Civilization/Politics Archives - Page 2 of 9

This is What Collapse Looks Like

July 22, 2020 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

It’s time to normalize the word, “collapse,” to describe the ongoing conditions in the US.

Some would counter it’s well past time—and I won’t argue with that—but I’d say we can no longer credibly claim that it’s too early to make this call.

“Decline” has been happening for decades at this point, as manifested in trends such as increasing class inequality, decreasing wages (as relative to inflation), higher infant mortality, lower life expectancy, a disintegrating social safety net, explosive growth of the prison-industrial complex, deteriorating educational system, etc. More and more people have been feeling the squeeze in their efforts to get by, even if establishment voices make claims to the contrary about “recovery.”

But “collapse” is more than “decline.” It’s when the system has lost enough integrity that it’s gone beyond the point of no return. With the multiple levels of disruption that have accompanied the COVID pandemic, we have passed that point.

“How Trump Stole 2020″—Talking with Greg Palast about his new book

July 16, 2020 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

“Voter suppression is simply class war by other means.” —Greg Palast

What do timber interests, nuclear power, and off-shore drilling have in common with voter-suppression in Georgia? Greg Palast lays it out, following the money and naming the names, in his new book, “How Trump Stole 2020: The hunt for America’s Vanished Voters,” which was released this week, and is available at gregpalast.com.

Starting with W’s theft of the election in 2000, he paints a picture of graft, theft, and malice, in which Republicans steal national office from Democrats, and Democrats steal their own party from their own progressive wing. As with Palast’s writing in general, it achieves that all too rare combination of being both informative and entertaining. The tome is chock full of statistics and facts, all studiously researched and well-supported, and punctuated regularly with punchlines for comic relief.

It also includes a comic book pull-out by Ted Rall, which provides an invaluable Cliff Notes version of voter suppression tactics.

Greg Palast is an investigative journalist who has written for the Guardian, BBC Television, Democracy Now!, Rolling Stone, and more. In 2001, he exposed how Florida was stolen from Al Gore, and since then, one of his main focuses has been voter suppression in the US. On this topic, he has few peers and has unearthed numerous scandals that deserve greater attention.

I interviewed Palast on July 15^th, and we discussed the moneyed interests behind voter suppression, including the Koch brothers, Paul “the Vulture” Singer, Georgia Pacific (the logging company), Georgia Power (the utility). We also went into the gutting of the Voting Rights Act in 2013; how exit polls showed widespread voter suppression in 2016; and the problems with mail-in voting.

What follows is a partial transcript, edited for clarity. You can listen to the entire interview here.

Sonnenblume: I got a copy of your book from Seven Stories and I had a chance to read it ahead of time and a lot of it I already recognized, from previous writing of yours but it was amazing to have it all together in one place. The scope of the theft and the graft is just breathtaking, honestly.

Palast: That’s one of the things that makes it difficult, too. My fellow journalists don’t want to look at the actual numbers of the vote theft. They stop short of going after the real information of the numbers because it’s so shocking.

Sonnenblume: That’s kind of the $64,000 question, isn’t it? That not only the media but the Democratic establishment basically ignores this scandal.

Palast: Yes. You’re asking two questions. Where’s the media? Where’s the Democrats?

COVID-19 Denialism is Rooted in the Settler Colonial Mindset

July 8, 2020 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

COVID denialism in the US is problematic to say the least. The nation is facing a public health crisis that’s far worse than it needs to be, as shown by the examples of countless other nations around the world that have largely suppressed the first wave. In fact, the US is one of the most dangerous places to be for this pandemic.

We have failed to pursue common sense policies and collective action here due to the ignorant attitudes not only of our leadership but of a significant share of our population.

Three recent interviews I did for my podcast, “Voices for Nature & Peace,” highlighted the connection between this unfortunate state of affairs and our status as a settler-colonial state. These three guests were Margaret Kimberley, a columnist at the Black Agenda Report and member of the Black Alliance for Peace; Joanna Pocock, the Canadian-born, London-residing author of “Surrender,” a memoir about living in the western US; and Alley Valkyrie, a US American activist, writer and artist in France.

The Corruption of the Democratic Party: Talking to Ted Rall about his new book

June 30, 2020 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

Ted Rall: "Political Suicide: : The Fight for the Soul of the Democratic Party"

Seven Stories Press just released Ted Rall’s new book, “Political Suicide: The Fight for the Soul of the Democratic Party.” Rall is a graphic novelist, a syndicated columnist and the author of many books of art and prose, including biographies of Edward Snowden, Bernie Sanders and Pope Francis. You’ve probably seen his political cartoons, which are often published in urban weeklies.

“Political Suicide” uses the graphic novel form to trace the history of the Democratic Party’s rightward movement over the last few decades, and how its leadership has worked to suppress the party’s progressive wing.

