It seems normally in the limited mind of a conservative would a commune or coop seem pink to red, I would feel the heat of red if evangelizing was used. 

Traditionally farming coops seem to have the life span of a machine gunner in combat,  for what happens is poor quality product drags down good quality product prices and the price averages out, usually down, so the good quality folks become disillusioned and pull out and the coops fold after time.

Calling all Rebels has provided much food for the thoughtless, one hears Beck or Limbaugh on the alleged right and the same on the alleged left, what is one to do?

I posted this before, but it seems to have
disappeared.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/mar/10/accidental-communist-cooperatives

Just a change from the usual hysteria, hand-wringing, one-liners, and conspiracy theories.

nemesis2010,

A post most worthy of reflection, thank you!

Only question I have, is placing the Author Hedges and the word intellectual under the same roof seems to be stretching it a tad?

It may be only I, who finds confusion in stereotypes, such as in the word progressive bandied around TD like the word Zionist.

rfidler, March 11 at 8:39 pm #

ardee:

Make your point and get off the toilet, I say.

I thought I made my point succinctly and with no wasted effort. Of course, reading most of your stuff is a waste of effort, sadly. Why not try harder or not at all?

Mr. Hedges, a bit off topic but your essay made me want to ask you have you read James W. Douglass’ “JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters”? If not, I commend the book to you.

http://www.amazon.com/JFK-Unspeakable-Why-Died-Matters/dp/1570757550/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263196127&sr=1-1

I’m especially concerned about recent news that Tom Hanks (per last week’s Time Magazine) is planning to cinematize Vincent Bugliosi’s vomitous 1600-page defense of the Warren Report. Hanks is being glorified by Time Inc as “America’s Historian” when, in fact, he is about to destroy American history all over again.

Ironically Time—which was run by Henry Luce in JFK’s era and beyond (Luce was reportedly close to Alan Dulles and a reliable propagandist for the CIA)—is promoting Tom Hanks who wants to reverse course to embrace the long-discredited Warren Report because he wants to “set straight” all the “conspiracy kooks” who have searched for the truth over the last 47 years, many of whom (some including Congress members, not that they’re particularly adept) have found at bare minimum more than one shooter and thus a rational plan.

Douglass shows how not just a president was killed in 1963. Peace was killed. He looks at why JFK died, not just the “whodunit.” It’s a magnificent work of history. This is what Hanks should to set to film.

Speaking of media, at the start of your essay, “Calling All Rebels,” you wrote, “The media have been debased and defanged by corporate owners.” Did you intend to say “Journalism has been debased and defanged by corporate owners”?

ardee:

Whoa, now. Credibility? truthdig? Are you serious? I think it’s a downright disqualifier.

ardee:

Whoa now. This is truthdig, after all. Credibility is not a prerequisite. Dare I say it’s a hindrance.

Do you really read through ALL the bloviation? My attention span lasts about 100 words.

Make your point and get off the toilet, I say.

Mr. Hedges:

In the opening paragraph of your article “Calling All Rebels” you wrote that the American Empire is over and that the decline will be horrifying. You also asked: “How do we fight back?”

Before that question can be answered one should know against whom one is fighting back, right? If the empire is finished who is fighting us? If, as you claim in the article, the empire is over then shouldn’t “we” be fighting for control of the reins of power against any and all opposing factions? Who are the “we” that you had in mind? Your definition could mean that some of “us” are not “we” but actually “them.” If it is as you say in your article then the U.S. is now in a civil war, right?

I’m not being facetious; I’m a fan of yours and have been for years, but these questions need to be asked and answered.

When fighting an enemy one should consider both his strengths and weaknesses. Where is this beast(?) most vulnerable? For example: if the enemy against whom you urge us to fight back is the existing, duly elected U.S. government and its Wall Street masters then I’d say that the Beast’s #1 vulnerability is its finances while its main strength would be the military as a force to deal with foreign enemy and the new national paramilitary forces, DHS, (formerly the police) to deal with domestic troublemakers. You do understand that this beast will retaliate and it will become violent regardless of anyone’s good intentions, don’t you? This particular beast is not hamstrung with the same pretentious moral guidelines possessed by the well-intentioned.

Americans today are inundated with talking heads, authors, intellectuals, ideologues, etc. urging them to “fight back” against an apparently ubiquitous and yet simultaneously opaque enemy for one ill-defined cause or another. The jingoism is usually along the lines of “take our country back” or equally specious cacophony. Americans today—it pains me to say—are more Equus asinus than big-brained ape. That’s why they’re so easily duped by the vacuous newspeak spewed by all of the handsomely rewarded Equus asinuses of the corporate owned media. Divide and conquer is not just a slogan; it’s a tactic.

Americans don’t need another corporate owned and sponsored Equus asinus. Americans need leaders who are possessed of the courage to clearly define the enemy and the goals for which “we” are fighting, lay their assets on the line, pick up the standard and lead the fight! Not from behind a desk or a microphone nor standing before a teleprompter, they have to lead from the front lines; the street. If anyone wishes to be the new Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, etc. then that someone has to do what they did. That someone has to be willing to suffer the lost of all his wealth and the disgrace, humiliation, and death that the gallows guarantee in the event of failure.

Do you know anyone like that Mr. Hedges? Do you know anyone willing to forfeit his affluent lifestyle, pick up the standard, and lay all that he has and all that he is on the line and ”fight back”? Especially one who has become rather wealthy from the same predator capitalist system that he is now condemning?

”Intellectuals are a separate category; intellectuals are mostly servants of power.”
-Noam Chomsky

Regards,

rfidler, March 10 at 3:22 pm

Do you really believe this sort of one line silliness grants you any credibility ?

In reponse to:  By Jackie, March 10 at 12:03 am #

Jackie reminds us that rebellion is action, but ‘sedition’ (sitting, writing, complaining, and maybe even punning) is not. I have turned off the TV, and my life is better. I always knew it was evil, but I finally did something about it. When the dentist’s receptionist forces you to listen to audio pollution by FauxNews in the waiting room, it is not pure chance needling you. FauxNews has positioned itself as the Orwellian oracle, spitting out hate, announcing new enemies, telling us the new truth and defecating in our minds every moment of every day, and everywhere you go. Even on other channels, whether “news” or “entertainment” the propaganda menu might list different dishes, but the restaurant and the food are still corporatist. If you watch corporate-sponsored or -produced TV, or radio, you are attending to their propaganda. You are participating willingly in their misinformation. In fact you are encouraging it.

Watching TV in America is like deliberately standing in front of a “Dirty Jew” poster in post Weimar Germany (that’s Nazi Germany) and going back the next day to stare again, and the next day. You are, by watching, listening, letting it in, helping to start the (new) holocaust. Soon you may see your picture on the “Juder” poster. If you want to rebel, bring a can of spray paint with you, or just turn off the TV.

In reponse to:  By Jackie, March 10 at 12:03 am #

Jackie reminds us that rebellion is action, but ‘sidition’ (sitting, writing and complaining) is not. I have turned off the TV, and my life is better. I knew it was evil, but I finally did something about it. When the dentist receptionist forces you to listen to audio pollution by FauxNews in the waiting room, it is not pure chance needling you. FauxNews has positioned itself as the Orwellian oracle, spitting out hate, announcing new enemies, telling us the new truth and defecating in our minds every moment of every day, and everywhere you go. Even on other channels, whether “news” or “entertainment” the propaganda menu might list different recipes, but the restaurant and the menus are still corporatist. If you watch corporate-sponsored or -produced TV, or radio, you are attending to their propaganda. You are participating willingly in their misinformation.

Watching TV in America is like deliberately standing in front of a “Dirty Jew” poster in post Weimar Germany (that’s Nazi Germany) and going back the next day to stare again, and the next day. You are, by watching, listening, letting it in, helping to start the (new) holocaust. Soon you may see your picture on the “Juder” poster. If you want to rebel, bring a can of spray paint with you, or just turn off the TV.

Thanks to ooOK and djknoll for excellent posts!

Anarcissie, March 10 at 12:16 pm #

  Tennessee-Socialist, March 10 at 2:56 am:
  ’... SO MY PERSONAL TIP TO ALL: TURN OFF YOUR COMPUTER….’

Show us.

***********************

To which sentiment I can only add a fervent, YES PLEASE DO.

dear r(oof)fidler

Isn’t that what all you progressives have been wanting since the 60s? The death of the American Empire?

I suspect that your fiddle is too loud to hear what us peaceniks really have been saying: that America should focus its wealth on issues at home, build better infrastructure, re-establish trust in its people, fertilize its economic powerbase, and grow stronger. Not more belligerent.

And now, (roof)fiddler, we shall flick nickels into your hat and stroll by your thinner and thinner shadow as we walk down the Via Appia of Rome in the flickering light of bonfires. PURIUS EXIT NERO

rfidler says, “Isn’t that what all you progressives have been wanting since the 60s? The death of the American Empire? You should be giddy with anticipation.”

So, once again we have it where a legitimate commentary of what an articulate writer (Hedges) maintains APPEARS to be happening, is twisted into what he WANTS to happen.

Once again we see no constructive challenge or a shred of evidence to combat the commentary.

Once again, we see an attack on the messenger rather than the message.

We need for all the progressives in Congress to get together and form a Social
Democratic Party.  The Tea Party, together with the militias of ex-servicemen and
others, is the extreme right.  We need a party that is truly of the left without being
totalitarian, and it will only have clout if it results from a split in the Democratic
Party, just as the Tea Party is in essence, a split from the Republican Party.

