H2O Man
H2O Man's JournalLecture #9
“ The powerful factor which changes our whole life, which changes the surface of our known world, which makes history, is collective psychology -- and collective psychology moves according to laws entirely different from those of our consciousness. The archetypes are the decisive forces, they bring about real events, and not our personal reasoning and practical intellect.”
-- C. G. Jung
The above quote is from one of Jung’s presentations in October of 1935, in London. This was known simply as “Lecture 5,” and used to be available through Vintage Books. That lecture really should be reproduced in its entirety, but I’ve never found it mentioned in the other books by or about Jung. And that’s a shame, because the material he presented that day can be applied to current events.
Indeed, Jung’s insights and teachings are perhaps more relevant today, than they have been at any time since World War Two broke out. Though no one has officially announced that we are currently experiencing World War Three, there is obviously far too many declared and undeclared wars going on, and various groups seeking possession and control of valuable resources.
This struggle to “own” and exercise control over resources, to exploit the Natural World for selfish reasons, is not limited to the international stage. The truth is that the “elite” have been engaged in a cruel and vicarious campaign of economic warfare since Ronald Reagan was elected president in 1980. More, that type of warfare has benefited a group of people who do not tend to care if a presidential election is won by a Democrat or a republican. For they have grown richer under both parties.
This election cycle has upset the 1%, however. This is because the public is tired of the “business-as-usual” approach of both parties. If we look at the republican party, less than a year ago its establishment was making Donald Trump jokes. They didn’t take him seriously. They anticipated being entertained by a circus act that would rapidly burn out.
Regardless of what anyone thinks of Mr. Trump as a person -- or politician -- you have to respect how he has played the republican party. Indeed, he has used the media -- including social media -- far more effectively than did Reagan, to utterly crush his toughest primary opposition. And his humiliation of Jeb Bush was definitely entertaining.
Of even more concern to the 1% was the extraordinary rise nation-wide of the Sanders revolution. Again, the establishment -- including the media they own -- did not take the candidacy of Senator Bernie Sanders seriously. They were convinced that the negative associations they have for “socialism” would prevent his message of social justice from taking root in our society. For while they reap the benefits of socialism for the wealthy, they are heavily invested in destroying the very concept of socialism that benefit’s the serfs.
Hence, we see the elites tasking their media -- and CNN, Fox, and MSNBC are all engaged in this -- with inserting specific images into the public’s discussions. And this, of course, does not always fit into the model that Jung used in his day, which were limited to conscious and unconscious. The prevalence and power of both the media (TV, radion, newspapers) has created a state of both individual and group consciousness that did not exist in the 1930s.
Television and radio allow people to be passive receivers of their output. This created fertile ground for the infamous subliminal messaging that was once common -- please excuse me, for I must rush to the counter in the front of this insane theater, to purchase popcorn and soda -- and both the tobacco and alcohol industries used updated visual messaging to sell their products.
Certainly, political campaigns are invested in similarly promoting their candidates. Clearly, this doesn’t always get the desired results …..one could cover Ted Cruz with a hundred American flags, coat him with bible verses, and one still has Ted Cruz. Thus, as we evaluate how the primaries have unfolded, it’s good to consider both individuals and groups.
What is easier to sell are the products of fear, which can include anger and violence. While such things as FBI statistics suggest that violent crime is going down in our country, a heck of a lot of people have very real fear of violence (including domestic and “stranger”).
Likewise, there are a lot of angry people these days. Some of it infects interactions with strangers. We see this with “road rage”; in grocery stores where people become aggressively rude; and even in the stands at junior high school sporting events. I was in the local bank today, and could hear one end of a phone conversation when I was at the counter. A couple of the bank tellers then told me about how lately, more people are snapping at them, as a result of financial stressors. I could see how upsetting it was for these ladies.
