I did a poll from Pole to Pole last night
Just to see what we might need
The results are real surprising
It seems Everything's agreed
I skipped the 'higher' powers
And their rigged and bloody game
Since Everything always changes
While their Nothing stays the same
(You can dig from top to bottom there,
It's enough to make you wince
If it makes enough dollars, hey,
Who needs a lick of sense?)
(Our Founders cast a Bell for Free
An' about the time they sprang it,
Turned out that it was foundered wrong,
It cracked and you cain't rang it!)
We see the Sun and Moon spin 'round
Through Rain and Shine, these Dancers,
They don't ask Nothing nothin,' no,
And don't take 'no' for answers
We get some real Good Questions, now
Ever since we left our Mother
Like what we feel, and why, and how
And IF is quite another.
If you can and do, well then,
Your vital signs aren't flat;
A corpiration can't and won't
It's sad, but, hey, that's that.
In news-confusions troubles grow,
Fake who's and wheres and whats,
When 'Why (we really need to know)
These numb-rods call the shots?!'
Who let them in behind the hall
To sneak in and begin it
To steal our Flag and troops and all,
The White House, House and Senate?!
The Court, the Land, the Sky, the Sea,
Their looting knows no bounds
They take the torch of Liberty
And snuff it on the ground
While War steals all the credit,
All the 'honors' and the frills*
With Humans' blood and tears and sweat
PEACE PAYS ALL THE BILLS!**
We need our Law in living hands
To break this zombie spell
A beating heart, a breathing life
Determined to get well
No puppets nor remote controls
Can clear this thorny bramble
We must reconstitute ourselves
Without lengthy preamble
About Freedom and Liberty
Then let us have no doubt:
These aren't some mass commodity
Which you can 'order out!'
You won't keep Freedom now, of course,
To start nor then continue,
If you sell it off, or worse,
IF YOU DON'T HAVE IT IN YOU!
*...Lately
**Always did; always will!
Thursday, October 27, 2011
New World Odor
Since corporations seized the helm of America's ship of state in 1865, they've never let go. That's the Main Reason our world looks and smells the way it does, almost everywhere, today. More than three times more PEOPLE have died since then, in open warfare, 'covert actions,' and other acts of piracy, than in all the previous history of what we fondly call civilization. Congratulations. Where's the memorial for all these millions?
Back then, as the Military-Industrial Cult, firmly rooted in slavery, spread across North America, the Caribbean, Central and South America, Polynesia, the Mideast, and the Orient, there was still room enough in our world to sweep the growing heaps of 'collateral damages' under the rug and hide the stench. Today, running short of elbow-room and resources, amid accelerating extinctions of ever more species, some Humans actually stir with awakening recognition and begin to wonder, 'What's that horrible smell...and where is it coming from?'
Hamlet was puzzled, too. Shakespeare presented 'Denmark's' rank aroma as a stark warning. Today, again, the horrors of corruption on high are upon us, and no amount of dithering inaction is going anywhere but further down the road to hell on earth. Maunder on, useless, about 'to be or not to be,' or...snap out of it and BE for all you're worth. And Good Luck; you're going to need it.
A breath of fresh air is getting damned rare in an atmosphere where common sense is so scarce. No amount of wishful thinking or creative nostalgia is going to get us out of this mess. The utmost courage and greatest strength will only continue to get us Nowhere, faster, unless they bring us to ask the Hard Questions, and come up with real, honest answers.
For instance: Q: What does an ostrich do about quicksand? A: Not very much...and not for very long. Presently, the great quandry in the public arena is, "How do we get 'our' economy 'back on track?'" The only possibility of reaching a fruitful answer in this case is to realize that this is the wrong question, to start with. No honest answer can come to such an erroneous question. So, what's wrong about it, exactly? Everything.
Trying to puzzle out our economic mess with 'How do we get our economy back on track' is delusional and diversionary. This is not our economy, Virginia! If we actually had a system for the exchange of goods and services for our mutual benefit, based on values defined by Human needs and skills and talents, it would look a lot different, last a lot longer, and smell a lot better. But we don't. Calling the present economic arrangement ours is very like the slave regarding the chains at wrist and ankles and brains as his own; there is no direction to Freedom from such a place. Every element of this vast apparatus we're conditioned to call 'our' economy, including ourselves and our participation in in, are parts of a machine devised solely for funneling all wealth, resources, and power into the hands of fewer and fewer, faster and faster. Trying to get this troublesome machine, which has made all this mess from the beginning, 'back on track' is not just fruitless on the face of it, but clinically pathological behavior, repeating the same tragic actions and expecting different results.
