Humanity Is Deciding If It Will Evolve Or Die [one of the best all-time posts]

Click here to access article by Caitlin Johnstone from her website.  (I added a commentary at 6:25 PM CT.)

So many words of wisdom from someone who, I am convinced, has traveled down this road to psychic transformation before. This is a route upon which, as she argues, we must all go on to determine whether our human species will "evolve or die".

Throughout recorded history and across all cultures around the world, there have been individuals testifying that it is possible to undergo a transformation in the way one relates to the world, experiencing life as it actually is instead of filtered through unconscious conditioned thought patterns. After such a transformation, thought becomes the useful tool it’s supposed to be instead of the writer, director and star of the whole show.

If such a transformation is possible on an individual level, it is possible on a collective level as well. With a shift in our relationship with thought and ego, we would become impossible to propagandize, and therefore able to determine a course of action that isn’t selected for us by plutocratic manipulators. We can awaken from the old patterns of fear and greed and need to control which are constantly used to manipulate us, and begin working in harmony with each other and our environment instead.

She refers to a sociopathic elite, but omits from her brilliant essay is that we are raised in sociopathy from birth onwards. It's not surprising that our capitalist society churns out so many sociopaths. Not only do agents of capitalism shape and infiltrate every institution, but our minds as well. The "old patterns of fear and greed and need to control" are not intrinsic human qualities, but must be inculcated. And, they are by every institution in the current society. However, she does make the profound point that we must rid ourselves of these foreign qualities in order to awaken our true natures that express values of equality and compassion in order to "begin working in harmony with each other and our environment ..."; and I might add, to rid ourselves of this scourge of capitalism.

Recommended articles for Friday, July 27, 2018

• The War for Net Neutrality by John Mason for The Saker blog. (Updated at 1:30 PM CT)

• Democrats’ anti-Russia campaign leaves most Americans unmoved by Barry Grey from World Socialist Web Site.

• 'Evacuation of White Helmets Shows That It is Western Product' – Military Expert from Sputnk. 

• Pakistan's 'Populist' Wins The Election by Bernhard from his blog Moon of Alabama.

Nuking Sounds Fun When You’re High as a Kite

Click here to access article by Martin Berger from New Eastern Outlook. (Although I regard Berger's arguments in most of his articles as consistent with reality, I often see signs that they were written in haste and this article is no different. Some examples in this article: I would like to have seen some documentation for the phrase "According to one of the Pentagon press conferences given in 2014" which referred to commanding officers distributing drugs to their soldiers, some of whom controlled nuclear missiles, and some documentation about the BZ agent; and the use of the "OPCW" instead of Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.)

Berger points out how many commanders of armies throughout history have drugged their soldiers in order to prepare them to engage in all sort of horrible acts in war time, and juxtaposes this with a more recent startling documentation that the Pentagon is drugging soldiers who are in control of nuclear weapons.

CIA/FBI/DOJ Plot To Overthrow The President Of The United States

Click here to access article by Paul Craig Roberts from his website. (Thanks go to an activist for alerting me to this article.)

I was shocked at this headline and the contents of the article. I wonder if Roberts, as a former member of the Reagan administration, can get away with such an allegation which, of course, we know is quite apparent given all the escalating attacks on Trump through the ruling class media corporations.

An open letter to Bill McKibben

Click here to access the letter by Eric Schechter, a retired professor of mathematics, posted on The Greanville Post.

The ignoring of the man-made system of capitalism is common among those upper-middle class professionals who want to enjoy a well-paid career. They go to great lengths to avoid offending their bosses who are themselves employed by, and serve, the ruling class of capitalists. Even Schechter is this letter does not name the system (although he may have omitted the name to avoid shocking McKibben and to increase his chances of getting a response). It has a name--capitalism. Hence, upper-middle class writers often treat the economic system as an absolute fixture of reality much like nature or gravity.

La izquierda está consumida por la propaganda occidental [The Left is Consumed by Propaganda]

Click here to access article from Wrong Kind of Green posting a speech (translated into English) delivered by Gustavo Borges Revilla, director of the Venezuelan media project Misión Verdad during the 24th Sao Paulo Forum in Havana, Cuba held July 15th -17th. (An activist alerted me to this post.)



Missions in Venezuela were begun under former President Hugo Chavez to create a variety of grass roots organizations in Venezuela. Thus, Venezuelan media project Misión Verdad (Truth Mission) is some kind of media project of a grass roots organization.

In his speech Gustavo Borges Revilla warned the audience that the capitalist Empire wages war in the form of propaganda to subvert and indoctrinate leftists of the world in addition to all their other means of warfare. 

Recommended articles for Wednesday, July 26, 2018

• ‘Tweet of Mass Destruction’ ratchets up tension on Iran by Pepe Escobar from Asia Times.

