Freedom from Power

Obama and the Masses

nidieunimaitre — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:42:48 +0000

I am pretty sure much of the euphoria surrounding President Obama’s election has faded somewhat, particularly among those who were hoping to see some “change” in the system. Our anti-war population doesn’t see any progress or signs of withdraw in Iraq or Afghanistan; our human rights sector watches in grief as the US government allows Israel to continue its destruction of Palestine; the people who despise health care as a profit-driven business see any radical improvements quickly slipping into oblivion; and the millions of us who think businesses should be strictly regulated and allowed to fail if they fuck up have watched the government act again as a corporate nanny while letting everyone else fall on their faces.

I am not surprised that any of this is happening. Obama is a politician, and politicians follow the money and the power. Now, we as a mass of wage slaves fighting to survive may not have much influence monetarily, but we do have power in numbers. We do have the ability to make our government fear us. We do have the ability to take matters in to our own hands. Of all the possible sycophants out there that we call politicians, Obama is our best bet right now. We have to force him to make the changes we want, we have to make him afraid of what might happen if he and his lackeys decide to drive this country in to third-world status. We cannot expect him to just tell these multi-billion dollar power interests to fuck off, because the system does not work that way. He may actually be somewhat genuine when he displays empathy and compassion for the masses, but he will not be able to act upon those egalitarian sentiments unless we make him. I wouldn’t doubt if he actually welcomed it.

Any type of progress, whether it be racial, gender-based, sexuality-based, work-related, or educational has not come to us on a silver platter served by some benevolent altruistic politician. No, these luxuries we now take for granted were fought for with the hard work, determination, organization, and blood of millions of working class people who refused to have their heads stepped on by the rulers’ boots. These reforms were forced upon the US government as an alternative to revolution, and they took years to succeed. Because our history books and the media love to worship the hero and the leader, many people have no idea how the rights we have today came to be a regular part of our lives. We take them for granted and assume some well-intentioned president or senator is going to kiss our boo-boos and make everything better. If you take a look at our history, you will see that reality is exactly the opposite– we have to fight for our rights, our freedom, and the well-being of others.

More Illegal Expansion

nidieunimaitre — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:08:11 +0000

Israel announced today that it was expanding the Gilo Settlement in East Jerusalem by 900 homes, further increasing the area of it’s illegal occupation of Palestine. For years, Israel has been chipping away at the existence of Palestinians and their land, and this decision of further expansion is a typical one. What is interesting is the US government’s reaction to the announcement. Publicly, officials in Washington objected to the expansion of settlements in the West Bank.

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs released a statement claiming how “dismayed” the US is at the decision to expand. “At a time when we are working to re-launch negotiations, these actions make it more difficult for our efforts to succeed.” He also added that the “US also objects to other Israeli practices in Jerusalem related to housing, including the continuing pattern of evictions and demolitions of Palestinian homes.”

That’s tough talk about one of your most strategically important allies in the most volatile region in the world, as it should be. Israel’s actions are clearly illegal, so why shouldn’t we condemn them? And, if decades of negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians to agree and implement a viable two-state settlement have failed, why shouldn’t the Palestinians unilaterally declare statehood? Since 1967, Israel has been unilaterally building settlements and occupying Palestinian territory, so why can’t the latter act unilaterally?

If the US government was so distraught about the situation, they could do something that would influence Israeli decision making which might stop what seems to be the inevitable decimation of the Palestinian people and what meager pieces of land they have left. And what that might be? Stop the flow of monetary and military aid to Israel. According to the Congressional Research Service report titled “US Foreign Aid to Israel,” US gives Israel about three billion dollars a year. We also see to it that Israel has one of the most formidable military forces in the world, which they use to oppress Palestinians. They could not oppress without our helicopters, our missiles, our military technology.

But you will never hear any mention of cutting aid to Israel by any official in the US government or in the media. That is not an option. Unless we, the masses, in the US decide to force a different course, the US will continue to fund Israel’s destruction of Palestine while occasionally pleading to the television cameras to slow it down. This is the logical extension of the entire policy. What else could it be? Israel does not want to negotiate a peace settlement with a two-state solution—it’s leaders want the entire plot of land for themselves.

