Powerless

Permit me a little rant, my dear readers.

It’s hard to read so many statuses, see so many pictures, read so many articles about the suffering in Palestine, and feel helpless to change it. It’s hard to know that I have the loftiest dreams of changing the world, but at the moment am just trying to keep my personal life together, my academic life intact. It’s hard seeing the great injustices of the world, of seeing one big system of hate, racism and exploitation that kills babies and ruins families while I am powerless to do anything about it. Indeed, it seems that our societies have raised us to be silent against the evils of the world. You’re  a nerd if you care about the plight of the Palestinians, if you’re aware of the horror that was inflicted upon the Iraqis, Libyans, Afghans, Chileans, Philippines, Korea or any other country touched by the ravages of capitalist imperialism. It’s hard to sit back and ignore the cries of the oppressed, at the risk in our societies of being laughed at, scorned and shunned. It’s difficult to have a conscience, to have a sense of right and wrong, in a world that seems to be floundering without a moral or logical compass. It’s hard to know that millions of people work long hours for starvation wages at Walmart so that the Walton family can have more money than they could ever ever hope to spend. It’s had to know that America is paying for the bombs that are dropping on Palestine right now, and seeing the face of the father, holding his 11 month old son with a look of pain and agony I never wish to know on his face. It’s hard to know that the US is supporting the terrorists in Syria, and condemns the government of Syria for defending itself against terrorists who have torn the country apart, all the while they support the incredibly inhumane treatment of Palestinians. It’s hard knowing that Israel can get away with anything, call it self defense and be viewed as heroes even while they commit crimes against humanity. It’s hard for me to think that so many Americans rejoiced in the election of yet another capitalist imperialist warmonger, as if all their problems were solved and the world was right again. It’s hard to know that the voices of nationalist vitriol are growing louder over all the world, and the small voices of internationalist working class people cannot be heard above the din. It’s hard knowing that the US spends hundreds of billions of dollars a year on war, but can’t afford college for the poor, or even food for the starving. It’s fucking hard to think that here in 2012 we as the human race cannot seem to rise above our petty differences, cannot set our priorities straight, cannot seem to progress beyond the level of primal savagery. It’s hard to think that we can send men to the moon, but can’t feed the world. It’s sad to think that we can cure a myriad diseases, but cannot for the life of us figure out how to bridge gaps, unite humanity and move forward. It’s sad that we are still tied up over the myth of race, the myth of nation and the myth of religion more than the reality of humanity before us.

It’s difficult to think that my voice is one lost in a cacophony of hate, and may never see the light of day.

It’s difficult to think that I can’t make a difference, that things won’t get better, that we will never solve our problems, that we will never end the pain so many of us humans live in from day to day.

Too difficult in fact, because I won’t. I won’t think that. I will grieve for the state of the world, I will hope for a better future, I will work day by day, to be a better person, to continue my education, to do what I can, to speak out about how I think and feel. I will fuck up a lot, I will have days where I am so depressed I can barely make it out of bed, but I will not fucking give in to the overwhelming pessimism threatening to take the world down to the seventh level of hell. I will not give in to hopelessness. I will take my licks and keep on kicking. Maybe I don’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. Maybe my voice is drowned out by the load of bullshit swirling through the media outlets of the world. Maybe tomorrow will just be another day of struggling to survive. Even if all that is the case, I will not give up. I will not give up because the moment I give up, I am truly

powerless.

 

Money for War, Can’t Feed the Poor

The US loves to go on about how they are the greatest, most successful, richest and most prosperous country in the world. We sing of alabaster cities and glistening ivory towers. We have our gilded halls and our expensive rugs. There is something else Americans like to say too. “America is broke, we can’t afford these entitlement programs. We just don’t have the money to provide for food, education, healthcare or anything else for the poor. Just look at us, we’re broke!!”

