Much of comedy and humor consists of making fun of or exposing those things that we repress or that we do not like to talk about. So we tease each other about our hidden foibles. Stand up comics make jokes about what happens or what does not happen in our bathrooms and our bedrooms, and about our politicians.
Tom Reiss has an article in The New Yorker for November 19, 2007 entitled “Laugh Riots,” about Dieudonne a Black French comic. Beginning around 2002, this already famous, rich and very popular guy started making jokes about Zionism. The Israel Lobby in France and much of the French establishment immediately began criticizing him as anti-Semitic and some of his fans abandoned him. He became the darling of the “David Duke Types” in France, but his fan base remains far broader than this. I cannot judge from the article alone whether Dieudonne is anti-Semitic by my standards or whether he is a brilliant comic innovator bringing a long needed comic challenge to the Israel Lobby. He is seen as anti-Semitic by almost all Jews and, as I will try to show below, that is part of the problem that calls for comic relief.
It is not anti-Semitic to be against Zionism, although the Israel Lobby does its best to label anti-Zionism as anti-Semitic. Not all Jews are Zionists. Conservative Jews see Zionism as a corruption and false reading of Judaism. For them worship of the State of Israel instead of God is idolatry. There are Jewish peace groups in Israel and in the United States that are either outright anti-Zionist or willing to set up and honor a viable separate state for Palestinians. It is not anti-Semitic to be critical of neocon, right wing, or hawkish acts and policies of Israel in exactly the same way that it is not anti-American to be critical of such in the U.S. Many US Jews are very critical of the Bush Administration, but will tolerate no criticism of Israel.
For those of us who yearn for equality, true democratic self-government, truth, justice and peace for ourselves and others, it is imperative that the awesome political power of the Israel Lobby be challenged. It has been politically impossible in the US to make such a challenge because of our own guilt about failing to rescue the Jews in WWII, the Holocaust, and the sly, astute and intimidating use of the charge of “anti-Semitism” in a way that is reminiscent of the charge of “communism” in the era of Joseph McCarthy.
The key to understanding Zionism is that it is and always has been a political effort to capture as much land for Jews in the Middle East as possible. The goal is territory, territory only for Jews. It is this basic truth that Israel and Israel Lobby propagandists and a large number of American Jews deny and suppress, suppress like the sexual urge of Victorian women.
There are many characteristics of Zionism that make it an enemy to be opposed and challenged and made fun of:
• Zionists promote the false idea that the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza were fairly captured by Israel in the 1967 War. The fact is that War was with Egypt and Syria. Palestine was not a participant. Israel simply seized the opportunity to expand “Israel.”
• Zionists say “Israel’s right to exist is non-negotiable!” Of course! But the Zionist catch is, Zionists set no limit to and no defined boundaries for the “Israel.” They try to lead the world to believe that any territory occupied by the Israeli army is “Israel.” Zionists aggressively seek more and more geographical territory. Some seek the return of Biblical Israel which allegedly extended from the Nile River in Egypt to the Euphrates River in Iraq. So when the President of Iran states, as I do, that Israel must remove the West Bank settlements, and halt the military occupation, the Israel Lobby falsifies the statement, says the Iranians want to “drive Jews into the sea” and uses that as a reason to bomb Iran and broadcasts the charge of “anti-Semitism,”
• The inappropriate or false charge of “anti-Semitism” is something like, but worse than the children’s story where Peter yells “wolf” “wolf” once too often and the claim becomes ridiculous and meaningless. Peter was just a scared and manipulative little boy, and not a powerful nation secretly seeking to capture more and more territory for Jews.
• Zionists themselves are and were terrorists and assassinated and bombed innocent civilians in their quest to establish, expand, and maintain the State of Israel.
• Zionists have never favored the establishment of a viable state for Palestinians.
• Zionists have never suspended the aggressive building of settlements in the West Bank following Camp David or the Oslo Accords and have never been willing in negotiation to make such suspension an immediate fact in peace negotiation.
• Zionists are “racist” in the sense that they establish, expand and maintain “Israel” only for persons who have a Jewish mother. No others can move to “Israel.”
• Zionists, although secular, promote the idea among Jews world wide to worship “Israel” and to defend it with religious zeal.
• Zionists have never recognized their victimization of the Palestinians who occupied the area for many centuries, have neither made nor offered reparations or compensation. They simply ignore and deny their existence. Hence 4 million Palestinians have been living in refugee camps under occupation by the Israeil Army for 40 years.
• Zionists have never sincerely sought peace in negotiations and have always followed the policy of ongoing military occupation and settlement expansion even during peace negotiations to “establish facts on the ground,” in other words to take more territory for Jews, while pretending to negotiate for peace.
• Zionists promote self pity among Jews world wide, and promote seeing themselves as victims of the Palestinians.
• Zionists are allied with and linked with Bush, the neocons, and the Christian Right in the US, and thus actively promote the Bush-Cheney effort to attack Iran.
• Zionists and more importantly the Israel Lobby simply deny all of the foregoing and seek to punish, ridicule, and shame those who utter any of the foregoing.
The above lies, prejudices, denials, and hubris are fertile material for comedians and stand up comics. If this is what Dieudonne is doing in France, we badly need his counterpart in the United States. Persistence and repetition are key to successful propaganda. Making fun of, satirizing, and ridiculing this propaganda is the weapon of the comic.
As Bryan Zepp Jamieson says:
“Lies have the power to alter truth.
But truth has the power to destroy lies.”
November 19, 2007
Douglas R. Page, Tucson, AZ dougpage2@earthlink.net
Monday, November 19, 2007
Monday, November 12, 2007
LET'S GET CLEAR WHAT IT MEANS TO BE LIBERAL AND THE CONSEQUENCES
We toss political and civic terms around without giving them much thought. This leads to disappointment and consternation. For example, why is it that a liberal magazine like The Nation or a leading liberal radio commentator Amy Goodman will not engage in an open exploration and discussion of 9/11? Why will The Nation never examine the working dynamics of capitalism? Why does Al Gore not discuss the effect of the legal imperative governing corporations on Global Warming that the sole legal obligation is to make as much profit for shareholders as possible in the short run? Why will Counterpunch deal with the Israel Lobby but not 9/11?
