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By Judith Gayle | Political Waves
“Those who will not reason, are bigots, those who cannot, are fools, and those who dare not, are slaves.”― George Gordon Byron
What a fascinating week it’s been. Too close to the trees, we’re lost in a forest of confusion and anxiety, with fingers pointed, blame assigned, and fear spreading like wildfire. Backing off to get the longer view, there appears to be a prominent theme: money equals power which, turned 180, means poverty equals powerlessness. Reminds me of the Repeal Citizens United buttons I made last week, that read: if money equals speech, then the poor have no voice.
The long view makes it plain that there is a war on democracy being waged by a few, a rich and powerful few. Those who argue that there is no difference between the two political parties in this nation can point to the glut of money necessary to campaign for, win and hold a position in Congress, greasing the skids within the confines of an establishment system that seems to run not on the higher concepts of public service but on money and access to same.
I won’t debate the obvious, but I will argue that there is only one party making any attempt to remedy the problem, and by the slimmest of margins. Some choose not to look or participate, and others choose to bitch and not participate. Since we — thus far — can’t even seem to get enough people together to elect one of the truly progressive, perhaps recent criticism of Bernie Sanders’s Faustian deal with the Dem party, rather than running as an Independent, is more smoke than fire. Those who pitch that it’s all or nothing limit the chance for anything. I’d rather change the tenor of the whole country by educating it on actual principles and policies than create another failed experiment like Nader’s.
The Good Book’s admonition about the love of money being the root of all evil seemed to color the week’s affairs. Staring down an unflinching Merkel, who can’t have missed world criticism for her compassionless stance, Greece blinked. Despite their defiant vote, they will accept meager assistance with their debt in exchange for further austerity that can offer no respite from a downward spiral into misery.
Any onlookers with historical perspective might note that if German debt had not been forgiven after the war, Germany would not be in ascendency today and Merkel would not be the leader of the Euro-pack. But history is just conjecture these days — much as science is only one opinion among many — and common sense, it seems, is singularly uncommon.
The economists I admire — the same ones that Sanders mentioned as possible cabinet members: Stiglitz, Krugman, Reich — all tell us that more austerity can only cripple any chance Greece has to grow out of its troubles and into prosperity, which seals the fate of the island home of democracy. Americans should pay attention. We have a similar problem with the cretins in Congress who can’t wait to punish the powerless while bamboozling the simple and unwitting into believing it’s what Jesus would do (if Jesus sold snake oil and had an account in the Cayman’s).
The tumble of currency (under suspicious circumstances) has been well tracked by Eric in his superb offering this week, linking what happened in China and Greece and the New York Stock Exchange. Monetized things are usually connected — some transactions more mysteriously than others — which seems to buttress the notion that the market is Gawd-like, even given to tantrum much like the Old Testament Yahweh (who had to practice for awhile before sending down Gawd v. 2.0 to be born in Bethlehem).
Perhaps that’s why we can’t convince ourselves to go back to the separated-church-and-state period after FDR regulated banks that gave us a stable, predictable monetary system. Remember that our most prominent judge just lately accused us of hubris by asking who we thought we were, making the argument obvious, if unsaid: humans shouldn’t meddle in Gawd stuff. And money is America’s religion.
While all men want to be free, some want to be free to think what they want, and other men want to be free from the burden of free thought. These men seek freedom through slavery.”
― Jarod Kintz, 99 Cents For Some Nonsense
Yes, the U.S. urged Merkel to give a little in order to save the EU, but let’s not give ourselves a pass on compassion. Puerto Rico, which is an American commonwealth, has buckled under its debt of $70 billion, accrued while the pharmaceutical houses, enjoying huge tax breaks, set up industry on the island. When the tax break expired, the factories moved, leaving Puerto Ricans to hold the bag. Hoping to restructure the debt, the Puerto Rico government is pleading with Washington to be given the right to file for bankruptcy, so far denied. This is our own Greek look-alike, putting Puerto Rico into a similar downward spiral that will take a generation to resolve, if not more. The muddle of politics in the U.S. seems tone-deaf to this crisis among hard-working people of good faith.
