"Our Enemies"
"One, Two, Three, Four, We don't want your Fucking War!"
During the latest act in the American tragedy playing before our eyes, the "foreign policy" (U.S. imperialism) question and answer session with Trump and Clinton. the best businessman in the history of the universe (believe it), Trump, attacked Clinton while trying to sound "presidential".
Many felt he did just that which I disagree partly because he said one thing that should concern all of us. He said "our enemies".
I think most people listening to him speak didn't bat an eye at him saying that, like it's just an accepted fact that we have enemies. OUR enemies. It's said so matter of factly, no one questions it, the focus is on whether he sounded reasonable or not and that he told the truth about Hillary "the war criminal" Clinton. Of course we have enemies man, we're the big, bad USA and they hate us for our freedumbs, and our rights under the U.S.S. Constitution.
Enemy is a relative term, it can apply to a wide range of situations and people. You might consider your next door neighbor your enemy, or the Democratic party. But relative to Americans collectively having enemies in this world, that's just bullshit. We've been told we have enemies our entire lives. I'm 60 years old, I've heard it since Duck and Cover days. Fuck that. We don't have enemies, our government and those that control it have enemies. They aren't our enemies, they're the enemies of the ruling elite, those who rule us.
The Russian people aren't my enemy. Neither are the Chinese people. The enemy du jour, ISIS, isn't really our enemy except as an indirect path to our real enemy, our own fucking government.
Notice Trump said "enemies", plural. We have more than one enemy, we have multiple enemies. Here's a guy who has been bullshitting everyone about Putin and Russia who is indirectly saying they, Russia, are our enemy. That has to be the inference. There are only so many enemies out there, North Korea, Iran, China, Russia, ISIS, that axis of evil thing. So Trump is clearly parroting our rulers scare propaganda molding Russia and China as "our" enemies.
Some feel Trump would be a less dangerous President than Hillary Clinton. That's hard to say, certainly Clinton sets the bar so damn high it's hard to top. But this is a giant machine controlled by an immensely powerful collective. The Deep State, the spy and intelligence agencies, the western financial oligarchy, the secret societies, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Bilderberg group, the Club of Rome, the ruling elite's control of the media, etc., are not going to be sidelined by some puny billionaire with bad hair. Or any U.S. President for that matter. Nobel Peace prize winner Obama has proven that without a shadow of doubt. Signed, sealed, delivered, we're theirs.
This is the kind of false narrative that must be challenged, not simply accepted. That's the lie that starts it all, the foundation of the Empire, enemies. We the Serfs don't have enemies, they do, the ruling elite, those that rule over We the Serfs. We're going to hear it over and over in the final two and a half months particularly in the debates. We have enemies, we need a strong military, we need to fight ISIS, we need to take measures to stop Russian and Chinese aggression, we need to liberate Syria from an evil dictator, we need to stop Iran from being Iran.
It all has to be challenged and not turned into a question of who might be "better" at U.S. imperialism, Trump or Clinton. Our enemies are those ruling over us.
Comments
My confession...
I must confess that I have turned into a troll on the Washington Post comment board. Every time I see an obvious Hillary-loving Democrat post a comment about Russia being our enemy or Russia hacking our computers or Trump being a Russian stooge or Putin wanting to destroy America, I start name-calling the poster a Republican nutjob warmonger or a rightwing wacko or a baby-killing Repuke. I'm just as nasty toward them as I would be toward an actual Republican who was spouting warmongering bullshit about Russia and "our enemies".
My friend, Republican posters are not our enemies, either.
The "Divide and Rule" Democratic crowd that attends their weddings, golfs with them, gives them awards, etc. tells us over and over that they are our worst enemies. In truth, we're all just fellow sufferers.
I am not sure if it's too late. If it isn't, uniting with all Americans is our only hope. We plebes need to stop demonizing each other.
You remember Nancy's funeral. When Hillary falsely credited the Reagans with advancing the fight against AIDS, then was forced to "correct" her horrific error by crediting them instead with advocating for stem cell research, which they opposed for others-- until Ronnie was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and Nancy hoped he might benefit from it.