You can’t have it both ways America. You sound like a deadbeat dad who has the money for the bar, but can’t cough up child support. No one is buying it. Seriously, no one (with half a brain) is buying it. The US has a GDP of over 14 trillion dollars a year. That’s nearly 10 trillion dollars more than the next contender China, or Japan right behind it in 3rd place. We throw away more food than any nation on earth. We spend more on health care costs per capita than any developed nation on earth. While McDonalds, your local supermarket, and high class restaurants throw out literally tons of food, people in the US starve, they go without the basic human necessities. The poor are deciding whether to pay their electric bill and have heat for the winter, or to forgo that and be able to eat. The elderly are contemplating whether to have medicine that keeps them alive, or have food to eat. Meanwhile the rich capitalist class is sitting on trillions of dollars. TRILLIONS. That could help pave our roads, pay our teachers,  feed the poor, send poor kids to college, etc etc etc.

“But we’re broke” they naysayers whine. Let me tell you just how “broke” we are most certainly not.

This link takes you to a chart that breaks down government spending by category: http://www.usfederalbudget.us/us_welfare_spending_40.html

Now let me give you some figures from 2011. Surely we poured money into welfare, entitlements, and those damn educational institutions, right? Wrong. Dead wrong.

We spent 903 BILLION dollars on defense in 2011. That’s almost a freaking trillion dollars in ONE year, just on our many wars. How much on education? 153 billion. oops. 131 billion on welfare for families and children, 109 billion for unemployment (be sure to blame that on the unemployed now,not the greedy selfish capitalists who fired them and made the remaining workers work harder for less),  and a paltry 75 billion on housing. Of course the government does cough up 37 Billion dollars to house its 2 million prisoners in this “land of the free”.

Americans live in a country that has a tangled messed up health care system that leaves millions without care for more than the cost of universal health care, the largest prison population in the WORLD (absolute, or per capita, either one), 800 plus military bases in 150 plus countries world wide. We can pay for pointless and destructive wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. We can pay for thousands upon thousands of bombs and ships and missiles and guns, but no money for a poor child’s meal, or education. We say we don’t have enough to meet everyone’s needs, but that is a bold faced lie. We most certainly do have enough to meet everyone’s needs, and then some. We just don’t have enough, and will never have enough to satisfy the greed of the capitalist class.

All of this is the direct result of living in a country that has a capitalist system. The elite few who own the companies and corporations ride high on the hog while you toil away trying to survive. Their kids are guaranteed education in the hallowed halls of Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, while you’ll be happy if you can afford to send your kid to community college. They make the profit, you do the work. The working class dies in the sands of Iraq, their kids dine on caviar and drive a Ferrari. Your house has leaks and crack and holes, they employ someone like you to make sure their topiary is always nicely groomed. They sell you out, use you up, throw you in the waste basket, and then America, then you praise them and admire them. You gladly wave their blood stained flag and are happy to sacrifice your children to the fires of their Moloch. You are happy to work you say, happy to have a job, they’re happy too. They are happy that you’re not aware that you are a wage slave, that you make them millions while you can’t make ends meet. Open your eyes, look around you and see that this is not a good system. The people are suffering, they are even dying. When they start to speak up, they get pepper sprayed, called dirty hippies, beaten, imprisoned, censored and stomped. NO MORE.

Reject this fake democracy, throw off the shackles of capitalism. How you ask? You won’t change things by voting for the two parties that control government, and get paid by the likes of JP Morgan Chase. You won’t change anything by spending a lot of time talking about how the cops (the running dogs of the capitalist ruling class) are really your friends. We can only change things one way in the US. That is to rise up and demand a new form of government. Please, join a socialist party (maybe the Party for Socialism and Liberation) ANGRILY demand an end to these useless deadly wars, call for a stop to US imperialism, resist the government. If you are in the military, get out NOW. Demand recognition as a conscientious objector, do what you have to. Do not fight any more for their bloody greedy bullshit. Your life is worth more. Start a union where you work. Start conversations with the people around you, show them what kind of a system it is. It is time to build class awareness. This is a class war, and it has been going on for a very long time. Fight for NOT JUST THE US, but the world as a whole. A socialist US is a good thing for the entire globe, and all its myriad peoples. Have courage, speak out, fight back. Workers of the world, UNITE!

