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First, my thanks to Alice for the compliment; though I am mostly a social-documentary photographer, I have tried for years to capture that "dark and dreadful loveliness" of Pacific Northwest autumn light, and it seems I have finally done so. Thanks again; were there some way to do it, I would love to discuss photography in much greater depth, as I also taught the subject as a part-time instructor at a couple of colleges.
Next, apropos language, anyone troubled by the politically motivated distortion of English should read an essay by George Orwell entitled "Politics and the English Language." His piece is part of a book in my present-day library, the volume entitled George Orwell/A Collection of Essays, (Harcourt, Inc.: 1981). I had an earlier edition with a 1953 copyright -- a gift from a girlfriend when I was 19 years old -- but like everything else then in my library (and all my life's work as well), it was destroyed by a fire in 1983, the circumstances of which suggest it was almost certainly government arson. But that is another story for another time. Here from Orwell is the essay's most critical paragraph:
"(English) becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier to have foolish thoughts. The point is the process is reversible. Modern English, especially written English, is full of bad habits which spread by imitation and which can be avoided if one is willing to take the necessary trouble. If one gets rid of these habits, one can think more clearly, and to think clearly is a necessary first step towards political regeneration: so that the fight against bad English is not frivolous and is not the exclusive concern of professional writers." (Emphasis added, with my apology for any errors that might have crept into my retyping of the text. I am not Nurd enough to figure out how copy quotes into this particular website, and after innumerable failed attempts to do so, I must therefore rely on my [very marginal] stenographic skills.) In any case the essay is available on-line at http://georgeorwellnovels.com/essays/politics-and-the-english-language/
While I have seemingly always been aware of the problem Orwell decries -- I remember my father bristling at Madison Avenue's post-war twisting of "savings" into a synonym for "spending" and the deliberate confusion of the terms "house" and "home" so the latter became something one buys from a real-estate huckster -- for me the most atrocious warping of meaning and wanton destruction of our collective ability to talk politics was the decision to make red the color of Ayn Rand fascism. Hence "red states," "red-state voters," etc. ad nauseam, which makes it impossible for someone of my generation to discuss, for example, the "Red Scare" without having to first explain that the allegedly scary Reds were not fascists but were in fact their political, socioeconomic and humanitarian opposites. By the time the prerequisite lesson in semantics is concluded, the abbreviated attention span imposed on us by Moron Nation and all its processes of moronation guarantees the listeners' minds are all focused elsewhere, typically on the monkey-house antics of Britney Spears, Brad Pitt or someone else in the Hollywood zoo. As a result, where once I could proudly and defiantly describe myself as "a real Red," now if I use that term at all with anyone younger than probably 65, it is assumed I am labeling myself an unreconstructed Nazi. And that of course is only one glaring example. Another, equally glaring, is "demilitarized zone," which means its antithesis. And the terms applied to the abortion fight are egregiously deceptive. The misogynists grabbed "pro-life," when in fact their hatred of women proves them to be the opposite, while defenders of female freedom and therefore ultimately of human freedom were stuck with "pro choice," which sounds like nothing more than the egotistical condition of a consumer in a seductive marketplace. Obviously I could go on at much greater length, but the point is that Mr. Hartmann's use of "royalist" as a synonym for "capitalist" falls into the same category, especially in the context of protecting the most deliberately (and therefore maliciously) dishonest president in U.S. history.
As to the alleged "failures" of socialism, this too is partly the fault of deliberate moronation into the abysmal, irremediable and therefore worst-on-the-planet ignorance that now characterizes the USian homeland. By just such deliberately induced confusion as is vindictively created by the labeling of rabid fascists and JesuNazis as "red," the meaning of "socialist" is lost to public consciousness, probably forever. This is not the least because the meaning of the associated descriptive adjectives, for example "humanitarian," has been reduced to meaninglessness in the miasma of self-obsessed moral imbecility that has become the USian national mindset.
