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

Wednesday, May 5, 2021

Posts that I especially recommend for Wednesday, May 5, 2021 (abbreviated)

  • This Biden Proposal Could Make the US a “Digital Dictatorship” by Whitney Webb from her weblog Unlimited Hangout. (Note: A caption summarizing the article reads this: "A 'new' proposal by the Biden administration to create a health-focused federal agency modeled after DARPA is not what it appears to be. Promoted as a way to 'end cancer' this resuscitated “health DARPA” conceals a dangerous agenda.")
This is a comprehensive and lengthy article on one citizen's efforts to become rich and powerful (influential) under the capitalist system. He is now, arguably in control of the UN's World Health Organization as their top funder. This tells the fascinating story of how to become rich in capitalist USA and become a part of the Empire's ruling class. Here are a few excerpts from the lengthy article:
 
Gates’ ethic was never a collaborative, social one in which a community worked together to improve a collective asset. It was not the mindset of the scientist seeking knowledge. Instead it was antisocial and competitive—the mindset of the capitalist. 
 
But, you say, he deserves accolades, at least a pass, with what he has done in his philanthropy work. The authors write:
 
Well, it’s worth observing that the Foundation operates with what is effectively a large public subsidy. Tim Schwab of the Nation—whose name will recur, since he has produced some [of] the best critical journalism on Gates and the Foundation—says that money is exempt from tax because it belongs to a charity, and has to be seen as “money that otherwise would have gone to the US Treasury to help build bridges, do medical research, or close the funding gap at the IRS (which has resulted in fewer audits of billionaires).” As law professor Ray Madoff said to Schwab: “when they get significant tax benefits, it’s also our money.” 
 
The authors sum up their article with these words:
 
... he is part of a small class of elites who are able to bypass democracy, and does embody many aspects of contemporary society that need to change. The decision of individual billionaires to be useful is better than pure self-regard, but ultimately billionaires should not exist in the first place. Bill Gates is richer than 140 different countries. This is too much concentrated wealth and power and it makes a farce of democracy. The question of how the huge resources of the modern world are used to meet our broad social needs should be decided on democratically, not by the whim of a rich person.

Let Gates jet off into the sunset.
  • 💥Glenn Greenwald & Richard Medhurst featuring Greenwald, candidly explaining, to his host Medhurst using Rokfin (to avoid censorship), how he has grown-up politically through his experiences with US journalism, his experience with Edward Snowden, his more recent experience while living in Brazil, and his following reports regarding Wikileaks and Julian Assange. As a result of these experiences, he views journalism as practiced by media corporations as serving "intelligence" services and their employers in the Deep State, the directorate of the ruling capitalist class. He even comments how the Deep State uses "woke" ideology as a weapon. This is a best post. (Note: It is apparent that alternative platforms to YouTube have not thoroughly mastered YouTube technology. The interview starts at about 18:06m and lasts till 125:06m, thus the entire interview lasts about one hour and seven minutes. But, it is well worth listening to the interview!)
  • 💥Intersectional Torturers from the weblog of Australian Caitlin Johnstone who provides us with an audio and written version. This is a best post. My reaction: This article points to an amoral CIA and its fake use of identity politics ("woke"--def.) to manipulate ordinary Americans to strengthen support for the US capitalist ruling class. 
  • Cracks in Northern Ireland? by Kenneth Surin from CounterPunch. (Note: I hesitated to include this article because most Americans are not interested in news and analysis of foreign countries. However I believe Surin's analysis is correct, and Brexit's impact might not be limited to Irish politics. This could be further evidence of the unraveling of the US/Anglo/Zionist Empire which includes wavering, critically important Europe.)
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