New Year's Revolutions

New Year’s Revolutions

 

I can ease the suffering of this world
With my head, my heart and my hand

–-from the song Of This World 

resolution /rĕz″ə-loo͞′shən/

noun

1. The state or quality of being resolute; firm determination.

   "faced the situation with resolution."

2. A firm decision to do something.

   "made a resolution to get more exercise."

3. A course of action determined or decided on.

   "His resolution is to get up early."

 

revolution /rĕv″ə-loo͞′shən/

noun

1. Orbital motion about a point, especially as distinguished from axial rotation.

   "the planetary revolution about the sun."

2. A turning or rotational motion about an axis.

3. A single complete cycle of such orbital or axial motion.

4. The overthrow of one government and its replacement with another.

5. A sudden or momentous change in a situation.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

Just in case you thought I made a typo or spelled the last word in the title wrong, I’ve provided the definitions above. While many folks this week are discussing their “New Year’s resolutions” to lose weight or take up exercising, what this world desperately needs are “New Year’s revolutions.” Yes, revolution as it states in the fifth definition: “a sudden or momentous change in a situation.” If we don’t see any revolutions in 2024, we probably shouldn’t expect to be alive and well this same time next year.

I know you thought I was going to say we need a revolution as defined in the fourth line: “the overthrow of one government and its replacement with another.” Well, that kind of revolution may ultimately be necessary to enact a needed sudden or momentous change in our situation. For now, let’s stick with just the simple idea of change and a resoluteness to enact those much needed changes.

See? I didn’t throw out the first word’s definition entirely, but I’ve changed it slightly. Resolution, such as undertaking an activity like jogging, has been changed to resoluteness, a character trait that we all need to have, a spirit of firm determination to tackle the job that needs to be done.

So, what New Year’s revolutions need to be enacted in 2024? In case you’re an alien from outer space who has just landed on Earth, or you’ve been cryogenically frozen for the past year or more, you can catch up with what’s been going on with humankind by reading last week’s (that is, last year’s last post) entitled Silence Equals Death: 2023 In Review. That should help you understand how humanity cannot remain forever locked into the death-giving behavior patterns it finds itself locked into now.

To continue down our current path of death and destruction is to ensure humanity’s final and total annihilation. This is not something rational, sane individuals should wish to do. Nor should rational, sane individuals desire to be led by leaders—elected or appointed—who wish to continue down this pathway of death and destruction. Hence, we are all in need of a “sudden or momentous change” in our situation in order to save us from our demise.

This is where the fourth definition of revolution might become necessary. Even a threat or a hint that the workers have had enough of the bourgeoisie class dictating death-giving terms to them could ignite the momentous change necessary to turn things around (revolve them into something better, you could say) and put our society on the road toward life and creativity, away from death and destruction.

Contrary to popular belief, revolutions don’t have to be bloody to be effective. A revolution of the heart, an awakening of conscience, or the raising of our collective consciousness (as prolific essayist Caitlin Johnstone terms it) could be all it takes to instigate changes for the better. After all, the word “love” can be found in the word “revolution” if you look closely enough.

(R E V O L U T I O N. Do you see it? Try flipping the word around and spelling it out. Sometimes a sudden change of view is all it takes to see the good in everything.)

The question really becomes this: Do we want to look closely enough? Are we resisting a revolution of our hearts because to open our hearts to love others can be… too humbling? With an open heart, would we see others as fellow human beings, equal in the eyes of our God/Higher Power? Would this insight make us uncomfortable because we could no longer dismiss others’ needs and treat them as objects for our own gain?

For instance, do the majority of us want to keep turning a blind eye to the genocide happening in Gaza? (Or the ones occurring in Congo or Sudan, for that matter.) We Westerners seem to be experts at ignoring the pain and suffering of others, particularly people of color whose religion or culture is different than our own. We’ve been indoctrinated to keep our emotions to ourselves, to point out the “flaws” and “weaknesses” of other cultures and not our own, so much so that we don’t even seem to realize how hypocritical we’re acting.

To open our hearts and love is to reveal our true nature—our own flaws and weaknesses—to the other. It means asking for forgiveness for our past sins. It means making reparations to those whose families lost their lives and lands to our capitalistic greed and hunger to exploit natural resources for our own gain. It means sharing with and caring for everyone on the planet, not just the face in the mirror.

Love isn’t for sissies. It’s not for those without a resoluteness of spirit willing to walk the painful pathway toward reconciliation between two or more warring factions, but it can be done. Look at how South Africa dealt with the evils of apartheid with its Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Where there is love, there is hope.