And there’s the crux of it. “Of good faith.” We do not consider people with these kinds of monetary problems ‘of good faith.’ Our brains have been conditioned to think that those who struggle, who fall behind, who fail in their quest to achieve what we’ve long considered the norm, are nothing but losers. We’ve been trained to impose class distinctions on those whose performance isn’t shiny and bright, up to snuff.
We have been schooled to think they’re “them.” Oh, but how quickly, my dears, they can become us!
The public is too eager to believe that all Greeks lived well beyond their means — Aesop’s fiddling grasshoppers to the industrious EU ants — and had no intention of paying back their loans. Similarly, white America is unthinkingly confident that the ghettos — purposely created by policies of graft and racism, and sustained by the opportunistic attitudes of the moneyed elite — are filled with dangerous ‘takers,’ uninterested in actual work if welfare, drug sales and theft are available, necessitating our most stringent policing efforts.
We’ve been programmed, since St. Ronnie the Reagan made up his mythical (and nameless) black Welfare Queen, to think of the poor and the disenfranchised as lazy, no-account self-promoters, sucking off the public tit — which is us regular well-meaning types who “play by the rules.” (YIKES, I despise that rules business, I wish the left would quit repeating it. Anyone who plays strictly by today’s rules is DESTINED to fail! Some days I’m glad I’m too old to be in the thick of it.)
In Ferguson, Missouri, we saw ministers and citizens come together as peaceful, thoughtful activists to walk the streets during daylight, but all we talked about were the angry kids who shouted insults and threw rocks after dark. In Charleston, South Carolina, we are gob-smacked by the talk of grace and forgiveness directed toward young killer, Dylann Roof, by the black Christian community and agree that the racist flag he was photographed holding remains a symbol of hatred, but think a three-year term of incarceration for the young woman of color and her white co-activist who took down the Confederate battle flag flying over public grounds at the statehouse is probably justified because — well, you know — lawlessness, anarchy, chaos! (Sign a petition to drop charges here.)
Yes, it seems that the United States is just bursting with tit-suckers, good-for-nothing under-employed whiners who do not contribute tangibly to their society. Jeb Bush recently told complainers that they needed to work more hours (while, I presume, eating cake) even though statistics indicate that Americans already spend more hours on the job than any other modern industrialized nation. Jeb’s people backtracked later to indicate that — oh, no! — Bubba didn’t mean people with REAL jobs, he meant part-time takers (strike that) workers! You know, those people at Wal-Mart, Burger King, Target and every other low-paying service job out there.
“Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of production and trade…”
― Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
This is that same Jeb! Bush of the seriously suspect money trail and business deals we’re talking about, the one whose SuperPAC just announced a 103 million dollar total for the quarter, setting a record. All together, his campaign has raised $113 million plus change, more money than Romney spent on his entire primary in 2012. What do you imagine he promised his funders in order to raise that kind of cash, dearhearts? Whose back will he scratch to become ’45’ to Poppy’s ’41’ and Dubby’s ’43’? I’ll bet it won’t be ours.
The adolescent Randian creed of greed above all else has become the cancerous growth on liberty’s bum. The Kochs have declared that they want the entire Environmental Protection Agency dumped, et al. (I presume Jeb! is taking notes.) THINK about that. Corporate CEOs are, by law, uninterested in protecting the environment if it impedes the ability to grow the profit margin for themselves and their investors. That ALONE proves that corporations aren’t people. People would care whether their babies could breathe and drink clean water.
This is the environment we’re talking about, an already badly compromised system that has given us half a year of the hottest temps on record. This is about the survival of a species: OURS. THINK about the hubristic ambition of one elite, self-centered, bat-shit crazy family of gazillionaires making a planetary decision for us all that can only hasten our extinction!
Yes, there are adult voices out there trying to counter the money boys. Who would have thought the Catholic Church would be among them? On a tour of South America, the Pope is speaking frankly about the kind of top-down plunder that rogue capitalism has produced. The southern portion of this continent has been previously harmed by North America and Francis took that head-on when he spoke of the world economic order impoverishing third world countries by using them to provide raw material and cheap labor.
