Revolutionary Civility: Abstention from Expressing Contempt

If you impartially pay attention to the processes within you, and long enough, I’m pretty sure that you will notice that Expressions of Contempt have a pay-off that is far more substantial than “letting off steam.” And certainly more reality-based than expecting the target to change whatever it is you hold contemptible in them.

What’s the real pay-off; the actual motive force for such expression? It’s that mighty rush of adrenaline flooding the system. End of story.

Take that away, and the need to express contempt will rarely appear.

Mind you, sometimes in society it is necessary to express contempt, just to keep the society viable. It can be used to bring someone else to sobriety of the soul; has been a tool to correct unjust behavior throughout history.

A tool that doesn’t work so well with psycho- and social-paths. (Where Apparatchiks, of, say, political parties or those kinds of manipulators fall in that regard…?)

The aforesaid find great value in encouraging people to be Contempt Junkies, to be doping themselves up. (There’s a reason they call it “dope.”)

It’s simply reality: people pumped up on adrenaline have their critical faculties largely turned off. It's easier to "get over" on them. They have increased openness, and vulnerability to, suggestion. Especially negative suggestions. There’s an increase in self-confidence (and self-righteousness) that is usually not warranted.

And of course, there’s setting people at each others throats, since the recipient of contempt is almost always likely to hurl it back. Downward spiral from there. The time-proven tactic of a minority who intend the subjugation of everyone else: Divide and Conquer.

Anyone paying attention to Corporate Media for the last 50 years must have noticed that when there's a major issue, like guns or abortions, there has never been anything but a pro- and con- person fighting each other. Not once has anyone here ever seen a panel devoted to working out a compromise, nor anyone on any panel ceding the other parties concern as being something to consider. Divide and conquer.

If anything is going to change in this country, we’re going to need Revolutionary Civility.

Perhaps a truce among the Everyday People, aka 99%. Abstaining from abusive language toward people with whom we disagree. And if the habit of expressing contempt (and Junkies do find it hard to give up their rush) then perhaps we can agree to aim it at the insanely corrupt -- in fact lunatic -- Two Parties and Media. The latter, in particular, does everything it can to keep us out of any meaningful role in our governance: working overtime to keep us divided, distracted, and ill-informed.

Let each and every member in office, the editors and news-readers, know that we know they function as enemies of the people, and our Democracy. With whatever mix of reason and contempt each of us can manage.

Abstain for blasting each other for, say, three months; alert our enemies of where they stand in our eyes. (I'm not saying we should refrain from disagreeing among ourselves on other issues. Just that such disagreement should be done in the manner of adults instead of brats). And if people just need a “fix” so desperately after three months, we can all go back to being the 1% Illites fools.

At this point, I’d like to try an experiment I’ve done, and seen fail, over the years.

I would request of you that you take some moments to really consider, and then to comment here, how Revolutionary Civility, plus focus on our common foes, can become something that actually happens. Thank you.

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nassar quote.jpeg

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Orwell: Where's the omelette?

Not Henry Kissinger's picture

be polite.jpg

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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?

@Not Henry Kissinger Nothing about the content, then?

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Orwell: Where's the omelette?

Not Henry Kissinger's picture

@jim p

So long as we reserve our contempt for ideas rather than people, contempt can often drive the best discussions.

However, I have noticed am unusual spate of name calling and other ad hominem based attacks lately round these parts.

Again, as long as people remember to attack the message instead of the messenger, I say contempt away.

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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?

@Not Henry Kissinger what else is going to change?

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Orwell: Where's the omelette?

Wink's picture

guests once again. We're out of time, and as usual we didn't accomplish a goddamned fucking thing, but we did fill 4 minutes of air time, so there is that. Thanks for watching point counterpoint where each week we duke it out for 4 or 5 minutes hoping the Librul bastid goes home with the bloodier nose. (and usually does). See you next time! Goodnight everybody... "

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the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.

snoopydawg's picture

then we need to find a way to work together and repair our differences. The PTB have spent decades on dividing us with this left right thinking and if people would just sit down and talk to each other we will probably find that we agree on lots of issues.

We have been brainwashed since kindergarten starting with the pledge to a damn flag. The flag should have been flying upside down because we're a nation in distress.