The point here is, this loud and poisonous disaster machine was derailed at the start, for gain, for the very fewest possible to benefit. Efforts to get it back on track (1) perpetuate these inherent catastrophes, and (2) divert us from positive optional courses. There's just no real future in it, not in this biosphere.
'Thinking outside the box' needs urgently to be something more than a catchy phrase; it must again become a living, breathing habit. This ability is not just a sign of individual intelligence, and a charasteric of our species, we've become Human because of it, and won't be without it (plus a lot of Luck, Providence, the Grace of God in Her Infinite Wisdom, and so on...).
Is there even a whiff of real, positive, HUMAN change in the air today, anywhere? I'm really glad to see there is. You'll be damned unlikely to get wind of it from the corpirate 'news' outlets, but there are indeed increasing causes for optimism. Prominent among these fresh scents of Freedom is the emergence of the 'Arab Spring' movements in the Mideast. These popular uprisings, in countries and circumstances unlikely enough to be seen as miraculous, are certainly cause for hope. Further, they have led to similar mass demonstrations of public outrage and determination in Portugal, Ireland, Greece, and Spain (the 'PIGS' outpourings), and now even the Occupy Wall Street event and its spread to more than 60 other U.S. cities. We can't yet know if these sweet breezes will actually clear the air, but they are a great relief, just as they unfold. To these PEOPLE we owe much gratitude, solidarity, and support. To the corpirations, bankers, and puppet-masters who've created all this mess and turmoil for cash and prizes, we owe NOTHING; THEY OWE US.
Back then, as the Military-Industrial Cult, firmly rooted in slavery, spread across North America, the Caribbean, Central and South America, Polynesia, the Mideast, and the Orient, there was still room enough in our world to sweep the growing heaps of 'collateral damages' under the rug and hide the stench. Today, running short of elbow-room and resources, amid accelerating extinctions of ever more species, some Humans actually stir with awakening recognition and begin to wonder, 'What's that horrible smell...and where is it coming from?'
Hamlet was puzzled, too. Shakespeare presented 'Denmark's' rank aroma as a stark warning. Today, again, the horrors of corruption on high are upon us, and no amount of dithering inaction is going anywhere but further down the road to hell on earth. Maunder on, useless, about 'to be or not to be,' or...snap out of it and BE for all you're worth. And Good Luck; you're going to need it.
A breath of fresh air is getting damned rare in an atmosphere where common sense is so scarce. No amount of wishful thinking or creative nostalgia is going to get us out of this mess. The utmost courage and greatest strength will only continue to get us Nowhere, faster, unless they bring us to ask the Hard Questions, and come up with real, honest answers.
For instance: Q: What does an ostrich do about quicksand? A: Not very much...and not for very long. Presently, the great quandry in the public arena is, "How do we get 'our' economy 'back on track?'" The only possibility of reaching a fruitful answer in this case is to realize that this is the wrong question, to start with. No honest answer can come to such an erroneous question. So, what's wrong about it, exactly? Everything.
Trying to puzzle out our economic mess with 'How do we get our economy back on track' is delusional and diversionary. This is not our economy, Virginia! If we actually had a system for the exchange of goods and services for our mutual benefit, based on values defined by Human needs and skills and talents, it would look a lot different, last a lot longer, and smell a lot better. But we don't. Calling the present economic arrangement ours is very like the slave regarding the chains at wrist and ankles and brains as his own; there is no direction to Freedom from such a place. Every element of this vast apparatus we're conditioned to call 'our' economy, including ourselves and our participation in in, are parts of a machine devised solely for funneling all wealth, resources, and power into the hands of fewer and fewer, faster and faster. Trying to get this troublesome machine, which has made all this mess from the beginning, 'back on track' is not just fruitless on the face of it, but clinically pathological behavior, repeating the same tragic actions and expecting different results.
The point here is, this loud and poisonous disaster machine was derailed at the start, for gain, for the very fewest possible to benefit. Efforts to get it back on track (1) perpetuate these inherent catastrophes, and (2) divert us from positive optional courses. There's just no real future in it, not in this biosphere.
'Thinking outside the box' needs urgently to be something more than a catchy phrase; it must again become a living, breathing habit. This ability is not just a sign of individual intelligence, and a charasteric of our species, we've become Human because of it, and won't be without it (plus a lot of Luck, Providence, the Grace of God in Her Infinite Wisdom, and so on...).
