Exposing The Lie
by C.A. Matthews
I never quite fell for the lie. And, perhaps, that's been a saving grace.
I never quite believed what my ninth grade Civics teacher told us one day in class. Our economy was supposed to go on and on and grow and grow, forever and forever. Literally. When I dare questioned, "Why?" I was told, "Because it has to."
"But what if everyone already has two cars, a home, and all the stuff a family could possibly ever want or need in it?" I wondered aloud.
I got strange looks from my classmates upon that utterance. No worries, I was used to it even back then. I figured I wasn't supposed to think outside the box and expose the lie. I was supposed to just keep quiet and accept it. I pretended I did to get through the rest of the unit and receive a decent grade on the test, but I never really believed what I read in our textbook or wrote on those tests.
Flash forward to middle age and then some: Now more than ever, I don't believe anything anyone with any so-called "expert qualifications" tells me about the lie. I go along with billions of others worldwide who believe just the opposite. Economies aren't supposed to expand exponentially forever at the expense of the planet's and the people's health and well-being.
Those of us in the know realize what we have in the US is a fiat currency. Simply put, we'll always have more than enough money for endless wars and weapons spending and tax cuts and bailouts for the rich, but we'll never have enough to cover health care costs for our people or education costs from pre-K through college for everyone or guaranteed housing for all. Nope, we no can do under the lie that the powers-that-be operate under and force us to follow. We're told that We the Little People will have to manage without, or spend out all the "ones-and-zeroes" in our bank accounts just to provide the bare necessities of food and shelter and health care for our loved ones.
"That's the way of the world," we're told by our so-called elected officials as they vote themselves a pay raise, give more "free money" to banks and corporations who mismanaged their ones-and-zeroes in their ledger sheets, and ignore our increasingly worsening plight.
But it doesn't have to be that way. How do I know? Remember, I don't believe in the lie and once one's eyes are opened (or re-opened) one can't see things the way the liars would like us to see them. I don't see how it can be considered "fair" or "legal" to allow people to die because they can't afford an operation or medicines to keep them healthy and alive. I don't accept the lie simply because those with more ones-and-zeroes on their bank statements tell us to. I don't see these persons as my superiors to be obeyed like a mindless slave. I resist and I speak up.
Even worse, I encourage others to resist the lie and speak out against it too.
Are you in the know? How do you know if you are? How do you know you've not fallen hopelessly into the pit of liars?
If you've noticed the increasing number of COVID-19 deaths in the US, heard on a podcast or via the grapevine how many workers worldwide are currently on strike or are voting to organize and/or strike or are simply walking off their jobs because they've had enough of the liars' manipulations and ill-treatment of workers, then you're part of the billions like me. We don't believe in the lie called capitalism. We don't see it as a fair and equitable way to distribute resources to all human beings because simply there's no proof that it actually works for the majority of us.
What if we told them that it shouldn't be left in the hands of private charitable agencies to take care of the public's needs? What if we opened their eyes as well to the lie and how their good natures have been taken advantage of for centuries by evil and selfish men who want to keep the majority of resources to themselves? What would happen? Would these charitable persons demand an end to the lie of capitalism and expose its ugliness to the world?
We'll have to see. Some folks are really into being bigwigs in the non-profit realm and see themselves as successful capitalists, too. They've joined the "Liars Club" and profit immensely from the status quo. They might not want to give up giving out old clothing to poor homeless vets and the occasional free meal or donating canned goods that were given away as a favor to clear the shelves for new products to be stocked at well-to-do grocery stores. But maybe, just maybe, once the charitable bigwigs become a part of the working class living from paycheck to paycheck, hand out to hand out, they'll start to see the bigger picture, too.
Until then, don't close your eyes and forget how you see the lie at work in the world. Help others to see it and denounce it. And don't cross the picket lines.
