People who aren’t privileged enough to care who wins the US election in November include:
People privileged with sufficient common sense, perspective and reason to realize politics is merely threatre, politicians are merely puppets and voting is merely giving your consent to be governed by the criminals pulling the strings.
Then you should have no problem at all voting for Stein.
Sure, your vote won't count for much, but it would mean you're brave enough to spit on the ground the Oligarchy walks on, in the middle of the night, hours and hours after they've left.
Good point Bakelite.... I do hope you get to vote for her, except that in some states she won't be able to get on the ballot, thanks to the governing elite.. If you are in that state, you write on the ballot, if there is such thig as a written ballot anywhere, printing the word "STEIN'...
True, Jill really wet the bed not getting on the ballot in New York. I forgave her and have the yard sign up : ) I collected sig. for her ballot and they never picked them up. The Green party seems unorganized still. Some say the Greens are a diversion used as a tool for the Monopoly party. I will never vote Demoncrat again and never have Republican't.
"Then you should have no problem at all voting for Stein." Love it!... The reality however is that most people probably don't know she exists, never mind voting for her. .. When is the last time anyone has heard the name 'Stein' mentioned on CNN, MSNBC, or Fox?? or any other channel for that matter.?
I know the name, but, I guessed she is a focking communist? Never seen her positions on anything, but, I speculated based on her name? Maybe I am wrong?
Maybe you can explain what a "focking communist" is, and I can then address your reply. She is Jewish by birth, and if the saying "Don't judge a horse by its color" means anything good, she is one shining example. Listen to her views on YouTube clips from many various podcasts, then give your opinion.......
Focking communist?? That is a bit simplistic, but upon looking at the increased powers she'd like to give the government over most economic decisions it is understandable. She also wants to declare a "climate emergency", ban fracking for oil, phase out nuclear power and all "fossil fuel" use.
I applaud her desire to end the wars USA participates in directly and indirectly and reduce the military to actual defense of USA. However the remainder of her platform demonstrates a lack of understanding of natural climate cycles and economics. It is impossible to make the economy fairer by giving the government more control of it, mostly because psychopaths rise to the top of all control systems.
As an environmental engineer, I have first hand information regarding global warming and the green party? The haters of the Christian West have invented many lies to destroy the Christian Western civilization. We know that communism was never successful in any country, yet all our university professors are communists, and pushing these bad ideologies on the college kids.
Not only that worthy reason, but to show ourselves just how many we are. The MSM suppresses any indications that we exist. We should not be helping them!
I will probably be voting for Emanuel Pastreich, who probably will have even less votes. But at least I will have voted for someone I can mostly agree with.
"Then you should have no problem at all voting for Stein." - and you totally missed Bitfarmer111's "politicians are merely puppets and voting is merely giving your consent to be governed by the criminals pulling the strings."
Absolutely. I am white and quite materially comfortable and financially secure enough to consider myself a member of the (disappearing) American middle class; but I vote on real issues that actually affect real life for real people -- not identity politics or other distractive/divisive comparative non-issues.
Second of all, in a country established on genocide of Native Americans now disposessed and exiled to bantustans ("reservations") and mass slavery of Africans, and in which nazi-style Jim Crow was daily life for many people still alive today, their children still subject to thousands of summary killings annually by the police and unjust imprisonment by the "Justice" Department in the tens of thousands, in a country where huge swathes of Mexico were annexed and Mexican people turned into minorities on their own ancestral lands, the peoples of Puerto Rica and polynesians in Hawaii outright colonised.....well, its quite a claim to suggest these are not "real life issues for real people".
America has for a long time been a magical land in which no one says they are working class and no one will admit to being in the upper class - the oligarchy. Because the ultra-rich know that there is no ladder, but the ordinary folk have been brainwashed into thinking they are all climbing it.
The OECD published a seminal study in 2010 called "Intergenerational Social Mobility: a family affair?"
The study revealed harsh truths about the lies underlying the US economy and society and its Horatio Alger myth and indeed the lies underlying capitalism itself.
If Obama and the Dems had actually paid attention and done something about it, rather that doubling down at home and abroad on ideologically-driven obsessions with crony capitalism.....we might not be looking at a a worldwide epidemic of fascism, demagoguery and the decent of the Dems themselves into semi-fascism.
But nobody paid attention, so here we are, in the land where everyone is still pretending to be "a middle class country" while the edifice crumbles around the entire society.
Kiudjoe.. I did try to read the content of your links. The first was not available and the second was ok... My eyes are not what they used to be but in general the rhetoric sounded nice, but nice guys finish last I'm told.
