The MSM - the Mockingbird Media - is controlled by the CIA . From their standpoint A good presidential candidate is one who will protect the swamp and continue the Ukranian Proxy war .
sticking to the ideas in the article, stein/ware however can't be anything more then a count of those who are at least somewhat willing to leave the duopoly (not a deconstruction of the empire yet).
I suggest you look at the economic platform. Do you know who is advising the campaign? The most innovative historical grounds for challenging the economic foundations of empire, whether or not you agree with the ideas or fully understand the economic history, are getting a voice in the Stein/Ware campaign for the first time ever. That voice is currently difficult to hear.
If they were to win in November, the policies would introduce entirely different ways of conceiving and implementing credit and debt. Think about who wins and who loses if you challenge the whole construct of debt in western societies, entrenched more so now that it has been globalized and institutionalized over the past few decades.
The goal of censorship is to wipe out dissenting challenges to the power centers that dominate us. The last thing they want is frank and open nationwide discussions of and by the people, on the grounds of their control.
You will hear nitpicking over various items by a horde of naysayers, I am sure, if it breaks through the sound barrier that has been erected, so you don’t try to understand the big picture. But the big picture is the first thing to grasp, in my view.
The whole set-up is frustrating. The barriers that the two parties are able to put up and maintain are frustrating. Michael Hudson is a breath of fresh air that makes this election worth caring about. The Greens have done a lot of ballot access work.
i haven't found out who advises the campaign, so please tell. it sure is a very comprehensive and interesting platform they've come up with, but they have of course the luxury of not winning. nevertheless they also seem to have a lot of necessary 'structure' in place. i hope they also have (or are working on) a discrete strategy on how to deal with expected 'opposition'.
I'm Ashkenazi Adverse as the next guy but you're being unfair, there are plenty of Ashkenazis that are genuinely on your side. Though you shouldn't put your faith in a hero to change things anyway.
Personally, I would not be happy if libertarians were in power. They are still capitalists but they just don't want any constraints put on them by the government. I have not heard much from them about justice or eliminating poverty.
Liked a comment by someone on twitter a while back. He said something like, 'when voting for the "lesser evil", just remember, you're still voting for evil.'
I would like to describe to you what is happening in Europe now.
We have hundreds (probably more) Americans coming into Europe
What these Americans do is buy up property and then advertise on UK/US media.Which means ONLY one thing....French people cannot pay the prices the Americans want.
I have 2 so-called American friends here who continue to rent BNB accommodation.
At the present time France is in a bad way but a notice has come down from 'on high' that IF you own more than one property you are going to be paying HUGE taxes.
Suddenly the Americans here are selling their properties!
{...millions of people are willing to vote tyranny in...}
I wrote in my previous post: "its US who WILLINGLY swim in it"
Which is resulting in exactly the same outcomes.
{...Americans have no where to go ...} REALLY ??? ...
but Venezuelans DO !! How come ??? ...
The US Empire has more than 850 military bases world-wide.
Maybe, that's the reason civilian Americans have not left anywhere to go these days (and coming decades); they are deplorable citizens of the most despised and hatred country ever ...
Yet, aren't you past this point, Contumacious? So how do you remove these imperialists hands chocking you? How are you now waking the population without advocating accelerationism? What philosophy do you have in mind beyond repeating the same words?
Klaus, we have notifications on our devices. We don't need to be in front of them to know someone has responded. Additionally, you have no idea the work any of us do or have done in the past two hours. One thing is certain, your rhetoric is a reminder why others walk away from social media discourse.
Libertarians have been telling AMericans since, at least, 1971 to cease helping the Congresscritters create a swamp.
Actually , the Founding Fathers, Libertarians themselves - specially Thomas Jefferson - in his 1804 - Inaugural Speech told us not to trust the motherfuckers.
We became independent from the UK even though only 20% of the colonists supported independence, 80% were happy with King George.
So we need that 20% of freedom loving AMericans to coalesce.
Your numbers hint at the reason why "we" became "independent". The new oligarchs needed it - that's why. So the actual percentage of that 20% is minuscule, the rest were either recruited or duped. That tiny percentage was money and, as we know, money talks.
The US election is a choreographed ceremony for empire managers and as far as it is for the proletariat class, it is an illusion of choice. Your candidate is not on the ballot. The rights and freedoms for everyone is not an option, here. Ending wars initiated by the oligarchs across our planet is not a choice, here. If you read Caitlin Johnson or Chris Hedges, than you would understand our position clearly.
Reframing the argument to focus on our election isn't productive for the working class. Through accelerationism we can achieve our goal of providing peace and equality across the globe, with time. Hard time.
If we accelerated the empires agenda of restricting more different people's rights, including our own, and if we continue to pay homage to education and medical institutions that first serves capital gains before educating civics and providing necessary thorough medical coverage for all, then we gain more disenfranchised individuals. With time, that number grows. In a nut shell, we shelter and advance the conservative agenda, and more rapidly we see a time in which all tribes stand against the elites and all tribes are aware of who has done the dirty. That or then the elites nuke us.
