Wounded Knee... a Wound Festering Around the World

I just read an article by Johnny Barber of Common Dreams via The Permaculture Project Blog, likening the tragedy at Wounded Knee and of the Lakota people to the tragedy of the other peoples suffering from our imperialism abroad (ie Iraq, Iran, Palestine, etc.)  I think it's well worth a read.

Wounded Knee 122 Years Later

After I read this, I took some time to reflect upon my belief that this type of imperialism might begin to circle back around in this country, only this time is will be along class- and socio-economic divisions.  Look at what the banks, the federal government, and the "ruling" class of this country are doing.  From my perspective at least, it appears to be a systematic attack on human rights, liberty, the Constitution, and the wealth of the middle and lower economic classes.  College students are converted into indentured servants with student loan debt, and work for serf wages that will never be able to service the debt because jobs are so unavailable due to the failing economy.  People are being thrown in jail by the millions for victimless drug violations.  Habeus corpus has been suspended.  Barack Obama weeps alligator tears for 20 children in Newtown while all but personally killing hundreds more with drones overseas.  Our police forces and the Department of Homeland Security are hoping to use the same drones over American skies.  Deliberate steps are being taken towards eliminating ALL of the protections laid out in the Bill of Rights, not just the right to bear arms.  Protests are being violently broken up, protesters are being arrested, people are being detained without just cause, and the list goes on and on.

Read the article above.  Do some of your own research about the Lakota people and the history that led up to this tragedy.  While you do, allow yourself to feel remorse for the imperial actions taken by my ancestors and yours.  Try to empathize what it might have felt like for a way of life known for 10000 years to be destroyed only a couple hundred.  Feel if you can, what they felt, and in doing so also take the time to realize that those actions might once again be visited upon a people soon to be as helpless as they were to do anything about it... you and I.  Once you reflect on this, if you believe me... if you're a little bit scared and a little more angry, take the time to do something about it.  Share the article I linked to above, or share this post.  Talk about it with people who will listen, and try to talk to at least one person you think won't.  It is time to make the elite and the government of this country, in the alleged words of Admiral Yamamoto, fear "to awaken a sleeping dragon, and fill him with a terrible resolve."  We The People are that sleeping dragon.  We need the resolve to say "to here thou shalt come and no further."  What will it take to wake you up?  Once awoken, do you have the resolve to awaken others, and demand a change?

Gun Control Thoughts

There's a lot in the news about gun control recently.  With that in mind, I'd like to share some thoughts on gun control that always remind me what the 2nd Amendment is about:

"Firearms stand next in importance to the constitution itself. They are the American people's liberty teeth and keystone under independence … from the hour the Pilgrims landed to the present day, events, occurrences and tendencies prove that to ensure peace security and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable … the very atmosphere of firearms anywhere restrains evil interference — they deserve a place of honor with all that's good." -George Washington, First President of the United States

"The supposed quietude of a good man allures the ruffian; while on the other hand arms, like laws, discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as property. The same balance would be preserved were all the world destitute of arms, for all would be alike; but since some will not, others dare not lay them aside … Horrid mischief would ensue were the law-abiding deprived of the use of them." --Thomas Paine

"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them." --Richard Henry Lee, American Statesman, 1788

"The great object is that every man be armed." and "Everyone who is able may have a gun."
--Patrick Henry, American Patriot

"Are we at last brought to such humiliating and debasing degradation, that we cannot be trusted with arms for our defense? Where is the difference between having our arms in possession and under our direction and having them under the management of Congress? If our defense be the real object of having those arms, in whose hands can they be trusted with more propriety, or equal safety to us, as in our own hands?" --Patrick Henry, American Patriot

"Those who hammer their guns into plowshares will plow for those who do not." 

--Thomas Jefferson, Third President of the United States

"The constitutions of most of our States assert that all power is inherent in the people; that … it is their right and duty to be at all times armed; … "

--Thomas Jefferson, letter to Justice John Cartwright, June 5, 1824. ME 16:45.

"The best we can help for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed."
--Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist Papers at 184-8

"The greatest danger to American freedom is a government that ignores the Constitution."

--Thomas Jefferson, Third President of the United States

So, those are some quotes from a few people I've heard of.  Perhaps you've heard of them too?

The FBI SHOULD View Earth-Activism as a "Threat"

That's a rather haughty title for a blog post if I ever read one.  So, in order to have the background on what I'm going to talk about, go ahead and read this article over at Truthout and then come back.  I'll wait...

