the death star must be destroyed. but how? by whom? most americans have been zombified by the propaganda machine. If we protest we're called terrorists and end up in jail or homeless/penniless. Folks of conscience should probably leave and find a non war citystate to spend their lives in. Any suggstions?
First step is to exit imperial Zionist “social media” platforms like Facebook and Snapchat and Instagram and WhatsApp. They are designed to colonise and data mine the minds of the masses. No exit or change is possible there.
WhatsApp only connects you with those you ask, or those whom you accept. I've never had and pushing of notices, videos, or other feeds. I'd say that's the one you can keep.
Actually my wife's family in Peru has been on WhatsApp since before Farcebook bought them. The reason is that it's a simple platform that even my 80 year old brother-in-law can use, is free, and works on any phone platform. For the cost of the electricity to charge them my wife in the US and her family in Peru can talk for hours. I've never seen an ad on the platform since we started using it around 2010.
After several countries' government standardized on WhatsApp questions about privacy started to get attention. The very last thing that the staff did before the sale was to turn on end-to-end encryption, as a very public middle finger to Zuckerberg. Farcebook was going to push ads based on spying on users conversations and that action ensured that the spying was never going to happen, destroying 90% of the perceived "value" and almost sinking the sale. They can tell who you're talking to, but not what about.
I don't believe any phone can be made secure - they are either android or ios and android, being owned by Google is a monstrous data harvester. I'm sure ios is no better.
I use my computer running the Linux os, Firefox search engine, Duckduck Go browser and my email is with Proton mail.
Considering ALL the wars started in the name of Democracy.........why is it that the Americans are using 'terrorists' to fight for them?
Those in power have learned ONE thing: You cannot introduce a 'draft' where Americans will fight. You have already seen you sons and daughters coming home in body bags.
IF a 'draft' is introduced the Americans would run for the hills..........so what does your Government do?
The more 'terrorist' army's you use will backfire.
I hear you. The USA is an illusion. It is simply a facade of some kind of free democratic nation in which people live brainwashed, indebted, and enslaved to a captive financial system and surveillance state. Why even bother with a draft when the CIA and Mossad have so effectively figured out how to recruit and indoctrinate radical jihadists and militants the world over into fighting their dirty wars. Syria took a long time but, ultimately, the empire triumphed, i.e. Wall St., the war machine, the nat sec state. USA = Wall St, the war machine, and the nat sec state. Everything else is an illusion.
It will never be destroyed. I love the Death Star analogy but this Death Star is the entire world because we are the under the thumb of globe-spanning financial oligarchy. It is supra-national and uses zionism, among other dangerous ideologies, to fuel its destructive march. Destroying this Death Star means destroying a pan-global financial elite, which owns trillions in assets, more than all nations, and commandeers armies, the police, the courts. The takeover is complete. We have only to turn inward, meditate, practice art and kindness to others if we're going to get through the voluminous ignorance and gaslighting and bitterness all around us.
So you've lost all hope? 0.000% probability of things being different? Maybe you under-estimate the resolve and nature of the human spirit? Maybe this "helplessness against the Empire" that you feel is a "perception illusion"? Or are you a closet Capitalist trying to dissuade challengers to the status quo?
if this reply seems preachy I don't meant to sound as if I have all the answers. but you asked so I want to share that I have a renewed sense of hope and purpose, after a period of despair following Bernie's drop out in 2020. this rejuvenation has come from hitting the books. reading about revolutionary thinkers such as Lenin, Marx and Engels, Mao etc makes us realize that we aren't alone in our desire to see the "globe-spanning empire" defeated so we can all be free. learning about our progenitors in this long struggle brings us closer to them, because we can see they already laid the first stones in the path we must continue until liberation. it is a continuum. if you can, listen to an interview with Torkil Lauessen on Upstream. he is an elder in the movement toward liberation and you will feel a renewed sense of meaning and purpose as well as a clearer sense of our collective role in the struggle.
South America would be a safer bet than any place in the western/English speaking world based on what transpired in the first 2 world wars. I think it’s highly probable we will see war on US soil and the bolshevik crowd will use that as an excuse to genocide civilians under the cover of war. It’s been done before and will be done again. Just look at how easily AmeriCONs have been fooled into thinking all civilians are terrorists in Gaza. You can clearly see the nations under attack the most are the ones the deagle report shows the most depopulation. Where you would have wanted to retire say 20 years ago is where you want to avoid going forward. The problem is I just don’t see most Americans thinking it will get that bad until it’s too late. Most think their political party will save them and are unable to break out of that indoctrination. But in 2019 no one would have ever believed what would transpire during CONvid and beyond and that’s nothing compared to what’s coming IMO.
This type of narrative blames “Bolshevism” (a substitute swear word for Communism) of which they know nothing for the sins of imperialism which is a handmaiden of Capitalism.
It is a fascistic narrative which abounds on the far right with frequency. It might be an unconscious impulse on the part of the individual but is nonetheless profoundly unhinged and reactionary.
>>"In my view Stalin evolved into fascism by methodology, not ideology."
Intriguing statement. Some questions (if you have the time):
(1) Would not methodology be based on ideology (for example: in economics, the methodoloy followed would depend on "free-market, neoliberal ideologies", "marxian or socialist ideologies", etc.)
(2) If Trotsky had come to power (instead of Stalin) would he have used similar methodologies? (I'm thinking not)
(3) Is it possible that Stalin was always a fascist/totalitarian/power-hungry control-freak with an unhinged personality masquerading as a socialist/communist? (i.e. he may have always been a fake socialist/communist). Did getting POWER change him into something different OR instead did POWER allow him to drop the facade and show his true colors?
I'm no Stalin expert, so I don't have answers to any of the above questions.
keeping in mind that a lot we know about stalin seems to align with the pov of empire, i tend to be fairly neutral, even on that (imperial) 'fact'. (looking at the present-day assad scenario). he kinda stopped the moustacheman, so lots of reasons to twist the narrative. there's undoubtedly a stalinist rabbit hole.