In a perfect world, everyone would have the empathy to see different people as themselves and all peoples would gasp at the notion that others are lesser or worthy of dying, or worthy of suffering. Palestinians for example, would have a voice on the world stage that gave them the same rights to exist as you and I supposedly have.
This election season, look at those who spend their time proselytizing that their first official action will be to end genocide and that they will repair the different institutions that wish to silence journalists who report transparently. Then you will be left with the green.
The issue with the green team, is that they are living in a society that will not hand them the ticket and they know it. It's a fight they can not win against the western elite because even they wish to operate within the same institutions. I often think of George Lucas's interview with James Cameron regarding the American Empire when I'm in this headspace. I know that that is what it must come to, but saying so only marks me in a fascist police state and does nothing to effect change. I suppose, like many, I'm so old now that it matters less and less and that that's's by design too.
I'll end with a suggestion here. You could expat this election season to a country that advocates what you feel in your own heart. You could help this society, as an advanced one might offer your ideologies greater weapons.
"Accelerationism" is an unproven theory. It may sound plausible, even hopefully workable, but is there any evidence from history that such a theory would work? (It's a pity that we don't have time machines or alternate universes to test such theories and ideologies).
Here's an example of "accelerationism" happening currently (IMO): Israel has accelerated its own demise by the actions it has taken since Oct 7th. But at what cost? Would 5 million+ Palestinians have to perish before Israel perishes? What about the cost to the rest of the global human population, climate, ecology, and stability of nations? Is the price paid by following a paradigm of "accelerationism" worth it?
Who really knows how "accelerationism" will unfold in the context of the US Empire? AFAIK, there are no modelled scenarious or rational playbooks for such theories.
Does any theory start out as proven, chokaski? Why do you have to jump in with your pseudo-intellectualism of unrecognized and under-appreciated intelligentsia every single time?
(some might claim hamas 'accelerated'). accelerating does not mean worsening the costs, it only means that you speed up what is inevitably going to happen.
i have been reading caitlin johnstone for quite some years now. i sometimes read hedges. imo, the problem with acceleration in this empire is that it is aware of the strategy and balances and placates it's buffer class meticulously. the wings of the duopoly also manage to cut the electorate in half (never 70/30 or another monster score) so they can always step back from 'outrageous' platforms they ran on (or there's this sudden urge to be reaching out over the aisle, or the sudden lack of party discipline and sudden understanding for party dissidents).
as the republicans still are most openly hostile to the working class and other marginalized groups, they indeed seem the best suited vehicle for this acceleration and the 2025 platform would possibly be a good start to elicit reaction from targeted groups (though i think they'd try to implement policies 'gently' which would not serve an accelerationist cause). but i also remember how the dems killed the revolutionary spirit of blm (seattle had some improved occupy vibes from a distance). also tameness, apathy, stupidity and lack of focus and unity among the suffering class might be problematic despite a significant cranking up of the oppression.
best chances for acceleration in this cycle seems to be a very convincing trump win with religious nutters, hard line libertarians, gun nuts, and outright fascist goon squads going batshit crazy, dems reluctantly facilitating the resistance to this but then losing control over it, and then the vanguard comes in and... oops, there's no vanguard, oops forgot to infiltrate rank and file of the military...
anyway, vote green (better than no vote, because of the percentages and because it is the right thing to do).
A nation of clueless voters, brains corroded by social media and TV, who are more interested in the latest Hollywood movies and the personal drama of c-list "celebrities"....than in the actual facts and issues around how their nation is run.
Most of them are not voting "for" one, they're voting "against" the other and are proud of it. The most frustrating thing is such people do not realize or won't acknowledge that they effectively vote "for".
Americans — face it you live in a society of liars. The corporate world, particularly its financialized poison center depends on them, and on the”little lies”, the toadying “yes massas” required to rise through the ranks. Your government is filled with liars from top to bottom (with the few exceptions of resigners) — as nailed by Matt Hoh, who opined that if Matthew Miller and Vedant Patel both had a morally enlightened moment and resigned, the rank and file of the state dept. would line up to fill the post — for the opportunity to lie for the bloody empire. Only solution: that empire must go away.
Both of them make me crazy to listen to. Every word that comes out of their mouths are blatant lies. I don’t know how people like that can live with themselves. We will have to make it where they can’t. The system won’t change without blood being shed.
Of course - while we were busy working two jobs and overtime in order to pay for the gargantuan welfare/warfare police state the swamp was doubling up in size and power.
Great article 👍 I totally agree with you. People have recently seen what is really going on while Biden was running things. People got seriously agitated... then Kamala got thrown into our cage to chew on. People became appease and euphoric, forgetting the true horrific nature of the beast. This monster knows how how to dull our rage. The people don't like pain so it throws us little treats (much like cat or dog cookies) to make our tails wag. 😒 It's going to take some really serious pain points to get people off their duffs and break out. Unlike the rest of the world Americans are lazy ass creatures easily anesthetized. 😢
"Democrats wound up spending years shrieking about a completely fake conspiracy theory that the executive branch of the US government had been taken over by the Kremlin, only to lose interest and pretend nothing happened after the Mueller investigation ".
I've heard D members of Congress recently still pushing that story as though it were fact. I suspect they will never give it up.