“Speak your mind, even if your voice shakes.”- Maggie Kuhn

 

The people stand against the NATO Summit in Chicago

The people stand against the NATO Summit in Chicago.

The people stand against the NATO Summit in Chicago

Report and photos from the demonstration

MAY 21, 2012

 

 

 

The ANSWER Coalition published the report below.

 

“NATO: Shut it Down! Wall Street: Shut it Down! Homeland Security: Shut it Down!” That forceful chant rang out as protesters, many thousands strong, marched on the NATO Summit on May 20 in Chicago.

 

Responding with determination in the face of an organized campaign of government threats and intimidation aimed at anti-NATO protesters, an impressive number of young people, union members, antiwar organizations and community members filled the streets to demand “U.S./NATO Out of Afghanistan Now!” during the opening day of the NATO Summit.

 

The Coalition Against NATO/G8 War and Poverty Agenda (CANG8) estimates the crowd size as about 15,000.

 

In the week leading up to the NATO Summit, thousands of people marched and rallied in Chicago. The actions included a large rally of nurses demanding higher taxes on the rich and a march on Mayor Emanuel’s house, 1,000 people strong, which demanded “Health Care not Warfare!”

 

People came in buses, by train and by car caravan from all over the country to take a stand in Chicago against imperialist war and capitalist austerity.

 

In a moving display of solidarity with the people of Afghanistan and the Middle East at the end of the march, Afghanistan and Iraq veterans took off their medals and hurled them toward the NATO Summit grounds. One of those who returned his medals, Marine Vince Emmanuelli, said: “Our enemies are right here and we look at them every day. … They are the millionaires and billionaires who control this planet and we’ve had enough of it.” (WBEZ Chicago)

 

Months-long campaign against protesters

 

Though the military machines of NATO are the greatest purveyors of violence in the world, local and federal law enforcement agencies and the media engaged in a months-long attack campaign against protesters and protest groups.

 

The Chicago chapter of the National Lawyers Guild set up a 24-hour hotline to provide support for people who were arrested before and during the NATO protest.

 

Prior to the May demonstration, the NLG Chicago chapter reported:

 

“More than two-dozen people had been arrested so far in the lead up to the NATO summit. At least 7 arrestees in addition to the ones with terrorism-related charges are currently in custody.

 

“During a Wednesday night house raid, police broke down the doors of multiple apartment units with guns drawn and searched residences without a warrant or consent. In addition to 9 arrests made that night, NLG attorneys believe that two undercover police or confidential informants were arrested with the others and were later released. Of the 9 activists arrested, 6 were released without any charges despite being shackled for at least 18 hours in solitary confinement and denied access to attorneys.”

 

At the May 20 mass march, a police mob surrounded and brutally attacked the demonstration as it was winding down, swinging their clubs at people’s heads and injuring many dozens. At least 45 people were arrested. Among those injured were ministers, community activists, journalists and others who tried to rescue people from police.

 

‘The people will not be bullied or silenced by the police and government’

 

The ANSWER Coalition in Chicago went all out to build the March on the NATO Summit, both through street outreach and social media outlets, and had a big presence at the protest with banners and placards and large amplified sound that unified large numbers of marchers with booming chants. The banners and placards read: “No War on Iran! Hands off Syria!”, “Troops Home Now! Money for Jobs and Education!”, “Unite the 99%: Fight Racism!” and “U.S./NATO Out of Afghanistan Now!”

 

Asked what she thought of the protest, ANSWER organizer Ymelda Viramontes said: “Today’s protest shows that the people can and will resist the government and Wall Street’s attempts to bully and silence us. The number of people that came out into the streets of downtown today to show solidarity with the people of Afghanistan, Iran and Syria and demand no U.S. or NATO intervention—that’s a good indication that we can build a powerful movement against war and racism right here in the U.S.”