The problem is that reading a text written in 2010 is obviously a redundant exercise. When observing the number of people on the planet being evicted from their shelters and living n tents or under tarps in some of the richest countries on the planet, it seems that the species is fully at war with itself and will end up blowing each other into radioactive dust, probably sooner than later. The disparity rhetoric between rich and poor has been around since Moses floated down the Nile and so social reforms, no matter how well packaged, are proving to be utterly useless. It's not only the members, but the species. With approx 12,000 nuclear warheads pointed at each other, the ultimate stupidity of that species is but a fool's armlength away from ending its careers.
Sorry I had missed your comment before. Thanks for sending it and will read your link. The only real class in society today is the MONEY class., and without MONEY, everyone who tried to buy a goody at the candy store discovered on Day One that without MONEY, there is no candy..... or shelter, or food, or power. The only class that counts is the MONEY class.. .
I'd say at this point: 1) the homeless class. 2) those struggling to avoid that one financial setback that would send them into homelessness. 3) those still living in relative comfort and security with a roof over their heads. 4) cops from local law enforcement on up thru DEA and ICE officials who have the privilege of immunity, and 5) the billionaire class who presides over these classes. I listed these classes in order of how many members each has, and if this isn't accurate now, then it is headed this way.
Number 3 used to be what we would call the "middle class" and even if one sunk into homelessness (#1), that category was not irredeemable. Today homelessness is like an ever-expanding tar pit, and once you're sucked in, you're in there for good. Also #3 class used to be home owners, but in another generation will be made up of serfs/renters.
Thanks for naming a few classes... can't argue with any of them... .... perhaps adding that the possibility of moving from higher to lower classes sets the stage for wars and the severity of impending climate changes.
Since capitalism has evolved since Marx's time, there are more classes than just the 2 (Marx referred to the 'petite bourgeoisie' also, though he did not adequately define them, instead calling them 'smaller capitalists').
The classes:
- bourgeoisie, petite bourgeoisie, proletariat, lumpenproletariat, peasants, and a new "transnational capitalist class".
imo, most other classes are actually mere 'subdivisions' of the 2 actual classes. some (petite bourgeoisie, pmc, the 'middle' class, maybe the 'political' and 'military' classes) are condoned to mitigate the ruling class' problem of the 'numbers' caitlin regularly mentions by creating the illusion that there's 'class mobility' without taking the loyalty oath ('but first you must learn how to smile as you kill') and being complicit in the great game of exploitation of the many by the few.
the subdivisions of the proletariat indeed seem more tied to the historical circumstances of marx' time with the 'proletariat' being the part of the working class that can be made 'conscious', the 'lumpenproletariat' being the part that is so marginalized that they can't be made 'conscious' as all of their energy is absorbed by the struggle for mere survival, and the (feudal) 'peasants' being unable to get 'conscious' because they haven't experienced industrialization and actual capitalism. (maoist thought kinda tried to disprove that one can't skip the industrialization step in the evolution, which was quite a struggle).
but totally agree with the premise that capitalism evolved significantly since marx and that one should 'dialectically' adapt marxism to the circumstances that have arisen since and not disregard the ability of a conscious capitalism to reactionary adapt and counter the analyses and praxis of marxism and socialism. (e.g. i don't think marx and lenin foresaw capitalism's use of fascism to counter and co-opt revolutionary sentiments into a reset to the status quo).
Something I have never found in Marx's writing, what happens when we don't evolve from Capitalism to Socialism. I have a feeling we are living it with this mad dash to nuclear war : (
If someone doesn't participate in doing the work that needs done to maintain a society should they be living at the same level of comfort as others who work 40 or more hours a week? Anyone who works hard and diligently doesn't want to give it away to someone who is capable of work but just doesn't want to work. It is a fact that if you work hard and long enough you will raise yourself up to the middle class. Something I experienced.
Some people just like to be lazy. Why climb a mountain if you are just satisfied to look at it? Work is just that... Work, a four letter word for me. .. I work... but only if I have to... Does a lion hunt on a full stomach?? I don't mind being low-class because I favor lazy over busy, but if any class ruins environments with work, that becomes a messy class.
You can choose between corporate imperialist muppet Tweedledee and corporate imperialist muppet Tweedledum. The only real difference is what flavor of idpol you prefer.
Try keeping track of how much you're paying for car insurance. They raise it, and you never know until months later when looking over your automatic payments. That, and how often now these days do you walk into a store and you can't find the price tag on an item? It's like we are run by criminals who the more they can lie to us, and do things secretly, the more they insist we live in a civilized "free" society.
They tell you nothing is private when you sign up for their services. Do you have android? Well, it's google, and they tell you everything in small print. Really, really small, and lots of it.
You on Apple? Do you have google photos installed, having given it access to iphone photos? Well, then...
And, btw, if you're trying to alert the forum of privacy dangers - well, they keep getting engaged with Howie, they still debate voting, and so on. Good luck.
You reminded me of how many times I’ll write something then within hours I’m seeing it 4 or 5 times in same and different context . Makes me wonder how deep it goes . I’ll soon start knitting my aluminum foil hat !