We’ve seen where groups of angry and/or fearful people begin talking about “taking action.” Pretty soon, people begin talking about Frequently, the identify some past time, which they associate with other people’s “taking actions” that brought about improvements. As these ideas spread, and people are hearing and reading about them, they begin to take similar actions. This has been the case in numerous examples of violent acts in America. It is the negative potential of group behavior, and it unfortunately tends to spread much faster than does the positive potential of group behavior.
Indeed, this allows those opposed to the expansion of social justice to only have to hire a small number of “agent provocateurs” to disrupt progressive social movements. When we think of America’s greatest non-violent leader, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., it is easy to list a dozen people who were tasked with disrupting his efforts in the civil rights movement.
When King expanded his focus to include issues such as militarism abroad and poverty at home, it raised the stakes. The forces against him were no longer merely racists. King was intent upon changing the very economic foundations of our country -- and the enemies that brought about weren’t the types to freak out at the thought of integrated counters and public restrooms.
King was a threat, because his public ministry made people think differently. He forced some, and allowed others, to understand truths in a new manner. Thus, groups and individuals began to act differently. King sparked a change in the way in which Americans related to one another. That is power …..real power, not the type that money can buy. It is perhaps the best example of the power to transform society that we can study and hold firmly to, as the Sanders Revolution moves forward.
We need to make use of that transformative power of nonviolence when we meet in Philadelphia in July. We will be there in the spirit of King. We aren’t going to be turned around now …..we are growing stronger, and believe that there are too many unresolved issues to stop now. We will continue through the convention, and the fall election. And we are going to continue long after that.
Peace,
H2O Man
Democratic Transformation
“Some forty years ago G. K. Chesterton wrote that every time the world was in trouble the demand went up for a practical man. Unfortunately, he said, each time the demand went up there was a practical man available. As he pointed out then, usually what was needed to deal with an impractical muddle was a theorist or philosopher.”
-- Senator Eugene McCarthy
As the Democratic National Convention comes closer, it becomes more evident that the various factions within the party are not, at this time, going to reach the common ground required to reach its full potential by November. We can look at two current dynamics that indicate the intensity of the divisions within the Democratic Party. First, the establishment has self-identified as The Party, and seeks to convince the grass roots to recognize them as such. Second, when asked if Hillary does win the nomination, if he would tell his supporters to vote for her, Bernie has said he is comfortable with individuals making that decision for themselves.
At this point, it does appear that the establishment wing of the party -- composed of Debbie Wasserman Shultz and her ilk -- will select Hillary Clinton at the July convention. The only possible stumbling block to this would be the FBI investigations. Despite the establishment’s pretending that it is merely a right-wing plot by rabid republicans (or the equally inaccurate belief that Clinton is sure to be indicted), this actually poses a serious threat to the Clinton campaign.
While Hillary herself may not be indicted, if people close to her are, that is a problem. How much so? Again, despite their public position that there is nothing to this, the fact is that the establishment has a contingency plan for a worst case scenario, in which her delegates would “switch” to Joe Biden. Obviously, they know this is serious. Should anyone question if such a move is possible -- for the establishment to select a candidate who had not entered a single primary -- we need look no further than 1968: the establishment made vice president Hubert Humphrey the nominee, despite his not running in a single primary.
A portion of party members will definitely vote for Hillary. It is an open question if they would also campaign for her. This is a potential problem, for while the establishment elites hold the campaign’s purse strings, it is always the progressives who do the vast majority of the “on the street” campaigning. A well-coordinated campaign requires both money and manpower.
Other registered Democrats will invest their efforts in other non-presidential campaigns. And they will continue to organize within the Democratic Party. For just as the Debbie Wasserman Schultz types want nothing to do with them, they have no interest in the elites’ efforts to promote their power, and increase their comfortable life-styles. They do not represent the grass roots, and so it is only natural that much of the grass roots rejects them.
If Clinton gets the nomination, the progressives will evaluate their relationships with several other groups of politically active citizens. The establishment and their lap dogs try to frame this as progressives going “third party.” Like most things they say, this is simply not accurate. Progressive Democrats are invested in transforming the party. We do not recognize the Debbie Wasserman Schultz types as having authority, in any way that resembles the manner in which we honor Bernie Sanders.