The thing that baffles me when I encounter such types - I can't really tell whether they truly believe it or just toe the line. It's undistinguishable.
You can point out the manifold inconsistencies and facts which contradict the conspiracy theory and you will convince nobody, all you will do is make the cognitive dissonance fly.
Although Gaza is the most urgent issue, and we cannot turn our eyes from them, there is increasing settler violence and land confiscation in the West Bank, aka illegally Occupied Territory. Here’s a group we can support, made up of committed Israelis and Palestinians working together to protect the Palestinians there.
Work on the Ground: Transforming Lives in Israel-Palestine — American Friends of Combatants for Peace
Thanks Caitlin, you helped to understand what “wokism” means. Wake up to the true nature of the Spectacle! Once you see through the curtain…what? You don’t seem to mention what a genuine political discourse is beyond caterwauling at the fake duapoly. It all performance. And that performative display is in of itself fake. So, you must believe in an authentic political discourse. It has to be issue based and not character based. So where is this authentic culture of resistance?
Yes, as Joy says, the answer is you and me and everyone else who wakes up. The more and more people who find the strength and support to shake off this overwhelmingly massive tribal, enslaving conditioning (from early childhood on, so not easy) and wake up, the more the answers will come about how to dismantle this insatiable death oriented monster and create an authentic Life oriented culture of resistance.
There must be an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Pope Francis has said what is needed, now he must do what is needed by going to Gaza and standing for peace, justice and freedom.
Let us make our donations to honor Aaron Bushnell, in memory of Hind Rajab, or Dr Jumann Afra, the mother of newborn twins killed by Israel using US bombs..
more Libertarian gobbley gook. "Freedom of Association" is like a quote from your social darwinism based, Milton Friedman bible isn't it? That only fanatics like yourself can define, while the rest of us must fetch water for you if we disagree with your Friedman bible bullshit.
You like to broadly label people and then place them inside an imaginary regiment marching to Shibboletu. Right! Libertarian does not mean Libertarian Party. There are Libertarian Socialists. In other words, you have no interest in communication or exchange of thoughts!
Oh right on! Now we get into the definition word salad game. I'm Libertarian but not that kind of Libertarian. I'm a good person, believe in good things. Social Darwinism is good for society! And you - well you, have no interest in communication, you communist thug!!
Actually, you are the one opposing freedom of association or freedom not to associate. Libertarianism would see those who are most ruthless doing as they please while the many who have a conscience suffered and had to associate as the libertarian bosses directed them. I know libertarianism is an infantile ideology but if you can't do better than this, perhaps you should leave the proselytising to others.
Talk about being naive as fuck. Try working for a living Howard - at a retail store, and paying 10,000 a year for Health Insurance, and still going bankrupt when your kid gets sick.
Only the most gullible would at this point believe that any rich clown running for what they call government office would do anything to help the increasingly impoverished working class. Therefore participating in this mass distraction called elections only legitimizes a totally corrupt system that has only one goal: preserving the privileged status and obscene lifestyles of rich clowns at any cost!
People who have achieved huge amounts of wealth have often treated workers badly, they try to avoid taxes and sometimes do so, they appear to think that their money gives them the right to have power over others. So, a rich clown is not like saying a black clown unless you are talking about a rich black clown who could be just as clownish as a rich white clown.
"People who have achieved huge amounts of wealth have often treated workers badly"
I won't disagree but in the final analysis the issue is settled in the last 2 words - "treated badly" - not necessarily CRIMINALLY.
Such treatment we still find in what may be considered normal life - particularly in politicians if you ask my view.
"Treated badly" is something that I believe LIBERAL TOLERANCE must handle as opposed to turning to The State and its (compulsory) powers.
let me go a step further with this view while here.
The problem with social liberals and progressives is that they already have turned to The State and its powers to solve the issues of society with words like "social reform" and "advanced social organization"
The problem here is the state is incapable of doing that without reorganizing the people in society too via state-mandates which incudes law -mandates.
Mandating people to a "good society" is just not possible.
I’d say a Trump presidency would trigger a much larger protest of all his policies because the large volume of upper mid class shitlibs would find their morality suddenly and protest. However, because they are hooked on MSM, their ire would be redirected to less critical (to the empire) issues like abortion, woman’s rights and treatment, etc. never imperial operations
indeed, as was demonstrated during the previous trump presidency (russiagate, not warmongering enough in ukraine and the middle east, silence on the 1,7 trillion tax cut, acquiescing to judicial appointments, steam-valving blm, ...) and mentioned by caitlin.
"When Trump was first elected I had hope that the Democrats who’d fallen asleep at the wheel under Obama would become politically engaged again and start criticizing the evils of the US empire like they did during the Bush years."
Come on. Have you checked the voting records or media appearances of democrats after 9/11?