Is there even a whiff of real, positive, HUMAN change in the air today, anywhere? I'm really glad to see there is. You'll be damned unlikely to get wind of it from the corpirate 'news' outlets, but there are indeed increasing causes for optimism. Prominent among these fresh scents of Freedom is the emergence of the 'Arab Spring' movements in the Mideast. These popular uprisings, in countries and circumstances unlikely enough to be seen as miraculous, are certainly cause for hope. Further, they have led to similar mass demonstrations of public outrage and determination in Portugal, Ireland, Greece, and Spain (the 'PIGS' outpourings), and now even the Occupy Wall Street event and its spread to more than 60 other U.S. cities. We can't yet know if these sweet breezes will actually clear the air, but they are a great relief, just as they unfold. To these PEOPLE we owe much gratitude, solidarity, and support. To the corpirations, bankers, and puppet-masters who've created all this mess and turmoil for cash and prizes, we owe NOTHING; THEY OWE US.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Morrrrrrpm's!
DIESEL, Rudolf Christian Karl 1858 - 1913
-- largely unsung hero of the revolutions-per-minute business
In most particulars, diesels don't measure up well to gas motors. Compared to gasoline engines, they're heavier, more expensive, 'dirtier,' noisier, and vibrate more. Recent technological advances have somewhat improved their weight, expense, noise, and vibration problems, still...
In one other particular, diesels' advantages far outshine their gasoline-powered cousins: It's the FUEL, Virginia! Diesel fuel is known as 'low-grade and comparatively unrefined.' Then what is it about this poorer relative of petrol that makes it so all-fired exciting? Why did Rudy's original design parameters center around 'low-grade, dirty' fuel?
I suggest his original intentions might be not only enlightening, but inspirational to us today. While lately, trick market moves have erased the at-the-pump economy of its lack of refinement, this low-grade fuel meant bypassing the refinement steps required for petrol, making it cheaper to produce. It also means, even more importantly, that diesel and jet fuel can be produced from feed-stocks other than petroleum! Mysteriously, this detail has since been obscured, almost lost in the petro-smog. Also near-buried is the fact that these alternative feed-stocks yield Bio-diesel, far cleaner burning than the petro-versions, with big, immediate atmospheric benefits.
It gets more important, yet: Mr. Diesel was particularly aware that Bio-diesel feed-stocks, specifically HEMP cultivars for seed, would mean the DECENTRALIZATION of this energy source; Every neighborhood could grow its own, harvest its own seed, press the seed for fuel locally, and be left with the finest high-protein food as a by-product. In the process, the cultivation of this one crop for fuel would:
*Soak up CO2
*Provide shade, cooling the earth
*Fix nitrogen in the soil
*Generate oxygen for breathing creatures (US, and so on...)
*Control weeds
*Aspirate moisture back into the atmosphere
*Yield high-grade, tasty, non-toxicant, protein-rich seed-meal FOOD
AND
*Yield 4,726.3 gallons of methanol per year per acre (2 gals methanol=1 gal 96 octane petrol)
-- John J. Wise, Mobil Oil
Industry Public Witness Panel Testimony
Before the 95th Congress of the U.S.
Such DECENTRALIZATION would mean LOCAL energy independence, cut deeply into the energy monopolies' rigged market advantages and undermine their illegal political pull! PRESTO! Big Problems solved!
So, remind me once again who profits most from the failed and failing Prohibition of Hemp (besides criminals, the pharmaceutical, synthetic and timber fiber and chemical industries, 'corrections professionals,' and various clueless religious wackos)?
-- largely unsung hero of the revolutions-per-minute business
In most particulars, diesels don't measure up well to gas motors. Compared to gasoline engines, they're heavier, more expensive, 'dirtier,' noisier, and vibrate more. Recent technological advances have somewhat improved their weight, expense, noise, and vibration problems, still...
In one other particular, diesels' advantages far outshine their gasoline-powered cousins: It's the FUEL, Virginia! Diesel fuel is known as 'low-grade and comparatively unrefined.' Then what is it about this poorer relative of petrol that makes it so all-fired exciting? Why did Rudy's original design parameters center around 'low-grade, dirty' fuel?
I suggest his original intentions might be not only enlightening, but inspirational to us today. While lately, trick market moves have erased the at-the-pump economy of its lack of refinement, this low-grade fuel meant bypassing the refinement steps required for petrol, making it cheaper to produce. It also means, even more importantly, that diesel and jet fuel can be produced from feed-stocks other than petroleum! Mysteriously, this detail has since been obscured, almost lost in the petro-smog. Also near-buried is the fact that these alternative feed-stocks yield Bio-diesel, far cleaner burning than the petro-versions, with big, immediate atmospheric benefits.
