This is the conundrum, how to make people understand that all that Minneapolis suffered is coming to your city or town sooner or later. There must be a coordinated response to the violence being meted out by Trump's jack-booted thugs. The 19th century in the U.S. was a constant rebellion of the have-nots against that century's oligarchs. Unfortunately, the reason they employed so much violence against the establishment was that they and their families were starving. The oligarchs, hand-in-hand with government, used militias, state troops and the actual U.S. Army to destroy those revolts with many killed on both sides. Men who led the revolts were executed and others given long prison sentences. I don't know where we're headed, I hope not there.
Thanks again, Geoffrey, for an excellent summary. The climate activist and author Roger Hallam has some very interesting things to say about exponential social organizing in his recent book Your Party: Grasping The Enormity Of The Moment: https://www.amazon.com/Your-Party-Grasping-Enormity-Moment-ebook/dp/B0FPX172D9?th=1 The key concept I think is training the trainer.
Roger paid a high price for a minor act of civil disobedience. It exposes how fearful of power is of courageous individuals trying to light a fuse. The depravity of power is also demonstrated in the heavily redacted Epstein documents. The gravity of our situation is truly dire as the Earth reacts to our foolishness.
Here are a couple of other links where Roger's book can be found. One asks for the full price which he deserves. One is a free e-read for those on tight budgets.
I'm not a fan of the billionaire owner or his actions, Lesley. The reason I use Amazon for my book recommendations is that even people who don't like Amazon can read a sample of the book to see if the ideas resonate with them. They are free to buy the book from anywhere including their local big box bookstore or obscure websites like: https://rogerhallam.com/page-books/ How many readers would click the link to Roger's website? Did you? What do you think of exponential growth in community action by training the trainer? Please engage with the concept.
The destruction of capitalism has been remarkably hidden from us both human and environmental. Perhaps a year of no garbage pickup would hammer some reality home.
After a convincing presentation about the problem, it's a namby-pamby solution that you offered. Getting individuals each to bite a bullet that will make their lives more difficult isn't a good bet for getting great results. But to make it a slam dunk, we could get sign-ups for a coalition that would be at the ready to respond, where being part of something is the spirit that gets results. Then all that has to happen is a command to be delivered and immediately millions respond. I have more to say in my Substack, where the focus is on what we the people can do.
Namby-pamby? Individuals have already demonstrated what a coalition looks like. It looks like Minnesota with thousands in the street risking physical harm. It looks like Minnesota staging a general strike. It looks like Minnesota realizing changing our present course requires biting the bullet and even taking them.
Most people don't respond until their backs are to the wall. This responsive coalition you wish for is an armchair quarterbacking fantasy and the economic tools I suggest repeatedly are real power. However, like your desire for a coalition most people won't do a damn thing. Ignorance engendered by the matrix we all live in. Once again, backs to the wall are required.
That is human nature. A handful of the good and courageous versus a handful of the most vile and hateful. Revolution which we need, always comes down to a few while the sheep hide. The system IS the problem requires blood. This is already demonstrated by the murders of Renee and Alex. We have government sanctioned animals roaming the streets. We can fight tooth and nail or succumb.
Minneapolis was the most unnamby-pamby thing, and is how revolutions succeed. Maybe it was enough and the regime will topple, but everyone isn't as activated as Minnesotans are to make that likely. In the meantime, what can you and I do?
You'd be better giving an opinion than a pronouncement. I say it's namby pamby to tell everyone not to buy from some place or for some day, when, if we had a coalition with millions of people taking action together, that would not be namby pamby. We have Christianity. People do belong to ideological things.
How about the exercise I've been touting as a game-changer?
“Every single thing we do in this life should come from love. Every action, every statement, even if you have to let somebody go, the hardest thing you have to do, can you do it with love and not anger, fear, greed? Most business decisions come from fear and greed. Can you make that exact same decision but from a place of love?”
We know it's all about love, but bringing that into our lives at every moment, in how we express ourselves, is not our standard behavior. I've been paying attention since hearing Raj Sisodia in a panel he was on with 8-minutes of him edited out here:
This is the conundrum, how to make people understand that all that Minneapolis suffered is coming to your city or town sooner or later. There must be a coordinated response to the violence being meted out by Trump's jack-booted thugs. The 19th century in the U.S. was a constant rebellion of the have-nots against that century's oligarchs. Unfortunately, the reason they employed so much violence against the establishment was that they and their families were starving. The oligarchs, hand-in-hand with government, used militias, state troops and the actual U.S. Army to destroy those revolts with many killed on both sides. Men who led the revolts were executed and others given long prison sentences. I don't know where we're headed, I hope not there.
