"There are a whole lot more of us than there are of them, and we can force revolutionary change whenever we want."
If the establishment is good at nothing else, it is very good at divide and conquer, at determining whom to co-opt, whom to buy off, whom to neutralize, whom to ignore.
........and all those 'whom to's' mentioned, Feral, are really an easy mark as targets of the current wealthy political administration, one the image of the other.
I can remember recent times when voter turnout was 25-30% or thereabouts in some electorates. What a simple task it is then to totally dictate the future to such people with 70% sitting at home on voting day.
Apathy is alive and well, everywhere. One must be tempted to ask how does one compete against the likes of Miriam Adelson at the Las Vegas Sands Corp, knowing that each unsuspecting gambler who walks in the door can be certain that most of his losses will go to propping up the likes of a Trump, a genocidal country like Israel , the worldwide antisemitism marketing campaign, one more shipload of US weapons to the IDF or add to the bribery monies (electoral funding) paid to more than 50% of all politicians.
The USA has a totally corrupt electoral system. While that continues, nothing will change.
Re: voter "apathy": how does voting help when the voter has no way of knowing whether his/her vote was counted for the person he/she voted for or that person's opponent?
أحسنت النشر والقول – سلام غزة و القدس عليكم - العزة والنصر حليف محورالمقاومة وحلفاءها والذلة والعار لمحور الشر وجماعة أبستين (امريكا و بريطانيا وفرنسا وتركيا والسعودية وقطر والامارات و دول الناتو والنازية الجديدة والماسونية والصهيونية و أسرائيل) وحلفاءه
Well said and well shared. Peace be upon Gaza and Jerusalem. Glory and victory belong to the Axis of Resistance and its allies, while humiliation and disgrace await the Axis of Evil—the "Epstein clique" (comprising the U.S., Britain, France, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, NATO states, neo-Nazis, Freemasons, Zionists, and Israel)—and their own allies.
Excellente publication et très justes propos. Que la paix de Gaza et de Jérusalem soit sur vous ! La gloire et la victoire sont acquises à l'Axe de la Résistance et à ses alliés, tandis que l'humiliation et la honte sont réservées à l'Axe du Mal — le « clan Epstein » (les États-Unis, la Grande-Bretagne, la France, la Turquie, l'Arabie saoudite, le Qatar, les Émirats, les pays de l'OTAN, le néonazisme, la franc-maçonnerie, le sionisme et Israël) — ainsi qu'à ses alliés.
A duopoly vote is worth neither the time nor the effort.
Jumping from hypothetical to pragmatic, I recommend against consuming billionaires. I figure thinking that sociopathic must unleash inner prions capable of conveying mad billionaire disease at least as degenerative as mad cow.
I suppose that since “We are what we eat”, humans shouldn’t eat the rich. It’s risk us becoming sociopaths.
But, we could feed the billionaires to the pigs. It’d be a fitting end to the billionaires with the plus of making the pigs quite happy.
The alternative might be to just let a flock of chickens denude the billionaires’ carcasses; I’ve seen a flock of chickens strip a draft horse carcass down to bones in 2 weeks. The hens love fat and protein.
And I think many people misunderstand what ‘showing up’ means. It’s not just voting, of going to a protest/rally. The are many different forms of engagement, many pieces of the puzzle, but we must consistently be active in our participatory endeavors, not just around the elections theatrics. The capitalist class never sleeps.
I hope enough of us figure this out so that we can make the changes that need to be made. What the ruling class is doing to people and planet is madness. We could have the most wonderful, inclusive world possible if we got organized.
The people, not being organized, are unaware of their power. The divisions are incessantly inculcated, and reinforced, with deadly effect. It used to be divide and conquer was based on dividing groups, now with current technology, the divide us one by one. We need to learn how to develop a unifying principle, asap!
The search for justice never ends! The Hind Rajab Foundation is tracking down Israeli criminals, and bringing them to justice. This is vital in the effort to hold Israel accountable. May they also turn their sights on the criminal leaders of the countries of the west who are co-perpetrators of these crimes.