It gets more important, yet: Mr. Diesel was particularly aware that Bio-diesel feed-stocks, specifically HEMP cultivars for seed, would mean the DECENTRALIZATION of this energy source; Every neighborhood could grow its own, harvest its own seed, press the seed for fuel locally, and be left with the finest high-protein food as a by-product. In the process, the cultivation of this one crop for fuel would:
*Soak up CO2
*Provide shade, cooling the earth
*Fix nitrogen in the soil
*Generate oxygen for breathing creatures (US, and so on...)
*Control weeds
*Aspirate moisture back into the atmosphere
*Yield high-grade, tasty, non-toxicant, protein-rich seed-meal FOOD
AND
*Yield 4,726.3 gallons of methanol per year per acre (2 gals methanol=1 gal 96 octane petrol)
-- John J. Wise, Mobil Oil
Industry Public Witness Panel Testimony
Before the 95th Congress of the U.S.
Such DECENTRALIZATION would mean LOCAL energy independence, cut deeply into the energy monopolies' rigged market advantages and undermine their illegal political pull! PRESTO! Big Problems solved!
So, remind me once again who profits most from the failed and failing Prohibition of Hemp (besides criminals, the pharmaceutical, synthetic and timber fiber and chemical industries, 'corrections professionals,' and various clueless religious wackos)?
Sunday, August 21, 2011
'Free' Elections
There may be no one evil greater
Than choosing the lesser of two
Choosing the lesser of two evils
And expecting anything good
Choosing the lesser of two evils
And expecting anything other than evil
Choosing the lesser of two evils
As if evil has a 'lesser'
Choosing the lesser of two evils
Like there's a choice in it
Choosing the lesser of two evils
Like in choosing, there will somehow be gain
Choosing the lesser of two evils
And getting used to it (and used and used and...)
Choosing the lesser of two evils
Accepting that it's 'just the way it works,'
When it never did, it doesn't now, and it never will.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Volunteer Army
Machiavelli, festering little mole-rat, butt-nuzzler that he was, did make one valuable observation, even in his bloodthirsty swoon for Power. He noticed, in his infinite avarice, that one's troops would fight far longer and harder for love than for money, even to their deaths. He saw that a soldier who loved his prince, his village and family, was worth a hundred mercenaries in battle. He advised the prince who wanted to win in war to first gain the love of his army, since hired killers turned and ran from danger, having showed up mainly for the cash and prizes. The lesson here is that allegiance based on love prevails over that based on personal gain. This astute conclusion happens to resonate directly with the 11th commandment, in the words of Jesus Christ, that we "Love one another." What a concept: Without love, you won't really get any power, or hold any. The prince, whose love of power excludes all others, must viciously exploit the love of his subjects like any other resource at his command. Yes, Virginia, the rich are 'different.'
This most ironic fact holds true for the very foundations of war. There is no resource exploited in warmaking (none; zero; not any) which is not provided solely by the matrix of Peace. Without this initial Peaceful providence (literally: for Life), there can be not one thread or button of clothing; not one shoe for one foot; not one bean or crumb of bread; not one swallow of water; not one wheel or motor conveyance; not one drop of fuel nor one candle; not one rifle nor one bullet; not one grain of gold, nor one copper penny; not one troop.
War is a parasite upon the body of Peace and always has been. Peace pays all the bills, and war pays not one dime, and takes all the credit by force. War even blames Peace for all the trouble. In the words of the infamous von Klauswitz, "The sole cause of war is undefended wealth." No burglar ever accused his victims more clearly.
War is dependent upon Peace, not just a little, but entirely...not just remotely, but directly.
ONE EXAMPLE AMONG THE INVARIABLE MULTITUDE:
A great of deal of note has been taken about WW2's conflicts in the Pacific, particularly the turning of fortune to favor America's efforts in the air there. There were many factors which contributed to the U.S. gaining air superiority, and among them was one which has received almost none of the attention here that it deserves, then or since. Then, it certainly did get the attention of individual enemy pilots and their air command, since it literally shot them out of the sky. The U.S. deployment of the Lockheed P-38 fighter-bomber changed everything in the air. Previously, U.S. aircraft had been slower, less maneuverable than the enemy's 'zeros,' and thus were losing the air war consistently. The legendary P-38 as a weapon has indeed gotten well-deserved attention; it's near-sonic speed and amazing agility, its ability to concentrate heavy firepower on a target, brought victory after victory. The audacity, heroism, and fighting skills of its pilots achieved mythological status, and rightly so.
