Showing posts with label #COVID19. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #COVID19. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 18, 2022

The Top Ten Things That Could Trigger The Revolution

 


The Top Ten Things That Could Trigger The Revolution

(In No Particular Order)

The Price of Gasoline Hits $25 Per Gallon in the US

This often-mentioned scenario seems a sure bet to bring about an uprising of the workers against the bourgeoisie. The trigger doesn’t even necessarily have to be gasoline or heating costs or the price of bread or milk or medicine like insulin, either. Some consumer item that the vast majority of Americans need and can’t go without for long will hit an all-time record high price and nobody will be able to get to work or school or feed their families or simply stay alive. Surely that sort of deprivation would make people angry enough to get them off their couches and out into the streets to start a revolution, right?

Combined with a General Strike, an outraged populace that demands the means of production and the public utilities, such as water, natural gas, electricity, and even internet access, be placed in the hands of the people has all the markings of a successful revolution causing the complete downfall of our current corrupt economic system. The end of for-profit enterprises that control basic human rights, such as the right to health care, the right to food and shelter, and the right not to freeze in the winter or bake to death in the summer can’t come soon enough.


A Wide-Scale Plague or The Complete Destruction of Our Environment Kills Millions

Too late—this trigger has already occurred. Look outside your window. Do you see anyone protesting about how over a million Americans needlessly have died (and are still dying) due to COVID-19 or Long COVID? No, you’re more likely to see people staring at you if you continue to mask-up for your own protection in crowded public places. You’re more likely to read social media posts complaining about the “Vaccination Conspiracy” than you are to see Americans livid about how we still don’t have universal health care. Family members and friends dropping over dead prematurely obviously doesn’t make the majority of Americans mad at America's for-profit/for-the-people's-suffering healthcare industry.

Extinction Rebellion is working hard to make more Americans aware of just how dire a state our environment is in, but the mainstream media outlets choose to ignore those stories. Instead, we’re more likely to see and read stories about how hard-working the fossil fuel and nuclear power industries are, and that it’s okay to pay $5 or more a gallon to fuel your car because it means “freedom and democracy” in another God-forsaken, fossil fuel-filled country. TV weather-persons smile and casually pronounce statements such as, “This temperature breaks our record for most days above 100 degrees in a single summer,” without batting an eyelash. Until more Americans actually suffer and die because they can’t afford air conditioning or home heating, climate change will never be “real” to them. Alas, by the time they do become angry enough to revolt over the destruction of our environment because of the capitalists’ insatiable greed, we'll all be totally screwed. Which leads us to our next trigger...

The Petrodollar Totally Collapses, Green Energy Reigns, and the Beauty of MMT Shines Through

Saudi Arabia doesn’t care if it sells the US oil anymore—at least not in the way we want them to buy and sell oil to us and others. Few Americans realize that there is nothing backing up our currency except what we say it is worth in regards to—yeah, you guessed it—petroleum. There is no gold or silver in our vaults backing up the cash that our treasury prints or simply puts into zeroes and ones on a bank computer. It’s just so much worthless paper. (Read up on MMT or Modern Monetary Theory to see what I mean.)

When the Earth becomes too warm or too stormy because of Western nations burning fossil fuels for the past two hundred years, we will have to kick the fossil fuel habit. Petroleum will be worthless as will our money. Americans will be freed from a market economy that works only for the very rich. This could very well bring about a semi-peaceful revolution if those in charge graciously give up the game that somehow human beings come with price tags, and we all agree to work together in order to feed and nurture each other and build a society based upon green energy sources and practices instead. But then...

Somebody in a Position of Power Will Say Something Really, Really Stupid

I can see how Marie Antoinette saying to the French masses “Let them eat cake!” could piss them off and cause them to get out the pitchforks and guillotines. “Let them eat cake!” is insulting, and it rubs salt in the wounds of those who are hungry and struggling. But many powerful people say stupid, insulting, wounding things on a daily basis in the US, and the revolution hasn’t begun yet. 

Just recently, Joe Biden sent billions of dollars to a proxy war in Ukraine so that ordinary Ukrainians could “have something in their pockets” without once blinking an eye at how that stupid, cruel statement sounded to poor, struggling Americans. He and his friends in their half of the duopoly claimed that they would give all Americans “$2,000 relief checks” but only $1,400 was forthcoming. The guillotines are still in their sheds. So saying stupid things, doing stupid things, and outright gaslighting and lying is nothing new. No one marches in the streets for very long about anything any American politician says. Maybe something else is needed?

