Listen to a reading of this article (reading by Tim Foley): ❖ Voting in a western “democracy” is like that bit in the opening intro of The Simpsons when Marge is driving with the baby and the baby has a toy steering wheel. The baby thinks she’s driving the car but it’s just a fake toy to keep her busy and let her feel like she’s participating.
As usual great piece, and we mostly agree. But there is a wry small group of competing interests at the tippy top who do control the world. And population control is part of at least one of those groups agenda. The club for Rome and MIT have produced reports calling population growth the biggest threat to humanity. Eugenics has been a popular subject among some elitist groups since before Hitler. That’s just an easily researched fact. And to use your argument when I said war is one way for them to accomplish population control and profits (and you argued why would capitalists want to kill their customers), wouldn’t nuclear war kill all their customers? Also, I don’t believe in even more centralized and surveillance state power whatever ism one wants to call it. The US is demonstrably the worst government on the planet, and I don’t support war against anyone, but that doesn’t mean I support other authoritarian surveillance state government structures as a replacement.
Economically however I do support a much more equal system (total equality if that can somehow be achieved is fine w me). Economics is defined as the efficient allocation of resources amongst scarce resources and unlimited wants. However one wants to define our current system, it is clearly nether fair nor efficient. It is a fixed system. The globalist oligarchy of for profit banks and corporations are the ones who actually write the laws, and also control the unelected bodies supposedly designed to regulate them
Thank you Caitlin :). I didn't agree with all of this, but most of it is spot-on and made me laugh out loud. We need to define capitalism, because it seems what is in the modern world being labeled as "capitalism" is not capitalism at all, but a gross perversion of capitalism, driven by greed and expediency, prone to taking advantage of and harming people for monetary rewards. This corporate / government partnership (regulatory capture) needs some other name, no?
God said to build a better world and I said how? The world is such a cold, dark place and complicated now. And I’m so young and useless there is nothing I can do. But God, in all his wisdom said, “Just build a better you.”
My sister sent this a while back, from See you at the Top, Zig Ziglar, 2010, p.370 (I’d use the phrase “Evolving Universe,” but different strokes for different folks.)
If voting made a real difference they would have outlawed it. What is jarring is that the nation still does NOT have an opposition party that can mount an effective resistance against the excesses of the duopoly and its corporate sponsors. As the Empire decays all it can turn out is bumbling octogenarians to maintain the status quo.
The problem is, if you suggest that people raise their consciousness, the people who need to do that the most don't know what the hell you are talking about. And if they have an inkling, they immediately erase it from their minds. There is only one way forward, one way for human survival, and that is democratic socialism. And that can only happen when the suffering majority understand who and what is causing their suffering. Hopefully, some such enlightenment will come about this Fall, when energy stores are depleted in Europe. When prices increase ten fold. And the same in the US. And if that doesn't do it, nothing will. We are screwed.
"It’s not happening because your government wants to help you. Your government is not your friend."
This is exactly what the corporate strategists have wanted you and worked hard to make you think for the last 75 years (since the organized attack on the New Deal). That entire corporate right wing libertarian strategy was written down in "The Powell Memo" (do the Google).
It is a stunning contradiction of what Caitlin wrote just days ago:
"The law isn’t there to protect you from bad people, it’s there to protect bad people from you. "
This is a very misleading and dangerously false claim when it comes to environmental and public health laws.
It's very easy to write nihilistic and broadside criticisms of the obviously broken system - but much harder to work on solutions. If you fail to grasp my meaning, for a mature and nuanced critical assessment, see:
Politicians are so so seriously corrupt I become debilitated at times dwelling on it. I have not given up but keep my torch and pitchfork close by. It is the only answer.
"Elections Are Like A Toy Steering Wheel For Babies"
This is EXACTLY what I told an election-believer colleague of mine, scolding me that "you don't even vote"... and the same Maggie example :P... Great minds think alike :P...
The more we know about the foreign and domestic affairs of the USA, the more we get the impression that, in addition to the political leadership of the USA (this includes both the Democratic and Republican sides, which actually form a whole), it is a huge criminal organization !
Compared to them, the criminal organization led by Don Vito Corleone, seen in the former exciting movie The Godfather, is just a harmless association of knights and Sunday girl choirs !
I read somewhere (it has since disappeared strangely from the internet :) ) about the strange deaths surrounding the Clinton clan, where anyone who knew anything incriminating about them was guaranteed to commit suicide, or die in a gang war shootout, or become the victim of a murder that looked like a robbery, compared to the former Borgia a poison-mixing dynasty was a harmless family dedicated to making people happy !
When I was young some old guy told me that US politics was like professional wrestling. I was skeptical.
Now I'm the old guy.
