"Our society doesn’t fit us anymore. It doesn’t support us materially, nor does it help us to understand ourselves and each other, or to create a healthy, caring global society."
It could be argued our society has never fit us at all. A self-centered, white-centric, imperial-colonizing society has never been a good fit, and finally the blisters and wear marks are beginning to show. It's painful, but change can be a good thing.
That's exactly it. Our society has never been fit for purpose - it couldn't possibly be when it was built upon premises of supremacy and exploitation. It's inhumane by default. What's happening now is the masks slipping and more people than ever before realising it.
In the 1960's the empire was just putting downs its roots. This is why the Kennedy brothers, King and so many others were assassinated. The empire peaked in the 1990's and the war in Ukraine has triggered the final collapse. We are now seeing the rage and anger of the swindlers and war mongers who perpetrated the empire and are now exposed. They are desperately trying to save their asses with war as their only option.
There are indications the tide is turning in our favor but we will be living in precarious times for many years as the West has to undertake a major reformation in how we govern ourselves which starts with a return to democracy.
There is a new more legitimate and just world order based on multilateral consensus under the auspices of BRICS led by Russia and China being formed. The West must eventually be part of it. The malicious unipolar world dominated by the US is on its deathbed.
It will be interesting to see how the BRICS Summit goes this weekend.
For those who have benefitted from empire's plunder, playing fair on the global stage is unthinkable. It scares me to think of what they could do in their desperation.
From what I hear it has a lot of momentum as there are a lot of countries determined to liberate themselves from Washington's belligerence and its utterly fake "rules based order". We are also seeing the end of NATO which is forty years overdue.
PS: It is a very good sign the US is threatening other countries with sanctions and tariffs as it only inflicts more damage to its own economy and isolates itself from the rest of the world. Asia now produces 70% of the world's goods.
There were protests in the sixties, but that is not all there was. It was not so long before that there was a war, a holocaust and the first nuclear bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. People smoked tobacco everywhere. On planes, buses, in hospitals, restaurants. People threw back a stiff drink whenever they felt stressed. We were destroying our environment, the oceans, the air, our forests. Cars were a big deal and a big status symbol That was the time when we started heading to where we are now. Even before, we got ourselves moving in this direction, but after WW2 it really sped up. Colonizers were still colonizing and thinking themselves better than those they colonized. What is happening in Gaza did not just come out of the blue. We have been heading in this direction for decades. And now, a few people have become crazy rich, others are in the middle and when the problems get bigger, the "others" get blamed. Immigrants, people of colour, Muslims, women who need abortions, trans people. It should not really be such a big surprise that it has come down to this.
I don't know that it's surprising, Susan. Many of us have seen this coming for decades. I've been worried about fascism for at least a decade.
And the 60s were also incredibly patriarchal, it seems to me.
The context of our protest movements has changed though. Times of plenty create a different sort of movement than times of austerity, and I was comparing those differences.
Also being online has lots of problems, but helps us to connect with people all over the world, and allows people to show us what's going on in places like Gaza.
I wonder how our movements can adapt to these things, and to get people looking up, and not punching down as many do now.
You're very right about this. I too have noticed that many in the pro-Palestine movement are genuinely shocked to their core and didn't see any of this coming. I see people repeatedly say things like "the US and Israel are ruining our world/what has the world come to/all the progress we have made in post-WWII peacetime has been destroyed" etc.
All of that is a result of successful conditioning and normalisation of colonialism that led to complacency. Generations upon generations were genuinely lulled into believing in the myth of progress, "peacetime," "post-colonialism." I also see many vehemently rejecting this and insisting that Gaza is a one-off, because it's incredibly hard to acknowledge that your entire life has been one big, fat lie and that you have to rethink your entire existence.
So true, Ramona. It's amazing how brainwashed so many are in the west that we're the 'good guys' and would never do anything like this, never mind history: Iraq, Viet Nam, Libya,Afghanistan and the less visible slaughters that have been ongoing all this time. Supporting the genocide in Gaza and the other military operations in the Middle East seems like a natural progression.
I know. That is why "others" was in quotation marks. There are no "others". Just people. The big problem is that many white people see themselves as the norm and everyone else as "other".
Americans, unfortunately a minority of people eligible to tore actually do so; and in essence relinquish their rights as citizens; nevertheless, the people who do vote can vote for Dr. Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate who is the only one running who has a chance of winning that does not support the genocide in Gaza and now in Lebanon, and offers detailed agendas to address the problems confronting the US and the world.. The only candidate running who actually does so.
