Strive to be an oddball and to think for yourself. To be ‘normal’ in the modern, western world is to be psychologically sick. We are products of our environment and the environment of capitalism is no longer a healthy one. In fact, it is no longer capitalism. It has graduated into monopolism. The ideology of psychopathic corporatism along with its values and priorities has an impact on most individuals if not all. We must understand how the sickness creeps into our psyche and how it affects us.
The average life consists of running on the wage-slave treadmill in order to avoid the destitution of not only ourselves, but of our loved ones as well. If only we could build up our own little fortress against the ravages of the future, we will have made it to safety. In the process we build up a mentality of competitiveness against our neighbour rather than a cooperative relationship with the community of trust and mutual collaboration. We learn instead to take pleasure in the misfortune of others and to feel angst when we notice evidence of our neighbours success.
The Dali Lama said that the way to true happiness is through compassion for others. We cannot be happy as long as we are selfish. But when we genuinely put the happiness and well being of others over our own, we can find happiness. It sounds like some cosmic trickery but when you think about it, you know beyond any doubt it’s true. Grasping for ‘me’ can only lead to jealousy, aggression, anger and dissatisfaction. Caring for others can take us out of our small alienated world and to direct contact with other people. In an atmosphere of insecurity and possible financial devastation, it is difficult for people to think that way.
The root of our modern problem is alienation.
Human beings have always had various means of making contact with others. We use language, sex, and work to do so. In each case, we escape our existential aloneness and share subjective experience with another human being. It is that existential aloneness that is the driving force behind our activity.
We know on some level that our thoughts are illusory and ephemeral. There is no substance to these flighty bubbles of fantasy. Our human tendency from thought is toward affirmation that our private world is not alone. But in the world of conceptualization and thinking we are alone and that presents us with a problem. Our response to this problem is to share our subjective experience with others. That is the natural human way and it is human just as building dams is the beaver way, or building webs is the spider way. Speaking and cooperative work are specific human activities.
Through work, we share our inner ideas with others through operating on the outer environment. As I write this I share my own inner world and when you read it, the process of work has taken place. When we work and especially when we work in the company of others and work together on the same thing, we share our inner life and when we see the ideas of others, we ‘see’ inside their thoughts. We can see how the mind of another is working just as you, the reader, can see inside my thoughts as you read this.
Two important things happen at that point. First, we share our inner world. We act upon the world and other human beings can appreciate what we’ve done. When they do, they appreciate me and that appreciation is beyond ego tripping. It is communion. Secondly, through work we share common goals with other people. We work together for each other whether we build a structure of wood or knit a blanket. We act upon the natural world from the ghostly world of thoughts and in the process we give substance to our flighty reality of thinking.
But something has happened along the way. Work has been appropriated by an alien force. When that appropriation occurred, the inner life of ‘me’ was rendered inconsequential.
Now the workers inner life has been completely severed from the process of work. The worker works for somebody else. It is the initiative and the will of a coercive force that guides the process of work for the worker. The important ingredients of inner will and initiative have been lost. Most importantly, control of the process of work has been lost.
Now the worker is told when to work, what will be done and what will be produced. The worker does this not to manufacture objects or services, but to get money to survive. He or she does it to manufacture even more money for his or her owner. Rather than using tools within his own field of initiative, he is a tool within somebody else’s field of initiative. He finds no joy in work and instead lives only to escape from it. What was the human expression of his or her self is now the bane of his existence, his nemesis. He lives for the weekend or the evening or for vacation. He lives for the pension.
The study of human development indicates and suggests that healthy human development depends on meeting different needs at different stages. The infant needs tactile stimulation and nourishment, the toddler needs structure and so on. There is nothing to suggest that these needs ever go away but they do become less salient though the process. And in our journey toward optimal development, initiative is a cornerstone. We build up toward initiative early on and build upon it once we achieve an inner sense of it. Stripping human beings of initiative is tantamount to stripping us of our human potential.
The values and ethics of the most dominant forces have a tendency to find their way to the majority. If the individual is valued not as a mother or father, not as a friend or lover, not as a human being, but instead is valued as an object of work and not valued in terms of use value but instead in terms of exchange value, this will have a significant impact on the identity of the individual. Further, the outward display of exchange value may become the highest priority. Status symbols such as new cars and big homes come to represent ‘who I am’ replacing substantial qualities such as kindness, community spirit or intelligence in work. The world of substantial human contact is reduced and the world of facades and masks take over. The world of shared subjectivity is replaced with a world of crass objectification.
Popular and mainstream media contribute to instilling and propping up values that otherwise would be suggestive of psychopathology. They worship idols with glib and superficial charm, self centered ego-maniacs, economic parasites, blatant liars, con artists, and so on. We learn to worship the Trumps, the Bush’s and the self serving psychopaths, the merchants and the movie stars.
The impact of capitalism on our individual identity affects us directly thorough the organization of the work process and through the larger cultural milieu as well. And it is through the formation of identity that we develop out ideological sense of values and priorities.
In this process, we learn to sacrifice our lives to acquire more stuff and better stuff than those around us. We aspire to be like those at the top of the heap. We spend our lives housed in our suburban tombs and rather than living life, we watch television. We virtually live our virtual lives and are alienated from our work, our peers and all too often, from our families and ourselves. Too blind to see our malaise, too brainwashed within the cult of capitalism, we push our children to do exactly the same thing.
And in the end we can look back on our lives and remember all the great shows we watched on television; the great virtual escape from alienation.
This blog is an archive of articles I've published in MWC News, Indymedia, and on Newsgroups.
Monday, May 30, 2005
Friday, May 27, 2005
Which Side are You On?
The strike on the twin towers in New York and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 may have been all that was needed to defeat America militarily. America, as we have known it, may have already disappeared into the mists of history.
America has, in the past few years, arrested people and placed them in concentration camps without charges or trial. America has taken it upon itself to use a standard of pre-emptive strikes on nations and on individuals. Once that happens, once a person is arrested for what he or she is likely to do, or will do, a line has been crossed. And once one nation takes it upon itself to strike other nations for what they may do in the future, the same dark line is crossed.
But we cannot be careless about equating war itself with specific war crimes like torture or human rights abuses. To paraphrase the Nuremberg tribunals, war contains within it all the war crimes. Once an invasion starts, once a war begins, the ultimate crime has been committed. And the people responsible for starting that war have committed the ultimate war crime.