• Syria: The White Helmets’ Final Performance by Tony Cartalucci from New Eastern Outlook.

• A New World Order: That Possible Dream by Christopher Black from New Eastern Outlook. After giving up out of frustration on other subjects to write about, the author writes that the only solution is to create another "world order" after the disasters created by the various capitalist world orders.

These successive world orders are continually upset by the very conditions and circumstances they produce as capital searches for ways to increase its exploitation of resources, including human beings who are seen as just another resource to be used and destroyed, for new ways to secure more profit. And so at each new historical phase, a new balance of world forces is established by fresh military conflict, followed by a fresh set of agreements, followed by new conflicts ad infinitum as the dialectic requires in a logic that only a socialist world order can stop.

And, he goes on to argue that this can only be created by "working people of the world".

Why Socialists Have Always Fought for Open Borders

Click here to access article by Wladek Flakin from Left Voice. 

The author explains the Marxist roots regarding this issue that is often resulted in divisions among workers in various countries; and, of course, this is always encouraged by capitalist ruling classes in order to divide workers.

The capitalists and their states use migration to divide workers and increase the rate of exploitation. But workers have no interest in limiting the movement of their class sisters from other countries. As the history of capitalism has shown, restrictions on migration don’t really stop anyone from moving – xenophobic laws simply deny immigrants their rights, and therefore lower wages even further.

And, more importantly (in my opinion), he clarifies the long standing socialist position as articulated by leading Marxists, in contrast to many confused socialists, that real socialists must not be misled into thinking that they should simply take control of the capitalist organization of society. No, capitalist societies are integrated societies, that is, they are thoroughly organized to serve the ruling class of capitalists. 

When and if socialists take power (before the catastrophic destabilization of our ecosystem), they must thoroughly reorganize their societies to reflect their values of egalitarianism by creating their own institutions, instilling in every person that they must take some role in the decision-making apparatus that governs their society,  and recognizing the critical need for a worker-oriented education in order to effectively participate in governing society. The latter would require workers (everyone, since capitalists would no longer exist) to reduce their work week to about 15 hrs (this could now be easily attainable in order to satisfy all their essential needs) in order to attend classes.

Marxists argue for workers’ control of production – the proletariat must seize the means of production to open the road to a classless society. However, Marx argued that workers cannot simply take over the existing state apparatus, i.e. the police, the army, the border regime, etc. Workers’ revolution must smash the state and replace it with organs of self-organization (councils, militias etc.). This is why Marxists reject all demands for "workers’ control" of the capitalist state as illusory.

Trump Drops the Value of the EU as an Ally — to Zero

Click here to access article by Alastair Crooke from Strategic Culture Foundation. 

This government careerist of the fallen British Empire and quite astute geopolitical analyst attempts to shed light on the meaning of the recent Trump-Putin meeting in Helsinki, Finland. Since then the American ruling class, who own and control corporate media, has treated the meeting as a major scandal and has dramatically escalated their attacks on Trump. Unfortunately, his analysis of the significance of the meeting and its aftermath is marred by biases that was shaped by his career in the British Imperial government.

For example, in contrast to other analysts, Crooke doubts that Trump will be removed from office simply because he has committed no crimes! (ha, ha)  In addition, he drags out the tired old reactionary theme that Wall Street funded the revolutionaries of the 1917 Russian Revolution, and adds a new twist: Stalin took control of the country and the Trotskyists, who were bought and paid for by Wall Street, were removed; and this caused the American ruling class to turn against Russia. Total nonsense!

I have often posted articles by this British establishment figure because he understands how the Anglo-American ruling classes think, and he often brings this skill to bear on major geopolitical issues. However, in this article he shows his ruling class biases that enabled him to pursue a successful government career in the British Imperial government. On the other hand, in this article he demonstrates that he understands Trump and his entrepreneurial competitive strategies.

Recommended articles for Monday, July 23, 2018

• ‘Kill All the Gentlemen’ — seven centuries of class struggle in rural England, a book review of Martin Empson's new book by Ian Angus posted on Capitalism and Climate. 

• Israel Evacuates White Helmets From Syria to Send to Western Nations by Jim Carey from Geopolitics Alert.

It’s all fake: Reality TV that masquerades as American politics

Click here to access article by John W. Whitehead from Intrepid Report. 

Now that I've moved into a new building that includes basic cable television, I occasionally watch TV programs (although mostly sports events when I'm not surfing the internet), but I can't help noticing the other programs presented while searching through various channels. I also occasionally linger a while on a particular program to see the kind of material it is presenting. I discovered old movies like Mash (the comedy program set in the Korean War--it never seems to die), religious programs, soap operas, weather reports, managed-news programs by the CIA (see this, this, this, this, and some posts that our masters have taken down--see this and this), sports programs, and tons of commercials.