Ok good, you're back.  And maybe a bit outraged.  Well, maybe you shouldn't be, and I'll explain why.  If you're from the FBI and reading this, you probably will be, and I imagine I'll be meeting you for an "interview" rather shortly.

In my opinion, everyone at the top of the current power structure should view earth-activism and earth-activist movements like permaculture a threat.  It isn't a physical threat... in fact we in the permaculture and other "back-to-the-earth" movements have a People Care ethic.  But it is a threat to their worldview.  It's a threat to all of the things that keep them in place at the top of their pyramid, and that provides a pathway for new people to scramble up to it.

Once human beings are shown how to reconnect with where their food comes from, where clean water comes from, how to care for their ecosystem by looking after and stewarding natural cycles, the people in power positions now will have far less of a grip on humanity than they do now.  When a village-sized community of people can grow much of its own food, provide itself with clean water, manage its wastes in a harmonious and ecosystemic way, and "secede" from it's county/state/country in a practical if not symbolic way, then how can those in power maintain their power?

Is this terrorism?  I don't know what dictionary the FBI uses, but the dictionary definition I found via Google says:

Terrorism: The use of violence and intimidation in pursuit of political aims.

Taking care of yourself and your community in a way that rejects monetary policy, DC politics, agribusiness, oil business, and the general lifestyle of consumerism is radical and revolutionary, but it's not terrorism.  Violence is not part of the equation.  Ignoring the current power structures demands and threats while doing what we can to blockade their destruction of the earth is all that needs to be done, and we can change the world for the better.  Obviously there is a lot of nitty-gritty involved in accomplishing the latter, but ignoring their threats and demands and stopping their destruction is really all it comes down to.

Unfortunately, those in power do not like to be ignored.  In fact, it is the antithesis of their power, because if people can ignore you, then you don't really have any power at all.  Hence the FBI's labeling of environmental activists as radicals.  Parts of this movement, especially permaculturists, have been ignoring them for a long time, and we're getting better at it.  And, like pouty children being ignored, they're becoming angry and indignant.  And when you try to stop them from doing or getting something they want, again just like pouty children, they will throw a temper tantrum.  They will use violence against us if we're successful enough at ignoring them or blockading them.  They've already started using tear-gas and pepper-spray on some of us, and they'll take some of us to prison as well if we're successful enough.  This violence on their part sounds to me like the pot calling the kettle black.  The current power structure has no qualms whatsoever about using violence and intimidation in pursuit of its political aims... so who's really the domestic terrorist here?

Once we've ignored them enough that they are really and truly going after us, non-violence is still the answer.  We must answer their violence with a sort of compassion, understanding that their violence is driven only by their greed and lust for power, and remembering that there are for more of us than them.  Finally, we must always keep in the back of our minds that there really is no "us and them."  They are misguided by their greed and lust, and that those things are keeping them from seeing that even though they might not have as much power and control and money on the other side, they'll have enough.  They'll even eventually have community, once we're successful enough not to have to ignore them anymore, but instead embrace them as until-recently-misguided members of our newer, less destructive society.  "They and us" will eventually show its true colors, which is just "we."

Hence forth, I choose to ignore terrorist organizations like the FBI, CIA, IRS, DEA, the military, militarized police forces, et al., when they label me a threat for trying to feed myself and take care of my community.  Yes, I said it, and I will repeat it for clarity... I choose to label many of the powers-that-be as terrorist organizations, and I will not be terrorized by their threats, nor will I be deterred from pursuing a path that I know is right.  I urge you to do the same.  You and I know that we are not terrorists.  We are not out to seek the harm of others... we want a better life for all life on the planet.  And if you are someone who does not like that, then I choose to ignore you and move forward anyway.

Facing Climate- and Economic-Change

Richard Heinberg says some important stuff in the following article.  Read it, then come back to me:

You Can't Say That!

Do you still have illusions to lose about the economy?  I'm sure I do, but I'm aware that I probably do, and I'm trying to identify and slay them.  I urge you to do the same.

I have a much longer post that I'm working on that is largely on this topic, but from a personal level.  I hope it proves to be interesting and informative, and maybe even identify some of your own illusions so you can break through them and begin to make real progress to face the challenges that are coming with climate- and economic-change.  

An Important Call to Action

The TomDispatch blog is one of my recently found favorites.  In a world dominated by media that fellates Washington and anyone with money, Tom Engelhardt has put together a strong resource for bullshit free analysis of what's going on in the world.  I encourage everyone who sees this post to read the article linked to below... it's an important Call to Action:

The Meaning of a Do-Nothing Election

Greatest Nation?

