2021: The Year Nothing Fundamentally Changed

 

2021: 

The Year Nothing Fundamentally Changed

by C.A. Matthews 

I don't know about you, but I really hate telling folks, "I told you so."

After penning last year's end-of-the-year article, 2020: The Year That Wasn't, I held out some hopes for 2021. Surely I thought we'd get a handle on this COVID-19 pandemic and turn a noticeable corner sometime in 2021. We wouldn't be counting deaths worldwide in the millions and the virus variants by the dozens. The drug manufacturers would gladly share their vaccine formulas with our fellow human beings, and intelligent people everywhere would willingly line up to receive a vaccination.

I even thought that we might--just might--see some decent legislation or executive orders come out  of the Biden White House. We desperately needed leadership to force ICE and CBP to help asylum seekers reunite with their children rather than forcing them to "Remain in Mexico."  We needed leadership to end blatant racism against Haitian immigrants. If we were lucky, the Squad would push Biden "left" and pass Medicare For All to help Americans without health care. Heck, he might even do as his promised on the campaign trail and end the suffering of so many burdened with overwhelming student loan debt. 

Instead, 2021 turned out to be just as candidate Joe Biden said it would, when he announced what his presidency would be like when compared to Trump's: Nothing would fundamentally change.

Ironic, isn't it? It's the only thing he's been right about so far.

So, here we find ourselves at the end of 2021, and we find ourselves pretty much in the same screwed up situation we found ourselves in last year at this time. The pandemic rages on. No mandatory lock downs or even a consistent masking policy has been issued by the CDC. Less than 10% of Africans have been fully vaccinated. Big Pharma refuses to share its vaccine formulas, even though much of the research was funded by US taxpayers and the more people on the planet vaccinated, the less chance for further virus mutations. And things could get much worse now that the omicron variant has popped up in the "everybody go back to work and school as normal" United States of America.

 Nothing has fundamentally changed.

I won't go on about how Americans still don't have universal health care, in spite of living through a pandemic of biblical plague proportions. We don't have universal basic income, either, in spite of record unemployment, under-reported as usual especially for women, the young, and people of color. Student loan repayments will start up again in the new year.  Eviction moratoriums have ended. 

The Biden Administration has some serious problems with arithmetic, too. They early on promised everyone a "$2000 check" but only paid out $1400 so far. Even those of us who can't balance a checkbook can tell you those two numbers aren't the same. 

Nothing has fundamentally changed.

They said they'd stop the war in Afghanistan, and yet they passed a record-breaking military budget this year. (Mercenaries and some American military personnel will remain in Afghanistan, so it's war by another name.) We're "updating" our nuclear arsenal, as if having more nuke power than necessary to wipe out all life on the planet isn't enough. Trump's saber-rattling carries on from 2020 in regards to China and then Russia and then China again and then Russia again and then…

 Nothing has fundamentally changed.

The big COP-26 climate change convention recycled the same ol' tired promises of cleaning up our dirty fossil fuel habits. Ironically, the very next week the Biden Administration sold a record number of oil exploration leases in the Gulf of Mexico, and then a lawsuit to clean up the longest running oil spill in the Gulf in history was decided. "Clean coal" anyone?

Nothing has fundamentally changed.

Worse yet, this mantra is the stinky attitude one gets from the establishment and their billionaire pals. They're fine with things not changing. They're not worried about millions more dying from a preventable illness like COVID-19. They're happy to make sh*t-loads of money from  trading in shares in Big Pharma and buying up the homes that have been foreclosed on this year in order to force us to rent our previous abodes from landlords later.

And war and the environment? Hey, if drone bombing innocents and endlessly fracking oil makes a profit, why would you ever stop? Am I right?

Nothing has fundamentally changed.

If there's one New Year's resolution I'd like to make--and work hard to keep--it's this: Things will fundamentally change in 2022. They have to or else we'll all wind up dead.

https://jillstein.net/

Fundamental change won't necessarily come via the voting booth. Unless you're open to voting for third party candidates, who boldly profess radical ideas like ending wars for oil, instituting Medicare For All, and legislating free schooling from pre-K through college, then I wouldn't worry too much about voting. Voting for the "lesser evil" or "any red or blue will do" just creates more evil that our world doesn't want or need. Blindly accepting only two choices to vote for--choices blessed by billionaire capitalists--guarantees "nothing will fundamentally change-ism" will continue.

