around the world. Our old way of doing things clearly is not working, but we’re still clinging to the thin branches at the top of the tree because our precarious situation causes us to mistake stillness for safety.
But the safety isn’t up here, it’s down on the ground with our feet firmly planted on old mother earth. It’s in a big movement from a society that is based on competition and driven by profit to a society that is based on collaboration with each other and with our ecosystem and based on compassion for all beings. Until we actually let go of our attachment to the status quo and take the leap into the unknown, trusting in our ability to course-correct as needed once we are in motion, we’re just killing time in the Doldrums, waiting for the end of the world.
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81 responses to “The Revolutionary Struggle Is A Fight Between Movement And Inertia”
I am somewhat sympathetic to AOC’s concerns, because there are only a limited number of battles you can fight at once, and you have to decide in which battles you are strongest. It is similar to this blog writing that it rarely takes up topics suggested by readers, but follows its own inspiration. On the other hand, why vote for Pelosi under any circumstances? She seems hostile to the left and orchestrated the defeat of Dennis Kucinich in Congress because he wouldn’t conform to the standard Dem agenda.
AOC needs to hear what Fiorella is telling her (30:30):
“Stop bullshitting people. People are fucking dying and you’re bullshitting them. It is absolutely disrespect! to those people that have fought so hard, not just to elect your ass, but to elect all these progressives. If they’re going to go in there and worry about the committees they’re in, and worrying about their next career move and their career ladder-climbing antics, rather than doing their jobs, is a basic thing! You are either on the side of the people, or you are on the side of the Establishment, the corporations, and these lobbyists…”
https://youtu.be/w5MdK8_N_Ko
Caitlin Johnstone wrote:
> But the safety isn’t up here, it’s down on the ground with our feet firmly planted on old mother earth. It’s in a big movement from a society that is based on competition and driven by profit to a society that is based on collaboration with each other and with our ecosystem and based on compassion for all beings. Until we actually let go of our attachment to the status quo and take the leap into the unknown, trusting in our ability to course-correct as needed once we are in motion, we’re just killing time in the Doldrums, waiting for the end of the world.
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It takes a lot of courage and love for freedom to take the leap…
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Papillon — Final scene: Escape from Devil’s Island (Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman, 1973)
The public are Charlie Brown – wanting to kick the football.
AOC/Pelosi are Lucy – holding the football.
It not a bug, Jimmy, it’s per the plan.
Please stop with the: If only…
It aint ever going to happen.
There is no Roosevelt, and there won’t be another Roosevelt.
Nothing will change until people get smart and interested. I don’t see that happening.
The life you ordered is out of stock.
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84% 25,253 signatures so far
toward our goal of 30,000Mercy Corps
The people of Yemen deserve humanitarian assistance
Families in Yemen are determined to survive in the face of ongoing hardships and natural disasters, but as the crisis is growing, aid for families and communities most at risk is dramatically underfunded. Now is not the time to be silent. Add your name if you agree: Yemen deserves humanitarian assistance!
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Thank you for speaking out in support of Yemeni children and families.
You didn’t mention a ZIP code is required; I guess it’s only for US citizens or residents.
Humanitarian assistance is indeed needed in Yemen, but stopping the arms sales would be of considerable help too.
Caitlin accurately summarizes our problem: “The entire revolutionary struggle, ultimately, is a battle between movement and inertia.”
The world’s great liberator announced: “I did not come to bring peace to the world, but a sword…..I came to liberate this civilization but they hate me because I testify that their actions are evil…….I am the Way, the Truth and the Life…… everyone on the side of truth listens to me……I came to give abundant Life……leave the dead to bury the dead and you come follow me….. whoever is not with me is against me……if you preserve my word (message) you will perceive the truth and the truth will liberate you.” He was not speaking of mere spiritual liberation or experience, but of real, political, social, financial and emotional liberation on earth in the age to come. He was speaking of real liberation from deception, injustice, tyranny, indoctrination, oppression, violence, prejudice, illness and vaccinations which they claim will prevent you getting sick as a result of the grossly unhealthy products and lifestyle they sell you and convince you to consume. Then after you get immune compromised and sick they sell you their vaccinations.
Caitlin urges: “take the leap into the UNKNOWN.” But the world’s great liberator declared: “I am the light of the world……. whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life…… leave the bind to follow the blind and come follow me.” He stated that this ancient, evil and almost everlasting empire, namely the so-called “Holy Roman Empire” established by Roman Catholic bishops and cardinals and sustained by their allies until today will continue to deceive and corrupt the inhabitants of the earth with their tacit approval until His followers carry out His instructions and then their actions will precipitate the end of this evil empire. THE FUTURE IS KNOWN only the timing is unknown because the future depends on human action.
I think AOC is right about it not being a winning strategy. Most House Democrats are not progressives; they serve Capital and are deeply opposed to M4A. US progressives need to wake up to that reality and strategize on that basis….ie not through the Democratic Party. The DNC uses people like AOC & Sanders to sting along and corral progressives and they they fall for it every time.
From her own mouth and that of her ‘handlers’, AOC was recruited to play a role as an actress.
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https://youtu.be/1h5iv6sECGU?t=56
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It really is a puppet show
People on this thread may be interested in RFK Jr´s article posted on the Defender, at Children’s Health Defense website. A shot across the bow at the Deep State. Well written analysis.
https://childrenshealthdefense.org/
Also a good video of important questions being asked. Ethel must be proud.
Re: “If your tire is stuck, you’ll move it in whatever direction you need to move it to get it unstuck, with the understanding that you can continue driving forward once you’ve freed yourself from whatever was holding you in place.”
In this metaphor, just make sure you aren’t pushing the car over a cliff, or into the path of a train, etc. Inertia proponents would caution that the movement the progressives advocate is going to get the idea killed.
Pols,. grassroots organizers and climate scientists all hold that evidence and logic will be sufficient to save humanity from extinction. Gandhi felt suffering cheerfully in jail (rather than just getting arrested) to touch hearts was where the power of nonviolence lies. Intermittent actions twice a year will not create the needed political will. FILL THE JAILS! We start out with one here and two there. It might take two years to reach 100, but it might only take 6 more months to reach a thousand.