On this side of that line we have messy societies. We have crime and problems like drug abuse and street gangs. We have known offenders lurking among us and we are waiting for them to harm somebody *before* we arrest them. We have political dissent and scores of oddballs performing all kinds of hocus-pocus rituals. We have kids with pins in their faces and trash on the streets.
We also have the freedom to write whatever the hell we want on Indymedia or advocate for the legalization of marijuana or same sex marriage. We can expect to not be spied on by the state and we can expect to remain generally unmolested by the state. We can also speak openly in favor smashing the infidels into the ground and replace their demonic society with a religious theocracy. We can associate with and hold meetings with people that are intent on replacing free society with a dictatorship. We can advocate for and strive for any political or religious society we want.
On the other side of the line there is little or no crime. There are no drug problems and criminals are arrested, killed, or controlled before they pull off the quantity of evil they manage to on this side of the line. The streets are clean and women, foriegners and homosexuals know their place. The trains run on time.
If we react to the enemies of freedom with tyranny, we have unwittingly conceded defeat. If those that want to destroy the principles of freedom can do so with terror, then the collective will of society is not on the side of freedom. It is on the side of security, cowardice, and despots. It is not on the side of rational authority because to do so, we must uphold the right of freedom for our enemies as much as our friends. This principle cannot be diluted or tampered with if we are on the side of freedom.
Western law and western sensibilities have been forged long before the writing of the American Constitution. And through time, the progression of rational based laws and rational based institutions have developed to a point where the traditional authority of kings and superstition has been lost. The personal charisma of some leader cannot usurp the principles of rational authority. Laws and institutions have their bases on rationality and that is what legitimizes our laws.
When laws are forged through emotions or through the arbitrary dictums of one person or one group, we are in deep trouble. It is then that we enact the death penalty because some visceral reaction in our collective guts tells us ‘he deserves it’. It is then that we seek to jail the pedophile before he hurts somebody. It is then that we throw potential terrorists in jail with no trail and it is then that we agree that waging war on other countries will alleviate our timid and cowering souls.
Amnesty International has lambasted the United States for it’s human rights violations and war crimes in their recently published report for 2005. Amnesty says in the report, “The US administration’s treatment of detainees in the “war on terror” continued to display a marked ambivalence to the opinion of expert bodies such as the International Committee of the Red Cross and even of its own highest judicial body. Six months after the Supreme Court ruled that the federal courts had jurisdiction over the Guantánamo detainees, none had appeared in court. Detainees reportedly considered of high intelligence value remained in secret detention in undisclosed locations. In some cases their situation amounted to “disappearance”.”
It remains to be seen whether this trajectory away from progress, legitimate rational authority, freedom and human rights on the part of the United States is the sinister work of a small cabal that have taken the reigns of power or if it is the collective and cowardly will of the people. And it is more than the United States in question. Canada has instituted repressive ‘security certificates’ at the behest of W. Bush. Britain has implemented its own security laws in accordance with the American Patriot Act and other nations have followed suit.
Undoubtedly, those that planned and carried out the attacks on 9-11 imagined that the impact of their terror would be enormous. They probably did not dream that the towers would actually fall to the ground. And in their wildest delusions of grandeur, they could not have dreamed that their act of terror would actually change the fundamental basis of what America is and will be.
It is not too late and it is vital to all free societies that we have the courage to take on those that attack civilains with international and lawful tribunals and not war. And with the courage to uphold freedom; not through tyranny.
We must also bring their accomplices inside the American state to justice. When those that are responsible for the sudden appearance of torture in Guantanomo Bay, Abu Ghraib, and the practice of rendition are brought to justice with the full support of the American government and the American people, America will have stepped back from the twilight zone.
But for the ongoing carnage in Iraq, America may never be absolved. Some crimes can never be undone.
America has, in the past few years, arrested people and placed them in concentration camps without charges or trial. America has taken it upon itself to use a standard of pre-emptive strikes on nations and on individuals. Once that happens, once a person is arrested for what he or she is likely to do, or will do, a line has been crossed. And once one nation takes it upon itself to strike other nations for what they may do in the future, the same dark line is crossed.
But we cannot be careless about equating war itself with specific war crimes like torture or human rights abuses. To paraphrase the Nuremberg tribunals, war contains within it all the war crimes. Once an invasion starts, once a war begins, the ultimate crime has been committed. And the people responsible for starting that war have committed the ultimate war crime.
On this side of that line we have messy societies. We have crime and problems like drug abuse and street gangs. We have known offenders lurking among us and we are waiting for them to harm somebody *before* we arrest them. We have political dissent and scores of oddballs performing all kinds of hocus-pocus rituals. We have kids with pins in their faces and trash on the streets.
We also have the freedom to write whatever the hell we want on Indymedia or advocate for the legalization of marijuana or same sex marriage. We can expect to not be spied on by the state and we can expect to remain generally unmolested by the state. We can also speak openly in favor smashing the infidels into the ground and replace their demonic society with a religious theocracy. We can associate with and hold meetings with people that are intent on replacing free society with a dictatorship. We can advocate for and strive for any political or religious society we want.
On the other side of the line there is little or no crime. There are no drug problems and criminals are arrested, killed, or controlled before they pull off the quantity of evil they manage to on this side of the line. The streets are clean and women, foriegners and homosexuals know their place. The trains run on time.
If we react to the enemies of freedom with tyranny, we have unwittingly conceded defeat. If those that want to destroy the principles of freedom can do so with terror, then the collective will of society is not on the side of freedom. It is on the side of security, cowardice, and despots. It is not on the side of rational authority because to do so, we must uphold the right of freedom for our enemies as much as our friends. This principle cannot be diluted or tampered with if we are on the side of freedom.
Western law and western sensibilities have been forged long before the writing of the American Constitution. And through time, the progression of rational based laws and rational based institutions have developed to a point where the traditional authority of kings and superstition has been lost. The personal charisma of some leader cannot usurp the principles of rational authority. Laws and institutions have their bases on rationality and that is what legitimizes our laws.
When laws are forged through emotions or through the arbitrary dictums of one person or one group, we are in deep trouble. It is then that we enact the death penalty because some visceral reaction in our collective guts tells us ‘he deserves it’. It is then that we seek to jail the pedophile before he hurts somebody. It is then that we throw potential terrorists in jail with no trail and it is then that we agree that waging war on other countries will alleviate our timid and cowering souls.