Change could happen in the streets, through online activism, by knocking on doors, or through a combination of these activities and more. But somehow, change must come. We've got to change things fundamentally this coming year of else there might not be a 2023 to look forward to in another 365 days.

Be the change you dream of. Fundamentally. And we hope to see you again here next year. Stay safe!

Second Thought is an excellent podcast. This recent video focuses on how "Feel Good Stories" are used to distract us from the true horrors of our corrupt system.  Watch and think about what you can do to bring about fundamental change.  https://youtu.be/Sck8xNicy5o

 

End of the year pleading: Donate a buck or ten to help keep the lights on and the editor sane via this link http://paypal.me/camatthews  Thank you.

*** 

Talking with family members who don’t agree with you over the holidays is hard. And sadly, immigration can be one of the topics that gets most heated.

We’ve all had those tense, uncomfortable conversations with loved ones, and now there’s an extremely helpful resource to help shift dinner-table conversations from confrontational to productive.

Check out the brand-new “Brave Conversations: Immigration Edition” guide now.

Check it out for free now →

These conversations can be hard, but no one has to tackle them alone.

In this guide, there are five simple sections to help center a conversation about immigration in compassion and commonsense:

• Tips for talking about hard topics
• Common misconceptions about immigration and how to respond
• Facts about what’s really happening
• How to take action
• Additional resources for further research

Ending family separation is a huge task, and it’s going to take a collective effort, from huge mobilizations to individual conversations with the people closest to us.

Every one of us has the tools to change the hearts and minds of our family and friends, and each individual conversation is a part of the larger national shift needed to ensure safety for immigrant families and children.

We’re in this together, and all of us can use this guide as a resource to help change public opinion on immigrant children and families in the U.S., starting with the people we’re all most influential with: our friends, family, and those who trust us the most.

Check out the guide now →

We believe that to learn and grow, we need to be brave. We must end detention and family separation for good – and it all starts with what we’re talking about at home.

Thanks for all you do,

Tovia Siegel, Organizer
Families Belong Together

P.S. Let me know how any brave conversations go, and send over any suggestions to help improve the guide! Simply email me at info@familiesbelongtogether.org.

*** 

We’re about to have a constitutional crisis. In the next few months, the Supreme Court is going to overturn or undermine 50 years of precedent in Roe v. Wade, and yet the leadership of the Democratic party seems to give it a big ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

Everyone should be very, very alarmed that our current Supreme Court is an existential threat to our rights and every progressive priority.

The Biden Administration needs to stop twiddling their thumbs while the ultra conservatives on the Supreme Court take away our constitutional rights whether it’s abortion or voting or gender rights. Demand Congress and the Biden Administration pass the Judiciary Act—NOW.

ADD YOUR NAME

The ultra conservatives Supreme Court Justices are nothing more than right-wing politicians in robes—and the American people know that. Recent polls show the Supreme Court is the most unpopular it’s been in decades, and a majority of Americans no longer believe the justices are deciding cases on the merits. The Court derives its legitimacy from the people, and it’s clear that the American people no longer believe this stolen Court is legitimate.

The conservatives on the court have already told us that they’re not just coming after our human right to abortion access and to determine our own reproductive lives. They have their sights on Obergefell v. Hodges, immigration, and voting rights.

We can stop them from literally destroying our democracy by adding 4 seats to the Court by passing the Judiciary Act of 2021. This is the only practical, proportional response to Republicans’ theft of the Court and the only way to restore its balance and integrity.

Sign the petition to join advocates and activists across the country to demand Congress and the Biden Administration pass the Judiciary Act and add 4 more justices to the Supreme Court NOW.

Mike Phelan
Progress America

 ***

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

 

 

Brunch Has Been Suspended Indefinitely

The Vicar of Dibley schools David on how much of a socialist Jesus was.

Brunch Has Been Suspended Indefinitely

By C.A. Matthews

I have always hated Black Friday. It's morally bankrupt America's ultimate expression of a capitalistic Bacchanalia. Why should we waste valuable time, money and resources on buying material items we can neither afford, nor need, nor ultimately want? Why force said worthless trinkets onto our friends and family members in order to demonstrate our high regard for them? Is going into debt merely for creating massive profits for Big Business worth it?