The War Machine Will Figure It’s Time to Drop “The Bomb”

This could start—and end—the revolution in one day. I’ll say the threat of starting a nuclear war is more likely to upset a lot of people and possibly stir things up enough to get a multitude of protesters into the streets. But lately there are some pundits who state that nuclear war is winnable or claim that radiation isn’t all that lethal—at least it’s not lethal to them and theirs they figure. That’s probably because they are part of the elites who own underground bunkers in remote places like New Zealand. When you have such a vast disparity between “haves” (with bunkers) and “have nots” (the rest of us) does it make revolution impossible or inevitable if any country intentionally or accidentally drops a nuke on another country?

The War Profiteers Decide That Class Warfare Is Good for Business

This unsettling scenario takes the reality of our world and allows the war machine to twist it into its own sick and greedy end. And it’s the ultimate in cynicism. The capitalists figure that it’s easier to make money by watching the class divide widen and the poor and the rich become even more antagonistic and violent toward one another. The arms manufacturers sit back on the sidelines and sell arms to everyone… Because money is money and capitalists know no morality.

The revolution that takes place in this case most likely won’t be one where the working classes end up on top. War Profiteers won’t let their class lose. This means those with the most armaments and mercenaries will force their viewpoint upon the losers using violent and oppressive means. A military dictatorship would form and the corrupt system of capitalism will flourish the way it has for the past several hundred years in the West. Really, it’s just more of the same. We won’t know any different unless...

The Mainstream Media Pundits Tire of Shoveling Bullsh*t at Us (and Everyone Wakes Up to the Propaganda and Revolts)

I’m hopeful this scenario will happen sooner rather than later, but I’m a realist. When you have talking heads on TV news channels like Rachel Maddow making $30 million plus yearly, you’ve got a lot of greedy people who are willing to put their journalistic integrity to sleep. Can you blame them? It’s so easy to let the CIA and the Ministry of Truth give you your talking points, isn’t it? 

The best we can hope for at the present time is to wake up as many people as possible by introducing them to independent journalism and refuting the lies put out by the MSM. Rad Indie Media is one such website where you can find links to many articles and podcasts that the mainstream media can’t be bothered with. But without an open mind will those who have been spoon-fed government propaganda for decades be able to learn to think for themselves? It might take a miracle or...

Aliens or Time Travelers from an Alternate Reality Arrive and Bring About World Equality and Peace

Wishful thinking, but maybe, just maybe, there’s somebody out there who wants us to survive as a species and are willing to come here and do all the heavy lifting. You wouldn’t believe how many people are hoping and praying for this to happen. Then again, maybe you’re one of them. Keep the faith but also keep fighting. If I were an alien (the thin, gray, big-eyed kind, not the undocumented kind likely to be deported) I would skip Earth and go elsewhere to find intelligent and compassionate life. Because until we demonstrate that we humans really care about each other, why should other life forms from other worlds give a sh*t about us?

Mutual Aid Networks and Other Community-Based Organizations Support the Working Classes as the Ruling Classes Fade Away

This is the sunniest of all scenarios when it comes to a peaceful revolution that replaces the death-worshiping, capitalist society in which we currently reside. The workers work around the dysfunctional system and take care of each other via mutual aid networks while the society of the 1% gradually falls apart through their own lack of cooperation. 

Don’t worry, though. It’s possible that some of the super-wealthy will catch on and join the rest of us in sharing food, shelter, clothing, medicines and other aid. Maybe they feel trapped in those big mansions and yachts? You'll never know unless you try to liberate them from their prisons of wealth.

And number ten? That’s where you come in. Tell us what you think will be the defining moment, the trigger, that will lead Americans into a second revolution, a revolution of the proletariat, the workers, bringing about a more just and equitable society. Leave your comments below and don’t be afraid to come up with more positive scenarios. We could all do with some cheering up in these dark autumn days.

Power to the people!


Related Articles:

How America's Descent Into A Failed State Will Happen, Step by Step https://rainershea.substack.com/p/how-americas-descent-into-a-failed  

The Chris Hedges Report: Trauma, Addiction and Illness Under Capitalism  https://scheerpost.com/2022/10/16/the-chris-hedges-report-dr-gabor-mate-on-trauma-addiction-and-illness-under-capitalism

Patrick Lawrence: The Non-West Coalesces  https://scheerpost.com/2022/10/16/patrick-lawrence-the-non-west-coalesces/

The Profoundly Stupid Narrative That Nuclear Brinkmanship is Safety and De-Escalation is Danger https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/the-profoundly-stupid-narrative-that 