Most of the developed, civilized world is more or less social democratic.  We are
the only exception.

Let’s get those people to do it!

Mr. Hedges:

In the opening paragraph of your article “Calling All Rebels” you wrote that the American Empire is over and that the decline will be horrifying. You also asked: “How do we fight back?”

Before that question can be answered one should know against whom one is fighting back, right? If the empire is finished who is fighting us? If, as you claim in the article, the empire is over then shouldn’t “we” be fighting for control of the reins of power against any and all opposing factions? Who are the “we” that you had in mind? Your definition could mean that some of “us” are not “we” but actually “them.” If it is as you say in your article then the U.S. is now in a civil war, right?

I’m not being facetious; I’m a fan of yours and have been for years, but these questions need to be asked and answered.

When fighting an enemy one should consider both his strengths and weaknesses. Where is this beast(?) most vulnerable? For example: if the enemy against whom you urge us to fight back is the existing, duly elected U.S. government and its Wall Street masters then I’d say that the Beast’s #1 vulnerability is finances while its main strength would be the military as a force to deal with foreign enemy and the new national paramilitary forces, DHS, (formerly the police) to deal with domestic troublemakers. You do understand that this beast will retaliate and it will become violent regardless of anyone’s good intentions, don’t you? This particular beast is not hamstrung with the same pretentious moral guidelines possessed by the well-intentioned.

Americans today are inundated with talking heads, authors, intellectuals, ideologues, etc. urging them to “fight back” against an apparently ubiquitous and yet simultaneously opaque enemy for one ill-defined cause or another. The jingoism is usually along the lines of “take our country back” or equally specious cacophony. Americans today—it pains me to say—are more Equus asinus than big-brained ape. That’s why they’re so easily duped by the vacuous newspeak spewed by all of the handsomely rewarded Equus asinuses of the corporate owned media. Divide and conquer is not just a slogan; it’s a tactic.

Americans don’t need another corporate owned and sponsored Equus asinus. Americans need leaders who are possessed of the courage to clearly define the enemy and the goals for which “we” are fighting, lay their assets on the line, pick up the standard and lead the fight! Not from behind a desk or a microphone nor standing before a teleprompter, they have to lead from the front lines; the street. If anyone wishes to be the new Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, etc. then that someone has to do what they did. That someone has to be willing to suffer the lost of all his wealth and the disgrace, humiliation, and death that the gallows guarantee in the event of failure.

Do you know anyone like that Mr. Hedges? Do you know anyone willing to forfeit his affluent lifestyle, pick up the standard, and lay all that he has and all that he is on the line and ”fight back”?

Are any of you reading this willing?

Regards,

@ Tennessee Socialist:

I haven’t complicated my argument and I haven’t evaded reality.

Everybody hates pain, that’s reality! If you don’t believe me the next time you run into a foreigner punch him in the face and tell us how painful his reaction to pain was to you.

I enjoy walking! I used to run 5km at least 5 or 6 times a week. I don’t binge eat, and I don’t know anyone who does. I weigh 22 lbs. more than I did in the Marine Corps and I’m almost 65. Have you ever been to Little League or High School sporting events? How can you say those things? What’s wrong with an occasional pizza? What’s next; no out of wedlock sex?

“US citizens hate pain and any thing that brings them pain, and any change of political system from capitalism toward socialism would cause pain in USA.”

TS, the wonderful thing about AmeriCorp is that you’re free to grab a little red beret, a gun, and any follower dumb enough to follow you and start your very own glorious revolution. And you don’t even have to leave Tennessee! You’ve enough red-neck, babble-thumping, evangelist jeebus lunatics right in your backyard to keep you occupied for quite a while. Well, at least until AmeriCorp’s paramilitary forces blow all of you away.
What’s stopping you? Why are you here babbling instead of out in the street fighting for the brotherhood of man? Hey wasn’t that the name of a soul group years ago?

@ John Ellis:

Beating up on a straw man is a very girly-man thing to do John.

I never said this world or man was ever/is perfect. And perfect would be subjective would it not? What is the definition of perfect? I’m sure that almost every human on the planet would have a different definition of what defines a perfect man or world. I’ve had girlfriends that I thought had the perfect body until a new one came around and had one that was more perfect that the last. Are there degrees of perfection?

I don’t agree with your Manichean outlook but even if existence is a duality there is one hell of an expanse between the two extremes. That’s a lot of room to do a lot of living. Life is what it is; live it to the best that you are able. You’re going to die, and it’s going to be too soon to you when it happens; so live here and now because there is no afterlife.

The lethargy and complacency that AmeriCorp suffers is not from scarcity but rather from over-abundance. As bad as things might be it’s still a hell of a lot better than about 96% of the world.

John, next time you need to go into a dark room and don’t know where the light switch is located or you don’t have a lantern… be a man and just walk into it! There are no boogey men. There are no evil spirits flying around looking to see what mischief they can cause and jeebus ain’t coming back because he probably never was here to begin with. It’s the 21st century; crawl out of that medieval swamp of superstition.

Stalin was the dictatorship of the oligarchs. No one else, no church, not corporations unless they are under the state and the state under the Bolsheviks and the Bolshis under Stalin. [Not either Marx or Engles to be seen en substantis Tennessee-Socialist] You should have called yourself communist. I am waiting for you to turn off the world first. You won’t you just want us to.

As for Nietzsche he wanted the weak to have the good qualities of the strong. He didn’t want them to be the hunters/predators of the “Master” class but the togetherness of the “Slave” class, but without the slavery part.

”...For one should not overlook this fact: the strong are as naturally inclined to separate as the weak are to congregate ; if the former unite together, it is only with the aim of an aggressive collective action & collective satisfaction of their will to power, and with much resistance from the individual conscience; the latter, on the contrary, enjoy precisely this coming together—their instinct as much satisfied by this as the instinct of the born “masters” (that is the solitary, beast-of-prey species of man) is fundamentally irritated & disquieted by organization. The whole of history teaches us that every oligarchy conceals the lust for tyranny; every oligarchy constantly trembles with the tension each member feels in maintaining control over this lust. (So it was in Greece, for instance: Plato bears witness to it in a hundred passages—-and he knew his own kind—-and himself…) Genealogy of Morals.

John Ellis, March 9 at 5:54 pm #

Night-Gaunt;
      “It is best to turn on the light in a darkened room before entering it.”

Above is a perfect example of darkness,
a pretense of good logic hiding confusion.

It is when you change it to mean black is white so I would be careful at a zebra crossing with that line of thought. Considering your points are irrelevant to the metaphorical basis of the story which is to illuminate in order to see what you need to navigate around or remove. Blind and blunder is what you support? Very simple but in your hands you turn it into a means of confusion. Very good! You confuse what I say and turn me into what you are! Well done in an evil elegant way. But I see through your fog and will clear it every time.

Hedges opens his article by saying, “Brace yourself. The American empire is over. And the descent is going to be horrifying.”

Isn’t that what all you progressives have been wanting since the 60s? The death of the American Empire? You should be giddy with anticipation.

There was an ancient Native American belief that every action was a prayer to the Great Spirit.  Chris Hedges points out that every action, or rather lack of action, that we take each day can either support the corporate establishment or it can be an act of rebellion against it.  He is right, of course, but he stops there and does not truly give us guidance on where to go from here other than the warning that what is ahead is not going to be pretty and may very well be bloody.

Many times I have posted on this site, my own site, and on other sites and blogs that I would stand against anyone who tried to rebel against this nation.  But, now, as we have been pushed into a corporatist state by the Supreme Court and a corrupted Congress, I am not so sure that the America I would defend is one that exists any longer.  So, now I tell people to forget DC and to work to establish localized communities that can be insulated from corporate control by the establishment of localized economies, agriculture, and energy.  I tell them that this is one way of creating the change that is needed to create a stronger infrastructure than currently exists because it requires that we all work together to make it happen.  If Chris Hedges is right, then it is these communities which have bonded together to make themselves strong that will have the best chance of surviving the coming revolution.  In fact, they will be the ones that stand against corporate power and will survive in the end.

I believe that what Chris Hedges said is true.  I believe that this bloody revolt will come within in the next 5 to 10 years, if not sooner.  We are seeing the beginnings of it now.  If the GOP takes over the Congress in November or the Democrats continue on the path they are currently following, then this revolt could happen much sooner.  Economists are already predicting another economic collapse by the end of next year at the latest, and one that is much worse than 2008 because of the current policies and politics in DC.  This may very well be the lightning strike that will cause this revolution so many people talk about.

I do not support violent revolution anymore than I support sitting in front of your TV and doing nothing.  I believe that the strength of this nation lies in her people coming together and creating a new nation, a stronger, more humane nation where the needs of the people and the environment that supports those people are the first and only priority of a government.  I believe that we can create such a nation from within and we can do it in such a way that a revolution of greater magnitude than violence can achieve a better end.  I believe this because I believe in the human spirit and the American people.  I believe we can come together and create better communities by working with our neighbors from inner city neighborhoods to small rural towns, from urban population centers to rural mountain communities.  We are Americans, and we can do this.  I said as much in a two-part video on YouTube yesterday (search:  Devon Noll, A Message to America and Her People). 