But there's another element to the deployment of this ferocious aircraft which has gone almost totally ignored; one element of the utmost importance, since without it, none of the rest of it would ever have happened. The appearance on the scene of what they called the 'fork-tailed devil' was just the first jolt to enemy airmen and their ambitions. They then quickly realized, and said so loud and clear, that these deadly craft were being made and put in service faster than they could be shot down. The question is: Who performed this most urgently needed miracle of production, and did it so triumphantly? The answer is: A cadre of Human workers, largely women, born of and developed in the bosom of Peace. This working population, along with their farms, mines, mills, foundries and factories, were willingly conscripted from the rolls of Peace into the service of war. The point is: War can go nowhere without these legions of Peace and their productivity and loving commitment.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it, all you remote-control 'heroes' over at the Pentagon!
And to each one, civilian or uniformed, who's asked to contribute to hostile action anywhere without a lawful Declaration of War: Think about this before 'going along.'
A most patriotic salute and Highest Commendations to the Bradley Mannings of our world.
This most ironic fact holds true for the very foundations of war. There is no resource exploited in warmaking (none; zero; not any) which is not provided solely by the matrix of Peace. Without this initial Peaceful providence (literally: for Life), there can be not one thread or button of clothing; not one shoe for one foot; not one bean or crumb of bread; not one swallow of water; not one wheel or motor conveyance; not one drop of fuel nor one candle; not one rifle nor one bullet; not one grain of gold, nor one copper penny; not one troop.
War is a parasite upon the body of Peace and always has been. Peace pays all the bills, and war pays not one dime, and takes all the credit by force. War even blames Peace for all the trouble. In the words of the infamous von Klauswitz, "The sole cause of war is undefended wealth." No burglar ever accused his victims more clearly.
War is dependent upon Peace, not just a little, but entirely...not just remotely, but directly.
ONE EXAMPLE AMONG THE INVARIABLE MULTITUDE:
A great of deal of note has been taken about WW2's conflicts in the Pacific, particularly the turning of fortune to favor America's efforts in the air there. There were many factors which contributed to the U.S. gaining air superiority, and among them was one which has received almost none of the attention here that it deserves, then or since. Then, it certainly did get the attention of individual enemy pilots and their air command, since it literally shot them out of the sky. The U.S. deployment of the Lockheed P-38 fighter-bomber changed everything in the air. Previously, U.S. aircraft had been slower, less maneuverable than the enemy's 'zeros,' and thus were losing the air war consistently. The legendary P-38 as a weapon has indeed gotten well-deserved attention; it's near-sonic speed and amazing agility, its ability to concentrate heavy firepower on a target, brought victory after victory. The audacity, heroism, and fighting skills of its pilots achieved mythological status, and rightly so.
But there's another element to the deployment of this ferocious aircraft which has gone almost totally ignored; one element of the utmost importance, since without it, none of the rest of it would ever have happened. The appearance on the scene of what they called the 'fork-tailed devil' was just the first jolt to enemy airmen and their ambitions. They then quickly realized, and said so loud and clear, that these deadly craft were being made and put in service faster than they could be shot down. The question is: Who performed this most urgently needed miracle of production, and did it so triumphantly? The answer is: A cadre of Human workers, largely women, born of and developed in the bosom of Peace. This working population, along with their farms, mines, mills, foundries and factories, were willingly conscripted from the rolls of Peace into the service of war. The point is: War can go nowhere without these legions of Peace and their productivity and loving commitment.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it, all you remote-control 'heroes' over at the Pentagon!
And to each one, civilian or uniformed, who's asked to contribute to hostile action anywhere without a lawful Declaration of War: Think about this before 'going along.'
A most patriotic salute and Highest Commendations to the Bradley Mannings of our world.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Problem Solving Skills -- Note 10 -- Letters; 'Bibliography'
"American Revolutionary Scoop: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Scalia Steps in DooDoo Three Times and Nobody Says 'Shit!'
A couple days before the election, a small article in the S.F. Comical quoted Justice Scalia's comments on some cases currently before the Court. He openly expressed his prejudice on the issue in these cases. He further admonished his audience that the Constitution gives us no such right as that for which petitioners are seeking Court protection.
Well, excuse me, Judge, but you better back your black-robed ass up! Back way up! With all due respect, you professional pinhead, you're missing major points of the legal arrangement, here, t'wit:
One - An officer of the court is never to discuss a case pending before the court. This is a fundamental rule of jurisprudence. You blew it.
Two - You say your alleged mind is made up on this issue before you've heard the case. This so special. Why then would we need to take the time or go to the expense of hearing these cases if you already know what's right? The Supreme Court could close, the Justices and all that staff could pack up and go home, saving us taxpayers a bundle. Homeless veterans could then take shelter in all those fancy buildings you vacate, with the carpets, air conditioning and call girls.