Never mind the "most consequential actions" - US voters actually don't get to decide ANY of their governments actions at all. Only rich get a say, and they do that outside of the electoral process. Whoever gets elected is merely a frontman or frontwoman and the election is utterly meaningless. Kabuki.
Most of this article was good. What is missing is how foreign very wealthy central bankers, starting in 1913 coopted the American Government. That's when foreign entanglements started (i.e. WWI). Until you understand the global economic system, things will not make sense and you will believe that America is at fault for everything worldwide. As for voting, there are more people in office than the president. The globalist regime knows this and have a well funded machine down to the local levels. What your state, city, school board does can significantly affect you. So who you vote in at those levels matter. Saying it doesn't matter who you vote for is silly, especially if you are talking at the local levels. Is it increasingly getting difficult for local people to make a difference, yes. But thats because of the first thing I said above and its the control of the global banking structure. Central bankers, starting in 2018 in their annual Jackson Hole Wyoming convention, stated that their goal is to go around governments and set budgets for countries using carbon credits and other means. That goal is well under way. You must understand this if you want to understand the "Empire"
You and/or Naomi Wolf claim the election will not happen, but the elites have an incentive to make people think they have a say in how the federal government will run. Presidential elections are to good a con to give up.
caitlin often speaks about the 'us centralized empire'. finance capitalism is indeed a favorite international tool of empire to wreak havoc on those they want to exploit, but this tool needs the back-up of empire's most favorite tool, violence. empire uses the world largest military for this which is america's. america is the lair of empire.
"most powerful asset is only their money I find very unlikely. " MMmm.!!!.. On the planet where I live MONEY is the most powerful entity of the universe that involves humanity. If there are more powerful entities, I must have missed that lesson..
Howard, we all know who is running the US government, how many well paid lobbyists there are for each well paid politician. We all know why Washington DC is now one of the richest pieces of land in the US right now with a ton of millionaires.
You pretend you don't know that, which makes you intellectually dishonest.
"So if you face someone with a lot of money or someone that had a coercive monopoly on the legal use of force, which would you fear ?"
I wish I could understand your question but for the sake of just guessing I don't usually face people with a lot of money because they usually like being with people of their kind...
As far as "coercive monopoly" and their legal use of force electric utility providers come to mind, and if you don't pay ransoms to their coffers you'll be without electrical power for awhile. To your question,, " which one would I fear?" I fear the latter, the former have basically ignored me.
You would need to look at the debates back then to understand what really occurred. Astor, who was killed on the Titanic, was the only holdout at the time. And yes, the money masters are always very powerful and "buy out" politicians. That is why the constitution was formed the way it was. They worked on getting a central bank in place for over 100 years. It was the big prize and they got it. The people only allowed it to happen because of ignorance. The same ignorance we have today. Although, they were more informed back then then we are today. Almost no one knows what I am talking about. The "freedom" movement and the anti war people are almost all ignorant to what I am sharing. They are fighting the shadows hard and it won't make a single bit of difference because the fight is directed at the branches, not the root.
Every politician takes an oath of office to honor the Constitution and essentially not betray the people or the nation. Business, corporations and the like do not take any oath.
Politicians are 100% responsible for the corruption and bribery and holding them responsible to their oath is the only leverage we have short of revolutionary war.
They sold their power to the Elite uber wealthy, who then proceeded to reduce taxes on themselves, loosen all banking regulations and labor regulations i.e. an assault on ordinary working class Americans, also known as class warfare, and proceeded to off shore a great deal of there record profits as well, along with practicing vulture and crony capitalism.
Then you have the patsies called Libertarians who supported these same Uber Elite wealthy ruthless exploiters of the US by ideologically supporting their wealth plunder. And to fucking stupid to realize it.
"Saying it doesn't matter who you vote for is silly, especially if you are talking at the local levels" - that's another thing they got you on.
Locals to vote for are selected by party politics (or business interests) in exactly the same way any other level is. The fact that they're closer to you and must therefore pacify you with cookies here and there should not fool people, but it does.
That you take part in the corrupt voting system makes you complicit. There's no way around it.
Dear Sarah, it is so crooked beyond belief that our government agreed that a gang of banksters will print our money, and lend us that worthless paper as loans with interest. If you or I print money, we will go to jail.
Now, what if our government gave you and I the permission to print moneys? We will print 24x7 mountains of cash! Actually, today's computer saves us the printing processes? We can click on the computer mouse and have 100 trillion dollars?
What you and I can do with 100 trillion dollars? Buy every focking congressman, Senator, president, newspaper, TV and Hollywood?
That's what they do. But they don't "buy" their allegiance with just money. They use whatever they can... blackmail is used if necessary. The people who are independent and truly want to make a difference (typically at the lower levels) do need support. They are fighting and putting themselves out there. We are so caught up in the presidential election we are blind to the big machine that runs everything.