The Capitalist State Is Deathly Afraid of Losing the Information War  https://rainershea.substack.com/p/the-capitalist-state-is-deathly-afraid

 

Seen on Twitter:

 

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Eat The Rich, Feed The Poor (And Other Revolutionary Recipes)

 

"When the people shall have no more to eat, they will eat the rich." —Jean Jacques Rousseau, 1793

Eat The Rich, Feed The Poor (And Other Revolutionary Recipes)

by Redd Phlagg

So many depressing headlines hit my inbox this past week that they not only made my head spin, they made my entire worldview spin. It became ever more apparent to me that we can no longer afford to wait for the bought-off ruling establishment to take action to save our planet and its peoples. It's time. We the Workers, the little people, the 99% must get off our backsides and grab the reigns of our runaway climate catastrophe and social collapse before it's too late.

Americans need to feed our poor, tax our rich, and make certain that the narcissistic behavior that got us in these desperate straits in the first place doesn't ever return. We need to stop allowing ourselves to become distracted by the silly antics of the duopolists in DC who do only as they're told by their corporate masters. And we need to start yesterday.

A recent study found that 338,000 Americans died due to COVID-19 because our government couldn't take steps to implement Medicare For All or a similar universal single-payer system to provide them needed health care. That's one in every three of the one million plus Americans who contracted and died from the coronavirus and its variants. That's roughly the population of many medium-sized US metropolitan areas, including the one where I live, all gone. Needlessly.

COVID-19 has caused a million and counting deaths in the US. Since these deaths are spread across the country, you might not have noticed so many missing persons yourself but future generations most definitely will. American children will ask what happened to their parents, grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, teachers, friends, babysitters, and even siblings as they grow up. What will we tell them?

Out of the one million plus Americans who have died since 2020 because of the pandemic, what percentage of them could have been saved? If the public's health and safety were the main priority of the ruling establishment rather than making profits for shareholders in the health insurance industry, Big Pharma, and the like how many could have lived? I feel that almost every American who caught COVID could have been saved if they could have received immediate treatment, free of charge, and weren't forced into situations that put their health at risk. There was no scientific reason to stop the lockdowns and force workers back out into low-paying service industry jobs (such as restaurant workers and hotel maids) so soon. In doing so, the politician-puppets of the oligarchy also forced these struggling workers' children back into daycares and public schools where the virus is extremely transmissible and proven deadly for teachers and students alike.

Universal Basic Income (UBI) could have been given to all American families to stay home and stay safe with their children until the virus died out. In countries that implemented such policies, the spread of COVID and its variants was much less, and their death tolls practically non-existent. Putting people over profits means that people win at least another day to live.

But, once again, the establishment duopoly sat on their backsides in Washington DC and moaned about how keeping people safe at home was hurting "the economy." They said this with a straight face while spending billions on the most bloated military budget ever passed in the history of humankind. They continued saying this while starting a proxy war to flush even more money down the drain so they could get rid of a natural gas competitor in Europe (i.e., Russia). No matter what label they give themselves--Republican, Democrat, "The Squad", Bernie Sanders even--these politician-puppets demonstrate by their actions that the profits of the military-industrial complex are infinitely more important than the lives of the vast majority of Americans.

Insult upon insult is dumped upon the poor and working classes' shoulders. We're forced to suffer the consequences of the duopolists' bad decisions to take on a fellow nuclear-power with oil reserves and resources the Western powers envy. We're paying for it every day at the gasoline pump, grocery store, and pharmacy. But to "red and blue" alike it's okay if the working classes grow poorer trying to survive because… well, "democracy" is at stake. Democracy in an already corrupt corner of the world ruled by fascists who took over in a coup in 2014 with the help of our CIA? What larks!

Why do We The People, the working classes continue putting up with this disgusting behavior? Why are these millionaire-idiots still in office wearing smug smiles on their faces? Could it be they've militarized our local police departments to such an extent that they know they can keep us poor folks in our place if we rise up?

I realize now that not every American realizes who is putting them through each and every fresh hell because our freedom of the press has been seriously curtailed. Revealing the dirty secrets of American war crimes put one Australian journalist, Julian Assange, into jail with a threatened 170 year sentence for treason. Yes, it's treasonous to publish news stories that reveal American politicians and officials for the war criminals they are. And if the war criminals in DC can slap an insane charge of treason on a journalist doing his job, you can imagine the charges they've cooked up to slap on us if we dare take our pitchforks to the streets in protest.