Those of us who know we need to fight to get our democracy back
have these false, manufactured divisions of the people as their first big roadblock.
I have a dear friend, a Fox acolyte, who absolutely will not discuss politics with me. I can't even discuss the nature of the political division between us. And that is the local level at which I have to start.
I bet you can discuss with her that the people of Flint were
screwed by the establishment and bridges ought not collapse during rush hour. IMO, this is what we need to do. We need to stop attacking them and defending corporate Democrats, even leftists, and start uniting around issues.
A topsy-turvy world.
Prior to 1968, the Democratic Party was the Warmongering Party. Afterwards, it was the Republican Party. Since 2001, it's both parties. I'm finding myself more in agreement with some Republicans (not the party, the individuals) than with some Democrats. This whole Cold War 2.0 thing freaks me out.
Thank you for saying that!
I see zero chance for any populist movement if the people cannot figure out they are not their own enemy.
A lot of wanderers in the U.S. political desert recognize that all the duopoly has to offer is a choice of mirages. Come, let us trudge towards empty expanse of sand #1, littered with the bleached bones of Deaniacs and Hope and Changers.
-- lotlizard
Go in peace, my child,
and sin some more.
The smaller the mind the greater the conceit. --Aesop
the most recent emanation
from the placid and peaceful Hairball:
Saw that.
How is that any different. It's not.
it is
a constant source of amusement to me, those people, who must needs stick needles in their eyes, in order not to see, that in re foreign policy, The Hairball, he would be just as bad, if not worse, than The Mad Bomber.
We're theirs.
On a lighter note:
Nobel Peace prize winner Obama has proven that without a shadow of doubt. Signed, sealed, delivered, we're theirs.
Your writing slays me, Al. (In a good way.) You know Signed, Sealed, Delivered was the big campaign trail song, also sung at an Obama inauguration ball, national convention, etc. I love that these things occur to you, and you fit them perfectly into the flow of writing.
Thank you, Al,
for this essay.
Thanks OLinda,
my pleasure.
I won't vote for him but
at the end of the day, Trump is less dangerous. I say that because it seems to me that if elected, he will have as many legal encumbrances as does Clinton. I believe that the IRS is going to end up coming down on him hard and if any of these money laundering schemes are properly investigated then we'd better get used to Pence for pres. Pence is kinda dumb and I don't think he'd be effective at all. If the Dems take back the senate, then either will be as impotent as Obama has been for the last several years.
"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage
It not an equivalency.
When Democrats are in the minority, they pretend to be utterly powerless. Also, that's when they go into full-blown D.C. kabuki mode, pretending to want the same things most Americans want, knowing Republicans won't play. Then they blame Republicans when it does not happen. However, when Democrats are in the majority, they don't push populist legislation.
When Republicans are in the minority, they prevent whatever they wish to prevent. When Republicans are in the majority, they push for things like Gramm Leach Blilely and Democrats either help them or don't stop them.
Example: Scalia, Thomas, Roberts and Alito are made it to the SCOTUS, but confirmation of a nominee of Obama's who is essentially a pro-choice Republican is not even being brought to a vote, much less being confirmed. Oh, and Hillary has promised to re-nominate him, no matter what.
What you say is historically accurate
but I don't think it's going to continue that way. Both parties are damaged and need to reinvent themselves. In that process, who knows what may happen.
"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage
"who knows what may happen"
The Serfs wake up and say fuck this shit?
Only connect. - E.M. Forster
If the Neocons score a win with Hillary
…this won't happen:
The Duopoly will be set in concrete, and Party challenges will be prohibited legally. The American people will buckle under and labor for the Empire, or they will experience another "mini Pearl Harbor" and will surrender completely to a future of ever-present fear.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
So Orwell was off by a few years
some of the press held out for a while with actual news and he didn't foresee the internet tubes, which have been pretty open until now. I fully expect that President $hillary Clinton will make certain that the internet will be radically altered to protect her majesty from all criticism. Look what they've already accomplished with what used to be the progressive blogs and online news. Almost entirely Hillary worshipping boot-lickers at this point.