The dictionary gives as the first meaning of radical: "of or from the root or roots; going to the center, foundation or source of something; fundamental; basic."
I insist on trying to get to the root causes of our political, civic and even my personal problems. It is the only way I can feel sane. Thus I insist on examining and understanding the dynamics of capitalism, the exercise of power by the Israel Lobby, and the root causes of Global Warming. This is more than a personal quirk. I believe that one can have a full understanding of phenomena only by such an examination and analysis. Intellectual honesty and the scientific method compel us to do this.
We are well aware that there may be hidden pressures on liberals and their media outlets. For example, they may be funded by foundations that impose restrictions. They may have accepted CIA approved writers in their bosoms. However in many cases it may be personal inclinations of the authors. It is this latter inclination that I wish to examine here.
The dictionary definition of a liberal: “giving freely; generous…tolerant of views differing from one’s own; broad minded….favoring reform or progress…somewhat more conservative than “progressive.”
It is apparent that getting to the root of things is not a driving force for a liberal. A liberal is thus charitable, but does not question what causes the need for charity. A liberal may be offended by war or by torture, and will give money to protest organizations, but may be less interested in getting to the root causes. A liberal will thus be seduced by those who claim to be preserving freedom and democracy while torturing.
I have a further insight not mentioned in the dictionary. The evidence seems to show that the first imperative for a liberal is to preserve his own privileges, advantages, personal comfort and well being. To a liberal, this is only rational self interest. From that base, a liberal will be tolerant, generous, charitable and reforming, to the extent that his own well being and comfort is not imperiled. Since getting to the root of things might challenge a liberal’s own privileges, a liberal avoids such inquiry. It is not even denial. It is simple avoidance of what is seen as irrelevant. A liberal knows intuitively that his own personal well being rests on the suffering of others, and he does not wish to “go there.”
The upshot of all of this is that we are unlikely to get much help from liberals in halting Global Warming or in terminating wars abroad to secure oil.
November 12, 2007
Douglas R. Page dougpage2@earthlink.net
ZNet Commentary
Veterans' Voices November 11, 2007
By Cynthia Peters
Written testimony "means that we no longer allow ourselves to be silenced or allow others to speak for our experience. Writing to heal, then, and making our writing public, as I see it, is the most important emotional, psychological, artistic, and political project of our time."
-- Louise De Salvo, PhD author, Writing as a Way of Healing
The dictionary gives as the first meaning of radical: "of or from the root or roots; going to the center, foundation or source of something; fundamental; basic."
I insist on trying to get to the root causes of our political, civic and even my personal problems. It is the only way I can feel sane. Thus I insist on examining and understanding the dynamics of capitalism, the exercise of power by the Israel Lobby, and the root causes of Global Warming. This is more than a personal quirk. I believe that one can have a full understanding of phenomena only by such an examination and analysis. Intellectual honesty and the scientific method compel us to do this.
We are well aware that there may be hidden pressures on liberals and their media outlets. For example, they may be funded by foundations that impose restrictions. They may have accepted CIA approved writers in their bosoms. However in many cases it may be personal inclinations of the authors. It is this latter inclination that I wish to examine here.
The dictionary definition of a liberal: “giving freely; generous…tolerant of views differing from one’s own; broad minded….favoring reform or progress…somewhat more conservative than “progressive.”
It is apparent that getting to the root of things is not a driving force for a liberal. A liberal is thus charitable, but does not question what causes the need for charity. A liberal may be offended by war or by torture, and will give money to protest organizations, but may be less interested in getting to the root causes. A liberal will thus be seduced by those who claim to be preserving freedom and democracy while torturing.
I have a further insight not mentioned in the dictionary. The evidence seems to show that the first imperative for a liberal is to preserve his own privileges, advantages, personal comfort and well being. To a liberal, this is only rational self interest. From that base, a liberal will be tolerant, generous, charitable and reforming, to the extent that his own well being and comfort is not imperiled. Since getting to the root of things might challenge a liberal’s own privileges, a liberal avoids such inquiry. It is not even denial. It is simple avoidance of what is seen as irrelevant. A liberal knows intuitively that his own personal well being rests on the suffering of others, and he does not wish to “go there.”
The upshot of all of this is that we are unlikely to get much help from liberals in halting Global Warming or in terminating wars abroad to secure oil.
November 12, 2007
Douglas R. Page dougpage2@earthlink.net
ZNet Commentary
Veterans' Voices November 11, 2007
By Cynthia Peters
Written testimony "means that we no longer allow ourselves to be silenced or allow others to speak for our experience. Writing to heal, then, and making our writing public, as I see it, is the most important emotional, psychological, artistic, and political project of our time."
-- Louise De Salvo, PhD author, Writing as a Way of Healing
Sunday, November 11, 2007
CAPITALISM WILL KILL OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN
Humans in the past have had to deal with factors that threatened their survival. A few adapted and survived, but most did not. Our civilization is no different. It will not survive either.
UCLA Professor Jared Diamond in his 2005 book Collapse list 12 different causes of the inevitable fall of civilized life on our planet home within 30 years. They will cause our children and grandchildren to live in the Stone Age, with the law of the jungle, and to die. They are real. They are imminent. They all must be solved. If we solved 11, but left one unsolved, Diamond says our civilized life would still be over.
There are some obvious things we humans could and should do right now to adapt and survive.
1. Stop all pro life policies and flood the world with free contraceptives.
2. Stop cutting trees immediately, everywhere.
3. Stop all pollution of our rivers and lakes and halt all discharge of sewage and pollutants into the oceans.
4. Require all engines everywhere to have zero emissions within 1 year.
5. Stop using water and soil to feed cattle, chickens and pigs. Humans must learn to eat corn, beans, and squash and soy bean products.
6. Stop all flood irrigation in agriculture and compel the use of drip irrigation. Seriously conserve topsoil everywhere, and prohibit building or paving on tillable top soil.
7. Establish and enforce planet wide regulation of fishing to prevent over fishing and destruction of species.
8. Make a massive transition to solar cooking, solar water heating, solar power, wind power, wave power, and current power. Adopt all energy conservation strategies.
