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Vision for Peace

How ya doing’? We’re coming up on three months of sequestration. I’ve been in a quiet mood, frankly, since my last posting. That luxury is spent this week. I must add my voice to that of all good Americans, (and all good citizens of the earth rightly,) against the continuing and hideous injustice that is perpetrated against our African American family.

I was pissed before this, and now I’m like apoplectic, fucking apoplectic in this moment. My country is sick, with rotten and putridly hateful ideology, a manipulation of our inherent divinity that orders an incalculable essence into a superiority of being, of existence, of place and of ownership of the very planet. White supremacy. We need to acknowledge it, and it’s perpetrators, whether in deed, action or legislation. And they need to be held to account.

It is my duty to speak, beyond or perhaps in clarification of, my raging on the f-book. Even though my opinions, as well as those of the vast majority, are not considered in the present ‘democracy’ - I will not be deterred.

I have two, maybe complementary ideas on how we could actually move forward this time instead of clutching our pearls at the anarchy and reactionary destruction that is clearly intrinsic in our society, and proceeding with business as usual. I imagine is a commission that is empowered to impeach and remove racists and fascists from our government, like a truth and reconciliation committee - firstly to acknowledge the apartheid that exists in our country, and then to take action to correct it. With broad powers of impeachment and perhaps a citizens jury to remove wrongdoers and their enablers.

It occurred to me some time ago that the House Un-American activities committee is still on the books. And if we can finally say that racism and white supremacy is un-American, we can repurpose this cudgel that basically destroyed the left a few generations ago. (We’re still reeling from it in my opinion.) But we can use the same process, (I’m seeing AOC as our chair,) to root out the racists and white supremacist from our society. These people need to be jailed, loose their jobs, denied the opportunity to spread their abhorrent ideas in popular art (like movies and TV - they did it to us . . .) And most importantly, purge these people from positions of power throughout our society. We did it for your precious capitalism, (which apparently can’t bear the competition of even the thought of socialist systems,) we can do it to root out these evil and disgraceful people and ideas from our country.

So there you are. My two cents. I have more. How about Universal Basic Income (UBI) as reparations? Everybody in the bottom 90%, regardless of race, has been abused by this capitalist system that was (is) based on (wage) slavery. We all deserve reparation, $2k a month sounds about right for right now. How do we pay for it? Exponential taxation. It’s your flat tax folks, it’s just on log paper and it crosses the x axis - that’s right UBI is equivalent to negative taxation.  It's a natural organic moderation of capitalism, a taming.

And universal healthcare. Its sick what we’ve done. We’ve let capitalism and its bullshit enabling ideology that is just a convoluted and pig-lipsticked racist supremacy, infect every endeavor of mankind for Christ's sakes. The facade of the whole ‘merit based’ thing has worn quite thin with an ignorant psychopath in the highest office in the land. And below that faded sparkle is the structure of modern feudal capitalism with a fiduciary duty to exploit.  

Finally, nationalizing corporations, lets say ‘equity based penalties’ - for corporate wrongdoers. So yea, nationalize most of the energy sector. Is that too far? I won’t say we need three assassinations to make up for JFK, MLK, and RFK (should we make it four for Malcolm X?)  But I do think it, more generally, “when does a real left rise up in America? Ever?” When do we recognize that MLK ended up at socialism for a reason - that capitalism, as it is practiced in our world today, is intrinsically racist. That’s why cities burned in 1968, that’s why they burn today.

Tomorrow I will be off the social media, I heard it is a day of silence in resistance, but for me it is a matter of my own relationship to our troubled-at-best digital ecosystem. As a discipline though, I will expand on most of the points above in the coming days, and I appreciate and will consider your kind input, below or in a more public forum, as I formulate a vision for peace.

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Portland OR, Sunny and cool, perfect.

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