Amnesty International has lambasted the United States for it’s human rights violations and war crimes in their recently published report for 2005. Amnesty says in the report, “The US administration’s treatment of detainees in the “war on terror” continued to display a marked ambivalence to the opinion of expert bodies such as the International Committee of the Red Cross and even of its own highest judicial body. Six months after the Supreme Court ruled that the federal courts had jurisdiction over the Guantánamo detainees, none had appeared in court. Detainees reportedly considered of high intelligence value remained in secret detention in undisclosed locations. In some cases their situation amounted to “disappearance”.”
It remains to be seen whether this trajectory away from progress, legitimate rational authority, freedom and human rights on the part of the United States is the sinister work of a small cabal that have taken the reigns of power or if it is the collective and cowardly will of the people. And it is more than the United States in question. Canada has instituted repressive ‘security certificates’ at the behest of W. Bush. Britain has implemented its own security laws in accordance with the American Patriot Act and other nations have followed suit.
Undoubtedly, those that planned and carried out the attacks on 9-11 imagined that the impact of their terror would be enormous. They probably did not dream that the towers would actually fall to the ground. And in their wildest delusions of grandeur, they could not have dreamed that their act of terror would actually change the fundamental basis of what America is and will be.
It is not too late and it is vital to all free societies that we have the courage to take on those that attack civilains with international and lawful tribunals and not war. And with the courage to uphold freedom; not through tyranny.
We must also bring their accomplices inside the American state to justice. When those that are responsible for the sudden appearance of torture in Guantanomo Bay, Abu Ghraib, and the practice of rendition are brought to justice with the full support of the American government and the American people, America will have stepped back from the twilight zone.
But for the ongoing carnage in Iraq, America may never be absolved. Some crimes can never be undone.
The Value of Workers
Everything around you that you own and use is the result of effort of a vast army of unseen workers. The great attribution error of history is the erroneous assumption that we need the thieves to make it all possible.
All over the world we find ourselves in the midst of a grand Globalization experiment that has devastating consequences for the vast majority. The promise is, it will get much worse. It is the economic experiment penned by Milton Freidman, Mises, and Hayek as well as the French economist Say. On the question of value, these marginalists have parted company with Adam Smith and Ricardo who knew that it was central to scientific economic study to understand what it is that determines value. They tackled questions about what it is that encourages wealth to grow and what determines its distribution between classes in society. They saw an objective measure of value as a precondition for coming to terms with these problems. Smith suggested it was to be found in labour. Ricardo built his work from these notions and developed the idea of use-value as opposed to exchange-value to be elaborated on later by Karl Marx.
There is no doubt that that the more shallow focus of the marginalists, the invisible hand, which serves as their basis for economic theory, is valid, especially on a micro level. However, when we consider the confounding factors of the larger economy, supply and demand curves and marginal utility curves simply can't explain much. It is superficial and it is 'vulgar economics'. We must go deeper to discover what it is that determines value. We must go to Ricardo, Smith and for more depth, Marx.
Any notion that the invisible hand of supply and demand will produce what is best for society is simply wrong. For example, a given society may need more medicine or health care or housing, whatever the case may be. The market suggests however that producing Play Stations is more profitable. Play Stations will be produced in accordance with the laws of supply and demand. Capitalism is very good at producing trinkets, shiny toys, and killer hamburgers.
At this point capitalism seems to be beyond Keynes and it may be that Keynes policies and recommendations are simply archaic. Keynes undoubtedly provided capitalism with a longer life expectancy than unbridled capitalist anarchy could have expected. It also could be argued that defense spending has done more for the overall health of capitalism in the 20th century than Keynes distribution policies. It certainly cultivates and maintains hegemony.We can see that advanced capitalism is not living up to the promise of stability or equilibrium. Capitalism is showing itself to be an anarchistic loose hose, flipping and whipping depending on the mood of speculators. Rather than stability, the economy is subject to the whims of a grand global casino game.
The theory of supply and demand helps explain the price of something in a given time or place but it does not explain why things have the exchange value they have. The theory that does have far more explaining power is Smith's labour theory of value. According to this theory, the exchange value of commodities is determined by the amount of labour measured in working hours necessary to make them (given current levels of technology). Socks sell for less than cars because it takes fewer hours to make socks than it does cars. In the same period of time, a person may make many socks but only one car. Smith and other economists tested this theory by comparing prices of commodities with the necessary labour time needed to produce them. They found that while it does not explain the exact price of things, it does explain why they exchange for their approximate prices. This theory takes the mystery out of the concept of value by relating it, exchange value, to human labour. Consider the fact that the basis of capitalist economies is surplus value, that is, the hours of labour beyond what the worker is paid for and the value that is appropriated by the capitalist; that this is the basis of the wealth of capitalists. And when we consider what can be done with labour power in terms of developing priorities, goods and services, we may then consider possibilities beyond the poor and short sighted rationality of the marginalists, popularly known today as neo-liberals. We might abandon the superstitious nonsense that the theft of the value that is produced by labour as an indispensable ingredient to economic success. In other words, we can afford to abandon the notion that exploitation, greed, and theft are necessary evils for societies to function well. At that point, we may go beyond the tyranny of the twit class.
The neo-classical experiment is on and we are in the midst of it. Patterns are beginning to emerge and they are looking grim. From these patterns and hardships an awareness of the true nature of capitalism is growing.
A specter is haunting the planet…
All over the world we find ourselves in the midst of a grand Globalization experiment that has devastating consequences for the vast majority. The promise is, it will get much worse. It is the economic experiment penned by Milton Freidman, Mises, and Hayek as well as the French economist Say. On the question of value, these marginalists have parted company with Adam Smith and Ricardo who knew that it was central to scientific economic study to understand what it is that determines value. They tackled questions about what it is that encourages wealth to grow and what determines its distribution between classes in society. They saw an objective measure of value as a precondition for coming to terms with these problems. Smith suggested it was to be found in labour. Ricardo built his work from these notions and developed the idea of use-value as opposed to exchange-value to be elaborated on later by Karl Marx.
There is no doubt that that the more shallow focus of the marginalists, the invisible hand, which serves as their basis for economic theory, is valid, especially on a micro level. However, when we consider the confounding factors of the larger economy, supply and demand curves and marginal utility curves simply can't explain much. It is superficial and it is 'vulgar economics'. We must go deeper to discover what it is that determines value. We must go to Ricardo, Smith and for more depth, Marx.
Any notion that the invisible hand of supply and demand will produce what is best for society is simply wrong. For example, a given society may need more medicine or health care or housing, whatever the case may be. The market suggests however that producing Play Stations is more profitable. Play Stations will be produced in accordance with the laws of supply and demand. Capitalism is very good at producing trinkets, shiny toys, and killer hamburgers.