Now how to do this is a good question, but we should at least be willing to talk with the people on the right.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

mimi's picture

the choice thingy ... choose your response

I think a lot of importance should be put on where the line between civility and non-civility is put, where you exercise your civility or non civility, and who has the power to prevent perceived non-civility from happening and with what kind of methods.

It is uncivil for an armed police officer to shoot and kill an unarmed demonstrator, who has not engaged in major destructive, ie uncivil behavior, which for me starts with killing a person. (RAF radicals in Germany way back for example). Rock throwing is uncivil but not comparable to shooting, or killing or bombing. The police must be capable to prevent rock throwers, who destroy property, without shooting and killing the rock thrower.

The revolutionary civility tip-toes around the issue of who has shown more violent behavior in their uncivil behavior. Everyone who is heavily armed has the assured power to kill, shoot, bomb and oppress is therefore very uncivil by default as soon as they not only threaten to use their weapons, but start to use them. Everybody who is unarmed, has less powerful arms, is still civil, when they can't counter the uncivil violent behavior of police or military might, but still behave uncivil themselves in throwing back something that is be default less destructive and less violent than the power of the military or police.

Media by their mission to report on uncivil behavior by default will skew and manipulate through their focus on those images that are most 'inciting your emotions'. Talking heads are uncivil if they exaggerate, lie, use demagoguery, or other rhetorics for effect, in order to cross over and impress the audience. Being uncivil doesn't have to mean being violent with regards to bodily harm. They do harm in triggering counter-uncivil rhetoric. Since the digital age that rhetorical power of the word to manipulate has more power than ever before to cause mental-health related harm. The media has no way to "show" visually the mental-health related harm and therefore the population underestimates how prevalent those harms are.

Questioning of who, why, when, where, what and how always helps a little to be a little bit more civil in any responses, I believe. Being more civil in your dissent, because an armed officer threatens to use his might, is rather oppressive and quite an uncivil method to "manage dissent', imo.

This whole revolution stuff, I believe, has been always a method to question, incite, overstep the lines and use a little bit of tiny violence to cause bodily or property harm to those they oppose. There is no way to find civility in that, but then you have to ask what kind of uncivil oppression has caused the revolutionaries to overstep the line between civil dissent to violent attempts to defend themselves against their own uncivil and potential violent oppression.

I believe in negotiating til you have found a compromise everybody agrees with is the only civil and non-violent method. But then it's not called anymore 'revolutionary'. I dunno.
Can't stand these revolutionary talks...
Smile
they are way too lame /s.

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earthling1's picture

@mimi
is impossible today. As with peaceful assembly, TPTB will just send in undercover goons to start aggression or property damage to give legitimacy
to a brutal responce.
Divide and conquer, its been going on since the first caveman clan formed.
The flipside of united we stand, same coin.
I agree with what the author, Jim P, was trying to say. We need to stop bickering amongst ourselves and identify our common enemy.

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

mimi's picture

@earthling1
nevertheless the undermining with goons and staged violence to produce justification for a violent oppression.

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@earthling1
on writing about this, but in future my opening line will be
"We need to stop bickering amongst ourselves and identify our common enemy."
Thanks for being an attentive reader.

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Orwell: Where's the omelette?

@mimi
Before written history. The general climate of the population can -- and does here and now -- exacerbate the aggression. I'm interested in how we start having decency among the 99% AND shift focus onto the main instruments fucking up society regardless of how people come down on any particular issue of the day. And even on issues, increasing the chances of a somewhat workable outcome

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Orwell: Where's the omelette?

@mimi
a retired Egyptian general responded when us American youngsters were pushing revolution talk, this in the early 90s.

"Since the time of Christ Egypt has had 70 revolutions; one a generation. What is the condition of the Egyptian people today?" Three more since then, and what is the condition of the people there today?

Clearly something different has to happen in human character if anything other than "new boss same as the old boss" is to come about.

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Orwell: Where's the omelette?

I like the idea of experimenting with no shit posts for a period of time, just to see what would happen. For me, what happens is I have nothing to say, no comments.

Every morning I go looking for some good news, there isn't any. It is my local, regional outlets causing the adrenaline spikes, which causes me to seek relief talking about it here. We're all in the same boat, some have life jackets others not so much. "No matter where you go, there you are." I don't get off on posting criticisms, I am already off and need a place to say how crazy it all appears, anger of the disenfranchised.