PROBLEM IS, THIS ISNT action of politicians. They are puppets . Imperialisms for the last 80 years has been in the interest of globalism. This was why the USA was given the petro dollar, to sustain the dollar for unlimited spending for unlimited wars. Turned America into a murder death cult.
You cannot run away from globalism.
Problem is, when God died, so did courage. People of old did not worry about dying when trying to fight tyranny, because they had a place with their God.
So who wants to die, or die in jail, for doing the right thing, when the rest of the herd hides under the covers. Well, one fellow did something similar not so long ago. They are calling for death penalty. More fear.
question is, are there things more important than life itself ?
Religion was invented as a means of controlling the populace. Moral courage is not linked to a mythical being or those who claim to be agents of that being.
Simplistic and incorrect observation. Religion was likely conceived so humans di not have to equate themselves to the animals they were killings and eating. And like everything else, people of means took control for their benefit.
Not sure what you are talking about "moral" courage, sounds like irrelevant bullshit. I am talking about walking into a hail of bullets to fight, and continuing walking because you know you have a place in heaven.
The men of old did not fear any man, more than they feared the threat of final death, and they 100% believed they would go to heaven. So why not? If I thought I was invulnerable, then why would I not defend my family from the terrorists we call globalists. How many people did the globalist murder with that needle? And absolutely no accountability. This would not have happened 200 years ago. Pitchforks would have come out.
But men todays are metro sexual pussies. Not wanting to lose the job, or the car, or the house. Too afraid of privation, while we all think we know that god is dead.
Granted. But then the question becomes. What the hell defines that "collective soul". Is it the image and likeness of some cloud being who's therefore a faulty, corrupt, and viciously homicidal excuse for a deity?
Is it the fake piety one often observes in murmurers of prayers at religious festivals as their actions in the world support the furtherance of the economic inequality that cements homelessness as an ongoing fact of societal life?
Is it the art that even a sick society can generate that speaks to a fire of creative spirit that continues to burn even as the destructive forces seek to extinguish it?
Is it the tacit wisdom of the Natural World that silently observes human madness without commentary -- or perhaps which is actually commenting in languages we do not understand?
Help me out here. I'm fucking sick to vomitus of my species and its soul has become dimmer and dimmer so that it is now almost opaque to me. I am bereft of understanding wtf its true substance really is.
The authentic laughter of children; the tickle and giggle of unabashed lovers; the love between dog and human; the sadness at misery; the ability to walk in another's shoes.
Lovely thoughts and feelings, thank you. I immediately want to weep for my two beauties, Golden Retrievers Maggie and Lincoln, already gone from my life too many years, but the unconditional love still there. If only that authenticity could shine out from the opacity as the governing force in human external affairs, we would indeed be a better species.
I love a man who prefers other-than-humans ( I thank author Nick Estes for this term. So much preferable to “animals”) to humans. I feel the same. I have lost more cats than I can count most notably my soul cat Gypsy: she’s been gone for 17 years and I still weep when I go through her photo album.
The bottom really fell out when my mare Angelina passed away two years ago. I’ve been adrift ever since.
I’ve been half heartedly looking for another horse, but it would have some mighty big shoes (or hooves if you will) to fill.
I lost my revered hiking buddy, Lincoln, in '06 and even though my ex and I were separated at the time, he joined me on weekends for treks into the forest, where I can always image him cooling his belly in a mountain stream, then treating me to the cool spray as he shook himself. Oh how I miss that boy.
Mistral(dog) died 8yrs ago. Couldn't even think of getting another one until I found Diego in an Animal shelter. He keeps us walking/smiling and fills us with love. Twiggy and Zappa our cats do the same. SO many animals to rescue.
We have four dogs and two cats. If we could afford more we would have more. Not one of them have ever spent a night outdoors or even extended time outdoors if we were not with them. Over the years we have had many animals and the unconditional love they give is spiritually uplifting. Most people could learn a lot about love from simply belong to a "pack."
All of them flood my heart, always. I still wrap my heart around our family's doofy Cocker Spaniel, Lucky, hobbling around on a rear leg in a cast, 65-odd years ago. But yes gypsy, there are those special relationships too.
Lucia, my 18 year old sweetie had kidney disease. For 2 years we gave her palliative care. Subcutaneous fluids foods, meds etc. . Finally Christmas eve she crashed. Immune system went havoc, too weak to walk, wouldn't eat, eyes infected and closed over 2 days.
We had to euthanize her. I did not want her to suffer from a heart attack, the terror and the pain.
She was by far the most sensitive loving 4 legged kid I ever had and I am devastated.
While when I first told a acquaintance that my dog had kidney disease, he said when you gonna put her down? I said I am not going to put her down, I am going to give her the exact care I would ask for myself. If I have the money, she will get it for treatment.
He said " oh no., you are not one of those people who make their dogs suffer because they cannot let go are you"
I said, " no I am not. I am NOT a person who puts their dog down because she is inconvenient, or gonna cost some money, or require additional work."
I then said If the three of us ( him , me, and Lucia) were in a boat and that boat was sinking and I had to choose who to save, I hope you can swim Jay, because I am saving Lucia. "
He was so offended. He doesn't understand love.
I loved my little doggie like my child. And I will cry and grieve for her. She had a long life with awesome parents. We did not feed her poison food, no fluoride water because the fluoride gives dogs cancer. It is in most processed dog food 8 times the level people drink.
Yet buddy above loses a dog every 6- 8 years or so to cancer. 3 in a row, while ignoring the fact he is killing them with his food choices and water poisoning.
We lost two dogs in the last 2 years. 16 and 18 years old. Treated right. Loved right. My family.
We lost our chihuahua in September. Winnie was 3 1/2 months short of 17 and we miss the little bugger every day. She passed peacefully sleeping in my wife's arms. I say a few words to her every time I walk by her grave. My wife still cries every time her name comes up.
That’s fairly recent, Peter. I’m so sorry for you and your wife.
My country vet has her own crematorium, so our kitties are cremated and we keep their remains. Gypsy has a special place on my bedroom dresser, alongside a painting I did of her.
Angelina is buried on the hill in her pasture. I now have to mow it and I weep every time I mow over her grave.