Getting medieval, the Pope quoted a fourth century Bishop who called the unfettered pursuit of money “the dung of the devil,” because you can always count on a religious cleric to remember history like it was yesterday. And while I don’t know how that quote played with Bolivians, I suspect it pissed off some corporate devils here at home. Best of all, it begs the question of money and ethics, an examination of which is LONG overdue.
“You can’t hold a man down without staying down with him.”
― Booker T. Washington
This constant bickering between philosophies, between countries, continues to loop — repeating, unending — the one thing that never seems to change. It’s what ACIM calls ego-speak, the attack/defend that never ceases in the threatened mind. Logic doesn’t work to convince the right, and disdain and disenfranchisement don’t move the left. I think that’s probably because we’re doing it wrong. We can’t use the same ego-speak that got us in this trance to wake us up, but we don’t need to cloister or get to an ashram to make some change in how we think about it.
The answer to our problems isn’t more money, which has taken on disproportionate influence and laid a veneer of empty affluence and competition over our lives that strips away our basic human instinct to nurture and protect one another. The psychology that’s needed to remedy this problem requires the same kind of dynamic we found both fascinating and improbable as articulated by the relatives of the Charleston shooter. We are slaves to fear, we can only liberate ourselves with love.
You know — we know — it doesn’t need to look like it does today. We know there’s another way to look at all this, but it takes maturity and compassion and, ultimately, patience. Anger over the retirement of the rebel flag shows just how much we’ve not addressed, forgiven or put in proper perspective in this nation — and some would say that this unsolved question of slavery is our Original Sin.
The punitive mindset of Merkel’s EU, and our own nation’s disregard for the wellbeing of the 99%, are symptomatic of how NOT to solve these problems. Our love of money has created an internal poverty that has hobbled our humanity, while our fear of losing the competition that keeps us powerful and respected is nearly pathological. We must re-invest ourselves, not in stuff or gain, but in one another.
Rather than make this piece longer, let me invite you to read a Mother Jones article entitled What If Everything You Knew About Disciplining Kids Was Wrong? I worked in education for a lot of years and it didn’t take long to realize that if you could get a kid to like you, you could open up their world for them, pour in the information that would expand their possibilities, but first, you had get past their defenses. You had to face — and help THEM face — their demons.
While this article — which qualifies as a weekend read — is mainly about education and how to reorient problem children, the psychology is relevant to most problems we face with one another today. This is how to break the loop, how to encourage change, how to help develop new neural pathways for improved behavior. This is a strategy applicable to most things we care about, and well worth your time.
Our investment of love and caring for one another lifts both the caregiver and the one requiring care. There isn’t a ‘better’ or more authoritarian person in this scenario, just one more willing to remain open. In Illusions: Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah, Richard Bach wrote “You teach best what you most need to learn.” We are blessed as we bless others — truly the Art of Service and survival skill of the 21st century — and if, indeed, we can’t hold a man/woman down without staying down with them, then the converse is also true: we can’t lift them up without rising with them.
We are enslaved to those things that hold us in fear and, from a spiritual point of view, fear is that thing that keeps us earth-bound. If we’re to fly, we need to cut those ties to fear that keep us tethered in dysfunction and self-doubt. If we knew how wonderful we were, we wouldn’t waste time defending unlovingness. Here’s another quote from Illusions, one that helps us expand our self-assessment and calm our apprehension. Make it your mantra this week and see if it doesn’t reduce your level of anxiety while striking off some sparks in your soul:
Learning is finding out what you already know. Doing is demonstrating that you know it. Teaching is reminding others that they know just as well as you. You are all learners, doers and teachers.
We are all of it, my dears, learning to fly — and all of it is divine!
Hello Jude
(I may be the only one! but) I’ve never associated poverty with a lack of good faith. A lack of good faith is normally linked to abuse of power, deliberately hiding some important point or stressing another so that something vital is glossed over.
Or something!