9. Recycle and reuse everything. Compost all human excrement and garbage.
10. Study and copy what Cubans have done with organic farming and worm culture to get food without oil, and oil based fertilizers.
11. Put a huge tax on gasoline.
In our denial and our addiction to comfort, we are maintaining a political economy that will aggressively cause the death of our children and grandchildren! We do not have a political economy based on wise planning and community action. We have capitalism, a political economy whose sole obligation is to earn as much short term profit as possible. The capitalist system brings vast wealth to the top 1% of us, but it does no planning, has no responsibility to the planet or to humans, and actively opposes all that we should be doing to solve the problem.
Our struggle with capitalism and the money it produces for the very rich is about a lot more than justice, equality, freedom and self-governing democracy. It is about our civilized survival. Marxists like to say that capitalism contains the seeds of its own destruction. It is much more than that. Capitalism aggressively fuels the destruction of civilized life on this planet and death for millions.
Unfortunately, we need to do a lot more than look at Al Gore’s movie An Inconvenient Truth. We must reduce capitalism’s awesome power by refusing to buy its products, refusing to work within it, and by denying its legitimacy.
November 11, 2007
Douglas R. Page dougpage2@earthlink.net
UCLA Professor Jared Diamond in his 2005 book Collapse list 12 different causes of the inevitable fall of civilized life on our planet home within 30 years. They will cause our children and grandchildren to live in the Stone Age, with the law of the jungle, and to die. They are real. They are imminent. They all must be solved. If we solved 11, but left one unsolved, Diamond says our civilized life would still be over.
There are some obvious things we humans could and should do right now to adapt and survive.
1. Stop all pro life policies and flood the world with free contraceptives.
2. Stop cutting trees immediately, everywhere.
3. Stop all pollution of our rivers and lakes and halt all discharge of sewage and pollutants into the oceans.
4. Require all engines everywhere to have zero emissions within 1 year.
5. Stop using water and soil to feed cattle, chickens and pigs. Humans must learn to eat corn, beans, and squash and soy bean products.
6. Stop all flood irrigation in agriculture and compel the use of drip irrigation. Seriously conserve topsoil everywhere, and prohibit building or paving on tillable top soil.
7. Establish and enforce planet wide regulation of fishing to prevent over fishing and destruction of species.
8. Make a massive transition to solar cooking, solar water heating, solar power, wind power, wave power, and current power. Adopt all energy conservation strategies.
9. Recycle and reuse everything. Compost all human excrement and garbage.
10. Study and copy what Cubans have done with organic farming and worm culture to get food without oil, and oil based fertilizers.
11. Put a huge tax on gasoline.
In our denial and our addiction to comfort, we are maintaining a political economy that will aggressively cause the death of our children and grandchildren! We do not have a political economy based on wise planning and community action. We have capitalism, a political economy whose sole obligation is to earn as much short term profit as possible. The capitalist system brings vast wealth to the top 1% of us, but it does no planning, has no responsibility to the planet or to humans, and actively opposes all that we should be doing to solve the problem.
Our struggle with capitalism and the money it produces for the very rich is about a lot more than justice, equality, freedom and self-governing democracy. It is about our civilized survival. Marxists like to say that capitalism contains the seeds of its own destruction. It is much more than that. Capitalism aggressively fuels the destruction of civilized life on this planet and death for millions.
Unfortunately, we need to do a lot more than look at Al Gore’s movie An Inconvenient Truth. We must reduce capitalism’s awesome power by refusing to buy its products, refusing to work within it, and by denying its legitimacy.
November 11, 2007
Douglas R. Page dougpage2@earthlink.net
Saturday, November 10, 2007
IT TAKES MORE THAN VOTING; LET'S ORGANIZE FOR EFFECTIVE RESISTANCE NOW
Paul Krugman in his new book The Conscience of a Liberal makes the point that the money of the very rich now controls our political system. Republican Kevin Phillips gave us the evidence for this back in 2002 in Wealth and Democracy. The very rich are determined to use their money to eradicate the idea that government can and should protect people from the ravages of the Law of the Jungle, and the greed of the powerful. Thus when Hillary proposed her complicated health plan in 1993, Republicans neither offered nor would they accept any compromises. Instead, Republicans were determined to kill the whole idea of health insurance for all because they knew that if it succeeded, it would be a graphic demonstration that government could and should work for the benefit of all. There is much evidence that the ruling class and the Republicans are even more determined to kill the idea of good government today. So when Majority Leader Nancy Pelousi says that she wants to have a bipartisan debate about what to do about health coverage, I think she is choosing a mistaken strategy. She knows jolly well what Krugman knows that Republicans are determined to kill the whole idea of health care forever. What is her possible compromise? Health care that nobody can afford with a tremendous amount of profit for the insurance companies?
Despite all of this, Krugman, Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and almost all persons who oppose Bush are urging us to work within the Democratic Party, to talk to people and to organize for ballot box voting because, they say, there is a significant difference between the stated objectives of the Democratic and Republican Parties. The evidence shows that whatever the Democrats may say they will do for us voters, they actually do what their rich campaign donors demand. Democrats have been doing this ever since 1965 when Medicare was passed. Since then money has trumped our votes every time.
.
The truth is that ballot box democracy, or ballot box avenues of change are now blocked in this country, if indeed they have ever really existed. There is no way we voters can overwhelm the power of money. Campaign reform simply has not done it and will never do it. We must engage in other forms of political activity beyond mere voting.
Think not of Bush, but of "King Bush" who may be replaced with "Queen Hillary" being the mythical personification of the 5000 white Christian males (the wealthiest 1%) who have the money and power to make the decisions affecting us all.
Then think of the “princes, dukes, marquis, earls, viscounts, and barons” who are in one way or another on the payroll of this "King" or "Queen." These “royalists” are spread throughout the government, the armed forces, business, the media and academia. They will not cross their monetary master, the “King” no matter what voters or anybody else may say.
Then there are us voting serfs who are lied to by the "King's" media, deprived of any other source of information, diverted with TV, football, NASCAR racing, and images of sexy young women. We serfs are made to feel rich with a proliferation of toys, I pods, Walk men, DVD players, digital cameras, junk food and cars. We serfs see no reason to give up what we have by doing anything to cross the "King." Who needs democracy when everything is good enough? A little irritating, but good enough.
