Examples of Parallax Views

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Smart insights for strengthening our organizing for the climate

December 23, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

My notes here summarize some main points of the article I’ve linked below – and add some of my own thoughts:   The article I’ve linked below says that – although 70% of the public is worried about the climate – this has not translated into real organizing.  Instead of playing politics (nice words and political wheeling-dealing, but falling short of making the bold changes that are necessary, the article says we need to deepen the public’s concern with a profound “change of heart.” Instead of “transactional” politics, we need “transformative” politics.  Without a profound change of heart we’ll be […]

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Poem about different treatments for rich vs. poor

December 18, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

They hang the man and flog the woman Who steal the goose from off the common But let the greater villain loose Who steals the common from the goose     The law demands that we atone When we take things we do not own But leaves the lords and ladies fine Who take things that are yours and mine     (17th century English?)

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Sign up NOW for FREE, PRACTICAL ONLINE WORKSHOPS to help you make more progress on issues YOU care about

December 18, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

ALL OF US — new people, experienced organizers, and everybody in between — can STRENGTHEN OUR SKILLS and add resources to our “toolboxes” so we can make more progress in working on our issues. That’s why I’m offering my 6 FREE ONLINE WORKSHOPS. Please see information on the flyer I posted at this link – and SIGN UP NOW! 6 practical workshops on Grassroots Organizing — 2022 JAN-FEB — FLYER.docx Let’s build strong nonviolent grassroots movements that will significantly move public opinion — and change the dominant paradigms — and push governments, big businesses, mainstream media, and other entrenched entities to do […]

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Let’s use more HUMOR in our political organizing! It’s a creative way to overcome people’s barriers to fresh ideas!

December 14, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

All of our progressive movements (for peace, the environment and climate, for human rights and social justice, etc., etc., etc.) need smart ways to reach out to other people with messages that they will be able to hear and understand. Creativity, the arts, and humor can be more powerful than hard logic and facts, because they go over and around and under the barriers that prevent some people from hearing and absorbing new ideas. Here are some examples and resources:   Watch this excellent 7-minute video: Why it is best to listen to political satire.  Mainstream news media have legitimized […]

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COP26: Information, Analyses, Successes, Shortcomings

December 14, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

The November 2021 global climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, generated a lot of news.  Some news sources thought COP26 made progress.  Other news sources criticized it from several perspectives.  Here — in no particular sequence — are a variety of reports about what COP26 did and did not accomplish, and what we need to do now: (I have a few more articles, but this is enough for now.)   COP26 Brought progress but also disappointment:  The United States released a slew of new climate commitments at COP26, last month’s international climate conference in Glasgow. Climate advocates view the results of […]

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Nonviolent Grassroots Organizing Creates Light and Progress

December 9, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

Nonviolent Grassroots Organizing Creates Light and Progress Glen Anderson (360) 491-9093 glenanderson@integra.net The January 2022 theme for the Olympia-based publication Works In Progress (www.olywip.org) – “Where do we find light” – is a smart question to ask.  I recommend finding light in two places:  in ourselves and in the world around us. Contrary to the cynical assumption that human beings are inherently competitive and cruel (and contrary to the religious assumption that we’re doomed by “original sin”), powerful research affirms humans inherently want to cooperate and be good to each other.  I read the book Humankind: A Hopeful History written […]

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President Reagan armed and supported Saddam Hussein

December 8, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

Just like in Orwell’s novel 1984, the U.S. government and mainstream news media suppress historical facts that would embarrass the government and media. One example is the fact that during some years in the 1980s President Reagan armed and militarily supported Iraq’s Saddam Hussein — especially to help him wage Iraq’s war against Iran (1980-1988).  A million Iranians and somewhere between 250,000 and 500,000 Iraqis died in that war. When George W. Bush and Dick Cheney were issuing propaganda in order to fool the American public, media and politicians into their totally unnecessary and illegal war against Iraq (2003 and […]

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Our world on the verge of transition

December 8, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

“We are moving from a world in which individual choice and competition made sense to one in which collective choice and cooperation are necessary, not because ideologies have changed but because both the problems we face and the nature of the resources required to solve them have changed. “When the costs of economic activity are collective, capitalism (i.e., private property rights and individual choice) is suicidal; when the benefits are collective (e.g., new vaccines for COVID, new forms of alternative energy), capitalism in inefficient.  The main challenge remains how deeply wedded politicians, economists and even the average person are to […]

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Some ironies about guns

November 28, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

Guns do NOT keep us safe: Many people believe that they need guns to protect their own safety, their homes, their families.  Actually, having a gun in your home is MORE DANGEROUS than not having one! Research has shown that having a firearm in your home DOUBLES THE RISK that you or a family member will die of homicide and TRIPLES THE RISK of suicide. These facts came from www.GVPedia.org, which researches and gathers information and supports evidence-based policies that reduce gun violence. The organization says defensive gun use is actually rare. There are about 2,000 verified defensive gun uses per […]

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Understanding Environmental Water Quality Problems and Solutions

November 27, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

The December 2021 episode of “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” helps people understand how water quality in Puget Sound (and bodies of water elsewhere) has been seriously hurt.  We also explain — in easy-to-understand ways — the damage to the the rivers and streams that flow into these salt waters.  Besides examining problems we also propose solutions. Glen Anderson interviewed Harry Branch, who has a solid educational background and extensive professional expertise that includes a variety of hands-on experience in fisheries, skippering boats, conducting marine science research, and more.  Harry explains the science and the practicalities — and the public policies — […]

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Proposing a Bold New Global Peace Movement Led by Women

November 18, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

The November 2021 episode of “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” proposes a bold, new worldwide peace movement – and it will be much more successful if women lead it. The world is stuck in violence, militarism, systemic injustices, and ecocide.  The status quo is dominated by top-down systems of war and other kinds of injustices.  Wars do not work.  Nuclear war could instantly destroy us all.  Instead of top-down dysfunction, the world needs a very bold grassroots movement grounded in profound nonviolence.  The movement can succeed, especially if women to lead it on behalf of children and all of humanity. Glen interviewed […]

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Understand what Critical Race Theory really is. Counter the right-wing lies about it.

November 13, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

This background helps you understand the controversy: Our nation is suffering from a number of huge problems that need huge solutions.  But instead of solving the problems, the right wing and the Republican Party keep promoting fear and hatred and ignorance.  They have no practical solutions for the problems, so they want to distract the public and promote cruelty. Recently the right wing and the Republican Party have become obsessed with denouncing Critical Race Theory.  Actually, CRT has existed for decades but was not noticed until right-wingers started publicizing it in grossly false ways. Law school professors developed Critical Race […]

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Greta Thunberg keeps speaking boldly! Watch these powerful short videos.

November 7, 2021 GlenAnderson 0

Greta Thunberg’s powerful 9-minute video in early November 2021 exposes COP26’s hypocrisy.   This powerful speech really nails it:  WATCH: “It is not a secret that COP26 is a failure.” – Greta Thunberg   In another COP26 speech in November 2021, Greta Thunberg accuses world leaders of “pure madness” for climate failures at COP26:  https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/11/05/greta-thunberg-accuses-world-leaders-pure-madness-climate-failures-cop26   In late September 2021 another global climate strike occurred.  This article includes video of Greta Thunberg speaking boldly in Berlin. Click this link to read the article – and when you open this article, click the link to watch Greta Thunberg speak boldly in Berlin:  https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/09/24/hundreds-thousands-take-streets-worldwide-uproot-system-climate-strikes?utm_term=AO&utm_campaign=Daily%20Newsletter&utm_content=email&utm_source=Daily%20Newsletter&utm_medium=Email […]