It certainly is a dilemma, this need for self-preservation (gone wild) vs. the need to preserve the species of mankind or any other species for that matter. It means acknowledging that nobody is perfect (Bernie Sanders doesn’t support changing gun control laws and the Greek workers think it’s fine that they can retire and get pensions at age 45!) and nobody is totally unworthy (even the real welfare queens or Mr. Roof). Perhaps our fear of changing our stance, our outlook, is merely that reptilian part of our brains over-reacting; that survival instinct that keeps us locked into the 3 dimensional lives we so desperately cling to.
A possible change, at least for the U.S.A., in getting over that fear of flying could come – if we can hang on that long – in February 2018. By then, transiting Neptune will have already made a couple of exact trines with the U.S. Sibly chart’s Sun, and moving direct, be making his 3rd pass in February, 2018, coinciding with a lunar eclipse that falls exactly on the U.S. Sibly chart Moon (The People) in Aquarius (betterment of mankind). That eclipse will happen as transiting Mars conjoins the U.S. Sibly chart’s ascendant at 12+ Sagittarius.
In addition, transiting Pluto will be T-square the U.S Sibly chart’s opposition between Chiron (healing) in Aries and Juno (in defense of the disenfranchised) in Libra. As well, transiting Jupiter in Scorpio will sextile the U.S. Sibly chart’s Neptune in Virgo.
This lunar eclipse will also hold a sextile between Venus (what is valued) and Saturn (what is law) that, when combined with the U.S Sibly chart’s north and south nodes, creates a Boomerang. . . a Yod with a Purpose (focus). The Yod apex – the U.S North Node at 6+ Leo – is the point where adjustment must take place. (Bernie and Elizabeth have strong ties to the U.S. NN) The U.S South Node at 6+ Aquarius, the “target” of the full force of trans. Saturn and Venus (at the Lunar Eclipse) and U.S Leo North Node energies, suggests that old entrenched (but no longer purposeful) habits, patterns, beliefs are ripe for transformation.
It is the U.S. North Node, ruled by the Sun (consciousness), that is the path to future growth, as it would be in any chart. Transiting Neptune (compassion) will trine the U.S. Sun (consciousness). Mars (action) will be on the U.S. ascendant (window to the world). The time will be ripe for creating law that will benefit those who are presently disenfranchised in this country. The citizens (Lunar Eclipse conjunct U.S. Moon) will be rushed into a shift in awareness of their own role in government policy-making (Moon rules Cancer Sun trine trans Neptune) as well as in the eyes of the world (Mars on the country’s ascendant).
Progressed planets by 2018 support these presumptions and since transiting Uranus will have broken through barriers to Progress by then (through his conjunction to U.S. Chiron and square to U.S Mercury), it will amaze future generations when they contemplate the speed with which America changed its course. Now however, it seems murky and almost impossible for most Americans to conceive of such a transformation. Much the way that in the 50’s it seemed impossible that a woman would ever be able to get a legal abortion or that a black man would ever be President of the USA.
Thank you Jude for once again connecting the dots and enriching our understanding. To you and all here, please try and have a very pleasant weekend. It may not seem so, but we ARE making progress.
be
I hope your optimistic view prevails Be because this —-
Neptune will have already made a couple of exact trines with the U.S. Sibly chart’s Sun, and moving direct, be making his 3rd pass in February, 2018, coinciding with a lunar eclipse that falls exactly on the U.S. Sibly chart Moon (The People) in Aquarius (betterment of mankind). That eclipse will happen as transiting Mars conjoins the U.S. Sibly chart’s ascendant at 12+ Sagittarius. —-
could also preface a Nazi like zeal from a zombie public.
I – Really want the optimistic version to ring true.
Bygones if the verbiage confused, dearheart. It was the phrase that came to me when I thought of the Greek people as a whole, falling on hard times. I was also thinking of our own economic downturn and how many of our population lost their life savings and retirement, putting them into a different social strata that they wouldn’t have time or skill to pull out from.
I meant it to convey that much of society feels the poor are fully capable of better but deliberately allow themselves to cruise along at half-speed, no ambition to do better. That makes them entirely responsible for their condition, and allows us to point to them as slackers, not motivated … or perhaps not intelligent enough. And I agree, it’s clearly a separation device, useful to those who keep these things in place.