 

Content may be reprinted with credit to LiberationNews.org.

A Response to an Article on Syria

I read an article on Japan Times online (http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/eo20120320a1.html), that was originally published in the Washington Post. Here is my response to that article: 

This article’s myopic nature is surprising coming from a Harvard Professor. His views on Syria are naive, and indicative of the insulated and out of touch nature of neo-liberal thought. I am going to counter his points, one by one.
1. President Assad’s support structure:
His support actually includes a great majority of the country. His repeated assertion of Assad as a hated dictator are completely inconsistent with the facts. A poll conducted by the Qatar Foundation found that about 55% of the Syrian people approved of Assad’s performance as president. For perspective, neither Obama in the US, or Noda in Japan even come close to that approval rating.
2. It is hard to tell much of what is going on in Syria. This is apparent because of the conflicting, and unsubstantiated nature of the reports from Western media coming out of Syria. It is also hard to get a non-biased view of what is happening in Syria since it seems that much of the news of Syria’s problems are from those intent on advocating intervention in some way.
3. Claims of Syria’s impending civil war are indeed premature to say the least. What is happening is that Islamic terrorists are attempting to overthrow the legitimate government of Syria, with the help of foreign intervention. Countries like the US claim to spread democracy, but their real goal is spreading hegemony. While the US claims it wants democracy and secular government, their actions say otherwise when like Mr.Owen, they advocate the overthrow of a secular government in favor of Sharia law and sectarian violence.
4. Libya is indubitably a horrible model for regime change. The terrorist led opposition is not bringing democracy (ignoring the question of if Libya already had democracy) nor did it bring prosperity. It brought an anarchic state of murder, rape and racist retaliation. Thousands sit in make-shift prisons with inadequate access to food, water, or health care. Militias roam the country with no respect for the rule of law, or human rights. In fact, the country has changed from having the highest human development index in Africa, to being a country torn by war, violence and crime. Their hospitals, schools and infrastructure destroyed; it may take decades before the Libyan people recover from this farce of a liberation.
5. Intervention does not only mean military attack. In recent times, moralistic calls to help “liberate” a country has led to horrific results. Iraq still struggles to return to normal after years of war, and Afghanistan, after 11 years, is still waiting for peace. Hundreds of thousands of people have died in those pointless and useless invasions, yet Mr.Owens still holds them up as examples of successful interventions. I think the world has had about all the interventionist help it can handle for a while. In addition to those sobering facts, we should realize that sanctions will do one thing only, and that is hurt the Syrian people. Even if the government is corrupt and evil to the core, an assumption I would question deeply, the people of Syria would bear the brunt of these actions, not the government. We need to end our addiction to interventionism. We cannot solve all of the world’s problems in every country by starving them, by cutting them off from the global economy, or by pretending their people want what our governments want. Maybe the US would be much better served by focusing on responding to the complaints of its own citizens that it has so brutally suppressed, instead of demonizing the Syrian government for defending itself against, not unarmed protesters, but armed militias aiming to overthrow the state. This is to me, another egregious case of the pot calling the kettle black. It’s time for the western world to start practicing what it preaches, and leave poor countries like Libya and Syria alone.

 

Democrats: The Lesser of Two Evils?

As I’m sure you’re aware of, it’s election year. The bourgeois parties are having their little fight to see who will ascend to the top. There are some on the left who think that their only choice is to vote democrat, because the “ultra-right” is way worse of an option. We are supposedly held hostage by our bourgeois system, and must only hope for the least worst option. After all they say, hasn’t Obama done some good things?  Hasn’t he changed things a bit?   My long and drawn out answer to that question lies below. Warning to those easily offended: strap into your seat belt, sit down or whatever. You’re not going to like this, Dems.