At this point capitalism seems to be beyond Keynes and it may be that Keynes policies and recommendations are simply archaic. Keynes undoubtedly provided capitalism with a longer life expectancy than unbridled capitalist anarchy could have expected. It also could be argued that defense spending has done more for the overall health of capitalism in the 20th century than Keynes distribution policies. It certainly cultivates and maintains hegemony.We can see that advanced capitalism is not living up to the promise of stability or equilibrium. Capitalism is showing itself to be an anarchistic loose hose, flipping and whipping depending on the mood of speculators. Rather than stability, the economy is subject to the whims of a grand global casino game.
The theory of supply and demand helps explain the price of something in a given time or place but it does not explain why things have the exchange value they have. The theory that does have far more explaining power is Smith's labour theory of value. According to this theory, the exchange value of commodities is determined by the amount of labour measured in working hours necessary to make them (given current levels of technology). Socks sell for less than cars because it takes fewer hours to make socks than it does cars. In the same period of time, a person may make many socks but only one car. Smith and other economists tested this theory by comparing prices of commodities with the necessary labour time needed to produce them. They found that while it does not explain the exact price of things, it does explain why they exchange for their approximate prices. This theory takes the mystery out of the concept of value by relating it, exchange value, to human labour. Consider the fact that the basis of capitalist economies is surplus value, that is, the hours of labour beyond what the worker is paid for and the value that is appropriated by the capitalist; that this is the basis of the wealth of capitalists. And when we consider what can be done with labour power in terms of developing priorities, goods and services, we may then consider possibilities beyond the poor and short sighted rationality of the marginalists, popularly known today as neo-liberals. We might abandon the superstitious nonsense that the theft of the value that is produced by labour as an indispensable ingredient to economic success. In other words, we can afford to abandon the notion that exploitation, greed, and theft are necessary evils for societies to function well. At that point, we may go beyond the tyranny of the twit class.
The neo-classical experiment is on and we are in the midst of it. Patterns are beginning to emerge and they are looking grim. From these patterns and hardships an awareness of the true nature of capitalism is growing.
A specter is haunting the planet…
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Seething Contempt Diplomacy
Much of the world holds seething contempt for Bush and his neo-con design to take over the world. What is emerging today is some light at the end of the tunnel. Not so long ago the neo-cons appeared to be ready to really take over - but not anymore. The best side of this is that it may well happen, eventually, that another age of Keynesian-like politics and economics will result as a reaction to this present age of neo-con insanity. Everything 'rightwing' is coming out and showing itself for what it is. On the other hand, monopoly capitalism itself matures with or without Bush and to a large degree it is what dictates to Bush. It demands him to be imperialistic.
But still, there’s room for a shade of optimism because as powerful and mighty as W. Bush is, he doesn’t get much respect. The Europeans and the Canadians have stood up to Bush. When the madman was screaming for blood in Iraq, he was given the diplomatic version of the finger by all those that could afford to do it. Canada recently waved Bush away regarding the space wars scam that had a large portion of Canadian tax dollars earmarked for the rich playboys in the War Party. The Europeans and the Canadians have lost much of their traditional unbridled enthusiasm to bow and scrape to the President of the United States.
Heads of state, diplomats, media insiders, as well as taxi drivers, barbers and school teachers have taken to whispering about Bush behind his back. Bush and his cabal are widely seen as an aberration, a summer dust devil that will soon spin out and disappear. In the meantime, people watch in annoyed amazement as the dust devil grows – too big. Too big and out of control – yes, but Bush has spent his political capital. He can’t get respect from anybody that is not on the payroll
Bush pressures the Europeans not to sell arms to China - they sell arms to China. He tells the Russians not to deal with Iran, they deal with Iran. He tells them not to sell military hardware to Chavez in Venezuela (who repeatedly thumbs his nose at Bush), and they sell to Venezuela. Germany, Britain and the French are also dealing with Iran against the whine of an increasingly alienated and secretly ostracized Bush.The Iraqis Shiite religious leader, the Iranian Sistani, has called the shots over the timing of the recent Iraqi election against the wishes of Bush. Bush's hit man, Allawi, managed to buy about 14% of the vote. Not to be outdone by democratic processes, Bush’s neo con man, Chalabi, has wrestled key posts (the Oil Ministry and a deputy Prime Minister seat) away from possible control by ‘real’ Iraqis. Another Allawi, the cousin of the previous Mafioso (Fourteen Percent) Allawi and also a cousin of Chalabi, has also slid into the top political layer of Iraqi politics. Although this kind of open gangsterism was widely expected, it doesn’t serve to buy Bush or any of his accomplices much ‘political capital’.
Bush wants to make war on Iran and Syria and at the same time is saddled with Shiites gaining a degree of political power in the same country they spent many billions of dollars to take control of. It’s a bit of a conundrum. It may be difficult to make war with these countries with Sistani lurking over their shoulders. Kim Jung Il of Pyongyang is telling Bush, 'you want weapons of mass destruction - I got weapons of mass destruction; c'mon and take them'. Noticing the gleam in Jung Il's eyes, Bush screams to make war on puny Syria and he can't even do that as American tanks spin their threads in the sands of Iraq. Meanwhile, the Russians are flirting with the Chinese, the Chinese are flirting with the North Koreans who are flirting with the South Koreans, The Europeans are flirting with Iran as is everyone else. Chavez is flirting with Castro and telling Bush to back to fuck away or he'll cut off the oil. Condolences Rice recently went to Latin America to try to seduce the kings to no avail. And Bush, he can't even get a date with Canadian quisling, Paul Martin.
The Bush that was there before 9-11, the Bush that was a stunned version of Gerald Ford, is still there behind the deranged mad-man mask. He is the goofy puppet we see dangling from those strings. Although he is involved in an orgy of mass murder, it’s still ol’ Dubya; the rich redneck that can can’t track or follow particularly well.
Although there may be room for optimism, there are a few wild cards out there. Bush himself may be the wildest card of all and who knows, he may force respect from world leaders after he returns from his Creationist Bible School classes in Kansas.
While there may be room for optimism, it is compromised by the assortment of hawks and psychopaths (Wolfowitz, Bolton, Negroponte, Gonzales etc.) that Bush has appointed in key positions.
Following 9-11, the world seemed to hold its collective hand out to America. Ordinary Americans lost their lives in those horrific attacks and it not only affected Americans in the gut, it affected everybody viscerally. America and Bush had not only respect but genuine sympathy from all corners of the globe at that time. But there isn’t much left of either at this point.