In this country, pulling oneself up by the bootstraps was once viable. Our politicians like to talk like it still is, but it’s a million to one shot these days.
You’re an egalitarian soul, Pam — not to mention well informed. Would that we all were! You were probably born that way. I remember when I was just a kid, spending a few weeks with family friends in another city. Their older daughter and I walked to visit a friend of hers and she warned me sternly not to comment on their home or lifestyle because they were poor. I was, at 12, insulted that she thought I would be so insensitive. Some of us just have that kind of innate understanding and no amount of ‘modeling’ from others can change it.
There are a zillion subtleties we’re ‘trained’ to sneer at. Take dentistry. In this county, a full set of teeth makes you a 10 (or well insured.) This is a financial matter that weighs heavily on those with low income, and on a social level, it’s simply unacceptable to do without … which puts one in the cross-hairs for comments or teasing or job rejection or … whatever. It ALSO makes those without defensive — which means they may not necessarily be happy pleasant folk (and one more reason to avoid them.) On the flip side, thousands of dollars of dentistry won’t ‘fix’ the psychic damage done.
Perhaps it’s one of the unlovely aspects of human nature to feel better when you spot someone worse off than you — but it’s epidemic and, like racism, we often mask it behind some other feeling. If we really thought of the poor as equal to those with ‘privilege,’ we’d end the class war, pronto.
(Just ordinary Jude, and often incoherent/at sea in the big picture, where everyone else sees clearly or at least something. I’d love to say I’m well informed but it isn’t strictly true – a bit in some areas sometimes)
Thank you too for your reply Jude, your kindness moved me to tears
love Pam
(not sure about egalitarian either, hearing if something is sound/true or not is not necessarily the same and might need further qualifivation, and the variety of habitats for animals makes me hesitate about egalitarian except in the sense that each needs his habitat that suits him/her/them)
Actually I’ve rumbled you Jude – it’s you who is egalitarian and well informed!
xxxp
ps and what might be sound…
Well put, be, and encouraging — and 2018 isn’t so far away, considering that it’s already JULY, for Pete’s sake! Several people I know are already talking about dreading winter. Meanwhile, this week we’ll have super-hot temps which will be a change from FOUR MONTHS of non-stop rain that has turned the Patch into a muddy mess, trees upturned and gardens flattened. I see you’re in a hot spell too! Everybody is saying the rain is over — but with the jet stream bouncing around due to sea warming, who knows!
As I consider the Koch’s dire plan for the EPA, I get echo from news in California of the rich thumbing their nose at water restrictions (because they can afford huge penalties.) That SOOOO misses the point, eh? Inherited money often seems to mess with your humanity … a.k.a. The Donald. They may be the last to ‘get on board.’
Channelers say that the dark energies (Illuminati, etc.) have lost the majority of their power and now exist only in hot spots, desperate to regain control, which leaves just US to sort out the mess we’re in. That feels right to me. The authoritarian cogs that turn, unyielding, aren’t spinning quite so dependably these day, and the kind of in-fighting going on seems more spontaneous than calculated.
They also say that the Light energies continue to stream in and minds are changing. You and I are on the same page, be — we ARE making progress, more than we know. And that is cause for celebration! Good weekend to you as well — if we stay in the moment, and amplify the beauty around us, we will be fine. Hugs to you!
Jude – You said:
I won’t debate the obvious, but I will argue that there is only one party making any attempt to remedy the problem, and by the slimmest of margins.
Lord help me. Your blindness! Neither party is better or worse. No matter who, we get the same results. Believing something different takes a specific tightness of the blinders. Your blinders are sucking the truth from your mind. Jesus – Democrat’s as a philosophic whole create one set of problems and Republicans as a philosophic whole create another set of problems. Each is offered as a solution for the other but neither one have any answers that wont lead to more of the same. We just go back and forth like a Ping-Pong ball.
We are being played! Even the problems are part of the game.