Historically, there have been those who were willing to cross the "king" because of ideals, because of their consciences, or because of what was really important to them. Our forefathers who signed our Declaration of Independence pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honor, and in many cases they indeed lost their lives and fortunes.
If this is an accurate depiction of our current plight, then we should minimize stamp licking and ballot box politics. Those of us who feel impelled to act for reasons of what is really important to us have the following choices:
1. Violent revolution (which in my view is immoral, counterproductive and impossible) Che Guevara was such a person and is still worshipped throughout Latin America 40 years after his execution by the CIA)
2. Active non-violence: stop paying all taxes.....stop buying anything produced by a corporation...stop working for any corporation.... (This is an effective exercise of power that would add muscle to our voting power if millions join in the activity.)
The final active non-violence is to do what the two Catholic priests did recently....in an effort to halt the teaching of torture and to cause the close of the School for Americas, they blocked the entrance to Fort Huachuca. They willingly submitted to arrest, and willingly accepted the punishment...7 months in the Florence, Arizona prison. While I very much appreciate their actions, I question how much influence their suffering has. Besides, I do not want to go to prison.
My wife C. Jay’s meditation this morning centered on this:
“November 5: Financial Security
An affluent society often functions as a giant tranquilizer. In the pursuit of the rewards of affluence, we have to tune out our awareness so completely that we become destructive to our bodies and our psyches. We have to develop our addictions to shut off our awareness of what is really important to us. We operate out of denial and are threatened by anyone wanting to challenge our denial.” (emphasis added)
I think that most of us are so addicted, and we have indeed shut off our awareness of what is really important to us. We are indeed threatened by anyone who wants to challenge our denial. So even though 64% of us oppose Bush and his policies, we do nothing about it.
What is really important to me? To you? What is more important to us than material goods?
Caring for others. Having others care for me. A government that cares. A good government that protects me from the Law of the Jungle and the greed of the powerful. A government that guarantees and protects my freedom. A government that protects me from the risks of the loss of civilized existence and global warming. A government of, by and for the people where we the voters are sovereign and not the money of the rich.
These foundational needs, while more subtle and further back in the recesses of our minds than the immediate gratification of a Coke & Big Mac, or a new car, are indeed more important when we stop to think about them.
Because of the overwhelming power of money, voting for Hillary or Barack is simply not enough, and is a waste of time without more. Here are some things we can do without giving up our life style:
• We can certainly, even with our affluence addiction, spread the truth. When the true facts of 9/11 are finally exposed to a majority of the American people, there will be an immense awakening. We can spread the truth about Zionists in Israel and in the US and their unrecognized controlling impact on us that may or may not be in our own best interest.
• We can organize among ourselves and participate in buyer’s boycotts and work stoppages. The Democrats and Republicans will both vote further to fund the War. We should then participate in a 3 day “sick out” work stoppage and we should not buy anything for 3 days. When another appointment like that of Attorney General Mukasey reaches the Senate we can have a 3 day sick out and purchasing strike. This is a powerful way we can match the political power of money. The powers that be can be made to change their positions if their profits are threatened.
• We can get our priorities in order: Truth, Justice, and then Peace. The current wars are based on lies. Truth can erode the underpinning of our wars. Wars are started to preserve privileges and cause inevitable injustices. If we end the war, we can then promote justice. There can be no enduring peace without justice. So when we have ended the wars, and promoted justice, we can then work effectively for peace. So we should work for Truth, Justice and Peace, in that order.
E mail me if you want to join an active nonviolent Truth Justice Peace movement. It must be organized from the bottom up. It is up to us.
November 5, 2007
Douglas R. Page dougpage2@earthlink.net
Despite all of this, Krugman, Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and almost all persons who oppose Bush are urging us to work within the Democratic Party, to talk to people and to organize for ballot box voting because, they say, there is a significant difference between the stated objectives of the Democratic and Republican Parties. The evidence shows that whatever the Democrats may say they will do for us voters, they actually do what their rich campaign donors demand. Democrats have been doing this ever since 1965 when Medicare was passed. Since then money has trumped our votes every time.
.
The truth is that ballot box democracy, or ballot box avenues of change are now blocked in this country, if indeed they have ever really existed. There is no way we voters can overwhelm the power of money. Campaign reform simply has not done it and will never do it. We must engage in other forms of political activity beyond mere voting.
Think not of Bush, but of "King Bush" who may be replaced with "Queen Hillary" being the mythical personification of the 5000 white Christian males (the wealthiest 1%) who have the money and power to make the decisions affecting us all.
Then think of the “princes, dukes, marquis, earls, viscounts, and barons” who are in one way or another on the payroll of this "King" or "Queen." These “royalists” are spread throughout the government, the armed forces, business, the media and academia. They will not cross their monetary master, the “King” no matter what voters or anybody else may say.
Then there are us voting serfs who are lied to by the "King's" media, deprived of any other source of information, diverted with TV, football, NASCAR racing, and images of sexy young women. We serfs are made to feel rich with a proliferation of toys, I pods, Walk men, DVD players, digital cameras, junk food and cars. We serfs see no reason to give up what we have by doing anything to cross the "King." Who needs democracy when everything is good enough? A little irritating, but good enough.
Historically, there have been those who were willing to cross the "king" because of ideals, because of their consciences, or because of what was really important to them. Our forefathers who signed our Declaration of Independence pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honor, and in many cases they indeed lost their lives and fortunes.
If this is an accurate depiction of our current plight, then we should minimize stamp licking and ballot box politics. Those of us who feel impelled to act for reasons of what is really important to us have the following choices:
1. Violent revolution (which in my view is immoral, counterproductive and impossible) Che Guevara was such a person and is still worshipped throughout Latin America 40 years after his execution by the CIA)
2. Active non-violence: stop paying all taxes.....stop buying anything produced by a corporation...stop working for any corporation.... (This is an effective exercise of power that would add muscle to our voting power if millions join in the activity.)
The final active non-violence is to do what the two Catholic priests did recently....in an effort to halt the teaching of torture and to cause the close of the School for Americas, they blocked the entrance to Fort Huachuca. They willingly submitted to arrest, and willingly accepted the punishment...7 months in the Florence, Arizona prison. While I very much appreciate their actions, I question how much influence their suffering has. Besides, I do not want to go to prison.