 When the French rose up at the end of the 18th century to protest numerous injustices inflicted upon them, they didn't let the fear of the militarized police stop them from punishing the aristocracy who had created the hell they were living in. Marie Antoinette said, "Let them eat cake!" while the French people couldn't even afford to buy a loaf of bread. (Sound familiar?) The commoners responded with the right idea--they built the guillotine and deployed it. Yes, it's bloody and violent, but the detached head of a obscenely wealthy sociopath made their point quite well, don't you think?

Should struggling Americans do likewise? The guillotine dispatched quite a few members of the French establishment along with Marie Antoinette, but it saved many more who saw it as a symbol of how the workers wouldn't take any more shit from those who thought themselves "superior" to the working classes. These smart aristocrats buckled down and cooperated with the common folks, and France was changed. So the guillotine doesn't have to be used indiscriminately and widely to make its point. Just the thought that the abused people have no problems getting rid of their abusers can bring about change.

It's time for Americans to let the money-grubbing, duopolistic puppet-politicians know that our patience is wearing thin. It's time to stop wasting time arguing over "the lesser evil" and being distracted by their idle rich antics that have nothing to do with us and our lives. Whatever symbol We The People choose--the guillotine, the pitchfork, tar and feathers (our founders' favorite means of singling out sociopaths)--we need to post it everywhere. We need to post it along with the message that we are not inferior to those who hoard wealth and play God with our health and safety--and the health and safety of the planet and everyone else on it.

We The People, the workers, the commoners, the 99% are, in fact, their bosses. They need to do what we say or else. And we let them know in no uncertain terms they're going to be a head shorter if they don't.


Related Articles:

UN Food Chief Says Hell on Earth Looms From Hunger Crisis Triggered By Ukraine War  https://scheerpost.com/2022/06/18/un-food-chief-says-hell-on-earth-looms-from-hunger-crisis-triggered-by-ukraine-war/

"A Chilling Message to Journalists": UK Approves Assange Extradition to US https://truthout.org/articles/a-chilling-message-to-journalists-uk-approves-assange-extradition-to-us/

Medicare For All Could Have Prevented 338,000 Deaths in the US https://truthout.org/articles/medicare-for-all-could-have-prevented-338000-covid-deaths-in-the-us/

100 Million People In America Are Saddled With Health Care Debt https://popularresistance.org/100-million-people-in-america-are-saddled-with-health-care-debt/

"No Place For A Child" (The horrors child immigrants experience when they cross the southern border.) https://scheerpost.com/2022/06/18/no-place-for-a-child/

  "Revolting": Senate Panel Raises Biden's Bloated Military Budget By 45 Billion https://truthout.org/articles/revolting-senate-panel-raises-bidens-bloated-military-budget-by-45-billion/

US Secretly Reviews and Approves Israeli Airstrikes in Syria https://scheerpost.com/2022/06/17/report-us-secretly-reviews-and-approves-many-israeli-airstrikes-in-syria 

Chris Hedges: American Empire Is Finished (video) https://youtu.be/OW52qqlQiJQ 

The State of Politics From An Anti-Establishment Perspective (Direct Left Callin podcast) https://www.callin.com/episode/the-state-of-politics-from-an-anti-gQcWTfYQHQ

The Smear Campaign Against Independent Journalism (video) https://youtu.be/nkoIfWt4Z2k

New Global Movement Against Capitalism For Socialism https://popularresistance.org/international-peoples-assembly-new-global-movement-against-capitalism-for-socialism/


Seen on Twitter:

*** 

In a near-future dystopian world, hope blossoms where mutual aid and democracy begins...

Zonta’s world is turned upside down when Jake arrives at the commune to investigate the disappearance of agents of the Authority. Can she persuade him to switch sides before the Protectors (antifascist fighters) take action?

Available now from Extasy Books: https://www.extasybooks.com/Where-the-Bodies-Lie 

Please buy direct from the small publisher and not via Amazon. Why? Amazon takes a huge percentage of the book's price and leaves very little for the publisher and author to share. Thanks.

 

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tuesday, April 26, 2022

Everybody Loves Raytheon

 

"Everybody Loves Raytheon!" 

An Interview with A. Riche-Persson

Editor's note: We last heard from A. Riche-Persson in 2020 when she told us her perspective on the upcoming elections in Why I Adore Joe Biden.  We thought it would be good to make a Zoom call and check in with her to find out how she's been doing during the pandemic and after Joe's first year in office. The transcript of the call follows.

The Revolution Continues:  It's good to hear from you, Ms. Riche-Persson. May we call you by your first name Ayn?

A. Riche-Persson: If you're a member of my private club, maybe. Otherwise, I always insist on the press addressing me properly.

