The man who told us we were the 99 percent is dead. A year younger than me.
-“he argued that most white-collar jobs were meaningless and that technological advances had led to people working more, not less. “Huge swaths of people, in Europe and North America in particular, spend their entire working lives performing tasks they believe to be unnecessary. The moral and spiritual damage that comes from this situation is profound. It is a scar across our collective soul. Yet virtually no one talks about it,”
The world runs on Neoliberal ideology and so there is no “collective soul.”
It is unbelievable that millions of “Americans” support this creature. It is disturbing and depressing.
My YouTube comment: “Disconnecting people from the truth is the scariest thing I have ever seen in my life, except for impending nuclear holocaust in the 80’s, which only someone who was in the military during those years understands. When the most powerful man on Earth calls everything we are told “fake news” then we have gone “Orwellian.”
4:55 “They get to rocket-boost us into the end times- that’s what they want.”
It is true. Many of these far right people are living in a prepper or left behind fantasy.
I went swimming again and I am really beat- but I have to write something about Markey winning. The best possible future is a Biden administration dragged kicking and screaming into a progressive revolution where “the laundry list” is checked off one by one. A Green New Deal, M4A, School loan forgiveness and free college, a living wage…just for starters.
23:31 “This is why Marx calls Capitalism ultimately a revolutionary force; there’s no internal or external check on their pillage and their greed and this is now having very very dire social and political consequences-”
28:18 “Any hope comes from sustained mass civil disobedience-”
Looks like a blue lives matter supporter was shot and killed in downtown Portland a few hours ago. Here we go- it is only going to get worse from now on. If it turns into a roller coaster ride likely the only way to stop it is if Trump resigns and Pence promises a peaceful transfer of power. The deceased may have been a member of “Patriot Prayer.” David Neiwert, writing for the Southern Poverty Law Center blog Hatewatch, described Patriot Prayer as “trolling” the Pacific Northwest with the intention of provoking a response from far-left antifascists.[37]
Nothing happened yesterday or last night in Portland. Waiting for the shooting to really start.
1:05 If God wants a crook, then the evangelicals have their wish. Electing people who proclaim government is not your friend means they are not your friend because We the people essentially are the government through our representatives. “Small government politicians” are lying. It is kind of an intelligence test when you think about it. These small government people are the friends of the rich who do not want to be taxed to pay for that government regulating their conduct. They hate that. “Freedom” equates to no limits on their wealth, or more exactly, absolute greed. Simple. But it seems we are not smart enough to understand and beat them at their game which means, in their minds, we get what we deserve. To them, lying is just part of the money game, and if you believe the lies then, again, you deserve to be unashamedly exploited, just like they deserve to be incredibly rich.
Imagine if Bernie had been nominated and elected 4 years ago. 10:00 800 billion dollars in profits for the 1 percent, nothing for us. That is Neoliberalism.
“24 to 29 percent of his followers will tolerate him ignoring the constitution if he loses the election- that’s troubling.” Unfortunately, because we are a distracted and dumbed-down population many will not vote. It likely will NOT be a tsunami victory for Biden. The one out of three who vote Trump and the one out of three who vote Biden may end up in the streets fighting it out when Trump refuses to leave office. How will it end?
The sound is terrible so it helps to click closed caption on this YouTube video, but it is definitely worth it-
13:33 “In order for us to be good we have to do things that are morally indefensible- well, that is kind of a complicated argument to make.”
24:10 “- as you said, they like the power, they like sticking it to the libs- they just like this guy, he is on their side. And so, they’re happy to hear his lies- it makes them feel good. But the problem is you can’t tell what they believe and what they don’t believe because no one will say, “yes, I know he’s lying.” It’s a real conundrum.”
My Trump supporting coworkers know I am not “one of them” and cannot resist asking me pointed questions about the societal issues we are facing right now. Even though I have complained to my supervisor about it and threatened action, they keep quiet for a week or so and then one of them says something again. They cannot resist. It is just too gratifying when I answer “it’s complicated.” They grin ear to ear and revel- truly believing they have triumphed and proven their cult leader is right and their faith in him is justified. And this same mini-drama is played out every day across the nation. They want everything simple: black and white, left and right. It does not matter it is a lie and that is incredibly empowering to them subconsciously- whatever they want to be true can be with their idol in charge. But soon it is not going to be so simple.