Jude-
First living in Germany, where we have the same Catholic Church and the same Pope. But inorder to be a member of this church you MUST have deducted from your monthly salary a % of your earnings or you aren’t allowed to have your daughter married in a church, or your child baptized as an infant. These are huge monthly withdrawals from any employee. If you don’t belong via generous monthly contributions then when you get married by a JP here, the words of your promises to each other are never spoken. So now the Catholic Church next door to me, gets a new exterior paint job each year, gets a new roof installed each year, and just installed a satellite dish for their priests afternoon rest. All the while hungry people line the streets with a cup to donate. Now you see why the Pope travels and why the Vatican employees had their Cathlic Credit Cards revoked due to cheating on them. And we have the Same Pope andthe same Church but to make it mandatory to workers just to belong. Unbelievable really. Maybe his fingers should be turned inward at himself and not place blame on others.
Marilyn
Hi Marilyn — yes, I agree: that the church as an institution has a lot to answer for and its arrogance continues although I think that breaking that mold, if that’s in the cards, will take time. I have as much contempt for its history as do you — but I also have hope for its future.
This Pope (who is still Catholic and a son of that base theology, which WON’T change) is simply swimming against the tide of smug, and typical, Catholic leadership. In May he formed a committee to reform church finances, making help to the needy a prime directive. Two former directors of the Vatican bank are standing trial for money laundering, as is a top Vatican accountant. Francis isn’t just about lip service — he’s serious.
It’s too early to know how this will shake out — if the clergy will actually put its money where its (Pope’s) mouth is — but his continued harangue against corruption is a very positive sign. This week he called for the world to “stamp out the idolatry of money.” That’s a slogan I can support! Let’s hope we see that progress soon! Thanks for stopping by.
Eisenhower wrote this to his brother in 1954, regarded Barry Goldwater and his alliance with the John Birch Society:
“Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes that you can do these things. Among them are a few Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or businessman from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid.”
Now they’re in charge, Cowboy. And they’re still stupid. Duality — polarity — is radicalizing the moment but it hasn’t always been so. To assume we have no options is to have no faith in either the past or the future, or the Constitution that defines this nation.
Some are saying that Bernie (unelectable) is the [opposite] equivalent of Donald (unelectable) — Bernie’s socialist populism being the antithesis of Donald’s fascist populism, and that they cancel each other out. There’s the tit v. tat.
Today on pundit TV, Greta van Sustern said that while Bernie is obviously just a far-left whackadoodle, the Donald had plugged in to a lot of genuine concerns for the average citizen (coffee spit-take from me.) So for Greta and FOX fans, it must be so. But while Trump may play well with the deeply xenophobic and the might-makes-right crowd, allow me a long quote from a piece by Digby, over at Hullabaloo, that offers another view of what plays well with the public:
http://www.digbysblog.blogspot.com/2015/07/big-ideas.html
[quoted from a Salon article] ‘… Progressive Change Institute first solicited ideas online through an open submission process (more than 2,600 specific proposals were submitted) and then let people vote on them (more than a million votes were cast). This bottom-up process was then tested out in a national poll. The following all received 70% support or more:
Allow Government to Negotiate Drug Prices (79%)
Give Students the Same Low Interest Rates as Big Banks (78%)
Universal Pre-Kindergarten (77%)
Fair Trade that Protect Workers, the Environment, and Jobs (75%)
End Tax Loopholes for Corporations that Ship Jobs Overseas (74%)
End Gerrymandering (73%)
Let Homeowners Pay Down Mortgage With 401k (72%)
Debt-Free College at All Public Universities (Message A) (71%)
Infrastructure Jobs Program — $400 Billion / Year (71%)
Require NSA to Get Warrants (71%)
Disclose Corporate Spending on Politics/Lobbying (71%)
Medicare Buy-In for All (71%)
Close Offshore Corporate Tax Loopholes (70%)
Green New Deal — Millions Of Clean-Energy Jobs (70%)
Full Employment Act (70%)
Expand Social Security Benefits (70%)
‘All of the above are in line with Bernie Sanders’ politics and all are extremely popular, with support across the political spectrum. For example, the infrastructure jobs program (a key element of Sanders’ platform) had 91% support from Democrats, 61% from independents and even 55% support from Republicans—compared to only 28% who were opposed. Donald Trump can only dream of being that popular among Republicans.