Just how easy it is to con the public. Whilst working in state government, which is controdition in itself. We would have public consultation meetings, such as forums, town hall meetings, public xubmissions so the public felt engaged. We did not disclose to the pulicl how the collected information, complaints, minutes and submissions would be used. After completing the public consultation, the government would proceed as they had always planned. Noting that the process had included extensive public consultation and inclusion. Giving the government full right to say the policy, project, development, expenditure met with public expectations.
If I were a righwinger, I would, as they often do, argue that voting is meaningless, for the fewer vote, the more the far right benefits. Even Rabbi Marx saw thru this reckless claim that voting is not worth it, in his 1872 speech: "In our midst there has been formed a group advocating the workers' abstention from political action. We have considered it our duty to declare how dangerous and fatal for our cause such principles appear to be.
Someday the worker must seize political power in order to build up the new organization of labor; he must overthrow the old politics which sustain the old institutions, if he is not to lose Heaven on Earth, like the old Christians who neglected and despised politics.
But we have not asserted that the ways to achieve that goal are everywhere the same.
You know that the institutions, mores, and traditions of various countries must be taken into consideration, and we do not deny that there are countries -- such as America, England, and if I were more familiar with your institutions, I would perhaps also add Holland -- where the workers can attain their goal by peaceful means."
If you are discouraging people and urging "absention from political action, " you are an unwitting asset of the fascist right and your discouraging people from voting, the day after tomorrow, to throw out the Trump fascists, is "dangerous and fatal for our cause."
In 1872 there was not yet the Citizens United ruling. Now, while the wealthy and corporate donors are still limited to one vote apiece, it doesn’t matter who is elected or what their platform was during their respective campaigns, they’ll still do what their wealthy and corporate donors want if/when they’re elected.
Long before Citizen's United, going back in fact thousands of years, the state was the servant of the wealthy, through patronage and other corrupt practices, and in the US in 1872, here was the situation: "Grant’s campaign relied heavily on wealthy backers. One historian noted that “never before was a candidate placed under such great obligation to men of wealth as was Grant”
Wikipedia
.
Republican organization was strengthened by thousands of patronage appointees who acted as campaign workers
This reflects a system where wealthy donors and political machines had significant influence." To claim that voting for a candidate like Rogers in Michigan, who support Trump , war, and genocide and who has has $160 million in Aipac, pac, and dark money to support him and Sayed, who is campaigning on getting big money out of politics and has received mostly small donations and $38,000 from a Medicare advocacy PAC or 0.02% of pac money as rogers, who wants to stop the genocide and push thru Medicare doesn't matter reminds me of what Marx said, in a a political environment in Europe where the rich ruled, that not participating in politics (ie voting) was "dangerous and lethal."
If I were wishing to help the corrupt war mongers win, I would argue that it doesnt matter for whom you vote, and anyone who does is either a plant or a useful idiot for the far right and genocide.
It's a sociopathic system, and unless we are sociopaths we don't fit in. When, how, and where do we organize to overthrow the motherfuckers who are slowly killing us? I've been waiting for an answer to this question for 50 years.
There are hundreds who preceded me and never got an answer either. And they're very well-known. Famous personages, in all the history books, world shakers, for a while. We should have rid the world of the parasites and tyrants who have made life on this planet impossible except for socio/psychopaths decades ago. But here we are, at their mercy, when they have no mercy.
"...We are absolutely never rewarded for and never encouraged to discuss is the fact that the oligarchs and empire managers who rule our society would be completely powerless to stop a people’s revolution of sufficient scale."
Nope, nobody's going to tell us "Job well done!" if and when we can organize our fellow workers together in sufficient numbers and power to tear down the evil system that holds us all hostage. We gotta do it simply because we know it's the right thing to do for the good of all. And we've gotta believe that we are already free and nobody can keep us locked up against our will. Believe and free yourselves! And #FreePalestine !
"There are a whole lot more of us than there are of them, and we can force revolutionary change whenever we want."
If the establishment is good at nothing else, it is very good at divide and conquer, at determining whom to co-opt, whom to buy off, whom to neutralize, whom to ignore.
........and all those 'whom to's' mentioned, Feral, are really an easy mark as targets of the current wealthy political administration, one the image of the other.
I can remember recent times when voter turnout was 25-30% or thereabouts in some electorates. What a simple task it is then to totally dictate the future to such people with 70% sitting at home on voting day.