And there are plenty of examples of how a revolution of love could bring about an end to the selfish, warmongering behavior of the US and its allies. Building a world order based on trust and mutual aid rather than the petrodollar and US hegemony would eliminate the competitiveness and spitefulness engendered under Western capitalism

Once a momentous change or revolution of the heart has occurred, similarly changes in the “head” or the human intellect usually follow suit. We can make a revolution from using faulty pretzel logic to rationalize its need for more wars to grab more fossil fuels (which we acknowledge are destroying our climate and our planet) to using our intellect to design cleaner, greener energy sources and technology that could improve the life of everyone on the planet. And I mean there would be life improvements for everyone, not just the rich and those of lofty social status. A revolution of both the heart and head of humanity could lead to many wondrous positive inventions and fascinating explorations of our universe, technology and knowledge shared with everyone, everywhere.

We shouldn’t underestimate just how much good and beauty humankind is actually capable of creating if it is willing to do it together as one body and not as competing cells. The “Lone Wolf Syndrome” (a.k.a. “the oligarchy” or “billionaires”) would be cured once and for all in a world that is unified to protect, nurture, and care for all its members not just a few.

To start the revolution of the heart and the head, we must first be willing to use our “hands” to spread this message of love to all. Hands on the keyboard typing a social media post sharing the news of a group who is supportive of life and creativity, away from the path of death and destruction we’re currently taking. Hands holding a protest sign telling those in authority that we will not accept the slaughter of our brothers and sisters in Gaza and elsewhere. Hands raised in a fist to prove we have the love that it takes to begin the “overthrow of one government and its replacement with another” if that is what would be more conducive to guaranteeing peace and prosperity for all human beings.

As Peter, Paul, and Mary sings:

I can ease the suffering of this world 

I can ease the suffering of this world

I can ease the suffering of this world
With my head, my heart and my hand

In 2024, let us stand resolutely together and shout boldly, “I can ease the suffering of this world.” Let’s get down to work on our New Year’s revolutions, shall we?

 

Articles and Other Interesting Links

INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE: Press Release
29 December 2023
The Republic of South Africa institutes proceedings against the State of Israel and requests the Court to indicate provisional measures https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20231229-pre-01-00-en.pdf

South Africa Invokes Genocide Convention Against Israel
https://scheerpost.com/2023/12/29/south-africa-invokes-genocide-convention-against-israel/

Israel Says It's Anti-Semitic To Invoke The Genocide Convention Over Gaza https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/israel-says-its-anti-semitic-to-invoke

2023: The Year Humanity Died
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/2023-humanity-died-gaza

One month into the bloodshed, after Israel had killed 1,000 children, I said that’s it; the world would make its move now, if only to save the children! But the U.S. responded by vetoing a humanitarian cease-fire that could have saved thousands of innocent lives! A month after, when the death toll of children reached 10,000, I said enough is enough; it’s high time the world acted NOW, because humanity itself is at stake! U.N. officials had already sounded the alarm that Gaza was becoming a “graveyard for children,” so no one could pretend they did not know. The time to act was now or never! Yet there was another U.S. veto; another cold hand was raised to issue a new death sentence for Palestinians. Another spit in the face of humanity!

Now I’m lost for words. I have lost faith in humanity. The staggering death toll in Gaza is humanly impossible to fathom or accept without losing our sense of shared humanity. As a Palestinian, as a human being, I feel that part of me has died in this war. I know for certain that I will not emerge from this tragedy the same person I was before. None of us will.

"Christ in the Rubble": Palestinian Pastor Delivers Powerful Christmas Sermon from Bethlehem
https://youtu.be/Md_hw_A-oIs?si=93V1j1hEWw0thgQY

Christmas in Bethlehem 2022 vs. 2023 https://scheerpost.com/2023/12/26/christmas-in-bethlehem-2022-vs-2023/

The lies we believe about Gazan Christians are killing them
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/gracecoloredglasses/2023/12/why-christian-west-cold-hearted-palestinian-christians-enormous-crisis/

Tonight a Palestinian is Born
https://arunnews.substack.com/p/tonight-a-palestinian-is-born

 
‘Are we the baddies?’ Western support for genocide in Gaza means the answer is yes https://jonathancook.substack.com/p/are-we-the-baddies-western-support

Israel’s Genocide Betrays the Holocaust https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/israels-genocide-betrays-the-holocaust