The groups and individuals that we have the most in common with outside of our party are progressives and leftists who tend to be registered as independents. Like us, they understand that the difference between Bernie Sanders and Debbie Wasserman Schultz is the difference between sugar and shit. And that starting with the 1980 election of Ronald Reagan, that the opulently wealthy have been engaged in an ugly strain of class warfare, primarily waged against the middle class.
Thus, the progressive community must meet in Philadelphia in late July, when the Democratic National Convention is being held. Our progressive convention will be equally important to that inside the halls of the DNC. Indeed, it will be more in the spirit of the first meeting of the Continental Congress in 1774, when many of the men we know as the “Founding Fathers” put their heads together, to discuss their relationships with others, including those in England.
We need to remember that these were not “super men,” although the form of government they were proposing was truly inspired. It was revolutionary. But it wasn’t other-worldly, nor was it new. Rather, these men put their heads together, studied everything from current events to Greek history, and came up with -- eventually -- the Constitution of the United States of America.
The Founding Fathers did not think that their work reached perfection, or that it should be worshipped separate from the people’s every day lives. These were intended as living documents. They hold basic truths, and give a framework that each generation is supposed to apply to their day and age, and move forward.
We need to look our history, too. That includes documents such as the Declaration of Independence. Read the whole thing. It is revolutionary -- certainly one of the most important writings in human history. Tell me it doesn’t apply far, far more to the Sanders Revolution than to the Clinton campaign.
Read that Constitution, too. The whole thing. But don’t stop there: read the Articles of Confederation. While doing so, the influence of the Haudenosaunee starts to come into sharper focus. The ideas of individual rights, as detailed in the Bill of Rights, is closely connected to the Iroquois’ concept of individual and group rights.
But go back further. We have to read Ben Franklin’s amazing Plan of Albany, and keep in mind that Franklin (an amazing human being) was incorporating ideas from the Haudenosaunee, or Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy. He was among those advocating a true democracy -- rather than just a republic -- based upon experience with both the Iroquois’s Grand Council of Chiefs, and its Clan Mothers.
It’s important that we go even further back, to a close friend of Ben Franklin’s. We need to consider the proposals of Joseph Galloway, of Pennsylvania, who came up with a Plan of Union to present at that first Continental Congress. Too few history classes teach about this, in part because Galloway was not advocating a complete separation from England. At that time -- indeed, throughout the Revolutionary War -- one-third of the public wanted to remain loyal to England; one-third wanted independence; and one-third didn’t care either way (and this was before cell phones!).
While I’m glad this country kicked England out, I’m not looking to separate in a similar fashion from the Democratic Party. Rather, I am suggesting that the establishment acknowledge that there has been a significant shift in power. We aren’t approaching you with the palm of our hand raised upwards. We aren’t seeking a handout. We are not coming at you with clenched fists. We aren’t looking to inflict bruises. Rather, we come prepared to shake hands as equals.
I understand why those on the Democratic Left do not want to register within the Democratic Party. I appreciate why they sincerely believe that Hillary Clinton is as corrupt as was Richard Nixon. Just as long as they are willing to work with the progressives in the Democratic Party -- as equals -- we’re good. One person, one vote -- it’s that kind of thing.
As we begin to prepare for Philadelphia Freedom this summer, we have some tasks beside the logistics. We need to focus on a nonviolent demonstration -- not only on moral/ethical grounds (though they apply) -- but because tactically, that is our best option. I’ll address this issue in greater detail in the near future.
We should also take time to consider what common ground we have we with other groups and individuals. There is a heck of a lot of common ground in progressive movements, and we need to inhabit that when we are in Philly. And the thing is that not only are the fights against racism, sexism, militarism, and to protect the environment all on that common ground, but we find that we have a common enemy.
Bernie Sanders is correct: his campaign supporters are capable of thinking for themselves. Thus, this summer’s convention isn’t the “end” of the revolution. At most, it is the end of the beginning.