“The entire revolutionary struggle, ultimately, is a battle between movement and inertia.”
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As with most things in life… it’s about “Who Benefits?” If Inertia is benefiting a certain “special” person or group, then Inertia it is! If change, movement, or revolution benefits a different person or group, then momentum is created by Them to upend the sitting powers and structures and allow others (Them) to gain access to the tray of life’s goodies to munch upon. They will always play upon the sympathies of We the People that They have OUR best interests as heart, and that is why They are behind the changes they propose. Has that EVER been the case in history that THIS was the real reason? It’s just a cover story for a power grab for themselves. Maybe a hand full actually might have a good intention, but They become the Useful Idiots in the power grab to simply secure the good stuff for a different group of thieves.
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“We are stuck. Stuck in the Doldrums. Stuck in a power-serving holding pattern that is driving us toward death and dystopia.”
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Yes, we are. Looking to outside persons or groups to break us out of this death spiral is a dead end. They ain’t going to do a damn thing to help us. It’s all on us to find a way to survive and prosper, or at least throw a few wrenches into the gears of the big machines working to do us in.
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“It’s in a big movement from a society that is based on competition and driven by profit to a society that is based on collaboration with each other and with our ecosystem and based on compassion for all beings.”
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If someone can find a way for The Right People to make money off this, then this has a chance. Until then, collaboration and cooperation and compassion is best served in the circles of our own family, friends, like-minded folks, and within our own minds and spirits. Collaboration and cooperation and compassion works within certain smallish tribal units. Once you get bigger than that, the wheels seem to fall off every time.
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We change the world when change ourselves. That’s all we can do. And maybe that is enough. It certainly is… for us and our own spiritual future.
Whenever any form of government becomes destructive to it’s ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government.
The Declaration of Independence
If the world wants to be free of all government manufactured dis-ease.
To be free of all fear, lock downs and individual violence controlled and directed by the State.
Then politicians should disappear entirely from this planet.
They are the enemies of humanity.
Humanity has to be freed from their chains and their presence.
Humanity is a victim of these power seekers, mad people whose only ambition in life is their ego.
The whole of politics is nothing but an ego game.
The politician is not interested in solving problems, they are interested in making them as complex as possible.
So they become absolutely essential, you need them always.
The politician is very cunning, they are not clever.
They substitute cunningness for cleverness.
They are not wise, because to be wise in this world is to be condemned by the masses and the politician cannot afford that.
The whole of politics depends on lies.
They want to keep you always afraid of hidden enemies.
The coronavirus crisis is a great example of this, to keep every country locked down in fear and permanent crisis.
Adolf Hitler has written in his autobiography.
“Unless you have enemies, you cannot become a great leader.
Even if you don’t have enemies, create the fiction that your country is in danger, because when people are afraid they are ready to become slaves.
When people are afraid they are ready to follow politicians.”
Although he was an insane person, once in a while he made statements which are very significant.
Become aware!
In your fear is the politicians power.
The more they make you afraid, the more powerful they are.
Outside the country they go on creating fictions, and inside the country they also continue.
Until they remove all of your freedoms.
These are the politicians who don’t want to be interfered with, who want absolute control of humanity, where nobody is above them.
Is nobody interested in human life?
Continuously around the world people are still believing Covid 19 to be more dangerous than the seasonal flu?
Is nobody interested in finding out what our priorities should be?
Politicians certainly need exposure because as far as I can see, if politicians are exposed completely, humanity, for the first time, will be able to be free from politics.
Wherever there is domination, there is politics.
Politicians are dominating all of your life not only from outside but from inside.
Through propaganda and psychology they have become your voice, they have become your mind, they have become your conscience, they have enslaved your very being.
From inside they go on dominating you, saying what is right, what is wrong.
If you follow them, you start feeling fearful, divided, neurotic, because you are not following your own nature.
All these politicians have created for humanity is a situation in which individuals cannot be at ease, they cannot enjoy life, they cannot live it in its totality.
Let humanity be free from all these sociopathic criminals which have dominated so badly, and distorted human nature so immensely.
You can see the humanity that is the result.
You say that a tree is known by its fruits.
Then your whole past should be judged by the humanity that you find today.
This insane, divided humanity, miserable, suffering, full of anger, violence, rage, hate.
This is the result of all your political leaders.
Remember, humanity is just a collective name.
There exists no humanity, only individuals.
Don’t depend on anybody else to save you, only your own work on yourself can do that.
Individuals have to be politically free, free in every dimension to function out of their own still small voice, out of their own consciousness.
Mind is blocking the fountain of your intelligence like a rock.
Intelligence arises only when the mind has been discarded.
When the mind has been put aside, only then intelligence arises.
Intelligence is not the quality of the mind at all.
Mind is always mediocre, mind is always stupid, unintelligent.
Intelligence is never out of the mind.
Intelligence is awareness!
To be in the mind is to be unintelligent.
To be beyond the mind is to be intelligent.
All meditation is the search for this intelligence.
That is the real revolution.
Part Two
Humanity is caught up in such a sorry state of affairs.
There is great power in the hands of the un-elected.
Sovereign governments controlled by oligarchs, enslaving the people, working for the corporations, and the banks.
The very people who should not be allowed to possess power.
This combination of power, greed and ignorance is certain to end in disaster.
Powerful people that want the whole world to remain divided into rich and poor.
Their whole effort is to keep you as unintelligent as possible, so those who have power are never questioned, their intentions are never questioned.
Oligarchs, banks and corporations cannot rule over sovereign governments!
In the name of democracy something else has been going on.
Those who are powerful in society do not want any change in the social structure, because their power, interest and exploiting capacity depend on it.
And humanity has been exploited in every possible way.
Even their hopes have been exploited, their aspirations have been exploited, their absolutely valid demands have been exploited.
We are giving so much power, to power hungry people, with our own hands we are asking them to hang us!
This is not democracy.
In the name of democracy these people are exploiting us.
We have to go through a truly radical change.
What I am proposing is the right way to change the whole structure, so that one day meritocracy can merge into democracy.
I call it meritocracy, because it will depend on merit.
It will not be a political system, it will not have any political parties.
People will be running for posts on their own merit.