Three - This is the important part. In your long and illustrious career 'reading the law' is it possible you missed this point about our Constitution, supreme law of the land? This point about the Constitution (indeed the point about the whole American revolution) is this:
The Constitution does not give us our Rights. The government does not give us our Rights. No judge anywhere gives us our Rights. What the Constitution does do is regulate what lawful government can do and cannot do.
This point is most clearly and emphatically made in Amendment IX: "The enumeration in the Constitution of certain Rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the People."
How could you miss so simple and clear a statement, Justice Scalia? Do you think it unimportant? Do you see it as not binding somehow? Are you out of your overeducated fucking mind? Are you hypnotized beyond your own comprehension? Do they do like selective lobotomies there in the rarefied strata you inhabit?
We retain the Right to discreet and objective justice. We retain the Right to public servants who daily exhibit their awareness of their place.
These seem such uncomplicated requirements, yet you've given us magpie running in tight circles to the right.
Bad justice! Bad, bad, bad!"
-- Rick Weddle
~1984, letter to Justice Scalia, and printed in the Memo, a bi-weekly 'shopper' in Ft. Bragg, CA
* * *
An Addition for
Webster's Collegiate
"Dear Editor,
I figure if we humans are going to allow 'larger forces' to snuff out the one viable biosphere in the known universe, we should at least have a name for these ubercritters.
New word:
corpirate (kor - pi - ret) n. Latin corp, body, and Latin pirata, pirate or the practice and practitioners of illegal violence on the seas and shores. (1) Any of numerous members of the synthetic organism, corporation, as individuals or in aggregate, or any of these man-made life forms' human appendages (stockholders, employees, advocates, subverted governments, etc.). Ubiquitous and dominant life form on planet earth, its salient feature being warfare [for gain] against individual humans, groups, resources, the biosphere as a whole; responsible for our planet and all its contents now being casualties of war, but specifically and intentionally not responsible to anything; the root cause of terrorism....Adj. Of, or like, the corpirate organism, as the structure of organizations modeled after the corpirate (civic, service, fraternal, religious and political partes, their operatives, actions and philosophies).
-- Rick Weddle, Kapa'au
Hawai'i Island Journal, May 1-15, 2004
* * *
Suggested 'Required' Reading
[While not a comprehensive list, this might point anyone interested in the 'right direction.']
'Conspiracy for Empire; Big Business, Corruption and the Politics of Imperialism in America, 1876 - 1907'
-- Luzviminda Bartolome Francisco, Jonathan Shepard Fast
'Confessions of An Economic Hit Man'
-- John Perkins
'Theodore Rex'
-- ?
'Seven Pillars of Wisdom'
-- T. E. Lawrence [of Arabia]
'Dams and Other Disasters; A Hundred Years of the Army Corps of Engineers in Public Works'
-- Arthur E. Morgan
'The Sovereign State of ITT'
-- ?
'The Proud Tower'
-- Barbara W. Tuchmann
'A People's History of the United States'
-- Howard Zinn
Problem Solving Skills -- Note 9 -- The Final War; Surprise!
Every expert in the arts of conflict, past and present, emphasizes the importance of the element of surprise. With this element, superior numbers and overwhelming force can be defeated; history is full of celebrated examples. Surprising an opponent is achieved by camouflage, covert action, sneak attack, or diversion, etc. Using ruse and subterfuge to hide your own strengths and intentions, using diversion to obscure your positions and goals to confuse your opponent are famously successful strategies in war, business, and politics. Surprise maximizes the chances of victory, both to reap the benefits of conquest and to minimize the cost to one's own side. The success of this principle is so prevalent, we can call it the Rule: Victory Goes To The Most Devious. The triumph of the Devious is so obvious, almost invariable, it's become a given in open conflict. In Human vs. Human contests, everyone seeks to command the element of surprise against their foe, and to guard against the foe's use of it, to be vigilant and quick with counter-measure.
How much more certain victory is, then, if one engages an opponent in a conflict which is not even recognized as conflict by that opponent. A secret victory might be quickly consolidated and enforced by the victors with little notice taken by the 'target,' the victors assuming as camouflage the guise of those so conquered by stealth. The conquered may be convinced by Diversion that they are themselves identical with their conquerors. The victors in such a covert, even bloodless operation, having achieved dominance, are then free to exploit, undetected, the 'conquered' people, their allegiance, their labor, lands and other resources, and to obtain tribute as a matter of the course of conquest. Once dominant, such victors are also free then to write 'history' as they wish, and to prescribe further definition of anything and everything, also in accordance with their own primary interests, and to further their goals. Thus, those so covertly conquered may have their governments quietly subverted, their markets manipulated, their media supervised and censored, their institutions of higher learning 'sponsored' into compliance, their very thinking and ways of Life influenced, slanted for the conquerors' benefit, all to the victors' growing advantage, all at the growing expense and with the cooperation of those so conquered.