“Hannah Arendt spoke about extraordinary cases in which an entire society is being lied to consistently. She said that the consequences of such lying are “not that you believe the lies, but rather that nobody believes anything any longer. This is because lies, by their very nature, have to be changed, and a lying government has constantly to rewrite its own history. On the receiving end you get not only one lie – a lie which you could go on for the rest of your days – but you get a great number of lies, depending on how the political wind blows.”
Merriam-Webster:
Definition of synonym
1: one of two or more words or expressions of the same language that have the same or nearly the same meaning in some or all senses.
Liberty is not a synonym for Lies. Freedom is not a synonym for Greed. Republic is not a synonym for Oligarchy.
I am not sleeping well either Emma.
I told my coworker, the only one who is not a righty, that what is happening right now will be written and talked about for the twenty or so years we both have left to live. Right now what is happening in the next few months will largely determine the future. And people like this Jewish white nationalist who happened to latch on to this improbable president just might be the match that burns down this nation. Bizarre.
What a strange world- jews and blacks becoming celebrities advocating or denying racism, and David Horowitz- the one who starts out progressive and turns into the antithesis. Reality TV show host turned president, QAnon jewish pedophile sex slave cannibal conspiracies…etc. etc. Reminds me of Chris Hedges talking about “inverted totalitarianism.” What better way for a corporate oligarchy to stay in control than to use every tool in the box to sow anarchy? Not that I am advancing a conspiracy theory. Crazy. Again…this is bizarre.
I have the feeling this is going to be one of those days. Not quite 0700 where I live and I am not optimistic about today…and tonight.
It is very likely that some of these people are going to die because they sat there for hours for their cult leader. If Biden shuts down the economy again it will save thousands of lives- Trump is lying saying more will die because of it.
Of course he is lying, that is what he does.
China wants Biden to win because Trump is unpredictable while Russia, who is not a big trading partner, wants Trump because he is so damaging to America. Obvious.
200,000 dead weeks ago but the official toll will pass that in a couple weeks- and nothing is going to change that. How many dead when a vaccine is being deployed and this nightmare begins to end? A quarter million will have died and most of them because of Trumps inaction.
I knew I should have moved to Portland years ago. I wish I was there tonight.
Most recent YouTube comment: “48 police killed by felons is a fatality rate of about 1 in 17,000 per year. They are far behind the top ten most dangerous professions which are Loggers, Fishermen, Aircrew, Roofers, Sanitation, Steelworkers, Commercial drivers, Farmers/Ranchers, Construction site supervisors, and Groundskeepers. https://www.themarlincompany.com/blog-articles/dangerous-jobs-2019/ Though I don’t have a number, I read somewhere it is actually more dangerous being a convenience store clerk than a police officer. Definitely not what the public has been conditioned to believe by the media and entertainment industry. They can stand a little defunding- and with so many billionaires like Bezos- the richest man in the history of the human race- we actually can afford M4A, a living wage, and school loan forgiveness and free college, and a Green New Deal. Truth.”
Really good read by Joy- so true. Thanks so much.
If “everybody is going to get it” then a couple million people are going to die. Really. They don’t need to die. It is all about money and the Trump cult. The 1 percent in their mansions are not the ones that are going to have their lives cut short- millions of others would be the ones who die.
If anybody is burning the flag it is the ones carrying the stars and bars and that thing with a blue line. Tight as a duck’s ass, protest this in your ass.
A video posted to Twitter by a Washington Examiner reporter shows former Amazon warehouse worker Christian Smalls, an outspoken Amazon critic, calling on the company to raise its minimum wage from $15 per hour to $30 per hour in light of Bezos’ surging wealth. The protest was led by the Congress of Essential Workers, a group founded by Smalls.
“Give a good reason why we don’t deserve a $30 minimum wage when this man makes $4,000 a second,” Smalls said.”
He is not even aware of what he is doing- attempting to hide his racism behind moral judgement on a certain “type” of citizen. And that is what is scary. He is advocating a societal change completely beyond his job. He is using his position in an absolutely unethical way.
