Saturday, November 2, 2024

effective opposition

 

It seems too many Americans misunderstand
the workings of the US government, and,
notably, the powers and role of the POTUS.
We have separation of powers for the
purpose of avoiding a too powerful
kinglike ruler.  POTUS is not so much a
ruler as a Head of State, with designated
duties and powers, checked by the duties
and powers of (often oppositional) Congress,
and the rulings of the Courts.


One major problem with a Trump
Presidency is that he doesn't 
believe in or care about rule of law,
but expects to act from the unchecked
power his SCOTUS Immunity decision
allows him.


Civilian massacres as if No Lives Matter


Horrific shit keeps happening
all over the world, because people
suck!  Not all the time, and some much
more than others, but enough to keep
us from getting together to do what
needs to be done to make our world
a place at least reasonably good
for all of us.


I identify as nonbinary.  I don't
believe in gender.  I know there are
biological sexes -- but gender is
a social construct, like so many
social constructs, designed to
stupidly divide us.


It is not an effective opposition
against the Patriarchy to outdo the
in their offensive attributes and
behaviors.  To make a positive
difference, be and do better.
[NO evil in the service of good]


Could it be we are so anxious
depressed, lonely, because we
are terrified ot our little world
getting intercepted by others?


10/27-11/2/24

Tuesday, October 29, 2024

time to do democracy

 
We should never sacrifice our values 
or refrain from questioning the values 
or understandings of political leaders. 
That IS democracy. 
Yet, this is also the real world in which 
we must accept less than perfect 
leaders because we are all human. 
We can elect the best choice for the 
time and work with each other to keep 
them honest. 
We can also understand that government 
is not our uberparent or otherwise 
omnipotent, and do what we can for 
ourselves, including whatever 
it takes to reach our social goals.

political parties do not democracy 
make but rather they can be a danger 
through the divisiveness that's killing 
our better natures
if the citizens of a democracy were doing their due diligence 
within the firm understanding that they are their government, 
there would be no separate entity “government” to oppose. 
There would be people working out what they need and how 
to make the world they want to live in. There would be power 
hungry narcissists, but they would be easily shouted down by 
the people who understand the politics of power and the 
difference between power over others and power to achieve 
our common goals. The education necessary for well-informed 
citizenry would be an underlying given, including frequent
 practice of problem-solving through democratic means.
We have to stop abdicating our democracy to 
political parties (remember Washington's warning)
 -- get together with people you trust with similar 
political beliefs.  Get out there and find people 
you can trust, with similar beliefs, who have shown 
their knowledge and effectiveness and promote them 
for the position you think they are best suited to. 
 Or run yourself.  
Make Democracy about The People Again






voting is the basic duty of a citizen in a democracy 
(necessary, not sufficient)
the problems in our democracy mostly stem from 
We the People abdicating our role as self 
governors, allowing "parties" and "media" to take over 


the thing is, with politicians, there should never 
have been such an industry. Democracy is not 
about top-down ambitious salesfolk raising exorbitant 
funds to tell us to put them in power. We were meant 
to care enough about our self-governance to find the 
people who rise up as leaders, who know how to put 
into words what we want to say, and imbue them with
 our trust to, with others from other regions, do the 
daily due diligence of governance.

We claim we want to live as a democracy.
Let’s do the job of an active electorate.


Democracy, government by the People, is only as good as the majority of participants


Capitalism does not require Democracy
Democracy does not require Capitalism
Democracy can accommodate any
economic system the People embrace.
Capitalists get along best with pro-profit
Authoritarians
Our Capitalism experiment has
failed.
Unfortunately, those who have
decided they are benefiting
exceptionally, and therefore have
too much power, would rather
destroy our experiment with
Democracy.

It's not a democracy because
we vote.  It is a democracy if we
do the work to rule ourselves.


Isn't the essential point of democracy
-- rule by the people --
to create and maintain a social structure
that provides for all citizens' needs?