Afghanistan

nidieunimaitre — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:55:13 +0000

You gotta love the way the media and the government have constricted the spectrum of thought and discourse concerning the occupation of Afghanistan. The consensus is that we should be there, we have a right to be there, and our occupation is legitimate and necessary. The discussion does not include withdrawing from the country we illegally invaded but how many more troops are we going to send. Is it going to be a few thousand or forty thousand? That is now the official discourse in the media and in Congress. Obama, John Kerry, and every other high ranking government official has made this point clear, and if enough people say something, obviously it’s true. If you listen to or watch the news, you will hear/see pundits, Pentagon and State Department officials, and other government spokespeople, but you never hear what the people, the masses of Afghanistan want. You never hear of their enormous peaceful protests opposing the foreign occupation of their country. You never hear the voice of the occupied. Why do I care what an “expert on counter-terrorism from Utah” thinks we should do. We have an obligation to listen to the people of Afghanistan, not “experts” and “officials” here who are cynically benefiting from this military occupation.

Benevolent rhetoric and persistent repetition does not justify our presence in Afghanistan. No altruistic humanitarianism exists here, and that is proved by the lack of Afghan voices and narrow range of debate on the topic. Afghanistan may not be an oasis of natural resources, but it does rest in a very strategically important area of the region. Our “righteous leaders” and the corporate executives who pay their way to reelection are trying to secure our domination of the region, not help the people. That is why you hear and see what you do in the media. Here’s another opinion, although it doesn’t fit in the spectrum of political discourse: We should never have invaded and we shouldn’t be there now. We should withdraw the troops and support the Afghan people monetarily, and the Americans there should not be members of the military or mercenaries or corporate CEO’s.

Fantastic Opportunity for the Rich

nidieunimaitre — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:00:15 +0000

We, the masses, see the overall economic situation in this country as detrimental to our own well being and that of millions of others. We might assume then that the ruling elite are also worried. But are they? Why would they be? The companies that are “too big to fail” know and have known they can rely on their sycophantic lackeys in Washington to use our hard earned tax payer money to keep them fat and wealthy. The recent near-trillion dollar corporate bailout is the most glaring example of this “socialism for the rich,” but the consequences of subsidizing these corporate monsters are greater than a CEO banking a ten million dollar bonus comprised of tax payer money and speculative investments.

Unemployment in this country is at a modest ten percent and rising. So, let’s talk about jobs then. President Reagan was able to dismantle much of what was a strong labor movement in the US, successfully demonizing and destroying unions who were responsible for our five day work week, eight hour days, child labor laws, safer work environments, paid vacation, overtime, medical benefits, and just about any other function of our jobs that make us not slaves. Now, labor unions are a fleshless skeleton of what they were in the past. This economic recession is the time for the corporate masters to solidify what Alan Greenspan called a flexible labor force, which means that we the workers are so insecure because of our lack of rights that we will work harder for less pay in order to keep the menial piece of shit job. Without unions, workers have no protection, which is what owners want, because this will increase profits. They do not need to worry about their employee’s well being because there are three thousand people sitting at the door waiting to take his or her place. Remind you of anything? Maybe, the United States during the industrial revolution when workers had no rights except to settle for a barbaric existence or starve to death?

So, this recession is actually a wonderful opportunity for the rulers of this country to turn the place into Brazil, and they will try. Why wouldn’t they? They already did it to Brazil and dozens of other countries. It’s the natural progression of a profit driven system. It makes perfect sense to destroy unions and workers’ rights. It’s cost effective. It’s easier, as long as a huge labor pol exists. It’s more profitable. Soon, we are all going to be working just under 40 hours a week so they do not have to give us any benefits or overtime, and we will accept it because that’s uh just they way it is. Don’t want someone else taking your job. We will all be temp workers, wondering whether or not we will be working in three months. Unemployment will get bogged down, and congress will pass more tax cuts to the rich in order to “keep the economy running.” Then we will be looking at no unemployment checks, no social services, and no worker rights. But the DOW will do well. Are we going to let these fucks march us back to the feudalism of the past? So far, they are succeeding wonderfully.