The terrible truth is that our beloved pets have become almost a canary in a coal mine revealing the foul toxicity of the environment we ask them to share with us. If modern biomedicine is most deficient in one area, it's trying to pin far too much pathology on faulty genes and far too little on environmental toxicity (which of course makes it more convenient to try to sell us new expensive drugs rather than invest in limiting corporate pollution, heaven forbid).
I fear you are correct , Vin. Though Angelina lived to the good age of 29 ( she was euthanized when her arthritic knee could no longer support her weight.)
Gypsy developed a brain tumor at age six, and her lookalike, Ginger, developed acute kidney failure at age seven. Too little lives cut much too short. How the hell did this happen? I agree with you: ENVIRONMENT.
Holy moly, gypsy, brain tumor in a 6-y-o cat? How awful. You must've been horrified. Feckless or corrupt federal and state EPAs bought off by big corporate money. Else, how could any cretin politician be so idiotic as to expect people to drink water from the Flint River, after it had been a dumping ground for the worst of industrial pollutants for decades without cleanup. I know Jordan Chariton has reported on the human cancers etc. both in videos and now in a book, but I'd bet their pets fared no better. There's a case study for you.
I think it's already unleashed.....I see chaos everywhere at the moment.
I am not on substack too much because I just cannot take the frustration. I feel like a Zombie.
All I see is rapacious greed and brutality
IF anyone had told me I would be watching a whole nation being genocided 8yrs ago and nothing was done to stop it I would have laughed and thought it could NEVER happen! OFF to cuddle my dog.
First thing that HAS to happen in my opinion is tackle the Mainstream Media. I don't know how to do this but publishing their names as liars might help/complicit in genocide.
We have quite strong Unions here in Europe which helps but I just don't have any answers which are not violent. Maybe revolution is the only answer?
I can understand your despair. My only solution to counter it, and experience the transcendence radiance of our species, is Bach. I hope you can find what works for you.
I personally prefer the Russians. “Polovtsian Dances” by Borodin is what transports me to another world, along with Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition “.
Yes. Music is also one of my primary saviors. Bach is truly transcendent, as he seems to have miraculously extracted his music from almost nothing that preceded him
Lex Fridman recently interviewed Adam Frank, who is, IMO one of the few leading edge scientists of our time. The actual interview is a couple hours long, but here is a clip with the title:
This was very interesting. Beginning made me think of Jiddhu Krishnamurti, ever read any of his stuff? Then when they hit autopoesis, I was back in day 1 of Bio101, my first class to the freshman, properties of living organisms, which had them slack-jawed when I told them: self-organization, autopoesis, and complex adaptive system properties as the three overarching ones. When he went onto discuss detaching the macro from the micro it gave me a thrill. As someone who is steeped in the molecular biology of life, I nonetheless say: Reductionism can be quite poisonous. Think systemically!
Yep. Frank had a number of things to say about biology and evolution as well, there are quite a few clips posted online now, and the whole interview of course. From what I could understand, some of it was quite a bit above my pay grade, it seemed like some very reasonable ideas grounded in scientific data.
If my library will get his book or it comes out in paperback, I'm tempted, but right now my brain hurts from another one called The Case Against Reality that one of my ex students sent me -- they think my brain's still 45 years old. Frank's book with a theoretical physicist & a philosopher is called The Blind Spot: Why Science Cannot Ignore Human Experience. If only we knew how to grow new neurons. Hell I struggle to preserve the few I've got left. Anyway thanks again. Some good ideas out there.
Thanks. I'll check it out. Fridman's interview subjects are usually worth a listen. Perhaps along the lines: the world is matter, our bodies are matter. But it doesn't matter. Since our perceptions are quite constructive via brain processes, how much of experience is illusory is always a pertinent question.
Thank you for the clip jamenta. Very interesting though way over my head. Gratifying too that it wasn't Eurocentric. The mind in Buddhist philosophy is definitely something for scientists to investigate.
" The mind is the forerunner of all things ". The Buddha.
Biden is the biggest hypocritical catholic ever. You can claim to love Christ while committing genocide and being in favor of every war during his long tenure in government.
His biggest regret of his presidency is not signing the Covid checks with his name and not gipping us out of $600.
I’m so thankful that after all the times he tried to be president is that when he finally succeeded his brain was too far gone and he has made a fool of himself.
BDS is the only way forward for now and it's effective. Asking the simple question: "does this business support Israel?", is the only requirement. Starfucks has suffered greatly due to BDS. 13 billion lost in profits! All because people abandoned their mochachino strawberry caramel grande venti bullshit.
I’ve been BDSing for years. It’s important to tell the corporate headquarters WHY you are boycotting their products. They have dollar signs in their eyes and profit is their only motivation.
The list of places I shop is getting constantly shorter. Since Covid the list became exponentially longer. I have a long memory. Any establishment that aggressively supported the protocols is permanently off my list. Because we grow a garden and hunt and fish we are in a better position than most when it comes to boycotting businesses. When we do go shopping we primarily buy products that are either on sale or clearance items. I figure if you have to deal with the Devil the least you can do is shop with an eye to minimizing their profits.
>>"I figure if you have to deal with the Devil the least you can do is shop with an eye to minimizing their profits."
Yes! Yes! YES! This is what MORE people need to do. I myself have boycotted so many companies and businesses and reduced my consumption and consumerism (and found alternatives) so as to not help the Capitalists as much as possible.
I would have thought basic arithmetic was a necessity not an art. We were actually taught to make change when in elementary school. Most of these poor kids are functionally illiterate and can't do basic math. Everything is now done for them. When this system crashes what are they going to do?
the "empire" is western imperialism led by the US. the revolution is a process, not a pinpoint on the timeline. and our work here in the belly of the beast is to build class consciousness to 'make the apple fall from the tree' so to speak
Western nations are tools just like the alphabet agencies. Globalism is a fascist initiative driveen by the only group on the planet with the power to do it. Credit, and debt.
Imperialism is a tool. Bankers are your enemy. Globalism AKA fascism is our future.
But is that what it would take to foment a Revolution?
The Revolution needs to occur before that happens. And people must be willing to sacrifice their lives for it. Once the Amerikkkan regime falls, so go the others. And remember, there are more firearms than men, women and children in Amerikkka.