Debunking the world’s largest skin bank: How Israelis harvest organs without consent? https://medium.com/@ASll0_/debunking-the-worlds-largest-skin-bank-how-israelis-harvest-organs-without-consent-d8415b266a55

Overcoming Our Differences Is The Only Way Forward https://roberturbaschek.substack.com/p/overcoming-our-differences

This Can't Be Another Instance Of Genocide — Israel Believes It's Right! https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/this-cant-be-another-instance-of

Voters Want the U.S. to Call for a Permanent Ceasefire in Gaza and to Prioritize Diplomacy https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2023/12/5/voters-want-the-us-to-call-for-a-permanent-ceasefire-in-gaza-and-to-prioritize-diplomacy

Patrick Lawrence: To Retrieve History https://scheerpost.com/2023/12/28/patrick-lawrence-to-retrieve-history

Palestinian Journalists Are Exposing How “Objectivity” Is Used to Silence Them https://truthout.org/articles/palestinian-journalists-are-exposing-how-objectivity-is-used-to-silence-them/

Returning to Gaza after kidnapping, torture by Israel
https://youtu.be/svcMuAt3To0?si=8hGrl_uPXyqwJ1cT

The Overlooked Economic Incentives for Israel's War on Gaza
https://youtu.be/vDS5mKiXmgQ?si=CMM5nfE85Gv9P97s

Jill Stein on the Genocide in Gaza https://twitter.com/DrJillStein/status/1740152022144622839

We Should All Take Up the Cry of ‘Not in My Name’
https://wagingnonviolence.org/metta/2023/12/we-should-all-take-up-the-cry-not-in-my-name-anarchic-politics/

I believe, we no longer want to live in a world where the death of children can be legitimated, rationalized and justified. No law can make the killing of children right, if it does, it is not just; no amount of reasons can make the targeting of children right, if it does it is insanity; no justifications can take away the conditions of peace from a child, if they do, it is a clear pointer that it serves tyrants and, therefore, is a perverse mockery of justice. This world must be overthrown, even if we do not know as yet what will take its place — let us be open to, and imagine and construct other possibilities. 

Israel's War Crimes https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/12/29/israels-war-crimes/

Israel Announces Its Gaza Endgame: Ethnic Cleansing As ‘Humanitarianism’ https://popularresistance.org/israel-announces-its-gaza-endgame-ethnic-cleansing-as-humanitarianism/

The Long History Of Zionist Proposals To Ethnically Cleanse The Gaza Strip https://scheerpost.com/2023/12/29/the-long-history-of-zionist-proposals-to-ethnically-cleanse-the-gaza-strip/

GHOULS: Israel Illegally Stealing Body Parts From Murdered Gazans https://mark192.substack.com/p/ghouls-israel-illegally-stealing

License to kill: US police killed over 1,200 people in 2023
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/12/30/asgq-d30.html

Boycott Israel/Support Palestine Tool Kit
https://www.codepink.org/bdstoolkit?

2023: The Year the Bubble of US Leadership Burst
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/2023-us-leadership-bubble-burst

Why Putin is a Hero to Russians
https://joebrunoli.substack.com/p/why-putin-is-a-hero-to-russians

Silence Equals Death: 2023 In Review
https://therevolutioncontinues.substack.com/p/silence-equals-death-2023-in-review

US Military Sinks Three Houthi Boats in Red Sea Killing 10 https://news.antiwar.com/2023/12/31/us-military-sinks-three-houthi-boats-in-red-sea-killing-10/

RIP John Pilger https://dissidentvoice.org/2023/12/rip-john-pilger/ 

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2022: The Year Nothing Fundamentally Changed—Again

  

2022: 

The Year Nothing Fundamentally Changed—Again

At the end of each calendar year, we at TRC usually go over what’s happened in the world during the previous twelve months and make some predictions for the coming year. (Last year’s New Year's Eve piece: https://continuousrev.blogspot.com/2021/12/2021-year-nothing-fundamentally-changed.html) This year illness around the holidays took its toll and there’s not enough time to review all 52 weekly posts for 2022, but if there is any one major thing that we can take away from this past year, it’s this: 

Nothing has fundamentally changed—again.

Here are some of the more blatant examples of things that are fundamentally the same—if not worse—than they were at the end of 2021. 

Build Back Better? Only if you work for the Pentagon or a military contractor such as Raytheon or Lockheed Martin:

The military budget deal just reached by Congress will put Pentagon spending at $858 billion — more than $118 billion higher than when President Biden came into office, and more than $180 billion higher than the last budget approved under President Obama. That increase would have been more than enough to cover the costs of the entire Build Back Better agenda. --Democrats Are Making A Devil's Bargain on Pentagon Funding.