The War Party is looking less and less to be something to respect than to fear. It looks like all over the world people are waking up to the fact that Bush and his gang are crazy.
But still, there’s room for a shade of optimism because as powerful and mighty as W. Bush is, he doesn’t get much respect. The Europeans and the Canadians have stood up to Bush. When the madman was screaming for blood in Iraq, he was given the diplomatic version of the finger by all those that could afford to do it. Canada recently waved Bush away regarding the space wars scam that had a large portion of Canadian tax dollars earmarked for the rich playboys in the War Party. The Europeans and the Canadians have lost much of their traditional unbridled enthusiasm to bow and scrape to the President of the United States.
Heads of state, diplomats, media insiders, as well as taxi drivers, barbers and school teachers have taken to whispering about Bush behind his back. Bush and his cabal are widely seen as an aberration, a summer dust devil that will soon spin out and disappear. In the meantime, people watch in annoyed amazement as the dust devil grows – too big. Too big and out of control – yes, but Bush has spent his political capital. He can’t get respect from anybody that is not on the payroll
Bush pressures the Europeans not to sell arms to China - they sell arms to China. He tells the Russians not to deal with Iran, they deal with Iran. He tells them not to sell military hardware to Chavez in Venezuela (who repeatedly thumbs his nose at Bush), and they sell to Venezuela. Germany, Britain and the French are also dealing with Iran against the whine of an increasingly alienated and secretly ostracized Bush.The Iraqis Shiite religious leader, the Iranian Sistani, has called the shots over the timing of the recent Iraqi election against the wishes of Bush. Bush's hit man, Allawi, managed to buy about 14% of the vote. Not to be outdone by democratic processes, Bush’s neo con man, Chalabi, has wrestled key posts (the Oil Ministry and a deputy Prime Minister seat) away from possible control by ‘real’ Iraqis. Another Allawi, the cousin of the previous Mafioso (Fourteen Percent) Allawi and also a cousin of Chalabi, has also slid into the top political layer of Iraqi politics. Although this kind of open gangsterism was widely expected, it doesn’t serve to buy Bush or any of his accomplices much ‘political capital’.
Bush wants to make war on Iran and Syria and at the same time is saddled with Shiites gaining a degree of political power in the same country they spent many billions of dollars to take control of. It’s a bit of a conundrum. It may be difficult to make war with these countries with Sistani lurking over their shoulders. Kim Jung Il of Pyongyang is telling Bush, 'you want weapons of mass destruction - I got weapons of mass destruction; c'mon and take them'. Noticing the gleam in Jung Il's eyes, Bush screams to make war on puny Syria and he can't even do that as American tanks spin their threads in the sands of Iraq. Meanwhile, the Russians are flirting with the Chinese, the Chinese are flirting with the North Koreans who are flirting with the South Koreans, The Europeans are flirting with Iran as is everyone else. Chavez is flirting with Castro and telling Bush to back to fuck away or he'll cut off the oil. Condolences Rice recently went to Latin America to try to seduce the kings to no avail. And Bush, he can't even get a date with Canadian quisling, Paul Martin.
The Bush that was there before 9-11, the Bush that was a stunned version of Gerald Ford, is still there behind the deranged mad-man mask. He is the goofy puppet we see dangling from those strings. Although he is involved in an orgy of mass murder, it’s still ol’ Dubya; the rich redneck that can can’t track or follow particularly well.
Although there may be room for optimism, there are a few wild cards out there. Bush himself may be the wildest card of all and who knows, he may force respect from world leaders after he returns from his Creationist Bible School classes in Kansas.
While there may be room for optimism, it is compromised by the assortment of hawks and psychopaths (Wolfowitz, Bolton, Negroponte, Gonzales etc.) that Bush has appointed in key positions.
Following 9-11, the world seemed to hold its collective hand out to America. Ordinary Americans lost their lives in those horrific attacks and it not only affected Americans in the gut, it affected everybody viscerally. America and Bush had not only respect but genuine sympathy from all corners of the globe at that time. But there isn’t much left of either at this point.
The War Party is looking less and less to be something to respect than to fear. It looks like all over the world people are waking up to the fact that Bush and his gang are crazy.
Monday, May 09, 2005
Abandon Affluence
Do you ever consider what goes in to bringing you a glass of Coke?
One hundred years ago the soil of the United States felt a lot different than it does today. The reason for that is that many of the nutrients and much of the organic matter has been washed out to sea. They have been replaced with much less porous chemical fertilizers. The amount of soil, that is, the thickness of it, is a fraction of what it used to be.
We eat these nutrients and we flush them down the toilet. They go out to sea and as a result, the land loses some of its wealth.
We live inside of extremely large and wasteful systems and those systems must be either flushed down the toilet of history or radically changed.
The simple act of having a snack and a glass of coke requires a monumental effort that happens behind the scenes. The sugar is shipped to the factory from the plantation and a warehouse. This requires ships, trucks and forklifts. The sugar is packaged on the way and that requires cutting trees, processing the paper which is a large expenditure of energy in itself. The paper is then packed and shipped. It is then made into the specific packaging material for the sugar. This all requires many workers to get in their cars and go to work, using even more energy. The sugar is packaged and then moved to the factory that makes the Coke. This factory ships in many different materials that go into the recipe for Coke. Then there is glass and cans which start out as rock and are processed into cans and bottles. It would take a lot of effort to trace every worker that goes into a glass of coke.
So, you have your Coke and a pastry which is in cellophane wrapper which in turn is in a colourful box. Again, the process is far too involved to even write out here. Little by little by little, every day, every week and every year, the earth and the eco-systems provide their micro treasures for our macro systems so we humans can consume. We are addicted to bath oil, and hair conditioner and cigarettes and fat. And as the wealth of the eco-systems offer up their treasures to us, we flush them down toilets, burn them, and contaminate them irreparably.
We have to abandon affluence and our multitude of petty addictions. We have to abandon our spoiled comfort. We have to stop the madness of having our Coke and our snack and then driving in our cars to Curves to work off our guilt and excessive fat. We have to stop packing goods inside of packages that are inside of packages. We have to stop cutting tress to make paper to advertise to tell people they must consume what they don’t need and what will make them sick. We have to learn to eat from the local soil, to drink water from our local ground, and to stop all the shipping and flushing and burning.
We have to change our minds.
