howtosavetheworld | I have, of late, had a falling out with many of my fellow ‘progressives’, similar I suppose to that of Paul Kingsnorth, who is being savaged by
Naomi Klein and others for giving up on the environmental movement and
non-local activism, and by humanists for losing faith in our species’
capacity for innovation and change.
I should say at the outset that I agree that our political and
economic and legal and educational and social systems are dreadful,
unfair, teetering, and totally inadequate to our needs. I agree that
this is a world of horrific inequality, inequitable and unjust
privilege, massive suffering, and outrageous patriarchy. I agree that
corporatism and corruption and propagandist media are rampant and
destructive and destabilizing. I agree that militarized police and
torture prisons and drone killing and massive global surveillance are
repugnant and a fundamental threat to our personal safety and security
and the very principles upon which our nations are founded.
And I fully acknowledge that the fact I’m white, male, boomer
generation and relatively wealthy provides me with enormous privilege
compared to others, including relative freedom of movement, freedom from
fear of harrassment and assault, and greater social, political and
economic opportunity.
But when I hear arguments that “we need” to stand up for our
‘inherent’ rights and freedoms, and wrest ‘control’ of the levers of
power from the obscenely wealthy elite, and denounce and protest
injustice and inequality, and acknowledge and renounce our role as
privileged oppressors, as the first steps to a true social revolution in
and political and economic reform, leading, somehow, to a radical
redistribution of wealth and power, and a more just society, I am
reduced to despair.
I used to believe people, and perhaps some other creatures, had
‘rights’ and ‘freedoms’. I believed that someone was in control. I
believed there were answers to the predicaments we face.
But now I realize that there are no rights or freedoms. The concept
of rights and freedoms is a sop that the rich and powerful of this world
use to appease the fury and frustration of the poor and
disenfranchised. The ‘granting’ of rights and freedoms means nothing,
because they can be and are taken away whenever those in power choose to
do so, and are simply ignored when they interfere with the exercise of
power or accumulation of wealth by those who allowed them to be granted.
21 comments:
Exactly!
You have the power of speech. If someone puts a gun to your head and tells you not to say certain things they have only inhibited your use of power.
If they take the gun away they have not given you freedom they have only ceased inhibiting your power.
and when they pull that trigger?
6 billion too many of you deuterostems swarming the planet as is....,
zz-top?
rotflmbao..., I wondered when somebody else would crack wise on all those big wahabist beards going on with the domestic terrorists (oops, I mean private "militia" men)
I read this thinking 'wtf is this guy talking about?' Then I saw it was the Neocon Post letting one of their hacks do his thing. What the fuck is a sovereign citizen? Sounds like an oxymoron. I thought people gave up on that after Wesley Snipes went down.
You know, Sam Adams - one of these type of guys' heroes - would have called for all of them to be hung by neck until dead, just as he suggested happen to the leaders of the Whiskey Rebellion. Difference is, the members of the Whiskey Rebellion were not deadbeats and freeloading welfare queens like Bundy and his ilk are...
FWIW, there is a doctrine in property law called "Adverse Possession"...e.g., you accept an incorrect boundary or use of your property for [Seven years in Washington State] then perpetrator is legally entitled to continue. If Bundy family's cattle were allowed to graze on that land without objection for 100+ years, then that's a slam-dunk gov't's Tuff_S.....
lol, uh-oh! BD bustin out the zz-top lookalike states-rights sharia...., now which private militia imam did you crib this hot garbage from? Look, if you're going to challenge property law, please try and challenge it intelligently http://www.salon.com/2014/04/21/cliven_bundy_got_one_thing_right_his_claim_is_absurd_but_challenging_property_law_is_not/
rotflmbao...., now driving enough traffic that google yanks folks youtube ghetto passes for copyright infringement
When they pull the trigger it takes away the power of speech and everything else. Dead slaves are so productive.
Looks like Washington state is 10 years, and you have to use the land exclusively without any challenge, and to top it off, public land can never be adversely possessed.
http://ruzumna.com/archives/the-basics-of-the-doctrine-of-adverse-possession
lol, still mad about my boy John calling these crusty, non future-oriented peckerwoods zz-top....,
we're in the era of peak-soil. all those glossy and corpulent aggregations of rich nutrients ripe for a revitalizing return to the soil...,
The Feds drew first blood, then backed down when armed reinforcements arrived.
http://nydn.us/1ie3Zyq
Translation -- Patriots....
peak-soil?! I LOLed a little.
https://www.google.com/#q=peak+soil
Absolutely. One of the primary interests in biochar is it's ability to build soil in just a few years rather than thousands. As for CNu's recommendation, I think human bodies are a bit too wet for good biochar feedstock, but, maybe dessicated in an efficient manner would make a great feedstock!
and don't forget all that glistening tallow that'll come available for soap and candles...., and fine parchment quality leather for luxurious accessorizing.
Do you mean this tallow? ;-)
Solar concentrators might work. At the very least, they'd make the fatties blow up real good, which might be worth a holiday in February.
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