And each individual will decide on their own, because no political party will be pressurizing them.
There will be no political party at all, individual to individual.
Anybody who is chosen is chosen because of their merit.
Direct meritocracy is the answer for all our problems.
People should stand on their own merit.
Merit should be the only decisive point.
We have geniuses in every field, but you don’t find those geniuses becoming prime ministers or presidents.
But they can become presidents and prime ministers if there are no political parties.
Then their sheer merit will be enough, and nobody will even be capable of competing with them.
They will not have to go to beg for votes, they will be chosen unanimously.
We have so many people of great merit, but they should not become part of any political party, they should not degrade themselves.
To become part of a political party and beg for votes while making false promises which cannot be fulfilled, is not the way.
Only the third-class people, very mediocre people, become part of political parties, the best remain out.
Actually only the most capable and intelligent should be the ones who manage the society.
The world will be far better if we are in the hands of intelligent, independent people, creative people who do not want to destroy, whose intelligence won’t allow them to do all the stupid things that politicians go on doing.
Power should always be in the hands of the more alert, more aware, more conscious people.
Otherwise, this power is going to destroy the whole of humanity.
It is time to understand the whole situation.
We have to prevent politicians from going on playing the same criminal games.
Because behind the masks of democracy is a cunning, criminal political system.
These people who call themselves democratic and think that they are protectors of democracy in the world are really imperialistic.
These governments pretend to be democratic, but are not.
We can all now see that this so called democracy is only a mask, and behind it are sociopathic politicians controlling fascist governments.
These governments should be exposed to the whole world, because the whole world has been believing that they are in a democracy.
Why should there be a political party?
There is no reason for political parties to exist.
If you need a finance minister, then just look at the great experts you have in economics and finance, the Max Keiser’s of the world who can be nominated for the post, and can be chosen for the post.
There is no need for any political party.
We should move from party politics to individuals, from democracy, from dictatorship to meritocracy.
Every individual who is eligible to vote should choose the person who will represent the ministerial position without any political party programming him, forcing him or bribing him.
Individuals should stand, and individuals should choose, and the choice should be on merit.
Your political system should be an election of merit, alternative media can play a tremendously valuable role in explaining to individuals the merit of different people who are contesting.
It is possible to use blockchain with a process of enhanced online security, to guarantee free, honest and fair elections, thus securely and permanently recording every individuals vote online directly.
The people can collectively decide by referendum on what issues to directly vote on, which individuals to represent them, which ones to remove, such as individuals who have become disloyal to the people, (lets have a vote on breaking up all plutocratic MSM propaganda outlets), also which individuals to prosecute for behaving criminally, whether they are selling weapons to rogue nations, or interfering in the affairs of other sovereign nations, or are creating illegal wars and genocide.
Lets not forget the issue of how to deal with all the war criminals of the last 50 years!
People don’t understand that you may get out of one system of fascist political imprisonment, and while you are dancing and singing and celebrating, another imprisonment is being created for you by your new political leaders who are promising you a better life, a better world, a better humanity.
This has been going on for centuries.
It needs to stop, we urgently need a new kind of government.
A new process, of direct meritocracy, where merit should be the only criterion.
Only then can governments exist as accountable functional units, which are not ruled by politicians but run by people of intelligence and merit.
And of course without any lobbying or donations, possibly with all ministerial posts on three year contracts and a maximum service of two terms.
Politicians have already done enough harm to humanity, it is time to forever show them the door.
“We are stuck. Stuck in the Doldrums. Stuck in a power-serving holding pattern that is driving us toward death and dystopia.”
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I’ve had questions about AOC for a while now.
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Sorry, but I can’t escape the feeling they’re all actors with a scripted role to play. AOC plays the role of the fired up, progressive savior on the left. Trump plays the role of the savior on the right. Biden plays the role of the “just right, sensible” savior of the middle. Ding, ding, ding we have a winner.
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Meanwhile, those really in charge keep pillaging, murdering and creating destruction across the planet, with no concern for ever being accountable to the people.
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All designed to keep the status quo in place.
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I think most (all?) of us are, in one way or another, stuck. I think most of us don’t do nearly what we could, or should, be doing to stand up to these criminals. We self censor, we don’t really stand up for what is right and we’re afraid. Afraid of alienating people we care about, afraid of losing our incomes, . . . afraid of making waves with the all powerful, powers that be.
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I think a big part of the problems is that they have us so divided and distrustful of each other that we don’t feel we can find any safety in numbers. Especially now.
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I can’t find it now, but I remember watching a documentary on human behavior about 10 years ago. One of the situations was a crowd of young people (college students?) on a beach. Most were in small groups of two to four. Someone was playing loud music. The study was to see what it would take to get most of them to dance. What they found was that when one person got up and started dancing no one else joined in. When two people started dancing, people started to pay attention to them, but still, no one really joined in. But when three people started dancing? Party time!!! Most of them started dancing. We feel safety in numbers and fearful alone.
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Kind of reminds me of Alice’s Restaurant.
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“. . . can you imagine, three people walking in, singing a bar of Alice’s Restaurant and walking out. They may think it’s an organization. And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day, I said fifty people a day walking in singin’ a bar of Alice’s Restaurant and walking out. And friends, they may think it’s a movement!”
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“If you want to end war and stuff, you got to sing loud ”
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And a lot of people need to dance the dance.
We all need to sing louder and we all need to try harder to find the courage to be that first, second or third person to dance.
Things to do:
https://www.johndayblog.com/2020/12/keeping-up.html
How to Start Preparing for Hard Times on a Very Modest Budget
https://grandpappy.org/hssstart.htm
Can you learn to grow some of your food?
Mainly, it gives you a comprehension of how difficult and uncertain it is, but you also develop skills and expertise.
Perspective. Working-knowledge. Actual experience.
Look to how you might survive for a month if the utilities go out. Grocery store utilities will be out, too.
Gas pumps need electricity. Utilities need electricity. Phone systems need electricity.
I’m not being extreme.
Physically preparing as much as you can, not just thinking, is better than not preparing.
Do have a sensible, multi-purpose bike, and some spare tubes, tires, parts, grease and tools.
