A Nation That's Always At War Has No Moral Authority: Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix
A nation that has constantly been at war throughout its entire history has no moral authority to tell other nations how to be. This should be extremely obvious to literally everyone.
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Liberals are much, much more comfortable thinking about the spike in anti-Asian hate crimes as a rise in white supremacism caused by Donald Trump than as the inevitable consequence of an aggressive imperialist propaganda campaign against China.
Talking about the spike in anti-Asian hate crimes as just the result of white supremacism and not imperialist propaganda against China facilitated by white supremacism is a service to white supremacism. It's like pretending the spike in hate crimes against Muslim Americans as the propaganda engines for Bush's wars were fanning the flames of Islamophobia was just the result of a random spontaneous increase in white supremacism. It's irresponsible, and it serves white supremacism.
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Tucker Carlson is to China as Rachel Maddow is to Russia. He has some good guests and is occasionally correct on foreign policy, but watching him regularly will make you stupid.
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It's absolutely stunning how many people think "But China is really bad tho" is an awesome and insightful comment to post on the internet.
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The US-centralized power alliance is the most powerful institution in the world. Helping it advance its narratives on the world stage (like smearing targeted governments) is as servile and power-worshipping as prostrating yourself before Joe Biden and calling him "Your Highness".
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It's not that class is the only important issue and that race is unimportant. It's that the imperial narrative managers consistently force the conversation into being about race instead of class because the race conversation can happen without costing the ruling class anything.
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The strategy of incrementalism (pursuing change in small, gradual increments over time) absolutely is effective. The problem is that when plutocrats control the government and media, the only incremental changes which actually occur are those which benefit the plutocracy. As long as the plutocratic class controls the political/media class, incremental change will only ever go one way. Politicians advocating incremental change for the benefit of the working class are actually advocating no change whatsoever, because that's what they'll deliver.
Incrementalism is all you're ever seeing when, for example, the minimum wage doesn't keep up with inflation. Or when public programs are slowly privatized. Or when more and more money is allowed to influence politics. Or when industries become more and more deregulated. Things are fucked right now exactly because the ruling class has been using the strategy of incrementalism to slowly chip away at the working class for its own benefit. Incrementalism works. It just only ever goes one way, and always will until there is revolutionary change.
Don't say incrementalism doesn't work. It does work. It works all the time. It just never works for you.
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I don't know who needs to hear this, but you will never, ever, ever succeed in converting me to capitalism or right-wing ideology. Trying to do this will only lead to frustration. You are free to frustrate yourself in this way as much as you like, it just looks uncomfortable.
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If humanity miraculously survives the existential hurdles it has placed before itself as a species, future generations will scarce believe we used to actively stockpile armageddon weapons on purpose.
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You can tell how sincere someone's politics are based on how much time they spend up-punching versus how much time they spend down-punching or left-punching. If they're in it for healthy reasons they'll focus on the former. If they're in it for ego and/or profit their emphasis will be on the latter.
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Every insane thing humans have done has been the result of some dumb narrative that they believed in their minds. Some recognize this and help free humanity from its enslavement to mental narrative. Others recognize this and use this weakness to enslave humans to themselves.
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You are pure beauty
swimming in a yawning abyss
of pure beauty.
Only the mind obscures this.
It is not hidden.
It is not hidden.
I love you.
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The urgency to change course as a species can draw us into a variety of altercations, virtual and in person. Strong emotions and combative words can kick up a lot of ‘dust’ which, to observers, obscures who is acting out of kindness, empathy and love.
1)There are more than enough resources for everyone on this planet to live a happy and healthy life.
2) We are not just competitors, predators and survivors, we are also hardwired for love, empathy, sharing, caring and collaboration.
Having these two facts take center stage will quickly reveal how loving, inclusive and empathetic the person you are confronting is.
When there is an attempt to veer towards personal attacks or hot button issues...return to these 2 facts as the ground for discussion.
When someone’s final defence is expressed negatively as “human nature” then we know where their attitudes come from and that loving inclusiveness is not what they embrace. They reveal the limits of their self awareness....unaware of how the egoic condition makes us crazy, always lacking, always fragmenting and propels us back into our survival brain centers.
Those without power in society
are often explaining and defending. When the terms of the debate are redefined given the above facts, the powerful and those which serve power/hierarchy have the onus placed on them to show gentleness, kindness, love, sweetness and inclusiveness at least in their words.
It quickly becomes clear that they cannot do so consistently. It becomes harder to obscure who is loving/inclusive and who is status quo defending/ excluding.
“Your behaviour is unloving and unkind. Do you deny your loved ones what you deny others? Why not?”
“Do you know where your attraction to power and social status and rulers and competing comes from?”
“ Your tribal brain impels you to have an in group and out group...impels you to rationalize denying the basic biological needs of food/shelter/education/ healthcare/love/creativity to billions of your own species. This is unloving, uncaring and unconscious behaviour.”
“Is it possible that your inability to include more or all in your in group is actually a sign that your overly active survival brain is suppressing your loving/sharing/caring/collaborating instincts?”
Yes, this means changing the way we speak to each other whenever possible. It isn’t always possible, but we can all do many times better.
You are one of my favorite humans, Caitlin Johnstone