Peace,
H2O Man
Conventions
“I think that politicians like Dean Rusk, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Hubert Humphrey, and anybody else I might have listed before and now forgotten have lost their authority with wide sections of the American people.”
-- Tom Hayden; National Mobilization for 1968 Democratic National Convention.
“We can change the world
Re-arrange the world
It's dying ... if you believe in justice
It's dying ... and if you believe in freedom
It's dying ... let a man live his own life
It's dying ... rules and regulations, who needs them
Open up the door
Somehow people must be free
I hope the day comes soon
Won't you please come to Chicago
Show your face
From the bottom of the ocean
To the mountains on the moon
Won't you please come to Chicago
No one else can take your place”
-- Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; Chicago
As both the Democratic and republican party’s 2016 presidential primaries approach their final contests, their national conventions are beginning to come into focus. Let’s take a look at what is likely to take place at each -- including which candidate each party will select as their nominee -- and what the consequences may result from each of those choices.
The republican national convention will be held from July 18-21, in Cleveland, Ohio. At this point, it appears obvious that Donald Trump has “won” the republican primary contest. However, if he does not reach the magic number of delegates, there is a very real possibility that the republican establishment will attempt to force a brokered, or a contested, convention. While there are slight differences between “brokered” and “contested” conventions, in this context, it simply means the party elites are not satisfied to let registered republicans select their own candidate.
The ruling class of republicans had, of course, picked Jeb Bush as their candidate well before the primaries started. Obviously, the overwhelming majority of republicans were unwilling to support another Bush-establishment candidate. John Kasich was tasked in February with staying in the primaries, despite his humiliating showing, to try to prevent Trump from getting the delegates required to win. As the only other option was Ted Cruz, the most repulsive person to ever seek the presidency, the republican establishment even considered drafting Paul Ryan. However, because it is clear that Trump has won the primary contest, their establishment will either opt to place a Cheney-like figure on the ticket as vice president, or risk an open rebellion if they attempt to deny Trump his rightful place.
Obviously, if Trump is the republican candidate, and attempts to call his own shots, the republican establishment will support Hillary Clinton. Indeed, she would hold great appeal to the elite republicans: she has been on Wall Street’s payroll, and is a true neoconservative. Thus, we have already heard republican elites ranging from the Koch brothers to Laura “Pickles” Bush singing her praise.
The Democratic National Convention will be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from July 25-28. At this point in time, it appears likely that Hillary Clinton will “win” our party’s nomination. This is not written in stone, of course, and there remains a possibility that unexpected events could derail the establishment’s best laid plans. Still, progressive Democrats should be making plans for how we will continue the Sanders revolution between today and July 24; during the convention; and going forward from there.
At the end of every presidential primary cycle, each party tries to join together to present a united front. This generally involves reaching agreement on the party’s platform. However, the “rank and file” voters have seen that despite the various platforms, the winner of the November election tends to “lead” in a manner that shows little if any influence from the platform.
Hence, progressive Democrats would be foolish to think that an acceptable outcome for the Sanders revolution would be some fine words and uplifting phrases being included in the Democratic Party’s platform. We are not going to be satisfied by a gentle pat upon our humbly bowed heads. Rather, we will be traveling to Philadelphia for the same reasons that this nation’s Founding Fathers did in the summer of 1787.
We will be joined by our friends and associates from the Democratic Left -- those progressives who are registered as independents, or with minority parties, but who share the same principles and values as progressive members of the Democratic Party. For too long, our party’s establishment has taken the Democratic Left for granted, assuming that they had no where else to go. This, of course, is merely an extension of the establishment’s reliance on the concept that progressive Democrats could be depended upon to vote for “the lesser of two evils.”
There is a legitimate concern on the Clinton campaign’s part, that those who support Bernie Sanders will not vote for Hillary, if she is the Democratic nominee. This includes both registered Democrats and the many independents that his campaign has attracted. And it includes the college students, who overwhelmingly support Bernie.
