One of your most exceptional pieces yet, sweet Diana van Eyk.
I am grateful I make them,
the last words I read tonight,
going to go..
be horizontal for a while..
All the world's inactions are bows feeding that blasphemous golden-iron dome of hate. What we don't explode to death, will surely implode itself. Chicken or egg. We were mostly all chicken..
Najwan, thanks so much! I'm so glad my piece spoke to you.
I just finished listening to an amazing interview with Pepe Escobar by Sharmine Narwani. It's long but very interesting, and addresses a few of the same things my piece addresses. And it actually ends on a hopeful note, if you can believe it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8o3hDyh0hs
And this is where we start--we undo the brainwashing the elites have done to us. We turn the tables. They are the ones who are disposable. We turn things inside out.
Yes, I agree. We're the ones who have values, and who care about life, the future, everything...
And I think we could be reaching social tipping points both within our countries and geopolitically. Things can sometimes change quickly. Are we reaching that point, I wonder...
We need to replace competition with co-operation, domination with negotiation, elitism with equality, exploitation with stewardship, exploitation with responsibility, love of money with reverence for life, just for starters. Envisioning a better world is not the problem; it’s who will replace our failed systems and build new ones. Considering that it’s taken four thousand years of patriarchy to get us to where we are now, we can only hope that younger generations will learn more quickly from both their elders’ mistakes and their elders’ guidance because the future is in their hands.
Have you read Vincent Bevin's book, If We Burn, Diane? It documents how so many movements were co-opted, which is why it seems necessary to me to envision what we want, so that if we're taken in the wrong direction, that can become apparent.
It's very similar to what happened in Iran recently, and in other colour revolutions and attempted colour revolutions: sanctions were imposed, people protested, the protesters were infiltrated by Mossad and CIA agents and their allies who committed violence including murdering, burning down buildings, etc. and that violence was then attributed to the state.
Luckily, Iran was able to stop the violence and arrest the perpetrators, but it's an old playbook. The narrative blaming Iran for this violence justifies war against it in the minds of those who believe mainstream media.
And, I agree, we need to replace the things you listed with their better expressions.
No, I haven't. (Will check it out.) But I can see that's how the powerful and their agents thwart movements for change. Look at what happened to Black Lives Matter and the pro-Palestinian student protests. Poof, gone! The last thing the power junkies want is for any kind of mass movement to erupt into a real revolution, and they'll do anything and everything to stay in power, including starting a world war and, if worse comes to worse, nuking the planet. I hope to hell things don't come to that, but these nihilistic monsters are desperate, diabolical, and criminally irresponsible! Some of them even believe that they will rise through the clouds to join Jesus! It's enough to scare the living daylights out of you!
I think the #1 cause of most of the ills you mention is due to the overwhelmingly greedy nature of the US as it forces an hyper-aggressive form of capitalism upon its citizens and the world. So many US citizens are brainwashed into thinking this is the only way we can organize society, and the harm caused to so many of our own citizens and those countries we extract from are ignored. The word Socialism has been demonized to so many that even the mere mention of it causes people to dismiss you completely without even understanding the issues facing most of us.
The scary part for me is the rigid grip the capitalist/Epstein class has over the workings of society that the only way to change it is by completely breaking the whole thing into pieces while a real conversation about what to build in its place can not be agreed upon due to the staggering amount of disagreement about how we got here in the first place.
The situation is scary for sure, David. And I agree that this form of greedy, hyper-aggressive capitalism is a huge part of the problem, and people brainwashed into thinking that this is the only way we can organize society.
I thought Bernie Sanders helped to dispel some of the demonization of Socialism, but there's probably still a lot of stigma around it. I question so much of what we've been led to believe. And the Epstein class running everything is terrifying. I wonder how we deal with that, and how we build solidarity among the rest of us.
Excellent questions, and I am not sure if we have figured out what we can do about the control the Epstein class has over us while protecting themselves through 5 US administrations. Bush Jr, Obama, Trump 1, Biden, and Trump 2 all had their FBI directors and Attorney Generals, and none of them did anything about it until they were finally forced to do something very recently. This means the problem is bipartisan in nature.
As far as what Bernie accomplished, which I was absolutely in favor of, amounts to almost nothing in favor of the people. The Democrats snuffed out his movement, and the rest of the oligarchy have done what they can to keep us supressed through surveillance, misinformation, the demonizion of others, and defining any decent as a terrorist act.
I think Bernie was able to destigmatize socialism for many, although nothing much has changed. I don't have the answers either, David, but I think the questions are on many minds, and hopefully we'll be able to find some solutions to these momentous problems.
I think he helped many understandbthat most of us have the same issues when navigating our reality. US citizens are still very confused about what socialism is. It seems many would rather die while struggling to get by rather than to understand that when our social systems work for everyone regardless of who we are, how we self-identify, or what our imigration status happens to be then everyone is safer and more secure.
One of your most exceptional pieces yet, sweet Diana van Eyk.
I am grateful I make them,
the last words I read tonight,
going to go..
be horizontal for a while..