As climate change worsens and threatens major segments of the population, people might begin to wake up. When they do wake up, I expect them to exterminate the "troublemakers" en masse to minimize the discomfiture of the oligarchs. I hope I'm wrong, but the trajectory seems set.
Even worse, the 1% seems to have learned a few
things from history.
Over the centuries the 99% have had to rise up again and again over the same shit. If and when we ever win we fail to install any kind of barrier to the same oppressive conditions appearing again in the future. We haven't learned from the past.
Yet the 1% are showing they have learned quite a few lessons from history. See if you can add to this list:
1. They hide. We don't know who these people are. We don't even know what subsidiaries are associated with their parent companies which effectively renders boycotting null. They have built fortresses for themselves, but mostly we don't know where they are or what security has been built into them. There is very little public face to the 1% - most of the faces we know are puppets, not masters. The only tiny silver lining is the knowledge that they fear us. The downside is that they have anticipated the swelling antipathy towards them. They know we are only going to become poorer and more angry.
2. They divide. This one should be familiar. Red vs Blue states, Republicans vs Democrats wherein they demonize one another in public. Abortion vs choice, creationism vs evolution, mere tactics in a broader strategy. Another tactic has been dumbing down our schools, our news, our media. This makes people much easier to manipulate into these false divisions. It was these false divisions that allowed them to get away with the great theft of 2007-2008 - that is unprecedented. We were more likely to tar and feather each other than to bring the miscreants into the public light for punishment. Rising up requires unity among the 99%.
3. They conquer. All three divisions of government and the 4th estate are all in their power and influence at an unprecedented level. The most frightening aspect of this has been the militarization of our police. The purpose of that should be obvious to anyone. They have also jailed of millions of some of their most potent potential adversaries - the least advantaged.
4. They fear-monger. Using all the tools listed above - the 4 branches and all their subsidiaries, they try to make the 99% feel threatened by outside forces in order to turn them within for protection, to make them feel dependent on the 99% (disguised as government for the people). This also hugely benefits profits, as military hardware is a premium product that has to be used to create the need for more production. It's gotten worse recently. We've gone from hating and fearing Islam (covering a ton of nations in one fell swoop) to re-igniting old fears about Russia and China. Our children are fodder for these profit making sociopaths. They also employ fear mongering as part of the practice of sowing division within, as listed above.
5. They rig the system. I feel almost like a fool arguing over Trump vs Hillary on down the line because the die is cast. I don't trust the election process in this country any more. As a retired programmer, I know how dangerous it is to turn to electronic voting, but they are so inept they even use white-out and shred big boxes of ballots - they hardly need to electronically flip votes, so weakened are our protections from such skullduggery. Watching Rove freak out over Ohio was a big tell. He got out-rigged.
This they learned from history, the most recent example being the protests that started with anti-war re Viet Nam. Now reporters can only be "embedded" and they control what visuals we receive over the airwaves and hide inhumane behavior by our own people. No more shots of naked children fleeing napalm, no more pictures of heads being blown off, no more uncovering of My Lai and Lt. Calley belying our national image as "the good guys" Nowadays a good portion of our 99% think torture is justified. Our boycotts hurt them back then, so now you can't pick up a product and determine its corporate provenance. That takes serious digging.
Is there more? Do they need more than that to ensure a continual hold on power?
That's a good list, and very consistent, historically.
I would add, they suppress. Because they do. My particular interest is domestic propaganda programs and misinformation campaigns inside the US. The social science of mass memory replacement and narrative reformatting has recently blossomed. You can see it everywhere in your life, unless you have already succumbed.
The people who remember events with intellectual honesty and who maintain a consistent moral compass are an ever shrinking pool, to the point that it is dangerous. If the People don't topple the Democratic Party the way they did the Republican Party, in 2016, then they will have betrayed you.
We now live in a world where incrementalism is a loaded gun — pointed at your head.
