Is This the Moment to Build a Movement?

I think it is time...past time...to unite the fight to end poverty in the world's wealthiest country, address the systemic racism reflected in our immoral prison system and police shootings, stop environmental degradation, and fund these cultural transitions (and restore a sense of humanity) by ending war. These four issues - poverty, racism, ecological destruction, and endless war – are intrinsically bound together. The Poor People's Campaign began forty days of action last Monday. Each week represents a different theme, and there are concurrent actions in thirty capitols.

Can We Escape the War Economy?

Yes, but we would have to want to change. This week we see a chance for peace on the Korean peninsula, so quick start a war with Iran and boost the market! The irony that Iran is the terrorist nation as Israel bombs them ...while Israel shoots children and journalists for marching against the conditions of their open air interment camp. Then consider the repressive kingdom of Saud and the horrors of the US-Saudi war in Yemen. But Iran is the terrorist nation? Looks like our allies are the biggest terrorists in the region to me. This echoes Iraq's WMD. We're gonna have our war like it or not. What citizens want no longer plays a role in our faux democracy. The oligarchs will have their way. Is it possible to escape this insanity? It would take a new system. This week let's look and listen to some forward thinking economists and consider other approaches as we look at the weeks events.

Happy Birthday Karl!

Karl Marx has been proven accurate with his predictions on capitalism...
Marx believed the coming crisis would result from contradictions within the capitalist system itself, and predicted that these contradictions would become more and more acute as the capitalist system evolved. Over time, Marx writes, capital takes control over the handcraft production processes and later manufacture where the workers were in control of the work process, centralizing the workers into workshops and factories. Through the process of competing for markets, some firms win and others lose, capital becomes enlarged and centralized; science and technology are consciously used to improve the productivity of the workplace, thus throwing many out of work while creating new jobs in service to the machines. In the process of competing for markets, unsuccessful capitalists fall into the proletariat and all productive labor, worldwide, come ultimately within the capitalist system
...
In addition to the booms and busts of capitalism that swing wider as capitalism evolves there is a constant churning of employment as machines replace men in one industry after another, throwing thousands out of work, thus swamping the labor market and lowering the cost of labor. In all of this the labourers suffer. Mass production, machine technology, and economies of scale will increasingly be applied to all economic activities; unemployment and misery for many men and women results . As capitalism develops the system must necessarily create enormous differences in wealth and power. The social problems it creates in its wake of boom and bust—of unemployment and under employment, of poverty amidst affluence will continue to mount. The vast majority of people will fall into the lower classes; the wealthy will become richer but ever fewer in number.
http://www.faculty.rsu.edu/users/f/felwell/www/Theorists/Essays/Marx5.htm

Mayday May Day Beltane?

Mayday is from the French m'aider ('help me'). It is usually repeated three times to make clear it is an emergency ...equivalent to the Morse code SOS. May Day is a different matter. It has ancient roots. It is mid-spring. Halfway between the equinox and the solstice. Often called the Beltane , from the Irish Lá Bealtaine, it has been (and is still) celebrated in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man for centuries. Many other cultures celebrate this seasonal corner as well. There's yet another May Day which celebrates International Workers Day and the Haymarket protests in Chicago May 4th, 1886. On the first of May "all Social Democratic Party organizations and trade unions of all countries should demonstrate energetically for the legal establishment of the 8-hour day, for the class demands of the proletariat, and for universal peace “. So mayday, mayday, mayday – we face an emergency. It is time to connect to nature and promote and protect workers.

Happy Day Earth!

Like George Carlin, I find it ironic to hear pleas to save the planet. What they are really saying is save our species. St. George suggests the Earth may have created us because it wanted plastic. It sure succeeded if that's the case. But the microbes may have the last word. The idea of plastic eating microbes (well really it is a mutant bacterial enzyme, PETase) is appealing, but it seems every time we meddle it comes out bad. The story of rabbits in Australia comes to mind. George's dream of our final fate is also worth considering. None the less, I suspect we would be better off to minimize the manufacture, use, and dispersal of plastic. https://www.breakfreefromplastic.org/

Taxing Times

I don't mind paying taxes. The idea of everyone contributing toward the common good appeals to me. However, when I think of what our nation does with our tax money, I start fuming. With the escalation of our illegal war with Syria, based on no solid evidence (on the heels of the spy poisoning case with no evidence)...as the US promotes death, disease, and starvation of people in Yemen...and Gaza, it is too much to fathom. To top it off the only journalist calling out the insanity is Tucker Carlson on FAUX news...the world has turned upside down. Did the magnetic poles suddenly reverse again?

Much of our local tax money is used to support schools. The oligarchs have been siphoning off those funds through cuts and privatization to the point where teachers have had it...and are striking. Now seems the time for all citizens to rise up and say they've had it with all our dirty little wars. There were some efforts this weekend to do just that. https://georgiapeace.org/

Prisoners, Hostages, Tradewars,
and Weapons of Mass Distraction

Another week speeds by as spring (or fall in the really deep south) unfolds. This week it strikes me how easily we are distracted from understanding our world and situation. Some things seem so obvious. The oligarchs no longer make a secret of their domination. Just a glance at Brazil should make us aware (not to mention Venezuela nor Honduras....or even our own territory of Puerto Rico). The rush to create Russia as an enemy is obscenely obvious as diplomats are expelled across the globe without a shred of evidence. Truthsayers are silenced... Assange blocked from the internet in the embassy and Snowden is exiled to Russia. But like emerging seeds teachers are rising up across our country, students are speaking out, and movements are growing. It is time to escape the bonds of commercial corporate media and help people understand our common condition.

The Resurrection of America
and Salvation of our Species

April Fools' Day (sometimes called All Fools' Day) is an annual celebration in some European and Western countries commemorated on April 1 by playing practical jokes and spreading hoaxes. The jokes and their victims are called April fools. Some newspapers, magazines and other published media report fake stories, which are usually explained the next day or below the news section in smaller letters. Although popular since the 19th century, the day is not a public holiday in any country. Aside from April Fools' Day, the custom of setting aside a day for the playing of harmless pranks upon one's neighbor has historically been common around the world....wiki

Friends and Enemies

A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies.
~ Oscar Wilde

It took me a few years of teaching to fully understand that what you do...your habits and behaviors...carry more meaning and impact than what you say. It is the adage “Actions speak louder than words”. I think looking at what nation states do, not what they say, is an excellent strategy too. A couple of weeks ago we discussed the making of a more perfect oligarchy. I expressed amazement that the oligarchs no longer feel the need to hide behind purchased politicians, but are out front, self serving politicians for all to see. This week I want to make a similar point about our friends and enemies. Why is Saudi Arabia, the most oppressive monarchy in the world, our good buddy..., and nations like Iran, Syria, and Venezuela are so horrible that we feel compelled to ignore their international rights and assume that we must conquer and corporatize them?

Blooming Idiots

Spring has sprung in Alabama. It's the deep flush of sudden color...an orgy of botanical porn. Amidst this explosion of life is the insanity of our government, economic system, and environmental degradation. It is the nature and power of life to be hopeful...positive about ourselves and our future. But I don't see how we manage the transition to a sustainable global system. However, I thought it would be a worthwhile topic and I hope you will share your views.