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

Friday, May 7, 2021

Posts that I especially recommend for Friday, May 7, 2021

  • Viral CIA Recruitment Video Features "Cisgender Millennial" Who Says "I Am Unapologetically Me" from Forbes' YouTube channel. My reaction: If you want to see an example of "woke" propaganda using identity politics, view this as a prime example from the US's Deep State and its prime subversive agency, the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency). I don't know if it is over-the-top as propaganda because they've received a lot of flack or ridicule from some minor news shows, Fox's Tucker Carlson, Lee Camp, and of course Jimmy Dore. Even Newsweek magazine has expressed doubts about it. (Here is an exposé of the real CIA that Oliver Stone has done.) However, the Deep State doesn't use ineffectual propaganda. They have likely tested this on American audiences and determined that much of the American public was susceptible to its message. It must be emphasized for our gullible fellow-Americans that the CIA is engaging in such subversive activities today as illustrated in a recent report by Bernard, a German blogger. This CIA recruitment ad is further evidence--if you need some--that the ruling capitalist class today considers the general American public as enemies to be manipulated.
  • USAID admits to Venezuela regime change fraud by Anya Parampil from The Grayzone. (Note: I've just found that if I access YouTube videos directly from independent websites that I receive an error message. But if I access them directly from YouTube, I succeed. Thus if you access this video from the "Watch on YouTube" caption on the lower left-hand corner, you will succeed.)