TRC: Okay... So, Ms. Riche-Persson, how was your pandemic experience? I notice you're not wearing a mask.

ARP: President Biden said it's over now, and I believe him. I'm not a science denier, truth be told. I simply did my best to stay away from places where lots of poor people were breathing in and out, and I always use hand sanitizer. Other than one really bad bout of pneumonia, I've been perfectly fine these past two years. The whole thing has been one big joke, but I've had the last laugh. 

TRC: Oh? How so? 

ARP: My friend Nancy told me which pharmaceutical companies to buy stocks in right before they started boo-hooing over this overblown common cold pandemic business. And she was right. It's been very lucrative. 

TRC: Would that be Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House? 

ARP: One and the same. She's very helpful to her friends with her insider tips. I just tell my stockbroker what she says and he lines it up for me. Ka-ching! Ka-ching! Money in the bank. 

TRC: I bet. What other insider tips has Ms. Pelosi given you? 

ARP: Lately she's been gushing all about military manufacturers to invest in. Since February those stock prices have soared higher and higher. It's so exciting! Everybody loves Raytheon! I adore Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics, too. America is just getting richer and richer by the day. 

TRC: Everyone in the US is getting richer, or is it just you and Ms. Pelosi and her friends? 

ARP:  (Chuckling) What difference does it make? As long as I'm doing okay that's all that matters.

TRC: We don't have time to delve into what the difference is right now, but you're honestly happy with the way things are going? 

ARP: Of course I am. When the stock market is on a roll, everyone is on a roll. I think President Biden said we've got something like zero percent unemployment, so that's gotta be good, right? 

TRC: Do the closed signs on small businesses' front windows ever catch your eye?

ARP: I'm driven around in a limo with dark-tinted windows. Never seen them.

TRC: Okay, so you're saying you're not worried about a resurgence in the omicron variant of COVID-19 or upset about the conflict going on in Ukraine or that millions of Americans won't be able to pay their rent and risk eviction this year? 

ARP: Well, of course I'm upset about all those poor people living on the streets. They bring our property values down. They're so messy with all their possessions in bags littering the place. But the mayor of New York City is doing a great job of rounding them up and putting them elsewhere, so I sleep well at night. 

TRC: And the chance of COVID taking off again and killing another million Americans? 

ARP: Meh. It's not really a thing thing, you know? At least not among my circle of friends. If others get sick from it or have to bury a family member, I feel sorry for them, but I don't know them, so what?  Nothing to lose sleep over. I'm just glad I don't have to smudge my lipstick wearing a mask in public. Masks really killed my sense of style. They never matched my designer outfits.

TRC: (Sighing) The idea that you're making money off of selling armaments to fuel a proxy war that has caused many to flee their homes doesn't cause you any bad dreams, either, right? 

ARP: You said it, not me. It's a proxy war. That means American soldiers won't get hurt--just those people who are stupid enough to live there. And fossil fuels aren't making that good a return on investment right now, so why not expand my stock portfolio to include weapons manufacturers?  It seems that cute little comedian president can't get enough of them. 

TRC: Zelensky? 

ARP: Gesundheit. I hope you wear a mask in public so others don't catch your germs. 

TRC: Uh, yeah. On a related topic, I've recently learned that your family originally came from Germany and arrived in the US right at the end of World War II. Is that right?

ARP: (Quietly) That's right... Granddad got a job with the government. 

TRC: Your grandfather was known to have a very important job within the Nazi government before he immigrated to the US is what I've read.

ARP: Yeah, but he was a good Nazi. Like the Nazis in Ukraine are. America likes the good Nazis.

TRC: It appears we do. The Azov Battalion and other Nazi units in the Ukrainian military are accepting billion of dollars of armaments from the US. Biden gave Ukraine $800 million worth of arms just this last week. Some of those guns in the future may be used to terrorize or kill people that Nazis don't like such as LGBTQIA persons, the Roma, and ethnic Russians. You're okay with that? 

ARP: (Sighing) Well, what can I say? People get hurt in wars, but wars are good for business. 

TRC: They are. And all is fair in love and business, right? 

ARP: Hey, like I said everybody loves Raytheon--my stockbroker, Ukrainian Nazis, the US Defense Department… You know, important people.

TRC: Uh-huh. You certainly have an interesting perspective on things, Ms. Riche-Persson. 

ARP: I do. And I have one other thing you and your friends don't have.

TRC: What's that?

ARP: Money, so people in power have to listen to me. Even Nazis in power.