Ride it at least every other day.
https://www.johndayblog.com/2020/12/view-from-herd.html
This shitshow isn’t stuck. It’s swirling vigorously down the can because it’s supposed to be that way. Calling AOC a progressive (whatever that even means anymore) is ludicrous. She’s nothing but a phony careerist plucked from obscurity to fool the masses. Kind of like BHO.
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry.
Frank Zappa
Had she been born a generation earlier, AOC could have been the head cheerleader for the Washington Generals, the team that was paid to travel with, and lose to the Harlem Globetrotters’ highly entertaining basketball team. No real competition, just a great show, all bought and paid for by the owners of both teams. Actually, I don’t think the Generals had cheerleaders, but now it seems that history has given her the opportunity to follow her calling, as head cheerleader for a different Squad. Still no real competition, but in many ways a much more entertaining show, at least until it becomes clear to the audience that the fix is in.
Love the analogy! Good comment!
A form of Stockholm Syndrome seems to take hold after being elected more than once, outsiders like AOC become just another cog in the machinery. Look how meek and subservient Bernie becomes after being screwed by the DNC during the last two primary cycles, and he’s not even a Democrat. It’s a broken and dysfunctional system and trying to change it from within is a waste of time.
Any realistic, effective change must come from within, for that’s where the power lies. But while change must come from within, the pressure to allow it to change, to induce it to change, to compel it to change, must come from without. That much is obvious, as prophets like MLK and politicians like JFK well knew. So the crucial question becomes HOW that outside pressure is to be brought to bear to maximize its impact within. Is denouncing and antagonizing the best people currently inside the system the most effective way to apply the necessary outside pressure? Caitlin may think so, but I doubt it. It’s not that I disagree substantively with Jimmy Dore, who has a keen nose both for truth and bullshit. But I do disagree with the manner and tone with which he expresses what he so accurately smells. IMHO, he’s driving a wedge when he should be pulling and pushing the best inside the system to move further, come together, and broaden the base. To use Caitlin’s metaphor, if people in general, including the best people inside the system, are frozen with fear near the top of a tree, if they need to find the strength and courage to move, is it helpful to scream at them and dress them down?
A major and powerful source of that pressure has historically been unions, but they’re not exactly vibrant mass movements nowadays.
And that’s a damn shame which my generation allowed to happen on its watch. WE let the manufacturing jobs be shipped overseas, and most of us didn’t say shit about it. Massive public pressure was necessary to impose what are called capital controls, but we had bought into the BS hype about the glorious new service economy.
We should have had M4All 50 years ago. Jimmy Dore embodies the rage of the working class who’ve had enough of being crushed by the elites and their enablers in Congress. And as one of the many who’ve gone bankrupt due to major health issues it’s very personal for him.
I don’t fault him for his tone, he expresses the furious anger that all of us regular folks feel after 40+ years of being strangled by neoliberalism.
I’m sure you’re aware of the study done by Gillens & Page proving that the US is an oligarchy not a democracy. Dore’s proposal is a rare opportunity to cut thru the oligarchy and actually get something done for the rest of us for a change.
His rage is righteous anger and I have no problem with it. If we all channeled that anger the powers-that-be would fear us the way that they should.
Couldn’t agree more about M4All, overdue for half a century. And couldn’t agree more about refusing to back Pelosi unless she puts it on the table. Again, my criticism of Jimmy is not about substance. I just don’t think that lambasting the likes of AOC, calling her out as a fraud and a coward, is the way to get this necessary thing done. Do you?
At this stage of the game I don’t have a problem with him raging at the so-called progressives who get elected by supporting progressive agendas and once in don’t do anything substantive but instead go no further than virtue signaling on Twitter. Between Bernie’s abject capitulation to the Democratic elites – starting with not walking out of the 2016 convention with his delegates when the Wikileaks email dump proved what everyone knew about the Dems blatant rigging of the primaries – to AOC voting for the CARES act which was little more than the greatest upward transfer of wealth in human history to countless other total failures they have proved how worthless they all are. FYI Jimmy was the first one online to give AOC an interview in 2017 and was an early champion of hers but it’s pretty apparent that she’s a careerist and not willing to fight for us in reality. Yet another betrayal and as I said his obvious rage is the rage of us all, I don’t see the point in subduing it any longer.
As Dore and others have said there is no point voting for fake progressive Dems who don’t take corporate cash when they 100% vote with the Dem elites who do. That proves that the point of their existence is to lightning rod the progressive agenda into the ground where it can’t threaten oligarchic power. They don’t change the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party changes them.
If you haven’t already viewed it you should view JD’s initial video on this withhold-your-vote-from-Pelosi issue. It is 100% calm cool and collected – no yelling, not one swear word, he puts forth a perfectly articulate and reasoned argument: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIqw-mTX6ro&feature=youtu.be
He’s letting his anger at AOC, the Squad etc. fly now because it’s legitimate and well-deserved.
Legit and well-deserved, it is, as is your criticism of Bernie. I’m just tired of the left eating its own. It’s gotten us nowhere.
But that’s just it, the left DOESN’T eat their own because there is in fact no organized left in this country whatsoever. Left / right / center / conservative / liberal… these terms have lost all actual meaning. A true leftist would be someone like Eugene Debs, or Emma Goldman or Big Bill Hayword or Mother Jones. Neither AOC nor anyone in the Democratic party is a leftist, not by a LONG shot. But the people who listen to Fox Noise get to hear that Joe Biden of all people will be implementing a “far left” agenda. It would be laughable if it wasn’t so pathetic and destructive.
The VAST majority of people in this country are massively uninformed and misinformed with a large block of them also being willfully ignorant in service to one bullshit ideology or another. Take anyone who calls themselves a “conservative Republican,” an epic oxymoron (emphasis on MORON) if I ever heard one. The only true conservative Republican I can think of in the last 30 odd years is Ron Paul. That’s it. Anyone who is not 100% against a trillion dollar military budget supporting 1000 bases in 100 countries and calls him or herself a conservative Republican is badly uninformed, misinformed and likely very willfully ignorant as well.