I Love God

nidieunimaitre — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:53:52 +0000

I finally got away from this brainwashing shit,

But I’m surrounded by sheep still praising it.

Credulous mindless fucks happy to be oppressed

By a god who forces natural thoughts consciously suppressed.

Gorey fucking fairy tales that cause us so much grief

Are touted by these tyrants as foundations for belief.

But I’m the one that’s crazy cause I don’t believe this shit,

I get that stupid sorry look- oh he’ll get over it.

And the more I watch these fuckers the more that I’m convinced,

That they relish the illusion, that the truth will make them pissed.

They’d rather slaughter millions for their pompous Jesus Christ,

They’d rather torture gays and women, take away their rights.

They’d rather base their morals on an ancient book of lies,

They’d rather throw their reason out and look up to the skies.

Servility’s your ticket up, the priest will show you how,

Shit, stick the rapture up your ass, I want justice here and now.

Fuck your Jesus, fuck your God, fuck your Moses and his rod.

Fuck your dogma, fuck your priests, and your cannibalistic feasts.

Fuck your mosque, fuck your legends and your idiotic myth,

Fuck all your primitive, ignorant, fairy tale shit.

National Anthem

nidieunimaitre — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 02:24:03 +0000

Your stars and stripes mean shit to me,

Woven threads of genocide, rape, and slavery.

Your nationalist creeds sung out in chorus,

Perform only one function for us:

To create an illusion so our eyes can’t see

That this system’s fucked, that we never were free.

Within your cage, consume as you please,

But try to walk outside, feel mother nature’s breeze.

Before your hand is in the air you feel a sudden shock,

Your face is in the dirt, you’re assaulted by a cop.

The pigs control your actions, the church controls your mind,

Law, order, morality, obedience, is all they’ll let you find.

But suppose you bend the iron bars and wander from your cage,

And people start to listen, begin to fill with rage.

The FBI will wipe you out, assassination nice and clean,

Just like they did to Black Panthers and Martin Luther King.

You’ll be the extremist scapegoat as they claim a nation of peace,

While they’re dropping bombs and killing kids over in the Middle East.

They can destroy populations but your shoplifting’s rotten,

Their crimes of State can easily be forgotten.

‘Cause their intention was altruistic,

But their motives were capitalistic,

And their actions were sadistic.

But you just stole a toothbrush, you’re going to prison bitch.

What up, Hey sooos

nidieunimaitre — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 02:06:46 +0000

Hey there Jesus. What’s going on brother? Not much here, just living in a cesspool of violence, poverty, war, and overall mayhem, but I don’t want to talk about that right now. I would like to talk about you for a moment, if that’s cool. So, right now I am going to give you a huge benefit of the doubt, at least for the sake of this conversation, and I think it’s a big one considering the lack of evidence in your favor. I will assume, for a brief moment, that you, Christi Christos, were an actual historical figure who wandered about the Middle East two thousand years ago preaching your world view to illiterate tribal people who believed in all sorts of magic and wizardry. Hey I’ll even give you more than that. I will go ahead and grant you divinity, as so many people still like to do, but only briefly, okay?

So, the son of this Judaic god roams the desert converting ignorant, well-intentioned, down-trodden men and women to his godly ideology, making people believe, giving them hope– a true messiah, the prophet of all prophets. Well, Mr. God-man, could I possibly ask you a few questions regarding your short visit to this tiny sphere? Wow, thanks. So first, I want to ask, assuming your brain contained the knowledge of God because you were God and God’s son all at the same time, why didn’t you at least explain some of the mysteries of the natural world to your excited and credulous followers? Just a bit?

Let’s see, you could have told these sheep about the forces of nature, weather patterns, and maybe even a bit about evolution, so people would stop believing that ridiculous story about the guy and the rib and the chick and snake. You could have comforted and saved plenty of lives just by informing the people that bad weather was not a consequence of collective bad behavior. Maybe they would have thought it interesting to know that this glob of rock and water was only one of trillions throughout a vast universe of galaxies, black holes, nebulae, comets, asteroids, and other extremely wondrous entities. Couldn’t you have told them that they were animals attempting to deal with these relatively enormous and cognitive brains? Wouldn’t that have made people’s view of life and their conceptions of morality a little less foggy? Wouldn’t this information also have saved even more lives, allowed 13 year old girls not to worry about being burned at the stake, and saved millions of people from the dehumanizing institution of slavery?