TRC: Sad to say but true. Thanks for talking with us today, Ayn Rand--uh, Ms. Riche-Persson. I'm sure you'll sleep well tonight. I know I won't.

BIO: "A. Riche-Persson" (or Ayn to her friends) is a member of the country club down the road and thinks she knows what's best for those who haven't been blessed with her good looks (and face lifts) and brains (she attended Yale, but married a millionaire and forgot to finish her degree). Heed her advice and you, too, can become well-connected in the corporate-owned-and-operated establishment duopoly. Just leave your conscience at the door with the coat check girl.

Related Articles:

Updated: A short video you must see to really understand the power of the weapons lobby in DC:  https://youtu.be/N3pnFR7DeZA 

More Military Spending Won't End Atrocities, We Must Focus on Preventing Them https://truthout.org/articles/more-military-spending-wont-end-atrocities-we-must-focus-on-preventing-them/

Some of the Weapons Delivered to Ukraine Will Be Used Against Us https://popularresistance.org/some-of-the-weapons-delivered-to-ukraine-will-be-used-against-us/

Lockheed Martin and Friends Don't Want You To Know What They're Up To https://jacobinmag.com/2022/04/defense-contractors-human-rights-transparency-lockheed-raytheon 

US Spent 7.5 Times More On Nuclear Weapons Than Vaccine Donations https://popularresistance.org/the-u-s-spent-7-5-times-more-on-nuclear-weapons-than-global-vaccine-donations/ 

Global Capitalism Has Become Dependent on War-Making to Sustain Itself  https://truthout.org/articles/global-capitalism-has-become-dependent-on-war-making-to-sustain-itself/

How the War in Ukraine Is Being Fought in the Media (video) https://youtu.be/j9YewFqws2M 

Gonzalo Lira Speaks Out (video)  (There's lots of good information in this video from an investigative reporter in Ukraine.)   https://youtu.be/AhjcVTCDLLI

Why I Adore Joe Biden by A. Riche-Persson  https://bernie2016.blogspot.com/2020/04/why-i-adore-joe-biden.html 

The Rich Haven't Just Gotten Richer--They've Also Gotten A Lot More Selfish https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/23/us-billionaires-taxes-elon-musk-week-in-patriarchy 

Seen on Twitter:


 

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

Tuesday, January 18, 2022

Exploited People

 


Exploited People... 

Living In The Modern Day Slave State
by Coast Watcher

A recent meme posted on social media summarizes the nature of modern industrial relations. In the meme—a reproduction of a work announcement at an unnamed place of business—the workers are informed that one of their co-workers has passed away due to COVID-19. It goes on to set out strict instructions on how to mourn the person, any contravention of which will result in their "immediate dismissal." To cap it all the order ends with a line from an Emily Dickinson poem—as if this helps soothe ruffled feelings.


How different is this order to slavery in America’s antebellum South? Or indeed anywhere on this planet that had—or still has—a wage slave-based economy?

One can imagine the plight of field slaves in some long ago Southern state. They watch in horror as a fellow slave falls over  from a heart attack and dies. He is then carried away to the sparse plot of land where their dead are buried. The overseer approaches and tells the slaves they have five minutes to mourn, and if they want to mourn any more than that they have to do it on their own time. Oh, except that their free time is now curtailed since they’ll have to work longer to make up the shortfall of labor hours caused by the inconsiderate death of their fellow slave...

Next thing that happens, the overseer states blithely, "Anyone questioning this order will be whipped. Here’s a poetic statement I came up with to make you all feel better. Have a nice day. "

Think this sort of thing doesn't still happen in the 21st century? You believe that the government will protect workers from this kind of exploitation? Here's a telling quote:

The only urgency we’re seeing at the federal level is the urgency of continuing to sacrifice the working class on the altar of economic growth. For too many policy makers, learning to live with the virus means learning to live with preventable death and suffering. Direct, predictable payments could solve that, but at this point, that’s as hard to imagine as the pandemic ever coming to an end under the prevailing political conditions.  John Knefel, How Did We Go From Stimulus Checks to "Go To Work With COVID"?


A labor shortfall in modern America is hardly addressed any differently than it was prior to the Civil War. With COVID-19 on the rampage, Delta Airlines found itself facing a staff shortage. As a result, it bribed/coerced the Centers for Disease Control into shortening the quarantine time for an infected person from ten days to a mere five. Schools across the country took advantage of this CDC decision to force teachers back into the classrooms while they were still recovering from COVID, in spite of the disease having a track record of flaring up long past even the previous ten day quarantine. The Chicago mayor even outlawed remote learning and threatened teachers to return to work.