When we talk about threats to #democracy, it may seem some
philosophical argument without real daily life immediacy.
Think, though   we are talking about our long, hard, mortally
fought for rights: our ability to be who we are and demand more,
hope for better futures, power to speak our minds, to demand
our human dignity, our possibility to improve the background
rules we live by, to not be helpless against uncaring aristocrats
and ignorant mobs.


voting is not just about POTUS
 it is vastly important to elect Congressional
representatives that will more likely
vote as you would prefer. And then
there are the initiatives and such, and
participating in your democracy.


Maybe the problem is that what
the People want is not democracy,
but the pomp and glitter of
aristocracy. The Hunger Games
type society, where the poor are
made useful as brutal entertainment,
the wealthy privileged are entitled
as the ruling class.



we have a democracy, but the rulers (The People)
have abdicated in favor of big money propagandists
we really need to do our job in finding people who
truly have the background, skills and values we want,
then keep them honest by paying attention and
praising or complaining as appropriate -- and doing
our job of learning about the people we vote for so
we can't be taken in by flashy big money paid for ads and such

So defeated we lose the fight
while they chortle.
The flaw is there is no such
thing as perfect people, perfect
government -- the point of democracy
(instead of just giving in to dictators)
is to keep trying, especially when it seems
overwhelming, learning to do better
and find the very real people who are
willing and able to do better
with and for us


we make our lives worse by not taking the
responsibilities of democracy seriously and
letting our so-called representatives act like
spoiled middle school brats because, hey,
that represents us, doesn't it.


we used to have public education that
emphasized civic knowledge -- the point of public
education was to have an educated citizenry to
participate in a well reasoned democracy.  Now
our political reality is a Reality TV game show,
much more like football than Jeopardy.  It has
become the major tactic of a highly competitive
either/or to keep the public ignorant of how
our system is meant to work and
heap on the propaganda.


we as a democracy should know
that it is imperative to have a well
educated citizenry who understand
our history, philosophy, system(s)
and structures to usefully
participate in self rule

I am not perfect, nor are you.
"Perfect person" is an oxymoron.
If we the People expect perfection,
that is not democracy:  rule by we the People.


There is a great deal we can do -- if we are willing 
to do and not just post complaints.  We can create 
bit by bit that world we want, first small steps 
until we get into the swing.  Most "government" 
happens locally -- yet we focus almost 
exclusively on the national, POTUS, whose 
power would be greatly diminished if we 
all practiced democracy from the bottom up.


It s not the tribes, but elite rulers who
obstruct tribes from having equal voice
that thwarts democracy.
Democracy is not a homogeneous group
agreeing, but diverse tribes negotiating
for common rule that works well enough
for everyone.

Friday, October 25, 2024

disconnected



Is this what life is to be?
bombardment from out of nowhere,
without reason?
untethered aggression
murder without consequence
ever more brutal destruction
when all out war is easier
than to build, create, improve
solve our urgent issues together



We need to initiate a project to 
terraform Earth -- remake this planet
to better suit humanity.
It will be great practice for when we
want to settle other worlds.
Meanwhile, think of the jobs, the
opportunities, and eventually
a more human world.



Humans generally exhibit a vast
variety of imperfections.
What we may see as senselessly
bad decisions, reactions, may well
just be that the behaviors we expect
are blocked by that person's faults.



Evil done "in the service of good"
corrupts that good, turns it to the
service of evil.  To serve good implies
doing good in every part of the project,
thus uncorrupted, good made of good.



I don't get this quitting public office in protest
I would think a better protest would come 
from inside, maybe refusing to do what is 
wrong and having that huge public stink.



If everyone is so desperate for connection,
why don't we connect?



10/20-24/24 


Friday, October 18, 2024

Rehumanizing


 
Journalists in some parts of the world
are dying or being horribly incarcerated
in their efforts to report the truth about
atrocious actions of authoritarians.
In the US, with our 1st Amendment
rights given to a free press, too many
use that power kowtowing to authoritarian
interests.



Where are the forces for justice?
How is it we haven't figured out
how to stop clear intentional violent
humanitarian criminals, like Putin,
through enforcement of international
law?  How is it in the US that a clear
criminal like Trump is allowed to run
for POTUS (aka Supreme Leader)?