I have no illusions at this point where we are headed as a nation and as a species. I’ve come to the conclusion that we are but a failed little blip in the grand scale of geologic time and we won’t be here much longer. We’ve already blown it. There apparently has always been a percentage of the homo sapiens population that is full on psychopathic from birth with another subset that skews sociopathic and these are the people that have engineered our eventual destruction. There’s no getting rid of them. They couldn’t get traction when we were hunter/gatherers – those societies would probably kill people who couldn’t/wouldn’t be all about the group’s survival – but since we became “civilized” by growing crops and developing nation states those are the people that float to the top, drive the culture and become the leaders.
And they will eventually lead us right over the cliff via nuclear armageddon, extinction via climate destruction or some combination of both, sooner rather than later.
It appears to me that people are easily led.
They prefer to be led, prefer to be relieved of responsibilty.
They are obedient. And now they can enjoy pot, that will help.
And like rabbits once caught by a dog, they go into shock and stop feeling.
Even the “civil disobedience” is controlled, pre-planned, stylized and serves the owners.
Remember: Steal This Book?
That works as long as the masses are properly fed, housed and given something to do. Even that is starting to break down.
We used to have a pretense of democracy.
When we were hunter-gatherers?
If the vast majority of American voters thought like Caitlin, for example, we would have entirely different government at all levels. Quality candidates would run, crowdfund their campaigns, and win hands down from city council through Congress to the White House. So the terrible truth is that we do, even yet, have democratic government in this country. What we lack is something much harder to fix: a lack of voters with humane and intelligent democratic values.
With all respect…
In your earlier post:
“left eats it’s own”…
Embrace the message without denigrating the messenger.
“Quality candidates” Bernie, box checked
“crowdfund campaigns” box checked
“win hands down”, box unchecked
Caitlin Johnstone wrote:
> The pandemic and a Democrat-controlled House presents a once-in-a-century opportunity to shove hard toward getting Americans the same healthcare rights afforded to everyone else in every major country on earth and forcing all House Democrats who oppose it to expose themselves to their constituents instead of passing the blame to the Republicans. With things getting more and more desperate, waiting for the next once-in-a-century opportunity to even begin pushing is a ridiculous proposition.
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Yes, this is 2020. Let’s see 1962:
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“. . . what they do in England is entirely different. In England, the entire cost of medicine for people of all ages, all of it, doctors, choice of doctors, hospitals, from the time you’re born till the time you die, is included in a Government program. . . .
“The fact of the matter is that what we are now talking about doing, most of the countries of Europe did years ago. The British did it 30 years ago. We are behind every country, pretty nearly, in Europe, in this matter of medical care for our citizens.”
— President John F. Kennedy, Medical Care Address, 1962
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JFK’S Health Care speech — Madison Square Garden, New York City (May 20, 1962) [Full, 28m47s]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXUJErr_vfo
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And Kennedy was just trying to start with at least health care for the aged. This then rejected 1962 legislation was the precursor of Medicare a few years later, in 1965.
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Add almost 60 years more behind in health care now, in 2020…
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John F. Kennedy argues for universal healthcare [Brief excerpt, 2m7s]
And British people guess how much US healthcare costs:
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Ambulance call out? $2,500. Childbirth? $30,000. Our NHS is not for sale, @realDonaldTrump
https://twitter.com/PoliticsJOE_UK/status/1201826927520161792
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True cost of US healthcare shocks the British public
The famous US Exceptionalism.
The flood of chemicals in our food, air and water has turned the US into an unhealthy wasteland. Big Pharma has wormed its way into every aspect of health care, including the education of doctors. I’m 65, and have been for universal health care my whole life. Only now, with experimental mandatory prophelactics for healthy folks on the doorstep, do I hesitate to support it. If universal health care comes with tracking, quarantines of asymptomatic persons, etc, thanks, no.
I had to move abroad 10 years ago to heal my family from their vaccine damage and glyphosate damaged guts. I had to move abroad to afford a roof over our head and healthy food!
Right now, one third of US males are sterile. The flood of chemicals are affecting the biome, the virome, the amazing balance of nature, the envelope we inhabit, the very substance of our bodies.
Jimmy is a great educator, an indignant spokesman for the people. Still, I don’t tune in much because I´v known this for decades, and am no longer surprised at the degradation of politics in service to the 17 intelligence agencies who collaborate with UK and Israeli agencies against we the people.
How to take the country back? Good question. At least do not comply. Do not buy their shit, pay for their cable propaganda networks, or garbage chemical edibles. Seek wisdom, serve nature and one another.
Thanks again, Cait. You do keep your eye on the ball.
Robin, you are not alone. My mother grew up as a communist (evolved to a socialist), and my father was a member of a union that provided exceptional healthcare for our family, so have been a huge supporter of “socialized medicine” all my life.
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I started to question it a bit when some of the most vocal supporters of Medicare for All pushed to eliminate private options for insurance and healthcare providers (I think we should all pay into the socialized system as part of our taxes, but should have private options for those who want to upgrade). Then, I had to deal with an elderly family member who is on Medicare and saw how bad their system is when one has to deal with more chronic, long-term issues. It was eye-opening. Then, many proponents of M4A wanted to open up the system to anyone in the world, which would ensure it’s absolute collapse within the first few years, if it lasted that long, preventing us from ever being able to try socialized medicine in the future because it would be so tainted with history of that failure.
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Then, 2020 happened, with all of the dystopian authoritarian dictates being imposed on us against our wills, all at the behest of the wealthiest and most powerful people and organizations in the world (WEF, Bill Gates, etc.). The World Economic Forum has tied healthcare to the “Great Reset,” another term for the corrupt, industry-backed “Green New Deal” and Agenda 21, which is now referred to as SDG 2030. I realized that many of us who’ve been on the genuine left all of these years have been taken for a ride. The people who are pushing this agenda are not our friends, and they are NOT looking out for the best interests of humanity and the planet. They are psychopathic, technocratic, authoritarian globalist oligarchs who are trying to fool the desperate, gullible public. We must fight them and their agenda with everything we’ve got. If they get into power, we will never be able to throw them off again.
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Globalism is colonialism. We must fight for national sovereignty and the right to self-determination for all of the world’s people. We need distributed power which should be centered around fully transparent, accountable LOCAL governments that exist solely to serve the people who vote for them. I am very concerned about what’s coming if we don’t push back against the Great Reset and the oligarchs who are trying to shove their agenda down our throats.
