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Our systems are not “broken.” They’re working as intended. They are DELIBERATELY UNFAIR.

January 3, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

People keep saying that our nation’s systems are “broken.”  That is misleading.  They are NOT “broken.”  They are WORKING AS INTENDED!  They are DELIBERATELY UNFAIR! On issue after issue, politicians, mainstream media, and the general public keep saying that our systems are “broken.”  But if you look at how they are actually functioning — WHAT THEY ACTUALLY DO — and WHAT THEY ARE PREVENTING — and WHO HAS THE POWER and WHO BENEFITS from the status quo — you’ll see that these systems are NOT really “broken.”  They are serving the rich and the powerful and preventing the changes that […]

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America is #1 — in DEATH RATES from violence and self-harm involving firearms

December 20, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

The internationally respected journal The Lancet reported the startling numbers in this article: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2818%2930806-7/fulltext Self-harm (light green in this chart) occurs much more often than violence to other people (dark green in this chart). See this table.  Scroll down to see the startlingly high numbers for the USA:          

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In January, urge Congress to pass HR 1 to get Big Money out of politics.

December 20, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

You have probably read information supporting HR 1, legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives that would push Big Money out of politics.  Many non-profit organizations that support democracy and other good things (environment, energy, peace, nuclear weapons, workers’ rights, human rights, the gun lobby, etc.) recognize that BIG MONEY CORRUPTION PREVENTS CONGRESS FROM ACCOMPLISHING WHAT WE WANT IT TO DO. HR 1 is a tremendously positive step forward for ALL of the issues we care about! Public Citizen (www.citizen.org), the non-profit org that Ralph Nader started in 1971, says the following in support of HR 1, and urges people […]

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Rate of U.S. Gun Deaths Shoots to 22-Year High

December 19, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

The Young Turks (www.tyt.com) reported this:   Rate of U.S. Gun Deaths Shoots to 22-Year High It’s not a record to be proud of. The rate of U.S. gun deaths spiked to the highest level since 1996, driven by a steady rise in suicides involving firearms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, The Guardian reports. Some 39,773 people in the U.S. died at the point of a gun in 2017, according to the CDC’s Wonder database. That’s 12 deaths per 100,000 people, up from 10.1 in 2010 and the highest rate since 1996. Even more shocking, that […]

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Why the U.S. House must push for VERY BOLD changes, not merely bi-partisan deals

December 19, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

In the November 2018 election American voters gave a STRONG MANDATE for VERY PROGRESSIVE ACTION by the U.S. House.  Our Representatives must deliver!!! Moderates want House Democrats to settle for bi-partisan deals with the Republican-dominated Senate. If the House Democrats do that, they will be rebuffing the voters who gave them a mandate for VERY BOLD changes. They also will FAIL TO IDENTIFY how progressive Democrats are much better than conservative Republicans. Even if the Senate fails to pass VERY BOLD House legislation, the points will be made, and 2020’s voters will see who is really on their side, vs. […]

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PART 2 of “Choose a Better Worldview to Build a Better World”

November 30, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Our nation and world are in a horrible mess.  The December 2018 episode of “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” TV series examines how to solve the problems. A person or an entire society has a “worldview” — a way of seeing reality — that strongly directs their behavior and public policy.  The worldview that currently dominates the U.S. government and society has caused escalating greed, corruption, cruelty, oppression, war, and other bad things.  Instead, we need to replace that worldview with its opposite — a worldview that is humane, compassionate, peaceful, fair to everyone, and environmentally sustainable. An unjust society seeks to […]

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A blistering critique of U.S. politics! PART 1: “Choose a Better Worldview to Build a Better World”

October 30, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

You can watch the November 2018 episode of the TV program for my series “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” through a link on this blog post — or on TCTV cable channel 22 in Thurston County. (See info below.) This is PART 1 of a 2-part topic, “Choose a Better Worldview to Build a Better World.” It focuses mostly on the problems. PART 2, the December 2018 program, will focus more on solutions. SEE THE LINK BELOW for a VERY THOROUGH, BLISTERING CRITIQUE of the worldview that has increasingly dominated U.S. politics. Parts 1 and 2 of this program explains that the […]

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Outreach ideas for hard, scary issues

October 30, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

It is hard to inform and mobilize the public about hard, scary issues such as nuclear weapons, the climate crisis, and Trumpism’s escalating fascism. Typically, we throw facts at people, but people too fearful and powerless to open themselves up psychologically to hear those facts, let alone act upon them. The document I wrote and linked below  can help the public empower themselves to work on serious issues, including the hardest and most  frightening issues. In order to really engage the public on these hard and frightening issues, we must deliberately strategize how to address the public’s fears, feelings of […]

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Kavanaugh THREATENS our rights!