If we were to vote on the most consequental actions of our government, it would be against the best interest of the empire managers. They could not take that risk. We don't vote for the president, the electoral college does. Why are so many people that are poor and are non-white largely not voting for Democrats? Democrats consistently failed to implement meaningful policy that improved their lives, in fact, Harris has supported policy that has hurt those people. Democrats could improve education, raise food stamps, focus on improving housing, and push for universal healthcare...they will do none of these.
As one who is not a foreigner nor an expat I know this assumption " it must be because you are white and wealthy and coddled enough to be unconcerned about Donald Trump getting in and implementing racist and discriminatory policies" is not accurate. The assertion is a Democratic Party-minded inspired manipulation of control via guilt tripping- if you are not with us then you are against us which makes you bad and unworthy and a civic scumbag. It is a tool for conformity. And is a projection of the disowned aspects of the Democratic Party's collective psyche. The betrayal of "democracy" lies at the heart of the corporatized Democratic Establishment.
It is exorcized via projection onto the non-conformists.
And while there are few things we can do as voters, there are some things we can do as humans who care about what's really going on. 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
I'm voting for Stein, where does that put me in your political spectrum of those who don't vote?
FWIW: in a recent youTube Michael Hudson stated he's hoping Stein gets 7% of the vote which will put the election into the House of Representatives. It is the first step in destroying the Democratic Party.
Obviously it isn't that Hudson wants to protect the Republican party. He's a Marxist after all.
Another thing we don't get to vote on: cost of living increases. As a retired person receiving social security benefits, we will not receive an increase next year due to inflation. All our tax dollars are being funneled to Israel and the Ukraine. But I bet those legislators who, ha ha, represent their citizens will receive nice pay increases, along with their free medical and retirement. I am white, middle class, a college graduate, and I DON'T vote for those creeps.
People who aren’t privileged enough to care who wins the US election in November include:
People privileged with sufficient common sense, perspective and reason to realize politics is merely threatre, politicians are merely puppets and voting is merely giving your consent to be governed by the criminals pulling the strings.
Then you should have no problem at all voting for Stein.
Sure, your vote won't count for much, but it would mean you're brave enough to spit on the ground the Oligarchy walks on, in the middle of the night, hours and hours after they've left.
Oh yes, thank you -- I forgot to mention in my reply to Bitfarmer111 that I am voting for Jill Stein! Agree completely.
Good point Bakelite.... I do hope you get to vote for her, except that in some states she won't be able to get on the ballot, thanks to the governing elite.. If you are in that state, you write on the ballot, if there is such thig as a written ballot anywhere, printing the word "STEIN'...
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.
True, Jill really wet the bed not getting on the ballot in New York. I forgave her and have the yard sign up : ) I collected sig. for her ballot and they never picked them up. The Green party seems unorganized still. Some say the Greens are a diversion used as a tool for the Monopoly party. I will never vote Demoncrat again and never have Republican't.
John,
"Then you should have no problem at all voting for Stein." Love it!... The reality however is that most people probably don't know she exists, never mind voting for her. .. When is the last time anyone has heard the name 'Stein' mentioned on CNN, MSNBC, or Fox?? or any other channel for that matter.?
MSM has discovered the efficacy of making a person invisible by deploying the "Bernie blackout."
I know the name, but, I guessed she is a focking communist? Never seen her positions on anything, but, I speculated based on her name? Maybe I am wrong?
mois78...
Maybe you can explain what a "focking communist" is, and I can then address your reply. She is Jewish by birth, and if the saying "Don't judge a horse by its color" means anything good, she is one shining example. Listen to her views on YouTube clips from many various podcasts, then give your opinion.......
you can find her platform online. i've got a hunch that looking from your 'overton window', she will look like a 'focking communist'.
Martin,
"i've got a hunch that looking from your 'overton window', she will look like a 'focking communist'."
As clear as mud... "Hunch" ???? What your hunch???
well, he 'speculated based on her name', so i, possibly wrongly, assumed that his overton window is not that wide.
Go to her website at jillstein2024.com. She is the Green Party's presidential nominee. Her platform is at jillstein2024.com/platform and you can watch videos of her interviews and webinars, etc. at her YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@JillStein2024
Focking communist?? That is a bit simplistic, but upon looking at the increased powers she'd like to give the government over most economic decisions it is understandable. She also wants to declare a "climate emergency", ban fracking for oil, phase out nuclear power and all "fossil fuel" use.
I applaud her desire to end the wars USA participates in directly and indirectly and reduce the military to actual defense of USA. However the remainder of her platform demonstrates a lack of understanding of natural climate cycles and economics. It is impossible to make the economy fairer by giving the government more control of it, mostly because psychopaths rise to the top of all control systems.
she won't win, so this is what you won't get:
https://www.gp.org/platform
As an environmental engineer, I have first hand information regarding global warming and the green party? The haters of the Christian West have invented many lies to destroy the Christian Western civilization. We know that communism was never successful in any country, yet all our university professors are communists, and pushing these bad ideologies on the college kids.