But there are also other factors at work, notably the historical circumstances of the two great nations in which socialism briefly bloomed into seemingly successful revolutions. These are of course Imperial Russia and Koumintang or post-Quin Dynasty China, neither of which ever in their individual histories had known a single day of anything remotely resembling democracy. Thus what might aptly be described as the deadly undertow of Russian history -- the legacy of its geopolitical circumstances (i.e., its position and therefore function in the ancient and ongoing conflict between African, Asian and European cultures) -- combined with the tsunami of personal greed deliberately evoked by post-World-War-II capitalist mass media to destroy what was undoubtedly our species' last chance to evolve the economic democracy that is the vital prerequisite to any sort of humanitarian society. In many respects, China's circumstances were eerily similar: a vast population that had never known anything beyind slavery, an unspeakably cruel imperial government (in comparison to which, Tsardom was kindness personified), and a failing empire that had been picked to bones by European and USian colonialism. The Taoist/Confucian tradition of enlightened leadership -- "thus the ruler...furthers and regulates the gifts of heaven and earth, and so aids the people" (I Ching, 11th Hexagram, T'ai / Peace) -- was murdered by the British in the Opium Wars, much as the spirit of the USian Counterculture was slain a century later by government-fostered drug addiction, so that by the time of Mao Ze Dong, revolution in China meant little more than a change in the band of thieves that eternally preys upon the people. The utter co-optation of the Chinese revolution by its leadership -- opportunistic whores who fatten their own pockets by shamelessly collaborating with Wall Street -- tells us that socialism in China never had even the chance it had in the Soviet Union. Ultimately Leon Trotsky was prophetically correct when he argued that without global revolution (and therefore global Marxism), a revolution in one or two nations would inevitably be overthrown by capitalism.
(There is of course an alternative analysis of China's behavior -- that its present rulers have taken the works of Sun Tzu to heart and are turning the great strengths of capitalism into its greatest weaknesses in preparation for some future and undoubtedly militaristic demonstration The East Is (truly) Red (and never was anything else). But that strikes me as nothing more than wishful thinking, the political equivalent of the Christian yearning for the Second Coming or the pagan yearning for the restoration of the apex of human civilization symbolized by Glorious Knossos -- the capital of the thousand-year protocommunist matriarchy that seems to have traded, mostly peacefully, with all the peoples of the world.)
Had Communism been tried in the United States -- and during the 1930s it very nearly was, as the real purpose of the New Deal was stopping the incipient revolution and the civil war that surely would have followed it -- the U.S. Constitution would have enabled socialism to be tested fairly: that is, amongst a people already conditioned to democratic processes. Indeed it is arguable the U.S. Constitution is the best constitution ever written in terms of how it might guide and facilitate Communist governance. Though I cannot prove it, I believe this is the very reason the USian Ruling Class was (and remains) so abjectly terrified of anything that even approaches socialism -- or more specifically the humanitarianism that is the core socialist purpose: from each in accordance with ability, to each in accordance with need. Under the U.S. Constitution, it would undoubtedly have worked -- or at least have had humanity's best chance to do so.
Apropos the cooperative movement, its eventual defeat is assured merely by the fact it is still capitalism, which to say it is still infinite greed elevated to (or rationalized as) maximum virtue. Moreover, the co-op movement can function only in a capitalist society, which itself seals its doom. The minute it becomes a genuine threat to the Ruling Class, it will be suppressed. The challenge that faces us -- the gauntlet flung at our feet by Mother Nature in retaliation for five thousand years of patriarchal atrocities -- is not just to learn to live with less, but to learn to live together without stealing from one another. To teach that lesson to people whose greed and selfishness and bigotry is genuinely psychopathic -- and that truly is the dominant present-day human mindset -- will require the application of considerable force. And though it flies in the face of all my libertarian instincts, it seems to me it is only Marxism -- or more likely some as-yet unwritten hybrid of Marxism and ecofeminism -- that is capable of offering the requisite guidance and discipline necessary to subdue a world population gone mad with trinket materialism and ecocidal criminality.
LB
Marc- Thank you so much for that link to all that wonderful Oakland graffiti! Makes me feel some pride in my old home town. The artwork is brilliant. It is really humbling to behold all the amazing talent lurking in the shadows of anonymity. - AIW
"Chuckle", I concur with all the above.
Someone called Thom today and tossed in a new name for the K Street Lobbyists. I can't remember what it was, but they mentioned the term Fascism as part of it. This is right on target as to the kind of government these lobbyists foment for the enrichment of a few.
"The first truth is that liberty of a Democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power where it becomes stronger than the Democractic State itself. That in essence, is Fascism....ownership of government by an individual, by a group,or by any other controlling power.".....Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1938 message to congress.
Lobbyists are not unlike those who would sell their fellow man into slavery just to make a quick and easy buck. In fact they already have sold American workers into wage slavery by pushing anti -union and free trade legislation.