I believe we will have a revolution, and I believe it will be up to us to decide if it is violent or if it is a wave that moves across our plains, mountains, from sea to sea bringing new community strength and spirit to this nation, saving ourselves, our children, and the future.  It is possible, and it can be done, but it must be done by us and it must be done NOW - before the guns and the armies and the mercenaries and the revolutionary militias take to the streets and make us all collateral damage.  IT IS TIME TO ACT - AND EACH ACT MUST BE A PRAYER FOR OUR NATION AND HER RESURRECTION!

Tennessee-Socialist, March 10 at 2:56 am:
’... SO MY PERSONAL TIP TO ALL: TURN OFF YOUR COMPUTER….’

Show us.

Rebellion should be purposeful and judicious, not an
existentialist hobby.  Camus was wrong: his ‘rebellion’
is a form of romantic escapism.  It does nothing to
resolve the crisis of self-as-object.  It is just one
of the many differing styles of dysfunction.

Dissenta, March 10 at 3:10 am

Just a note to thank you for an excellent effort, I hope there will be more such.

As to poor Marcos, he has ,after a decent start as an activist, succumbed to the power of “stardom” and its associated open door to the rich and powerful. This is a chief way America subverts dissent and it has worked all to well with Mr. Moulitsas

There is still time to organize resistance. Join the Green Party and get active in your community. Green Parties worldwide share a commitment to grassroots democracy, social justice, nonviolence and ecology. It’s a global grassroots political party with far-sighted solutions to today’s problems.

Don’t be complicit with the corporate-sponsored parties’ mockery of democracy. Get active in the Green Party today: http://gp.org/

It is going to remain a personal choice Tennesee
I have only had it about four or five months.
I see a lot of uses in business for the net,,,I am
sure mine will be turned off as soon as i am mobile
again,  It serves no purpose in my house other than
to disturb democrats,,,

I have heard that the net takes up well over half
of the power grid.  That is what is going to shut
it down….we are not going to be able to supply
all the energy it takes….those that are worried
about coal consumption, nuclear power ..ect.
should all cancel the net and their cell phones..
The cell sites deliver very high energy RF at
almost mico wave frequency.  They employ very much
power.. We all need to go back to land lines.
From most of what i see with cell phone use, 99%
of the use, while maybe entertaining to them , very
unneccessary.

Just discovered your essays, Mr Hedges, this one my first, and I’m thrilled to find your mind at my age of 65 and just retired so I have time to read.

When you wrote, “The power structure and its liberal apologists dismiss the rebel as impractical and see the rebel’s outsider stance as counterproductive,” I thought instantly of Dennis Kucinich who annoys me sometimes because he is politically counterproductive but then I immediately realize that’s his role. He must do that. He’s speaking up against politics and insisting on policy, and he’s in a severe minority. Ralph Nader is a similar figure and since 2000 I’ve struggled intellectually to accept Nader’s position not as a “spoiler” but as an important voice we’re lucky to have. It’s not Nader’s fault he doesn’t have more people around him—it’s our fault for not getting around him and helping him amplify his voice instead of folding and compromising, then giving up even the compromise.

“Calling All Rebels” indeed!

Tonight on Larry O’Donnell (subbing for Rachel), Markos (Daily Kos) said:

[The Kucinich position] was “definitely a very Ralph Naderesque approach, I think, to politics, a very unrealistic and self-defeating approach. Ralph Nader paved the way for 8 years of George Bush and wars and an attack on civil liberties and the economy. And I’m going to hold people like Dennis Kucinich responsible for the 40,000 Americans who die each year from a lack of healthcare. And I don’t care if you’re a Republican or you’re a conservative Democrat or you’re something like Dennis Kucinich, the fact is this [HCR bill] does a heck of a lot for a lot of people, and like I said it’s not perfect, it definitely needs to be improved, but it’s a first step and God knows it’s taken us a long time to even get our toe in the door given the corporate interests that are arrayed against any kind of real reform. . . . And if somebody like Kucinich wants to block it, I find that completely reprehensible.”

Marcos concluded by saying Kucinich was “making common cause with the Republicans.”

This struck me as the wrong analysis in many ways but here are only two. Markos says Kucinich is “blocking” the bill which implies his intent which I doubt is true. He’s standing up and if he’s the only one standing up, as I said about Nader, that’s not his fault, it’s our fault. But it’s more convenient for the intellectually lazy Marcos to accuse Kucinich of being an enemy.

Markos implies Kucinich has been intransigent from the start but he (and many others) already compromised from single payer to a public option. But the corporate insurers couldn’t accept a PO, so Great Leader Obama (who had endlessly praised single payer as a way to “keep insurers honest”) let the PO drop through a trap door as if he never liked the idea or was helpless to save it (Obama is not helpless). So Kucinich is now being asked (as are all who wanted SP or at least a PO) to swallow a mandate with no PO (unless we get a miracle by reconciliation).

Markos indulges in classic psychological projection to rid himself of the painful truth that he, not Kucinich, is embracing a lost cause and scapegoats Kucinich whom he even objectifies by calling him “something like Kucinich.” In this, Markos is reprehensible.

Your essay importantly explores what happens when we’re alone, as the French were alone with the oppressive Germans and collaborators in Vichy France and as we are likely to be alone when we stand up like Kucinich or Nader and speak out for what we believe to be right. It’s going to be hard in the future of fascist corporatism you (I believe correctly) envision. You give me courage and make me excited to embrace the future (old as I am and dark though the future may be), so long as there are people like you in it. Thanks.

I think that what Chris Heges wrote in another article about the internet is very related to what the philosopher Fredrich Nietzsche wrote in his book “The Will to Power” about technology, industrialization and modernity.  He claimed that the man of the XV and XVII Centuries was more developed than the man of the XVIII and XIX.  And i agree with most of what Nietzsche wrote, since he was one of the best geniouses and one the most realist philosophers.

I think that the individual of the XX Century was a lot smarter and better than the people of this internet culture of the XXI Century.

People are getting dumber, it is not true that internet is waking people up.  We have statistical proof that the 280 million US citizens who have access to internet, do not use it to get informed.  Stastistics say that 95% of US voters vote for capitalist parties, while 5% vote for small socialist parties.  That is a proof of how dumb americans are becoming.

Another thing is that even the USA left in the 1960s was better, bigger and stronger, than today, and in that time they didn’t have cell phones nor computers.

as we can read in the book The Geneology of Morals only those superior men with superior physical strength will be able to be the caste of lords to rule the world:

“The knightly-aristocratic judgments of value have as their basic trait a powerful muscular body, a blooming, rich, even overflowing health, together with those things required to maintain these qualities: war, adventure, hunting, dancing, war games, and, in general, everything which involves strong, free, happy action.” -On The Genealogy of Morals. F. Nietzsche

So lift weights for the revolution. Arnold Shwarzenegger was correct when he claimed that this modern America of lap tops, playstations, nintendos, xbox, computers, ipods, cell phones is turning american males into girly, soft afeminate, muscularly weak men low in testosterone levels,  unable to have the necessary muscle strength, will-power,  emotions, passions, desire, drive, manhood and determination, qualities that are necessary for any revolution, popular uprising, rebellion and changes that the world demands.

SO MY PERSONAL TIP TO ALL: TURN OFF YOUR COMPUTER, TURN OFF YOUR TELEVISION, AND READ PRINTED BOOKS, STAY AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER AND MODERN GADGETS, GET OUT, TALK TO PEOPLE, AND DONT GET CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET THE WHOLE DAY !!!

You won’t find anyone define what they mean
by progressive on TD…

THE PROBLEM I SEE WITH THE USA LEFT IS THAT IT IS FULL OF NON-LEFTISTS ELEMENTS (PROGRESSIVE-LIBERALS)

WHAT IS A PROGRESSIVE-LIBERAL?

A PROGRESSIVE-LIBERAL IS IN PLAIN WORDS A LOVER AND WORSHIPPER OF THE WONDERFUL FREE MARKETS

Progressive-liberals are centrists, not leftists. Most progressive-liberals hate socialism and communism while at the same time they hate imperialist corporate-capitalism but are too scared of a change toward a socialist-state. So being a progressive-liberal (Social-Democrat) is kind of a complicated situation, because they are not right-wingers nor left-wingers, but centrists.  And a centrist (social-democrat) is not a leftist (socialist)

.

The problem of USA is that the US middle class is a far-right wing class.  The US middle-class is a supporter of fascism and repression against the lower-class of America.  The US middle-class is like a sort of second or alternative upper ruling class. so americans beating the bullets must hate: the upper and middle class as their 2 class enemies

Sodium: I did it. I went ahead and ordered the paperback version of Chalmers
Johnson’s trilogy as you suggested. From reading the reviews on Amazon,
Nemesis sounds the most interesting,
As to borrowing from the local library, books must be returned or renewed after two weeks and I might want to refer to these books now and then.
Of course you are correct, life should not be taken so seriously. However, after
reading a Chris Hedges column it is difficult not to be serious, especially after realizing what has been really going on while you were having a good laugh.

What in the world is a proletarian dictatorship??

Doesn’t sound like anything i want.

That is a way far out type of socialism…

WHAT USA NEEDS IS A PROLETARIAN-DICTATORSHIP !!