Anyway this article provides good advice about watching cable TV programs.

Look behind the political spectacles, the reality TV theatrics, the sleight-of-hand distractions and diversions, and the stomach-churning, nail-biting drama, and you will find there is a method to the madness.

We have become guinea pigs in a ruthlessly calculated, carefully orchestrated, chillingly cold-blooded experiment in how to control a population and advance a political agenda without much opposition from the citizenry.

This is mind-control in its most sinister form.

And the author summarizes his essay with this statement:

The bottom line is simply this: Americans should beware of letting others—whether they be television news hosts, political commentators or media corporations—do their thinking for them.

Recommended articles for Friday, July 20, 2018

• How to Survive America's Kill List by Matt Taibbi from Rolling Stone.

When a U.S. citizen heard he was on his own country’s drone target list, he wasn’t sure he believed it. After five near-misses, he does – and is suing the United States to contest his own execution.

• Court Grants Julian Assange Freedom Just As U.S. Ramps Up Claims by Andrew Kreig from The Indicter Magazine.

Pillaging the World. The History and Politics of the IMF

Click here to access article by Ernst Wolff from Global Research. 

This article gives an excellent summary of the origins, design, and function of the IMF which has played a major role in the post WWII project that left the USA undamaged and the dominant power in the world. The former pro-fascist American "isolationists" came out of the American woodwork to construct their own Empire by using secrecy, deception, and a key ideological component of capitalism--the principle contained in the capitalist version of the Golden Rule: those who own the gold (or control money) [must] rule the world. 

No other financial organization has affected the lives of the majority of the world’s population more profoundly over the past fifty years than the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Since its inception after World War II, it has expanded its sphere of influence to the remotest corners of the earth. Its membership currently includes 188 countries on five continents.

For decades, the IMF has been active mainly in Africa, Asia and South America. There is hardly a country on these continents where its policies have not been carried out in close cooperation with the respective national governments. When the global financial crisis broke out in 2007, the IMF turned its attention to northern Europe. Since the onset of the Euro crisis in 2009, its primary focus has shifted to southern Europe.

Officially, the IMF’s main task consists in stabilizing the global financial system and helping out troubled countries in times of crisis. In reality, its operations are more reminiscent of warring armies. Wherever it intervenes, it undermines the sovereignty of states by forcing them to implement measures that are rejected by the majority of the population, thus leaving behind a broad trail of economic and social devastation.  

You may also be interested in viewing Ernst Wolff talking about the IMF via YouTube.

Capitalism's obsession

by British award winning illustrator and animator Steve Cutts from his website.

Recommended articles for Wednesday, July 18, 2018

• Climb Down From the Summit of Hostile Propaganda by Norman Solomon from ConsortiumNews.

• Trump’s Treasonous Traitor Summit or: How Liberals Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the New McCarthyism by CJ Hopkins from CounterPunch. 

• Syrian War Report – July 17, 2018: Militants Are On Full Retreat In Southern Syria from South Front.

• EFF Sues to Invalidate FOSTA, an Unconstitutional Internet Censorship Law by David Greene from Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Coming Coup Against Trump

Click here to access article by Finian Cunningham from Sputnik. (Thanks go to an activist who alerted me to this article.)

The long campaign by the ruling class to remove Trump from office is finally coming to a head, or at least, that is the opinion of this Irish independent journalist. After reading his arguments, I agree with him.

An American president holds a long-overdue meeting with the leader of the world's second nuclear power. The meeting was a success in terms of opening a friendly dialogue between the two leaders. And yet the US ruling class excoriate this event as a "disgrace" and "criminal collusion".

The interests of ordinary American citizens, as with the mass of people around the world, are not served by irrational hostility towards Russia. It is in our interests to have peaceful dialogue and to develop mutual understanding between the US and Russia to avert confrontations.

It is only an unrepresentative elite who could possibly want hostility.

This showdown promises to be filled with drama--of what kind, it is impossible to tell at this point. I believe that it will be far more dramatic than the historical Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. One thing I am sure of: the political consciousness of many ordinary Americans will never be the same again.

Trump, NATO and ‘Russian aggression’

Click here to access article by Pepe Escobar from Asia Times.

Escobar continues his long-standing argument, that the US Empire is succumbing to the leadership of China and Russia, convincingly by interpreting the latest Trump's actions at the recent NATO meeting in Brussels, the European headquarters of the US-led Empire.

... Trump’s demand for 4% of GDP on defense spending for all NATO members will never fly. The sales pitch should be seen for what it is: a tentative “invitation” for an increased EU and NATO shopping spree on US military hardware.