I understand why people want to vote for Jill Stein and the Green Party. It's the same in Canada where people say Liberals and Conservatives are the same and vote for the New Democratic Party (NDP) or the Green Party. The problem, as Caitlin has repeatedly pointed out, is that there is no fixing the system and liberals and social democrats are still capitalists who think there can be, to borrow from George Bush, "compassionate capitalism". In the past we've had socialist and communist parties but the oligarchical press make sure they never get any media time and are demonized. If socialist movements were to gain strength and not be co-opted (as most labour unions are) I suppose they could make some change but could they gain control? If a socialist party or movement formed government how would it rid us of capitalism? The oligarchs would simply buy the next election.
Knowing that voting is futile and the system is rigged, your vote becomes an expression of your personal moral position -- a philosophical act, not a practical one. Voting for the Green Party is a way to publicly express your individual morality. That's enough reason for me to vote for Jill Stein. I don't need to pretend I'm going to change the world with my vote.
I've considered that, but at the local level, voting can actually make a difference, so I continue to play the game, knowing it's a game. I watch football, too, which is problematic in all sorts of ways. I guess I could go be a hermit in the woods, which actually sounds fantastic, except my wife has cancer and we need to live reasonably close to where she goes for treatment.
it may also count in percentages. a non-vote does not contribute. e.g. 45% team R and 55% team D vs. 45% team R, 45% team D and 10% team G. but in comes electoral college and stuff and then this only matters for the visuals. team R and team D prefer that one doesn't vote to one voting 3rd party though (very, very much).
"team R and team D prefer that one doesn't vote to one voting 3rd party though (very, very much)." - which institution did you graduate from to come up with such a thesis? I guess some youtube link got you convinced just like the sewage you offered re uterus exploitation. You're easy "martin", perfect tool for the system.
idk, maybe put yourself in team R and team D's shoes for a second and try to imagine what they strategically would prefer? do you think they would rather like the rebellious to vote 3rd party in stead of abstain? i'm open to your arguments.
Yes, Ron. Your comment highlights exactly what our predicament is. So how do we bring about meaningful change? There are lots of theories, but I despair about their feasibility and success probabilities of such theories...
Not a word in the mainstream press about any alternative perspectives to the uniparty. Stein/Ware? Nowhere to be found without an archeological kit.
Yep. By design.
The way out of the plutocracy is here https://www.pdrboston.org/mr-billionaire
And here https://www.pdrboston.org/egalitarianism
The most logical, wise, practical and pro-human pro-freedom pro-prosperity way out of the plutocracy that i know of..
PS. The link to the substack (for further discussion) is at the top of that page.
There is some promising stuff here, but if people can't become rich your society, your society will attract low performers.
Some rework is needed.
Tell us what the link is if you want us to click on it.
The MSM - the Mockingbird Media - is controlled by the CIA . From their standpoint A good presidential candidate is one who will protect the swamp and continue the Ukranian Proxy war .
Both candidates are perfectly acceptable in that regard.
https://www.pressandguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/fea4586558cac77a9a84abbd259af7a9.jpg?w=879
sticking to the ideas in the article, stein/ware however can't be anything more then a count of those who are at least somewhat willing to leave the duopoly (not a deconstruction of the empire yet).
I suggest you look at the economic platform. Do you know who is advising the campaign? The most innovative historical grounds for challenging the economic foundations of empire, whether or not you agree with the ideas or fully understand the economic history, are getting a voice in the Stein/Ware campaign for the first time ever. That voice is currently difficult to hear.
If they were to win in November, the policies would introduce entirely different ways of conceiving and implementing credit and debt. Think about who wins and who loses if you challenge the whole construct of debt in western societies, entrenched more so now that it has been globalized and institutionalized over the past few decades.
The goal of censorship is to wipe out dissenting challenges to the power centers that dominate us. The last thing they want is frank and open nationwide discussions of and by the people, on the grounds of their control.
You will hear nitpicking over various items by a horde of naysayers, I am sure, if it breaks through the sound barrier that has been erected, so you don’t try to understand the big picture. But the big picture is the first thing to grasp, in my view.
Interesting. Investigation warranted. The troubling thing is not living in a battleground state.
The whole set-up is frustrating. The barriers that the two parties are able to put up and maintain are frustrating. Michael Hudson is a breath of fresh air that makes this election worth caring about. The Greens have done a lot of ballot access work.
i haven't found out who advises the campaign, so please tell. it sure is a very comprehensive and interesting platform they've come up with, but they have of course the luxury of not winning. nevertheless they also seem to have a lot of necessary 'structure' in place. i hope they also have (or are working on) a discrete strategy on how to deal with expected 'opposition'.
Hi, I replied but it ended up further down the chat somehow. 8:28pm this evening (Aug 27). Apologies.
Stein is an actual member of the tribe by blood -
Still think she's the way out of the illusion built by the tribe?
Remember Bernie Sanders? Remember how quickly he flip flopped? You are being sold the same type of 'opposition' by Stein.
I'm Ashkenazi Adverse as the next guy but you're being unfair, there are plenty of Ashkenazis that are genuinely on your side. Though you shouldn't put your faith in a hero to change things anyway.
would you like a biased selection by Wikipedia ?
many links
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarian_Party_(United_States)
Personally, I would not be happy if libertarians were in power. They are still capitalists but they just don't want any constraints put on them by the government. I have not heard much from them about justice or eliminating poverty.
and here the opening line in Wikipedia is SO IMPORTANT
"Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit." --- Wikipedia
In other words, NO MEANS OF PRODUCTION IN THE HANDS OF THE STATE - one reason many consider capitalism a form of a Free Market
I chose to support the Free Market over capitalism.