THE DICTATORSHIP OF THE PROLETARIAT BY JOSEPH STALIN

http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1924/foundations-leninism/ch04.htm

a)  the dictatorship of the proletariat as the instrument of the proletarian revolution;

b)  the dictatorship of the proletariat as the rule of the proletariat over the bourgeoisie;

c)  Soviet power as the state form of the dictatorship of the proletariat,

1) The dictatorship of the proletariat as the instrument of the proletarian revolution. The question of the proletarian dictatorship is above all a question of the main content of the proletarian revolution. The proletarian revolution, its movement, its sweep and its achievements acquire flesh and blood only through the dictatorship of the proletariat. The dictatorship of the proletariat is the instrument of the proletarian revolution, its organ, its most important mainstay, brought into being for the purpose of, firstly, crushing the resistance of the overthrown exploiters and consolidating the achievements of the proletarian revolution, and secondly, carrying the revolution to the complete victory of socialism. The revolution can defeat the bourgeoisie, can overthrow its power, even without the dictatorship of the proletariat. But the revolution will be unable to crush the resistance of the bourgeoisie, to maintain its victory and to push forward to the final victory of socialism unless, at a certain stage in its development, it creates a special organ in the form of the dictatorship of the proletariat as its principle mainstay.

“The fundamental question of every revolution is the question of power” (Lenin). Does this mean that all that is required is to assume power, to seize it? No, it does not. The seizure of power is only the beginning. For many reasons, the bourgeoisie that is overthrown in one country remains for a long time stronger than the proletariat which has overthrown it. Therefore, the whole point is to retain power, to consolidate it, to make it invincible. What is needed to attain this? To attain this it is necessary to carry out at least three main tasks that confront the dictatorship of the proletariat “on the morrow” of victory:

a) to break the resistance of the landlords and capitalists who have been overthrown and expropriated by the revolution, to liquidate every attempt on their part to restore the power of capital;

b) to organise construction in such a way as to rally all the working people around the proletariat, and to carry on this work along the lines of preparing for the elimination, the abolition of classes;

c) to arm the revolution, to organise the army of the revolution for the struggle against foreign enemies, for the struggle against imperialism.

The dictatorship of the proletariat is needed to carry out, to fulfill these tasks.

“The transition from capitalism to communism,” says Lenin, “represents an entire historical epoch. Until this epoch has terminated, the exploiters inevitably cherish the hope of restoration, and this hope is converted into attempts at restoration. And after their first serious defeat, the overthrown exploiters-who had not exploited their overthrow, never believed it possible, never conceded the thought of it-throw themselves with energy grown tenfold, with furious passion and hatred grown a hundredfold, into the battle for the recovery of the ‘paradise’ of which they have been deprived, on behalf of their families, who had been leading such a sweet and easy life and whom now the ‘common herd’ is condemning to ruin and destitution (or to ‘common labour…).

**POST CONTINUED BELOW**

This article is seriously scared rhetoric and common talk radio propaganda.

People need to think outside the box. There is no use in belonging to a party, or taking time to bash another party. It’s turned into a giant football game now, fans just taking sides for the sake of entertainment and being “right”.

There was a time to be conservative in America; there was a time to be Liberal in America. Now it’s time to be Radical, in my honest opinion, but not in the militant way.

People need to be united, and not by scared rhetoric like this.

There is BY FAR more that unites us than divides us. We practically all want the same things and just a few people whole like to make a big deal out of the small things and divide the whole country with the thought of LEFT or RIGHT.

We are going through a tough economical time, obviously. The Conservative mind wants to bring back what we had, the old industry, work hard ethics, etc. The Liberal mind wants to spend money to get back there as well, put money into dead programs, and try to reform.

Sadly, these both won’t work, at least in the long run. The smartest thing we can do now is invest in new technology to build a new industry/infrastructure.

Forget the Conservative and Liberal take on global warming. Forget the politics behind it. Fossil fuels are not a renewable source of energy. America should invest in new forms of energy and rebuild the entire country around it. This is for the future.

Doing such a giant task would create not just “jobs”, but millions of legitimate long lasting careers. Our old industry mindset is outdated and dried up. There is no use saving it.

**POST CONTINUED BELOW**

^^ CONTINUED FROM ABOVE ^^

How did America become like this? We let it happen, we said it was OK to let jobs go overseas and for big business to control America.

Why should rebuild and not salvage it? It’s a dead industry; fossil fuels are dead, maybe not now, but look 50, 100, 500 years to the future. Let’s get a head start on this. There is NO GOING BACK.

If we build a new industry, we absolutely need to regulate our trade, and make it profitable not only for company heads, but also the worker. This may sound like “socialism”, but it is truly vital to keep industry here. Socialism is a terrible thing on large scale, but on a minuscule/moderate scale that is heavily monitored, it can be a great thing. Just look at your library, postal service, paved roads, etc (Granted, there are still problems with these socialist services, but still do not outweigh the greatness of them). We just need to keep them in check.

What we see now in America is the ruins of a great empire. Lost mill towns scattered in every rural city, poverty, and a destitute mind set from the lower/middle class. This could easily be changed by investing in new technology for America’s future.

Investing now would mean we would have a jump on other countries. We would be ahead of the race. We now outsource work to other countries because it’s absurdly cheap to manufacture goods outside the US. By being ahead of the curve, we would absolutely have the advantage over other countries while they struggle to adopt what would already be established here. We would be able to keep the industry inside the US; we would be ahead of the game and have the cheapest manufacturing costs because the industry would already be established.
The US has always been a role model to other countries, but not so much in recent years. It’s time to change that as well. We need to guide with positive example, for the sake of the earth, and our children. We can still carry the big stick, but we need to do it responsibly.

My generation is not full of idiots either. We are NOT DUMB. We are the future of this world, embrace us. We may not have the trade skills like the past generation, but we have access to infinite knowledge with the internet in place. We know how to access this information; we sure as hell will use it when necessary. There will be a time when we will need those skills again, when America is rebuilt, and we will harness and use those skills proudly. The older generations handed down America to their children in great condition. I know the older generation would love to do that now, but that is just not the case. It’s burnt out and NOT the elder’s or children’s fault. It’s time to shrug it off, dust off the pieces and make it great again. This is my world, my America. I’m proud and thankful to be a part of it. I just want to live healthy and be secure, and make sure all our future generations can live the same way.

The person that wrote this article is a pessimist and a cynic. Pessimism and cynicism lead nowhere! Be an optimist, think outside the box, and fix the problem! All you can do is lead by example, do what’s right and be proud.

the numbers will never add up

  It would take at least 4 or 5 election
cycles in which “progressive” democrats (whateverthatis) were voted into office in order
to get enough votes to think about snatching our
country back….. thats about ten years…
That assumming the repubs don’t gain any seats in
the meantime.. 
Probably much longer in the Senate…...

So it will take at least 15 yrs of solid voting
progressive,,,,,,that won’t happen…

We know well the means by which this association of the lord, priest, merchant,
judge, soldier, and king founded its domination. It was by the annihilation of
all free unions: of village communities, guilds, trades unions, fraternities, and
mediæval cities. It was by confiscating the land of the communes and the
riches of the guilds; it was by the absolute and ferocious prohibition of all
kinds of free agreement between men; it was by massacre.

All this we see, and, therefore, instead of inanely repeating the old formula,
“Respect the law,” we say, “Despise law and all its Attributes!” In place of the
cowardly phrase, “Obey the law,” our cry, is “Revolt against all laws!”  Relatively
speaking, law is a product of modern times. For ages and ages mankind lived
without any written law, even that graved in symbols upon the entrance stones
of a temple. During that period, human relations were simply regulated by
customs, habits, and usages, made sacred by constant repetition, and acquired
by each person in childhood, exactly as he learned how to obtain his food by
hunting, cattle-rearing, or agriculture.?  All human societies have passed
through this primitive phase, and to this day a large proportion of mankind
have no written law. Every tribe has its own manners and customs; customary,
law, as the jurists say. It has social habits, and that suffices to maintain cordial
relations between the inhabitants of the village, the members of the tribe or
community. Even amongst ourselves — the “civilized” nations — when we leave
large towns, and go into the country, we see that there the mutual relations of
the inhabitants are still regulated according to ancient and generally accepted
customs, and not according to the written law of the legislators.
  As man does not live in a solitary state, habits and feeling develop within
him which are useful for the preservation of society and the propagation of the
race. Without social feelings and usages life in common would have been
absolutely impossible. It is not law which has established them; they are
anterior to all law. Neither is it religion which has ordained them; they are
anterior to all religions. They are found amongst all animals living in society.
They are spontaneously developed by the new nature of things, like those
habits in animals which men call instinct. They spring from a process of
evolution, which is useful, and, indeed, necessary, to keep society together in
the struggle it is forced to maintain for existence.
  The hospitality of primitive peoples, respect for human life, the sense of
reciprocal obligation, compassion for the weak, courage, extending even to the
sacrifice of self for others which is first learnt for the sake of children and
friends, and later for that of members of the same community — all these
qualities are developed in man anterior to all law, independently of all religion,
as in the case of the social animals. Such feelings and practices are the
inevitable results of social life. Without being, as say priests and
metaphysicans, inherent in man, such qualities are the consequence of life in
common.?But side by side with these customs, necessary to the life of societies
and the preservation of the race, other desires, other passions, and therefore
other habits and customs, are evolved in human association. The desire to
dominate others and impose one’s own will upon them; the desire to seize
upon the products of the labor of a neighboring tribe; the desire to surround
oneself with comforts without producing anything, while slaves provide their
master with the means of procuring every sort of pleasure and luxury — these
selfish, personal desires give rise to another current of habits and customs.
Peter Kropoktin

nemesis: dont complicate your arguments, and dont try to evade reality of americans. Americans hate pain, americans even hate walking, and exercising, this nation is programmed to prefer binge-eating, watching TV, pizzas than painful sports.