I would love a world where Jill Stein had a chance of winning. Please share what leads you to this conclusion? I'm not being sarcastic. (I don't think she's a grifter at all.) And if "the powers" could stop a freight train movement like Sanders in 2016, they sure as hell won't hesitate nor have any difficulty stopping Stein. They've already had their intention on full display by blocking ballot access. I'm sure I'll take a beating here for this, but my calculation is thus: the lesser of two evils is still lesser. JD Vance is the embodiment of the Stillson character in The Dead Zone. He scares the crap out of me, far more than Orange Julius Ceasar. Voting for Stein won't stop the genocide. A protest vote doesn't move the scale. I still think we need to take to the streets. I know many people literally can't risk taking even one day off from work. That means the rest of us need to make it so. But that's just one 73 yo rabble rouser's opinion. Which - oh, wait! - that's what a vote is supposed to be. (None of my frustration is directed at any individual here. Just howling at the moon.)
I understand where you're coming from; nevertheless noting is every going to change if we keep letting the Dumbcrats and Repulsives dictate out choices. I live in a small rural city on the Mexican border, and it would be pointless to protest here, though as a retired Old Fuck, I certainly have enough time to do it.
I totally disagree with Thom Hartmann. I used to be in his chatroom as Poet. I have manybof his autographed books. I live in WA. He used to be in Oregon.
Brunch with Bernie on Fridays was a thing. I became totally suspicious of the Bern years ago. I think blackagendareport.com
Voting for Harris is allegedly choosing the lesser of two evils; nevertheless, you are still left with evil. Voting for Stein is voting for someone who is voting as you feel. Hartmann is locked into the duopoly which at best is short sighted.
I know this very well about Thom. Despite the Democrats chicanery against Bernie, he still supported Shitlery and Biden! He explained his voting for budgets (war funding) as supporting the money for the troops (you know, innocent people trapped in wars!)
Some may be naive, some entrapped by poverty, but please spare me the BS, B. Sanders. I'm old-er. We've watched this corrupt dance for many years. ✌️ ☮️ 🕊
If politics in the US is every going to change, people need to vote what they believe in, and not vote for the poor choices offered by the Dumbcrats and the Repulsives. Stein is on the ballet in enough states for her to win the presidency.
I don't think Bernie is corrupt. I disagree with some of his decisions over the years. Again: My observations & opinion. We're all so accustomed to right/wrong, black/white, either/or. Come on. We all know that's what we've been acculturated to! A man who steals a loaf of bread to feed his starving family isn't a criminal. A group of people who were driven off their land by colonialists aren't terrorists for fighting to regain their rights. You KNOW this. And the real world we live in right now is offering us only two choices of who will actually sit in the Oval. Once Empire collapses, we can choose good people like Stein to lead us forward.
''So many of us are appalled and don’t know what to do. But we’re doing what we can as we experience the agony of helplessly watching the slaughter continue''
Notice how they've been responding to truth tellers and those critical of the genocide - then clearly, truth is something that they fear and reveals that we have to continue posting the truth with everything that we got.
Why is it that we're not allowed to question the official version of the genocide that took place during the second world war and the one that's taking place right now ! [but officially it's not]
Perhaps they have something in common that some powerful people wish to keep a lid on.
Yes, I see your point. There are a select few universal "third rail" topics that seem to always remain third rail topics, unwaveringly so, over long periods of time, applying to all "sides." And I'm not referring to abortion/choice, or "health freedom" choice.
I have shared comments, articles, pictures and personal views on my Facebook and other social media pages that I know will challenge and annoy my friends and I don’t care. I meet their side glances in church and wait for the challenge. I am done playing!
I so agree with this commentary. At midnight I will be 76 years old. My personal evolution began in 1948. I was a child of the 60s. So much to say, but I must sleep. ☺️
Thank you. I will think on it. Look for it at my Substack page. I'm new here, tired of FB, not on TikToc. On Insta and Threads, but I mostly follow on those last 2. ☺️
"How do we learn to look out for each other, instead of being suspicious of those who are different from us? How do we create longer tables instead of higher walls?"
Love!
I totally disagree with the poem as I believe the ONLY way to get at the root cause is to decline to participate when the whole system is controlled by the same interests in different costumes. Only when we say no and enough of us do will the system be forced to evolve or die.
"Our society doesn’t fit us anymore. It doesn’t support us materially, nor does it help us to understand ourselves and each other, or to create a healthy, caring global society."
It could be argued our society has never fit us at all. A self-centered, white-centric, imperial-colonizing society has never been a good fit, and finally the blisters and wear marks are beginning to show. It's painful, but change can be a good thing.
I agree. I think it's never been quite so glaringly obvious to a lot more people.
That's exactly it. Our society has never been fit for purpose - it couldn't possibly be when it was built upon premises of supremacy and exploitation. It's inhumane by default. What's happening now is the masks slipping and more people than ever before realising it.
In the 1960's the empire was just putting downs its roots. This is why the Kennedy brothers, King and so many others were assassinated. The empire peaked in the 1990's and the war in Ukraine has triggered the final collapse. We are now seeing the rage and anger of the swindlers and war mongers who perpetrated the empire and are now exposed. They are desperately trying to save their asses with war as their only option.