But when we consider that even something as minimal as the Kyoto Protocol has run into stiff opposition from those that are most addicted to the party, we know that we have to win a huge battle before we start cutting down the large macro party machines of capitalism.
Our children and grandchildren and their kids have an enemy in our midst. This enemy is equal to the bus driver that jumps from the bus with busted brakes to save himself instead of taking the risk to save the children who all perish off the side of a cliff. They are George Costanza pushing children and feeble old women down to escape what he thinks is a fire in the kitchen. They are the selfish and comfortable cowards that we think of as capitalists. They are them and their million lackeys and they are the enemies of humanity and the earth.
Everybody doesn’t have to work to distribute and produce wealth. That idea is part of capitalistic indoctrination. Capitalism has given us many gifts of technology, know-how, and toys. Thank you capitalism, we appreciate it. But it has come at a price and the sooner we start paying it back to the earth, the less expensive it will be. We have to change our economic systems, our production systems and our distribution systems if we want to save the eco-systems.
We will produce most of what we need locally and we will start living with each other in communities again. We will say good-bye to our alienated lives in front of television sets. We will produce what we need and we will distribute what is needed as it is needed. We may need bicycles and buses, we don’t need cars. We need to distribute water where it isn’t locally available, we don’t need Coke. We don’t need bath oil or bath oil beads.
We live inside big wasteful production and distribution systems but we also live inside many other systems. We live inside eco-systems and we cannot destroy them. We cannot continue to abuse the earth because we are as much a part of the earth and the nutrients we put in our mouths and flush down the toilet. As we destroy the earth, we destroy our grandchildren. They are the earth and they will come from the earth long after we return to it.
One hundred years ago the soil of the United States felt a lot different than it does today. The reason for that is that many of the nutrients and much of the organic matter has been washed out to sea. They have been replaced with much less porous chemical fertilizers. The amount of soil, that is, the thickness of it, is a fraction of what it used to be.
We eat these nutrients and we flush them down the toilet. They go out to sea and as a result, the land loses some of its wealth.
We live inside of extremely large and wasteful systems and those systems must be either flushed down the toilet of history or radically changed.
The simple act of having a snack and a glass of coke requires a monumental effort that happens behind the scenes. The sugar is shipped to the factory from the plantation and a warehouse. This requires ships, trucks and forklifts. The sugar is packaged on the way and that requires cutting trees, processing the paper which is a large expenditure of energy in itself. The paper is then packed and shipped. It is then made into the specific packaging material for the sugar. This all requires many workers to get in their cars and go to work, using even more energy. The sugar is packaged and then moved to the factory that makes the Coke. This factory ships in many different materials that go into the recipe for Coke. Then there is glass and cans which start out as rock and are processed into cans and bottles. It would take a lot of effort to trace every worker that goes into a glass of coke.
So, you have your Coke and a pastry which is in cellophane wrapper which in turn is in a colourful box. Again, the process is far too involved to even write out here. Little by little by little, every day, every week and every year, the earth and the eco-systems provide their micro treasures for our macro systems so we humans can consume. We are addicted to bath oil, and hair conditioner and cigarettes and fat. And as the wealth of the eco-systems offer up their treasures to us, we flush them down toilets, burn them, and contaminate them irreparably.
We have to abandon affluence and our multitude of petty addictions. We have to abandon our spoiled comfort. We have to stop the madness of having our Coke and our snack and then driving in our cars to Curves to work off our guilt and excessive fat. We have to stop packing goods inside of packages that are inside of packages. We have to stop cutting tress to make paper to advertise to tell people they must consume what they don’t need and what will make them sick. We have to learn to eat from the local soil, to drink water from our local ground, and to stop all the shipping and flushing and burning.
We have to change our minds.
But when we consider that even something as minimal as the Kyoto Protocol has run into stiff opposition from those that are most addicted to the party, we know that we have to win a huge battle before we start cutting down the large macro party machines of capitalism.
Our children and grandchildren and their kids have an enemy in our midst. This enemy is equal to the bus driver that jumps from the bus with busted brakes to save himself instead of taking the risk to save the children who all perish off the side of a cliff. They are George Costanza pushing children and feeble old women down to escape what he thinks is a fire in the kitchen. They are the selfish and comfortable cowards that we think of as capitalists. They are them and their million lackeys and they are the enemies of humanity and the earth.
Everybody doesn’t have to work to distribute and produce wealth. That idea is part of capitalistic indoctrination. Capitalism has given us many gifts of technology, know-how, and toys. Thank you capitalism, we appreciate it. But it has come at a price and the sooner we start paying it back to the earth, the less expensive it will be. We have to change our economic systems, our production systems and our distribution systems if we want to save the eco-systems.
We will produce most of what we need locally and we will start living with each other in communities again. We will say good-bye to our alienated lives in front of television sets. We will produce what we need and we will distribute what is needed as it is needed. We may need bicycles and buses, we don’t need cars. We need to distribute water where it isn’t locally available, we don’t need Coke. We don’t need bath oil or bath oil beads.
We live inside big wasteful production and distribution systems but we also live inside many other systems. We live inside eco-systems and we cannot destroy them. We cannot continue to abuse the earth because we are as much a part of the earth and the nutrients we put in our mouths and flush down the toilet. As we destroy the earth, we destroy our grandchildren. They are the earth and they will come from the earth long after we return to it.
Saturday, May 07, 2005
A Clever Admission of Racism
The following statement is one of the more clever displays of camouflage ever devised. It seems to be used mainly by White liberals. Conservatives that take the trouble to try to appear non-racist may also resort to it. The statement is: "I'm a racist and we are all racists."
It looks very good at first. Making such an admission takes courage and insight, you'd think.
It is like the tactic of a crow, hiding in plain sight. Soon, nobody pays attention to them.
The reason for this admission is to normalize racism. It is one the most hateful tactics of social and psychological subterfuge ever devised. This clever admission of guilt serves to legitimize the myriad of the crimes of racists; from subtle ostracization to lynchings and genocide. It provides a rationale for White privelege, a privelege that has been won through a long history of mass murder, ruthless theft, and racist declarations to affirm our nefarious birthright.
Racism is not normal and it isn't human nature. It is part of an artificial continuum of domination that is hundreds of years old. Racism is a means of promoting, securing and legitimizing White privilege for the people and the heirs of the people that have killed, enslaved, and ostracized Blacks, Asians, and Aboriginals. People that take comfort in that privilege will both rationalize racism with statements like, "everybody is a racist and it's human nature" and then contradict themselves by saying that racism is either not a problem or not much of a problem.