US citizens hate pain and any thing that brings them pain, and any change of political system from capitalism toward socialism would cause pain in USA

.

Leefeller, March 9 at 3:16 pm:
‘Revolting seems slightly strong in describing how Hedges writes, seems to me. ...’

He certainly seems to have stirred up the coop this time. 

It is interesting that, besides the hysteria and hyperbole, he gave a positive and not too absurd program for resistance: ‘We have a choice. We can refuse to be either a victim or an executioner. We have the moral capacity to say no, to refuse to cooperate. Any boycott or demonstration, any occupation or sit-in, any strike, any act of obstruction or sabotage, any refusal to pay taxes, any fast, any popular movement and any act of civil disobedience ignites the soul of the rebel and exposes the dead hand of authority.’  That’s actually pretty specific, if a bit broadly painted.  It may be the challenge that caused all the excitement.

No, we don’t need a “revolution” which will be so volatile and all over the place that it will result in a right wing military dictatorship.  We need the long, slow, hard road of building a mass movement with uncompromising social justice principles that is in favor of making this country a real democracy and egalitarian society with a government that doesn’t wage war.  It won’t be corporate sponsered and benefit from television advertising like teabags, and no, it won’t have anything to do with the disgusting corporatist war criminal democrats.

Get Ready     empirePie     March 9th, 2010

Get ready for the end game

Chip your pet, your chip ain’t ready yet.

Get ready for the ‘nastiest of the nasties’ set
An empty stage voids players for the bet

Line your bottom to avoid the wet
The season for the slide is being set

The sacs of gold they set the rules
for full spectrum disorder is around the bend
the high tech dark of the ends is the end
The means are in the age of rath
the raff of child
the group of build
he Enron like traders and the made off hollow cost ers
the rockin fellas, the ‘money is the word’ ers

have a plan

The total disaster profit plan
The ‘this sucker could go down’ plan,
false flagged, thermate tagged, body bagged
to sac up the profits of psychopath rule
from sea to to poisoned sea

as the other becomes the we

So tell it like it is fellows
scarcity is a myth
monopoly is the wish

They have an end game
and you ain’t in it.

It is best to turn on the light in a darkened room before entering it.

Voilence solves little to nothing..

and slow down if you don’t know where you are going.

THAT POSTER SAID THAT VERY ELOQUENTLY !!!!!!!!!!

To change something it’s best to have a goal in mind. To say that it’s only good to stop the machine is only part of the process. And to say that compassion is irrelevent, or words to that effect, is to throw the bably out with the bathwater.

I see you’re upset, Chris, and alarmed. The picture is bleaker than you describe. The machine is blacker and deeper and wider than mere policies. But you and we have to know that it is humans that are driving it. As in the very fine film The Lives of Others, those who run this and drive this contraption of intrigue and pathetic control are only us, and we can reach those we can with our character and hearts and minds. How do I know this? Because I am one who is under that scrutiny, I have been surrounded for years by those who want to silence my voice. Why, because I’m not just religious, I am actually spiritual. And speak about it. And to be spiritual doesn’t mean I sit around mouthing platitudes or do nothing because it might seem unloving, no I take people in, feed the hungry, give my change, say the unpopular things when it suits me least, rise to the occasions, take enornous risks. I lost a house because I wouldn’t compromise my film or autobiography. I’ve lost many homes because I couldn’t compromise. Can you say that? Is that wimpy or silly?

What I say is the best motivation is love and that we don’t even know what we can do. That love is not the captivating dominating love of the romances, but the liberating love of the soul, the one that says you are unlimited and based on that which supports all that you are, not just the convenient parts, the useful parts, the popular parts. And that is very dangerous for the “right”, because they want everybody to stay asleep, stay within the folds of the higherarchical creeds, afraid to look beyond the shadow worlds of the scriptures and commonly quoted lines of all those magnificent scrolls and rits.

I like your boldness but you don’t go far enough. I met you once and you laughed at me, but you shouldn’t have.

You’re right to call for arms but they must be careful to be sensitive to the world they want to find after the war is over, after the seige is completed. There has never been a successful revolution, ask yourself why. To fight isn’t enough, to strive isn’t enough, you must first have a destination in mind. Or you will only come around again to the blackness you were working to enlighten. Ground the work in something beautiful, not figuratively but truly courageous and deep. Strong and awake and inclusive.

Stay with it though, you’re a fine fellow and deserve to see something good after all your fine work is done.

A letter i sent to the President of United States Barack Obama: 

Hello Mr. Obama:

Dear Excelent Mr. President Dr. Barack Obama.  Congratulations on becoming our president and on saving the United States from the fascist dictatorship of George W. Bush, zionist-neoconservatives and the Republican Party.  We have to thank God and the US voters for The Democrat Party for saving us from John Mccain and Sarah Palin who as zionist warmongers as they are, were real eager and ready to take the whole world to the brink of a nuclear-armageddon war against our allies and against the people of this world. 

We all know that the world capitalist system is in its final stages, and that neoliberalism destroys nations, and that socialism as Hugo Chavez has said is the only solution for this world’s economic crisis.  It would be worth studying to change the economic advisors in your cabinnet, because i am sure that they are real good intentioned, but their neoliberal-ideology is the problem.  It would be better for the whole United States economy and future, to consider people like Joseph Stiglitz, Dave Korten, and Michael Hudson (Dennis Kucinich’s economics advisor) in your cabinet, and Dennis Kucinich himself. 

Also, like you said Mr. President you are willing to have a bipartizan team, why not considering well intentioned people of the Republican Party like Ron Paul, and Paul Craig Roberts (Ronald Reagan’s advisor)

What USA needs is a gradual change toward a participative-democratic socialist system of the XXI Century, thru a Constitutional Reform by a Constitutional Assembly like many modern nations today are reforming their own political and economic system. A Political Reform would not be complete without a democratic economic reform, so that USA could move from a corporate-capitalist country toward a real nationalist-econonomic system, where the key elements of the US industries would be owned by the US government, a Robin Hood fiscal reform, in order to shrink the gap between the rich and poor.  Another good worth pondering is to stimulate a plan of workers-cooperative businesses, under workers-ownership who are the creators of wealth like Karl Marx said.

The wealth of this great land belongs to all US citizens and specially *workers* who are the creators of wealth, but they won’t be able to claim that wealth without a nationalization program under state and workers-control of the key elements of US industries like oil, water, communication, electricity, gold, mines, etc.

US citizens would greaty benefit from a socialist subdization program of basic utilities, basic goods and services. Americans also need access to subsidized or free Universities and Colleges, this country needs more public socialist education instead of private education. It would also be a great idea for US government to regulate right-wing stations like CNN and FOX and also to create a state-owned progressive TV station with progressive media people like Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez, in order to spread the ideology of egalitarian-democracy, the US founding fathers, to teach americans democratic egalitarian values, so that thru a good education programs americans truely be free individuals and architects of of our own destiny and wealth. On the international level it is worth studying the closing of most US military bases, the incorporation of USA in the ALBA (Bolivarian Alternative of the Americas), and it would be a great idea to consider Jimmy Carter as peace missioner on the Israeli-Palestine conflict.

thanks

Just an average joe who is awake

I don’t read the long comments. If you can’t say it in a few words, forget it.

What to do? 

Boycott corporations. Start with Coke and Bayer. Protest on a local street corner and you will meet your neighbors. Grow your own food. Don’t buy anything you don’t need. Move your money to a credit union or a local bank. Move your mortgage likewise, if you can. Support local movements. Start your own. Support local, independent median. Start something.

Come up with more ways to subvert the corporate system.

Probably one reason why women tend to fade out on strings like this is that the string gets devoted exclusively to long-winded examples of “one-ups-manship” and the purpose moves from trying to think straight to making the most noise possible.

the decimation of Iraq, was that not human sacrifice?
Slavery,  is that not what we promoting everytime
we go to wall mart

racism…while we have laws on the books now..
and a class of better educated black americans..
on the whole are they better off…
look at our prisons, our inner cities
the 20 to 25 % per cent unemployment
ethnic cleansing in New Orleans.

I believe their are a lot that don’t like the
idea of at “glacial pace”

Revolting seems slightly strong in describing how Hedges writes, seems to me.  Finding all these manly posts waving pitchforks in the air, I wonder how many besides Hedges have been in war, guess Hedges could become the general on the front line and lead the charge up Sam Hell!

Though I seldom consider the gender of posters, I see few women on this thread, wonder why that is? Is this kind of like one of those special I mean so special clubs?

Since I have not traveled the world and am not well read, maybe a war at home would get me off the block, viva la revolting.

Gmonst, if there is anyone out there who reads my posts with any regularity
they might be surprised to find that I agree with your optimism.

However, my optimism is bridled by an awareness that we probably will not see
significant changes in our lifetimes. I forget who once said that mankind
moves forward “at a glacial pace”. Mankind is evolving morally. Just consider a
few things we once thought were okay, slavery, religious persecution, human
sacrifice, etc etc.

Historically, it’s always been people like Chris Hedges who drive this moral
evolution. It’s their outrage and anger, coupled with the ability to give that
outrage voice, that compels others to see the errors of their thinking.

But we also have to be wary of outrage, since it’s a hand maiden of the morally
depraved as well. No doubt Mr Blankfein is outraged with the attempts to
regulate banking, for example.