All the world's inactions are bows feeding that blasphemous golden-iron dome of hate. What we don't explode to death, will surely implode itself. Chicken or egg. We were mostly all chicken..
#PalestineWillBeFree
Najwan, thanks so much! I'm so glad my piece spoke to you.
I just finished listening to an amazing interview with Pepe Escobar by Sharmine Narwani. It's long but very interesting, and addresses a few of the same things my piece addresses. And it actually ends on a hopeful note, if you can believe it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8o3hDyh0hs
Beautiful. Thanks you.
My pleasure, Amanda. It's hard to keep up, but fascinating, and I'm glad it spoke to you.
"The elite class considers us disposable."
And this is where we start--we undo the brainwashing the elites have done to us. We turn the tables. They are the ones who are disposable. We turn things inside out.
Yes, I agree. We're the ones who have values, and who care about life, the future, everything...
And I think we could be reaching social tipping points both within our countries and geopolitically. Things can sometimes change quickly. Are we reaching that point, I wonder...
We need to replace competition with co-operation, domination with negotiation, elitism with equality, exploitation with stewardship, exploitation with responsibility, love of money with reverence for life, just for starters. Envisioning a better world is not the problem; it’s who will replace our failed systems and build new ones. Considering that it’s taken four thousand years of patriarchy to get us to where we are now, we can only hope that younger generations will learn more quickly from both their elders’ mistakes and their elders’ guidance because the future is in their hands.
Have you read Vincent Bevin's book, If We Burn, Diane? It documents how so many movements were co-opted, which is why it seems necessary to me to envision what we want, so that if we're taken in the wrong direction, that can become apparent.
It's very similar to what happened in Iran recently, and in other colour revolutions and attempted colour revolutions: sanctions were imposed, people protested, the protesters were infiltrated by Mossad and CIA agents and their allies who committed violence including murdering, burning down buildings, etc. and that violence was then attributed to the state.
Luckily, Iran was able to stop the violence and arrest the perpetrators, but it's an old playbook. The narrative blaming Iran for this violence justifies war against it in the minds of those who believe mainstream media.
And, I agree, we need to replace the things you listed with their better expressions.
No, I haven't. (Will check it out.) But I can see that's how the powerful and their agents thwart movements for change. Look at what happened to Black Lives Matter and the pro-Palestinian student protests. Poof, gone! The last thing the power junkies want is for any kind of mass movement to erupt into a real revolution, and they'll do anything and everything to stay in power, including starting a world war and, if worse comes to worse, nuking the planet. I hope to hell things don't come to that, but these nihilistic monsters are desperate, diabolical, and criminally irresponsible! Some of them even believe that they will rise through the clouds to join Jesus! It's enough to scare the living daylights out of you!
No kidding, Diane. These are truly horrific and terrifying times.
I think the #1 cause of most of the ills you mention is due to the overwhelmingly greedy nature of the US as it forces an hyper-aggressive form of capitalism upon its citizens and the world. So many US citizens are brainwashed into thinking this is the only way we can organize society, and the harm caused to so many of our own citizens and those countries we extract from are ignored. The word Socialism has been demonized to so many that even the mere mention of it causes people to dismiss you completely without even understanding the issues facing most of us.
The scary part for me is the rigid grip the capitalist/Epstein class has over the workings of society that the only way to change it is by completely breaking the whole thing into pieces while a real conversation about what to build in its place can not be agreed upon due to the staggering amount of disagreement about how we got here in the first place.
The situation is scary for sure, David. And I agree that this form of greedy, hyper-aggressive capitalism is a huge part of the problem, and people brainwashed into thinking that this is the only way we can organize society.
I thought Bernie Sanders helped to dispel some of the demonization of Socialism, but there's probably still a lot of stigma around it. I question so much of what we've been led to believe. And the Epstein class running everything is terrifying. I wonder how we deal with that, and how we build solidarity among the rest of us.
Excellent questions, and I am not sure if we have figured out what we can do about the control the Epstein class has over us while protecting themselves through 5 US administrations. Bush Jr, Obama, Trump 1, Biden, and Trump 2 all had their FBI directors and Attorney Generals, and none of them did anything about it until they were finally forced to do something very recently. This means the problem is bipartisan in nature.
As far as what Bernie accomplished, which I was absolutely in favor of, amounts to almost nothing in favor of the people. The Democrats snuffed out his movement, and the rest of the oligarchy have done what they can to keep us supressed through surveillance, misinformation, the demonizion of others, and defining any decent as a terrorist act.
I think Bernie was able to destigmatize socialism for many, although nothing much has changed. I don't have the answers either, David, but I think the questions are on many minds, and hopefully we'll be able to find some solutions to these momentous problems.
I think he helped many understandbthat most of us have the same issues when navigating our reality. US citizens are still very confused about what socialism is. It seems many would rather die while struggling to get by rather than to understand that when our social systems work for everyone regardless of who we are, how we self-identify, or what our imigration status happens to be then everyone is safer and more secure.
I call it indoctrination.