My wife C. Jay’s meditation this morning centered on this:
“November 5: Financial Security
An affluent society often functions as a giant tranquilizer. In the pursuit of the rewards of affluence, we have to tune out our awareness so completely that we become destructive to our bodies and our psyches. We have to develop our addictions to shut off our awareness of what is really important to us. We operate out of denial and are threatened by anyone wanting to challenge our denial.” (emphasis added)
I think that most of us are so addicted, and we have indeed shut off our awareness of what is really important to us. We are indeed threatened by anyone who wants to challenge our denial. So even though 64% of us oppose Bush and his policies, we do nothing about it.
What is really important to me? To you? What is more important to us than material goods?
Caring for others. Having others care for me. A government that cares. A good government that protects me from the Law of the Jungle and the greed of the powerful. A government that guarantees and protects my freedom. A government that protects me from the risks of the loss of civilized existence and global warming. A government of, by and for the people where we the voters are sovereign and not the money of the rich.
These foundational needs, while more subtle and further back in the recesses of our minds than the immediate gratification of a Coke & Big Mac, or a new car, are indeed more important when we stop to think about them.
Because of the overwhelming power of money, voting for Hillary or Barack is simply not enough, and is a waste of time without more. Here are some things we can do without giving up our life style:
• We can certainly, even with our affluence addiction, spread the truth. When the true facts of 9/11 are finally exposed to a majority of the American people, there will be an immense awakening. We can spread the truth about Zionists in Israel and in the US and their unrecognized controlling impact on us that may or may not be in our own best interest.
• We can organize among ourselves and participate in buyer’s boycotts and work stoppages. The Democrats and Republicans will both vote further to fund the War. We should then participate in a 3 day “sick out” work stoppage and we should not buy anything for 3 days. When another appointment like that of Attorney General Mukasey reaches the Senate we can have a 3 day sick out and purchasing strike. This is a powerful way we can match the political power of money. The powers that be can be made to change their positions if their profits are threatened.
• We can get our priorities in order: Truth, Justice, and then Peace. The current wars are based on lies. Truth can erode the underpinning of our wars. Wars are started to preserve privileges and cause inevitable injustices. If we end the war, we can then promote justice. There can be no enduring peace without justice. So when we have ended the wars, and promoted justice, we can then work effectively for peace. So we should work for Truth, Justice and Peace, in that order.
E mail me if you want to join an active nonviolent Truth Justice Peace movement. It must be organized from the bottom up. It is up to us.
November 5, 2007
Douglas R. Page dougpage2@earthlink.net
OUR CIVILIZATION WILL FALL BY 2030 UNLESS...
Jared Diamond, Professor of Geography at UCLA in his 2005 book, Collapse, studies civilizations in the past that seemed viable for hundreds of years and suddenly collapsed, and also some societies that adjusted to changed circumstances and survived. His main collapse examples are the Norse settlements in Greenland, the Southwest Mesa Verde Anasazi Indians, the Mayans, and Easter Islanders.
He looks at 5 causes: people causes (like cutting down all of the trees), climate changes, hostile neighbors, decreased support by friendly neighbors, and society’s response to the problems.
He finds that we at present have 12 problems to worry about, any one of which could bring us down. That means that even if we solve 11 of the 12, civilization is still doomed.
1. At an accelerating rate, we are destroying natural habitats such as forests, wet lands, coral reefs, and the ocean bottom.
2. Over-fishing. 2 Billion people on the planet, most of them poor, depend on fish
for their protein.
3. Loss of plant and animal species (which may be insignificant by themselves, like
earthworms, but which are vital for the survival of our soil and food supply)
4. Soil is eroding at between 10 and 40 times the rate at which soil is forming.
5. Peak oil, the exhaustion oil, gas and coal, or the fact that these sources may become prohibitively expensive to extract.
6. The increasing shortage of fresh water, and the depletion of major aquifers.
7. Limits on the planet’s photosynthetic capacity…meaning that photosynthesis works effectively using the sun’s energy in plant cells depends on local temperature and rainfall. We approach the limit by 2050, due to population pressure.
8. The pollution resulting from civilization and the industries civilization requires, from insecticides, toxic chemicals, mercury, and herbicides. (He does not even mention the apparent affect on our bee population)
9. The introduction of alien species that devastate the populations of native species…Australia’s rabbits, agricultural weeds, blights, water hyacinths that choke waterways, zebra mussels that choke power plants, and the lampreys that devastated the fisheries of the Great Lakes etc
10. Human activities that produce gases such as CO2, that create global warming, climate changes, and thus affect our food supply, our need for fuel to heat and cool ourselves.
11. The planet’s unchecked population growth.
12. The impact population growth has on the environment (depending on whether fuel is used for cooking and heating, whether people eat meat or are vegetarians, and whether or not the third world people are to be allowed to have our standard of living or whether we are going to cut ours.
Each of these 12 is a time bomb, with fuses of less that 50 years says Diamond. He devotes a whole chapter to what is like to live in LA and how the changes will soon clog that city.
Jared then refutes each of the things people say to convince themselves that things will turn out ok.
1. The environment must be balanced against keeping the economy going.
2. Technology (or science) will solve all of our problems.
3. If we exhaust one resource, we can always switch to some other resource meeting the same need.
4. There really is not a shortage of food in the world. The problem is distribution.
(The problem is we are getting most of it and we do not want to give it up)
5. Conditions have really been getting better the last few decades. (Not for the third world)
6. Gloom and doom predictions of the past have turned out to be wrong. (Not all of them.)
7. The planet’s population increase is leveling off. (Yes but not enough)
8. The population can grow infinitely because more people means more inventors and ultimately more wealth. (not to be taken seriously. By this projection, we would have 10 persons on every square yard of dry land in 774 years.)
9. We have no business telling poor people what they should be doing. (We are interconnected. What happens to them will soon happen to us.)
10. All these problems will occur after I die. (Maybe but what about your children?)
11. We can think and communicate, while the earlier failed peoples could not. (But we have our dominant capitalist ideology and serious denial, augmented by the bull horn of the corporatacracy.)