I will not go over why other libertarians did not at this point except to admit they made a grave error
Who are these people who keep voting for one or the other, when they've both revealed their true colours?
It's even worse when you encounter people who recognise their party is evil but are like 'the other one is so much worse!'. They're the goddamn same!
It's like we need an antidote to this brainwashed poison.
In her book " The God of the Machine (1943) Isabel Paterson argued that the purpose of government schools is to prevent folks from recognizing tyranny
https://fee.org/articles/the-educational-octopus/
Liked a comment by someone on twitter a while back. He said something like, 'when voting for the "lesser evil", just remember, you're still voting for evil.'
The antidote is accelerationism.
The antidote is WAKING UP and recognizing that the swamp has its hands on our throats
NO !!!
Its NOT the swamp that has its hands on our throats,
its US who willingly swim in it ...
Did you watch the DNC convention?
Can you believe that millions of people are willing to vote tyranny in?
10 million Venezuelans have left their Country
AMericans have no where to go which make a civil war very very likely
There is never going to be a "civil war" in this country, not while there is so much beer to drink and Netflix to watch.
I would like to describe to you what is happening in Europe now.
We have hundreds (probably more) Americans coming into Europe
What these Americans do is buy up property and then advertise on UK/US media.Which means ONLY one thing....French people cannot pay the prices the Americans want.
I have 2 so-called American friends here who continue to rent BNB accommodation.
At the present time France is in a bad way but a notice has come down from 'on high' that IF you own more than one property you are going to be paying HUGE taxes.
Suddenly the Americans here are selling their properties!
Europe is NOT the USA.
{...millions of people are willing to vote tyranny in...}
I wrote in my previous post: "its US who WILLINGLY swim in it"
Which is resulting in exactly the same outcomes.
{...Americans have no where to go ...} REALLY ??? ...
but Venezuelans DO !! How come ??? ...
The US Empire has more than 850 military bases world-wide.
Maybe, that's the reason civilian Americans have not left anywhere to go these days (and coming decades); they are deplorable citizens of the most despised and hatred country ever ...
Yet, aren't you past this point, Contumacious? So how do you remove these imperialists hands chocking you? How are you now waking the population without advocating accelerationism? What philosophy do you have in mind beyond repeating the same words?
{...accelerationism...} YEAH !!!👍👍💪💪👏👏
But is see, that TWO full hours after your 1st. post YOU are still in front of the PC-screen instead of having accomplished some positive actions ...
Klaus, we have notifications on our devices. We don't need to be in front of them to know someone has responded. Additionally, you have no idea the work any of us do or have done in the past two hours. One thing is certain, your rhetoric is a reminder why others walk away from social media discourse.
ATtempting to re-direct those who are controlled by the MSM is a positive action.
Libertarians have been telling AMericans since, at least, 1971 to cease helping the Congresscritters create a swamp.
Actually , the Founding Fathers, Libertarians themselves - specially Thomas Jefferson - in his 1804 - Inaugural Speech told us not to trust the motherfuckers.
We became independent from the UK even though only 20% of the colonists supported independence, 80% were happy with King George.
So we need that 20% of freedom loving AMericans to coalesce.
Your numbers hint at the reason why "we" became "independent". The new oligarchs needed it - that's why. So the actual percentage of that 20% is minuscule, the rest were either recruited or duped. That tiny percentage was money and, as we know, money talks.
I don't see anyone with any feet, or legs.
how would that look like with regards to this election?
The US election is a choreographed ceremony for empire managers and as far as it is for the proletariat class, it is an illusion of choice. Your candidate is not on the ballot. The rights and freedoms for everyone is not an option, here. Ending wars initiated by the oligarchs across our planet is not a choice, here. If you read Caitlin Johnson or Chris Hedges, than you would understand our position clearly.
Reframing the argument to focus on our election isn't productive for the working class. Through accelerationism we can achieve our goal of providing peace and equality across the globe, with time. Hard time.
If we accelerated the empires agenda of restricting more different people's rights, including our own, and if we continue to pay homage to education and medical institutions that first serves capital gains before educating civics and providing necessary thorough medical coverage for all, then we gain more disenfranchised individuals. With time, that number grows. In a nut shell, we shelter and advance the conservative agenda, and more rapidly we see a time in which all tribes stand against the elites and all tribes are aware of who has done the dirty. That or then the elites nuke us.
In a perfect world, everyone would have the empathy to see different people as themselves and all peoples would gasp at the notion that others are lesser or worthy of dying, or worthy of suffering. Palestinians for example, would have a voice on the world stage that gave them the same rights to exist as you and I supposedly have.
This election season, look at those who spend their time proselytizing that their first official action will be to end genocide and that they will repair the different institutions that wish to silence journalists who report transparently. Then you will be left with the green.