Here, the prudent victors, in a kind of assimilation-by-confusion, might continue to obscure their original takeover, encouraging the conquered to identify with their new, covert captors, and to miss entirely the discontinuity between their pre-conflict and post-conflict circumstances. This 'spell' might be reinforced, its reach extended by further engaging those already subjugated in more violent, open conflicts with other Humans...and by exploiting and aggravating any simple differences between Peoples (race, sex, class, culture, religion, country of origin, political 'parties,' etc.)...the ultimate Diversions.
Surprise! This is not a hypothetical, fantasy conquest; it has in fact already happened...is happening...here, in the United States of America. The covert coup accomplished by the Corpirations during the American 'Civil' War, and as announced so clearly by Abraham Lincoln in 1865, has changed nearly everything about the world we live in. When the Corpirations began 'calling the shots,' the distinction between their 'principles' and those of Humans became of paramount importance. Yet little notice of this crucial distinction has been made, then or since. It is fundamental to the Corpirate interests that this difference remains obscure, that their interests continue to be defined as identical with ours in the minds of Humans. Obscuring this distinction works to camouflage the original coup and its perpetrators, continuing on through today. Observing that in fact there is such a distinction immediately makes several things starkly clear, among them:
1. The distinction between Corpirate interests and the interests of Humans does in fact exist, and is so vast as to be the salient feature of our present 'civilization.' The sole expressed 'principle' of the Corpiration, maximizing next quarter's earnings, disallows any Human sensibility, denies any Human Right which comes into conflict with it. A Corpirate officer or agent is required by law to make decisions which maximize profits ONLY, to the specific exclusion of all other 'principles.' This has resulted in rife examples of things which make so many millions of dollars, no one seems to care or notice they make no sense (the Nuclear Mistake, for instance). The presence in our midst of nuclear power generation is one of the foremost of these glaring examples. We have largely come to think of nukes as somehow necessary to meet 'our energy demands,' widely ignoring that they are history's most dangerous way to boil water, and history's most costly, both immediately, and in the Long Run, for us Humans and for the rest of our Biosphere. A Corpirate officer or agent must therefore remove themselves from Human sensibility far enough to execute their duties to the Profit Imperative, rendering themselves fundamentally Unhuman in the process. A nuke meltdown is not an accident; it's a mistake.
This Unhumanizing process has been the main contributor to our catalog of 'Synthetic Problems,' mentioned previously. Yet we Humans have so closely identified ourselves with the Corpirate organism, we readily assume the blame for these artificial disasters because, well, we can't seem to help being fallible; the infamous Human Error gets all the bad press which would properly be tagged to the Unhuman processes of the Corpiration, our secret, remote-control Ruler. I believe it's crucial to make this most important distinction and to get used to making it...to keep right on making it. In fact, viewing the long list of Synthetic Problems properly, we'd say that these difficulties were not really created by Humans, but by the Unhumanizing processes of the Corpiration. People contribute to these problems only to the degree they've been Diverted by these Unhumanizing processes. This is not to entirely absolve Humans of all responsibility, but to Redefine the Problem toward a more manageable grasp.
2. The traditional success of the camouflage of this distinction has made possible the dominance of Human affairs illegally by Corpirate interests on a global scale. Whenever we buy a gallon of gasoline, we subscribe to the Corpirate definition of 'our energy demands,' hooking ourselves to the addictions enforced by the Corpirate organism. This is no simple puzzle.
Were we to become widely aware of this difference, to recognize the basic Unhumanity which has secretly come to rule us, we'd be quickly Redefining our world, how we think about, and how we act in it, each of us, for our own Good, and for our People.
For instance:
Did Corpirations then (during the American War Between the States) in fact do willful violence, quietly, to the American system of givernment, dissolving the Sovereignty of the People of the United States of America, and of other countries elsewhere? Yes, they did. Do they continue to do so? Yes, they do. The horror of September 11, 2011, was a direct and predictable result, among many others.