Such people, the seers, should leave the country if they can, and start new lives for their own sakes and for their family's protection. It's never too late for a great experience with lasting benefits. There are many books out there that explain the many interesting ways that it is done.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
I'm not quite that full of doom and gloom yet
Clinton, should she be elected, will be responsible for selecting the next DNC chair. After the Wasserman-Schulz debacle, her choice will be under great scrutiny. Her lack of popularity will tacitly cause some Dems to distance themselves from her. Particularly as her transgressions continue to gain momentum making her weaker still.
Perhaps 'reinvent' was a tad strong in terms of the Democrats but they are acutely aware of the Sanders' supporters as a voting block and what those numbers mean.
"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage
Obama's transition team in '08 was scrutinized by progressives,
but their objections were overruled by the "reasonable" people who talked of compromise and reaching across the aisle. As HenryWallace said, Dems in the minority are weak, but Repubs can obstruct and threaten when they're in the minority.
It's all kabuki to keep the 99% in line. Those at the head of both parties are two sides of the same golden coin of the 1%. There are factions among that 1% just as the nobility vied among themselves for power, but the 1% have much in common with one another and little in common with us.
"Let me tell you about the rich. They are different from you and me. They posses and enjoy early, and it does something to them, makes them soft where we are hard, and cynical where we are trustful, in a way that, unless you were born rich, it is very difficult to understand. They think, deep in their hearts, that they are better than we are because we had to discover the compensations and refuges of life for ourselves. Even when they enter into our world or sink below us, they still think they are better than we are. they are different." ~FS Fitzgerald, "The Rich Boy" 1926
The Democratic Party is no more a friend o; the 99% than the Republican Party. They're both inventions to keep us complacent and in our place.
"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"
Obama Chose Biden For VP
What else did anyone need to know? The Senator From MBNA? Really Obomba? Joe Biden?
"They'll say we're disturbing the peace, but there is no peace. What really bothers them is that we are disturbing the war." Howard Zinn
[Edited] You nailed it, HW, when you said,
What I don't get, is 'why' this isn't obvious to anyone who's paying attention?
The C's are probably the most toxic politicians that I've observed in my lifetime. At the least, they're clearly the most dishonest. Frankly, I'm not sure that they could tell the truth about the time of day.
And, FSC has the backing of the bipartisan neocon Establishment, hands down. I think that says a lot.
More than a couple years ago, when the first PAC was formed to elect FSC, I read a piece that quoted an anonymous 'close friend' who said that if it were left up to FSC, after having served as SOS, she'd stay home and enjoy being a Grandmother. (It was either right before, or after, their first grandchild was born.) The source went on to say that FSC's run had as much to do with WJC, as it did vindicating her previous loss. IOW, it was a chance for him to have a third term, and 'rectify' the harm that was done to him by the Lewinsky scandal.
Bottom line, WJC felt cheated, and feels 'entitled' to a third term so that he can execute 'unfinished business.'
The C's--always the victims.
[Edit: I didn't mean to get so off topic, Al. But, HW's comment about the Dems rang so true, I just had to put in my 2 cents. Obviously, you nailed it regarding the false narrative--so thanks for pointing it out. IMO, there are few 'narratives,' on any of the issues this election cycle, that aren't total 'BS.' Hate to say it, but I think we're cooked.]
Mollie
“I believe in the redemptive powers of a dog’s love. It is in recognition of each dog’s potential to lift the human spirit, and, therefore, to change society for the better, that I fight to make sure every street dog has its day.”
--Stasha Wong, Secretary, Save Our Street Dogs (SOSD)
National Mill Dog Rescue (NMDR) - Dogs Available For Adoption
Update: Misty May has been adopted. Yeah!
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
It's been obvious to me for some time now. That's why I've
found Alan Grayson, Bernie Sanders and others to to be rays of light in the darkness. They are kept marginalized though which fits with the Democratic meme of helplessness.
"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"
You're not off topic, Mollie
And, there is an answer to this:
The people one might expect to see it, including those who have an obligation and duty to see it, we are finding, do not. Some are simply bewildered by the concept. Others can see a few details, but cannot see how they form a big picture. A few react with anger and belligerence against those who shine light on the situation.