People , Planet , Peace. People before war and Genocide. Yes you are wrong. Love the Jewish People, despise the Zionists.
Not only that worthy reason, but to show ourselves just how many we are. The MSM suppresses any indications that we exist. We should not be helping them!
How are you going to know how many there are of you by voting ?
You expect the government or media to report honestly ?
I will probably be voting for Emanuel Pastreich, who probably will have even less votes. But at least I will have voted for someone I can mostly agree with.
"Then you should have no problem at all voting for Stein." - and you totally missed Bitfarmer111's "politicians are merely puppets and voting is merely giving your consent to be governed by the criminals pulling the strings."
Totally!
Absolutely. I am white and quite materially comfortable and financially secure enough to consider myself a member of the (disappearing) American middle class; but I vote on real issues that actually affect real life for real people -- not identity politics or other distractive/divisive comparative non-issues.
First of all, no one is "white" really:
https://bannekerinstitute.fas.harvard.edu/files/bannekerinstitute/files/on_being_white.and_other_lies_baldwin_0.pdf
Second of all, in a country established on genocide of Native Americans now disposessed and exiled to bantustans ("reservations") and mass slavery of Africans, and in which nazi-style Jim Crow was daily life for many people still alive today, their children still subject to thousands of summary killings annually by the police and unjust imprisonment by the "Justice" Department in the tens of thousands, in a country where huge swathes of Mexico were annexed and Mexican people turned into minorities on their own ancestral lands, the peoples of Puerto Rica and polynesians in Hawaii outright colonised.....well, its quite a claim to suggest these are not "real life issues for real people".
Kudjoe, This is brilliant! You called out a very limited perspective for what it actually is.
Why should there be a 'middle class' ? What are the other classes?
America has for a long time been a magical land in which no one says they are working class and no one will admit to being in the upper class - the oligarchy. Because the ultra-rich know that there is no ladder, but the ordinary folk have been brainwashed into thinking they are all climbing it.
The OECD published a seminal study in 2010 called "Intergenerational Social Mobility: a family affair?"
https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/A-Family-Affair-%3A-Intergenerational-Social-Mobility/664c39fa5e4ebc14784f542ca3147d9180523f7e
https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/economics/economic-policy-reforms-2010/a-family-affair_growth-2010-38-en#page1
The study revealed harsh truths about the lies underlying the US economy and society and its Horatio Alger myth and indeed the lies underlying capitalism itself.
If Obama and the Dems had actually paid attention and done something about it, rather that doubling down at home and abroad on ideologically-driven obsessions with crony capitalism.....we might not be looking at a a worldwide epidemic of fascism, demagoguery and the decent of the Dems themselves into semi-fascism.
But nobody paid attention, so here we are, in the land where everyone is still pretending to be "a middle class country" while the edifice crumbles around the entire society.
Kiudjoe.. I did try to read the content of your links. The first was not available and the second was ok... My eyes are not what they used to be but in general the rhetoric sounded nice, but nice guys finish last I'm told.
The problem is that reading a text written in 2010 is obviously a redundant exercise. When observing the number of people on the planet being evicted from their shelters and living n tents or under tarps in some of the richest countries on the planet, it seems that the species is fully at war with itself and will end up blowing each other into radioactive dust, probably sooner than later. The disparity rhetoric between rich and poor has been around since Moses floated down the Nile and so social reforms, no matter how well packaged, are proving to be utterly useless. It's not only the members, but the species. With approx 12,000 nuclear warheads pointed at each other, the ultimate stupidity of that species is but a fool's armlength away from ending its careers.
"test written is obviously a redundant exercise...."
Uh no. And all the rest you say goes downhill from there. Ending up nowhere. Best yet you quoted the bible. I guess it was written this year then.
Kudjoe,
Sorry I had missed your comment before. Thanks for sending it and will read your link. The only real class in society today is the MONEY class., and without MONEY, everyone who tried to buy a goody at the candy store discovered on Day One that without MONEY, there is no candy..... or shelter, or food, or power. The only class that counts is the MONEY class.. .
I'd say at this point: 1) the homeless class. 2) those struggling to avoid that one financial setback that would send them into homelessness. 3) those still living in relative comfort and security with a roof over their heads. 4) cops from local law enforcement on up thru DEA and ICE officials who have the privilege of immunity, and 5) the billionaire class who presides over these classes. I listed these classes in order of how many members each has, and if this isn't accurate now, then it is headed this way.
Number 3 used to be what we would call the "middle class" and even if one sunk into homelessness (#1), that category was not irredeemable. Today homelessness is like an ever-expanding tar pit, and once you're sucked in, you're in there for good. Also #3 class used to be home owners, but in another generation will be made up of serfs/renters.