We should never sacrifice our values 
or refrain from questioning the values 
or understandings of political leaders. 
That IS democracy. 
Yet, this is also the real world in which 
we must accept less than perfect 
leaders because we are all human. 
Would you prefer a robot POTUS? 
Consider how AI is faking it, not able 
to reason or understand human needs. 
We can elect the best choice for the 
time and work with each other to keep 
them honest. 
We can also understand that government 
is not our uberparent or otherwise 
omnipotent, and do what we can for 
ourselves, including whatever 
it takes to reach our social goals.



Sliding into post-reality
All this siloed, splintered realities
makes it an easy ride.



We have seceded from Reality
Nothing more is real
So nothing can really matter
May as well just do what it occurs
to us to do
What's occurring here and now
What we're doing here and now
for each succeeding here and now
that's all the reality we have



10/12-16/24

Friday, October 11, 2024

Advancing

 


You need to start small,
what you can do on your own,
while you (hopefully) locate  others
you can join with.  But keep expectations
small.  You can't count on the will
of The People, or even wide action
on obvious self-interest.  The People
are busy dealing with living their lives.



People who believe the US is
by and for those White Christian
BusinessMen vying to die with
all of the toys.



Kamala Harris is not running against
some perfect candidate.  She is 
running against Donald Trump.
If you wanted a perfect candidate,
you had four years since the last was
elected to find and promote them, and
what did you do then?  Now's the time
to vote for Harris, then go out and find
your perfect candidate for next time.



As to Gaza, by the time the next POTUS
takes office in January (providing that actually
happens), how much will be left to save?
In any case, the situation will have changed,
and may well be much worse, or even
much better.



Terrorists cause death and destruction 
to bring attention to their point.
What do we call terrorism for its own
sake, as we see so often these days
by our ubiquitous mass shooters?



SCOTUS, in league with Texas
suborning manslaughter, or possibly
1st degree murder, disallowing life-saving
abortions.



No, this is NOT self-defense.  Netanyahu,
like Putin invading a sovereign country,
murdering and terrorizing the civilians,
because they can.



It would not be sane or useful to defend
oneself against a bully by blowing up
the school full of kids and teachers (and
others).  How can one think the result
would not be desperately brutal revenge,
not from the bully, but all those new,
unnecessary enemies, aghast at those actions,
feeling the utmost need for defense against
those perpetrators of terror and death.



Advancing toward better gentleness.



Look at the many outrageously stupid
ways we handicap ourselves by insisting
on dividing ourselves into fake categories
to enforce inequalities.



Biden has been in an impossible situation, 
made more poignant by his longtime, and 
generally accepted  by US history, love and 
support for Israel as the democracy of the 
Middle East.  He strives to be bipartisan, 
POTUS for all Americans, many of whom are
 strong supporters of Israel, including many in 
Congress who vote for those weapons to be sent 
there (perhaps to some extent in support of 
those weapons' manufacturers who 
support candidates).

Yet, he is a deeply feeling man who 
understands and abhors the suffering 
of civilians.  He has valiantly tried to 
encourage peace, but Netanyahu is having 
none of it (perhaps to some extent in 
support of Trump who he may see as 
being a better ally to himself).

Apparently Biden's policy is (and has 
been) to work for a ceasefire.  It's 
Netanyahu's policy to commit genocide 
and take over the Palestinian territory, 
and Republican (Congress) policy to keep 
up the arms payments to support genocide 
by Israel (as promoted by Trump's love for
"strongmen" and real estate deals)

While we know Trump is all about real 
estate deals for the current Palestinian 
land once it's been(bloodily) cleared, 
we don't really know Harris's plans.

Right now she is VPOTUS -- not in charge, and 
honor bound to support her President.  
Yet, she does not have the decades of matter 
of course support of Israel, but comes \
rom a generation in which Israeli cruelty 
and bad faith has played out. If she has 
a Democratic Congress, it would be easier 
to replace authorizations for Israeli defense 
funding that now rule, especially if those 
Congresspeople are elected with their 
positions on Palestine in mind.