The issue with the green team, is that they are living in a society that will not hand them the ticket and they know it. It's a fight they can not win against the western elite because even they wish to operate within the same institutions. I often think of George Lucas's interview with James Cameron regarding the American Empire when I'm in this headspace. I know that that is what it must come to, but saying so only marks me in a fascist police state and does nothing to effect change. I suppose, like many, I'm so old now that it matters less and less and that that's's by design too.
I'll end with a suggestion here. You could expat this election season to a country that advocates what you feel in your own heart. You could help this society, as an advanced one might offer your ideologies greater weapons.
"Accelerationism" is an unproven theory. It may sound plausible, even hopefully workable, but is there any evidence from history that such a theory would work? (It's a pity that we don't have time machines or alternate universes to test such theories and ideologies).
Here's an example of "accelerationism" happening currently (IMO): Israel has accelerated its own demise by the actions it has taken since Oct 7th. But at what cost? Would 5 million+ Palestinians have to perish before Israel perishes? What about the cost to the rest of the global human population, climate, ecology, and stability of nations? Is the price paid by following a paradigm of "accelerationism" worth it?
Who really knows how "accelerationism" will unfold in the context of the US Empire? AFAIK, there are no modelled scenarious or rational playbooks for such theories.
Does any theory start out as proven, chokaski? Why do you have to jump in with your pseudo-intellectualism of unrecognized and under-appreciated intelligentsia every single time?
(some might claim hamas 'accelerated'). accelerating does not mean worsening the costs, it only means that you speed up what is inevitably going to happen.
i have been reading caitlin johnstone for quite some years now. i sometimes read hedges. imo, the problem with acceleration in this empire is that it is aware of the strategy and balances and placates it's buffer class meticulously. the wings of the duopoly also manage to cut the electorate in half (never 70/30 or another monster score) so they can always step back from 'outrageous' platforms they ran on (or there's this sudden urge to be reaching out over the aisle, or the sudden lack of party discipline and sudden understanding for party dissidents).
as the republicans still are most openly hostile to the working class and other marginalized groups, they indeed seem the best suited vehicle for this acceleration and the 2025 platform would possibly be a good start to elicit reaction from targeted groups (though i think they'd try to implement policies 'gently' which would not serve an accelerationist cause). but i also remember how the dems killed the revolutionary spirit of blm (seattle had some improved occupy vibes from a distance). also tameness, apathy, stupidity and lack of focus and unity among the suffering class might be problematic despite a significant cranking up of the oppression.
best chances for acceleration in this cycle seems to be a very convincing trump win with religious nutters, hard line libertarians, gun nuts, and outright fascist goon squads going batshit crazy, dems reluctantly facilitating the resistance to this but then losing control over it, and then the vanguard comes in and... oops, there's no vanguard, oops forgot to infiltrate rank and file of the military...
anyway, vote green (better than no vote, because of the percentages and because it is the right thing to do).
I am finding it had to understand this.
Most humans are less capable of independent thought than sheep.
It's time to put the dogs, cats, birds, fish, or another animal in charge.
A nation of clueless voters, brains corroded by social media and TV, who are more interested in the latest Hollywood movies and the personal drama of c-list "celebrities"....than in the actual facts and issues around how their nation is run.
They are the endless.
They are Legion, for there are many of them.
More of us, more of us!
Most of them are not voting "for" one, they're voting "against" the other and are proud of it. The most frustrating thing is such people do not realize or won't acknowledge that they effectively vote "for".
Every day it gets worse.
And feels like accelerating.
The person who "revealed" their "true color"s is not reliable
And a person who starts out with their color on their sleeve is a fool. Certainly in politics.
Americans — face it you live in a society of liars. The corporate world, particularly its financialized poison center depends on them, and on the”little lies”, the toadying “yes massas” required to rise through the ranks. Your government is filled with liars from top to bottom (with the few exceptions of resigners) — as nailed by Matt Hoh, who opined that if Matthew Miller and Vedant Patel both had a morally enlightened moment and resigned, the rank and file of the state dept. would line up to fill the post — for the opportunity to lie for the bloody empire. Only solution: that empire must go away.
Both of them make me crazy to listen to. Every word that comes out of their mouths are blatant lies. I don’t know how people like that can live with themselves. We will have to make it where they can’t. The system won’t change without blood being shed.
We have allowed the swamp to get HUGE - now in the process of dismantling the same we need to be methodical like a gold prospector
Dear Contumacious. What are the Americans doing to combat this?
Do the OPPOSITE of what QueMala Cameleon and Tampon Tim recommend !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SOP. And they're so smooth, I figure they (and their MSM apologists) must've studied Stanislavsky at some point.
Yep, nation of con men and con women.
Of course - while we were busy working two jobs and overtime in order to pay for the gargantuan welfare/warfare police state the swamp was doubling up in size and power.
Great article 👍 I totally agree with you. People have recently seen what is really going on while Biden was running things. People got seriously agitated... then Kamala got thrown into our cage to chew on. People became appease and euphoric, forgetting the true horrific nature of the beast. This monster knows how how to dull our rage. The people don't like pain so it throws us little treats (much like cat or dog cookies) to make our tails wag. 😒 It's going to take some really serious pain points to get people off their duffs and break out. Unlike the rest of the world Americans are lazy ass creatures easily anesthetized. 😢
Caitlin, Another great article! And I totally agree! I cannot consider voting for either Trump or Harris, as they both support the war in Gaza.