Marci...
Thanks for naming a few classes... can't argue with any of them... .... perhaps adding that the possibility of moving from higher to lower classes sets the stage for wars and the severity of impending climate changes.
You're right, it definitely doesn't signal anything good.
from a marxist perspective there's only 2, workers and owners.
Since capitalism has evolved since Marx's time, there are more classes than just the 2 (Marx referred to the 'petite bourgeoisie' also, though he did not adequately define them, instead calling them 'smaller capitalists').
The classes:
- bourgeoisie, petite bourgeoisie, proletariat, lumpenproletariat, peasants, and a new "transnational capitalist class".
imo, most other classes are actually mere 'subdivisions' of the 2 actual classes. some (petite bourgeoisie, pmc, the 'middle' class, maybe the 'political' and 'military' classes) are condoned to mitigate the ruling class' problem of the 'numbers' caitlin regularly mentions by creating the illusion that there's 'class mobility' without taking the loyalty oath ('but first you must learn how to smile as you kill') and being complicit in the great game of exploitation of the many by the few.
the subdivisions of the proletariat indeed seem more tied to the historical circumstances of marx' time with the 'proletariat' being the part of the working class that can be made 'conscious', the 'lumpenproletariat' being the part that is so marginalized that they can't be made 'conscious' as all of their energy is absorbed by the struggle for mere survival, and the (feudal) 'peasants' being unable to get 'conscious' because they haven't experienced industrialization and actual capitalism. (maoist thought kinda tried to disprove that one can't skip the industrialization step in the evolution, which was quite a struggle).
but totally agree with the premise that capitalism evolved significantly since marx and that one should 'dialectically' adapt marxism to the circumstances that have arisen since and not disregard the ability of a conscious capitalism to reactionary adapt and counter the analyses and praxis of marxism and socialism. (e.g. i don't think marx and lenin foresaw capitalism's use of fascism to counter and co-opt revolutionary sentiments into a reset to the status quo).
Something I have never found in Marx's writing, what happens when we don't evolve from Capitalism to Socialism. I have a feeling we are living it with this mad dash to nuclear war : (
Landru, You don't evolve from Capitalism to Socialism. The next step from capitalism - specially from the neoliberal kind we now have - is Fascism.
John. I understand what you are saying. Middle class do not CARE about the underclass. So what do you want? I am confused?
In a relativity free society there are always 3 classes: High, middle and low.
Wizard,
"In a relativity free society there are always 3 classes: High, middle and low." Isn't that a most pressing problem ?
If someone doesn't participate in doing the work that needs done to maintain a society should they be living at the same level of comfort as others who work 40 or more hours a week? Anyone who works hard and diligently doesn't want to give it away to someone who is capable of work but just doesn't want to work. It is a fact that if you work hard and long enough you will raise yourself up to the middle class. Something I experienced.
Carolyn,
Some people just like to be lazy. Why climb a mountain if you are just satisfied to look at it? Work is just that... Work, a four letter word for me. .. I work... but only if I have to... Does a lion hunt on a full stomach?? I don't mind being low-class because I favor lazy over busy, but if any class ruins environments with work, that becomes a messy class.
Each according the their needs. Works for me.
Absolute nonsense.
Really............maybe in the USA?
ALWAYS?
Show business for ugly people.
I was going to make a comment, but you essentially made the same point that I wanted to make, so I'll just say...Amen!
You can choose between corporate imperialist muppet Tweedledee and corporate imperialist muppet Tweedledum. The only real difference is what flavor of idpol you prefer.
Remember,.humans, you are privileged!
Feral,
"Remember,. humans, you are privileged!" .... but are you among the "chosen' humans?
My friend you break it down : )
I don't recall being asked whether I wished to be secrectly censored and propagandized by the government. My memory must be slipping.
Try keeping track of how much you're paying for car insurance. They raise it, and you never know until months later when looking over your automatic payments. That, and how often now these days do you walk into a store and you can't find the price tag on an item? It's like we are run by criminals who the more they can lie to us, and do things secretly, the more they insist we live in a civilized "free" society.
I didn't approve of silicon valley zionists selling my information to tyrannical government bureaucracy.
Yes you did in the EULA !
I took a photo of a very unusual tree. Now Youtube shows me a video of that tree. So they study all the photos I foolishly thought private.
They tell you nothing is private when you sign up for their services. Do you have android? Well, it's google, and they tell you everything in small print. Really, really small, and lots of it.
You on Apple? Do you have google photos installed, having given it access to iphone photos? Well, then...
And, btw, if you're trying to alert the forum of privacy dangers - well, they keep getting engaged with Howie, they still debate voting, and so on. Good luck.
You reminded me of how many times I’ll write something then within hours I’m seeing it 4 or 5 times in same and different context . Makes me wonder how deep it goes . I’ll soon start knitting my aluminum foil hat !