12. There is nothing I can do. It is all dominated and controlled by the corporatacracy.
Diamond on page 522 lists the two choices that those societies which adjusted and survived made while those that failed did not:
1. Long term planning
2. Willingness to reconsider and change core values
Diamond thinks that we can change.
Doug’s note to himself: Capitalists abhor long term planning. We voters can plan for the long term only if we really control the wealth and power of the capitalists. So, for us, our survival is as likely as the day a majority of us choose and demand socialism, or the day the cow jumps over the moon.
What about our willingness to reconsider and change core values? Do you think Wall Street, capitalists, and large corporations will give up their zeal for short term profit and their determination to “leave everything to the market”? Since the corporatocracy owns and controls the media, do you think they will persuade the rest of us voters to change? Given that media control, it does not make much difference what we voters think. Unfortunately, we are addicted to material goods, and to a large extent, gambling. Our delusion is that every man jack of us thinks that he has a chance of being rich some day. That delusion impels a majority of voters to oppose steeply progressive tax rates on the rich. They say: “I may be rich some day myself.”
He looks at 5 causes: people causes (like cutting down all of the trees), climate changes, hostile neighbors, decreased support by friendly neighbors, and society’s response to the problems.
He finds that we at present have 12 problems to worry about, any one of which could bring us down. That means that even if we solve 11 of the 12, civilization is still doomed.
1. At an accelerating rate, we are destroying natural habitats such as forests, wet lands, coral reefs, and the ocean bottom.
2. Over-fishing. 2 Billion people on the planet, most of them poor, depend on fish
for their protein.
3. Loss of plant and animal species (which may be insignificant by themselves, like
earthworms, but which are vital for the survival of our soil and food supply)
4. Soil is eroding at between 10 and 40 times the rate at which soil is forming.
5. Peak oil, the exhaustion oil, gas and coal, or the fact that these sources may become prohibitively expensive to extract.
6. The increasing shortage of fresh water, and the depletion of major aquifers.
7. Limits on the planet’s photosynthetic capacity…meaning that photosynthesis works effectively using the sun’s energy in plant cells depends on local temperature and rainfall. We approach the limit by 2050, due to population pressure.
8. The pollution resulting from civilization and the industries civilization requires, from insecticides, toxic chemicals, mercury, and herbicides. (He does not even mention the apparent affect on our bee population)
9. The introduction of alien species that devastate the populations of native species…Australia’s rabbits, agricultural weeds, blights, water hyacinths that choke waterways, zebra mussels that choke power plants, and the lampreys that devastated the fisheries of the Great Lakes etc
10. Human activities that produce gases such as CO2, that create global warming, climate changes, and thus affect our food supply, our need for fuel to heat and cool ourselves.
11. The planet’s unchecked population growth.
12. The impact population growth has on the environment (depending on whether fuel is used for cooking and heating, whether people eat meat or are vegetarians, and whether or not the third world people are to be allowed to have our standard of living or whether we are going to cut ours.
Each of these 12 is a time bomb, with fuses of less that 50 years says Diamond. He devotes a whole chapter to what is like to live in LA and how the changes will soon clog that city.
Jared then refutes each of the things people say to convince themselves that things will turn out ok.
1. The environment must be balanced against keeping the economy going.
2. Technology (or science) will solve all of our problems.
3. If we exhaust one resource, we can always switch to some other resource meeting the same need.
4. There really is not a shortage of food in the world. The problem is distribution.
(The problem is we are getting most of it and we do not want to give it up)
5. Conditions have really been getting better the last few decades. (Not for the third world)
6. Gloom and doom predictions of the past have turned out to be wrong. (Not all of them.)
7. The planet’s population increase is leveling off. (Yes but not enough)
8. The population can grow infinitely because more people means more inventors and ultimately more wealth. (not to be taken seriously. By this projection, we would have 10 persons on every square yard of dry land in 774 years.)
9. We have no business telling poor people what they should be doing. (We are interconnected. What happens to them will soon happen to us.)
10. All these problems will occur after I die. (Maybe but what about your children?)
11. We can think and communicate, while the earlier failed peoples could not. (But we have our dominant capitalist ideology and serious denial, augmented by the bull horn of the corporatacracy.)
12. There is nothing I can do. It is all dominated and controlled by the corporatacracy.
Diamond on page 522 lists the two choices that those societies which adjusted and survived made while those that failed did not:
1. Long term planning
2. Willingness to reconsider and change core values
Diamond thinks that we can change.
Doug’s note to himself: Capitalists abhor long term planning. We voters can plan for the long term only if we really control the wealth and power of the capitalists. So, for us, our survival is as likely as the day a majority of us choose and demand socialism, or the day the cow jumps over the moon.
What about our willingness to reconsider and change core values? Do you think Wall Street, capitalists, and large corporations will give up their zeal for short term profit and their determination to “leave everything to the market”? Since the corporatocracy owns and controls the media, do you think they will persuade the rest of us voters to change? Given that media control, it does not make much difference what we voters think. Unfortunately, we are addicted to material goods, and to a large extent, gambling. Our delusion is that every man jack of us thinks that he has a chance of being rich some day. That delusion impels a majority of voters to oppose steeply progressive tax rates on the rich. They say: “I may be rich some day myself.”
Thursday, November 01, 2007
BARACK OBAMA NEEDS TO SAY:
BARACK OBAMA’S INAUGURAL SPEECH
January 20, 2009
President Bush, Mr. Chief Justice, my friends:
This is a day of national consecration and I am certain that my fellow Americans expect that I will speak the truth, the whole truth frankly and boldly. We shall not shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country and in the world today.
We are a nation divided. Nearly one half the voters chose another person as President. They would have a President who continued acts of preventive war, torture, rendition, wire tapping, and secret arrest that violate the Constitution and the ideals of this great nation that we wish to live in. Our religious traditions compel that we recognize that those people who disagree with us are also children of God and equal in the eyes of God with us. So like Lincoln, we embrace our adversaries offering malice toward none, and charity for all. We believe that they acted sincerely although mistakenly, based upon fears that we all share.
This great nation will endure as it has endured, will revive, and will sustainably prosper.
This is no time for partisanship or polarization. It is a time for us to unite and to solve the critical problems that lie just ahead.