I don't think there is malice here, and many are very good people. It's just that they have already been assimilated.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
Hi, Pluto--it's good to see ya! I totally agree with
your analysis. I'm 'guessing' that in some instances, the thinking may have to do with the notion, "better the devil you know (than the devil you don't.)" And then there's another trait that may come into play, risk aversion--a somewhat similar mindset.
At any rate, I didn't mean to imply that anyone was evil, or had malice if they don't view the Dem Party as HW describes, above (and with which, I am in agreement). Hey, as they say, "Others mileage may vary."
Always good to run into you . . .
Mollie
“I believe in the redemptive powers of a dog’s love. It is in recognition of each dog’s potential to lift the human spirit, and, therefore, to change society for the better, that I fight to make sure every street dog has its day.”
--Stasha Wong, Secretary, Save Our Street Dogs (SOSD)
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
And I did not mean to lay the painting brush of blame
…at your feet, Mollie. That would be absurd, anyway.
I have been hitting on that theme of late, though: "Finding fault in people who see the world in a diametrically opposed way." But that's the battlefield we find ourselves on. It is one of estrangement, suspicion, and division. Clearly the battlefied is designed and framed that way by our two-party overlords since it is so very easy to manipulate people who are polarized.
There's another strong theme playing into all this, and playing hard:
Discussing issues is prohibited.
Policy issues can not be debated because the people do not have adequate security clearance to enter the discussion. Therefore, politicians must demure on their plans due to national security. (Except for Donald Trump because he'll say anything he happens to be thinking.) Only specific economists know if proposals that benefit the people are actually possible, or if they are written by clueless fools. Only military generals know if a given foreign murder-spree is a good idea. Corporate CEOs know if minimum wage hikes will destroy the entire US economy, not ordinary citizens. Defense, State, and Intelligence know when something is a war crime and when it is the right thing to do.
The volume on negating issues discussions is painfully loud, and it's going to get a lot louder. The People already accept this.
The people are only permitted to demonize personalities and government selected foreign leaders. They can also discuss each other's private parts and lobby for equality "down there." Otherwise, they are unworldly know-nothings who are sitting in the cheap seats.
That said, if the people decide not to turn on each other, as planned by our overlords, this election could hold some surprises. Hence, my focus on blame and malice, which are artificially manufactured.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
Well put,
And, no offense taken, Pluto. Truthfully, since my blunt style may come across as accusatory (of others) when it's not my intention, I thought it might be best to clarify my remark, just in case.
Mollie
“I believe in the redemptive powers of a dog’s love. It is in recognition of each dog’s potential to lift the human spirit, and, therefore, to change society for the better, that I fight to make sure every street dog has its day.”
--Stasha Wong, Secretary, Save Our Street Dogs (SOSD)
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
As I was just saying in another comment . . .
There is no Left. There is no Right. There's just Us (the 99%) - and Them (the 1%).
All these ideas.of differences among the 99% are nothing more than the execution of the extremely effective Roman method of divide and rule. The only "enemies" of the Serfs are their Rulers.
Great essay, Al. Good to see you spelling it out clearly, no holds barred.
Only connect. - E.M. Forster
Goes way back doesn't it.
This country is a melting pot of divide and rule.
Thanks dr.
I've got a few enemies on the list...
Most of them are part of our own MIC.
Others just want to make one more buck before doing something about Climate change.
Nope. Do good or get the fuck off our planet.
I agree with this.
Our enemies are not simply the Rulers but all their Enablers, who enrich themselves by keeping the Rulers in power, that 15% who make careers in the MIC, and Police and Surveillance States, i.e., the people spying on us and their friends with shackles and guns. Lovely country we got here, eh? USA! USA!
Only connect. - E.M. Forster
Muhammed Ali grokked that, decades ago.
Sadly, apparently every generation has to learn it. Even though we have an alphabet and the means for writing are so much easier to come by than they were 7000 years ago, we seem worse at receiving wisdom from prior generations than those who had only oral tradition.
http://alphahistory.com/vietnamwar/muhammad-ali-refuses-to-fight-1967/
Granted, Ali expressed it from the stark perspective of an American black man, but the story has always been plutocrats vs. everyone else. In those days, few plutocrats were members of a minority group. Today, that has changed somewhat.