Never mind the "most consequential actions" - US voters actually don't get to decide ANY of their governments actions at all. Only rich get a say, and they do that outside of the electoral process. Whoever gets elected is merely a frontman or frontwoman and the election is utterly meaningless. Kabuki.
https://archive.org/details/gilens_and_page_2014_-testing_theories_of_american_politics.doc
Com'on. It is Zionist Billionaires. Let us stop beating around the bush!
Stop allowing AIPAC and ADL scare you.
i recommend checking the non-zionist billionaires too to address the problem in the cited study.
Most of this article was good. What is missing is how foreign very wealthy central bankers, starting in 1913 coopted the American Government. That's when foreign entanglements started (i.e. WWI). Until you understand the global economic system, things will not make sense and you will believe that America is at fault for everything worldwide. As for voting, there are more people in office than the president. The globalist regime knows this and have a well funded machine down to the local levels. What your state, city, school board does can significantly affect you. So who you vote in at those levels matter. Saying it doesn't matter who you vote for is silly, especially if you are talking at the local levels. Is it increasingly getting difficult for local people to make a difference, yes. But thats because of the first thing I said above and its the control of the global banking structure. Central bankers, starting in 2018 in their annual Jackson Hole Wyoming convention, stated that their goal is to go around governments and set budgets for countries using carbon credits and other means. That goal is well under way. You must understand this if you want to understand the "Empire"
Yes, the local levels of government have importance. With most things, you start at the bottom and work your way up and it is the same in this case.
You and/or Naomi Wolf claim the election will not happen, but the elites have an incentive to make people think they have a say in how the federal government will run. Presidential elections are to good a con to give up.
More than the president is elected during the elections. Local elections occur too and people forget that.
caitlin often speaks about the 'us centralized empire'. finance capitalism is indeed a favorite international tool of empire to wreak havoc on those they want to exploit, but this tool needs the back-up of empire's most favorite tool, violence. empire uses the world largest military for this which is america's. america is the lair of empire.
Sarah,
"Central bankers," "global banking structure." "Empire"....
If the above isn't yet clear for every Earthling, then one is surely an alien.
The State is the most powerful COMPULSORY entity in a territory usually with its name too
Ony it has a coercive monopoly on the (legal) use of force/violence
That such an entity could be taken over by some businessmen when their most powerful asset is only their money I find very unlikely
They used that money to buy politicians who ACCEPTED
Howard,
"most powerful asset is only their money I find very unlikely. " MMmm.!!!.. On the planet where I live MONEY is the most powerful entity of the universe that involves humanity. If there are more powerful entities, I must have missed that lesson..
So if you face someone with a lot of money or someone that had a coercive monopoly on the legal use of force, which would you fear ?
Howard, we all know who is running the US government, how many well paid lobbyists there are for each well paid politician. We all know why Washington DC is now one of the richest pieces of land in the US right now with a ton of millionaires.
You pretend you don't know that, which makes you intellectually dishonest.
jamenta, Glad that you took on the so-called " Libertarian"!
Again, money is only as powerful as any other commodity on the market
You either want it or not
The idea that people with money somehow force "poor "politicians into selling their power is a fantasy
Howard,
"So if you face someone with a lot of money or someone that had a coercive monopoly on the legal use of force, which would you fear ?"
I wish I could understand your question but for the sake of just guessing I don't usually face people with a lot of money because they usually like being with people of their kind...
As far as "coercive monopoly" and their legal use of force electric utility providers come to mind, and if you don't pay ransoms to their coffers you'll be without electrical power for awhile. To your question,, " which one would I fear?" I fear the latter, the former have basically ignored me.
I thought that was pretty clear.
You would need to look at the debates back then to understand what really occurred. Astor, who was killed on the Titanic, was the only holdout at the time. And yes, the money masters are always very powerful and "buy out" politicians. That is why the constitution was formed the way it was. They worked on getting a central bank in place for over 100 years. It was the big prize and they got it. The people only allowed it to happen because of ignorance. The same ignorance we have today. Although, they were more informed back then then we are today. Almost no one knows what I am talking about. The "freedom" movement and the anti war people are almost all ignorant to what I am sharing. They are fighting the shadows hard and it won't make a single bit of difference because the fight is directed at the branches, not the root.
Why are businesses powerful for offering money but the state seems innocent for accepting it in exchange for power they sold ?
No one is innocent. And anyone with a lot of money is powerful if used to control people. That's why blackmail works.
Money cannot control you unless you deem it necessary to take it
I am not sure I know of any politicians that fit that requirement
They ALL seem pretty rich to me whether left or right
The power of The COMPULSORY State can control anyone who is not as powerful and does not have the power to legalize their actions
Every politician takes an oath of office to honor the Constitution and essentially not betray the people or the nation. Business, corporations and the like do not take any oath.