I can only speak for myself, of course. I’ve been a registered member of the Democratic Party, and have voted for each and every Democratic candidate in presidential elections since I became eligible to register and vote. At the grass roots level, I have worked with registered Democrats, and Democratic independents, for longer than I’ve been a registered voter. Thus, I am confident that, just as I’m comfortable for deciding who I will vote for, everyone else I know is just as capable of deciding for themselves in November.
This isn’t a “business-as-usual” year. In order to engage in any meaningful dialogue at the convention, we need to move beyond some of the Clinton campaign’s “talking points.” These are things that every rational person can agree are not accurate. Let’s look at a few examples.
Several of Hillary supporters have told me to leave the Democratic Party and join a third party if I’m not satisfied with my party. This failed attempt at rudeness is actually hilarious. But even a funny joke shouldn’t be told too often. No one “owns” the Democratic Party -- even though corporations definitely own some elected officials from both parties. Myself and many other Bernie supporters do not take orders from ethically inferior party members.
Do not tell us that if one does not vote for Hillary, it is equal to a vote for Donald Trump. Just because you couldn’t pass third-grade math does not mean that we didn’t.
And do not mistake the saying that “politics is the art of compromise” justifies the betrayal of one’s principles. It doesn’t. Such confusion upon your part strongly suggests that you need to re-examine the concepts of principles and ethics.
For those in the progressive movement -- including registered Democrats and independents, etc -- we need to begin solidifying our plans. Obviously, we are going to be involved in nonviolent protests against the machine. What would you like to see and experience in Philly in late July?
Peace,
H2O Man
Conflict Resolutions
“All people whose minds are healthy can desire peace, and there is an ability within all people, especially the young, to grasp and hold strongly to the principles of righteousness. Those principles of righteousness demand that all thoughts of prejudice, privilege, or superiority be swept away, and that recognition be given to the reality that the creation is intended for the benefit of all equally. Even the birds and animals, the trees and the insects, as well as the people. The world does not belong to the humans -- it is the rightful property of the Great Creator.”
-- The Peacemaker; circa 400 ad
The historical figure known as the Peacemaker lived in the northeast of what today is the United States of America. He was born at a time when society was in disarray: the empires of the Ohio River Valley were faltering, thus creating a failing economy among those people who had enjoyed the rural-urban system of trade. These tensions impacted relationships between communities, clans, and family life. Conflicts led to blood feuds, and people lived in fear of violence.
At this time, the people who lived in the northeast were dealing with changes in technology, as well as in the production of foods. Thus, there were also tensions between the sexes, and a growing shift in the balance of power between males and females. One can find parallels between that time and today.
The Peacemaker was a reformation prophet. The message that he delivered was based upon what are known as the Original Instructions. They are known in other cultures as the Ten Commandments. An earlier prophet -- a young man known as Sapling -- had taught them sometime around 1800 bc, again at a time of cultural change. What makes the Peacemaker unique is that he envisioned a form of democratic government that continues to work today.
Now, the majority of those college students who are actively supporting Senator Bernie Sanders’s run for president have never heard of the Peacemaker. Public schools do not teach about him -- though they should. However, we hear these wonderful young adults speaking about the very things that the Peacemaker said they would be. For great principles are timeless, and no individual ever “owns” them.
That brings us to one of the major differences between the campaigns of Bernie and Hillary. As elders who support Bernie Sanders, we urge today’s youth to rage against the machine, while our opposition tells them they must become cogs. Guess who they respect and listen to?
The other closely-related difference between the two groups was summed up beautifully by Albert Camus: “This is what separated us from you: we made demands. You were satisfied to serve the power of your nation, and we dreamed of giving ours her truth.”
That is what this movement is about: the truth of the American experience. And all of the best episodes in this nation’s history are rooted in democracy -- just as the worst involve the denial of basic human rights advanced by democracy. Democracy demands constant struggle. And that is part of the on-going American experience.
Keep on fighting the Good Fight!
H2O Man
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