I’m voting for Dr Jill Stein, who is against this war.
Many thanks,
Unfortunately, i cannot afford to upgrade to paid, as I have limited funds.
Best regards,
Wayne Schenet
"Democrats wound up spending years shrieking about a completely fake conspiracy theory that the executive branch of the US government had been taken over by the Kremlin, only to lose interest and pretend nothing happened after the Mueller investigation ".
I've heard D members of Congress recently still pushing that story as though it were fact. I suspect they will never give it up.
Russiagate would have gotten you laughed out of the 1962-era John Birch Society as a conspiracy nut with a really wild and overactive imagination.
But it remains a Team D Article Of Faith, and woe betide the heretics who do not adhere to it.
The thing that baffles me when I encounter such types - I can't really tell whether they truly believe it or just toe the line. It's undistinguishable.
You can point out the manifold inconsistencies and facts which contradict the conspiracy theory and you will convince nobody, all you will do is make the cognitive dissonance fly.
My little bitch comes out from under his rock.
I have learned not to worry about that. To find the truth you would have to know what they do when they think no one is looking.
Although Gaza is the most urgent issue, and we cannot turn our eyes from them, there is increasing settler violence and land confiscation in the West Bank, aka illegally Occupied Territory. Here’s a group we can support, made up of committed Israelis and Palestinians working together to protect the Palestinians there.
Work on the Ground: Transforming Lives in Israel-Palestine — American Friends of Combatants for Peace
https://www.afcfp.org
Thank you Joy.
Thanks Caitlin, you helped to understand what “wokism” means. Wake up to the true nature of the Spectacle! Once you see through the curtain…what? You don’t seem to mention what a genuine political discourse is beyond caterwauling at the fake duapoly. It all performance. And that performative display is in of itself fake. So, you must believe in an authentic political discourse. It has to be issue based and not character based. So where is this authentic culture of resistance?
“where is this authentic culture of resistance?” The answer is you, and me, and …. Because it’s up to us to create that culture.
Yes, as Joy says, the answer is you and me and everyone else who wakes up. The more and more people who find the strength and support to shake off this overwhelmingly massive tribal, enslaving conditioning (from early childhood on, so not easy) and wake up, the more the answers will come about how to dismantle this insatiable death oriented monster and create an authentic Life oriented culture of resistance.
I have said this many times.
You can awaken someone who is asleep, but you cannot awaken someone who pretends to be asleep.
There must be an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Pope Francis has said what is needed, now he must do what is needed by going to Gaza and standing for peace, justice and freedom.
Please sign the petition and share widely.
https://chng.it/CRQ7qw4Gzn
Let us also support UNRWA. If our governments won’t act in accordance with humanity, then we will. https://www.unrwausa.org/donate
Also we can all support the brave doctors who have gone to Gaza: https://palestinian-ama.networkforgood.com/projects/206145-gaza-medical-supplies-oct-2023
Or
Surgeons to Gaza
https://fajr.org/donate/
Let us make our donations to honor Aaron Bushnell, in memory of Hind Rajab, or Dr Jumann Afra, the mother of newborn twins killed by Israel using US bombs..
Here’s a petition to excommunicate Joe Biden: https://www.change.org/p/excommunicate-president-joe-biden-bf979783-ac08-4576-a53f-c786ea23dc9c
These are a few small things we can do. If we can do more, let us do more.
permanent ceasefire
A temporary one is one that Netanyahu can push aside anytime he wants
They are extremely unlikely to produce peace
"Trump supporters are the most gullible people on earth."
Yep.
people who oppose Freedom of Association so that they can require people to associate with the state are the most gullible
more Libertarian gobbley gook. "Freedom of Association" is like a quote from your social darwinism based, Milton Friedman bible isn't it? That only fanatics like yourself can define, while the rest of us must fetch water for you if we disagree with your Friedman bible bullshit.
You like to broadly label people and then place them inside an imaginary regiment marching to Shibboletu. Right! Libertarian does not mean Libertarian Party. There are Libertarian Socialists. In other words, you have no interest in communication or exchange of thoughts!
Oh right on! Now we get into the definition word salad game. I'm Libertarian but not that kind of Libertarian. I'm a good person, believe in good things. Social Darwinism is good for society! And you - well you, have no interest in communication, you communist thug!!
in other words, you will not admit to OPPOSING the LIBERAL SOcial Right to Freedom of Association
It is gobbley gook to you
Actually, you are the one opposing freedom of association or freedom not to associate. Libertarianism would see those who are most ruthless doing as they please while the many who have a conscience suffered and had to associate as the libertarian bosses directed them. I know libertarianism is an infantile ideology but if you can't do better than this, perhaps you should leave the proselytising to others.
provide one example !!!
Being ruthless is not a crime !
People have the right to leave associations they dislike - including their business.