In immigration news: Kids are still in cages.

Title 42, an archaic immigration rule resurrected in the Trump administration to flat-out deny asylum to asylum seekers, is still in effect. The Border Wall, started during the Trump administration, is still being constructed. Haitian asylum seekers were beaten with whips by Border Patrol officers on horseback, and they are still being deported at much higher percentages than other immigrants, particularly white and European undocumented immigrants. (Read Why All The Hate For Haiti?)

The student loan debt crisis hasn’t gone away. There may be a hiatus on repayments, but eventually it will go away and the trillion dollars of debt still owed will have to be repaid. Loans given to large businesses and corporations during the pandemic have been forgiven, however. 

COVID-19 is still rampant and mutating. People are still getting sick, being hospitalized, and dying from COVID and related illnesses, some now known as Long COVID. Most free vaccinations and testing clinics have been shut down. 

The major thing that has changed in regards to COVID-19 is that it’s no longer being reported to health departments regularly, and the mainstream media continues to downplay its lethality. This has only motivated some to stop wearing masks in public or taking it seriously, sharing the virus freely with strangers and loved ones alike.

Medicare For All—promised to be enacted by both Biden and "The Squad" on the campaign trail—has yet to come about. Medical debt is the number one reason Americans file for bankruptcy for yet another year. And we're still the only so-called "First World Industrialized Country" that doesn't guarantee health care to all its citizens. It's nothing to be proud of. It's all "Get back to work and get out and buy, buy, buy! Who cares if people are getting sick and dying? Our corporations have to turn a decent profit!"

Endless war continues. This time it’s a proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, rather than a “hotter” war in Afghanistan. (Well, it could become hotter if the nukes start flying.) Meanwhile, Afghan refugees are still coming to the US looking for sanctuary. Promises made to the mostly Muslim Afghans seeking asylum (persons who helped the US forces along with their immediate family members) haven’t been kept as they should, but surprise, surprise! White, supposedly-Christian Ukrainians with no documents have had little trouble coming into the US and staying put. 

(Of course, this openness doesn't apply to members of the Russian Orthodox Church, a religion outlawed in Ukraine along with all opposition political parties. That's fighting for "democracy and freedom" American-style!)

Homelessness is on the rise. Mayors of cities such as Los Angeles and New York city have made it part of their winning campaigns promoting how they would destroy tent cities and stick homeless people into mental institutions against their will. Out of sight, out of mind, and more chances of gentrifying rundown areas to the delight of the developers and investment landlords.

In totally unrelated news (ha ha!), rents have more than doubled in many cities. Food and gasoline costs are spiraling ever upward. Empty shelves in grocery stores and discount places are because of “supply chain issues” or so we’re told. No mention is made in the mainstream media how most of our trade is with China, and that threatening war with China over Taiwan isn’t going to make goods any more affordable for the working classes. 

Railroad workers still don’t have the right to strike. They didn’t get the fifteen sick days they asked for either. So-called progressives such as AOC and most members of "The Squad" voted against them. (Read If The Workers Take a Notion...)

Over 48,000 University of California student workers went on strike this fall and are going back after the winter break, but they’re not satisfied with their tentative agreement. More and more America workers organized and joined unions in 2022, so it’s a good sign that most workers understand there is power in numbers and that CEOs are not gods and they don’t have to put up with their employers’ abusive behaviors. (Read Lab Rats of the World Unite!)

“Narrative control,” shadow-banning/censorship, and propaganda reached all-time levels in 2022. Recently the audacity of these propaganda tactics instigated by the FBI, CIA, and both major political parties were revealed in “The Twitter Files” released by independent journalist Matt Taibbi and others.  (Read Disinformation Wars, The Ministry of Truth v. Roe v. Wade and Atrocity Propaganda and Narrative Control for other examples of narrative control. Also, check out the articles from earlier in the year on our Ukraine War Series page to see the pattern of propaganda coming from the US government.)

Julian Assange still resides in Belmarsh Prison (UK). The US is still trying to extradite the Australian publisher of Wikileaks and charge him with treason. His physical and mental health continues to deteriorate. 

Policing? I'd like to tell you that there's been zero incidents of persons of color or poor folks in general being killed by cops in the US in 2022, but sorry. Deaths at the hands of cops continue. Police budgets are growing ever larger along with the military budget. Obviously, Biden or The Squad didn't take the "Defund the Police" movement seriously along with those who support Medicare For All. There's no money to be made by protecting the lives, health or safety of ordinary Americans.