Apathy is alive and well, everywhere. One must be tempted to ask how does one compete against the likes of Miriam Adelson at the Las Vegas Sands Corp, knowing that each unsuspecting gambler who walks in the door can be certain that most of his losses will go to propping up the likes of a Trump, a genocidal country like Israel , the worldwide antisemitism marketing campaign, one more shipload of US weapons to the IDF or add to the bribery monies (electoral funding) paid to more than 50% of all politicians.
The USA has a totally corrupt electoral system. While that continues, nothing will change.
I tend to think it’s more indoctrination than apathy.
Re: voter "apathy": how does voting help when the voter has no way of knowing whether his/her vote was counted for the person he/she voted for or that person's opponent?
أحسنت النشر والقول – سلام غزة و القدس عليكم - العزة والنصر حليف محورالمقاومة وحلفاءها والذلة والعار لمحور الشر وجماعة أبستين (امريكا و بريطانيا وفرنسا وتركيا والسعودية وقطر والامارات و دول الناتو والنازية الجديدة والماسونية والصهيونية و أسرائيل) وحلفاءه
From Hassan Al-Mosawi.
Well said and well shared. Peace be upon Gaza and Jerusalem. Glory and victory belong to the Axis of Resistance and its allies, while humiliation and disgrace await the Axis of Evil—the "Epstein clique" (comprising the U.S., Britain, France, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, NATO states, neo-Nazis, Freemasons, Zionists, and Israel)—and their own allies.
Excellente publication et très justes propos. Que la paix de Gaza et de Jérusalem soit sur vous ! La gloire et la victoire sont acquises à l'Axe de la Résistance et à ses alliés, tandis que l'humiliation et la honte sont réservées à l'Axe du Mal — le « clan Epstein » (les États-Unis, la Grande-Bretagne, la France, la Turquie, l'Arabie saoudite, le Qatar, les Émirats, les pays de l'OTAN, le néonazisme, la franc-maçonnerie, le sionisme et Israël) — ainsi qu'à ses alliés.
A duopoly vote is worth neither the time nor the effort.
Jumping from hypothetical to pragmatic, I recommend against consuming billionaires. I figure thinking that sociopathic must unleash inner prions capable of conveying mad billionaire disease at least as degenerative as mad cow.
I suppose that since “We are what we eat”, humans shouldn’t eat the rich. It’s risk us becoming sociopaths.
But, we could feed the billionaires to the pigs. It’d be a fitting end to the billionaires with the plus of making the pigs quite happy.
The alternative might be to just let a flock of chickens denude the billionaires’ carcasses; I’ve seen a flock of chickens strip a draft horse carcass down to bones in 2 weeks. The hens love fat and protein.
That's why I keep telling people they need to show up and not give into nihilism. The Right/capitalism wins when everyone else refuses to participate.
And I think many people misunderstand what ‘showing up’ means. It’s not just voting, of going to a protest/rally. The are many different forms of engagement, many pieces of the puzzle, but we must consistently be active in our participatory endeavors, not just around the elections theatrics. The capitalist class never sleeps.
I agree completely. In fact, I wrote an article about it.
https://www.socialjusticepriest.com/p/action-builds-left-wing-power-not?r=7omrno&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
I thought that when everyone refuses to participate capitalism will fall. I guess we may not be talking about the same thing? Or what am I missing?
I mean when people don't do mutual aid, unionize, or vote because "it's pointless," capitalism wins.
That is true!
I hope enough of us figure this out so that we can make the changes that need to be made. What the ruling class is doing to people and planet is madness. We could have the most wonderful, inclusive world possible if we got organized.
The people, not being organized, are unaware of their power. The divisions are incessantly inculcated, and reinforced, with deadly effect. It used to be divide and conquer was based on dividing groups, now with current technology, the divide us one by one. We need to learn how to develop a unifying principle, asap!
100% truth.
Well presented. Well thought out.
The search for justice never ends! The Hind Rajab Foundation is tracking down Israeli criminals, and bringing them to justice. This is vital in the effort to hold Israel accountable. May they also turn their sights on the criminal leaders of the countries of the west who are co-perpetrators of these crimes.