A revolution needs the people to rally round great leaders who are prepared to lead, also thinkers, philosophers, poets, writers and artists. All with a vision for an uplifting future for the people.
Revolutions have happened. Che, Castro and the Cuban Revolution. The spark is still there in spite of the machinations of US empire. In Chile, Allende and poets like Victor Hara and Pablo Neruda - we all know what happened with the CIA in Chile.
The October Revolution, which surged forward with the people and a host of intellectuals and artists, writers and great poets like Mayakovsky. Together with his intellectual prowess, he was an actor too.( I love his expression about American cinema - " Capitalism threw sand in the eyes of cinema, and made it blind").
The Soviet Union imploded and collapsed and the main driver of that collapse was the USA. The most terrible weapon of all was unlashed against the Soviet Union, one that seduces and conditions the minds - the propaganda war.
“….. more than a dozen BBC staff who say all the British state media outlet’s reporting on Israel and Palestine is ultimately controlled by a single editor named Raffi Berg, who previously worked for the CIA….”
What do you mean by “previously”?That’s a contradiction in terms, given that the evidence shows he is on outplacement and still working for them.
Spook work is lifetime vocation, not temporary employment.
Also if I recall the article correctly he also had a background in the spy services of the Israeli Genocide Force (IGF) which many people still serve Israeli propaganda by calling it the “IDF”. But they don’t defend anything. Their single purpose is to offend repeatedly in service of a genocidal colonisation effort, as a result of which the Israeli prime minister and the head of its military are both wanted persons under an international arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court.
Nick, Pathetic is too good a word for the BBC. They have always been a mouthpiece of the British establishment. As much as the mainstream media is to the USA.
Israel is evil and Netanyahu is satan's right hand demon. I don't understand why Americans don't see whats being done to them, maybe they've been dumbed down by the fluoride in their. water. I got my account locked on X for posting that Jamie Raskin is insane and he needs a net thrown over him for saying he will stop Trump getting into the WH. X is not a free speech platform, Musk has turned back to a leftist oligarch. My comment seems all over the place this morning, thats because I lost a dear friend a couple days ago, I found her dead in her apartment, Im still really sad over that.
“Why don’t Americans see how their government doesn’t give a rats ass about their wellbeing?”
And yet they keep voting for the people who continue to screw them. Shitlibs think that Biden is the best president since FDR. He failed to pass 90% of his campaign promises.
>>"There isn't a conspiracy of left wing globalists out to threaten us with scary equality and sustainability. There is a conspiracy of mega rich billionaire dynasties that have got us all fooled."
"This massive injustice is entirely by design. As the hub of a globe-spanning empire, the US needs to keep its citizenry poor, divided, distracted and powerless in order to keep them from meddling in the gears of the imperial machine. The more free time and mental spaciousness Americans have, the more they’ll awaken to how depraved their government is and how badly it’s screwing them over. The managers of the western empire naturally have a vested interest in keeping Americans poor, sick, ignorant, and propagandized. Which is why they remain so." Not only do capitalist governments need to keep large portion of their populations in these inhumane conditions so they won't meddle, capitalists need these people so those who have just enough will have someone to punch down on and so they'll know what will happen to them if they meddle.
This why households no longer have one provider. Both parents work struggling to make ends meet wile government controlled schools and daycares indoctrinate and alienate their children.
When I read about the "beachside resort" for Israeli soldiers, I started thinking, "Where's a 2,000 pound bomb when you really need one?" Is it just me, or does anyone else want to squash these smug sociopaths' "resort" built atop the rubble of Gaza (and the graves of thousands)? #FreePalestine
the death star must be destroyed. but how? by whom? most americans have been zombified by the propaganda machine. If we protest we're called terrorists and end up in jail or homeless/penniless. Folks of conscience should probably leave and find a non war citystate to spend their lives in. Any suggstions?
First step is to exit imperial Zionist “social media” platforms like Facebook and Snapchat and Instagram and WhatsApp. They are designed to colonise and data mine the minds of the masses. No exit or change is possible there.
WhatsApp only connects you with those you ask, or those whom you accept. I've never had and pushing of notices, videos, or other feeds. I'd say that's the one you can keep.
What’s app serves no purpose. Email exists and text messaging exits. Its only purpose is data gathering and profiling. And yes they do.
Actually my wife's family in Peru has been on WhatsApp since before Farcebook bought them. The reason is that it's a simple platform that even my 80 year old brother-in-law can use, is free, and works on any phone platform. For the cost of the electricity to charge them my wife in the US and her family in Peru can talk for hours. I've never seen an ad on the platform since we started using it around 2010.
After several countries' government standardized on WhatsApp questions about privacy started to get attention. The very last thing that the staff did before the sale was to turn on end-to-end encryption, as a very public middle finger to Zuckerberg. Farcebook was going to push ads based on spying on users conversations and that action ensured that the spying was never going to happen, destroying 90% of the perceived "value" and almost sinking the sale. They can tell who you're talking to, but not what about.
Email is free. Everyone has email. And if you have a phone you have data service.
The supposed excuses for using such redundant apps is a long as a winters night in the North Pole. But ultimately all self lies.
There is no excuse for subjecting one’s self to these platforms. On what’s app or facebook you ARE the product sold and bought.
Email has served me very well, no FB etc. More communication than I can handle already.
I don't believe any phone can be made secure - they are either android or ios and android, being owned by Google is a monstrous data harvester. I'm sure ios is no better.
I use my computer running the Linux os, Firefox search engine, Duckduck Go browser and my email is with Proton mail.
Maybe not 100% but it's about the best I can do.
That's true but what about the billions of captured souls trapped in there? How to free them without participating in that hellscape?
Jay.
Considering ALL the wars started in the name of Democracy.........why is it that the Americans are using 'terrorists' to fight for them?
Those in power have learned ONE thing: You cannot introduce a 'draft' where Americans will fight. You have already seen you sons and daughters coming home in body bags.
IF a 'draft' is introduced the Americans would run for the hills..........so what does your Government do?