[commentary from Digby] “If people voted strictly on issues, Sanders would be a bipartisan dream. Unfortunately, the calculation that goes into voting is much more complex. But it’s always good to know how people look at this stuff in the abstract. All Democrats should pay heed. So should Republicans but they are hamstrung by a base that’s driven by the propaganda they’ve been feeding them for the past 40 years and they no longer have any actual idea of what government policies are or what the government does. But Democrats do … “
So if that’s what so many citizens of this nation want their government to look like, why is that not worth agitating for? I’d rather live with fall-out from a Green New Deal that I pushed for than sit quietly and pretend climate change isn’t happening while we suffer the largest extinction of species since the dinosaur, awaiting our turn.
If, in your view, the pendulum just swings back and forth, then let it be for domestic policies that help the public during this critical period, if only temporarily — and it will change future possibilities.
I note your frustration with this process but I find throwing the baby out with the bathwater too simplistic an answer to such a monumental challenge. Winston Churchill said that “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” Unless you have a better idea in mind?
Many of us DID notice when George Bush played us in 2003 and the warts of establishment government have become more apparent every day. We waited a LONG time for that rip in the mythology. I WAITED a long time for most of us to notice American wars were bullshit — about 50 years, real time. And to my way of thinking, noticing you’re being played doesn’t mean you walk away from the game — it means you work to CHANGE it.
Yes, the system has been mugged — Warren says the fix is in — and the political parties have mostly lost their way, but if we just throw up our hands and say “The hell with it, it’s just one set of problems or the other,” then NOTHING changes for the better and no one is encouraged to stand up for ethical practice, or look in the mirror of their perceptions to see if they’re living by their highest principals. That is part and parcel of the evolution of ideas that marked the historical epoch just past, leeching out into a continuing struggle of who we are to one another. EVERYTHING that happens is part of that struggle — and all of it is spiritual.
We live in a world of duality and that is inescapable. You can’t do anything entirely right on this plane, or entirely wrong for that matter. But we used to be able to discuss our differences rationally and candidly … not to mention civilly … and do the work of governance. We’ll have to regain that imperative at some point, if we’re to find common ground and a way forward.
I don’t expect to sway your opinion, Cowboy, but in that light, one last thing — it might be in your best interests to engage someone with whom you disagree without being insulting. Just Diplomacy 101, ya know?
I agree with you Jude. The two parties are not the same… at all. And thank you for speaking out against that old, tired NARRATIVE (purposefully constructed no doubt) which has put so many haters of our government into elected office from coast to coast.
Jude – Point well taken. I tend to fly off at times and just say what I’m thinking. I am sorry for the tone I used. It was out of line.
I am a RECOVERING Right Wing Christian fundamentalist and I assure you I have deeper conflicts with that side of the fence than I do with left leaning liberals.
Thanks Judith,
Tis the energy of the new moon t-square this week. I admire your constraint under such a powerful alignment. Very informative. Hopefully I/we all will find the wisdom to rise to that level through the next few volatile weeks, as well.
And cheers to the 70% and better. May it be the new mantra rather than the 47%.
As I understand it, we are in a wonderful astrological time now until the end of the year, something to do with the Moon’s north node and the supergalactic center and the law of attraction, meaning, if we rise to lift them up, in our intentions and actions, through love and compassion (as we saw exemplified in Charleston)…I look to the astrologer’s to explain what is going on right now, but it sounds very promising and uplifting if we chose to avail ourselves of the energies.