In a nutshell, the key factor remains that Trump’s Brussels blitzkrieg did make his case. Russia cannot be a “threat” and a reliable energy partner at the same time. As much as NATO poodles may be terrified of “Russian aggression”, the facts spell out they won’t put their money where their rhetorical hysteria is.

But will the Deep State and its Empire go down willingly? Stay tuned, or better yet, stay aware and active. 

                                                                                             ********

Trump's behavior at the NATO meeting and the upcoming meeting with Putin in Helsinki deserves great satire, and Finian Cunningham supplies it with his piece "Trump Defects to Russia?"

America

Click here to access article by Caitlin Johnstone from her website. (Edited for greater clarity at 10:12 PM CT.)

Americans are in their nature as compassionate and generous a people as you will ever meet anywhere else on earth; they’ve just got manipulative sociopaths elbows-deep in their minds conducting psyops all the time, and it makes them a bit weird. But their good-naturedness is evident in the fact that even the propaganda used to manipulate them into consenting to depraved war agendas is always meant to exploit their caring and compassion: it’s always about saving children from a monstrous dictator, or spreading freedom and democracy. Americans are blasted in the face with so many hero narratives from Hollywood and television that this makes perfect sense to them, and of course they want their military to do something heroic and save those poor kids. Even the sick things they consent to are rooted in basic good intentions. America is a country full of decent people with propaganda boxes around their brains.
 
Propaganda is what makes America America.

It is my conviction that ordinary people of the world are "full of decent people"; but when there are self-serving, sociopathic ruling classes, the latter will always find ways to control ordinary people who are under-educated, indoctrinated, and propagandized to serve their masters. The only solution is to rid the world of systems that give advantages to some humans at the expense of others. All people must be empowered.

While reading this article, I was sad to see this brilliant woman use the feudal term "aristocrats" to refer to our ruling masters. She has succumbed to the influence of people like Eric Zuesse who, like her, has not rid himself of capitalist indoctrination. Using the term detracts from the insight that our masters are capitalists--not aristocrats ruling over medieval fiefdoms. Using the term "aristocrats" is a type of circumlocution that our slave-holding, "Founding Fathers" engaged in to avoid talking about slavery, indentured servants, etc, that existed during their time while they were celebrating the liberties of liberalism, the ideology of capitalism.

The feudal ruling classes were hereditary and their rule was based on the use of weapons to maintain control of land and its inhabitants during a time when humans engaged in rather primitive agriculture. During the current era it is necessary to distinguish a new ruling class from the old ruling class. They are called capitalists. This new class essentially sanctified the ownership of private property under the rules of capitalism. Their rule is based on the ownership of the much more elaborate means of production produced with advanced technology that humans first developed using scientific methods during the Age of Enlightenment. Now we see the result: gross inequality, the concentration of ownership of the means of production among a relatively few powerful people, never-ending wars, and a destabilization of our planets ecosystem that portends catastrophic consequences for the existence of human life.

China’s silky charming of Arabia

Click here to access article by Pepe Escobar from Asia Times.

The Brazilian independent journalist reports on China's influence in the Middle East and in Germany that may portend a dramatic shift in the political winds in these important areas. There are even some indications of this in Iraq where the US Empire destroyed so much of its physical and political infrastructure.

Under the radar, away from World Cup frenzy and the merger and acquisition of Cristiano Ronaldo Inc. and Fiat, the eighth ministerial meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum (CASCF), established in 2004, sailed on in Beijing, hosted by President Xi Jinping.

Amid the torrential pledge of loans and aid, China committed to invest right across the Arab world in transportation infrastructure, oil and gas, finance, digital economy and artificial intelligence (AI).

5 Times the US Actively Supported ISIS or Similar Groups

Click here to access article from MintPress News.

Everyone knows U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East has more to do with destabilization than diplomacy. Whether arming terror states like Israel and Saudi Arabia or flattening entire countries like Libya and Iraq, American intervention is pretty much always a humanitarian disaster. At times, this policy has even included arming ISIS — the very terror group Washington claims to oppose.

The reason for this help is that ISIS assists U.S. foreign policy goals. It is no secret that the U.S. has tried to overthrow the democratically elected Syrian government for years. To further their goals, the U.S. regime has more or less aligned with just about every terrorist group short of ISIS publicly, including Jahbat al-Nusra.

Yet at times this alliance has extended past terror groups fighting under the Free Syrian Army banner. In many situations, the U.S. has seemingly supported ISIS. Whether these instances are mere coincidence or represent a pattern of support is up to you to decide. Below are five strongest instances of the U.S. helping ISIS and other terrorist groups.

 Then the author(s) follow this with an itemized list that is backed by very good documentation.