The “jaggoff nightclub comedian” (Dore’s words) does more in a week to get the ball rolling than all the political establishment does in a life time. Hooray for the clowns.
Populist progressives have no friends and, in fact, face layer upon layer of blockers…some obvious but many diabolically deceitful. Only physical overthrow of the system will accomplish what they desire. There will be lip service and maybe even some action like enough UBI to keep the debt ponzi going and to keep the bourgeois from having their lives impacted by the unwashed. Populist conservatives don’t generally want handouts and don’t want any given. And while many jobs are gone they dominate the military, law enforcement, fire, and many other public service jobs…and also manage who gets those type of jobs like a good ole boy network… they seem to be okay with the arrangement.
Populist conservatives also love authority and chain of command so while they may not love wall st\corporate\elite handouts, those handouts don’t change hierarchy. What they will not allow is for other common people to get anything that could be seen as cutting in line…except for maybe themselves, in which case, they’ll be discrete.
If one has a right that requires action by someone else, does that not make “someone else” a slave? If you have a right to it, are those who supply it not REQUIRED to supply it? At gunpoint if necessary? One should consider the results when they propose new rights. The intent of universal healthcare is obviously laudable. But what if qualified healthcare providers balk at selling their services at state established prices? What if is a question that should always be asked before any action by the state. But seldom is asked. What one wants, or what one believes is desirable, are not necessarily possible. Yes, a number of nations have universal healthcare, but how are they paying for it? The same way they pay for eternal warfare. Creating money out of thin air, with posterity responsible for the incurred debt. Money can easily be printed. Wealth cannot be printed at all. Wealth is created by time and effort. Not a key stroke on a bank cartel ledger. I totally agree that everyone should have healthcare. I do not agree that those who provide healthcare should be enslaved if necessary to provide it.
Not one of the rights named in the Bill of Rights requires action by another.
I haven’t looked up let alone crunched any numbers, but I’d guess if ‘qualified healthcare providers’ means doctors, nurses, lab technicians, cleaners, porters and so on, they could probably continue selling their services at much the same rate or more once the parasitic insurance scammers are done away with, at gunpoint if necessary or perhaps just for the fun of it. US ‘health’ care is among the most expensive anywhere, with worse outcomes than many developed and some developing nations, while nurses and auxiliary staff often struggle to survive on their pay. Meanwhile the ‘health’ insurance racket employs half a million, often precisely to deny care, scouring policies for loopholes that’ll let them overcharge or refuse to cough up. Even PragerU more or less admits as much in a recent video, “Price Transparency – How to Fix Healthcare”, though naturally their ‘solution’ is ‘letting the market innovate’, which would probably just mean finding new ways to charge more for less.
Years ago a doctor had a modest office with a nurse and receptionist. Many took cash only and let you file your own insurance if you had any. Now offices are bigger to handle the staff required to keep up with insurance and government regulations. Doctors must group together to share costs. If they become viable they are bought out and become nothing more than employees to medical groups.
Exactly. Well put.
I did not mention any real practical effect. Just the philosophical basis. The problem with nearly all governments is that once they assume the power to do a thing, there is no limit to how much of that thing they might do. Taxes for instance. If a government assumes the power to tax income, there is not a thing standing in their way to keep them from collecting all of your income.
The representative republic is dead, at least as far as representing the People in the original meaning. The highest court in the land has ruled that corporations are people too, at least as far as their voting with dollars. The quaint notions referred to as democracy and the concept of citizen’s votes actually counting for anything has been revealed an illusion. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. The People now carry Press Cards rather than I.D.s and voter registration cards. The sly smirk is now carried as a badge of honor, at least among thieves. The truth falls flat while the lie travels around the world. God bless America, land of the free to conform, home of the joint Congress brave enough to follow exactly what the wing leaderships of the national plucked chicken demand. The national motto is hereby amended to “Trust Me”.
Half a loaf might be better than none — except when the half loaf is loaded with arsenic!
The other half is ethically sourced gluten-free fair trade organic quinoa sourdough for those who can afford it, with just the usual unavoidable nanoplastics and PFAS.
The crucial point is that none — not one — of the Democrats, ‘progressives’, ‘squad’, etc, really want Medicare4All. Many used it as a surefire electoral winner such that if those Democrats who won on the strength of their ‘support’ for Medicare4All in this last election didn’t use it, then the Republicans most likely would have taken the House.
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All the possible scenarios from Jimmy Dore’s gambit don’t appear to matter that much. Jimmy has Pelosi, the ‘squad’ et al. and all the house Democrats in a vice they’re trying furiously to wriggle out of, for which they have absolutely no inertia! Wriggle out of it they will, but hopefully at a big cost.
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If the ‘progressives’ (ie, the squad and their allies, not the ‘progressive’ caucus) do manage to wriggle out, they’ll not only forever go down as frauds, but their actions will show to all and sundry, and not just those who know this already, that the Democrats are irredeemable and incapable of any ‘left’ takeover, let alone policies that go against their base (ie, the same oligarch donors as the Republicans). Pelosi will come out unscathed and such an exposure would go a long way, especially for anyone younger than about 50 yr, maybe even 60 yr, to showing the Democrats to be absolutely no different to the Republicans; and any last illusions dispelled that this bourgeois party (of Hiroshima and Nagasaki) is anything other that an organ of the class enemy.
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If the ‘progressives’ do choose to become members of the phylum vertebrates and make Pelosi commit in public to allowing Jayapal’s motion to be voted on, is there nothing to stop her from not putting it up when she’s elected speaker? What excuses could Pelosi come up with to not do it? She’ll definitely come up with something, and a convenient distraction might well intervene: for example, a war with Iran (with sterling help from Israel) or some other US target; or Biden soon drops dead, which appears more likely with each passing day. If Pelosi manages to suppress the vote, that of course will expose her bad will (and she’s already on the nose with just about everyone), but the ‘squad’ and followers will be off scott free unless they’re put on the spot and forced, for example, to put numbers together to oust Pelosi if she won’t put the motion up. Or withhold other votes? Not likely. Their loyalty to Pelosi is absolute because she holds the donor purse strings.