How much more certain victory is, then, if one engages an opponent in a conflict which is not even recognized as conflict by that opponent. A secret victory might be quickly consolidated and enforced by the victors with little notice taken by the 'target,' the victors assuming as camouflage the guise of those so conquered by stealth. The conquered may be convinced by Diversion that they are themselves identical with their conquerors. The victors in such a covert, even bloodless operation, having achieved dominance, are then free to exploit, undetected, the 'conquered' people, their allegiance, their labor, lands and other resources, and to obtain tribute as a matter of the course of conquest. Once dominant, such victors are also free then to write 'history' as they wish, and to prescribe further definition of anything and everything, also in accordance with their own primary interests, and to further their goals. Thus, those so covertly conquered may have their governments quietly subverted, their markets manipulated, their media supervised and censored, their institutions of higher learning 'sponsored' into compliance, their very thinking and ways of Life influenced, slanted for the conquerors' benefit, all to the victors' growing advantage, all at the growing expense and with the cooperation of those so conquered.
Here, the prudent victors, in a kind of assimilation-by-confusion, might continue to obscure their original takeover, encouraging the conquered to identify with their new, covert captors, and to miss entirely the discontinuity between their pre-conflict and post-conflict circumstances. This 'spell' might be reinforced, its reach extended by further engaging those already subjugated in more violent, open conflicts with other Humans...and by exploiting and aggravating any simple differences between Peoples (race, sex, class, culture, religion, country of origin, political 'parties,' etc.)...the ultimate Diversions.
Surprise! This is not a hypothetical, fantasy conquest; it has in fact already happened...is happening...here, in the United States of America. The covert coup accomplished by the Corpirations during the American 'Civil' War, and as announced so clearly by Abraham Lincoln in 1865, has changed nearly everything about the world we live in. When the Corpirations began 'calling the shots,' the distinction between their 'principles' and those of Humans became of paramount importance. Yet little notice of this crucial distinction has been made, then or since. It is fundamental to the Corpirate interests that this difference remains obscure, that their interests continue to be defined as identical with ours in the minds of Humans. Obscuring this distinction works to camouflage the original coup and its perpetrators, continuing on through today. Observing that in fact there is such a distinction immediately makes several things starkly clear, among them:
1. The distinction between Corpirate interests and the interests of Humans does in fact exist, and is so vast as to be the salient feature of our present 'civilization.' The sole expressed 'principle' of the Corpiration, maximizing next quarter's earnings, disallows any Human sensibility, denies any Human Right which comes into conflict with it. A Corpirate officer or agent is required by law to make decisions which maximize profits ONLY, to the specific exclusion of all other 'principles.' This has resulted in rife examples of things which make so many millions of dollars, no one seems to care or notice they make no sense (the Nuclear Mistake, for instance). The presence in our midst of nuclear power generation is one of the foremost of these glaring examples. We have largely come to think of nukes as somehow necessary to meet 'our energy demands,' widely ignoring that they are history's most dangerous way to boil water, and history's most costly, both immediately, and in the Long Run, for us Humans and for the rest of our Biosphere. A Corpirate officer or agent must therefore remove themselves from Human sensibility far enough to execute their duties to the Profit Imperative, rendering themselves fundamentally Unhuman in the process. A nuke meltdown is not an accident; it's a mistake.
This Unhumanizing process has been the main contributor to our catalog of 'Synthetic Problems,' mentioned previously. Yet we Humans have so closely identified ourselves with the Corpirate organism, we readily assume the blame for these artificial disasters because, well, we can't seem to help being fallible; the infamous Human Error gets all the bad press which would properly be tagged to the Unhuman processes of the Corpiration, our secret, remote-control Ruler. I believe it's crucial to make this most important distinction and to get used to making it...to keep right on making it. In fact, viewing the long list of Synthetic Problems properly, we'd say that these difficulties were not really created by Humans, but by the Unhumanizing processes of the Corpiration. People contribute to these problems only to the degree they've been Diverted by these Unhumanizing processes. This is not to entirely absolve Humans of all responsibility, but to Redefine the Problem toward a more manageable grasp.
2. The traditional success of the camouflage of this distinction has made possible the dominance of Human affairs illegally by Corpirate interests on a global scale. Whenever we buy a gallon of gasoline, we subscribe to the Corpirate definition of 'our energy demands,' hooking ourselves to the addictions enforced by the Corpirate organism. This is no simple puzzle.
Were we to become widely aware of this difference, to recognize the basic Unhumanity which has secretly come to rule us, we'd be quickly Redefining our world, how we think about, and how we act in it, each of us, for our own Good, and for our People.
For instance:
Did Corpirations then (during the American War Between the States) in fact do willful violence, quietly, to the American system of givernment, dissolving the Sovereignty of the People of the United States of America, and of other countries elsewhere? Yes, they did. Do they continue to do so? Yes, they do. The horror of September 11, 2011, was a direct and predictable result, among many others.
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