Childhood hospitalizations due to the omicron variant of COVID have skyrocketed in the last month in some American cities. "It's a mild variety" according to government spokespersons and mainstream media pundits. Can you imagine how much higher the numbers would be if it wasn't so "mild"?

It’s no wonder teachers and other workers are striking. Social media is full of accounts of people quitting after receiving peremptory texts from management ordering them back to work or else. Perhaps those doing so no longer face the whip or the other brutal methods used by slave owners to chastise unruly slaves, but official sanctions bite as hard. Unemployment pay is hard to get, and it doesn’t last for long. Landlords are evicting those who are behind on their rent, and student loan payments will be expected soon enough.

It’s my opinion that much more strike action is needed. Workers at Kroger stores in Colorado, Starbuck outlets across the country, and others are all taking strike action and/or joining unions to demand fairer wages and working conditions in the face of the risks taken every day to keep these businesses running. (Target workers are even creating their very own union: https://targetworkersunite.com/)

Meanwhile, the US government is doing nothing to help citizens beyond the token issue of COVID-19 home testing kits (on request only from a government website that's sure to crash). As a further measure to reassure the public, the government has decided no longer to issue daily records of deaths from the disease. Because if we don't know how many of our fellow citizens are dying from COVID, then it's not really happening, right? Now, get back to work!

There are rumors circulating that EU countries are preparing to take an influx of economic refugees from the US, as the American economy is expected to tank later this year. While there’s not much evidence in fact that this is the case, it’s a clear indicator of our times that such rumors circulate at all and are given credence. 

It's time to stop all worker exploitation. It's time to let the capitalists know who is really in charge of the economy--the workers. Don't be afraid to walk out, sit down, or march on the picket the lines. Human beings can only take so much punishment and cruelty from the ruling class. Their time of exploiting the people is about over. Let's do all we can to hasten its ending, shall we?

 

BIO: Coast Watcher is tired of the blatant greed and inhumanity of the bourgeoisie. Why do we let them treat us like trash? It's time to rise up and create a workers' utopia--or at least put everyone on an equal footing with universal health care, UBI, guaranteed housing and education, among other things. Power to the People!

 
Related articles: 

Economic Update: Strikes Amid Reviving US Labor Movement (video)  https://youtu.be/4f2SeF60IQU

How Did We Go From Stimulus Checks to "Go To Work With COVID"? https://truthout.org/articles/how-did-we-go-from-stimulus-checks-to-go-to-work-with-covid/

Biden Urged to Fire COVID Response Chief Over Damning Failures https://scheerpost.com/2022/01/16/biden-urged-to-fire-covid-response-chief-over-damning-failures/

 Supreme Court Leaves Workers Without COVID-19 Protection https://popularresistance.org/supreme-court-leaves-workers-without-covid-19-protection/ 

Biden's Failure to Provide At Home COVID Tests Looks Extra Riduculous Arriving from the UK  https://popularresistance.org/bidens-failure-to-provide-at-home-covid-tests-looks-extra-ridiculous-arriving-from-the-u-k/ 

Australian Trade Unions Demand Free COVID Testing For All As Cases Surge https://popularresistance.org/australian-trade-unions-demand-free-covid-testing-for-all-as-cases-surge/

***

From UltraViolet:

The Trump-packed Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade this summer--and the minute that happens, it will unleash a wave of state-by-state battles by anti-choice radicals to ban abortion with zero exceptions in at least half the country

To kick off their push to ban abortion in as many states as possible in 2022, the anti-abortion movement is planning a march in Washington, D.C., on January 21, the eve of the 49th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, and we must fight back.

The anti-abortion movement's strategy is to try to convince politicians that most Americans want abortion banned, despite the fact that a wide majority of Americans actually supports legal abortion.1 They think that if enough people show up on the National Mall, it will convince any wavering governors or state legislators that the American people support their radical anti-abortion agenda.

We can't let them get away with it.

To stop the anti-abortion movement from controlling the narrative on this historic day and make sure that the media and the public hear from America's pro-choice majority, we're planning a series of actions to get our message out, including a flash mob at the Supreme Court, petition delivery to every U.S. senator, and a daylong pro-Roe social media campaign.

To go big, we need to raise as much money as possible to fund our counter-protest actions. Will you chip in to help defend abortion rights on this historic anniversary of Roe v. Wade?

The current Supreme Court is the most conservative in a generation, and it's clear that there is a majority to end the constitutional right to abortion.