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If by some odd circumstance the motion were to be put up for a vote, then all the swine who vote against it will forever be exposed. And this by far is what scares the Democrats the most. They’re shaking like a shitting dog at the prospect. Which is such a very good thing and another nail in the coffin of Democratic political corpse.
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But already the ‘progressives’ and followers have shown that they’re nothing other than members of the phylum invertebrate. Their complete capitulation seems to be the most likely outcome, and exactly in line with how all Democrats invariably behave. Deluded fools like the Justice Democrats hopefully will lose whatever support they’ve left for the silly notion that the Democrats can ever be ‘changed from within’, to somehow stop being a totally bourgeois party. In all this theatre, more accurately farce, the ‘squad’ et al. appears to acquit itself not only as being hostage to their petty ambitions and to the DNC, but that they also appear to have a severe and terminal case of the Stockholm Syndrome. Or, more likely, they’ve been that way all along, ie, throughly opportunist and in thrall to the oligarchy, and that with Jimmy Dore’s help in his creating this delicious farce their true colours are becoming apparent to all and sundry sooner rather than later.
For those of you who also read the, ‘Ghion Journal’, and will be selling off all your so-called, ‘paper’, this week, know that the messías is probably already here, so although talk, discussion, debate, etcetera is a good thing in general, our problems for the most part are over, heaven on earth, is, at long last here, everyone can go home now, and God, Allah, or whatever you want to call him will be with you shortly.
Well stated Caitlin.
One correction if I may:
Earth should always be spelt with a capital E, because there is only one.
Individual comments have to be to a person, – a fellow poster, or you.
It just does not make any sense otherwise, – far too much Chaos
NoName, I think that the Japanese have it right, – I am a Steiner Scholar and he maintains that Doctors should be paid to keep us healthy, not paid when we are sick, – as if you pay them when we are sick they can not but help themselves but to keep us sick.
One thumbs up for the Japanese, imho!
Medicare supports a corrupt system. The bulk of hospitals are owned by just a few corporations. That’s all you need to know. It is the health care industry after all. A better model would be VA for all.
The ACA was written with the moneyed interests of the insurers and industry in mind. The alternative proffered a few years ago did the same while closing a few of the corporate benefiting loopholes that Obama forgot to include.
The last American president to try to institute a national health care system was Richard Nixon.
Japan is having trouble with their national system because it is too effective. Japanese are living longer than anyone else and that costs more. They do things a bit differently. Doctors there get paid more if they don’t do surgery.
The Cuban doctors are thought highly of the world over. It’s a prestigious position but the financial rewards are nothing near those of the US. They seem to stay with it regardless. The US had and may still have a program of financial rewards to lure Cuban doctors to the states. It is not that they were particularly needed, the purpose was simply to damage the Cuban program.
I get all of my medical treatment from the VA. Your idea would work way better than a for-profit system.
As you indicate, there is much we could learn from Cuba, which has managed, with meager resources, to provide both universal literacy and universal health care. And no doubt the authoritarianism for which its government is criticized stems largely from the decades long torrent of hate and disruption sweeping in from the superpower ninety miles west. Were Cuba to embrace free speech and an independent media, for example, wouldn’t the island be instantly flooded 24/7 with MSM propaganda? Wouldn’t American money pour in to fund political parties and movements aimed at unseating the government? Wouldn’t mercenaries and guns be likely to follow? Etc.
Syria has always faced more or less constant & serious threat from Israel, the aggressive occupier and thief. Add to that CIA/Muslim Brotherhood machinations during the 80’s and the present-day repeat of that “strategy” on steroids—and people wonder why Syria developed a stringent security state and possessed defensive chemical weapons (against Israeli ground invasion).
Much like Cuba, had Syria been allowed to develop her society and resources in peace, she would today likely be a favored travel destination for many.
Little doubt about that. As Libya had been before we murdered Gaddafi and the entire country, etc.
Dear Caitlin,
Sure wish I could muster your mental agility and extraordinary, unblinkered logic.
Thanks for sharing your honest sanity.
Again, you are a Gem.
Cheers
Mike
ZIO/US doesn’t want the average person to be able to afford healthcare – they would prefer you didn’t exist !
Where are the national campaigns to encourage people to take up a healthier lifestyle – less TV – less fast food – less sugar – more exercise ??
Trouble is – the majority stay up late – watching TV and eating snacks – then when the late night ‘ mail order ‘ ads come on – they buy the F**king ‘Ab buster’ on their CC and expect it to change their lives !!
The ‘idiot box’ has brainwashed the majority into braindead – obese cretins !
How dare you call mw a creatin. 😉
Somtimes it is good to take a much wider perspective, Human beings are subject to two extremely important influences, you can find it in the bible but normally ‘Christians’ do not.
The two influences Jesus met in the desert were the tempter, and the deceiver, but taking older teachings into account, the Tempter is Lucifer, and the deceiver is Ahriman, often called Satan in the bible and one should not believe biblical scholars that claim that they are the same, as the have no fn idea.
Actually, Lucifer is a spirit of Movement, Satan is a spirit of Form, and both were “cast down to the Earth” by God – apologies to the atheists, but make God whatever you want.
As A cast down spirit of movement, Lucifer offers us freedom, and artistic uplifting, – eg Lucifer does the sunset and sunrise, whereas Ahriman (I use because that one better understood by the Persian traditions) a cast down spirit of Form, alows us to work in the physical world, – building, creating structures, – of matter or ideas, it is the spirit of materialism, – with lucifer, – go too far becomes Chaos, too much movement, with Ahriman, too much form is death, – no movement just form.
It is Us happy Human beings destiny to walk the path (Golden Path? – ask Buddha) between these two quite helpful spiritual influences, on the one side more and more life, on the other side more and more death, either extreme, you lose your humanity.
So many human groups – people trying to work together, – too much life, – no organisation, no body takes any responsibility, everyone has lots of fun, – or on the other hand too many rules, nothing can change, the life flickers low and may die, – o mny organisations strangle themselves to death.
Democracy is interesting, – the life is guaranteed by ‘everybody can be involved,’ but the structure can limit what they can achieve.