There are indications the tide is turning in our favor but we will be living in precarious times for many years as the West has to undertake a major reformation in how we govern ourselves which starts with a return to democracy.
There is a new more legitimate and just world order based on multilateral consensus under the auspices of BRICS led by Russia and China being formed. The West must eventually be part of it. The malicious unipolar world dominated by the US is on its deathbed.
I agree, Robert.
It will be interesting to see how the BRICS Summit goes this weekend.
For those who have benefitted from empire's plunder, playing fair on the global stage is unthinkable. It scares me to think of what they could do in their desperation.
From what I hear it has a lot of momentum as there are a lot of countries determined to liberate themselves from Washington's belligerence and its utterly fake "rules based order". We are also seeing the end of NATO which is forty years overdue.
PS: It is a very good sign the US is threatening other countries with sanctions and tariffs as it only inflicts more damage to its own economy and isolates itself from the rest of the world. Asia now produces 70% of the world's goods.
There were protests in the sixties, but that is not all there was. It was not so long before that there was a war, a holocaust and the first nuclear bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. People smoked tobacco everywhere. On planes, buses, in hospitals, restaurants. People threw back a stiff drink whenever they felt stressed. We were destroying our environment, the oceans, the air, our forests. Cars were a big deal and a big status symbol That was the time when we started heading to where we are now. Even before, we got ourselves moving in this direction, but after WW2 it really sped up. Colonizers were still colonizing and thinking themselves better than those they colonized. What is happening in Gaza did not just come out of the blue. We have been heading in this direction for decades. And now, a few people have become crazy rich, others are in the middle and when the problems get bigger, the "others" get blamed. Immigrants, people of colour, Muslims, women who need abortions, trans people. It should not really be such a big surprise that it has come down to this.
I don't know that it's surprising, Susan. Many of us have seen this coming for decades. I've been worried about fascism for at least a decade.
And the 60s were also incredibly patriarchal, it seems to me.
The context of our protest movements has changed though. Times of plenty create a different sort of movement than times of austerity, and I was comparing those differences.
Also being online has lots of problems, but helps us to connect with people all over the world, and allows people to show us what's going on in places like Gaza.
I wonder how our movements can adapt to these things, and to get people looking up, and not punching down as many do now.
We have been conditioned to consume, to desire and worship celebrity
You're very right about this. I too have noticed that many in the pro-Palestine movement are genuinely shocked to their core and didn't see any of this coming. I see people repeatedly say things like "the US and Israel are ruining our world/what has the world come to/all the progress we have made in post-WWII peacetime has been destroyed" etc.
All of that is a result of successful conditioning and normalisation of colonialism that led to complacency. Generations upon generations were genuinely lulled into believing in the myth of progress, "peacetime," "post-colonialism." I also see many vehemently rejecting this and insisting that Gaza is a one-off, because it's incredibly hard to acknowledge that your entire life has been one big, fat lie and that you have to rethink your entire existence.
So true, Ramona. It's amazing how brainwashed so many are in the west that we're the 'good guys' and would never do anything like this, never mind history: Iraq, Viet Nam, Libya,Afghanistan and the less visible slaughters that have been ongoing all this time. Supporting the genocide in Gaza and the other military operations in the Middle East seems like a natural progression.
Although, I am not a person of colour. Just a person thanks.
I know. That is why "others" was in quotation marks. There are no "others". Just people. The big problem is that many white people see themselves as the norm and everyone else as "other".
Real change can come only from the bottom up and the inside out. But the road ahead, I'm afraid, will be a long and hard one.
I think it will too, Diane.
Put your shoes on Lucy
Thanks for Liking, Elizabeth, much appreciated. Tell me Tho'.... do you know the origin of "Put your shoes on Lucy" ?
Americans, unfortunately a minority of people eligible to tore actually do so; and in essence relinquish their rights as citizens; nevertheless, the people who do vote can vote for Dr. Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate who is the only one running who has a chance of winning that does not support the genocide in Gaza and now in Lebanon, and offers detailed agendas to address the problems confronting the US and the world.. The only candidate running who actually does so.
I would love a world where Jill Stein had a chance of winning. Please share what leads you to this conclusion? I'm not being sarcastic. (I don't think she's a grifter at all.) And if "the powers" could stop a freight train movement like Sanders in 2016, they sure as hell won't hesitate nor have any difficulty stopping Stein. They've already had their intention on full display by blocking ballot access. I'm sure I'll take a beating here for this, but my calculation is thus: the lesser of two evils is still lesser. JD Vance is the embodiment of the Stillson character in The Dead Zone. He scares the crap out of me, far more than Orange Julius Ceasar. Voting for Stein won't stop the genocide. A protest vote doesn't move the scale. I still think we need to take to the streets. I know many people literally can't risk taking even one day off from work. That means the rest of us need to make it so. But that's just one 73 yo rabble rouser's opinion. Which - oh, wait! - that's what a vote is supposed to be. (None of my frustration is directed at any individual here. Just howling at the moon.)
