This 3-minute video is funny and timely. It does include some foul language. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/george-clooney-donald-trump-jimmy-kimmel_n_5cd28489e4b0e524a47cf276?ncid=newsltushpmgnews_Politics_050819&guccounter=1
Both of the big political parties cause serious problems. Republican Party leaders deliberately and enthusiastically make problems worse. Republican Party members obediently follow along. Democratic Party members want to solve problems (Green New Deal, Medicare for All, Impeach Trump, promote diversity in the party, etc.) Democratic Party “leaders” refuse to solve those problems. Dem “leaders” rebuff their members – and wonder why Dems don’t win more elections.
The term “populism” has been thrown around and given a grossly misleading meaning. Various pundits have distorted it to seem supportive of racism and Trump’s pandering to his political base’s worst biases. Actually, the U.S. had a TRULY PROGRESSIVE historical era of “populism” more than a century ago. We need to rediscover those values and build upon the TRULY DEMOCRATIC political instincts that people were organizing around at that time. This political cartoon should inspire us and guide our truly populist organizing: CLICK THIS LINK: CARTOON — The people don’t know their true power “Populism” can be used […]
The U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment PROTECTS our right to practice — or NOT practice — any religion with freedom from any governmental support or opposition. The “separation of church and state” is clearly required. For 75 years an excellent organization — Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, www.au.org — has been protecting us from abuse by people who want to impose their religion upon us, and it has been protecting religion from governmental interference too. It works both ways. But some people want to tear down the “wall of separation” and use our tax dollars to fund […]
Since the 1970s extreme conservatives — including those in big business — have become very aggressive in building political power. The Powell Memo (if you don’t know what it is, a web search will quickly tell you) and extremely rich people led to the creation of very conservative and right-wing “think tanks” and media and organizing within the Republican Party. Now they have taken over the Republican Party and the U.S. government: Congress, the Executive Branch (including cabinet members and agency heads), and the Supreme Court. Part of their agenda has been to slash taxes for rich people and big […]
The article at this link provides insights into the effectiveness of RIGHT-WING MEMES — and why the Left falls short in that: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/04/right-wing-groups-are-training-young-conservatives-to-win-the-next-meme-war/?utm_source=mj-newsletters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=econundrums-2019-04-08 The Left had raised the issue of “globalization,” but the Right stole the issue and converted it into right-wing nationalism, racism, and anti-immigrant hysteria. This allowed Trump and right-wing extremists to gain power in various countries that used to be “liberal democracies.” This article provides insights: https://fpif.org/sieg-heil-deja-vu-understanding-the-global-rise-of-the-extreme-right/ In the U.S and elsewhere, the dominant economic and political systems are not working, so mainstream (“white”) people feel victimized. The right wing has promoted the current conservative […]
Information in this blog post came from a page 8-9 article in the April 2019 issue of the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action (www.gzcenter.org), the 4 decades-old peace group located immediately next to the Trident nuclear weapons base in Kitsap County WA. The article was written by Elizabeth Murray based on information provided by Bruce Gagnon, the coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space (www.space4peace.org), an amazingly informative non-profit organization and website. First I lay out THE PROBLEM. Then I lay out SOME REMEDIES: THE PROBLEM: Elizabeth Murray reported that at a recent […]
An amazing 16-year-old from Sweden has spoken many times to groups of powerful leaders in many countries, including international gatherings. Greta Thunberg has impressed people with her bold critique of the problems that led to the climate crisis — and her bold critique of powerful people and bodies that fail to take necessary actions. Her speeches have been videotaped and can be watched. Some copies of her texts are also available. Here are some links. Greta Thunberg continues speaking boldly to world leaders. In April 2019 she spoke to some members of the UK’s House of Commons. The text […]
The U.S. has OVERTHROWN many governments — including many democracies. Sometimes the U.S. claims we are protecting “human rights” or restoring “democracy.” But the truth is almost always the opposite. See examples at the “Peace” and “International Affairs” parts of this blog, www.parallaxperspectives.org An April 22, 2019, article on www.commondreams.org exposed the U.S.’s horrible track record in the context of the Trump regime’s attempt to overthrow Venezuela’s elected president. READ THE ARTICLE AT THIS LINK. In the article see this photo of a poster attached to Venezuela’s embassy in Washington DC:
The United Nations report states: “A shocking number of civilians continue to be killed and maimed each day.” READ AN ARTICLE AT THIS LINK.
“Nonviolence offers many ways to create permanent, long-term positive changes that would enable us to rebuild social institutions on a more humane and sustainable basis. . . . Each of us, whatever our station in life or relation to activism, can carry out his grand ‘experiment with truth’ according to our own capacities and the situation we confront.” Michael Nagler wrote this. He writes a lot of good materials about nonviolence. Although Amazon lists many of his books, I encourage people to buy them from locally owned bookstores: https://www.amazon.com/Michael-N.-Nagler/e/B001JS2SXE/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1548914216&sr=1-1&eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=c837e75d-37a4-4438-9de5-33bd77f131eb&pldnSite=1 “Revolutionary change does not come as one cataclysmic moment (beware […]
The Dispute Resolution Center of Thurston County (the DRC at 360-956-1155 www.mediatethurston.org) offers TRAINING IN HOW TO MEDIATE DISPUTES. I highly recommend this 40-hour Professional Mediation Training during one week in June (17th through 21st), 2019. It runs Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. It can help you strengthen your relationships at home, at work, and beyond. The insights are practical in our daily lives. I encourage people to take this training even if you do not think you’d want to be one of the DRC’s volunteer mediators. This fun and highly interactive 40-hour training will acquaint […]
Sometimes when we work to significantly improve our society or our politics, people will try to inhibit our efforts by saying, “You can’t change human nature.” They assume that “human nature” is fixed and impervious to improvement. Actually, history has proven otherwise. People have indeed made radical progressive changes, and we can accomplish more. We do not need to “change human nature.” If we change our society so it will function better, people will change for the better too. So, for example, instead of assuming that “human nature” causes people to be greedy, let’s change our economic system and our […]
For decades Washington State has had THE VERY WORST tax system in the U.S. It is horribly REGRESSIVE. This means that poor people pay a high percentage of their income and rich people pay a low percentage. About 50 years ago I read a historian’s book chapter explaining how it was that Washington State has always opposed an income tax and supported a sales tax, while Oregon (our neighbor to the south) had a history of the exact opposite. I don’t remember the historical reasons now, but the legacy continues to hurt Washington State and especially our poor and working […]
Various non-profit organizations bring people together to urge the humane treatment of animals. We also need to REVERSE that. We need an “Animal Society for the Humane Treatment of People.” Animals don’t discriminate. A dog will sniff any dog’s butt, regardless of what color the dog’s fur, whether it’s short-haired or fluffy, etc. Dogs and other animals should teach people how to treat other people humanely.
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