All this buying just seems pointless and ultimately destructive to our planet. In the end, the purchasing and gifting of mass-produced consumer products does nothing to show our true compassion toward others. Issuing a simple card with a statement to our significant others along the lines of, "I truly care about you and want you to know it," would serve as well, if not better. We should give up this whole Black Friday charade once and for all.

"Ah, but that's not how our world works," I've been told several million times. I get it. Really, I do. Capitalism isn't about showing love and gratitude toward others. Sure, we've created "Giving Tuesday" several days after Black Friday in order to assuage our guilt for blowing large sums of cash (or credit) buying worthless things, but what does it really mean? That we are only expected to be generous with our monetary resources once a year? All we need do is to write one big (electronic) check to charity and then chill out, congratulating ourselves on our generosity?

Sorry to say, this is how Giving Tuesday comes across to me. All the whining emails I've received from various non-profits haven't changed my mind, either.

To be truly generous, our giving should be year round and as natural as breathing. This is where Giving Tuesday--and the whole ideology of neoliberalism that embraces it--starts to wear thin. Neoliberals may talk a good head game, but, in the end, they're nothing if not shallow. I find no heart behind their well-manicured words.

The ultimate testimony to neoliberal superficiality comes when neolibs attempt to demonstrate their compassion toward their fellow human beings. This is especially evident when it comes to how they show compassion those who are suffering immensely under the burdens of capitalism. Perhaps the best example of what I mean came in early 2017 in the form of a simple protest sign from the Women's March:

"We'd be having brunch now if Hillary won," the sign declared.  

"Yeah, I'm positive you would be at brunch now if that was the case," was my first impression of that sign. It hasn't changed since.

Politics to neoliberals is apparently all about elevating rich, white, establishment-loving war hawks who look, dress and think like them to high office. (Gender/race are sometimes--and sometimes not--important to their identity politics.) Certainly their politics have little to nothing to do with helping the poor or people of color who have suffered from former Senator Biden's Crime Bill and soon-to-be-former Senator Harris's  tactics to keep the poor/POC locked up as long as possible in California for use as slave labor. These unfortunate people and their less-than-edifying issues rarely appear on the neolibs' radars, except when the issue might possibly create a viral sound bite for mainstream media outlets. And like mayflies, these feel good sound bites live for a day before disappearing into the obscuring mists of pro-capitalist propaganda.

Neoliberals seem to think serving the public is all about enjoying celebratory champagne brunches with their pals from the Country Club (or local Democratic Women's group) after a successful run for office. They'll brunch and then pat themselves on the back and drive their latest model gas-guzzlers back to their suburban McMansions, far from the crumbling infrastructure of the inner city where the struggling still exist, many lying sick and homeless on the streets. Neoliberals tend to never look back. It's too much rain on their brunch parade, I suppose.

(It's almost as if American neoliberals hoped to make massive profits from cheap prison labor and private health care businesses, if such a thing were possible...)

In the past four years, the word "brunch" has taken on a sinister meaning in much the same way Black Friday has. It signifies nothing worthy of note and everything unworthy of praise. The true Left must force neoliberals to concentrate their time, talents and resources on dealing with the issues of those who aren't--and have never been--invited to their brunch.

First off, we should stop glorifying Giving Tuesday. Financially sound Americans need to give of our resources every day by doing everything they can to alleviate hunger. This past week, millions of Americans stood in lines and waited in traffic jams to pick up a Thanksgiving meal. Millions more Americans will be standing in even longer lines and waiting in even larger traffic jams to get a free meal come Christmas and New Year's Day, too. The coronavirus pandemic has destroyed the last of the social safety net. The working classes struggle constantly to put food on the table and secure health insurance to cover medical expenses. Many full-time workers are forced to be on federal aid in order to survive already.

How long do we allow this tragedy to continue? Until seventy-five percent of the US population is living below the poverty line? Ninety percent? Ninety-nine percent?

The fact that anyone can even consider putting a number on their fellow human beings who are allowed to go hungry or go without health care speaks volumes about the morality of American society. Yet neoliberal politicians have stated repeatedly that they are not interested in  implementing Medicare For All and a universal basic income (UBI) that could keep millions in their homes.

Are neolibs really okay with those who aren't invited to their brunch dying en masse? They certainly act like the idea of their working class neighbors going hungry or freezing on the streets this winter isn't a big deal.