I understand where you're coming from; nevertheless noting is every going to change if we keep letting the Dumbcrats and Repulsives dictate out choices. I live in a small rural city on the Mexican border, and it would be pointless to protest here, though as a retired Old Fuck, I certainly have enough time to do it.
I understand.
No chance of winning. Read Thom Hartmann: Jill Stein: The Grifter Who May Hand Trump the White House Again: https://hartmannreport.com/p/jill-stein-the-grifter-who-may-hand-06e
I totally disagree with Thom Hartmann. I used to be in his chatroom as Poet. I have manybof his autographed books. I live in WA. He used to be in Oregon.
Brunch with Bernie on Fridays was a thing. I became totally suspicious of the Bern years ago. I think blackagendareport.com
Got it right! Sheepdog!
Voting for Harris is allegedly choosing the lesser of two evils; nevertheless, you are still left with evil. Voting for Stein is voting for someone who is voting as you feel. Hartmann is locked into the duopoly which at best is short sighted.
I know this very well about Thom. Despite the Democrats chicanery against Bernie, he still supported Shitlery and Biden! He explained his voting for budgets (war funding) as supporting the money for the troops (you know, innocent people trapped in wars!)
Some may be naive, some entrapped by poverty, but please spare me the BS, B. Sanders. I'm old-er. We've watched this corrupt dance for many years. ✌️ ☮️ 🕊
If politics in the US is every going to change, people need to vote what they believe in, and not vote for the poor choices offered by the Dumbcrats and the Repulsives. Stein is on the ballet in enough states for her to win the presidency.
I don't think Bernie is corrupt. I disagree with some of his decisions over the years. Again: My observations & opinion. We're all so accustomed to right/wrong, black/white, either/or. Come on. We all know that's what we've been acculturated to! A man who steals a loaf of bread to feed his starving family isn't a criminal. A group of people who were driven off their land by colonialists aren't terrorists for fighting to regain their rights. You KNOW this. And the real world we live in right now is offering us only two choices of who will actually sit in the Oval. Once Empire collapses, we can choose good people like Stein to lead us forward.
''So many of us are appalled and don’t know what to do. But we’re doing what we can as we experience the agony of helplessly watching the slaughter continue''
Notice how they've been responding to truth tellers and those critical of the genocide - then clearly, truth is something that they fear and reveals that we have to continue posting the truth with everything that we got.
Why is it that we're not allowed to question the official version of the genocide that took place during the second world war and the one that's taking place right now ! [but officially it's not]
Perhaps they have something in common that some powerful people wish to keep a lid on.
Yes, I see your point. There are a select few universal "third rail" topics that seem to always remain third rail topics, unwaveringly so, over long periods of time, applying to all "sides." And I'm not referring to abortion/choice, or "health freedom" choice.
All the more reason to give them a little extra sunshine.
I have shared comments, articles, pictures and personal views on my Facebook and other social media pages that I know will challenge and annoy my friends and I don’t care. I meet their side glances in church and wait for the challenge. I am done playing!
I so agree with this commentary. At midnight I will be 76 years old. My personal evolution began in 1948. I was a child of the 60s. So much to say, but I must sleep. ☺️
Happy birthday, J C, and may I say -- I wish your 77th will happen in a different, better world.
Thank you so much. This is my fondest wish. Stop the killing! Criminals!
Happy Birthday, J C! I wish the killing would stop too. And after you've had a good rest, I'd love to hear your thoughts about the 60s.
Thank you. I will think on it. Look for it at my Substack page. I'm new here, tired of FB, not on TikToc. On Insta and Threads, but I mostly follow on those last 2. ☺️
"How do we learn to look out for each other, instead of being suspicious of those who are different from us? How do we create longer tables instead of higher walls?"
Love!
I totally disagree with the poem as I believe the ONLY way to get at the root cause is to decline to participate when the whole system is controlled by the same interests in different costumes. Only when we say no and enough of us do will the system be forced to evolve or die.
Funny, I got something completely different out of the poem. To me, it's about including everyone.
I agree with you.
Yes!!!!
Poetry, it's intentions, results, perspectives, perceptions ......
Poetry can be a sword of truth or
Or a laser that focuses you on one aspect
Reveal what is uncouth
But why?
To corral and intensify
The emotions toward a certain end
Or to allow you to simply feel
And then find your own way
Without pressing
Trying to send
A signal
That which impacts consciousness
Shapes behavior
Poetry
Highlights an emotion
Can be a way to release
Energy in motion
A therapy
An art
A form of propaganda
A psy
Echo
Sighs