The truth is that we all face not one but three coinciding major crises that affect us along with every one else on this planet. The three crises are: Global Warming, Peak Oil, and Global Financial Meltdown. Any one of these crises could cause an end to civilization and democracy. Each has a triggering effect on the other two. These three crises present us with a challenge of whether or not we have evolved enough, and whether we are wise enough to deal with them. We must deal with them even though we are engaged in painful and expensive wars abroad.
I am firmly convinced that we as a people and our democratic institutions can face and deal with these problems creatively and constructively. It will require the very best that is in us. We shall have to accept new thoughts. We shall all have to participate in some form of national service. We shall have to apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit. We shall have to deal with truth and reality and not fantasy. Some may have to sacrifice. Some may have to pay more taxes than they would like. We must build on the instinct “not to foul our nest,” that we all share regarding our fragile planet home. We must discuss and debate the solutions, but we must then quickly decide and we must quickly act.
Some immediate action to unleash our creative spirits and energies is imperative:
• We must effectively eradicate the tyranny of money power that now weakens our democracy of, by, and for the people with campaign contributions and lobbying.
• We must abolish the Senate’s selfish unconstitutional parliamentary device, Senate Rule XXII that allows a minority of Senators to thwart majority will, commonly known as the filibuster. The Senate, like the House of Representatives shall conduct its business as the Constitution compels and Thomas Jefferson dictated in the first Senate Rules, by rule of a simple majority
• We must establish open and unbiased communication media among us so that each of us can be fully informed voting citizens to make the decisions that are now compelled by events
If we do not eradicate each of these impediments to a government of majority rule of, by, and for the people, we shall remain immobilized and we shall remain polarized.
Like Franklin Roosevelt in 1933, must deal with our own fear. Some of our fear is a justifiable reaction to actual events, and some of our fear has been intentionally implanted. We must as a people decide which of our fears are real, and what their causes are. We must then make calm wise choices about how to deal with our fear. Much of our fear has been intentionally created and augmented by the lies surrounding 9/11 and the lies that lead to our Wars, and the jingoism and patriotism that accompany Wars when our sons and daughters are in harms way. We shall have to unravel all of those lies and deal at long last with truth and reality, as we struggle together to bring all of our troops safely home.
For the past many years, we have allowed our fear to blind us to the real causes and motivations of our enemies. We have shot from the hip without thinking, without planning and without real thought. We have reacted from the most primitive of our own reactions. We have not used our analytical processes and our wisdom in dealing either with our enemies or the fear that we have of our enemies.
This unthinking primitive reaction to our enemies has lead us into disaster. It has not made us safer. It has in no way lessened the power of our enemies. We have learned that military might is ineffective against insurgencies. We have learned that use of military power against insurgencies leads to the destruction of self governing democracy here at home. The enemies of democracy here at home as well as the enemies abroad are now vastly more powerful than they were prior to 9/11, despite our military might.
I shall lead this nation in a new approach that is not based solely on our military might, but makes use also of the wisdom of mankind based on faith, hope, and charity, and the Golden Rule. We as a people must try doing to others as we would have them do to us. We must re-establish a good neighbor policy with other peoples and other nations, rather than a policy that seeks domination, exploitation and control of other peoples and their resources. We shall care for each other here at home and we shall care for others abroad. We shall encourage them to care for us and we shall strive to deserve that caring.
I shall seek out our enemies. I shall talk to them. I shall ask them “What is wrong? Why are you angry? What can we do that would make it better for you?” What sort of help would you like from us?”
I shall use our national wealth and our power as generously as we can, to rebuild, to repair, and to restore economies and standards of peoples living elsewhere on this planet. I believe in the wisdom that I conquer my enemy when I make him my friend.
I believe that we are each created in the image of God and equally loved by God. We are in fact interdependent upon each other. As a nation, I propose that we seek to make friends rather than seeking to create enemies.
Some in official power in the recent past are suspected of committing war crimes, treason, crimes of obstruction of justice, perjury and other high crimes and misdemeanors. These suspected wrongdoers are children of God, but like criminals everywhere, they must be brought to Justice. We must judge them on the basis of their unconstitutional acts and we must hold them accountable in the eyes of the law. I shall create a Truth and Reconciliation Commission where those we charge with obstruction of justice, perjury, and high crimes and misdemeanors may publicly purge themselves, and enlighten us all as to needed reforms, policies and laws, and thereby become eligible for a pardon. Those who refuse to participate in the Truth and Reconciliation process must face prosecution before US Courts and Courts Abroad. I shall allow no claim of immunity on behalf of such wrongdoers.
I do hereby order all persons within my authority as President and as Commander in Chief including the CIA, the FBI, the Homeland Security Agency, and all intelligence agencies to safeguard, maintain, and make immediately available to the public all information and evidence concerning 9/11, the plane crashes, and the destruction of the World Trade Center.
I do hereby make an Executive Order repealing each Executive Order that purports to legitimize wire tapping, torture, rendition, secret arrest, and secret detention. I have no problem defining “torture.” It is any oppressive acts toward captured personnel that we would oppose and reject if applied by our enemies to our own captured sons and daughters.
I hereby make an order restoring the Writ of Habeas Corpus to its full standing under our Constitution, so that the legality of any arrest and any detention by U.S. personnel of a human being anywhere can be heard and decided in our federal courts.
For those who have lost their jobs, who are at risk of losing their jobs, for those who are working at jobs beneath their creative potential, hear this:
We honor and we shall maintain an active government, a government that cares for all of us, a government that will protect us from the greed of economic royalists, and maintain equal opportunity for all. We shall maintain a government of, by, and for the people with equal justice and caring for all.
In this dedication of our nation we humbly ask the blessing of God. May God protect each and every one of us. May God guide us in the days to come.
January 20, 2009
President Bush, Mr. Chief Justice, my friends:
This is a day of national consecration and I am certain that my fellow Americans expect that I will speak the truth, the whole truth frankly and boldly. We shall not shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country and in the world today.
