The Resistance

[BO]

Thought we might need a thread for news of civil disobedience, resistance and beyond. 

My 12 yo son told me the other day that the baby boomers were responsible for the world going to shit. I told him he was right. There were a few of us who held to our youthful ideals, but truth is..the vast majority of the boomer generation turned out to be scumbags. 

But what caught my attention was the fact that my twelve year old was echoing a new sentiment. Nope, he doesn't blame me--not yet anyway. But, it is interesting that he's already looking for someone to blame. His eyes are beginning to see through the bullshit. He gets it. 

Here's to those that fight back...

[waldopaper]

I gotta do more analysis on Hedges' Phantom Left, but I DO NOT think it was present or represented this weekend in DC. It reminded me more of a "be-in." It was "officially" billed as "non-political" and for the most part, I believe it was. I must say that Hedges, as much as I admire his political acuity, seems tremendously out-of-touch with ground-level reality. The time for "taking it to the streets" has long been over... it's gone. No assemblies or protests will make any difference whatsoever (with the possible exception of a General Strike).

We are heading for a period of "civil unrest" that so far has very little direction or focus at all. Maybe that's good. There is no country to take back... there is no "political discourse" in the US beyond sports-team entertainment. The local precinct this morning looked like a geriatric ward. Not good.

[BO]

Waldo, I think what Hedges means is that the left in the USA, doesn't really exist. If it did, we'd experience here, what France has been doing for some time. I don't think you can say that France's protests haven't yielded results.

That there is no leftist political discourse is exactly the point Hedges is making.

Regardless, we are at war. True, Americans are killing each other instead of the enemy. But, again, that just supports Hedges' thesis. If there was an American left, Americans would know who their enemy was. They don't. Hence, random violence ensues because the peeps haven't a clue who fucked them over. So, let's just kill each other...

[waldopaper]

If I cut hedges a lot of slack, he's saying that the "phantom" American left is a cartoon created by the Disney Welk-Show machine. To say the "American left" does not exist would be self-denial on Hedges' part and I doubt if he's going there.

If we did what the French citizens are doing, we would be zapped with microwave pain-rays and our credit-cards would be mysteriously worthless the very next day. I'm exaggerating... but only a little... and this seems to be the bedrock of the young folks' paradigm.

As much as I respect Hedges as a writer and intellectual, he has become a fossil who still believes that people without 10-figures can "participate" in a "political process."

[pan]

With all the ranting and raving from the Rightist Rim about socialist/marxist communcrats you would think that there actually was a very active and powerful Left when, in reality, what has got the Rimmers' panties all in a twist is the possibility that the top 2% might have to pay a little more tax. But then, Jonah Goldberg convinced them that Fascism is from liberalism in some very weird Rim Jobbing of reality so they claim that the obvious corporatism of the bail-outs is socialism that the anonymous "free speech" millions given to the teabaggers by corporatists is somehow going to save the little guy.

Polling of registered voters showed they favor Democrats but most sat out. I did. In my neck of the woods the Mormon Mafia reigns supreme and I don't enjoy pissing in the wind anymore.

The young voters who were energized by Hope and Change instead saw what we saw - same old shit - and decided to spend more quality time on Facebook or Twitter or whatever electronic divertissement they have plugged into.....who needs alcohol when you got a Smart Phone?

[BO]

So, Pan, who is behind the scenes generating all this propaganda from the Jewish right?

In your opinion, is all this crap based in a Zionist plot? I hate to subscribe to conspiracy theories that point to an evil Jewish cabal running the planet, but some cards seem to be falling in place. What's your take on it?

[pan]

I don't see it all nicely being fit into a catch-all overarching conspiracy. Zionism has always been, since the turn of the 20th century, heavily involved in propaganda efforts but there are other players involved who are benefiting by the destruction of America's traditional strength as an industrial society.

America has no memory and only can see the short-term. Capitalism since Reagan has had no interest in anything beyond manipulation of public image to increase stock value. Short-sighted greed is a WASP value too.

[BO]

"Short-sighted greed is a WASP value too."

No doubt. But, if you subscribe to the notion -- like I do--that the global banking cabal essentially runs the planet, then a view of how the central banks came about and are managed today is unavoidable. There is undeniable evidence of Jewish influence--if not control of the global banking system..

Whether it's a jewish conspiracy or happenstance is certainly worth consideration. It's always been my belief that fundamentalist religious belief systems were the root of all evil, whether based in christianity, Judaism or the Qur'an. All seem to explain an inherent irrationality that underlies the evil acts of the religious.

The question then remains, why is there such a preponderance of Jewish participants in the global banking industry? It would seem that some undeniable patterns in human history have become forbidden subjects. I wonder if that in itself points to the power of the elite.

[pan]

Morals based upon fundamentalist reads of scripture that name the chosen, the saved, as opposed to the goyim, the damned, the infidel are, by design, based upon treating ONLY the members of your sect of true believers in a humane manner.

The religious laws against usury and the Christian laws against Jews owning real estate contributed to the rise of the Jewish dominated banking industry.

[BO]

It'd be interesting to see an article that flushed out your theory.

But, if Jews were forced into banking, does that excuse their behavior? Or would you suggest that any form of hegemony is, by its nature, evil? Or are some groups more evil than others?

No doubt the Nazis were evil. But is the banking industry--and the people behind it--any less evil? Seems like they're just as destructive--albeit not as overtly so.

Killing someone with a gun is the same as denying one happiness by imprisoning them economically.

[pan]

Can't find the reference to the Church banning the ownership of land by Jews and the Romani but this is a pretty good article on usury.

The Christians, Muslims and Jews all banned charging interest on loans. This is where having one set of rules for your own and another set for the Gentiles is handy.

[pan]

from wikipedia (for what its worth)

Jews were subject to a wide range of legal disabilities and restrictions throughout the Middle Ages, some of which lasted until the end of the 19th century. Jews were excluded from many trades, the occupations varying with place and time, and determined by the influence of various non-Jewish competing interests. Often Jews were barred from all occupations but money-lending and peddling, with even these at times forbidden. The number of Jews permitted to reside in different places was limited; they were concentrated in ghettos, and were not allowed to own land; they were subject to discriminatory taxes on entering cities or districts other than their own, were forced to swear special Jewish Oaths, and suffered a variety of other measures, including restrictions on dress.

[BO]

So, basically, we're back to this.

Essentially, you have a pissed off race/sect of people who feel they don't have to play fair because they've been persecuted for 100's of years. When Lloyd Blankfein--head of the giant blood-sucking squid--says he's doing God's work, what he really means (subconsciously or not) is he's taking revenge on the goyim.

My own sentiments are: I hate all religions equally. But having control over the banking industry does make that particular sect/tribe more dangerous than others. And considering the complete lack of morality and predatory nature of the business, it's not surprising to see a backlash taking shape.

That said, like W.C. Fields said, I don't discriminate. I hate all religious participants equally. But when a particular group of folks start harshing my own personal realm, than those are the folks that are going to get my attention.