Find out what they’re doing here:
https://www.hindrajabfoundation.org
The least we can do is donate to help them:
Support the Hind Rajab Foundation
https://donate.stripe.com/cN228hbY5g7jaM84gg
Okay, but I want to see/understand the actual steps we can take. The huge size of the US makes organizing very difficult. The polarization does too.
Support HJR-54. Info here - MoveToAmend.org
Get enough of us snowflakes together and we become a mighty avalanche.
I'm ready.
Just how easy it is to con the public. Whilst working in state government, which is controdition in itself. We would have public consultation meetings, such as forums, town hall meetings, public xubmissions so the public felt engaged. We did not disclose to the pulicl how the collected information, complaints, minutes and submissions would be used. After completing the public consultation, the government would proceed as they had always planned. Noting that the process had included extensive public consultation and inclusion. Giving the government full right to say the policy, project, development, expenditure met with public expectations.
If I were a righwinger, I would, as they often do, argue that voting is meaningless, for the fewer vote, the more the far right benefits. Even Rabbi Marx saw thru this reckless claim that voting is not worth it, in his 1872 speech: "In our midst there has been formed a group advocating the workers' abstention from political action. We have considered it our duty to declare how dangerous and fatal for our cause such principles appear to be.
Someday the worker must seize political power in order to build up the new organization of labor; he must overthrow the old politics which sustain the old institutions, if he is not to lose Heaven on Earth, like the old Christians who neglected and despised politics.
But we have not asserted that the ways to achieve that goal are everywhere the same.
You know that the institutions, mores, and traditions of various countries must be taken into consideration, and we do not deny that there are countries -- such as America, England, and if I were more familiar with your institutions, I would perhaps also add Holland -- where the workers can attain their goal by peaceful means."
If you are discouraging people and urging "absention from political action, " you are an unwitting asset of the fascist right and your discouraging people from voting, the day after tomorrow, to throw out the Trump fascists, is "dangerous and fatal for our cause."
In 1872 there was not yet the Citizens United ruling. Now, while the wealthy and corporate donors are still limited to one vote apiece, it doesn’t matter who is elected or what their platform was during their respective campaigns, they’ll still do what their wealthy and corporate donors want if/when they’re elected.
Long before Citizen's United, going back in fact thousands of years, the state was the servant of the wealthy, through patronage and other corrupt practices, and in the US in 1872, here was the situation: "Grant’s campaign relied heavily on wealthy backers. One historian noted that “never before was a candidate placed under such great obligation to men of wealth as was Grant”
Wikipedia
.
Republican organization was strengthened by thousands of patronage appointees who acted as campaign workers
harpweek.com
.
This reflects a system where wealthy donors and political machines had significant influence." To claim that voting for a candidate like Rogers in Michigan, who support Trump , war, and genocide and who has has $160 million in Aipac, pac, and dark money to support him and Sayed, who is campaigning on getting big money out of politics and has received mostly small donations and $38,000 from a Medicare advocacy PAC or 0.02% of pac money as rogers, who wants to stop the genocide and push thru Medicare doesn't matter reminds me of what Marx said, in a a political environment in Europe where the rich ruled, that not participating in politics (ie voting) was "dangerous and lethal."
If I were wishing to help the corrupt war mongers win, I would argue that it doesnt matter for whom you vote, and anyone who does is either a plant or a useful idiot for the far right and genocide.
It's a sociopathic system, and unless we are sociopaths we don't fit in. When, how, and where do we organize to overthrow the motherfuckers who are slowly killing us? I've been waiting for an answer to this question for 50 years.
There are hundreds who preceded me and never got an answer either. And they're very well-known. Famous personages, in all the history books, world shakers, for a while. We should have rid the world of the parasites and tyrants who have made life on this planet impossible except for socio/psychopaths decades ago. But here we are, at their mercy, when they have no mercy.
"...We are absolutely never rewarded for and never encouraged to discuss is the fact that the oligarchs and empire managers who rule our society would be completely powerless to stop a people’s revolution of sufficient scale."
Nope, nobody's going to tell us "Job well done!" if and when we can organize our fellow workers together in sufficient numbers and power to tear down the evil system that holds us all hostage. We gotta do it simply because we know it's the right thing to do for the good of all. And we've gotta believe that we are already free and nobody can keep us locked up against our will. Believe and free yourselves! And #FreePalestine !