What Have the Dems Done: The Clinton Years

Let’s start back in the time of Clinton. I could start much further back, and go over the internment camps of FDR, or the attacks on Cuba by JFK, or the imperialism of Jimmy Carter, but let’s just start a bit earlier for time’s sake.

William Jefferson Clinton. President of the US. I think people genuinely liked this guy, he seemed nice. Too bad that most Americans cannot seem to think deeper than that about a presidential candidate. And so the man from Hope was elected. And what happened after that? Let’s take a look.

One of the first things Clinton did in office was to perpetuate the imperialist policies of his Republican predecessor, Bush, in the impoverished country of Haiti. I’m sure that helped the people of Haiti a hell of a lot. Overthrow their government, subjugate them to the ridiculous enslaving policies of the IMF, and dictate to the Haitian people what their government can and cannot be. The result of Clinton’s attacks on Haiti was even more poverty, crime, corruption and despair. That’s a “progressive”. What else did he do? Well, to continue we’ll be getting away from Haiti, which you can read about here: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/jan2010/pers-j18.shtml

Moving on. Clinton was an imperialist, we can see that in Haiti, and many of his other actions during his 8 years in office. What else did he do? He helped lead the charge to destroy the welfare system in America. He campaigned in 1992 on the promise to “End welfare as we know it”. And he kept that promise. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_Responsibility_and_Work_Opportunity_Act

Enough about him though. Read up. See what he did. He was nothing more than another in a long line of capitalist imperialist presidents.

Moving on to:

Obama: Change?

Here’s a list I found of the things Obama has accomplished so far:

1. Escalated an failing war in Afghanistan, leading to even more suffering among the civilians and the Taliban in the nation.

2. Overthrew the left-wing democratically elected President of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, since he was a threat to US interests.

3. Backed the failed Coup through the State Department that attempted to overthrow the disobedient left-wing President, Raphael Correa.

4. Sent various agents, trained in Fort Benning, to Venezuela to reduce the popularity of Hugo Chavez.

5. Signed a Healthcare Bill that is essentially a giveaway to insurance companies without the limitation of public option or cost control.

6. Refused to cut unfair tax cuts for those earning $250,000 and above.

7. Bombed Yemen and made an agreement to cover it up as a Yemeni government operation.

8. Set up a stronger central government in Iraq under extreme control under the US State Department.

9. Lied about closing Guantanamo Bay.

10. Refuses to do ANYTHING about climate change, as well as continuing to ignore the Kyoto Protocol.

So called communists in the Communist Party USA are supporting this man for president in 2012. He has done nothing but continue American imperialism, helped big business, hired people from Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, he’s thrown Bradley Manning in jail for exposing US war crimes, given tax cuts to the rich and rich corporations, he has threatened Iran with war for building nuclear power. He is a conservative, plain and simple. A bourgeois politician who works for the 1%.

Leftists: STOP. SUPPORTING. OBAMA. Stoppit. He is not a socialist, he is not even left of center. He is a member of the capitalist imperialist party of the democrats, and HE DOES NOT WORK FOR YOU.  Stop being swayed by the scraps they throw you from the table. Overthrow the table, set a new one up, big enough for everyone, and take your rightful place. Stop asking for permission to change the world. They’re not going to give it to you. Stop pretending that you’re making any fucking progress by supporting the democrats. Stoppit. The lesser of two evils is by definition EVIL. The democrats gave the bailouts to the banks and the corrupt car companies, BILLIONS and BILLIONS of dollars to the rich ruling class, lining their own pockets at our expense. STOPPIT. Abandon the so called democratic party and start working towards real socialism, and real change. What are you afraid of? That we might achieve something? That we might actually gain something? We will only get what we fight for. And if you’re supporting the democrats, you are not fighting for socialism. You are giving up, you are supporting a capitalist imperialist.

So, CPUSA, : Either stop supporting the democrats, or give up the name CPUSA so real communists can use it.