"If we could only succeed in having the government hold fortunes down to a few million dollars to any one man, then there would be some money remaining to run the country and for the people. When I proposed such a thing, it looked like it would set the woods on fire against me." .......Huey Long, Share Our Wealth Society, constituent letter, (1933)
A cap on all fortunes is the answer. Ending massive accumulation of wealth at some, yet to be defined amount, would help facilitate the restoration of representative government.....and render the Citizens United Ruling meaningless!
Fascism: Centralized control by a few billionaires of private enterprise........Exxon, Walmart, Banksters, etc.! Other defining qualities include, repression of all opposition/competition..... again, big oil, Walmart, Banksters, etc. Also stringent socioeconomic controls and centralization under a dictator. In the United States that dictator is big money and the few who control our government with it.
Kend ~ That sounds wonderful. If they perfect carbon capture technology that will be a big help to clean the air after we switch over from oil to HEMP. Every little bit helps. Kudos for Canada!
http://thehempsolution.blogspot.com/
DAnne, thanks that is interesting. Who knew based right here in my home town. Surrounded by oil company towers. I am not sure that they made it though. I can find anything recent about them. I will keep looking I love it when people take chances like this and try something new.
Johnnie, I hate to be the guy who brings you the bad news but Canada isnt any different, the university of Calgary has spent over 2 billion dollars on carbon capture research. They are trying to find a way to take it out of the stack and putting it back in the ground.
The Canadian government brings in over 200 million dollars a day in oil and gas royalties.
Marc, thank you for reminding us - yet again - of what has to come first: Campaign Finance Reform and Move to Amend. Without those things resolved, nothing else is possible. - Alice I.W.
Loren -- I was mistaken I was reading your #55 not #56 which is Alice's short reply. I think the 2010 election results were due to people who would have voted for democrats staying home and not voting. I assume their reasoning for staying home was along the lines you describe; that is, there is not much difference between the parties. As a matter of "fact", I remember Thom describing on election day of 2010 how much the democrats acted like republicans. I say look at the vote on card check (Employee Free Choice Act). If there had been one more democratic senator, card check would have passed. The two parties are very different.
Maybe that's because Canada doesn't have a bunch of greedy American corporate meglomaniacs that are flunk-outs in "economics 101." When will they learn that nothing can be burned without causing pollution? They need to invest in clean power and stop nursing from the tit of oil and coal money. A lot of the rest of us have had to change careers many times in order to survive the tital waves of change, now it's their time to change careers. The exploitation of the planet must stop, we can't continue to endanger Earth.
Talk about an environmental revolution. Check this out Kend. Canada just rolled out the world's first environmentally designed car made almost exclusively out of HEMP. Once again the progressive Canadians lead the way. Introducing the Motive Kestrel:
http://www.autotrader.com/research/article/alt-fuel/73389/the-kestrel-ev--that-canadian-car-made-of-hemp--is-rolled-out.jsp
https://www.google.com/search?q=Kestrel+car&rlz=1C1GGGE_enUS445&espv=210&es_sm=122&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=KBCMUoWLIKiEiALO04DwCw&ved=0CC4QsAQ&biw=1600&bih=784
AIW, Loren, Dan (I am now at #56 and reading)- When I read your comments about the ACA, you remind me of Ted Kennedy in the 60's. He probably agreed with everything you said and did until his death. He fougt hard and kept an earlier vesion of the ACA from becoming law. However, he was strong supporter of Obama's ACA. I think he realized the power of the 1% and decided we have to take whatever whacks we can at them. I think if Barack had not appeared as a betrayer to you nothing would have come to fruition.
I would add that anyone who earns $ through their own effort like artists, athletes, writers etc should be allowed to earn all they can while they can as their skills are limited by the market place which limits their earnings.
CEO's, politicians and other executives can give themselves raises irregardless of how well they perform so their "earnings" should be limited to a % of what their employees are paid, low wage employees means less pay for the CEO. That might incourage CEO's to pay their employees better.
Since corporations aren't "human" they should get no tax $, benifits or deductions. If a corporation doesn't like these rules, it should present itself to a court and since a corporation isn't a "person" no one could show up.
We also must recind all those horrible trade policies that the democrats shafted us with, raise tariffs, raise taxes on "american" corporations who have moved our jobs to slave labor counties like the dictatorship of communist China.
We must make it more expensive to move jobs overseas by using punishing taxes & tariffs.
1) Carbon needs to safely remain below ground.