The best I have found is concensus democracy, but spending big monies has to have a vote, – but what can happen is the votes are the only recorded by short sighted (or hard worked, ) secretaries so an independant record needs to be kept, as real democracy can work best if everyone is prepared, despite some reservations, to ‘give it a go’.
Life, creativity, discussion, – ideas building on others ideas, Lucy baby – people listening to each other, and recording, uncle Ahri, – it is a dance, and with understanding, can be a good dance.
The problem with citing Jimmy Dore is that I don’t watch him regularly. I find his style as abrasive as trump’ big mouth and sometimes he’s correct, while sometimes not. In the end it’s necessary to realize that what Jimmy Dore says has little impact on how things will become in the U.S.
The simple fact is that the oligarchs who fund campaigns and have other types of extreme power run most of America because they own it and also fund ALEC, which gets the State Legislatures for them. They are the power. The infighting between Republican and Democratic politicians has the purpose of acting as a distraction (much like a magician’s), so that we don’t see the oligarchs regularly stealing more and more of our country and our freedoms. It also adds to perpetuate divisiveness to further the distraction.
So, in the end, what political infighting amounts to is maneuvering, to see which party will acquire/maintain second level power below the oligarchs. Otherwise, there is very little to choose between the two major parties. As George Carlin said about 25 years ago, It’s a big club that the politicians (from both parties ) are in. And you and I are not in the big club.
Jimmy grates on me a bit too, but he does have a wide audience who get to hear sometimes worthwhile ideas they might not come across elsewhere.
As for his having little impact, if that’s the case, isn’t it equally true of Caitlin, never mind you and I prattling away in the comments section of a fairly obscure blog?
I don’t agree with everything Jimmy or Caitlin say, but at the very least they keep alive the idea things don’t have to get worse, and who knows, they might help things change for the better. Good for them both.
This was one of your best, Caitlin
A bankrupt world drowning in debt and all you can write about is more free stuff. The world has overconsumed on all levels. Some more than others. Greed and corruption run the world now. So why not, lets spend more money that we dont have. This is all going to end in a rather messy way. So enjoy the ride while it lasts. Free Tacos for everyone.
It isn’t a question of spending money we don’t have. It’s about using the resources we do have for our benefit, not for satisfying the greed of oligarchs and the bloodthirst of warmongers.
A totally disingenuous argument. A trillion dollars a year are spent on “ Defense “ in the USA annually. Reallocation of most of that resource along with realistic tax policies would easily pay for Socialized Medicine in the USA. Privatized medical care is one of the more deadly manifestations of Class War in the USA. Ending the abomination called Capitalism in the world will go a long way in ending misery.
I did say the entire system is corrupt. Might as well wish for fairy dust as ask for free healthcare for all. Here is why it wont happen. The current system benefits the top groups in america with excellent healthcare for those who can afford excellent costly health insurance and those who pay by cash. This is at the cost of denying decent healthcare to the rest. Medicare only healthcare sucks just like the healthcare in Britain. Healthcare for all sucks compared to cadillac care in the US for those who can afford it. They will not give that up.
The Land of the Free, where nothing but useless crap is even cheap, and absolute zilch comes for free.
YES! of course. FREE Medical is a EZ way to say: universal single payer health care.
and that is what AOC wants/ i am convinced she always thinks firstog her people, the poor
humbled starving masses yearning to be free! and MEDICARE is not that great. ONE IT HAS NO DENTAL. NONE! It tries to reduce costs but half-heartedly. it negotiates with big pharma and the hospitals. hospitals are money makers. never forget it. they are not public servants like a fleet of tanks or an invisible pilotless drone airforce. SAying WIN ! at any cost and then losing anyway: if we take a military approach to this we’re all gonna die and Bill Gates will have his 800 million human being planet (he and ted turner want so bad.) so they can go play on open beaches and no lines at Yosemite.
USPHC is the goal. so go for that. Medicare is hopeless. no DENTAL?
Insurance corpos are like vulture capitalists. they will eat you until you die.
we need FREE> so strategize THAT!
one way might be to settle after a long fought bloody battle….USPHC for all MEDICARE recipients now….i.e., over 62 or 5 and quite a few broken or injured souls permanently in need of care. then give this current version of medicare to everyone younger than 65. something like that might become a halfway-there measure of compromise. but the truth is way WAY more important.
When we compromise the first most obvious casualty is the Truth.
i seek an end to war. so do not tell me we don’t have the money. and i see trillions wasted there. why? saddam blew up the WTC. good answer. yep. and my grannie can dunk!
we need to completely remodel our society. from capitalism on down to land ownership.
no coropo/person should be allowed to own land. the Electoral college must go. The Senate must go. only the House and a 9 person presidency–5 have to be female. Each president gets 3 supremes. so 27 there. the IRS , CIA, DEA, and DIA, must be wafted into space like dandelion seeds.
replacing the IRS will be easy when we stop income tax. and replace it with ASSET TAX because those who profited from the prior systems must pay for their lucky accumulations.
and they have all the money anyway.
NEVER TAX work.
for their future efforts we should make education free starting with nurses and doctors in that order if necessary. and each beneficiary must devote 5 years of public service in return. heck we used to draft people for almost that long and some for LIVES…lost.
Sounds good to me. Cant be any worse than what we have now.
AOC…all hat and no cattle…disappointing…
It’s in a big movement from a society that is based on competition and driven by profit to a society that is based on collaboration with each other and with our ecosystem and based on compassion for all beings.
It is indeed. Consciousness of the necessity to this way of thinking grows.
AOC went from outsider to liberal elite in a heartbeat. Things are not fine the way they are. they are far from fine. Suffering is now and relief needs to be now. Not in a mythical land of some future time.
“You can’t be neutral on a moving train.” <– Howard Zinn
Great analogies and the bottom line distinct a usual.
According to Noam Chomsky, “Poll results depend on wording and nuance, but they have quite consistently, over the years, shown strong and often large majority support for universal health care.”
https://truthout.org/articles/noam-chomsky-the-us-health-system-is-an-international-scandal-and-aca-repeal-will-make-it-worse/ – 2017 interview with C.J. Polychroniou.