You see a very similar pathological dynamic with religious zealots. People like George W. Bush and other members of the Christian Right will proclaim themselves to be sinners; that we are all sinners and if we ask our Lord for forgiveness and believe in Him, we will be granted out rightful place in heaven.
A bit of a cartoonish mental scam but one that is surprizingly common and resilient against the light of rationality and common sense.
These humble servants of the Lord then proceed to slaughter thousands to steal their resources. They hold a gun in one hand and a bible in the other. They spit venom through their fangs and declare war on evil.
Like the liberal racists that ignore their own racism, they take comfort in their sick and pathological skill at ignoring the immense pain that they inflict.
It looks very good at first. Making such an admission takes courage and insight, you'd think.
It is like the tactic of a crow, hiding in plain sight. Soon, nobody pays attention to them.
The reason for this admission is to normalize racism. It is one the most hateful tactics of social and psychological subterfuge ever devised. This clever admission of guilt serves to legitimize the myriad of the crimes of racists; from subtle ostracization to lynchings and genocide. It provides a rationale for White privelege, a privelege that has been won through a long history of mass murder, ruthless theft, and racist declarations to affirm our nefarious birthright.
Racism is not normal and it isn't human nature. It is part of an artificial continuum of domination that is hundreds of years old. Racism is a means of promoting, securing and legitimizing White privilege for the people and the heirs of the people that have killed, enslaved, and ostracized Blacks, Asians, and Aboriginals. People that take comfort in that privilege will both rationalize racism with statements like, "everybody is a racist and it's human nature" and then contradict themselves by saying that racism is either not a problem or not much of a problem.
You see a very similar pathological dynamic with religious zealots. People like George W. Bush and other members of the Christian Right will proclaim themselves to be sinners; that we are all sinners and if we ask our Lord for forgiveness and believe in Him, we will be granted out rightful place in heaven.
A bit of a cartoonish mental scam but one that is surprizingly common and resilient against the light of rationality and common sense.
These humble servants of the Lord then proceed to slaughter thousands to steal their resources. They hold a gun in one hand and a bible in the other. They spit venom through their fangs and declare war on evil.
Like the liberal racists that ignore their own racism, they take comfort in their sick and pathological skill at ignoring the immense pain that they inflict.
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Revolution or Bust
After World War 2 the Western World began a grand party that certainly climaxed in the late 60’s. Optimism was everywhere. Tons of gadgets were being invented and bought and suburbs were growing out of Henry Ford’s factories. Everything was on the upswing. Social programs and workers benefits meant that the children of capitalism were secure and the future was brilliant. There was only one direction – up. Sure there may have been bumps and grinds, but there was a definite positive, upward trend.
In the mid-1970’s, when nobody was looking, the direction changed. We have been on a downward slide ever since and lately, it’s becoming uncomfortably noticeable. We have been tightening belts, cutting programs, cracking down on senior citizens and poor people and slaughtering thousands of Arabs for oil. Those factories that were the economic basis for the suburbs have been closing and the inner cities are starting to rot. Some American states spend more on jails than they do on education.
Capitalism has grown into an ugly insatiable beast that has no loyalty to anyone. Shiny toys will be made where they can be made cheapest. Monsters like Wal-Mart manufacture in so-called communist China, where the state controls capitalism as opposed to the other way around, and they can sell goods for lower prices than anyone else. Manufacturing firms have been moving to Mexico and Vietnam and the suburb dwellers kids won’t have a pot to piss in.
Workers in Quebec were heroic enough to become the first unionized Wal-Mart in North America. Last week the monster spit those heroes out like a bad meal and sent a message, not only to other Wal-Mart workers with the guts to demand enough to eat and buy Christmas toys. They send a message to all workers. This is a message from the private sector (courtesy of Wal-Mart) to workers period. There is a class war on and whether you bury your head in the sand or not, you can’t escape reality. It’s all over the place. And in reality, the message is, we don’t need you. You need us.
The optimism of the past is gone. We may be afraid to look at where we’re headed, but eventually we will have to. The working class, waged and unwaged, is entering the dark ages of capitalism and there is nothing short of revolution that will stop it. The ideological madmen have taken over politically. Not because it’s suddenly fashionable to be a neo- con as much as capitalism grows and it grows fast, and it matures. We happen to be fortunate enough to be living in a time when it is getting rotten. The capitalist corporation and the capitalist state are unapologetically intertwined and they are shamelessly taking over the world like madmen in a 60’s Batman movie.
They used to say that if we (workers) organize they (the owners) will close up shop. Most times, it was a bluff. But they ain’t bluffing anymore. Real wages have been going down for three decades now and capital can flee across borders at the tap of a keyboard.
The real bottom line is this. All wealth, everything you see around you is there because workers mined the ore, we shipped the ore, we cut down the tress, we built the gadgets and the factories and the homes and the hospitals, we loaded and unloaded, and hammered and transported – everything. Every dime that is in a rich man’s(sic) pocket is the result of the labour of workers. That wealth and the concomitant power isn’t legitimately theirs. The bottom line is the workers have all the wealth and the power. It has been misplaced into the pockets of parasites that don’t ship, mine, manage, build, or engineer. They just play the grand casino and they play politics and they play - and they play. But they are parasites and they are consuming the host and some day the game will be over.
We have a choice. We can take matters into our own hands now, or our kids and grandkids can do it later. We at least owe it to them to prepare them for this monumental struggle that they will have on their hands far more than we do. It could get real ugly. It will.
In the mid-1970’s, when nobody was looking, the direction changed. We have been on a downward slide ever since and lately, it’s becoming uncomfortably noticeable. We have been tightening belts, cutting programs, cracking down on senior citizens and poor people and slaughtering thousands of Arabs for oil. Those factories that were the economic basis for the suburbs have been closing and the inner cities are starting to rot. Some American states spend more on jails than they do on education.
Capitalism has grown into an ugly insatiable beast that has no loyalty to anyone. Shiny toys will be made where they can be made cheapest. Monsters like Wal-Mart manufacture in so-called communist China, where the state controls capitalism as opposed to the other way around, and they can sell goods for lower prices than anyone else. Manufacturing firms have been moving to Mexico and Vietnam and the suburb dwellers kids won’t have a pot to piss in.