2) Carbon needs to be removed from the atmosphere.
As bad as this all sounds I say we all ignore it and focus our attention on Campaign Finance Reform and Move to Amend. Why? Because this issue, as well as all the other environmental, economic, and political issues that we face as a result of corporate profits out of control, is more a symptom of the real problem than anything we can actually do anything about before Campaign Finance Reform and Move to Amend is passed. That doesn't discount protesting, signing petitions and writing letters to our representative though. That is at best the least we can do. When we resolve our big money problems, everything else that troubles us should fall into place.
Now is the time for some of these states to offer incentives for people to build storm cellars. If we can't stop these storms (and by now I doubt we can), we can at least take measures to keep people safer.
akunard ~ With all due respect, the testimony I believe in a case like this one is the one written through actions under the influence of Karma. Experience and observation have taught me that the spirit--call it what you will--Karma, a guilty conscious, the law of entropy, etc--tends to protect the innocent and flush out the guilty. I knew if Mr. Z was really guilty it would only be a matter of time till Karma forced that hand. I openly stated that just one day before all this happened yesterday on last Friday's blog right here. Go look it up for yourself.
http://www.thomhartmann.com/blog/2013/11/peak-behind-tpp-curtain
(See post #49 dated Sunday, 11-17-2013) I stand by that statement about Karma!
Look at O.J. Consider what he was compelled to do by Karma after his trials. First, he writes a book called, "If I Did It." For lack of a better title, a written confession to the murder--complete with a chapter full of all the grizzly details. Even the title, minus the "If" clearly states, "...I Did It." Then, he goes on a bing to steal back his own property at gunpoint, further displaying his willingness to kill and a complete lack of respect for the justice system. It just goes to show that even the best lawyer money can buy can't save you from the court of Karma.
The same is true here with Mr. Z. Stress or maybe a bad day? Oh, I'm sure he's under undue stress alright. The undue stress of unresolved Karma. Why else would he point a loaded shotgun at a woman's face, destroy her table, and barricaded himself in her house unless there were "unresolved issues." You don't have to be Sigmund Freud or the Dalai Lama to see that this man has unresolved deep psychological and spiritual issues. What do you think could lead to such a confrontation, a disagreement on what to watch on TV? Whatever strange violent tendencies he may have always had have been put on steroids by Karma because, as it would appear, the man is guilty as charged. I will be the first to defend a man against racist allegations and incomplete evidence; however, I would be a fool to discount the display of bad Karma Mr. Z has provided to the world since the trial. You suggest that I consider the man a victim of circumstances and a innocent reacting badly to undue stress caused by the unintended consequences of his reasonable actions? Sorry, I don't buy it. Mr. Z belongs behind bars. Perhaps there he can find peace.
akunard ~ Mr. Z asked for that stress. He went out and bought a gun, carried it with him, and then--against repeated police orders--got out of his car and went looking for trouble. How does that define Mr. Z as a "simple man?" He was not placed under any stress by anyone. Are you suggesting that it is wrong for society to place charges against a man for killing another man in suspicious circumstances? Is this assertion because Mr. M was black? Even if Mr. Z acted purely in self defense when he killed Trayvon, police do the same thing everyday. Are you suggesting that it is perfectly understandable for an off duty policeman who had a bad day to point a loaded shotgun in his wifes face to blow off some stress?
akunard ~ Now that takes the cake. Aliceinwonderland was so right. You should have quite while you were behind. LOL!! Are you suggesting now that the only way we can be safe in our own homes is by packing heat and letting everyone else think that they will be shot if they rob us? Is that really the way you think? You are only safe because you have a gun? People don't readily attack you because they think you might kill them? Really? REALLY? Can you say PARANOID!
You and Mr. Z are two peas in a pod--or should I say two nuts in a nutshell.
"Akunard"- Gee whiz, I find it so touching how sympathetic you are to a racist-misogynist thug like Zimmerman. You don't seem to object to him beating up women or shooting black kids. Yet when Mr. Z pays the consequences for this kind of behavior, you're whining about him getting "put under stress that a few on this planet could understand or withstand". I guess you think he should be left alone to batter and kill more people, without having his little life ruined. Women and blacks are just second-class citizens anyway; their lives are dispensible, so who cares? Right, "akunard"? But don't worry, I won't be calling you any names. I'll just let your dumb-ass posts speak for themselves. - Aliceinwonderland
Well, you reap what you sow and so does Zimmerman. Presuming you're right and he just can't handle being a pariah the fact remains ("fact", what you falsley claim to love) his history of domestic violence goes back to 2005 so I'll make something up like you did. I say he's showing his true colors under pressure.