Fear is the absence of love therefore love quells fear. Today, people from all over the world participated in a meditation for compassion. Compassion is healing, it is forgiving. With that being said, it doesn’t mean that you give up your rights, you still must set boundaries and the points you raise Jude illustrate boundaries have been confused by the few who believe their boundaries are rights of the few when they are actually rights of the collective or commons. These rights are not ownership but rather they are stewardship. This is the distinction of their boundary and ours. So the big question is how does one reconcile their definition with ours? Pushing for transparency and making consumers aware of their choices that promote the wealth of the families you described could be a big game changer. Wouldn’t you want to know what it is that your money has gone to that has supported the Koch brothers? I bet each of us have supported them at least once this year! This is the change I would like to see, tracing of corporate holdings, every bit of the transaction and equity holdings and backings all the way to the point where it is offered to the consumer. This way I have a choice. Anyway, a bit off track but still supporting what you said. Just want to see us all be better informed, take advantage of the time that energies are prevalent to make a difference and try to be more compassionate beings in our homes, neighborhoods, and relationships~
Here’s a list of Koch products to boycott, Pisces Sun — I’ve posted similar several times before. Unfortunately the full list is VERY LONG and almost impossible to manage; they’re like an octopus, with tentacles everywhere! Paper products is a good way to start, though … and here’s a short list:
– Angel Soft Ultra
– Brawny paper towels
– Dixie cups (& napkins & plates)
– Insulair cups
– Perfect Touch cups, paper products
– Quilted Northern
– Sparkle paper towels
– Stainmaster
– Vanity Fair napkins & paper towels
– Mardis Gras napkins
– Zee Napkins
– Georgia Pacific products
Interestingly, there’s an app for this, alerting you what NOT to purchase as you shop. You can google for it. Here are a couple of links to a more complete list, for those interested:
http://www.boycottkochbrothers.com/
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/04/01/1288957/-Sign-the-pledge-Don-t-buy-these-Koch-products
Thanks for adding to the conversation, kiddo — have a good week.
Bravo Jude!
I saw that program with Greta as well and almost choked. Don’t normally watch the MSM Sunday news anymore but today I noticed the old timers would give Bernie his “due” regarding the crowds he is drawing but nobody is willing to say he has a chance at being the Democrat’s choice. That’s because they can’t conceive that anything but money – lots of it – will be the only way to win the nomination(s). Their hearts and minds are dead.
Still, I remember how sure they all were that Barack Obama wouldn’t get to the Oval office back when he was running against Hillary. We cockeyed optimists will be shouted down and ridiculed until forever but if we don’t support Bernie Sanders, the only human being willing to defy the Goliaths, then we are choosing to go down with the ship.
This year’s U.S. solar return chart shows Karma (payback) at 14+ Aries in opposition to the U.S. Saturn (status quo) at 14+ Libra. Transiting Pluto (upheaval) is at 14+ Capricorn and opposite the U.S. Sun at 13+ Cancer. Saturn in Scorpio squares the U.S. Moon in the solar return chart. All systems are go. In one year from now we will be voting for our choice for the Democrat candidate for President.
TIME magazine reports a BREAKTHROUGH, a 3-D-printed bridge. . a machine that will be able to “print” bridges in midair. (are you reading this Len?) It’s first test will be over an Amsterdam canal in 2017. (July 6/July 13 issue, pg. 33). Miracles do happen but we need to show we believe in them and to work hard for them to happen.
Are we mad as hell yet?
be
Jude I don’t know if it is a good example but here’s a mixed exploration of good and bad faith – light if you like but to me it is successful!
Sublime translation (sublimation? transition?) of rage and grief into music, pithy, balanced, and still generous. And a great ‘actress’ presumably because authentic? Other women (less independent or less sure of their worth or too gentle to bite back, or just can’t believe the facts in front of them) can suicide in a blank space experience where they have brought their love their everything – turning their rage and grief inwards: I love the players, you love the game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-ORhEE9VVg
I only discovered Taylor Swift recently, what a songsmith and how emotionally literate/lucid. No wonder if young guys have found themselves out their depth
Blank space experiences could transpose to any area or life or business aswell as to relationships:
good and bad faith.
Have a happy day Jude
xxxp
(not completely off piste) our neighbour is doing a thesis about neurology and playing a musical instrument.
Another way to balance people and help bigots fools and slaves help themselves?
xxxp
Thanks Jude, I will check out the products and be an alert consumer. So appreciate the research and am surprise and grateful that thus far, those products are not the ones I use!
Wow, so much here to digest and can’t unfortunately, my attention is on a massive project but give me about a month or so. Best to all, PiscesSun
PS Make this moment (and every moment) count!