Under the state's old medical marijuana laws, cooperatives were non-profit entities created solely to provide cannabis to members. State law eliminates the status of cooperatives under a sunset clause.

"That's the system." Politicians and the lobbyists who own them have made California a cesspool of insidious shit. I can't even go three minutes without getting spit on by some fucked up corporation stuffing bullshit up my ass.

I'll start being civil when politicians and corporations start being civil, stop lying to me.

Thanks jim p, good talk.

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@eyo media to keep pretending we all don't know the Parties are corrupt. And they have to start featuring that reality. There's the start.

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Orwell: Where's the omelette?

@jim p That's the victory lap.

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dance you monster's picture

. . . I largely agree with this.

What's more, on the whole I think it already happens IRL. Think of the people you encounter on a shopping line or at an event who you know aren't the wild-eyed socialists that we get along with in these parts. You still manage to have conversations with them, joke with them, actually bond with them in the "well, he's my neighbor, after all" kind of way. Sure, there are some who can't let go of their grievances (especially if they're wholly or partially imagined ones) for a second to actually connect with another person who could possibly hold a different idea or perspective in their heads, but in real life those people aren't the majority. Which, parenthetically, is why there are more Indies than Dems or Repubs. And why those on the outside, the people in foreign countries, can like Americans individually and detest American policy all at the same time. There has long been a chasm between the civility of civilians and the agenda of the defenders of the state.

It's when all these people in the shopping lines or at events begin to realize they are a movement and a majority that is not reflected in the state that you have a revolution. And the role of the media today is to keep us from realizing that.

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mimi's picture

@dance you monster

Which, parenthetically, is why there are more Indies than Dems or Repubs. And why those on the outside, the people in foreign countries, can like Americans individually and detest American policy all at the same time. There has long been a chasm between the civility of civilians and the agenda of the defenders of the state.

Happens all the time... I am glad I lived so long in the US and started to like many Americans and their culture, but started to dislike the agenda of the defenders of the state.

...all these people in the shopping lines or at events begin to realize they are a movement ...

oh, that happens, when there is nothing on the shelves to buy ... no sufficient food or just some they can't pay for. Has that happened yet in the US? I guess not.

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k9disc's picture

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“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~ Sun Tzu

mimi's picture

or just uncivil ?

U.S. President Donald Trump fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Washington Post reported Tuesday. Trump will reportedly replace Tillerson with CIA Director Mike Pompeo.

I think Trump needs to go back to his old playground. He is running out of apprentices in the White House.

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@mimi omg replaced with Pompeo. woo hoo I didn't click on the WaPo linky just went straight to the CIA:

he manages intelligence collection, analysis, covert action, counterintelligence, and liaison relationships with foreign intelligence services.

big club got bigger
merge merge

Following URL seems to be hung and tcpdump says is amazon's fault LOL good one. cia cloud failure ftw. ServFail at state dot guv. MAGA

https://www.state.gov/secretary/former/

good luck

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Big Al's picture

@eyo as SOS. He's a far right Christian Zionist islamophobe, Iran hater who wants war with North Korea and Iran. He's a fucking whack job.
But of course, the deep state made Trump do it.

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@Big Al but I gotta hand it to Trump he is one honest mofo, stabbing me right in effing face with his ACTIONS. He didn't even need to turn around like Clinton would've, keep some semblance of diplomacy while bombing the fuck all.
truth.png
in your face

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@mimi
Which is what this post is about, and moreover on the way to getting to where a Trump or Clinton or any of the others we have could possibly get into office.

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Orwell: Where's the omelette?

mimi's picture

@jim p @jim p
about what I just read with regards to Tillersen being fired and Pompeo be his successor and kinda needed to post it in what I considered a sarcastic word play of civil and revolutionary.

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Big Al's picture

the idea came up of a truce among the 99% for the purpose of focusing on what ails all of us, that criminal class at the top ruling over us. It's possible in the vein that anything is possible. There are commonalities among the right and the left regarding the "establishment".
Something has to be done outside this two party political system which keeps the people divided. There's still time before this next election to get something going.

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@Big Al ending the two party system as it stands is the most practical and immediately actionable of any I've heard.

What happens when Media and Officials start getting 10 million communications each week for a month demanding they talk about the rampant corruption of Dem and Republican parties? I know some might say they won't talk about it. But if even one does, and that happened with one news reader in the Soviet Union, ... Well, what happened even among his courtiers when the boy shouted the king is naked?

