Carl,
I just began reading a novel by a very fine author based on an organization
formed by a Palestinian man and an Israeli Jewish man, both of whom lost their
daughters to the violence caused by the existence of Israel. Well, it's not
actually about the organization. It's about what the coming together of these
two men, caused the author to imagine. But I just finished reading a scene
which describes the attitude of the Israeli man, long before his daughter dies.
He is completely comfortable with his situation, with the violence in his
country, with his country's position vis a vis the Palestinians. He accepts
that there are some, "inconveniences", but that's OK because he's comfortable
with his life and his situation. That seems to me to be the attitude of the
average white American who is employed, owns a home, and has enough to eat.
Even if things are not as good as they were, he doesn't want to rock the boat.
He'll just put forth a bit more effort to try to maintain the status quo.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Tuesday, August 11, 2020 6:51 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: How did Americans become such Wimps? Silence as
Trump kills tens of Thousands, Destroys Social Security and Post Office, Plots
Election Fraud
True enough. Chris Hedges does not sugar coat the truth.
I understand that we Americans have been fed so many conflicting lies by both
our government officials and by our Mass Media, that we wouldn't know the truth
if it hit us between the eyes.
Still, didn't someone say, "these truths are self evident"? While our fearsome
Leader is leading us down that broad paved road to Hell, one would think the
majority of Americans would begin to open their eyes.
Just the growing numbers of people scrambling about trying to find enough food,
clean water, and room to stretch out at night, would cause us to pause and
wonder just who is steering this Ship of State.
There are plenty of reasons as to how we've come so close to the edge, greed
certainly enters into the mix, Religion and this whole concept that God created
us in His image and thus we are different than all other life, mistaken beliefs
like the one that tells us that growth and consumption are signs of progress
instead of the cancer that we really are. We will continue to multiply despite
the warnings of the likes of Chris Hedges, until we tip the System and Humans
will slide down the slippery slope into oblivion.
Despite our claims that we have risen above all other life on this planet, it
is our self centered ignorance that will be our undoing.
On the ACB Chat list, one member posts many articles from the "Right to Life"
folks.
Certainly that is his right, but it strikes me that if we don't resolve the
deeper issues and learn to plan and to work together, all these problems that
seem to be so very important,will not matter at all.
Carl Jarvis
On 8/11/20, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Yes, but whatever union movement we had, has been co-opted. We have
nothing that resembles the peace movement of the 1960's. Our whole
society has been corrupted by the worship of material success and if
you compare what we have now to the 40's and 50's, everything has been
privatized and the profit motive is the rule. Certainly, there are
people fighting back. But I'm afraid that Chris Hedges' view of our
reality is closer to the truth than we'd like to admit.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Tuesday, August 11, 2020 11:47 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: How did Americans become such Wimps?
Silence as Trump kills tens of Thousands, Destroys Social Security and
Post Office, Plots Election Fraud
Interesting. my spin is that there is a greater, and a growing, level
of protest.
And this protest is not reserved to just one issue. The signs, to me,
is that the American Empire is following the path of all Empires. As
the Empire spirals downward the Ruling Class is being confronted on
all sides, forcing it to wildly charge its former supporters of treasonous
activities.
Donald Trump has conducted an ever more vicious attack on Journalists
and the Media in general. He has stepped up his attack on Joe Biden
and the "Leftist Democrat Party".
He has robbed the National Treasury, giving huge piles of taxpayer's
money to his billionaire supporters. He has fought against creating
work programs such as those created by the Roosevelt administration
during the Great Depression. He has failed the Working Class
Americans by not providing any positive leadership. He has doubled up
in his efforts to trash public education and the Post Office. He has
caused Americans to not trust their own government by trashing high
government officials(many of whom he originally appointed). Through
all of this negativity he is turning a once mighty Empire into Trash...just
as he did with his fabulous Taj Mahal.
Carl Jarvis
On 8/11/20, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
How did Americans become such Wimps? Silence as Trump kills tens of
Thousands, Destroys Social Security and Post Office, Plots Election
Fraud JUAN COLE
08/10/2020
2KSHARES
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) - Nicole Winfield and Lisa Marie Pane at
the Associated Press write at the unbelief with which Europeans are
staring at the United States, as we head for 300,000 dead from the
coronavirus and our economy shrank 33% on an annualized basis last
quarter, and we just appear to be all right with that.
Not only are we perfectly willing to toss grandma in an early grave
on Trump's say-so, but we are supine as he openly engineers the
destruction of social security and medicare, and of the post office,
on behalf of himself and the billionaire class he represents. That is
after we sat by while he completely gutted all environmental
regulations that got in the way of corporations making money off
poisoning us. I don't think the neutering of the EPA has even been
reported on daytime cable news, though the prime time magazine shows
on MSNBC have at least brought it up.
Americans imagine themselves rugged individualists. A cartoonist did
a satire on us showing brawny guys, shirts off, with the logo "Rugged
individualism works best when we obey."
In fact, Americans are masochistic sheeple who let the rich and
powerful walk all over them and thank them for the privilege.
We have become wimps. The word wimp may come from "whimper." It was
used in a newspaper in 1920, and then not again until 1960. Since
then it may have been influenced by the character of "Wimpy" in the
Popeye cartoons, who did not have much gumption. He was only good at
mooching off people in search of a hamburger.
I always thought Americans were the plucky Popeye, who knew how to
get iron in their diets and show some spunk.
Turns out we have been reduced to begging for our meals.
The rich figured out in the 1980s that Americans are all form over
substance, and if you put up for president a Hollywood actor like
Ronald Reagan who used to play cowboys, they would swoon over him. In
1984 when Reagan ran against Walter Mondale, I saw a middle aged
white Detroit auto worker interviewed who said he woudn't vote for
Mondale because he was a "panty-waist." Reagan took away their right
to strike and took away government services by running up the deficit
and cutting taxes on the rich simultaneously, then claiming the
government couldn't provide the services the people had paid for
because it is broke.
Reagan raised the retirement age from 65 to 67. Why? Most young
people don't realize that their health will decline in their late 60s
and they often won't actually get any golden years.
What did Americans do in response? They just bent over and took it.
Actually, it is the French who are much more like Americans imagine
themselves to be. President Emmanuel Macron last December tried to
raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. I can't understand why.
France has persistently high unemployment as it is.
In response, all hell broke loose. Some 30 unions went on strike, and
they supported each other. Trains were interrupted. Trucking was
interrupted.
Life was interrupted. A million people came out into the streets. But
one poll had 61% of the French approving of the strikes. They went on
for months, and were very inconvenient.