This article title speaks for itself: "An Absolute F**cking Disgrace": Record 6,036 US Kids Killed, Injured by Gunfire in 2022 https://scheerpost.com/2022/12/28/an-absolute-fcking-disgrace-record-6036-us-kids-killed-injured-by-gunfire-in-2022

I’m sure you can think of other examples. 

So, what predictions do we have for 2023? An ever-growing number of unions forming and union members seems likely, and that’s a good thing. Possibly student loan repayments will be delayed again, but if not, many groups are already organizing for a mass boycott of student loan repayments. 

The more dire ordinary Americans’ situations become, as food and transportation costs spiral upward, the more likely they are to agitate for their rights to be paid decent wages, to have a roof over their heads, to have free access to health care and the knowledge of what’s really happening in the world without “Ministry of Truth” styled manipulation and censorship.  

 Is it a rosy outlook or a gloomy one? It’s up for us to decide. 

Sharing information from independent news sources (such as TRC) is an optimistic activity. Many have been brainwashed into believing whatever comes out of the mouth of the mainstream media pundits, so be gentle but persistent with them. Keeping up everyone's morale by sharing good news of peace breaking out and unions forming can go a long way. Financially and morally supporting other workers in their fight for safer and more just workplaces is another good step.

Remember: We’re all in this together. Happy New Year!

Related Articles:

"Disastrous": SCOTUS Upholds Title 42 Migrant Policy During Court Fight https://scheerpost.com/2022/12/28/disastrous-scotus-upholds-title-42-migrant-policy-during-court-fight/

Student Loan Debt is a Scam (video): https://youtu.be/pgPW926532E

Chris Hedges: The Democrats Are Now The War Party https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-democrats-are-now-the-war-party

The Claim That The Ukraine War Advances US Interests Discredits The Claim That It's Unprovoked https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/the-claim-that-the-ukraine-war-advances 

Democrats Are Making a Devil's Bargain on Pentagon Funding. It's Not Paying Off  https://scheerpost.com/2022/12/25/democrats-are-making-a-devils-bargain-on-pentagon-funding-its-not-paying-off/

Why All the Hate For Haiti?  https://bernie2016.blogspot.com/2022/10/why-all-hate-for-haiti.html 

Biden Admin Plans to Expand Title 42 to Expel Cubans, Nicaraguans, and Haitians https://truthout.org/articles/biden-admin-plans-to-expand-title-42-to-expel-cubans-nicaraguans-and-haitians

To Die On The Job Is To Die For America https://bernie2016.blogspot.com/2022/01/to-die-on-job-is-to-die-for-america.html

Zelensky's Diaspora Delegation Led by Economic Hit-Woman Who Led Plunder of Ukraine https://thegrayzone.com/2022/12/23/zelenskys-diaspora-hit-woman-ukraine/

Whee! Let's Start World War 3! https://bernie2016.blogspot.com/2022/08/whee-lets-start-world-war-3.html

Atrocity Propaganda and Narrative Control https://bernie2016.blogspot.com/2022/06/atrocity-propaganda-and-narrative.html

Disinformation Wars https://bernie2016.blogspot.com/2022/11/disinformation-wars.html 

If the Workers Take a Notion... (RWU Strike) https://bernie2016.blogspot.com/2022/12/if-workers-take-notion-rwu-strike.html

Lab Rats of the World Unite! https://bernie2016.blogspot.com/2022/11/lab-rats-of-world-unite.html

The Ministry of Truth v. Roe v. Wade https://bernie2016.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-ministry-of-truth-v-roe-v-wade.html

Ukraine War Series page  https://continuousrev.blogspot.com/p/ukraine-war-series.html 

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Twitter Files? https://scheerpost.com/2022/12/21/whos-afraid-of-the-big-bad-twitter-files/

Gov. Pressured Twitter to Find "Russian Interference", Ban Anti-US Accounts (video) https://youtu.be/sfsuYi72eVw

Chomsky, Hedges, Snowden, Stein and Greenwald on the Assange Case (video)  https://youtu.be/DM0WtQoKXd0 

Amid Inflation and Short Staffing Labor Organizers Demanded More in 2022  https://truthout.org/articles/amid-inflation-and-short-staffing-labor-organizers-demanded-more-in-2022/

Why You Should Be A Socialist in 2023 (video) https://youtu.be/thJ2ocejPko

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