The more 'terrorist' army's you use will backfire.
USA is dead.
I hear you. The USA is an illusion. It is simply a facade of some kind of free democratic nation in which people live brainwashed, indebted, and enslaved to a captive financial system and surveillance state. Why even bother with a draft when the CIA and Mossad have so effectively figured out how to recruit and indoctrinate radical jihadists and militants the world over into fighting their dirty wars. Syria took a long time but, ultimately, the empire triumphed, i.e. Wall St., the war machine, the nat sec state. USA = Wall St, the war machine, and the nat sec state. Everything else is an illusion.
Very well put. Thanks.
Anyone who has crap "social media" has several email address and a telephone number.
So much for that other sorry excuse.
Never joined
It will never be destroyed. I love the Death Star analogy but this Death Star is the entire world because we are the under the thumb of globe-spanning financial oligarchy. It is supra-national and uses zionism, among other dangerous ideologies, to fuel its destructive march. Destroying this Death Star means destroying a pan-global financial elite, which owns trillions in assets, more than all nations, and commandeers armies, the police, the courts. The takeover is complete. We have only to turn inward, meditate, practice art and kindness to others if we're going to get through the voluminous ignorance and gaslighting and bitterness all around us.
So you've lost all hope? 0.000% probability of things being different? Maybe you under-estimate the resolve and nature of the human spirit? Maybe this "helplessness against the Empire" that you feel is a "perception illusion"? Or are you a closet Capitalist trying to dissuade challengers to the status quo?
if this reply seems preachy I don't meant to sound as if I have all the answers. but you asked so I want to share that I have a renewed sense of hope and purpose, after a period of despair following Bernie's drop out in 2020. this rejuvenation has come from hitting the books. reading about revolutionary thinkers such as Lenin, Marx and Engels, Mao etc makes us realize that we aren't alone in our desire to see the "globe-spanning empire" defeated so we can all be free. learning about our progenitors in this long struggle brings us closer to them, because we can see they already laid the first stones in the path we must continue until liberation. it is a continuum. if you can, listen to an interview with Torkil Lauessen on Upstream. he is an elder in the movement toward liberation and you will feel a renewed sense of meaning and purpose as well as a clearer sense of our collective role in the struggle.
Well said, and thank you for sharing/bringing to my attention "Torkil Lauessen" - seems really interesting...
South America would be a safer bet than any place in the western/English speaking world based on what transpired in the first 2 world wars. I think it’s highly probable we will see war on US soil and the bolshevik crowd will use that as an excuse to genocide civilians under the cover of war. It’s been done before and will be done again. Just look at how easily AmeriCONs have been fooled into thinking all civilians are terrorists in Gaza. You can clearly see the nations under attack the most are the ones the deagle report shows the most depopulation. Where you would have wanted to retire say 20 years ago is where you want to avoid going forward. The problem is I just don’t see most Americans thinking it will get that bad until it’s too late. Most think their political party will save them and are unable to break out of that indoctrination. But in 2019 no one would have ever believed what would transpire during CONvid and beyond and that’s nothing compared to what’s coming IMO.
what exactly does "the bolshveik crowd" mean to you?
This type of narrative blames “Bolshevism” (a substitute swear word for Communism) of which they know nothing for the sins of imperialism which is a handmaiden of Capitalism.
It is a fascistic narrative which abounds on the far right with frequency. It might be an unconscious impulse on the part of the individual but is nonetheless profoundly unhinged and reactionary.
I also questioned that, see my comment.
"bolshevik crowd" Wrong designation. Should be neo-fascist. Learn history. In my view Stalin evolved into fascism by methodology, not ideology.
>>"In my view Stalin evolved into fascism by methodology, not ideology."
Intriguing statement. Some questions (if you have the time):
(1) Would not methodology be based on ideology (for example: in economics, the methodoloy followed would depend on "free-market, neoliberal ideologies", "marxian or socialist ideologies", etc.)
(2) If Trotsky had come to power (instead of Stalin) would he have used similar methodologies? (I'm thinking not)
(3) Is it possible that Stalin was always a fascist/totalitarian/power-hungry control-freak with an unhinged personality masquerading as a socialist/communist? (i.e. he may have always been a fake socialist/communist). Did getting POWER change him into something different OR instead did POWER allow him to drop the facade and show his true colors?
I'm no Stalin expert, so I don't have answers to any of the above questions.
keeping in mind that a lot we know about stalin seems to align with the pov of empire, i tend to be fairly neutral, even on that (imperial) 'fact'. (looking at the present-day assad scenario). he kinda stopped the moustacheman, so lots of reasons to twist the narrative. there's undoubtedly a stalinist rabbit hole.
PROBLEM IS, THIS ISNT action of politicians. They are puppets . Imperialisms for the last 80 years has been in the interest of globalism. This was why the USA was given the petro dollar, to sustain the dollar for unlimited spending for unlimited wars. Turned America into a murder death cult.
You cannot run away from globalism.
Problem is, when God died, so did courage. People of old did not worry about dying when trying to fight tyranny, because they had a place with their God.
So who wants to die, or die in jail, for doing the right thing, when the rest of the herd hides under the covers. Well, one fellow did something similar not so long ago. They are calling for death penalty. More fear.
question is, are there things more important than life itself ?
Religion was invented as a means of controlling the populace. Moral courage is not linked to a mythical being or those who claim to be agents of that being.
Simplistic and incorrect observation. Religion was likely conceived so humans di not have to equate themselves to the animals they were killings and eating. And like everything else, people of means took control for their benefit.
Not sure what you are talking about "moral" courage, sounds like irrelevant bullshit. I am talking about walking into a hail of bullets to fight, and continuing walking because you know you have a place in heaven.
The men of old did not fear any man, more than they feared the threat of final death, and they 100% believed they would go to heaven. So why not? If I thought I was invulnerable, then why would I not defend my family from the terrorists we call globalists. How many people did the globalist murder with that needle? And absolutely no accountability. This would not have happened 200 years ago. Pitchforks would have come out.
But men todays are metro sexual pussies. Not wanting to lose the job, or the car, or the house. Too afraid of privation, while we all think we know that god is dead.