Ted & I talked on June 27^th for my podcast, “Voice for Nature & Peace.” You can listen to the full conversation here. What follows are two extended excerpts, edited for clarity.

Kollibri: There’s often been a discussion about the Democrats: “How come they don’t win as much as they should? How come people like Trump are able to win?” It often comes down to this argument of, “Is it incompetence or is it corruption?” And your book comes down pretty solidly on the side of corruption.

Ted: Yes. The question is: Is it a plan? Is it a conspiracy or is it a system? I think it’s more a system that ends up creating systemic corruption. That’s my conclusion. Obviously, it’s impossible to know without being a fly on the wall in the room where it happened. But, since we’re not, you kind of have to draw the conclusion that these are people who know what they’re doing, but they don’t know why.

I think they sort of have articles of religious faith within the DNC. For example, the whole centrist/triangulation thing. You know: “If you go too far to the left you just can’t win.” But there’s no real data to support that it. It may be true but [they need to] prove it. They haven’t been winning much with their current approach. This is not a party that sweeps a lot of elections.

There are more registered Democrats than registered Republicans. So by definition, if everybody votes in roughly equal numbers, Democrats should win most of the time. But they don’t, so obviously what’s happening is that Democrats are less motivated to vote than Republicans. So the question is, “Why is that?”

The Proliferation of Conspiracy Theories & the Crisis of Science

May 20, 2020 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

We’re all familiar with what a “conspiracy theory” is: a narrative of social control in which shadowy groups are secretly rigging events to increase their own power and profit. An apt personification is “the man behind the curtain” in “The Wizard of Oz.”

Of course, there actually are groups attempting to rig events to their own enrichment, such as criminal rackets, political parties and corporations, but conspiracy theories go beyond this simple reality of economics and politics; the actors they describe are virtually god-like in their omniscience and omnipotence: to wit, any and every happenstance is interpreted not only in terms of how it benefits these actors, but—here’s the kicker—how that benefit proves that these forces planned and executed the events in question. At this point, the tales becomes tall indeed, and all logic goes out the window.

“Cui bono?“—a Latin phrase usually translated as “Who benefits?”—is the bread-and-butter of conspiracy theorizing. And as a starting point for understanding motivations and relationships in a profit-driven society, it’s certainly useful, but it only takes you so far.

I would draw the distinction between “opportunism” and “orchestration.”

For example, if my house is on fire and my neighbor charges me a Franklin to use his hose, what’s been clearly demonstrated is that he’s a greedy son-of-a-gun, but not—and this is key—that he personally set the conflagration himself. Maybe he did, maybe didn’t. But the mere fact of his making money from the situation does not prove his culpability: it just illustrates his opportunism, or, if you like, his entrepreneurship.

In a capitalist society where “money makes the world go round,” virtually every single event will boost the bottom line for somebody, and as a rule, multiple parties will actively be seeking the angle where they get to be that particular somebody, whether they had anything to do with starting it or not. It’s perverse, but it’s not always diabolical.

For People, Planet & Peace: Interview with Lisa Savage, Ind. Candidate for Senate in Maine

May 11, 2020 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

Lisa Savage is running for Senate in the state of Maine, against Republican incumbent, Susan Collins. Lisa is long-time antiwar and environmental organizer, as well as being a public school teacher and a grandmother. Although she has been an active member of the Green Party, Lisa is running as an independent candidate due to restrictive ballot access laws in Maine. The state does, however, boast the advantage of having ranked choice voting, which gives independent candidates a better shot.

I interviewed Lisa for my podcast, “Voices for Nature & Peace,” on May 7th, 2020, and we covered a lot of ground: COVID-19 relief (including her call for a People’s Bail-Out), healthcare, agriculture, campaigning during a pandemic, the recently released documentary, “Planet of the Humans,” the Green New Deal, and US militarism. If she wins, she will certainly be one of the most progressive people to ever serve in the US Senate.

What follows is a partial transcript of our conversation. Listen to the full interview here.

To My Fellow Leftists, Anti-Imperialists, Radicals, etc., re. the Pandemic

May 10, 2020 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

I submit that the most significant effect of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US is sociological. The break with the “normal” that the population is experiencing, virtually universally, is without precedent in the post-WWII era. With this amazing moment, we are being provided with an incredible opportunity to organize and to support real resistance to the Establishment. We should make the most of it.

All other effects—to health, civil liberties, electoral politics, etc.—are secondary (besides being matters of seemingly infinite debate). By contrast, the fact that people’s faith in the system is being seriously shaken right now is a big deal, and—as a phenomena—is undeniably real.

Those of us who oppose war, capitalism, injustice, authoritarianism and ecocide have often wished that the population could be roused from their seemingly unquestioning acceptance of the status quo and consider new perceptions and ideas. Well, here we are. There’s a real chance for something to happen. The last thing we should be calling for right now is a return to “normal.”

