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

Thursday, April 14, 2022

Posts that I especially recommend for Thursday, April 14, 2022

Justifying lockdowns and endorsing the “threat” of Covid is doing the establishment’s work for it.
  • A Free Person Is One Who Owns His Own Labor by Paul Craig Roberts from his weblog. My reaction: Roberts argues that the modern-day American owns his labor the same as the historical American slaves owned theirs! Yet, the ruling capitalist class, which essentially owns the government, determines the government's tax policies. This is quite a dramatic conclusion for a capitalist supporter to make.
  • The Assange Case Invalidates US Criticisms Of Russia: Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix by Australian Caitlin Johnstone with her American husband, Tim Foley, also reading the script (06:02) in the audio section of her article, but you may miss supporting examples, illustrations, etc.)--from her weblog. (Note: In this post, Foley missed entire paragraphs.) My reaction: She's right that this war in being implanted in the minds of ordinary people using propaganda and psy-ops, and most ordinary Americans are either "falling for it" (def.#2) or totally ignoring it while they focus on their individual lives. They do this in order to survive in an advanced capitalist system.
The accusations against Russia are the lying justification for a policy of military escalation. First, the war plans were laid down; then the accusations were made to justify them.
 
My reaction: The CEOs of the military-industrial complex must be happy! They are in control of government policies supporting constant wars, especially using the Ukrainian people as cannon fodder.
  • Kremlin issues final warning to Kiev 'decision-making centers' features Alex Christoforou and Alexander Mercouris discussing the significance of the decision by the Russian leaders that they will attack decision-making structures in Kiev if they continue to attack Russian territory--from Duran's channel on YouTube (32:23).
The merchants of Death—Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Boeing, General Dynamics, et al—gathered in Washington on Wednesday like a flock of vultures descending on roadkill.
For many decades, the term ‘new world order’ has been discussed obsessively in the United States, yet few have any idea where the concept originated from and where the individuals who promote this grand vision wish to lead humanity. But one thing is for sure, Russia is having none of it.

This week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov remarked that one of the goals of Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine is to end the U.S.-dominated world order, which is categorically at odds with Russia and its ally’s desire for a multipolar global system.
  • Michael Raw - The Hunger Games features Ross Ashcroft interviewing a British (as far as I can determine) agricultural expert on the effect of food prices as a function of supply--from Renegade's channel on YouTube (02:09).
Benjamin Norton speaks with Pakistani scholar Junaid S. Ahmad about the US-backed coup against Prime Minister Imran Khan, aimed at reversing his alliance with China, Russia, and Iran and support for Palestine.
 
My reaction: It seems that the US ruling class always supports, and develops ties with, the military in foreign countries. 
  • India’s rich keep getting richer features Aunindyo Chakravarty, a journalist in India, from Peoples Dispatch using Newsclickin's channel on YouTube (14:26). My reaction: He gives a good explanation of how capitalism brought this about under previous government administrations of India.
  • An Inconvenient Apocalypse features various climate specialists discussing the impending climate crisis--from Facing Future's channel on YouTube (34:38).
The dream of endless bounty is over. We must save as much of nature as is still possible, and end the wealth concentrating system that is destroying it. Wes Jackson, in his no-nonsense fashion, explains how our ecological collapse began with #agriculture, when we started to remove carbon from the soil to grow crops, then from the forests to build ships, and finally from the deep ground to build civilizations. Now we need to power down as we face irreversible changes.
 
Inconvenient, to say the least. Wes Jackson and Robert Jensen envision a transition - to fewer and less - to life without dense energy, with less destructive systems of agriculture. They chart a collective, realistic path for humanity - not only to survive, but also to emerge on the other side with a renewed appreciation of the larger living world, recognizing that the rediscovery of nature, and of human connection is the greatest renaissance of all. 
 
My reaction: The scientists leave out the system that has caused all of the destruction of the ecosystem of the Earth--capitalism. They have all obviously been educated in capitalist societies. 
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