Correct.
I don't think he's talking about religion, but about God, one's own connection. with the universe.
The Houthis have unbelievable courage! If all Arabs were like Houthis, the genocide would have been stopped
I wish there were millions and millions of brave people like the Houthis!
They band together as a solid impermeable force for freedom and dignity
The rise of China means the decline of the USA. Let them take care of it.
"It degrades the collective soul of our species."
Granted. But then the question becomes. What the hell defines that "collective soul". Is it the image and likeness of some cloud being who's therefore a faulty, corrupt, and viciously homicidal excuse for a deity?
Is it the fake piety one often observes in murmurers of prayers at religious festivals as their actions in the world support the furtherance of the economic inequality that cements homelessness as an ongoing fact of societal life?
Is it the art that even a sick society can generate that speaks to a fire of creative spirit that continues to burn even as the destructive forces seek to extinguish it?
Is it the tacit wisdom of the Natural World that silently observes human madness without commentary -- or perhaps which is actually commenting in languages we do not understand?
Help me out here. I'm fucking sick to vomitus of my species and its soul has become dimmer and dimmer so that it is now almost opaque to me. I am bereft of understanding wtf its true substance really is.
The authentic laughter of children; the tickle and giggle of unabashed lovers; the love between dog and human; the sadness at misery; the ability to walk in another's shoes.
https://www.medialens.org/2020/cogitation-meditation-in-an-age-of-cataclysms/
Lovely thoughts and feelings, thank you. I immediately want to weep for my two beauties, Golden Retrievers Maggie and Lincoln, already gone from my life too many years, but the unconditional love still there. If only that authenticity could shine out from the opacity as the governing force in human external affairs, we would indeed be a better species.
I love a man who prefers other-than-humans ( I thank author Nick Estes for this term. So much preferable to “animals”) to humans. I feel the same. I have lost more cats than I can count most notably my soul cat Gypsy: she’s been gone for 17 years and I still weep when I go through her photo album.
The bottom really fell out when my mare Angelina passed away two years ago. I’ve been adrift ever since.
I’ve been half heartedly looking for another horse, but it would have some mighty big shoes (or hooves if you will) to fill.
I lost my revered hiking buddy, Lincoln, in '06 and even though my ex and I were separated at the time, he joined me on weekends for treks into the forest, where I can always image him cooling his belly in a mountain stream, then treating me to the cool spray as he shook himself. Oh how I miss that boy.
Mistral(dog) died 8yrs ago. Couldn't even think of getting another one until I found Diego in an Animal shelter. He keeps us walking/smiling and fills us with love. Twiggy and Zappa our cats do the same. SO many animals to rescue.
We have four dogs and two cats. If we could afford more we would have more. Not one of them have ever spent a night outdoors or even extended time outdoors if we were not with them. Over the years we have had many animals and the unconditional love they give is spiritually uplifting. Most people could learn a lot about love from simply belong to a "pack."
You’re right Jenny. So many of our fellow creatures need human caretakers. Yours are indeed fortunate to have you!
Hi Vin
Though I’ve loved all of my other-than-humans with my whole heart, there are always some that stand out above all, aren’t there?
All of them flood my heart, always. I still wrap my heart around our family's doofy Cocker Spaniel, Lucky, hobbling around on a rear leg in a cast, 65-odd years ago. But yes gypsy, there are those special relationships too.
Well Gypsy I never thought Diego could get near to replacing our other dog Mistral. They are nowhere near the same but the love is HUGE.
Just find a horse and you will see!
Lucia, my 18 year old sweetie had kidney disease. For 2 years we gave her palliative care. Subcutaneous fluids foods, meds etc. . Finally Christmas eve she crashed. Immune system went havoc, too weak to walk, wouldn't eat, eyes infected and closed over 2 days.
We had to euthanize her. I did not want her to suffer from a heart attack, the terror and the pain.
She was by far the most sensitive loving 4 legged kid I ever had and I am devastated.
While when I first told a acquaintance that my dog had kidney disease, he said when you gonna put her down? I said I am not going to put her down, I am going to give her the exact care I would ask for myself. If I have the money, she will get it for treatment.
He said " oh no., you are not one of those people who make their dogs suffer because they cannot let go are you"
I said, " no I am not. I am NOT a person who puts their dog down because she is inconvenient, or gonna cost some money, or require additional work."
I then said If the three of us ( him , me, and Lucia) were in a boat and that boat was sinking and I had to choose who to save, I hope you can swim Jay, because I am saving Lucia. "
He was so offended. He doesn't understand love.
I loved my little doggie like my child. And I will cry and grieve for her. She had a long life with awesome parents. We did not feed her poison food, no fluoride water because the fluoride gives dogs cancer. It is in most processed dog food 8 times the level people drink.
Yet buddy above loses a dog every 6- 8 years or so to cancer. 3 in a row, while ignoring the fact he is killing them with his food choices and water poisoning.
We lost two dogs in the last 2 years. 16 and 18 years old. Treated right. Loved right. My family.
We lost our chihuahua in September. Winnie was 3 1/2 months short of 17 and we miss the little bugger every day. She passed peacefully sleeping in my wife's arms. I say a few words to her every time I walk by her grave. My wife still cries every time her name comes up.
That’s fairly recent, Peter. I’m so sorry for you and your wife.
My country vet has her own crematorium, so our kitties are cremated and we keep their remains. Gypsy has a special place on my bedroom dresser, alongside a painting I did of her.
Angelina is buried on the hill in her pasture. I now have to mow it and I weep every time I mow over her grave.
The terrible truth is that our beloved pets have become almost a canary in a coal mine revealing the foul toxicity of the environment we ask them to share with us. If modern biomedicine is most deficient in one area, it's trying to pin far too much pathology on faulty genes and far too little on environmental toxicity (which of course makes it more convenient to try to sell us new expensive drugs rather than invest in limiting corporate pollution, heaven forbid).
I fear you are correct , Vin. Though Angelina lived to the good age of 29 ( she was euthanized when her arthritic knee could no longer support her weight.)