We are a nation divided. Nearly one half the voters chose another person as President. They would have a President who continued acts of preventive war, torture, rendition, wire tapping, and secret arrest that violate the Constitution and the ideals of this great nation that we wish to live in. Our religious traditions compel that we recognize that those people who disagree with us are also children of God and equal in the eyes of God with us. So like Lincoln, we embrace our adversaries offering malice toward none, and charity for all. We believe that they acted sincerely although mistakenly, based upon fears that we all share.
This great nation will endure as it has endured, will revive, and will sustainably prosper.
This is no time for partisanship or polarization. It is a time for us to unite and to solve the critical problems that lie just ahead.
The truth is that we all face not one but three coinciding major crises that affect us along with every one else on this planet. The three crises are: Global Warming, Peak Oil, and Global Financial Meltdown. Any one of these crises could cause an end to civilization and democracy. Each has a triggering effect on the other two. These three crises present us with a challenge of whether or not we have evolved enough, and whether we are wise enough to deal with them. We must deal with them even though we are engaged in painful and expensive wars abroad.
I am firmly convinced that we as a people and our democratic institutions can face and deal with these problems creatively and constructively. It will require the very best that is in us. We shall have to accept new thoughts. We shall all have to participate in some form of national service. We shall have to apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit. We shall have to deal with truth and reality and not fantasy. Some may have to sacrifice. Some may have to pay more taxes than they would like. We must build on the instinct “not to foul our nest,” that we all share regarding our fragile planet home. We must discuss and debate the solutions, but we must then quickly decide and we must quickly act.
Some immediate action to unleash our creative spirits and energies is imperative:
• We must effectively eradicate the tyranny of money power that now weakens our democracy of, by, and for the people with campaign contributions and lobbying.
• We must abolish the Senate’s selfish unconstitutional parliamentary device, Senate Rule XXII that allows a minority of Senators to thwart majority will, commonly known as the filibuster. The Senate, like the House of Representatives shall conduct its business as the Constitution compels and Thomas Jefferson dictated in the first Senate Rules, by rule of a simple majority
• We must establish open and unbiased communication media among us so that each of us can be fully informed voting citizens to make the decisions that are now compelled by events
If we do not eradicate each of these impediments to a government of majority rule of, by, and for the people, we shall remain immobilized and we shall remain polarized.
Like Franklin Roosevelt in 1933, must deal with our own fear. Some of our fear is a justifiable reaction to actual events, and some of our fear has been intentionally implanted. We must as a people decide which of our fears are real, and what their causes are. We must then make calm wise choices about how to deal with our fear. Much of our fear has been intentionally created and augmented by the lies surrounding 9/11 and the lies that lead to our Wars, and the jingoism and patriotism that accompany Wars when our sons and daughters are in harms way. We shall have to unravel all of those lies and deal at long last with truth and reality, as we struggle together to bring all of our troops safely home.
For the past many years, we have allowed our fear to blind us to the real causes and motivations of our enemies. We have shot from the hip without thinking, without planning and without real thought. We have reacted from the most primitive of our own reactions. We have not used our analytical processes and our wisdom in dealing either with our enemies or the fear that we have of our enemies.
This unthinking primitive reaction to our enemies has lead us into disaster. It has not made us safer. It has in no way lessened the power of our enemies. We have learned that military might is ineffective against insurgencies. We have learned that use of military power against insurgencies leads to the destruction of self governing democracy here at home. The enemies of democracy here at home as well as the enemies abroad are now vastly more powerful than they were prior to 9/11, despite our military might.
I shall lead this nation in a new approach that is not based solely on our military might, but makes use also of the wisdom of mankind based on faith, hope, and charity, and the Golden Rule. We as a people must try doing to others as we would have them do to us. We must re-establish a good neighbor policy with other peoples and other nations, rather than a policy that seeks domination, exploitation and control of other peoples and their resources. We shall care for each other here at home and we shall care for others abroad. We shall encourage them to care for us and we shall strive to deserve that caring.
I shall seek out our enemies. I shall talk to them. I shall ask them “What is wrong? Why are you angry? What can we do that would make it better for you?” What sort of help would you like from us?”
I shall use our national wealth and our power as generously as we can, to rebuild, to repair, and to restore economies and standards of peoples living elsewhere on this planet. I believe in the wisdom that I conquer my enemy when I make him my friend.
I believe that we are each created in the image of God and equally loved by God. We are in fact interdependent upon each other. As a nation, I propose that we seek to make friends rather than seeking to create enemies.
Some in official power in the recent past are suspected of committing war crimes, treason, crimes of obstruction of justice, perjury and other high crimes and misdemeanors. These suspected wrongdoers are children of God, but like criminals everywhere, they must be brought to Justice. We must judge them on the basis of their unconstitutional acts and we must hold them accountable in the eyes of the law. I shall create a Truth and Reconciliation Commission where those we charge with obstruction of justice, perjury, and high crimes and misdemeanors may publicly purge themselves, and enlighten us all as to needed reforms, policies and laws, and thereby become eligible for a pardon. Those who refuse to participate in the Truth and Reconciliation process must face prosecution before US Courts and Courts Abroad. I shall allow no claim of immunity on behalf of such wrongdoers.
I do hereby order all persons within my authority as President and as Commander in Chief including the CIA, the FBI, the Homeland Security Agency, and all intelligence agencies to safeguard, maintain, and make immediately available to the public all information and evidence concerning 9/11, the plane crashes, and the destruction of the World Trade Center.
I do hereby make an Executive Order repealing each Executive Order that purports to legitimize wire tapping, torture, rendition, secret arrest, and secret detention. I have no problem defining “torture.” It is any oppressive acts toward captured personnel that we would oppose and reject if applied by our enemies to our own captured sons and daughters.
I hereby make an order restoring the Writ of Habeas Corpus to its full standing under our Constitution, so that the legality of any arrest and any detention by U.S. personnel of a human being anywhere can be heard and decided in our federal courts.
For those who have lost their jobs, who are at risk of losing their jobs, for those who are working at jobs beneath their creative potential, hear this:
We honor and we shall maintain an active government, a government that cares for all of us, a government that will protect us from the greed of economic royalists, and maintain equal opportunity for all. We shall maintain a government of, by, and for the people with equal justice and caring for all.
In this dedication of our nation we humbly ask the blessing of God. May God protect each and every one of us. May God guide us in the days to come.
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