Demanding those whom they have chosen to associate with must change is OFF THE TABLE
Again, wou want people to be able to simply demand others change to suit their political will
You never pointed out a single crime
Just people who behaved badly
Talk about being naive as fuck. Try working for a living Howard - at a retail store, and paying 10,000 a year for Health Insurance, and still going bankrupt when your kid gets sick.
Only the most gullible would at this point believe that any rich clown running for what they call government office would do anything to help the increasingly impoverished working class. Therefore participating in this mass distraction called elections only legitimizes a totally corrupt system that has only one goal: preserving the privileged status and obscene lifestyles of rich clowns at any cost!
"anything to help the increasingly impoverished working class."
So you believe the government should be showing certain classes preference in treatment ?
What happened to Equal Protection Under The Law ?
Not progressive enough ?
"any rich clown "
is that like saying "any black clown" ?
Or are certain classes OK to demean ?
People who have achieved huge amounts of wealth have often treated workers badly, they try to avoid taxes and sometimes do so, they appear to think that their money gives them the right to have power over others. So, a rich clown is not like saying a black clown unless you are talking about a rich black clown who could be just as clownish as a rich white clown.
"People who have achieved huge amounts of wealth have often treated workers badly"
I won't disagree but in the final analysis the issue is settled in the last 2 words - "treated badly" - not necessarily CRIMINALLY.
Such treatment we still find in what may be considered normal life - particularly in politicians if you ask my view.
"Treated badly" is something that I believe LIBERAL TOLERANCE must handle as opposed to turning to The State and its (compulsory) powers.
let me go a step further with this view while here.
The problem with social liberals and progressives is that they already have turned to The State and its powers to solve the issues of society with words like "social reform" and "advanced social organization"
The problem here is the state is incapable of doing that without reorganizing the people in society too via state-mandates which incudes law -mandates.
Mandating people to a "good society" is just not possible.
I’d say a Trump presidency would trigger a much larger protest of all his policies because the large volume of upper mid class shitlibs would find their morality suddenly and protest. However, because they are hooked on MSM, their ire would be redirected to less critical (to the empire) issues like abortion, woman’s rights and treatment, etc. never imperial operations
indeed, as was demonstrated during the previous trump presidency (russiagate, not warmongering enough in ukraine and the middle east, silence on the 1,7 trillion tax cut, acquiescing to judicial appointments, steam-valving blm, ...) and mentioned by caitlin.
"When Trump was first elected I had hope that the Democrats who’d fallen asleep at the wheel under Obama would become politically engaged again and start criticizing the evils of the US empire like they did during the Bush years."
Come on. Have you checked the voting records or media appearances of democrats after 9/11?
"the Democrats who’d fallen asleep"
Obama was elected for 8 years
That's along time to be asleep
Not to mention backing a concept like a HUMANE "invasion"
But "falling asleep" is one of those favorite excuses used by D's and R's
Bill Hicks - we need you now more than ever.
I understand why people want to vote for Jill Stein and the Green Party. It's the same in Canada where people say Liberals and Conservatives are the same and vote for the New Democratic Party (NDP) or the Green Party. The problem, as Caitlin has repeatedly pointed out, is that there is no fixing the system and liberals and social democrats are still capitalists who think there can be, to borrow from George Bush, "compassionate capitalism". In the past we've had socialist and communist parties but the oligarchical press make sure they never get any media time and are demonized. If socialist movements were to gain strength and not be co-opted (as most labour unions are) I suppose they could make some change but could they gain control? If a socialist party or movement formed government how would it rid us of capitalism? The oligarchs would simply buy the next election.
Knowing that voting is futile and the system is rigged, your vote becomes an expression of your personal moral position -- a philosophical act, not a practical one. Voting for the Green Party is a way to publicly express your individual morality. That's enough reason for me to vote for Jill Stein. I don't need to pretend I'm going to change the world with my vote.
You also don't need to pretend that by participating you're knowingly endorsing the corrupt voting system thereby giving it legitimacy.
I've considered that, but at the local level, voting can actually make a difference, so I continue to play the game, knowing it's a game. I watch football, too, which is problematic in all sorts of ways. I guess I could go be a hermit in the woods, which actually sounds fantastic, except my wife has cancer and we need to live reasonably close to where she goes for treatment.
it may also count in percentages. a non-vote does not contribute. e.g. 45% team R and 55% team D vs. 45% team R, 45% team D and 10% team G. but in comes electoral college and stuff and then this only matters for the visuals. team R and team D prefer that one doesn't vote to one voting 3rd party though (very, very much).
"team R and team D prefer that one doesn't vote to one voting 3rd party though (very, very much)." - which institution did you graduate from to come up with such a thesis? I guess some youtube link got you convinced just like the sewage you offered re uterus exploitation. You're easy "martin", perfect tool for the system.
idk, maybe put yourself in team R and team D's shoes for a second and try to imagine what they strategically would prefer? do you think they would rather like the rebellious to vote 3rd party in stead of abstain? i'm open to your arguments.
Yes, Ron. Your comment highlights exactly what our predicament is. So how do we bring about meaningful change? There are lots of theories, but I despair about their feasibility and success probabilities of such theories...
ohh there is away and a fix
Enact and support Freedom of Association
No fix for COMPULSORY States though