Gypsy developed a brain tumor at age six, and her lookalike, Ginger, developed acute kidney failure at age seven. Too little lives cut much too short. How the hell did this happen? I agree with you: ENVIRONMENT.
Holy moly, gypsy, brain tumor in a 6-y-o cat? How awful. You must've been horrified. Feckless or corrupt federal and state EPAs bought off by big corporate money. Else, how could any cretin politician be so idiotic as to expect people to drink water from the Flint River, after it had been a dumping ground for the worst of industrial pollutants for decades without cleanup. I know Jordan Chariton has reported on the human cancers etc. both in videos and now in a book, but I'd bet their pets fared no better. There's a case study for you.
Yes. <3
Sorry Vin....can't help you out because I feel the same.
The only thing I DO know is that when Empires die there is chaos.
Then….let’s unleash the chaos, Jenny!
I think it's already unleashed.....I see chaos everywhere at the moment.
I am not on substack too much because I just cannot take the frustration. I feel like a Zombie.
All I see is rapacious greed and brutality
IF anyone had told me I would be watching a whole nation being genocided 8yrs ago and nothing was done to stop it I would have laughed and thought it could NEVER happen! OFF to cuddle my dog.
We need to create Chaos Against the Empire, Jenny.
I have been aware of the torment suffered by the Palestinians for many years but I too never thought it could devolve into what it is.
I see more Luigis in our future.
Yes we do BUT not many are willing.
First thing that HAS to happen in my opinion is tackle the Mainstream Media. I don't know how to do this but publishing their names as liars might help/complicit in genocide.
We have quite strong Unions here in Europe which helps but I just don't have any answers which are not violent. Maybe revolution is the only answer?
Wish I was strong and youthful again!
Correct, Jenny.
Revolution IS the only answer.
I’m no longer young, but I’m s strong and fit farm girl. Bring it on, I’m there!
I can understand your despair. My only solution to counter it, and experience the transcendence radiance of our species, is Bach. I hope you can find what works for you.
Hi Joy
I personally prefer the Russians. “Polovtsian Dances” by Borodin is what transports me to another world, along with Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition “.
Yes. Music is also one of my primary saviors. Bach is truly transcendent, as he seems to have miraculously extracted his music from almost nothing that preceded him
Only one person does it for me: Bob Dylan.
I do love Beethoven though.
Lex Fridman recently interviewed Adam Frank, who is, IMO one of the few leading edge scientists of our time. The actual interview is a couple hours long, but here is a clip with the title:
Is human experience an illusion? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SppDcpXaRtQ
This was very interesting. Beginning made me think of Jiddhu Krishnamurti, ever read any of his stuff? Then when they hit autopoesis, I was back in day 1 of Bio101, my first class to the freshman, properties of living organisms, which had them slack-jawed when I told them: self-organization, autopoesis, and complex adaptive system properties as the three overarching ones. When he went onto discuss detaching the macro from the micro it gave me a thrill. As someone who is steeped in the molecular biology of life, I nonetheless say: Reductionism can be quite poisonous. Think systemically!
Yep. Frank had a number of things to say about biology and evolution as well, there are quite a few clips posted online now, and the whole interview of course. From what I could understand, some of it was quite a bit above my pay grade, it seemed like some very reasonable ideas grounded in scientific data.
If my library will get his book or it comes out in paperback, I'm tempted, but right now my brain hurts from another one called The Case Against Reality that one of my ex students sent me -- they think my brain's still 45 years old. Frank's book with a theoretical physicist & a philosopher is called The Blind Spot: Why Science Cannot Ignore Human Experience. If only we knew how to grow new neurons. Hell I struggle to preserve the few I've got left. Anyway thanks again. Some good ideas out there.
Thanks. I'll check it out. Fridman's interview subjects are usually worth a listen. Perhaps along the lines: the world is matter, our bodies are matter. But it doesn't matter. Since our perceptions are quite constructive via brain processes, how much of experience is illusory is always a pertinent question.
Thank you for the clip jamenta. Very interesting though way over my head. Gratifying too that it wasn't Eurocentric. The mind in Buddhist philosophy is definitely something for scientists to investigate.
" The mind is the forerunner of all things ". The Buddha.
Aren’t we glad that Biden is a religious Catholic. Imagine if he wasn’t religious and didn’t believe in charity or morality.
Yes, I’m being sarcastic.
Biden is the biggest hypocritical catholic ever. You can claim to love Christ while committing genocide and being in favor of every war during his long tenure in government.
His biggest regret of his presidency is not signing the Covid checks with his name and not gipping us out of $600.
I’m so thankful that after all the times he tried to be president is that when he finally succeeded his brain was too far gone and he has made a fool of himself.
Thanks, Karma!
Hi Caitlin
I wonder how many Amerikkkans are homeless because they were bankrupted by the likes of Brian Thompson.
FREE LUIGI!
BDS is the only way forward for now and it's effective. Asking the simple question: "does this business support Israel?", is the only requirement. Starfucks has suffered greatly due to BDS. 13 billion lost in profits! All because people abandoned their mochachino strawberry caramel grande venti bullshit.
Hi AA
I’ve been BDSing for years. It’s important to tell the corporate headquarters WHY you are boycotting their products. They have dollar signs in their eyes and profit is their only motivation.
The list of places I shop is getting constantly shorter. Since Covid the list became exponentially longer. I have a long memory. Any establishment that aggressively supported the protocols is permanently off my list. Because we grow a garden and hunt and fish we are in a better position than most when it comes to boycotting businesses. When we do go shopping we primarily buy products that are either on sale or clearance items. I figure if you have to deal with the Devil the least you can do is shop with an eye to minimizing their profits.
>>"I figure if you have to deal with the Devil the least you can do is shop with an eye to minimizing their profits."
Yes! Yes! YES! This is what MORE people need to do. I myself have boycotted so many companies and businesses and reduced my consumption and consumerism (and found alternatives) so as to not help the Capitalists as much as possible.
Yeah. And don't use credit cards. The Devil gets 3%. It's a huge amount of money and a privatized tax.
I also try to pull money out of the bank and use cash in the store. If you're lucky you might find a cashier who can make change.
