September 2, 2017

What is honesty?

Is "honesty" whatever happens to agree with your point of view?

Is "honesty" whatever happens to be any statement that one thinks would rile up or irritate some group that you do not like? So for these two statements, your reality is not contingent on memory or perception, but the emotional appeal, or lack of it, of something?

Is "honesty" saying the first thing that comes into your head, no matter how unfiltered or how divorced from reality it is?

Is "honesty" whatever you say while under an altered state of consciousness; whether that state is caused by tort... enhanced interrogation techniques or under the effects of hallucinogens?

I'm "honestly" sure we are seeing the rise of one group that would say "YES!" to all of the above.

August 30, 2017

There's a new drug sweeping this nation

It's street name seems to be known as "unity and healing".

Causes the person who consumes this to go blind to what is going on, get amnesia of rhetoric aimed at them telling them that it's their turn to suffer now, and disregard the completely reasonable notion that concepts such as preferring unemployment and opioids to some "globalist", liberal, black, or gay person "bossing them around", putting Muslims in a registry or expelling them from the country, or that it's "just too politically correct" to remind Confederate flag wavers that they need to get over losing the civil war a century and a half ago these days as all quote "bat guano insane" unquote.

Pushed by an orange egomaniac and people who have fixations with Nazi symbols.

This is one drug we can all just say no to.

August 28, 2017

As VX and sarin are to individuals, the "alt-right" and Putin propaganda are to nations

This is the chemical-esque political warfare we face today...

* Convince people that their best days are already behind them. We see people celebrating the zenith of their collective history as being the time when their ancestors owned other human beings over a century and a half ago. "Make America great again", what? Was it not great already? What happened? What period of time do we need to return to? And Putinist botnets seem to like stories that describe a decline of the US while contrasting it with casting Russia as having fantasy qualities. When people are convinced to glorify the past over the present which is seen as bad and see the future as being an imitation of that past at best, then nothing can really be created, people can not adapt to changes, nothing new happens, there is no change and there is no escape from degradation. Because you might have high hopes for the present and future or you might have a realistic view of it, but you can't have either if you erroneously think the past was a golden age, then this really is a crafty attack on both idealism and realism, so what are we left with? Pessimism. How long can a nation really run on that?

* Create a system of recreational paranoia. Make people afraid of the 'other'. Fear the Muslim. Fear the Jew. Fear the immigrant. Fear the transgender. Fear the 'globalist'. Everyone who is not-you is not your friend is how these forces want you to see the world. This is special to us. We are a nation of 'others'. Different skin colors, different ancestries, different religions, different sexual identities, etc. We are really attacking ourselves when we are convinced that the other people are out to get us, that we can't trust anybody who is not-us. We're also giving up our agency here, we are being told who these 'others' are, they are being set in stone for us, and they are driving us apart. When you give into recreational paranoia, you are also letting someone else ultimately make decisions regarding your freedom of association for you.

* Normalize a lifestyle of omission. There's something called omission bias that is going on here. This is where an inaction that results in the same amount of harm is seen as better or more moral than actually going out and doing an action on somebody that results in that same amount of harm. The common reply to the plight of people worried about healthcare, their place in the economy, the rhetoric of radical Trump supporters, or refugees is "Not my problem." Human beings are ultimately, though, a social animal. And if any social animal behaved in the way we see this being normalized with NOT doing something being the way to live, they would be seen as abnormal, maybe their death would be seen as inevitable. Another thing to remember here is that saying, "First they came for...", Niemoller wasn't the one coming for people and he wasn't the one speaking up, so no harm, right? How wrong he was in the end.

* Turn EVERYTHING into a fight. Debate is good, discussion is good. This isn't that. This is turning everything into a pseudo-debate that never ends and where historical facts are up for debate and the qualities of those debating are also seen as fair game too. Everything becomes a bullet point that can have a counteracting bullet point. "Black lives matter" is met with "No, all lives matter." "Nazis are bad" is met with "Well, there are good Nazis too." "But both sides", "fake news" to something you don't like, and blaming the victim. All of the sudden, there becomes no real truth, no objectivity, no shared history, no shared constructing of narratives. Nothing really matters if you can convince a populace of this.

* Turn the social hierarchy into a hyper-reality and then weaponize it against the people. There's a concept called vertical collectivism, emphasize the hierarchy, groups of people are always fighting against each other for a higher spot in society and to make other groups lower than your group. This is turning social dominance orientation and anti-social personality disorder into lifestyles and careers really. Convince the populace that people poorer than them, a different skin color than them, someone with less privilege than them is coming to take their privilege, their jobs, and their lives even and you turn it into an industry, turn it into a media and political force, then national unity becomes a pipe dream as everybody scatters to protect their spot in the social ladder from those they believe are coming to get those spots.