Personally, I’ve been opposed to “normal” since I was made aware of its existence at the age of 11. My understanding—or “analysis” as the intellectuals like to say—has grown more sophisticated over time, but the core has remained the same, and that is a visceral revulsion for the status quo, its values and its actions, which—I don’t need to tell you—are anti-people and anti-planet.

The System of “normal” has seemed unassailable: a machine of massive scale and seemingly unstoppable inertia. But it is vulnerable. We are seeing that now. We need to seize this moment.

In the context of taking action during the pandemic, many details are unimportant, like whether these particular statistics are accurate or those specific polices are over-reactions, or even if the whole thing was planned by Bill Gates.

Of course the elite is taking advantage of this crisis to consolidate power and riches. That’s their MO every other day of the week too, and that doesn’t make this moment special. But every ruling class in history has faced a day of reckoning when they fall from power, sometimes abruptly. The circumstances have varied, but what most instances had in common was a population that experienced a break with “normal.”

Right now, in 2020, a door has opened a crack. We don’t know what’s on the other side, but it’s a way out of this miserable place. We should grab ahold of it before the powers-that-be slam it shut again by “re-opening.”

So, is this just another flu? Did Governor so-and-so overstep his bounds? Are the counts in New York City exaggerated? Maybe, maybe not. What I’m saying is that such things are trivial compared to the magnitude of the opportunity that life is offering us now, with the spell broken for so many people. This really could be a once-in-a-lifetime shot at big change. Let’s go with that flow.

What exactly should we do? Ha! I know better than to make any specific suggestions. Anything I say would just become something else to argue with.

Personally, I’ll be looking for ways to support people who are taking advantage of the new space and who are trying to expand it—the people for whom “normal” is just not cutting it anymore. Maybe we’ll see each other along the way.

The Pandemic as a Lesson in Humility: An Interview with Gilbert Mercier (excerpt)

May 9, 2020 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

Gilbert Mercier is a is a French journalist, photojournalist and filmmaker. He founded the News Junkie Post in 2009 and is its Co-Editor-in-Chief. Over the years, he has been a guest analyst on television and radio programs for RT, BBC World News, the Progressive Radio Network, Sputnik, Al Hurra TV, CounterPunch Radio, and Radio Islam. Mercier’s articles have been republished by Alternet, Truthout, CounterPunch, Z Communications, Signs of the Times, Popular Resistance, and others. He authored the book, “The Orwellian Empire.” He is a member of the National Press Photographers Association and the Art Directors Guild of America.

Gilbert and I spoke on May 5th, and covered a variety of political and environmental topics, many of them in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. What follows is an excerpt.

Listen to complete interview here:

Or watch on Youtube here

Kollibri: We’re at a point now with this pandemic where Capitalism is facing a crisis, perhaps an existential crisis.

Gilbert: To me, this is excellent and it’s an opportunity for people like you and I and a bunch of other people worldwide to raise the consciousness level of the population…

Slaughter of the Innocents: COVID-19 & the Future of Agriculture

May 5, 2020 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

**Above:** *Massive cattle operation in Imperial County, California [Photo by the author]*

listen to the author read this post:

or watch on YouTube

It’s early days yet, but the COVID-19 pandemic has already proven to be revelatory, exposing much that is ugly about the “normal” functioning of the US: the sorry state of health care, the unresponsiveness of corporate-owned government, the hyper individuality of the populace, the high levels of ignorance among the same, and the racism of the entire system.

Regarding that lattermost point: This nation was founded by white Europeans who stole the land from the Indigenous and then built wealth with African slaves, and guess who’s doing the worst in this pandemic? The Native Americans and the Blacks. And look who’s protesting the loudest to get things “back to normal”: Whites, many of them with Confederate flags. Let that sink in.

Agriculture was at the heart of the settler colonialism: The land was seized for farming and the people were kidnapped to work the fields. From brutal beginnings, the situation has only worsened, especially in the last few decades. Small-scale, family-farming à la Old MacDonald is the stuff of myth at this point, with precious few exceptions. Pesticide use is up, ground-water levels are down, top soil is blowing away, wildlife biodiversity is shrinking, and human workers are abused.

Corporate ownership of the means of food production has led to concentrated ownership, de-localization, and supply chains that are brittle in response to stress. A handful of corporate giants (in fact, only four) have gobbled up most of the US meat industry.

These corporations have set up “economies of scale” that utilize mass mechanization and impose horrific living conditions never before seen—and not seen enough, thanks in part to “Ag Gag” laws that forbid photographic or video documentation of what goes on in such places. One could be forgiven for assuming these companies don’t want their customers to know the details of how their meat is processed. Especially when the results are thing like fecal matter in 100% of the ground beef (as found in a food-safety test conducted by Consumer Reports in 2015). Jim Hightower went so far as to say that factory farms aren’t farms, but “concentration camps for animals.”

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