Politicians are 100% responsible for the corruption and bribery and holding them responsible to their oath is the only leverage we have short of revolutionary war.
"coopted the American Government."
The government essentially sold their power
They were not coopted
They sold their power to the Elite uber wealthy, who then proceeded to reduce taxes on themselves, loosen all banking regulations and labor regulations i.e. an assault on ordinary working class Americans, also known as class warfare, and proceeded to off shore a great deal of there record profits as well, along with practicing vulture and crony capitalism.
Then you have the patsies called Libertarians who supported these same Uber Elite wealthy ruthless exploiters of the US by ideologically supporting their wealth plunder. And to fucking stupid to realize it.
"Saying it doesn't matter who you vote for is silly, especially if you are talking at the local levels" - that's another thing they got you on.
Locals to vote for are selected by party politics (or business interests) in exactly the same way any other level is. The fact that they're closer to you and must therefore pacify you with cookies here and there should not fool people, but it does.
That you take part in the corrupt voting system makes you complicit. There's no way around it.
Dear Sarah, it is so crooked beyond belief that our government agreed that a gang of banksters will print our money, and lend us that worthless paper as loans with interest. If you or I print money, we will go to jail.
Now, what if our government gave you and I the permission to print moneys? We will print 24x7 mountains of cash! Actually, today's computer saves us the printing processes? We can click on the computer mouse and have 100 trillion dollars?
What you and I can do with 100 trillion dollars? Buy every focking congressman, Senator, president, newspaper, TV and Hollywood?
That's what they do. But they don't "buy" their allegiance with just money. They use whatever they can... blackmail is used if necessary. The people who are independent and truly want to make a difference (typically at the lower levels) do need support. They are fighting and putting themselves out there. We are so caught up in the presidential election we are blind to the big machine that runs everything.
I have NO idea why anyone is even voting...........except for Jill Stein (who we all know won't be allowed to win).
Moneyed circus carries on for all the people who love extravaganza politics.
Jenny....
Wherever 'Stein' is not on the ballot, sqribbling 'Stein' in the voting boot or on the voting machine with a marker might raise some eyebrows...
"might raise some eyebrows" - it will. Of the newly recruited operatives saying "I can't believe they keep falling for this shit".
I hope so.
So are you voting for Stein, or not?
Don't live in the US!
John, "
So are you voting for Stein, or not?" If I could... I surely would... in spades...
If we were to vote on the most consequental actions of our government, it would be against the best interest of the empire managers. They could not take that risk. We don't vote for the president, the electoral college does. Why are so many people that are poor and are non-white largely not voting for Democrats? Democrats consistently failed to implement meaningful policy that improved their lives, in fact, Harris has supported policy that has hurt those people. Democrats could improve education, raise food stamps, focus on improving housing, and push for universal healthcare...they will do none of these.
This article should be made to appear on all screens on the planet every hour until its message is part of our DNA.
We might start making meaningful material change then.
Chapeau.
“…All you get to vote on is what face should represent these things for the next four years..” Yes, this is how it is.
The black face or the white face? So hard to decide...
Aha, the black face. It gives me a feeling that I'm liberal.
Patrick Powers, You should realise that the black face has a white mask... .
Thank You Caitlin
As one who is not a foreigner nor an expat I know this assumption " it must be because you are white and wealthy and coddled enough to be unconcerned about Donald Trump getting in and implementing racist and discriminatory policies" is not accurate. The assertion is a Democratic Party-minded inspired manipulation of control via guilt tripping- if you are not with us then you are against us which makes you bad and unworthy and a civic scumbag. It is a tool for conformity. And is a projection of the disowned aspects of the Democratic Party's collective psyche. The betrayal of "democracy" lies at the heart of the corporatized Democratic Establishment.
It is exorcized via projection onto the non-conformists.
And while there are few things we can do as voters, there are some things we can do as humans who care about what's really going on. 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
I'm voting for Stein, where does that put me in your political spectrum of those who don't vote?
FWIW: in a recent youTube Michael Hudson stated he's hoping Stein gets 7% of the vote which will put the election into the House of Representatives. It is the first step in destroying the Democratic Party.
Obviously it isn't that Hudson wants to protect the Republican party. He's a Marxist after all.
Vote Claudia De La Cruz! votesocialist2024.com
Another thing we don't get to vote on: cost of living increases. As a retired person receiving social security benefits, we will not receive an increase next year due to inflation. All our tax dollars are being funneled to Israel and the Ukraine. But I bet those legislators who, ha ha, represent their citizens will receive nice pay increases, along with their free medical and retirement. I am white, middle class, a college graduate, and I DON'T vote for those creeps.
As far as I am concerned, NOT VOTING is a valid choice
Grimalkin?
🐈⬛ 😼 🧌
“If voting changed anything, they’d make it illegal,” - Emma Goldman (1869-1940).