Ain't no third party arising in my grandkids life time if it's formed in the cesspool we have now.

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Orwell: Where's the omelette?

Any politician who makes that the main issue will galvanize the Country, even if that person is some old Senator from Vermont. That issue is what separates the wheat from the chaff as far as sycophantic politicians go.

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Beware the bullshit factories.

ggersh's picture

https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/973544168470515719?ref_src=twsrc%5Etf...

Edward Snowden

Verified account

@Snowden
Follow Follow @Snowden
More Edward Snowden Retweeted Donald J. Trump
The new CIA director was a key part of the torture program and its illegal cover-up. Her name was on the Top Secret order demanding the destruction of tapes to prevent them being seen by Congress. Incredible. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/02/us/politics/cia-deputy-director-gina-... …Edward Snowden added,
Donald J. Trump
Verified account

@realDonaldTrump
Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, will become our new Secretary of State. He will do a fantastic job! Thank you to Rex Tillerson for his service! Gina Haspel will become the new Director of the CIA, and the first woman so chosen. Congratulations to all!
5:59 AM - 13 Mar 2018

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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

@ggersh Exceptionally criminal. Not of the common crook variety.

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mimi's picture

@ggersh
certainly noted for those who listened to it.

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@ggersh

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The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.

@ggersh the way you informed us of that information without a hint of contempt.

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that you are rarely interested in converting the target of your incivility. When Joe McCarthy was made an object of contempt for a considerable majority of the country no one expected "Tailgunner Joe" to respond "My God, you're right. I behaved horribly." But he was brought down.

When Madeleine Albright was asked about the 500,000 Iraqi children who died as a result of US sanctions that accomplished not a damned thing, she replied "we think the price is worth it."

It's hard even to describe contemptible behavior without revealing your contempt.

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@FuturePassed when contemptuous behavior is actually useful. The focus here is among the 99%; I can think of only a few power holders who don't deserve it. Media and the parties do.

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Orwell: Where's the omelette?

Just to add to this, from The Essential Caitlin:

https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/why-does-the-left-attack-itself-gener...

Caitlin Johnstone
Rogue journalist. Bogan socialist. Anarcho-psychonaut. Guerilla poet. Utopia prepper.
Oct 17, 2017
Why Does The Left Attack Itself? Generations Of Government Psyops.

...Anyone who’s spent any time in these circles knows that this is nothing new for the left (the actual left, not the Wall Street-friendly “OMG I love John McCain” rainbow-flag-on-a-Reaper-drone “left” that mainstream Americans are permitted to support). Why is that, though? Why does the left eat its own so aggressively and consistently when there’s every reason to look past small disagreements and collaborate toward shared goals? Why is it considered normal in leftist circles to try to destroy someone you used to support the second they express one opinion you find objectionable?

My theory is that, like so many other dynamics in western politics, the most overlooked and underappreciated factor in this phenomenon is propaganda and psyops. ...

... These things have an effect. To deny that they have an effect would be to deny that advertising, a half-trillion dollar industry, has an effect. I’m not saying that there are no legitimate grievances at all between the various factions on the American political left, but I am saying that this nonstop sectarian vitriol is exactly what we’d expect to see in a population that has been deliberately manipulated into self-destructive neurotic impotence by generations of government psyops.

And it’s not like America has gotten less Orwellian since J Edgar Hoover. The sprawling surveillance networks in intelligence agencies like the NSA and the CIA have enabled the same political establishment that benefited from COINTELPRO to get even deeper into our minds, and there’s no reason to think that in-person tactics employed in COINTELPRO wouldn’t be employed digitally online. Indeed, there’s already plenty of evidence that this is happening extensively.

Again, I’m not trying to dismiss anyone’s personal grievances here. It’s just that sometimes the lefty infighting reminds me of a harem of sex slaves imprisoned in a basement, attacking each other instead of plotting an escape from their captor. We’ve become like an autoimmune disease, attacking the healthy cells instead of the pathogens. These manipulative sociopaths have been pummelling our psyches and emotions for decades, and in my opinion we should turn and face them, our real enemy.

Nobody is ever going to agree with anyone on everything; nobody is ever going to be perfect by anyone's standards.

You choose your allies by the goals you share so all of you can get somewhere, acting together in those areas. Or you never get anywhere at all.

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.