Jesus, you could have told your people verbally and documented in indestructible literature these simple truths about the world and the universe and saved everyone a shit load of grief. You could have told everyone that magic and superstition was pure bullshit. Instead, you screamed, “Follow me! Don’t ask why! If you don’t, you will burn motherfucker!” But wait, if you would have told them all of these secrets, they wouldn’t have any need for a megalomaniac preacher such as yourself, would they? Sorry for bothering you on your throne as you watch half the world starve to death while millions of others are murdered, raped and tortured.

Grrrr, life sucks

nidieunimaitre — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 04:48:45 +0000

Barbed wires tied tightly around each organ, each artery, each minuscule blood vessel, tearing, infecting, suffocating all that is you. Relax? Are you fucking serious! What the fuck do you mean, relax? I can’t move, can’t think, can’t feel. A custom made vice grip contrived specifically for me performs splendidly, forcing parts of my insides that have never met to cohabitate. But fuck it, it’s all my fault, anyways, isn’t it? All I have to do is stop thinking, or at least rationalize to the point of being able to make my principles merely academic. But, really, the way to go is jettison. Just say fuck it, you know, and do what you have to do within the system, crush whomever seems ant-like, become the system, step on heads, ignore externalities—it’s their fault they work as slaves to make us affordable commodities. It’s all about you, it’s all about me, and together our hyper-selfishness will culminate into a beautiful equality, trickled down gracefully from the upper ehelons and eventually showering down like a soft drizzle on a hot summer day to the bewildered herd—refreshing, isn’t it? So there it is, I have been a fucking fool all along. I can amass a fortune and save the world at the same time; all I need to do is be as selfish and heartless as possible and our collective problems will wash away like a sand castle made a little too close to the rising tide.

INTERVENTIONS

nidieunimaitre — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 02:58:46 +0000

Most in the states see our “interventions” gone awry as follies, noble mistakes, blunders, necessary consequences of our democratic thunder.

If you juxtapose them with our “glorious wars,” we see good deeds serving a teleological end, a democratic and free world our leaders are attempting to portend.

But I have a few words for you imperial apologists:

Look at each invasion, each overthrow, each act of coercion individually and you’ll see a system of hegemony, not democratic, altruistic idealists– and here, I just happen to have a short list.

It’s only post World War Two, thus it should be brief, so please bear with me for a few.

There was China for a while, France, believe it or not. The Marshall Islands served as a nuclear bomb testing site; we made Italy dismiss cabinet members for fear of a Communist plot.

Greece needed a dictator, so Truman helped their neo-fascists win; the Philippines apparently, were not mature enough to decide how to live.

Korea has felt our real-politik for decades; oh, Albania was also better off under reactionary Nazis;

and of course we fucked with Germany, the east side was filled with Commies.

Surely, we all remember when Iran had a democracy; but the U.S. in its own idiosyncratic way, showed its love by overthrowing Mossadegh.

Guatemala’s president was like a dark skinned FDR, but the CIA and United Fruit Company didn’t let him get very far.

Figueres of Costa Rica should not have spoken out against U.S. tries to off Fidel. The result? The CIA tried to get him as well.

Shit, what can I say about the Middle East? We took the imperial crown from Europe and have created a cesspool, what Americans call a suicidal beast.

Syria, Lebanon, Egypt— they knew our plans. Those arrogant, ungrateful towel head camel jockeys had the audacity to care more about their own people than corporations from Western lands. What were the masters to do? They love democracy way too much to let these irresponsible barbarians let this scheme fall through.
Indonesia’s Sukarno was a pest, a Cold War neutralist; and you wouldn’t believe how many centuries Haiti has been on our list.

OK, sure, the Marshall Plan gave us a say in Europe’s reconstruction, our little economic trap; but Guyana? Come on, I can’t even find that place on a fucking map!