As usual great piece, and we mostly agree. But there is a wry small group of competing interests at the tippy top who do control the world. And population control is part of at least one of those groups agenda. The club for Rome and MIT have produced reports calling population growth the biggest threat to humanity. Eugenics has been a popular subject among some elitist groups since before Hitler. That’s just an easily researched fact. And to use your argument when I said war is one way for them to accomplish population control and profits (and you argued why would capitalists want to kill their customers), wouldn’t nuclear war kill all their customers? Also, I don’t believe in even more centralized and surveillance state power whatever ism one wants to call it. The US is demonstrably the worst government on the planet, and I don’t support war against anyone, but that doesn’t mean I support other authoritarian surveillance state government structures as a replacement.
Economically however I do support a much more equal system (total equality if that can somehow be achieved is fine w me). Economics is defined as the efficient allocation of resources amongst scarce resources and unlimited wants. However one wants to define our current system, it is clearly nether fair nor efficient. It is a fixed system. The globalist oligarchy of for profit banks and corporations are the ones who actually write the laws, and also control the unelected bodies supposedly designed to regulate them
"Trump’s recent comments about taking Venezuela’s oil "
Actually they said that back in 2019 through the mouth of John Bolton. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wifJII9W6ZI
I found this shocking. Syria, same thing.
How true !!
Perhaps Robert Kennedy, Jr. will be the exception in US politics.
Thank you Caitlin :). I didn't agree with all of this, but most of it is spot-on and made me laugh out loud. We need to define capitalism, because it seems what is in the modern world being labeled as "capitalism" is not capitalism at all, but a gross perversion of capitalism, driven by greed and expediency, prone to taking advantage of and harming people for monetary rewards. This corporate / government partnership (regulatory capture) needs some other name, no?
God said to build a better world and I said how? The world is such a cold, dark place and complicated now. And I’m so young and useless there is nothing I can do. But God, in all his wisdom said, “Just build a better you.”
My sister sent this a while back, from See you at the Top, Zig Ziglar, 2010, p.370 (I’d use the phrase “Evolving Universe,” but different strokes for different folks.)
They also have elections for high school student councils.
If voting made a real difference they would have outlawed it. What is jarring is that the nation still does NOT have an opposition party that can mount an effective resistance against the excesses of the duopoly and its corporate sponsors. As the Empire decays all it can turn out is bumbling octogenarians to maintain the status quo.
Tucker’s war on Uniparty establishment:
https://youtube.com/shorts/dyuqP7kVaWs?feature=share
The problem is, if you suggest that people raise their consciousness, the people who need to do that the most don't know what the hell you are talking about. And if they have an inkling, they immediately erase it from their minds. There is only one way forward, one way for human survival, and that is democratic socialism. And that can only happen when the suffering majority understand who and what is causing their suffering. Hopefully, some such enlightenment will come about this Fall, when energy stores are depleted in Europe. When prices increase ten fold. And the same in the US. And if that doesn't do it, nothing will. We are screwed.
"So let us stop talkin' falsely now
The hour's getting late" ~~~ All Across The Watchtower. Bob Dylan
Time to grow up - citizen or spectator?
Caitlin writes:
"It’s not happening because your government wants to help you. Your government is not your friend."
This is exactly what the corporate strategists have wanted you and worked hard to make you think for the last 75 years (since the organized attack on the New Deal). That entire corporate right wing libertarian strategy was written down in "The Powell Memo" (do the Google).
It is a stunning contradiction of what Caitlin wrote just days ago:
"We COINTELPRO ourselves now."
Caitlin claims:
"The law isn’t there to protect you from bad people, it’s there to protect bad people from you. "
This is a very misleading and dangerously false claim when it comes to environmental and public health laws.
It's very easy to write nihilistic and broadside criticisms of the obviously broken system - but much harder to work on solutions. If you fail to grasp my meaning, for a mature and nuanced critical assessment, see:
https://bwolfe.substack.com/p/the-left-and-progressives-need-their
Politicians are so so seriously corrupt I become debilitated at times dwelling on it. I have not given up but keep my torch and pitchfork close by. It is the only answer.
"Elections Are Like A Toy Steering Wheel For Babies"
This is EXACTLY what I told an election-believer colleague of mine, scolding me that "you don't even vote"... and the same Maggie example :P... Great minds think alike :P...
The more we know about the foreign and domestic affairs of the USA, the more we get the impression that, in addition to the political leadership of the USA (this includes both the Democratic and Republican sides, which actually form a whole), it is a huge criminal organization !
Compared to them, the criminal organization led by Don Vito Corleone, seen in the former exciting movie The Godfather, is just a harmless association of knights and Sunday girl choirs !
I read somewhere (it has since disappeared strangely from the internet :) ) about the strange deaths surrounding the Clinton clan, where anyone who knew anything incriminating about them was guaranteed to commit suicide, or die in a gang war shootout, or become the victim of a murder that looked like a robbery, compared to the former Borgia a poison-mixing dynasty was a harmless family dedicated to making people happy !