Peter, it’s a lost art! 😂
I would have thought basic arithmetic was a necessity not an art. We were actually taught to make change when in elementary school. Most of these poor kids are functionally illiterate and can't do basic math. Everything is now done for them. When this system crashes what are they going to do?
And let's not forget the purposeful distraction of America's obsession with sports.
TL;DR The Resistance is not nearly aggressive, unified, powerful or ruthless enough to defeat the Empire.
We need to work on that, Feral 😐
empire is called globalism, and you are right. They have already won. We are moving into a feudalist style socio economic paradigm.
the "empire" is western imperialism led by the US. the revolution is a process, not a pinpoint on the timeline. and our work here in the belly of the beast is to build class consciousness to 'make the apple fall from the tree' so to speak
Western nations are tools just like the alphabet agencies. Globalism is a fascist initiative driveen by the only group on the planet with the power to do it. Credit, and debt.
Imperialism is a tool. Bankers are your enemy. Globalism AKA fascism is our future.
Hi Nod
But is that what it would take to foment a Revolution?
The Revolution needs to occur before that happens. And people must be willing to sacrifice their lives for it. Once the Amerikkkan regime falls, so go the others. And remember, there are more firearms than men, women and children in Amerikkka.
gypsy33,
A revolution needs the people to rally round great leaders who are prepared to lead, also thinkers, philosophers, poets, writers and artists. All with a vision for an uplifting future for the people.
Revolutions have happened. Che, Castro and the Cuban Revolution. The spark is still there in spite of the machinations of US empire. In Chile, Allende and poets like Victor Hara and Pablo Neruda - we all know what happened with the CIA in Chile.
The October Revolution, which surged forward with the people and a host of intellectuals and artists, writers and great poets like Mayakovsky. Together with his intellectual prowess, he was an actor too.( I love his expression about American cinema - " Capitalism threw sand in the eyes of cinema, and made it blind").
The Soviet Union imploded and collapsed and the main driver of that collapse was the USA. The most terrible weapon of all was unlashed against the Soviet Union, one that seduces and conditions the minds - the propaganda war.
Even with this history let's keep our hopes up.
people are terrified of death, now that they disbelieve in God...There will be no revolution. Quiet compliance. Class war is over, we have lost.
“….. more than a dozen BBC staff who say all the British state media outlet’s reporting on Israel and Palestine is ultimately controlled by a single editor named Raffi Berg, who previously worked for the CIA….”
What do you mean by “previously”?That’s a contradiction in terms, given that the evidence shows he is on outplacement and still working for them.
Spook work is lifetime vocation, not temporary employment.
Also if I recall the article correctly he also had a background in the spy services of the Israeli Genocide Force (IGF) which many people still serve Israeli propaganda by calling it the “IDF”. But they don’t defend anything. Their single purpose is to offend repeatedly in service of a genocidal colonisation effort, as a result of which the Israeli prime minister and the head of its military are both wanted persons under an international arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court.
The BBC are pathetic, those so called journalists need to quit
Nick, Pathetic is too good a word for the BBC. They have always been a mouthpiece of the British establishment. As much as the mainstream media is to the USA.
Israel is evil and Netanyahu is satan's right hand demon. I don't understand why Americans don't see whats being done to them, maybe they've been dumbed down by the fluoride in their. water. I got my account locked on X for posting that Jamie Raskin is insane and he needs a net thrown over him for saying he will stop Trump getting into the WH. X is not a free speech platform, Musk has turned back to a leftist oligarch. My comment seems all over the place this morning, thats because I lost a dear friend a couple days ago, I found her dead in her apartment, Im still really sad over that.
Well, you’re correct that Netanyahu and Israel are evil…
I’m sorry, Hannah. That had to have been traumatic for you.
Thank you and yes it was awful finding her.
Deep condolences to you Hannahlehigh. Finding a friend dead is more than sad. Take good care of yourself.
Thank you and you have a wonderful New Year.
That’s the question of the century.
“Why don’t Americans see how their government doesn’t give a rats ass about their wellbeing?”
And yet they keep voting for the people who continue to screw them. Shitlibs think that Biden is the best president since FDR. He failed to pass 90% of his campaign promises.
Class war and race war go hand in hand in the "free" market empire.
The US Empire will crumble, but I'm not sure that the supra-national Blackrocks, Rockefellers and animal ag/pharrma cartels will.
In many countries they've been granted SEZs to operate outside employment and environmental law.
There isn't a conspiracy of left wing globalists out to threaten us with scary equality and sustainability.
There is a conspiracy of mega rich billionaire dynasties that have got us all fooled.
>>"There isn't a conspiracy of left wing globalists out to threaten us with scary equality and sustainability. There is a conspiracy of mega rich billionaire dynasties that have got us all fooled."
Well said!
Alert! The World has a Right to defend itself against Israel and the USA. Help Wanted. Thank you Caity.
I volunteer, Chuck.
"This massive injustice is entirely by design. As the hub of a globe-spanning empire, the US needs to keep its citizenry poor, divided, distracted and powerless in order to keep them from meddling in the gears of the imperial machine. The more free time and mental spaciousness Americans have, the more they’ll awaken to how depraved their government is and how badly it’s screwing them over. The managers of the western empire naturally have a vested interest in keeping Americans poor, sick, ignorant, and propagandized. Which is why they remain so." Not only do capitalist governments need to keep large portion of their populations in these inhumane conditions so they won't meddle, capitalists need these people so those who have just enough will have someone to punch down on and so they'll know what will happen to them if they meddle.
This why households no longer have one provider. Both parents work struggling to make ends meet wile government controlled schools and daycares indoctrinate and alienate their children.
I'm so old that I remember when They told us how terrible it was that in the USSR women had to have jobs.
Me too! What saddens me is how many people in our generation have not made the connection.
In my view it's not the US empire but the empire of the [redacted] bankers.
When I read about the "beachside resort" for Israeli soldiers, I started thinking, "Where's a 2,000 pound bomb when you really need one?" Is it just me, or does anyone else want to squash these smug sociopaths' "resort" built atop the rubble of Gaza (and the graves of thousands)? #FreePalestine
💯👏👍