Realize this and spread the word. There is no timeline for this to end, this chemical-esque political warfare will only stop when we cease to exist as a nation or if we destroy these components. Exposing it is the first step to a cure.

More information:
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/08/23/russia-propaganda-network-kremlin-bots-215520
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/08/24/breitbart-other-alt-right-websites-darlings-russian-propaganda-effort/598258001/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omission_bias
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/20/1690714/-Three-Russian-propaganda-techniques-being-used-by-the-Trump-administration-and-how-to-fight-them
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collectivism#Typology
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_dominance_orientation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisocial_personality_disorder

August 26, 2017

How to NOT be a bystander

Trump and his Nazi friends are hoping that we just stand idly by and let them spread injustice. Standing up to them and preventing their infection of our Democracy and the American spirit is mandatory. If you can not be aggressively against them; we all have things to do, jobs, family, etc. Then at the very least, you can not stand by and let them do this, there is no excuse for this at all.

Don't be neutral. Don't be about "order", don't rush to say the people out against the Nazis are anarchists or destructive. Neutrality in the face of oppression is assistance to that oppression. Don't be about the status quo and about preserving order when a Nazi is free to spread injustice, because there is something very wrong with that status quo and order if that is the case.

Don't be picky about who you defend. Don't be tolerant and inclusive, but then have that one group you have "cooties for adults" for. All groups that are targets of Nazis are worthy of love and protection. Black, GLBLTQ, Hispanic, Immigrant, Jewish, Liberal, Muslim, Poor, Refugee, Sick with pre-existing conditions, etc. They are all of us, we are them. Don't tolerate an attack on these people and groups, if the Nazis come looking for them, say you are one of them. "First they came for..." The only correct response is "Not this time!"

Don't give them an inch. Don't agree with them. Don't see where they are right. Don't give them equal time. In fact, treat the person who says "I'm a liberal but I agree with what you are saying" as the same as them... and they probably are.

Don't let Nazis divide us. Support interfaith groups and projects, don't divide transgender from GLBTQ, don't let them separate us in terms of race, gender, and class. They will seek to find ways to divide us, that is for sure. Liberal and progressive Muslims and Russians aren't our allies... they are our brothers and sisters. We need to remember that.

Don't let them be wrong and let them get away with it. When you see Nazis spouting logical fallacies, when you see them making obvious errors, generalizations like arguing using anecdotes, blaming the victim, confirmation bias, moving the goalposts, etc., then at the very least you need to call them out on it just once, call it out! Don't let their dogma float out there unchallenged.

Don't let them define what "normality" and "deviance" are. The only way they get to say they are normal and protests against them are unlawful or if we need to "needed a permit" to stand up to them in the first place is if we agree with them. Don't let them say they are the normal ones and everyone else is in the wrong.

Don't let them frame the language. They have language they use. "Cultural Marxism" and "Political Correctness" are examples. Sometimes you see it even see it being said by progressives. Stop. Deflate their language, their tropes, and their cliches. Only use words like "political correctness" in order to debunk it as a right wing strawman or to make fun of it in the way they talk about it.

Don't say you can't help. Find local resources to help people out, support groups like the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and many more. There is a great number of ways you can help... Donate, spread the word about them, even that helps them out.

Don't shrug. Never shrug. If you feel your shoulders start to lift up and think you can't care anymore. Put your shoulders back down; that's Heather, that's Nabra, that's Ricky Best and Taliesin Namkai, that's Yusor, Deah, and Razan, that's Mayci Breaux and Jillian Johnson, that's Reat Griffin Underwood and William Lewis Corporon, that's Clementa Pinckney, Tywanza Sanders, Daniel Simmons, Sharonda Singleton, Myra Thompson, Cynthia Hurd, Suzie Jackson, Ethel Lance, and DePayne Middleton-Doctor, and many others helping to push them back down.

August 25, 2017

I'm sorry Trump supporters

I'm sorry I was horrified when Nabra Hassanen was murdered and I'm sorry I was disgusted when you guys were proudly crowing that it was "not a hate crime."

I'm sorry I found it evil when you rationalized Heather Heyer's death or when you blamed her for what James Alex Fields did and I'm sorry you don't see that if the Daily Stormer and other groups that participated in that march or reveled in her murder were Islamist instead of Nazi, then you wouldn't be championing their "freedom of speech" right now.

And I'm sorry I still feel this way about all of it.

So can we work on that "unity and healing" now?

August 25, 2017

Stand up against the so-called "three percenters" and let's make this a thing

Now I don't really tweet, but I am starting to learn about it. Anyway, my allies and I are running a little project, and we've recently come to the defense of Deedra Abboud, a woman who wants to run against Jeff Flake for the Senate seat in Arizona. Her positions are the epitome of what it means to be a progressive but unfortunately, she has also run into a great deal of hate and opposition because she is a Muslim. It is tragic to see her be opposed and be told "no no no" not because of the political positions she has but because of the way she prays.

https://twitter.com/Burnoatus/status/901043879922860032

As I said, I'm not really good at tweeting and this is something by my partners, but let's get out there and like it. Retweet it. Spread the word. Support Deedra Abboud and if "three percenters" don't like it, then they can publicly disavow this character.