In light of the close of election season, I'd like to share a link to a video that a friend of mine posted on my facebook page after I mentioned how much I'm sick of the phrase "greatest nation on earth..." in reference to the United States.  You have to watch all the way to the end.  Don't be a lazy douchebag... I'll be able to tell from your comments if you actually watched the whole thing.




In my opinion, the United States is just A nation on earth.  Not the greatest, the freest, the bravest, or any other exaggeration.  Granted, this country has a mess load of badasses, but we have just as many fat pink monkeys scratching their asses and eating doritos complaining about someone else not cleaning up after their mess.  So quit yer bitchin' and start trying to make this nation the greatest on earth, instead of just wishing it to be true. 

Election Day Predictions for the Next 4 Years... Robamney Wins!

I want to quickly outline a few predictions today so that I can point to this blog post in the future and say "look bitches, I called that shit before I knew who'd win."  Obviously some of these won't be proven out since only one candidate will win, but I wanna cover both of my bases.  I'll also figure out some way to edit-proof this post so that no one can accuse me of altering my predictions later on.  I would never do that because I have this thing called integrity, but plenty of folks who hate having to think more deeply about their blue/red fantasy-land.  So here goes... predictions about presidential behavior for 2013-2017... hours (days, weeks?) before we know who won:

1. We'll go to war with Iran during the next presidential term.  The flavor of the war may vary slightly... if Obama wins it'll be largely economic (already happening) and drone warfare, if Romney wins it may be slightly more conventional.  Either way, we're not going to stop supporting Israel and their adolescent saber-rattling, we're not going to stop hounding Iran about their nuclear ambitions (weaponry or power, we're hypocrites if we tell any other country anything about nukes), we're going to continue to allow the Bahraini government to mollify its citizens so we can maintain naval presence in their ports, and we're going to end up at war with Iran.  Don't fool yourself into believing that Obama won't go to war with Iran, it'll just be more subtle.
2. Romney will not abolish "Obamacare".  The AHCA is based off of what he helped bring about in Massachusetts.  AHCA offers a way for us to be taxed more heavily if we have healthcare or if we don't, and every politician wants to have that power.  AHCA is in the books, no matter who's elected.
3. Romney won't help to overturn Roe v. Wade.  Fears of the Republican candidate trying to overturn Roe v. Wade have been raised ever since Roe v. Wade was ruled.  It hasn't happened since, and it won't happen under Romney if he's elected.
4. Romney won't outlaw gay marriage, especially not with a Constitutional Amendment.  He just won't do anything to support it.
5. Obama won't do anything to stop the Keystone Pipeline.  The Canadians are going to go through the tar sands no matter what.  Obama is going to make sure America gets it's slice of the pie.
6. Obama won't do anything about Climate Change for that matter.  His environmental track record is a joke... though it is arguably better than Bush's.  Romney would be worse on the environment for sure, but Obama is no savior.  To use another cliche phrase, Romney will drive straight towards the cliff at 100 miles an hour, while Obama is driving at an 80-degree angle to the cliff at only 95 miles per hour.  If Obama is reelected, don't expect him to do anything but pay lip service to reducing fossil fuel consumption, stopping deforestation, or anything else that matters.  Hybrid cars though?  Ya... that'll solve our problems.  And if you think so, I invite you to move New York and see how long you can drive your hybrid around after oceans rise and it's the next Venice.
7. Civil liberties will continue to be attacked under either President.  The TSA will become worse, the previous NDAA that so infringes on our liberties will not be narrowed in scope, the Patriot Act will continue, and each president will continue to kill people with drones and without due process.
8. Neither president will do anything to strengthen the economy.  They'll both spend propose expenditures WAY beyond the means of our government, especially when it comes to defense spending, and we'll continue to see our dollar debased on a quarterly basis.
9. We'll continue to expand the American Empire under either president.  We know how weak we are becoming economically, and both men will choose to counter that with violence.
10. Relations with China and Russia will continue to deteriorate under either president.
11. Homelessness, poverty, and social ills will continue to worsen under either president.
12. My final and furthest out prediction before I tune into election coverage so I can see who gets to degrade our future has to do with the next election.  2016 will be far more ugly.  Both candidates, whomever they are, will talk about less important issues than they're talking about this time.  The issues they talk about that you will think are important are the ones that will be most divisive to you, and they'll be designed to scare you into not voting your conscious in the next election, but instead vote again for the "lesser of two evils."  Pay no attention to the men behind the curtains 4 years from now, because if enough of us did, we wouldn't vote for Robamney or his progeny at all.  We might vote for someone who actually gave a damn about us and the planet.  We couldn't have that now, could we?