Rant finished.

P.S. That goes for  and other Obama supporting “communists” and “leftists” and “socialists, STOPPIT.

Latest Afghanistan massacre will be remembered as tipping point in the war

Latest Afghanistan massacre will be remembered as tipping point in the war.

Latest Afghanistan massacre will be

remembered as tipping point in the

war

ANSWER Coalition press statement

By Richard Becker, Western Regional Coordinator, ANSWER Coalition

MARCH 12, 2012

An Afghan man sits with the body of one of the 16 victims of this atrocity.

March 11

Today’s cold-blooded murder of at least 16 Afghani civilians by a U.S. Army soldier is the latest in a decade-long history of atrocities carried out by the NATO occupiers. It will be remembered as the tipping point in a criminal war that grows more criminal with each passing month.

The “apologies” by President Obama and U.S. commanding General John Allen are nothing by brazen hypocrisy and will ring hollow in the ears of the Afghani people. Occupying armies, unable to distinguish insurgent fighters from the population as a whole, inevitably propagate a racist ideology among their troops. This officially promoted racism and contempt toward the occupied people is what produces atrocity after atrocity, and insult after insult.

The only way these horrors will end is by ending the war. The ANSWER Coalition joins with the people of Afghanistan and the anti-war movement around the world in demanding the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. and NATO occupying forces. The ANSWER Coalition organized protests on the first day of the U.S. war on Afghanistan in 2001 and has been working to end the war for the past decade.

Content may be reprinted with credit to LiberationNews.org.

Priorities

Second post in one night? You readers sure are lucky.

I had to after reading a story originally published in the Washington Post, and republished on the Japan Times news website. Former Secretary of the Navy Gordon England whines that we are making the same mistake we made in the early 2000s. He says that the military was underfunded due to the peace dividends of the Clinton years, and that military members were underpaid, bases in disrepair, and worst of all submarines went out to sea without cruise missiles. Hold on one second while I wipe away a tear. *sniffle* OK. I’m back. 

Military spending went through the roof during the Bush years, as we invaded countries and overthrew their governments; for their own good of course. Hundreds of thousands of civilians died as we handed Iran their mortal enemy Saddam on a silver platter. Afghanistan was ravaged by war, many civilians dying in a war they didn’t understand against an enemy they had no chance of beating. Wars of aggression, military expansionism, have long reigned supreme in the US. No politician dare speak out against our militarism and imperialism, lest they anger the gods of death and the military industrial complex. 

While the American infrastructure fell into disrepair, as the US became one of the highest rates of economic inequality in the OEC. As our economy struggled to keep from stagnating, military contractors were making bank like nobody’s business. Millions of Americans have fallen into poverty, millions more going on the dole because of recession, while we just kept expanding our empire.

And we’re still expanding, building bases in Australia and threatening Syria and Iran. Ever increasing, the militarist beast just can’t get enough to sate its blood-thirsty and infinite appetite. Let me give you a little bit of perspective:

And that’s just the map the DoD provides. There are an estimated 750+ military bases in at least 150 countries worldwide. Maybe we don’t have enough money for our military because our military is too large. It is quite telling that conservatives have no problem throwing trillions of dollars at dropping bombs on poor brown people, but just can’t stand giving money towards education or the poor. Our ridiculous obsession and worship of the military is going to kill us as a nation. Imperialism is destructive, not only to the victims of aggression, but also the aggressor country as well. Just look at Japan, it spent decades invading and attacking its neighbors, thinking it was invincible. It raised a culture of militarism and imperialism. How did that end for the Japanese? It ended with starvation, death and destruction, not only for countries like Korea and China, but also for Japan. The Japanese people suffered greatly for the hubris and excesses of its leaders. You think America’s fate will be any different? 

Priorities. Close the overseas bases, end imperialist expansion, take that money saved, invest in education and infrastructure. If we remember history we may avoid making the same mistakes again, but I won’t hold my breath.