I’m sure Mr Hedges wonders why we’re not all up in arms at the malfeasance,
turpitude, and ethical bankruptcy that characterizes the corporate cleptocracy.
Part of the reason is that he and other leading voices are calling for a complete
overhaul of the machine, with all of the upheaval, displacement, confusion and
uncertainty it would bring.

My position is a little different, since I don’t subscribe to the idea that
economic or political “systems” can save us. When historians look back on our
times they might regard it as an age of political awakening, but one too often
sabotaged by the messianic worship of systems. For me the real change must
come from inside.

An Italian friend of mine, gloating that his predictions about the collapse of
America’s economy came true, said that, “Now that the American dream has
become unavailable, maybe some people will get on with the business of life”.

Maybe.

@ all of you rebels out there waiting to answer the call:

Here’s how the AmeriCorp ruling elites’ Sturmtruppen deal with a handful of non-violent protesters determined to let society know their disgruntlement with higher tuition prices and budget cuts. Don’t lose sight of the fact that these people aren’t demanding that the government capitulate; so they aren’t viewed as revolutionaries, insurgents, and/or terrorists. They’re viewed as citizen disruptors of the peace. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&feature=player_embedded&v=NsjadfLYnD4

Think about that before enlisting, will ya?

(2)
@ Tennessee Socialist:

You might want to consider a reality check because you are borderline fundi. Your comments say it all. You know what’s wrong with Americans.

”Nemesis: you wanna know why americans are affraid of change?  because change is painful,a nd americans are pre-programmed to evade pain, that’s why most americans hate painful strenous sports.”

Did you just pull this stuff out of your arse?

Think man! You want the Empire to fail and one of the signs of a falling empire is a lethargic and complacent society. The old moral guidelines are no longer respected and everything is evolving into something totally different. You have what you desire and at the same time you want to change it back to the way it was.

Who are you to say that Americans, or anyone else for that matter, are lazy and fearful? Do you see the similarities with all the fundamentalist whackos out there? You know what’s wrong and how to right it all! Your fervor oozes off the virtual page. The Vatican, Protestantism, Islam, Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, Pinochet, Bush, Cheney, they too knew just what was wrong and how to best fix it. How did all that work out?

If you’re not careful this is what you’ll become with the only difference being your preferred brand of “ism”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&feature=player_embedded&v=7WVECjyWSVQ

One has to learn how to survive. There is always a system within a system. This is the only life you’re ever going to have –live it wisely. I’ve lost many friends and if they had it all over to do again, I guarantee you, that they wouldn’t forfeit their one and only life for the great lie of stopping the communist domino effect in Southeast Asia.

There is much that every citizen can do to bring down the evil empire without firing a shot, without hitting the streets and getting one’s head bashed in, and without breaking any laws.

The world is a wonderful and amazing place and there is much more to life than all the guaranteed to fail “isms.” But if you’re always inflamed and pained by what you see wrong and are incensed about righting it; you’re wasting your one precious life that you’ll ever have.

It’s an Augean task to change a nation of 300 million into your model of perfection.  And remember:

”The masses have never thirsted after truth. Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim.”
—Gustave Le Bon;“The Crowd”

Don’t be a victim!

(1)
@ Tennessee Socialist:
I don’t get the allegory TS. Unless you’re making the claim that Americans are afraid of change because they may be forced to watch “The Matrix?” I haven’t watched that movie and after watching about ¾ of this video I don’t feel that I’ve missed anything. The music alone is enough to make a sane man Beckshite crazy in less than 4 minutes.

It’s not just Americans that are “fearful” of change; all Homo sapiens are. Fear is an evolutionary trait that can, and often does, help to save your life. It is not always a negative. It is more often than not a positive condition or state of being.

Many want a revolution but no one wants to be the first to fight. It’s like all the fundamentalists, they all want to go to heaven to be with jeebus, Mohamed and the 72 virgins, Jehovah, Yahweh, or any other god(s) of their delusional wet dream, but they don’t want to die. And they damn sure don’t want to die without taking a few sinners with them. Misery loves company and they don’t come any more miserable than fundamentalists (of any stripe.)

Being fearful of change is a good thing because once that big revolutionary can of worms is opened there isn’t any way to put all those worms back into the can and seal it. And more importantly; there aren’t any guarantees of the outcome either! Do you think that the Russians, had they known that their revolution meant Stalin and approximately 50 million dead, might have chosen a different method to achieve freedom from their autocratic overlords? They were already effecting change because autocracy was on the way out. The revolution meant an overthrow of the government, a sudden and momentous change; a deadly scenario in any society.

All humans are pre-programmed to avoid pain TS. It’s called evolution. It too, is a safety circuit.

In a melting pot of 300 million you are not going to find a viable majority that agrees on much. There is simply too great a diversity of “isms.” You may get a viable majority to agree that the system sucks but you won’t get them to agree on how best to repair or replaced it. And that’s where the real danger lies once you’ve opened that revolutionary can of worms. That’s when the real bloodletting begins and the streets become filled with the fetid corpses of true believers and innocents alike.

This evil Empire is collapsing. All empires do. But empires don’t die rapid deaths. They are agonizingly slow and prolonged. And its death does not mean that there aren’t remnants of the empire that remain for a very long time afterwards. Look at the British Empire, technically it no longer exists; yet what does remain is still a world military and economic power that you really don’t want to mess with. Ask Argentina if you’ve any doubts about that.

There are four evolutionary traits or character flaws that are our downfall; avarice, hubris, envy, and fear (the negative kind). Those four traits retained from our evolutionary pass are at the root of all our problems. Look at all you find wrong in the government, society, and the world and you will see one or more of these traits at the root of the problem. James was wrong; the love of money is NOT the root of all evil. The roots of all evil are those four character flaws in Homo sapiens.

There won’t be a revolution any time soon. All this talk is fodder to fill the airways, print media, talk shows and weed out the fringe whackos until the next election cycle—AmeriCorp’s favorite invented reality show—begins in earnest.

”The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum.” –Noam Chomsky

Replacing a government is serious business and not easily or bloodlessly accomplished. Just take a long, hard, look at Iraq and Afghanistan.

Where are all the ones that were crying that
Bush was a war criminal and thief and should
be taken to justice or while he was in office
should have been impeached.

Why are they not calling for the same with this
administration doing the exact same things????

THE MAIN REASON OF WHY USA CITIZENS ARE NOT REVOLTING, IS THAT THE US CENTRAL BANK (FEDERAL RESERVE) IS PUMPING DOLLARS INTO THE US ECONOMY WITHOUT END, AND BACKING THOSE DOLLARS WITH LOANS.  HOWEVER SOONER OR LATER THE US ECONOMY WILL GRIND TO A HALT !!

IN OTHERS WORDS THE US CITIZENS ARE NOT REVOLTING BECAUSE USA IS NOT AT A REVOLUTIONARY OBJECTIVE SITUATION YET !!

Sooner or later this ‘tricke down welfare capitalist system’ will not provide bread for all, and will morph into what another person here said about USA turning into an Oligarchic-Pinochet model ( a plutocratic corporate capitalist system) that can only provide stability, food and wealth for the upper bourgeoise classes of America (25% of USA), and pain and suffering for the remaining 75% of US citizens

when that time comes we will see a revolutionary situation, when the proletariat take the bull by its horns and overthrows the corporate corrupted capitalist system for complete emancipation of the workign classes of this country

HERE ARE THE MAIN 3 TRAITS OF A REVOLUTIONARY SITUATION IN USA:

# 1 - When it is impossible for the rich people of this country (like Bill Gates, Jennifer Lopez, Tom Cruise, Donald Trump, Al Gore, Ross Perot, Dick Cheney, etc.) to maintain their wealth without any change; when there is an economic crisis, in one form or another, among the rich people, a crisis in the policy of the rich ruling class, leading to a fissure through which the discontent and indignation of middle and lower classes of America burst forth. For a socialist-revolution to take place, it is usually insufficient for the middle and lower classes not to want to live in their old comfortable and stable way; it is also necessary that the rich upper millionaire class should be unable to live in their old comfortable way.

# 2 - When the suffering and the needs of the middle and lower working classes of this country have grown more acute than usual

# 3 - When, as a consequence of the above causes, there is a considerable increase in the activity of the middle and working classes, who uncomplainingly allow themselves to be robbed in peace time, but, in turbulent times, are drawn both by all the circumstances of the crisis *and by the upper classes themselves* into independent historical action.

.

I quess we just have to let the chips roll now,
they got us..
they have more secret prisons, all privatized, then
they no what to do with…...
it is almost illegal to protest now….

It looks like our only resort is to argue to death..
may not change a damn thing but helps keep sanity..

Hedges sums up much. And praises the Rebel, a heroic figure, symbolic of resistance. Most of here can get behind that idea. But resistance…how? All sorts of people come forth with fiery eloquence and urge us to “do something”, but of course then take pains to say that they do not mean anything violent. So then we are to argue the Corporate State to death? Or heroically march and demonstrate and be beated, jailed, tortured, disappeared? What is Hedges trying to say between the lines here? Is he actually urging us to pick up a…?

A TRIVIA QUESTION

When was the last time that the U.S. 
produced a trade suplus??

what month and what year ???????

Washington has already told us

want health care???  well you are going to get it
just as soon as all the ins com get their rates up
to jst where want them…you will have to buy it.