Anyway, people come under worse pressure than he is under but you're MIGHTY sympathetic to him. Are you a fellow racist or did the big business PR firm you work for just tell you to jump in his corner - or, to muddy the water or divert the conversation from climate change?
akunard ~ Actually, children usually resort to name calling first without regard to anything else; and, never even care about facts. A lot like you it would seem. Case in point, comparing your opponents to "children" can also be referred to as name calling. Also, the statement...
...is not only completely devoid of facts itself; but, is full of presumptuous innuendos. As far as I am concerned if the FBI, NSA or CIA want to violate Mr. Z's rights to privacy the only thing I would accuse them of is doing their job. The man's history is one of violence and he may have committed a heinous act of cold blooded murder. Do you suggest they wait for the attack on his next victim to keep an eye on him?
Now that most here have spent a lot of time and emotion putting words in my mouth, calling me names (hoping I would reply in kind) and placing labels on my back, I will now explain what you are incapable of understanding.
Zimmerman has been put under stress that few on this planet could understand or withstand. It is understandable that a simple man would break and embark on a path of self destruction.
To be true to your cause place a sign on the front door of your home:
I DIAL 911 BECAUSE I WOULD NEVER SHOOT ONE OF MY FELLOW MEN!
Loren Bliss ~ No problem. Please take your time, sir. My schedule till Friday is quite full too and I realize these topics can be somewhat thought provoking. So please take as long as you like. I've bookmarked this thread and will periodically check back. Please forgive me if you respond before I return. Rest assured I am looking forward to your assessment--especially of the work of Dr. Batra. Be patient and I too will respond in kind. Till then, take care.
Aliceinwonderland ~ Thanks for that assessment of Capitalism and Socialism. I must admit that we do share the same valuation of the Commons. Thanks again! Your summation of Capitalism graphically is also quite remarkable.
In recent years Oakland has exploded in wonderful officially sanctioned graffiti works of art. In fact, if you google "Graffiti in O..." the first thing that pops up is "Images for Graffiti in Oakland."
https://www.google.com/search?q=graffiti+in+oakland&rlz=1C1GGGE_enUS445&espv=210&es_sm=122&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=8cWLUq2pAeiyigLp8IHwBw&ved=0CC4QsAQ&biw=1600&bih=784
Stangely, this database doesn't even show some of my favorate works. I believe on the corner of 84th and MacArthur is a beautiful piece dedicated to some youth who were gunned down for no reason in the vicinity. Two blocks north on the side of Jim's liquor store is another beautiful mural dedicated to the teachers at Castlemont High. Near the lake on the side of a concrete garbage can is a piece that blends into that garbage can making it look like a person. In the estuary by the airport is a large concrete rock that is painted to look like a slice of watermelon. Under the freeway in the temescal area on the pillars of the freeway are two giraffes towering over the people at the bus stop. On Foothill and 23rd are a series of works. One is on the side of a building by a bus stop depicting native Americans in traditional clothing performing a dance amongst people of all races in the backgrounds. On the wall of the small grocery store across the street is a picture of Native American Warrior silhouettes done by the children at the head start center down the street with slogans written in them about how to funnel the warrior spirit in positive ways. Oakland is city that is very underrated for its cultural beauty and diversity. It is also very underrated for the creative and artistic treasure of its inhabitants.
Someone like you or Loren would have a field day trying to capture all the beauty that is Oakland. Long have I contemplated a photographic project of either a compilation of graffiti in Oakland, or a compilation of venues of worship. Oakland is also known for all the churches that exist on almost on every corner in the low income neighborhoods. Some are very simple and you might miss them easily. Some are converted theatres, liquor stores, grocery stores, and houses, yet all retain that essential spiritual vitality that is present in all aspects of Oakland. Both ideas would make impressive and provocative coffee table books.
https://www.google.com/search?q=churches+in+oakland+ca&rlz=1C1GGGE_enUS445&espv=210&es_sm=122&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=bMuLUtqZOcn8iwKehYDIAg&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1600&bih=784
Note: These google images don't do justice to the reality of Oakland, CA.
Zimmerman is a pariah to decent people but a hero to racists and the NRA which, unfortunately, in this country, is A LOT of people.