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muddled_in_america
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dafremen
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R. Dafremen
Well folks, looks like we'll get our Revolution after all. But it's not going to come from "working within the system" that's for sure. The system has all sorts of built-in defense mechanisms to protect the interests of those in power and maintain the status quo.
Here are two that have been popping up like nipples in a blizzard:
In this country, our educational system goes out of its way to make people anal about avoiding mistakes. The result is that our society is filled to the rafters with people who are DEATHLY afraid of being wrong. Our humor is often based around others making mistakes or errors in judgment. And finally, and most to the point of this writing, there is a tendency to STUBBORNLY adhere to even FALSE beliefs, arguing, fighting..even killing..just to avoid hearing the three words: "You were wrong." It's as though we could convince, cajole, coerce or destroy anyone whose opinion differs from our own, and instantly declare ourselves CORRECT...even if we're not.
That explains why all of these blue collar conservative types will dig their heels in and actually fight for the very people who are robbing them of their retirement savings, crashed their 401k and have steadily lowered their earnings, exported their business opportunities..etc, etc.
But they don't see that. Some of them are so caught up in this way of thinking, that they actually believe people want change..because they are "jealous losers." But this isn't about who is right and who is wrong. This is about the survival of the American way. It is dying or dead and no one is doing anything about it. There is NO DOUBT in ANYONE'S mind that something is wrong with our political system. Conservatives and Liberals alike are constantly talking about "picking the lesser of two evils" around elections time.
This isn't about conservative ideologies being wrong. It isn't about liberal ideologies being right. It's about the system that is currently in place being ineffective, unresponsive and neglectful of the needs of the vast majority of its citizens.
This MISTAKE PHOBIA which we're taught from our already conditioned parents..and the educational system, doesn't stop defending the status quo there, oh no. Here's something you might have seen on T.V. lately:
"The protesters have no coherent demands." "The protesters have no clear direction." "The protesters' message seems muddled and vague."
Why so much insistence that the protesters come up with a list of specific demands? Because division between members of the protests will mount as specific points are added. Right now the Occupy movements are fueled by a generally feeling of discontent with the way things are now. Each individual has their OWN idea about what is causing this breakdown in our society.
If we start trying to nail down bullet points and demands, the division goes from being between the WORKING CLASS and the WEALTHY, to being between the WORKING CLASS WHO WANT ONE DEMAND and the WORKING CLASS WHO WANT A DIFFERENT DEMAND. And then everyone will start fighting to avoid being WRONG. It's a real mess. And it all starts with an education. We did it for the children.
The second nipple in the wind, is the Democratic Party and the Labor Movement which serve to act as release valves, keeping the system in place while giving the Revolution a place to blow off its steam until it believes that it has accomplished its goal of change.
And, right on cue, the Democrats are trying to align themselves with the movement. They will dilute the movement if given the opportunity, they will take its reigns if at all possible. Think about what the Democrats are fighting for:
Your right to be a well treated robot in a factory somewhere that produces crap for you to buy which makes someone else wealthy and prosperous. In other words, one of the main differences between Democratic values and Republican values is that Democrats want to feed, water and groom the horses after working the farm. Republicans want to work the horses until they die, then replace them with new horses. Note that pro-education Democrats are ALLLL about providing a new crop of qualified livestock for the factories. The two parties aren't as divided in their ideologies as we're led to believe. Words are words, but actions speak louder: Both parties have put us in tremendous debt, both parties produce Americans dependent upon either industry or government for survival. The self-reliant American is all but a thing of the past thanks to these clueless gangs of fat, wrinkly thugs. Specialists are blind in most areas, super-sighted in few. The cross pollination of American ideas from different walks of life, different points of view, different experiential databases..dead with specialization and along with it, Yankee ingenuity.
THIS is the vision of our so-called leaders. To put blinders on their people and make them dependent upon the SYSTEM for all of their basic needs..and their more complex ones. To make them afraid to keep them from trusting one another. To take from each generation more freedom in the name of "security", while providing nothing even remotely resembling security. To break our backs and leave us to die. Or to break or backs and nurse us back to health free of charge. so that we can go and break our backs some more. To stuff their pockets and claim we didn't and can't because we didn't work hard enough..all of this while their workers slave away in their factories for peanuts. To use us like chattel and toss us like garbage and shear us like sheep and clip our wings and cage us. This is the vision of our "leadership."
I have a specific demand: I want them gone. All of them. Gone, now. Forever.
And finally, a parting question for those who keep insisting that a clear cut direction is what gives legitimacy to a cause:
What direction is the current economic, political and social system taking us in? What is the clear list of bullet points which our leaders have for the direction they are taking this country in? And after 150+ years in power, when exactly are the Demopublicans going to get us to wherever the hell they think they are taking us?
see also: taking_it_to_the_streets
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111012
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ergo
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Our people are sedated by television, consumerism, Prozac, alcohol and pot.