The court declined to block a draconian ban on abortion in Texas--twice. It heard oral arguments on Mississippi's abortion ban, in which they were asked to immediately overturn Roe v. Wade. In the disastrous oral arguments on these cases, the justices compared Roe to the notorious Plessy v. Ferguson case upholding Jim Crow and argued that abortion isn't needed because babies can simply be given up for adoption.2

The moment the anti-choice majority on the Supreme Court dismantles Roe, abortion bans from Idaho to South Carolina will go into effect. Abortion will likely become illegal in 22 states or more. Over 40% of people able to become pregnant will see their nearest abortion clinics close, with Black people, Indigenous people, and working-class people of color being hit the hardest.3

This is the all-out, state-by-state battle for legal abortion that we'd hoped would never come. But it's here, and the fight begins on January 22, the 49th, and likely final, anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

We can't let the anti-abortion minority control the narrative with their lies and disinformation. So, on January 22, we're planning a series of actions to get our message out that Americans support abortion rights, including a petition delivery to every single senator, a pro-Roe social media campaign, and an on-the-ground flash mob in front of the Supreme Court.

Will you chip in $5 to help us go big on what could well be Roe v. Wade's last anniversary?

Thank you for fighting alongside us!

--Sonja, Shaunna, Kathy, Melody, Lindsay, Kimberly, Maria, Elisa, KaeLyn, KD, Iris, Bridget, Katie, Jaya, Meena, Isatou, Luna, and Toni, the UltraViolet Action team

CONTRIBUTESources:

1. About six-in-ten Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, Pew Research Center, May 6, 2021

2. Conservative US supreme court justices signal support for restricting abortion in pivotal case, The Guardian, December 1, 2021

3. Where Abortion Access Would Decline if Roe v. Wade Were Overturned, The New York Times, May 18, 2021

***

National Nurses United

On January 14, nurses held actions across the country, including a candlelight vigil in Washington, D.C. for nurses who lost their lives to Covid-19 and a national virtual press conference. Together, we demanded the hospital industry invest in safe staffing, and that President Biden follow through on his campaign promise to protect nurses and prioritize public health.

Will you join our call for safe staffing critical health and safety protections by adding your name to our petition?

add your name »

As the Omicron variant is exploding across the country, now is not the time to rip away protections for health care workers and the public. 

That’s why nurses, other health care workers, and activists all across the country are coming together to demand:

  • A permanent OSHA standard that requires employers to protect health care workers against Covid-19;
  • Retention and enforcement of the June 21 Covid-19 health care emergency temporary standard until it is properly superseded by the permanent standard; and
  • Restoration of guidance on ten-day isolation after a positive Covid-19 test for health care workers, other frontline workers, and the general public.

As of Jan. 11, 481 RNs have died of Covid-19, among 4,760 health care worker deaths overall, according to NNU tracking data. To date, more than 1.1 million U.S. health care workers have been infected. 

We know that optimal protections save lives, and we will not stop working to win those protections — but we don’t have second to waste. Will you add your name to call on the Biden administration to protect nurses and other health care workers during Covid-19?

add your name »

Thank you for standing with us.

In solidarity,

National Nurses United

 ***

From Friends of the Earth:

ACTION NEEDED: Corporate cruise ships are destroying our oceans -- driving orcas closer to extinction. Last year, we lost Cappuccino and Marina, two of the critically endangered Southern Resident Killer Whale population, which is now down to only 73 remaining orcas.

Scientists agree that orcas face three main threats: food shortage, chemical pollution, and vessel disturbance. Corporate cruise ships magnify all three of these risks and are making it harder for orcas to survive.

If we are going to protect the remaining orcas from extinction, we need to take action immediately to reduce the harm caused by cruise ships.

SIGN THE PETITION NOW

Engine waste, plastic waste, and human waste are ALL dumped directly into the water by cruise ships, damaging orcas’ sensitive habitats, food supply, and ecosystem. The pollution from cruise ships drives away orcas’ vital food source -- contributing to their STARVATION.  

Yet greedy cruise ship corporations continue to increase the size and number of these vessels -- meaning even more disturbances to vulnerable orcas. These ships add more underwater noise, hindering orcas’ echolocation abilities and making it difficult for them to hunt already-scarce prey. More vessel traffic also results in a higher risk of oil spills that can cause death or injury to orcas, and the physical presence of these massive ships interferes with their migration and mating patterns.

Cruise ships are HURTING orcas. We must do something before these beloved animals are gone forever. Please, take action now to help save the remaining orca population from corporate cruise ship pollution.

SIGN THE PETITION NOW

Thank you,
Friends of the Earth

 

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)