September 5, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

See my recent post listing some very serious dangers that Brett Kavanaugh would pose if the Senate were to confirm his nomination for the U.S. Supreme Court.  Trump nominated him precisely because Kavanaugh — who is young — would impose Trumpist cruelty and abuses upon the USA for many decades, long after Trump is gone. See my recent post about this.  Please contact your U.S. senators and DEMAND that they VIGOROUSLY OPPOSE Kavanaugh in every  nonviolent way they possibly can. Among other problems, Kavanaugh would undermine the Constitutional separation of church and state.  He would impose right-wing religious bias as […]

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For DECADES after Trump is gone, his Supreme Court will inflict his politics upon us

September 4, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Imagine Donald Trump on the Supreme Court! His nominee Brett Kavanaugh reflects Trump’s politics and would inflict Trumpism upon the USA for decades: Against women’s rights Against workers’ rights Against consumers’ rights Against the environment Against sensible efforts to reduce gun violence Believes that a sitting president is above the law Please phone your two U.S. senators and urge them to PUSH VIGOROUSLY to oppose Kavanaugh’s nomination. You can call their Washington DC offices and their local offices in your state. If you live in Washington State, call: Senator Patty Murray at (202) 224-3441 in Washington DC or (206) 533-5545 […]

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U.S. Militarism Promotes Gun Violence. To reduce gun violence here, reduce military violence worldwide.

July 10, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

“Climate deniers” refuse to acknowledge the human causes of the climate crisis. Likewise some people try to blame gun violence on far-fetched causes such as popular music or pornography, even though those are common in other rich nations with very little gun violence. Deeply embedded in U.S. culture is an excessive willingness to use military violence. The U.S. has a long history of mistakenly thinking that violence solves problems. The U.S. has started wars to dominate other nations, especially since the 1898 Spanish American War. In the past 120 years the U.S. military has overthrown dozens of nations. We have […]

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Trump’s scheme to INCREASE gun sales to people in other countries

July 10, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

In July 2018 Trump proposed something that would INCREASE GUN VIOLENCE IN OTHER COUNTRIES.  His proposal would INCREASE crime and terrorism and violence by oppressive governments. Trump proposes moving export license oversight for firearms from the Department of State to the Department of Commerce.  This is not merely a benign reshuffling of bureaucratic functioning.  It would create the illusion that firearms are just another commercial commodity for the Department of Commerce to rubber-stamp its approval in support of promoting exports from U.S. businesses. Actually, firearms are TOOLS OF VIOLENCE that criminals, terrorists and dictators use for violating other people’s human […]

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Guns: Several items of interest

June 3, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Many years ago the National Rifle Association (NRA) was an organization that served — and was funded by — hunters, target shooters, etc.  Over the years most of the NRA’s budget has become funded by gun manufacturers rather than ordinary people.  Those corporations want to sell more and more guns.  That is why even though many gun owners support responsible laws to reduce gun violence, the NRA (funded by gun manufacturers) lobbies and donates to politicians’ campaigns in order to PREVENT SENSIBLE LAWS that most gun owners actually support. A few years ago Congress was considering legislation to limit sales […]

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9 Ways Authoritarianism Is Taking Hold Under Trump

May 31, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

As you know, I read a huge amount of information.  Thom Hartmann’s article at the link below consolidates much solid information into CRUCIALLY IMPORTANT information that the American people need to understand. Trump and Trumpism are imposing horrible authoritarianism upon the U.S.  This is an extremely serious — actually existential — danger to American freedom and constitutional democracy. Trump’s authoritarianism abuses many aspects of American society. The article below connects many of the issues we care about, including peace, social justice, environment/climate, economics, and so forth.  The article ends with a call for nonviolent organizing to rise up against Trump’s […]

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How can we challenge this dominant but destructive economic assumption?

May 24, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Embedded very deeply in our American culture — and many other nations’ cultures too — is an assumption that is embedded so deeply that nobody recognizes it, let alone challenge it. The assumption is this:  It is OK if what I do kills people, so long as I’m making money from what I do. At the surface level — the explicit level — if you were to ask people whether it is moral to kill other people, they would say “no.” But below the surface — at the implicit level — our society tolerates behaviors that knowingly kill people because […]