So, the Middle East again: before Saddam, we overthrew democracy in Iraq, but “W” says we’re giving it to them, like it’s something new; oh how funny it is if you actually look back. So, you don’t believe me? Turn off your “reality” TV show and Google, “Abd al-Karim Qasim and/or the “history of Iraq.”

People still apologize for Vietnam. How secure Ho Chi Min must have felt when he wrote their declaration of independence, emulating our own prelude to the constitution.

Again, our idiosyncratic show of our appreciation of their emulation of our own declaration: destroy the entire country, and most of its population!

(I think the people of Vietnam owe us an apology)

In Cambodia, thanks to the illegal Kissinger plot, we destroyed the country and rolled out a tattered red carpet for the tyrannical regime of Pol Pot.

Don’t forget Laos, Thailand, Ecuador and a place called Zaire; Algeria, Brazil, Peru—our overthrow of Allende gave Chile senor Pinochet for 17 years (Milton Freedman’s free-market economic miracle).

OK, maybe the list is a bit long, maybe textbooks and mass media spoon feed us propaganda to blind us from this system, maybe I’m too cynical, maybe these so-called journalists and historians are wrong.

Nevertheless, I feel the obligation to finish this list, to be somewhat extensive; so I conclude with just a few more instances, not to be too pensive:

Dominican Republic, Cuba, Indonesia (again), Ghana, Uruguay, Greece (again), South Africa, Bolivia, Australia, Iraq (again), Portugal, East Timor (a bi-partisan helping hand allowing General Suharto to massacre the population), Angola, Jamaica, Honduras, Nicaragua, the Philippines (again), Seychelles, Diego Garcia, south Yemen, South Korea (again), Chad, Grenada (but not for the nutmeg), Suriname, Libya, Fiji, Panama, Afghanistan, El Salvador, Haiti (some more), Bulgaria, Albania (again), Somalia, Iraq (again, of course, and don’t forget that half a million child deaths was acceptable according to secretary Albrite, Madeline), Columbia, Yugoslavia, Ecuador (again), Afghanistan (again), Venezuela, Iraq (yet again), and Haiti (of course, again).

You see, the masters prefer the capitulation of the population to their domination, so these tyrants can perpetuate a system of exploitation using the affectation of a democratic appreciation–some creation of liberation– that in the the end, only causes deprivation, starvation, emasculation, people looking metaphysically for salvation. But the rich, the powerful, they get richer, they get more powerful; and that–not freedom, not some abstract altruistic justification– that is the motivation.

Our Beautiful Economy

nidieunimaitre — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 03:31:03 +0000

I was reading this book called Culture Jam, and the author, Kalle Lasn, made a great observation. He pointed out that virtually everything we do that benefits ourselves and/or the environment is a detriment to the GDP. Walking instead of driving, keeping the lights off and thermostat down, growing your own produce, not buying that new HD TV because it’s finally on sale. So, if the things we do that are beneficial to ourselves and the planet have a negative affect on our economy, doesn’t that say, no scream something? Fuck yeah it does.

Oh yeah, this guy’s argument is the same the other way. A person gets cancer, oil from a tanker spills into the ocean, a douche bag invades another douche bag’s country-all these catastrophes are good for the economy. So, let’s simplify this even more: Do something nice, hurt your system. Do something bad or destructive, strengthen your system. This guy’s observation, and it seems generally true, leads me to the conclusion that our system is “bad.”

Mr. Lasn, attempts to justify our system by suggesting radical ways to subdue the residual shit that results from this elitist program, but I propose something more radical: abolish it all. I think he makes a great point but fails to take it to its logical extension. He says make stock holders accountable for their investments, I say let’s make those decisions with the people doing the work. Stockholder accountability, as this guy suggests, allows the opportunity for investors to circumvent this policy, because there still exists a hierarchy of power able to be exploited. Strapping Wall Street cronies with more regulations does not stop them from being Wall Street cronies.

Besides, if this policy were implemented, the economy would collapse, and if that were the case, why not have the economy collapse in a legitimate way? Instead of dissolving then rebuilding the same way, why not try something new, something different?