August 25, 2017

I think I found an example of Trump style "unity and healing"

It's a Good Life by Jerome Bixby. A stoay about a town which is terrorized by a child with way too much power. Sound familiar?

So I guess if we just say "But it's a good thing" when Trump insults fellow Americans and his supporters 'joke' about genocide against the groups of Americans they don't like, then we must be doing the "unity and healing" Trump and his supporters want, right?

August 24, 2017

"I'm sorry" is a good first step for that unity and healing Trump and his supporters go on about

I'm sorry I don't worship Donald Trump as an infallible man-god. I'm sorry that I was one of the 65 million Americans who made the horrible decision to vote for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump. I'm also sorry that my vote went against the wishes of the electoral college who, in their infinite wisdom, decided to gift us with your dear leader.

I'm sorry that I include GLBTQ-Americans, Muslim-Americans, Jewish-Americans, Americans with pre-existing conditions among my loved ones and I'm sorry that I am worried about their futures.

I'm sorry that I say that black lives matter even though I am a white person. I'm sorry that I see a militarized response to drug use when the face of that drug use is black but something that is a public health crisis when the face of that drug use is white as something that is wrong and racist.

I'm sorry that the flag I have is the contemporary American one with 50 stars and not some other flag like the Confederate flag... or the Nazi one.

I'm sorry that I see it being silly that we have an administration that wants to "join forces" with some polonium-slinging autocrat.

I'm sorry... So I guess we can work together for that unity and healing now, right?

August 23, 2017

So now you can send your medical bills to Rick Santorum too

Former Pennsylvania senator and Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum revealed this week that he has been working on a plan to effectively repeal Obamacare by stripping money from four Democratic states.

In an interview with Breitbart, Santorum said that he had been collaborating with Republican lawmakers to craft legislation that would block grant health care funds directly to the states, creating winners in red states and losers in blue states.

In short, this is the last chance for a healthcare bill to pass, and this is the best idea thats been floated yet, Santorum opined. Winston Churchill said that America does the right thing after they have tried everything first.

According to Breitbart, Santorum has partnered with establishment Republicans like Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA). He has also made inroads with more conservative lawmakers in the House and GOP governors throughout the country, the former senator said.

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/2017/08/rick-santorum-hands-gop-plan-for-backdoor-repeal-of-obamacare-by-stealing-money-from-large-dem-states/

Remember folks, if your medical bills go up and/or access to services is cut or you experience diminished quality of medical care, then don't pay your medical bills, send them to... Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, the members of the electoral college who voted for Trump and Trumpcare, and now... Rick Santorum.

Not Paying.

August 18, 2017

The Nazis are counting on our potentials for apathy, conformity, and inaction

“The thing about us fascists is, it’s not that we don’t believe in freedom of speech. You can say whatever you want. We’ll just throw you in an oven."
- A quote as said by a Nazi who was the hate rally according to his father who has disowned him.

Here's the frightening thing about this, if you really think about this, how possible is this? Is it really the realm of unspeakable fantasy that can't really happen? I, for one, can picture these things being said as fellow Americans are walking to those ovens by their own volition to be thrown into them...

"We can walk away at any time, but we don't have a permit to do so."
"Oh well, maybe the survivors of this can possibly vote to change how this works next year."
"There are plenty of good people operating those ovens though."
"As long as the people throwing us into the ovens aren't foreigners."
"We're all going to die, so let's just get this over with."

The greatest strength of the Nazis is not that they have people with guns and cars, it's not that they have a President who gives them a pass, and it certainly isn't their genes. Their greatest strength is us not caring, us thinking being involved with the political system and being involved in other ways with a career or a family is a mutually exclusive dichotomy, that our power over the political sphere begins and ends one day in November every other year, going with the flow, etc.

Obviously, on a political forum, this kind of inaction exists nowhere at the level it can in the rest of society, but I think it is imperative that we act all that much harder in response to those who are inactive. And there are things we have to focus on as well...
* Vote but do more, support groups against the Nazi agenda. The ACLU, the SPLC, Planned Parenthood, etc.
* Debunk their tropes and cliches, defund their organizations, and discredit their leaders. This is war and someone is not going to be here at the end of this, and while it doesn't need to be with violence, but remember that the Nazis do not care about that.
* Consider an attack on the 'other' to be a future attack on you. Doesn't matter: Having pre-existing conditions, Jewish, Muslim, GLBTQ, non-gender binary, etc. "First they came for..." You say "Not this time."

Don't let their gun be your inaction!