Thanks again, Geoffrey, for an excellent summary. The climate activist and author Roger Hallam has some very interesting things to say about exponential social organizing in his recent book Your Party: Grasping The Enormity Of The Moment: https://www.amazon.com/Your-Party-Grasping-Enormity-Moment-ebook/dp/B0FPX172D9?th=1 The key concept I think is training the trainer.
Roger paid a high price for a minor act of civil disobedience. It exposes how fearful of power is of courageous individuals trying to light a fuse. The depravity of power is also demonstrated in the heavily redacted Epstein documents. The gravity of our situation is truly dire as the Earth reacts to our foolishness.
Here are a couple of other links where Roger's book can be found. One asks for the full price which he deserves. One is a free e-read for those on tight budgets.
https://www.abebooks.com/9781068418839/Party-Grasping-Enormity-Moment-Hallam-1068418834/plp
https://www.everand.com/book/911757447/Your-Party-Grasping-the-Enormity-of-the-Moment
Please don’t recommend Amazon 🤦♀️
I'm not a fan of the billionaire owner or his actions, Lesley. The reason I use Amazon for my book recommendations is that even people who don't like Amazon can read a sample of the book to see if the ideas resonate with them. They are free to buy the book from anywhere including their local big box bookstore or obscure websites like: https://rogerhallam.com/page-books/ How many readers would click the link to Roger's website? Did you? What do you think of exponential growth in community action by training the trainer? Please engage with the concept.
I use Amazon like my parents used the old Sears catalogs. Find what you want to buy, then go directly to the source target then through Amazon. 😉
". . .the sickly yardstick of GDP foisted on us by ignorant economists and dependent on planet rape." — Love this straight talk.
Also love your clarity in implicating capitalism in driving the destruction of planetary life.
The destruction of capitalism has been remarkably hidden from us both human and environmental. Perhaps a year of no garbage pickup would hammer some reality home.
A clear headed explanation of basic facts concerning forests and their relationship to our living conditions.
Thank you, Keith. There are so many concerns now. I keep trying to bring it back to the planet, the ultimate decider.
After a convincing presentation about the problem, it's a namby-pamby solution that you offered. Getting individuals each to bite a bullet that will make their lives more difficult isn't a good bet for getting great results. But to make it a slam dunk, we could get sign-ups for a coalition that would be at the ready to respond, where being part of something is the spirit that gets results. Then all that has to happen is a command to be delivered and immediately millions respond. I have more to say in my Substack, where the focus is on what we the people can do.
Namby-pamby? Individuals have already demonstrated what a coalition looks like. It looks like Minnesota with thousands in the street risking physical harm. It looks like Minnesota staging a general strike. It looks like Minnesota realizing changing our present course requires biting the bullet and even taking them.
Most people don't respond until their backs are to the wall. This responsive coalition you wish for is an armchair quarterbacking fantasy and the economic tools I suggest repeatedly are real power. However, like your desire for a coalition most people won't do a damn thing. Ignorance engendered by the matrix we all live in. Once again, backs to the wall are required.
That is human nature. A handful of the good and courageous versus a handful of the most vile and hateful. Revolution which we need, always comes down to a few while the sheep hide. The system IS the problem requires blood. This is already demonstrated by the murders of Renee and Alex. We have government sanctioned animals roaming the streets. We can fight tooth and nail or succumb.
Minneapolis was the most unnamby-pamby thing, and is how revolutions succeed. Maybe it was enough and the regime will topple, but everyone isn't as activated as Minnesotans are to make that likely. In the meantime, what can you and I do?
You'd be better giving an opinion than a pronouncement. I say it's namby pamby to tell everyone not to buy from some place or for some day, when, if we had a coalition with millions of people taking action together, that would not be namby pamby. We have Christianity. People do belong to ideological things.
How about the exercise I've been touting as a game-changer?
“Every single thing we do in this life should come from love. Every action, every statement, even if you have to let somebody go, the hardest thing you have to do, can you do it with love and not anger, fear, greed? Most business decisions come from fear and greed. Can you make that exact same decision but from a place of love?”
We know it's all about love, but bringing that into our lives at every moment, in how we express ourselves, is not our standard behavior. I've been paying attention since hearing Raj Sisodia in a panel he was on with 8-minutes of him edited out here:
The key to life
We can do this!
https://suzannetaylor.substack.com/p/the-key-to-life
Did you read my post this week?
A way to shift the Zeitgeist
We need a plan
https://suzannetaylor.substack.com/p/a-way-to-shift-the-zeitgeist