I don't know about you, but anyone who is okay with allowing their fellow Americans to starve or die for any reason hasn't earned my respect. Anyone who has the means and the ability to bring an end to the suffering of millions of human beings, and doesn't exercise their abilities for the good of all, doesn't deserve my support at the ballot box or statehouse or in Congress or the White House. 

If the neolibs' affluent lifestyles and self-serving attitudes have become a roadblock  and prevented them from developing empathy, then it's time brunch was suspended-- indefinitely. And it's time for those who brunch to learn what hunger is like firsthand by leaving their comfortable bubbles of suburbia and getting their hands dirty passing out food boxes.

For more on this topic, read Why Are The Rich So Scared of Socialism?

Related Links Revealing the Dangers of Neoliberalism:

Food Banks Are So Overwhelmed That They Are Resorting to Rationing

https://truthout.org/articles/food-banks-are-so-overwhelmed-with-demand-that-they-are-resorting-to-rationing/

According to Feeding America, the largest hunger relief organization in the U.S., more than 50 million people will experience food insecurity by the end of the year. Among U.S. children, the figure rises to one in four. The group, which runs a network of some 200 food banks across the nation, says it distributed over half a billion meals last month alone, a 52% increase from an average pre-pandemic month. 

"It's going to be a billionaire Thanksgiving." Wealth of US Richest Just Hit $1 Trillion Since the Start of the Pandemic

https://www.nationofchange.org/2020/11/26/its-going-to-be-a-billionaire-thanksgiving-wealth-of-us-richest-just-hit-1-trillion-since-the-start-of-the-pandemic/

Potential Biden Officials' Firm Is Promising Big Profits Off Those Connections

https://www.dailyposter.com/p/breaking-potential-biden-officials

"I Lied to Americans to Block Universal Healthcare."  

https://youtu.be/mjHA1h1DeK8 

Biden's Cabinet: War Hawks, Corporate Lap Dogs & Swamp Creatures https://youtu.be/YIDMwaHDHX0 

Biden Taps Neolib Neera Tanden In Slap To Working Class

https://youtu.be/z_wt3x0s2QE

"What Was Your Normal?": Black Activist Goes Viral After Rejecting CNN Commentator's Claim That Things Will Go Back To "Normal" Because Biden Won The Election 

https://atlantablackstar.com/2020/11/10/we-still-have-to-do-the-work-black-activist-challenges-cnn-commentators-claim-that-things-will-go-back-to-normal-because-biden-won-the-election/

Jimmy Dore shows us a way for House Progressives to force a Medicare For All Vote Now. (But will they do it?)

https://youtu.be/iIqw-mTX6ro

 ***

Joe Biden just gave a top environmental job to a man who spent his career helping toxic chemical companies avoid regulation

Sign Now

There exists a poison so powerful, it can't be broken down. Dubbed "the forever chemical," it's present in the blood of nearly every person in the U.S. — it's even found in mothers' wombs and newborn babies. And, on top of everything else, a leading Harvard researcher says this toxin may actually reduce the effectiveness of vaccines against COVID-19, which is terrifying. This chemical is called PFOA and it's produced by mega-corporation DuPont. One of the reasons it's seeped into our waterways with barely any governmental oversight is because of a man named Michael McCabe. Right around the time when DuPont dumped tons of PFOA-laden waste that poisoned the people of West Virginia and resulted in devastating illnesses, it hired McCabe to improve its image. That was decades ago. Now, he's lined up a new job: working for President-Elect Joe Biden as he creates a transition board for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). But as Erin Brockovich, the famed environmental justice lawyer, writes: "It should go without saying that someone who advised DuPont on how to avoid regulations is not someone we want advising this new administration." Tell Joe Biden to dump Michael McCabe and to assemble a team of scientists and true eco-champions instead! Thank you for all that you do,   Miranda B. The Care2 Petitions Team P.S. Joe Biden says he wants to prioritize our health and environment. So why is he hiring an industry insider who helped polluters avoid regulation? Sign the petition!

 ***

 

Let's make certain that we're the ones who make the "cuts" from here on out--starting with cutting "brunch" from the menu.

If you agree that we can't just sit back, fall asleep, and let the neolibs/neocons destroy our country, our lives, and the planet, then please consider making a donation to keep The Revolution Continues going.  Donate at the Paypal.me link below. Thank you and Power to the People!

http://paypal.me/camatthews 

***