Ali was so eloquent.
We need to update his understanding of American history with language that includes all the serfs and not allow the rulers to get away with telling us to STFU because we got bait-and-switch Kenyan-American Obama. The color card - black, brown, and white - is about the oldest divide and rule technique played in every society. Now the US has added in descendants of slaves versus dark-skinned people.who aren't. Nice trick. Let's not fall for it.
Only connect. - E.M. Forster
A vivid and reallistic portrayal
of America's plutocracy, how it operates, and how it has been evolving:
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6niWzomA_So]
native
This is an excellent documentary which starkly contrasts the
wealth and poverty which exists in the US using one famous street in NYC. I've cited this film several times at TOP in the past, but I don't know that it would be welcomed there now.
"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"
Great essay
The serfs around the world are not my enemies.
My 15 year old son plays XBox live games (where they speak with each other) with kids from all over the world. Russia Norway Germany .... His two best friends online are a Vietnamese kid who lives in Seattle and a kid in New Jersey whose parents came from the Dominican Republic. He doesn't see any of these as enemies.
Maybe there is more hope in the next generation?
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
Al, this is probably one of your best essays
You have stated something that we in our Peace vigil have tried to emphasize over and over.
Fear is how they maintain control so that we do not realize who our real enemies are. Thank you for this great essay.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Well done, Al.
I don't have enemies, either. I, like gulfgal, realize they keep us in fear to keep us subservient. The people must rise up. It's the only way out.
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
Oh, I have enemies.
It's just not defined by nationality. And it certainly is not defined by the press, politicians, or military.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Watch your back, then.
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
Oh, it's not personal.
My enemies are the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself. And those who actively attempt to spread them.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Great essay,
Al. Agree 1000%.
To my way of thinking, those folks in far off lands or those who look a little different from me, they aren't enemies...only friends I haven't met yet.
Open hearted and fearless is not a condition the rulers appreciate in their serfs. The way to throw a monkey wrench in their game is to not give in to fear, not embrace hate, not "other" any group of humans. When we realize we are all one people on this tiny speck of sand hurtling through space, and this little planet is in grave danger of becoming inhospitable to human life, man made boundaries become meaningless.
"When the powerless are shut out of the media, we will make the media irrelevant" ~Anonymous~
And yet, we heard not one
And yet, we heard not one word about climate change. They were supposedly talking about national security and no one mentions poverty, resource depletion, global warming, access to health care, food and water nor overpopulation. Just war mongering, drawing bulls' eyes around who they want us to consider our enemies.
Bravo, just Bravo!!!!!!!!!!
Don't believe everything you think.
Great essay!
This is my very favorite take on the "enemies" talking point--although in this case the term used is "adversary."
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Vk4NxjKpu0]
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
As Herman Goring said
"Naturally the common people don't want war; neither in Russia, England, America nor in Germany, that is understood. But after all it is the leaders of the country that determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a parliament or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought along to do the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."
great essay, it isn't the people at all, but always our fearless chickenhawk leaders, you know the guy you want to have a beer with
who stir the pot.
I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish
"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"
Heard from Margaret Kimberley
THWACK!
Homerun, Al! Thank you. You nail it here.
"... I ain't got no quarrel with them Cong --"
"... just take me to jail."
Muhammad Ali, 1966
American boxer, civil-rights activist, patriot
Requiescat in Pace (May he rest in peace), 2016
When Cicero had finished speaking, the people said “How well he spoke”.
When Demosthenes had finished speaking, the people said “Let us march”.
Enemies are not nearly
as common as politicians want us to think they are. More often than not, our so-called enemies are in fact, imaginary phantoms conjured up out of inchoate fears and prejudices. And the conjuring is frequently done for ulterior purposes.