They have been hinting of privatizing SS for 20yrs
now…..how far away do you believe they are from
doing this.??

Want the resource wars stopped….screw you !!!!!
and we ain’t stoppin blowing mountains..
and we are gonna do this and we ain’t gonna do that.
and that has been their response to us for how long??
What else could be deduced from their actions???

Russian Paul, March 9 at 7:42 am:
’
On Saturday March 20th coming up will be huge demonstrations all across the country to demand Obama stops his expansion of war and bring our troops home. ...’

http://www.march20.org/
http://www.justicewithpeace.org/node/862

UFPJ is studiously ignoring the demonstration.  There is no mention of it that I can find on their web site.  If you look at http://gp.org/greenpages-blog/?tag=united-for-peace-and-justice and read between the lines, it probably won’t be hard to figure it out.

A moral note to the American Empire’s troops: Loyalty to presidents, rather than principles, is what separates Redcoats from the Green Mountain Boys.

Those complaining about Hedges being blunt..
What should he do….
Offer Eugene R.  type stuff or dionne

Voters thought they voted themselves out of this
mess in 2006…...didn’t work out

voters thought they voted themselves out ot this
mess 2008…......didn’t work out…

will the 2010 or the 2012 elections bring
the voters what they went to the polls for???
What evidence does anyone have that it will???

I wonder why Truth Dig only kept the Digs about
the elections in Iraq up for a couple of hours
allowing just a few comments…?????

The model for the coming new Amerika is Pinochet’s
Chile.  It was a capitalist’s paradise designed from
top to bottom by Chicago School economists lead by
their god, Milton Friedman.

The rich owning everything including, for all practical purposes, the “little people” themselves.  EVERYTHING privatized and priced out of reach for the “little people”.  The rich holed up in gated and guarded communities, death squads to deal with labor unionists, political foes, students who get “uppity”, etc.

Rebels like the Tea Baggers, noted for profound incoherent messages do not come along everyday.

Hedges like Limbaugh should teach them some abilities to express and tighten up a cause, Hedges could be the brain and Limbaugh the mouth, so then they only needs to teach and mentor tea baaggers how to hold those tea bags just at the right camera angles!

Another Black Market army and police force

the New Iraq Army…..
The U.S. went ahead and built permanent bases
in Iraq anyway….even though they kept telling the
public time after time they weren’t….

Several are still under construction. They are there
and are going to remain there !!!!!
so are the 50,000 troops ....

That will be plenty , for the U.S.  has finally
bought and trained an Iraqi military that can terrorize its citizenry as well as they can..
Where do think all the missing money was going..?

Checking out Hedges’ usual cant, I am reminded of what the late Saul Bellow once said that “you can make a racket out of pessimism just as easily as optimism”. Gmonst makes some valid points about change in this world. And most importantly the fact that there was never a better time.
It also has become extremely tiresome to read somebody co-opting the riffs of Albert Camus. I notice that in Hedges latest chicken-little prophecy he does not even mention the personal conflict and turmoil Camus experienced with the outbreak of the Algerian war, where he sided with the French against independence, calling the revolt “new Arab imperialism” instigated by a belligerent Egypt, aided by the Soviet Union. When later (a Nobel prize in literature later) he was asked why he mainly sat on the sidelines during the Algerian conflict (so much for the vigilant rebel) he said because he was worried about his mother who still lived in Algeria.
Perhaps Hedges is attracted to Camus and his writing because although Albert was an avowed atheist, he admitted that there was in man a longing for “salvation and meaning that only God can provide”.
Chris Hedges being the professional wordsmith that he is, always envisions the grand gesture. His melodramatic boiler-plate does indeed become tiresome, when his sweeping pronouncements no longer contain any entertaining value.

On Saturday March 20th coming up will be huge demonstrations all across the
country to demand Obama stops his expansion of war and bring our troops
home. It is the 7th anniversary of the Iraq invasion and there will be massive
marches in SF, LA and DC, but probably many other places too, I urge everyone to
go out and let your voice be heard.

Its all great to think that Hedges is on to something about a rebellion (and he’s only one of tons of writers calling for rebellions and revolutions). The problem in America is that most citizens have no clue on what they want to replace the current system with. All that most of them know is that their money is drying up and they can’t buy all the stuff they want.

A successful revolution or rebellion entails most people being educated on what alternatives there are and desired outcomes. I don’t see that here. Most people, INCLUDING the “intellectuals” (which I guess are all those people who went to great colleges and have designated themselves so) just want the nice house in suburbs with two cars and lots of good shopping.

The “intellectual” class has become a component of the elites. I guess truthdig houses many of these now.

The REAL movers of this world are the ones whom dare to state the truth, or bring up subjects NOT ACCEPTABLE by the status quo (the Elites and Intellectuals).

This is why I admire all those physicists and engineers and architects, such as Professor Jones who was dismissed from BYU for merely analyzing 911 dust and stating honestly what was in it. Or Richard Gage, who presents the technical aspects of structural engineering of wtc towers. These people, are truly the salt of the earth.
You won’t find these great people of truth on Mainstream Internet sites such as the Huffington or Truthdig, etc.

Corporate Media AND what can now be called MAINSTREAM INTERNET MEDIA are total failures on the truth. The former is a propaganda pulpit for the elite and the latter a self-congratulating system for the intellectuals whom would have everyone think they are truthers, Yet continually watch the GATE to make sure the elites continue on with their filth.

It is pure b.s. that gays and feminists and immigrants and liberals are going to be somehow the ones who are persecuted in this country, when the status quo is filled to the ranks with these and has helped prop these groups up.

As for the Jews, I do believe that the good Jewish people may be in danger. But only those jews that do not agree with Israel first stance or those that are not of the zionist ideology. Finkelstein has been persecuted not only by zionist jews but also by christian zionists and bigots.

Otherwise, how can Hedges include Jews in his “targeted” people when the whole CONGRESS LAST YEAR (except for about 6) stood up on the PEOPLES FLOOR and praised Israel for their genocidal bloodbath against the Gazans? I watched that and it was sick.

This was a terrible article and just another to add to the growing dime a dozen articles that are encouraging violence (because that is what is being implied here). And especially it is declaring victims of certain groups of people before anything can be certain. This will ensure that the real targets and victims will be ignored, because of political correctness (a form of totalitarian control itself).

The reason the Israeli lobby and zionist jews in the U.S. are so successful is because they are ORGANIZED and know their goals and stand together. The same is true for the Mexicans. The Mexicans stand by their communities and each other. Both are just as much bigotted and racist as any non-jewish white. But the elite and intellectuals will never write about that.

Tennessee-Socialist, I really liked your rant on television. Ever notice how similar
our actors, and politicians look on screen. When Obama won the peace prize, felt
it should of been an Oscar instead. And the People, should have won best
supporting role. Another thing, you should add the bit to your spill, about the
F.C.C. and how “we” are suppose to own the broadcast licenses, and it has
stipulations demanding timely, and accurate news. And our wonderful president
that works for us, is to over see that the broadcasters abide by the law.

When the law is owned by one man; what is the use for the rest of us, in still
playing the game?

Jonas Salk - quote, What you see in living systems, and in genetic systems, is that
the genes are already there, having arisen in the course of time, and when they
are needed they become activated. If they had to be invented, the time would be
too late. By the same token, I think that the people who are needed to help guide
the future already exist. They simply need to recognize this in themselves, react
to the opportunities that prevail, and also be valued and be encouraged. It’s that
very large, and as yet amorphous, rung that is of interest to me. I hope to
articulate this, and see to what extent it makes sense to others as well.

How good to read your post Sodium.

Of course, I totally agree. You have coined it so well, “his writings”.

Will check out: “The Sorrows of EMPIRE:”

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Peter_Kropotkin

Dr. Seuss - quote, “Don’t give up! I believe in you all. A person’s a person, no
matter how small! And you very small persons will not have to die. If you make
yourselves heard! So come on, now, and TRY!”

Dr. Seuss - quote, In the places I go there are things that I see. That I never
could spell if I stopped with the Z. I’m telling you this ‘cause you’re one of my
friends. My alphabet starts where your alphabet ends!

Peter Kropotkin - quote, The history of human thought recalls the swinging of
a pendulum which takes centuries to swing. After a long period of slumber
comes a moment of awakening. Then thought frees herself from the chains
with which those interested — rulers, lawyers, clerics — have carefully enwound
her. She shatters the chains. She subjects to severe criticism all that has been
taught her, and lays bare the emptiness of the religious political, legal, and
social prejudices amid which she has vegetated. She starts research in new
paths, enriches our knowledge with new discoveries, creates new sciences. But
the inveterate enemies of thought — the government, the lawgiver, and the
priest — soon recover from their defeat. By degrees they gather together their
scattered forces, and remodel their faith and their code of laws to adapt them
to the new needs.

Peter Kropotkin - quote, The means of production being the collective work of
humanity, the product should be the collective property of the race. Individual
appropriation is neither just nor serviceable. All belongs to all. All things are for
all men, since all men have need of them, since all men have worked in the
measure of their strength to produce them, and since it is not possible to
evaluate every one’s part in the production of the world’s wealth. All things are
for all. Here is an immense stock of tools and implements; here are all those
iron slaves which we call machines, which saw and plane, spin and weave for
us, unmaking and remaking, working up raw matter to produce the marvels of
our time. But nobody has the right to seize a single one of these machines and
say, “This is mine; if you want to use it you must pay me a tax on each of your
products,” any more than the feudal lord of medieval times had the right to say
to the peasant, “This hill, this meadow belong to me, and you must pay me a
tax on every sheaf of corn you reap, on every rick you build.” All is for all! If the
man and the woman bear their fair share of work, they have a right to their fair
share of all that is produced by all, and that share is enough to secure them
well-being. No more of such vague formulas as “The Right to work,” or “To
each the whole result of his labour.” What we proclaim is The Right to Well-
Being: Well-Being for All!