There is a conditioned laziness that
is prone to accepting predigested opinions as the truth. When we are rudely disturbed by a 9/11 it is easy to convince us that the "right" answer is to invade a country that had nothing to do with it. Thanks for pointing out how we are conditioned to be afraid of being wrong.
Everybody has to awaken from this stupefied dream.
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111012
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dafremen
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A Century Of Campaign Slogans Indicate: Taxation Without Representation
Here are some Presidential Campaign Slogans of both Republican AND Democratic candidates down through the decades:
Change We Can Believe In - 2008 Yes We Can - 2008 Yes, America Can - 2004 Reformer With Results - 2000 Putting People First - 1992 It's Time To Change America - 1992 A Kinder, Gentler Nation - 1988 A Thousand Points Of Light Across America - 1988 America Needs a Change - 1984 Let's Make America Great Again - 1980 A Leader, For Change - 1976 For The Future - 1968 A Great Society For the Troubled Poor - 1964 We Stand On The Edge Of A New Frontier - 1960 A Fair Deal For The American People - 1945 A New Deal For The American People - 1932 A New Freedom - 1912 A Square Deal For Everyone - 1904
According to my calculations, that is approximately 107 years that just the PRESIDENTIAL candidates on both sides of the fence have been promising us ALL a better America. To date, things have only gotten worse. Inflation has steadily risen in those 107 years. Corporate control over the average citizens' day to day lives has steadily increased. Government budgets have only swollen larger, while government accountability for abuse, waste and fraud is at an all time low.
So they didn't give us change. They never did. We're like the naive teen girl who keeps believing the guy who cheats on her, then promises to change.
Still, the slogans themselves indicate this: Our political leaders, elected to represent us..never gave us that representation. And they knew what we wanted. They promised it to us..each and every time. But they never gave it to us..and THAT means we've been taxed...but not represented. Taxation without representation was at the HEART of the original American Revolution. Only THEIR law says we owe taxes. Until we are afforded a TRULY representational government..it is our right and our tradition to refuse to pay a penny in taxes.
A democratic election process alone does NOT constitute representation. Once elected, the politician has to vote as promised.
If we are to be taxed, and promises aren't kept, then refund the tax money..or jail the politicians for obtaining political office in order to defraud the people.
Trying isn't enough. If they don't KNOW that they can...they shouldn't make the promises. And if they make the promise..they'd better do everything in their power to make it happen. Because there will be a debt to society to pay if campaign promises aren't kept.
daf
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111013
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unhinged
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blackberry mojito
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111013
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daf
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Perfect for a post Revolution celebration. Where'd I leave my muddler?
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111013
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ergo
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Pablum, the perfect prerevolution food
for those with no teeth.
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111014
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ergo
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"DEATHLY afraid of being wrong."
I think that say's it all, it is why we seek out and cling to positions and then
search for arguments that will defend the position and defend ourselves. Yes, this is a form of thinking, but it is a tightly restricted form. Playing with ideas, playing with words, creating truth and beauty is so much of a more alive response to the challenge of existence. As humans in the world we have a responsibility to create, we have the responsibility to create a just, peaceful and prosperous world in which all of humanity may create and flourish. How can I contribute?
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111016
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dafremen
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Here's .02 worth..pesos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p91XP3B8Mb8
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111031
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ergo
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A right on rousing!
We rabble are arising.
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111031
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daf
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITHQT_B-oT8
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111103
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ergo
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"deathly afraid of being wrong" continues to resonate. How this fear effectively destroys creativity may be
at the crux. If the psychic energy
that is tied to finding safe positions
and then buttressing them could be unleashed...
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111122
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dafremen
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I like to point out that I never learned anything by being right..except perhaps how little there is to be gained by being right all of the time.
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111123
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dafremen
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/nov/25/shocking-truth-about-crackdown-occupy
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111127
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ergo
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It's pretty thick, but people are conditioned to not pay attention.
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111127
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thy
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daf, i didnt realize that it had gotten that bad. shit. thank you for the link, and keep up the good work.
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111127
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dafremen
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http://www.dvorak.org/blog/2008/06/13/police-shoot-woman-in-head-with-rubber-bullet-then-laugh-about-it/
This isn't recent. It's just that this sort of behavior has been traditionally reserved for those who DON'T comply. For those of us who stopped complying a long time ago, this is not news.
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111129
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dafremen
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This is going through Congress right now. STOP the DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION BILL NOW!!!
http://blogs.philadelphiaweekly.com/phillynow/2011/11/29/national-defense-authorization-bill-makes-unlikely-allies-casey-office-responds/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=national-defense-authorization-bill-makes-unlikely-allies-casey-office-responds
This is the one that turns our country into the most absurd playing out of Godwin's law in the history of national discourse.
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111129
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dafremen
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This includes a response letter from the ACLU and others:
http://fromthetrenchesworldreport.com/national-defense-authorization-bill-h-r-1540-gives-president-the-right-to-continue-wars-without-approval-also-to-declare-war-within-america-itself/4071
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111129
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dafremen
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xJz041qVrw
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111130
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