Workers in Quebec were heroic enough to become the first unionized Wal-Mart in North America. Last week the monster spit those heroes out like a bad meal and sent a message, not only to other Wal-Mart workers with the guts to demand enough to eat and buy Christmas toys. They send a message to all workers. This is a message from the private sector (courtesy of Wal-Mart) to workers period. There is a class war on and whether you bury your head in the sand or not, you can’t escape reality. It’s all over the place. And in reality, the message is, we don’t need you. You need us.
The optimism of the past is gone. We may be afraid to look at where we’re headed, but eventually we will have to. The working class, waged and unwaged, is entering the dark ages of capitalism and there is nothing short of revolution that will stop it. The ideological madmen have taken over politically. Not because it’s suddenly fashionable to be a neo- con as much as capitalism grows and it grows fast, and it matures. We happen to be fortunate enough to be living in a time when it is getting rotten. The capitalist corporation and the capitalist state are unapologetically intertwined and they are shamelessly taking over the world like madmen in a 60’s Batman movie.
They used to say that if we (workers) organize they (the owners) will close up shop. Most times, it was a bluff. But they ain’t bluffing anymore. Real wages have been going down for three decades now and capital can flee across borders at the tap of a keyboard.
The real bottom line is this. All wealth, everything you see around you is there because workers mined the ore, we shipped the ore, we cut down the tress, we built the gadgets and the factories and the homes and the hospitals, we loaded and unloaded, and hammered and transported – everything. Every dime that is in a rich man’s(sic) pocket is the result of the labour of workers. That wealth and the concomitant power isn’t legitimately theirs. The bottom line is the workers have all the wealth and the power. It has been misplaced into the pockets of parasites that don’t ship, mine, manage, build, or engineer. They just play the grand casino and they play politics and they play - and they play. But they are parasites and they are consuming the host and some day the game will be over.
We have a choice. We can take matters into our own hands now, or our kids and grandkids can do it later. We at least owe it to them to prepare them for this monumental struggle that they will have on their hands far more than we do. It could get real ugly. It will.
Monday, May 02, 2005
Sunday, May 01, 2005
Profound Disappointment
Over the years we argue on usenet; conservatives and liberals, socialists and capitalists, Christians and atheists, and through it all the collective nightmare of Hitler's fascism is somehow remembered even though many of us cannot actually remember the killings, the concentration camps and the torture.
We assume that there are lines that none would cross because of that nightmare. Essentially we are all working toward the same things; a better life, progress, a greater measure of equality, freedom and democracy. We may have very different ways of achieving a better society and a better future and this is the basis of our arguing.
But there are lines that none of us would cross, I had assumed. We would not accept any mass slaughter of innocent people by one state against any people. We would not accept a single country actually advocating and believing that it is up to them to rule the world. We would not accept torture and concentration camps - never again. The nightmare of Hitler at least serves that purpose. We know what evil is. We know what lines *not* to cross.
But here we are in 2005 and it is quite common to argue with people that argue in favour of global imperialism and these despicable quislings believe that the will of those with the most power is worth bowing and scraping to. The sovereignty of other nations is just pretentious nonsense. They even apologize for concentration camps and torture carried out by the madmen intent on conquering the world.It wasn't so long ago that I wondered how Hitler actually managed to get people to follow his insane designs on the world and his sadistic state/corporate imperialism. I don't wonder any more. Unfortunately, I sometimes argue with the same kind of people that followed Hitler. They accept that America has the legitimate right to tell other countries what to do and the right to invade other countries to prevent THAT enemy from future aggression. They accept a state that arrests people BEFORE they commit the crime. They accept their master’s torture of foreigners or any perceived enemies. They accept their masters right to lock people up in concentration camps without trial and their right to actually torture them. I've argued with people here who minimize the torture as if it's not really torture proper. These people cannot be trusted. They are as real an enemy as Hitler and his hordes of murderers.
Many right wingers that used to support American meddling have shut up about it, and I have noticed it and I'm pleased by that. But then there are the Hitlerite apologists. You are clearly an enemy as the Nazis were in the last century and I expect that eventually this fight will progress beyond arguing. If that is your intent, so be it. You cowards will be defeated again.
A few short years ago I saw these arguments on usenet as a game, a way of sharpening my debating skills. But now I realize that this is not a rehearsal. We are into the real thing and I am arguing with real fascists.
I am profoundly disappointed.
( Psychologists have done experiments, most notably Milgram, and found that about one third of the population are quislings that bow to authority and are willing to do so on the pain of others. One third - remember that.)
We assume that there are lines that none would cross because of that nightmare. Essentially we are all working toward the same things; a better life, progress, a greater measure of equality, freedom and democracy. We may have very different ways of achieving a better society and a better future and this is the basis of our arguing.
But there are lines that none of us would cross, I had assumed. We would not accept any mass slaughter of innocent people by one state against any people. We would not accept a single country actually advocating and believing that it is up to them to rule the world. We would not accept torture and concentration camps - never again. The nightmare of Hitler at least serves that purpose. We know what evil is. We know what lines *not* to cross.
But here we are in 2005 and it is quite common to argue with people that argue in favour of global imperialism and these despicable quislings believe that the will of those with the most power is worth bowing and scraping to. The sovereignty of other nations is just pretentious nonsense. They even apologize for concentration camps and torture carried out by the madmen intent on conquering the world.It wasn't so long ago that I wondered how Hitler actually managed to get people to follow his insane designs on the world and his sadistic state/corporate imperialism. I don't wonder any more. Unfortunately, I sometimes argue with the same kind of people that followed Hitler. They accept that America has the legitimate right to tell other countries what to do and the right to invade other countries to prevent THAT enemy from future aggression. They accept a state that arrests people BEFORE they commit the crime. They accept their master’s torture of foreigners or any perceived enemies. They accept their masters right to lock people up in concentration camps without trial and their right to actually torture them. I've argued with people here who minimize the torture as if it's not really torture proper. These people cannot be trusted. They are as real an enemy as Hitler and his hordes of murderers.
Many right wingers that used to support American meddling have shut up about it, and I have noticed it and I'm pleased by that. But then there are the Hitlerite apologists. You are clearly an enemy as the Nazis were in the last century and I expect that eventually this fight will progress beyond arguing. If that is your intent, so be it. You cowards will be defeated again.
A few short years ago I saw these arguments on usenet as a game, a way of sharpening my debating skills. But now I realize that this is not a rehearsal. We are into the real thing and I am arguing with real fascists.
I am profoundly disappointed.
( Psychologists have done experiments, most notably Milgram, and found that about one third of the population are quislings that bow to authority and are willing to do so on the pain of others. One third - remember that.)
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