Peter Kropotkin - quote, Above all, it awakens the spirit of revolt: it breeds
daring. The old order, supported by the police, the magistrates, the gendarmes
and the soldiers, appeared unshakable, like the old fortress of the Bastille,
which also appeared impregnable to the eyes of the unarmed people gathered
beneath its high walls equipped with loaded cannon. But soon it became
apparent that the established order has not the force one had supposed. One
courageous act has sufficed to upset in a few days the entire governmental
machinery, to make the colossus tremble; another revolt has stirred a whole
province into turmoil, and the army, till now always so imposing, has retreated
before a handful of peasants armed with sticks and stones. The people observe
that the monster is not so terrible as they thought they begin dimly to perceive
that a few energetic efforts will be sufficient to throw it down. Hope is born in
their hearts, and let us remember that if exasperation often drives men to
revolt, it is always hope, the hope of victory, which makes revolutions.

The amusing part of the last presidential primaries

was the DNC telling Florida (and another state)
your primaries don’t count because your republican
legislature pushed up the date of your elections
screwing our money making shit we had going on,
you realize how much money that cost us in bribery?
We are penelizing the State of Florida and their
citizens….It was funny
They finally I believe had a back room deal that
we will never know about or understand how they
solved that problem,, the citizens of Florida i am
sure don’t even know…...
Thats YOUR elections….....Democrat Party Rules…
You want to be a member???? You don’t count. just$$$$

Nemesis: you wanna know why americans are affraid of change?  because change is painful,a nd americans are pre-programmed to evade pain, that’s why most americans hate painful strenous sports

Here is a video about The Matrix

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=—Wpz4NAHtY

.

THE FASCIST OBAMA AND THE FASCIST DEMOCRATIC PARTY WANT TO PRIVATIZE PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN CALIFORNIA, AND DESTROY THE FUTURE OF MILLIONS OF CALIFORNIAN STUDENTS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4cskvhPea0&feature=player_embedded

.

“DID YOU KNOW THAT WE ARE CONTROLLED BY TV?” -JIM MORRISON, THE DOORS

Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy -
Television, The Drug Of The Nation

One Nation under God
has turned into
One Nation under the influence
of one drug

Television, the drug of the Nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation

T.V., it satellite links
our United States of unconciousness
Apathetic therapeutic and extremely addictive
the methadone metronome pumping out
a 150 channels 24 hours a day
you can flip through all of them
and still there’s nothing worth watching

T.V. is the reason why less than ten percent of our
Nation reads books daily
Why most people think Central America
means Kansas
Socialism means unamerican
and Apartheid is a new headache remedy

absorbed in it’s world it’s so hard to find us
It shapes our minds the most
maybe the mother of our Nation
should remind us
that we’re sitting to close to. . .

Television, the drug of the Nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation

T.V. is
the stomping ground for political candidates
Where bears in the woods
are chased by Grecian Formula’d
bald eagles

T.V. is mechanized politic’s
remote control over the masses
co-sponsered by environmentally safe gases
watch for the PBS special

It’s the perpetuation of the two party system
where image takes precedence over wisdom
Where sound bite politics are served to
the fastfood culture

Where straight teeth in your mouth
are more important than the words
that come out of it
Race baiting is the way to get selected
Willie Horton or
Will he not get elected on . . .

Television, the drug of the Nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation

T.V. is it the reflector or the director?
Does it imitate us or do we imitate it
Because a child watches 1500 murders before he’s
twelve years old and we wonder how we’ve created
a Jason generation that learns to laugh
rather than abhor the horror

T.V. is the place where
armchair generals and quarterbacks can
experience first hand
the excitement of video warfare
as the theme song is sung in the background

Sugar sweet sitcoms
that leave us with a bad actor taste while
pop stars metamorphosize into soda pop stars
You saw the video
You heard the soundtrack
Well now go buy the soft drink
Well, the only cola that I support
would be a union C.O.L.A. (Cost of Living Allowance)
On Television.

Television, the drug of the Nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation

Back again, “New and Improved”,
we return to our irregularly programmed schedule
hidden cleverly between heavy breasted
beer and car commericals

CNN ESPN ABC TNT but mostly B.S.
Where oxymoronic language like
“virtually spotless” “fresh frozen”
“light yet filling” and “military intelligence”
have become standard

T.V. is the place where phrases are redefined
like “recession” to “necessary downturn”
“crude oil” on a beach to “mousse”
“Civilian death” to “collateral damages”
and being killed by your own Army
is now called “friendly fire”

T.V. is the place where the pursuit
of happiness has become the pursuit of trivia
Where toothpaste and cars have become sex objects
Where imagination is sucked out of children
by a cathode ray nipple
T.V. is the only wet nurse
that would create a cripple

Television, the drug of the Nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation
On Television . . .

I think Chris has outdone himself - an extremely powerful essay. What Camus was trying to say (IMO) was that people must learn to live and breathe resistance every single moment of every single day. The most empowering thing people can do is to switch off the TV to stop your daily dose of brainwashing. It’s always best to resist with like-minded people where you can - organise your neighbors to hold block parties and shut down your street to noisey and polluting cars. Organize farmers market or local currency in your town or city to withdraw as much as possible from the local economy. Organize marches and sit-ins to shut down the cogs of corporatism and corrupt government. In situations where there aren’t like-minded people, practice “Culture Jamming” - people who haven’t seen the film should definitely do so. Where I live it’s a simple matter of walking downtown and leaving 500 address labels imprinted with political messages in key locations - on mailboxes, in phone booths, on trash cans. I am 62 years old and have practiced some form of resistance everyday of my life for the last 30 years. Read more at stuartbramhall.aegauthorblogs.com

WHY DO WE NEED A UNITED SOCIALIST FRONT AS AN ELECTORAL OPTION FOR 2012, OR 2016 IN USA?

http://www.marxist.com/usa-why-we-need-mass-labor-party.htm

Written by Tom Trottier in the U.S.
Wednesday, 23 September 2009

Many US workers who voted for the Democrats because they hoped they would bring about reforms are already disappointed as the Democrats basically continue Bush’s policies, with a few cosmetic changes. Many workers would like there to be an alternative to the political parties of big business. That is why the unions to break with the Democrats and build a mass labor party.

There are many workers who voted for the Democrats because they hoped they would bring about reforms such as universal health care, job creation, stronger unions and an end to the wars in the Middle East. Many are already disappointed as the Democrats basically continue Bush’s policies, with a few cosmetic changes. Many workers would like there to be an alternative to the political parties of big business. The Workers International League (WIL) would like to address a few questions that often come up in discussions regarding our call for the unions to break with the Democrats and build a mass labor party.

Is the Democratic Party a workers’ party?
The Democratic Party was not created by the working class, nor is it under the democratic control of the working class. The Democratic Party has a long history that goes back to the days of slavery, when it represented the southern slave owners. Since the aftermath of the Civil War, the Democrats have been one of the two main parties of American big business. Whatever differences they might claim to have with the Republicans, their fundamental policy is based on maintaining capitalism and imperialism, which means the exploitation of American workers and the super-exploitation of workers in the “under-developed world.” Even the labor leaders do not speak of the Democrats as a workers’ party, but call them “friends of labor.” However, with friends like these, who needs enemies!

How does the capitalist class control the Republicans and Democrats?
Due to the populist movements of the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Capitalist class set up a system of state-controlled primary elections. This was supposedly done to take control of nominating party candidates away from party bosses and put it in the hands of the people. In primary elections, candidates must first win the nomination of the party and then proceed to the general election. In practice, it takes lots of money and media coverage to win the primary campaign and then even more money to win the general election. This is perfect for the capitalist class. They have the money and they own the newspapers, magazines, book publishers, and radio and television stations. Even many billboards on highways are owned by the same companies that own the television networks and cable channels. This is one example of how they control the candidates of both major parties long before they are even elected.

Why not run candidates in the Democratic Party’s primary elections? Couldn’t labor “take over” the Democratic Party?
Theoretically, the labor movement could run candidates in a party primary and try to secure the nomination, and then run in the general election. However, in order to accomplish this task, it would require the labor movement to come together in a political organization to determine policy and program, candidates and strategy. In other words, the labor movement would have to build a “party within a party.”

FOR GOOD COMEDY COMING YOUR WAY

  PLEASE TUNE INTO THE C-SPAN COVERAGE OF ........
  (for those that didn’t hear , Kucinach forced
  debate on the U.S. involvement in Afghanistan)

    T H O S E   D E B A T E S     coming soon!!

  if you have never seen one,  you will be very
  amused…...I saw several of them…...
  T H E   B R I D G E   F U N D     of 2007-08
was most amusing…....you wouldn’t believe it !!!

HOW MANY LAWYERS

      DOES   IT   TAKE   A BANKER TO
      SCREW IN A LIGHTBULB ?????????????

H e y   TENNESSEE

Do you   know   what   ..........

      I M F     STANDS FOR?????

  interest, mutha fucker !!!!!