Of course, the Christian Right is 
pro-Israeli victory, despite their loud 
anti-semitism, in their quest for the 
Apocalypse, and as allies in Islamophobia. 
There are other powerful US groups 
with pro-Israel biases vying for their 
voice in our national policies. I am thinking 
it might be useful to find out who Harris listens to,
 respects, and develop a dialog.(social media)




AI targeting loves to annihilate those 
terrified civilians: just tell them we 
were targeting Hamas/Hezbollah 
operatives, they won't check.



Sunday, October 6, 2024

Israel Palestine Biden Harris Trump

 
Biden has been in an impossible situation, made more poignant by his longtime, and generally accepted by US history, love and support for Israel as the democracy of the Middle East.  He strives to be bipartisan,  POTUS for all Americans, many of whom are strong supporters of Israel, including many in Congress who vote for those weapons to be sent there (perhaps to some extent in support of those weapons' manufacturers who support candidates).

Yet, he is a deeply feeling man who understands and abhors the suffering of civilians.  He has valiantly tried to encourage peace, but Netanyahu is having none of it (perhaps to some extent in support of Trump who he may see as being a better ally to himself).

Apparently Biden's policy is (and has been) to work for a ceasefire.  It's Netanyahu's policy to commit genocide and take over the Palestinian territory, and Republican (Congress) policy to keep up the arms payments to support genocide by Israel (as promoted by Trump and Jared)

While we know Trump is all about real estate deals for the current Palestinian land once it's been (bloodily) cleared, we don't really know Harris's plans.

Right now she is VPOTUS -- not in charge, and honor bound to support her President.  Yet, she does not have the decades of matter of course support of Israel, but comes from a generation in which Israeli cruelty and bad faith has played out. If she has a Democratic Congress, it would be easier to replace authorizations for Israeli defense funding that now rule, especially if those Congresspeople are elected with their positions on Palestine in mind.

Of course, the Christian Right is pro-Israeli victory, despite their loud anti-semitism, in their quest for the Apocalypse, and as allies in Islamophobia. There are other powerful US groups with pro-Israel biases vying for their voice in our national policies. I am thinking it might be useful to find out who Harris listens to,  respects, and develop a dialog.(social media)

Friday, October 4, 2024

10.4



 


All people suck at times
But very few are truly evil --
happy to destroy for their petty 
convenience and pleasure


Trump a protector of women --
sounds Talibanish


With their masterful intelligence and
precision strikes, the Israeli policy is
obviously to slaughter civilians
Netanyahu and Putin -- Beasts of 
AntiChrist fame.  Apocalyptic
destruction their game


I tend to act compulsively in anger,
an my impulse is not peaceful.
Yet, I understand the utility and value
of peace.


None appear so stupid as those
who refuse to think



AI targeting loves to annihilate those 
terrified civilians: just tell them we were 
targeting Hamas/Hezbollah operatives, 
they won't check


we are all allowing genocide and ethnic 
cleansing, we are all part of the greater 
world that is destroying itself
some of us do what we can (or believe we can) 
to ameliorate the destruction, to plead for 
better acts from our fellows, to make the changes 
we can and talk about where we would go if 
we could -- because incremental changes build up 
if continued and built on until the point 
where suddenly everything has changed



America may well become one (Democratic) 
major party for a bit if the Republicans don't
get more in line with the will of The People -- 
but certainly other parties will come to the fore 
as their policies become popular -- 
however, political parties do not democracy 
make but rather they can be a danger 
through the divisiveness that's killing 
our better natures



I've just been wondering if a reason 
for the recent fascination with authoritarianism 
is due to people feeling overwhelming fears about 
the planet, about violence, and want to be lied to, 
to be given "reason" to feel better.


 
and what have you done to bring a major 
political party closer to your ideal? 
Do you write letters, attend meetings, 
work on campaigns, get to know local 
candidates, run for something, anything?
 Or do you just promote spoilers 
who you know can't get the office?


9/27-10/4/24