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| One of President Obama's many rewards for enriching banksters at the taxpayers' expense was this summer "cottage" on Martha's Vineyard. |
Why do we need a revolution, you say?
In rough order of priority:
o Global climate crisis driven by capitalism is spiraling out of control and the window to walk us back from catastrophe is rapidly closing.
o Global pandemic has killed millions and appears headed to kill millions more with a system of medical apartheid and for-profit medicine in the U.S. and other non-socialist countries.
o Eviction crisis on top of already galloping homelessness not only creates trauma for millions but is a big factor in the spread of COVID.
o Military spending and weapons systems surging -- including building nuclear weapons, illegal under international law because they could easily end human life if used.
o Incarceration for profit in the U.S. and to impoverish and disenfranchise Black, indigenous, and people of color is growing worse and was already at crisis levels. Racist policing continues at crisis levels but is now more visible due to cell phone videos.
o Student debt continues to depress the prospects of entire generations.
o Minimum wage is now about 1/3 of what an actual living wage should be in 2021, especially because of rapid, ongoing inflation of the cost of housing.
o Child care and public education continue to be underfunded in the face of immense unmet needs.
How are our corporate overlords fanning the flames for a second Civil War?
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| Charlottesville, Virginia "Unite the Right" rally August, 2017 |
In roughly chronological order:
o Propaganda rather than useful information sharing is the norm across the spectrum of corporate-owned "news" outlets, from Fox News to CNN. The steady erosion of reliability in sourcing information is the work of corporate media and corporate social media that censors on behalf of the ruling class.
Carlos Piccata, who says he is a combat vet, to the Shasta, CA county commission: “It’s not going to be peaceful much longer. We’re building, we’re organizing. You won’t stop us when the time comes. This is a warning for what’s coming. There’s a million people just like me.” pic.twitter.com/EF8fjqGb1z
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) August 14, 2021
o White supremacy is in a desperate fight to remain in control, and numerous militias and other types of organizations have responded to perceived and real threats including the removal of Confederate statues and flags. Also, attacks on Black Lives Matter protesters, including killing them by running them down with cars (a practice that a few states have legalized) and targeting them for assassination.
o Law enforcement complicit in white supremacist movement, and armed to the teeth with cast off military equipment shared by the Pentagon.
o Widespread misinformation about public health protocols including vaccines, masking, and distancing and robust media coverage of refuseniks.
o Absence of national leadership on ending the pandemic leaving states, towns, and school boards to fend for themselves in the face of angry mobs. We are entering the third school year in a row pitting neighbors against neighbors and parents against school administration.
What can we in the U.S. do to bring on revolution rather than a second civil war?
In no particular order:
o Don't fall for divisive tactics. For example, consider the possiblity that "Divided We Fall May Be COVID's Underlying Purpose."
o Look and listen beneath the surface of false dichotomies.
o Don't demonize each other just because we disagree. People with ideas that seem wrong and dangerous may have PTSD from traumas. They may be experiencing hunger, bankruptcy, or lack of medical care. They may only have access to really poor information or outright disinformation. Don't write human beings off even if you loathe their ideas.
o Free your mind and the rest will follow. Do your own thinking, take in new information, and be willing to rethink your beliefs. Put another way, don't mistake narratives for truth. Even this one.
At any given time, we have 3 days worth of food in the stores.
ReplyDeleteWe have 90 days worth of food in the pipeline leading to the stores.
We have no reserve.
If you want a revolution, you need to make sure that the food distribution gets restarted as soon as possible. We need the farmers to plant on schedule even though there's a revolution going on and they don't know how or whether they will be paid, or what kind of money will be in common use when they harvest.
We need the distribution system to continue to work. Preferably the disruption should end within 3 days. If it doesn't end within 30 days there will be a lot of starvation.
The Establishment can hold the population hostage. Fight them and a big fraction of the public will die. Maybe a revolutionary movement can also hold the population hostage. Surrender to them or a big fraction of the public will die. That would be bad.