On the other hand, it's hard to deny that actual enemies do exist. For example, whoever it was that engineered 9/11 - whether they MIHOP, LIHOP, or it was The Official Story - they would have to be considered as an enemy. At the very least, an enemy of the people who got killed, if no one else. If someone is actively trying to kill you or have you killed, you've got an enemy whether you want to have one or not. If someone is trying to bulldoze your house, or steal your cattle, or rape your wife, you have an enemy.
I think the biggest problem arises when people develop collective enemies. When an entire nation or race or tribe or religion or other collectivity comes to be regarded as a singular enemy, a pathway to war opens up.
We are a collective species - we operate not individually, but in groups. And our various groupings are constantly in competition with one another over a host of issues - religion, resources, money, politics, and so on - to determine which group(s) will dominate, and which will acquiesce. We can see this happening now in North Dakota. If agreement or accommodation cannot be reached, people will often fight - to the death.
native
To Henry Wallace:The son he never had.
The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?
IMHO
Both wings of the One Corporatist World Party are our enemies. They can take their New World Order and shove it so far up their dorsal ports that it can see daylight through their nostrils.
Vowing To Oppose Everything Trump Attempts.
I found the "Commander-in-Chiefs Forum" to be just as
disturbing. This is a first and seems to indicate more than anything our future of perpetual war as signaled by our corporate overlords. This ups the ante from the signals sent by Reagan.
"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"
Me too, that was another aspect of it that
probably went over most people's heads.
Sad isn't it? You'd think people would say,
"What the hell is a "commander-in-Chiefs" forum? What happened to presidential debates?" But instead everyone's trying to figure out who looks more commander-in-chiefy. They don't even notice that they've just been sold on the concept of perpetual war.
"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"
War Is Job One
In Amerika nothing is more important than war.
"They'll say we're disturbing the peace, but there is no peace. What really bothers them is that we are disturbing the war." Howard Zinn
Thanks Al. Excellent essay. My first thought was Goober W's
axis of evil comment in the SOU in 2002(?). That comment made me really angry. I think by and large the people of the world realize it is not the citizens of the various countries but the global oligarchy that is the enemy of peace and the people. The only good thing about a Trump presidency would be the destruction of the 'left' wing of the Corporate Party of America, the right wing already being destroyed. #JillNotHill
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." - JFK | "The more I see of the moneyed peoples, the more I understand the guillotine." - G. B. Shaw Bernie/Tulsi 2020
The scene from Dr. Zhivago comes to mind...
when his Bolshevik brother is seen at this side of a military parade. In a voiceover he tells of his best day as a recruiter for the Revolution the one in which he was able to convince (don't quote me on the specifics) two infantry platoons that they were being used as human fodder for the rich elites of their country.
Paraphrased, he told them something like, "a Russian baker's son has no gripe with a German baker's son. You are allowing yourselves to be killed not for flag or country but for the deceitful propaganda and imperialistic plunder by and for the ruling class."
Jack London wrote some fiery, beautiful letters about the camaraderie and solidarity of the growing Socialist movement around the world at the turn of the century, in which he too illuminated the same idea.
Seems only when those employed as enforcer thugs/brute pillagers by the State refuse their orders and side with the people will the Revolution truly start in earnest.
"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:
THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"
- Kurt Vonnegut
More for gustogirls' list
The dividing they do is also class war divisions, they hide behind their walls and gates as they get the middle class who suffer as they make it to them that the working poor and impoverished classes are to blame, they blame "Handouts" and "entitlement programs" aka as our Social Safety Net, thus justifying the damage they do to it each legislative cycle, punishing the poor more and the middles can't see that they approve of such whilst the FatCats get billions of Corporate Welfare they call Business subsidies, and not to mention the massive Military spending done that mainly gets wasted on contracts that go over time/budget, etc.
So, if you are ticked off over food stamps, or other benefits for those who are not working due to many reasons, stop and re-think how the Rich have you thinking that way, head stuffed full of their propaganda,
Martin Luther King Jr was killed because he was going to launch a campaign uniting the lower classes to demand better and more rights, that scared them more than anything else.
So long, and thanks for all the fish