So…what scares me is my coworkers. Why? Because this policeman is the kind of person they believe is “one of them.” And…this guy is classic Nazi. He is very good at tiptoeing around the fact his references to “garbage people” that should not be allowed to reproduce are about blacks…but it is so transparent.
My coworkers do not have much education and they are proud of not being brainwashed by liberal college professors. They do not know much history because they spend their leisure time watching sports and reality tv shows. They will never actually try and think about the ideologies in play right now because it is just too complex and takes away from their smart phone time. They rely on 30 second Trump commercials or the Tucker Carlson white power hour to inform their worldview.
Kenosha did not “burn” (some cars in lots were burned, a few buildings, not the city) and the police did not “stand by” Tucker. Liar. The police did nothing to stop the “militia”, including a 17 year old with an AR-15. The police thanked them and gave them water. See how that works?
No cure, disastrously failed testing system, largest and deadliest coronavirus epidemic in the world, Biden does not support abortion -at birth, NYPD has not endorsed Trump, only 3 miles of wall have been built, it was- Obama that signed the veterans choice act, more troops overseas now than when he took office, Biden has not promised to abolish energy production in the U.S. and will not bulldoze the suburbs, Trump is actually fighting to abolish protections for pre-existing conditions, gas is cheap because nobody is driving as much.
They are saying Trump is, absolutely, without any doubt, a habitual liar. That he not only lies but has largely destroyed the concept of truth in the U.S. The damage is inestimable.
Racism (by way of “white grievance”) is at the core of the Republican project- says one of the most successful conservative political operatives of his generation.
Right wing influencers urging others to take matters into their own hands. That is obviously generating a ROI now.
BLM and ANTIFA “sprang into action” conspiring with democratic mayors. Riiiiight.
This is not the America of 4 years ago. We are in trouble.
4:28 “I literally breathe, it’s a big technique and it will happen in the moment and I will just stop and then just take deep breaths and I will have a little something I say like breathe in power, breathe out anger-”
I breathed in power and breathed out a spontaneous “do something.” Maybe I will start my own conspiracy theory cult. I will call it the cult of…let me think about it tomorrow. It won’t be QNAnon though.
“Lenders add value by way of interest and Merchants by resale but neither are producing. The Employer buys the time/labor and the raw materials/tools and takes the added value from what is produced. While Lenders and Merchants only use money or finished goods already produced, the Employer OWNS the means of production. That is capital. It seems there are these three categories- Lenders, Merchants, and Employers- and they deal with money, products, raw materials/tools etc. but the Employee is in a separate category as all three use them; typically the Lenders not so many, the Merchants more, and the Employers who OWN the means of production the most. Still slightly confusing as the “Employers” should more accurately be called “Capitalists” and all three employers of the Employee. I am interested in ways to explain this that others can more easily understand.”
This is not going well. The media seems in my perception to not be jumping on it- I would guess because they know how serious this is. I am scared about how this could develop. The video of police thanking the militia and handing out water to them is damning in the extreme.
It occurs to me we might need a fourth branch of government after the Trump fiasco is over; a “Fourth Power” – from Wiki: “The equivalent term “fourth power” is somewhat uncommon in English, but it is used in many European languages, including German (Vierte Gewalt), Spanish (Cuarto poder), and French (Quatrième pouvoir), to refer to a government’s separation of powers into legislative, executive, and judicial branches.”
The media says Trump has promoted and allowed the destruction of the truth. Many many people do not trust or believe anything anymore and this is incredibly destructive and has done inestimable damage. We probably need to elect people to a new branch who are not political, religious, or biased toward anything but presenting facts accurately to the public. Because the media is presently for-profit and mostly owned by corporations means there is likely not enough public trust to keep the “conspiracy virus” from running out of control at this point.
Neal is inept…for most politicians there are so many layers of confusing babble protecting them they are immune to being exposed like this. And they look at Neal and wait to see if he gets away with it and then they can be less cautious or if he gets dethroned- then they will tighten up a little in response. The only way for Americans to fix this is likely mass demonstrations. Chris Hedges says it is too late to use the system to fix the system- it is so corrupt only massive non-violent protest in the streets will terrify those in power enough to cause change. I have to go with that.
Ice on the Moon 