Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Posts that I especially recommend for Saturday, March 6, 2021

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Saturday, March 6, 2021

Posts that I especially recommend for Saturday, March 6, 2021

As the Insurrection Narrative Crumbles, Democrats Cling to it More Desperately Than Ever: by Glenn Greenwald from his weblog at Substack. My commentary follows:

In the subtitle Greenwald asks a great question: "If the threat of "armed insurrectionists" and "domestic terrorists" is as great as some claim, why do they have to keep lying and peddling crude media fictions about it?" My answer: Because Congress serves the needs of the capitalist ruling class. It is this function for which they are rewarded by the ruling class in the form of campaign financing so that Congress-people can keep their well-paid jobs and enjoy free medical care. But, this accomplishment is the source of so many other lies: elections matter, the claim of democracy, etc. Our masters are so accustomed to lying that have become chronic liars. They couldn't tell the truth if their lives depended on it.

This phenomenon derives from the basic moral principle of capitalism with which you might be familiar: do what you have to do to please our masters in the ruling class (and their authorities and TV "talking heads") so that we can raise our families in security. The ruling class has gotten away with the most outrageous deceptions in the past (9/11, all the assassinations, the "War on Drugs", the "War on Terrorism", their many wars, etc. So why wouldn't the success of these deceptions (and the passive acceptance from most Americans) embolden them further with the grossly exaggerated pandemic and the implementation of the "Great Reset" (I strongly suspect that they are related)?

Joe Biden and the ‘Passive Revolution’ by Ashton Rome from Internationalist 360°.

Andy Ngo’s UNMASKED: Antifa—Not "Anarcho-Communism", But Anarcho-Tyranny by James Kirkpatrick from The Unz Review. (Note: I do not know whether his Ngo's arguments are correct, but they have a ring of authenticity and I thought I should offer it to you.)

How the US and Great Britain Instigate Coups Nowadays by Vladimir Danilov from New Eastern Outlook (based in Russia, but their posts are mostly international.)