Related articles:
US Billionaires Got 70% More Wealth Under COVID. They Didn't Deserve Any of It. https://www.rsn.org/001/us-billionaires-got-70-more-wealth-under-covid-they-didnt-deserve-any-of-it.html
Capitalism is Violence https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2021/10/26/capitalism-is-violence-notes-from-the-edge-of-the-narrative-matrix/
Don't Believe the Corporate "Labor Shortage" Bullsh*t https://scheerpost.com/2021/10/25/dont-believe-the-corporate-labor-shortage-bullsht/
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In less than two weeks, I’ll be with leaders from around the world in Glasgow, Scotland for COP26 to discuss how the world will combat climate change.
I firmly believe that if we’re to stave off the worst of the climate crisis, a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty based on the principles of no new exploration, a managed wind down of existing production, and a just transition must be a major topic of conversation.
However, we’ve learned from past COPs that without significant amounts of public pressure, world leaders can avoid hard questions and decisions. We can’t let that happen.
World leaders need to not just understand what’s at stake, but that they’ll be held accountable if they don’t do what’s necessary in the fight to maintain a habitable climate.
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The record breaking heat waves, extreme weather events, and catastrophic wildfires we’ve seen over the past few years are nothing compared to what’s coming if the global community doesn’t come together to keep fossil fuels in the ground and initiate a just transition to clean energy.
It’s incredible that this hasn’t happened sooner. As historic as the Paris Climate Accords were, there was no mention of coal, oil, or gas – the fossil fuels responsible for 86% of global emissions [1] – in the entire document. Not once! You can’t solve a problem if you won’t even recognize it.
And let’s be clear – we have plenty of solutions and a clear path forward to transition from fossil fuels to clean energy while keeping workers employed and economies strong.
We know that we have more than enough renewable energy potential to replace fossil fuels without needing any new production. [2] We know that renewable energy is cheaper than fossil fuels, and the disparity keeps growing. [3] We know that, at least in the United States, there are three times more clean energy jobs than fossil fuels jobs. [4]
Climate change is a global problem and it’s time that the world started acting accordingly.
As a member of the Stand.earth community, you know that we can do anything we put our minds to.
We’ve gone up against multinational oil, gas, and coal companies worth billions of dollars and come out victorious, blocking dozens of their projects that would have poisoned local communities and accelerated the climate crisis. We’ve protected millions of acres of forests that people thought couldn’t be saved. We’ve shifted billions of dollars of purchasing from corporate powerhouses like Starbucks, Staples, and Levi’s onto sustainable pathways.
Because of people like you, we're achieving victories that others thought were impossible. This community is more than half a million people strong (and growing!). Together, we're using our collective power to fight climate change, protect wild spaces, stand with impacted communities, and say no to new fossil fuels.
Now, let’s make the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty a priority at COP26.
With hope and determination,
Tzeporah Berman
International Program Director
Stand.earth
[1] https://www.ipcc.ch/report/
[2] https://indd.adobe.com/view/
[3] https://www.weforum.org/
[4] https://www.forbes.com/sites/
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From Hip Hop Caucus:
We need to kill the oil industry before the oil industry kills us.
What we definitely do not need to be doing is approving the hundreds of petrochemical plants Biden is set to approve. Creating oil and plastics is bad for our water supply. It’s bad for our air supply. It’s bad for our very survival. And if Joe Biden is as serious as he claims to be about protecting our future, he’ll stop this madness before it goes even further.
Big oil makes money for big oil. In the process, these are the companies which dodge their taxes, poison every community they enter, give us cancer, and burn the very planet we rely upon for life. It’s disgusting enough we have to fight the fatal impacts of the petrochemical plants which already exist.
The very least we can do is not create any more.
For Future Generations,
Rev Yearwood
President & CEO
Hip Hop Caucus
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Next week, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments about Texas’s extreme anti-abortion law. But the mere fact that they refused to overrule it on sight two months ago has sent other states scurrying to craft knock-off legislation. We need to send a loud, clear message: Abortion is a right, and we’re not going to allow it to be taken away by a rigged Supreme Court or a gerrymandered state legislature. Sign the petition: Stop six-week abortion bans! Protect our reproductive freedoms! The People United fights for politicians who will work to unrig the courts and codify the right to an abortion in law, by passing the Women’s Health Protection Act and repealing the Hyde Amendment. Together, we will win. In solidarity, The People United |
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