The U.S. government has always used certain blanket terms to discredit/vilify people, usually who have little to nothing in common, into the same category. Normally, the U.S. Government uses these terms to strike out any sort of defiance or use it to maintain total control of the masses. In the late 40s and into the 80s, the term was "Communist". Many people, including Henry Wallace(former vice-president of the US) who in later years criticized the U.S. government for perpetuating eternal war. He was an ardent pacifist. Wallace, like many other pacifists, union organizers, activists,anarchists and just plain dissenters were given the token "Communist" to discredit them. This was ongoing throughout the "Cold War". This type of "scapegoat labeling" as I call it, continued after the "Red Scare" was long gone. In the 80s-2000, The U.S. government singled people out calling them "Narcoguerillas" This was mainly used against dissenters of Latin American origin, but was used on a variety of others as well. Noriega is a prime example of this..not to mention all of the low level drug dealers and users throughout North and Latin America. The "War on Drugs" conveniently allowed the U.S. government to continue its "Perpetual war" while also giving them "official" control over the population. This also allowed the government to make a tidy profit by outlawing drugs and selling drugs themselves, and creating a monopoly. Of course, it didn't stop there. From the year 2000-present day, people are labeled "Terrorist". Now some of those labeled as such might deserve it, the majority of people who are labeled "Terrorist" are again, usually union organizers, activists, anarchists, and dissenters. A whole new level was achieved in the scapegoat labeling theorem when the Department of Homeland Security was created. The National Security Agency used this "War on Terror" to institute national/global surveillance on all citizens. More than that, President Obama has allowed the use of Drone strikes to kill people "who might be" our enemies in the future. This is, of course, highly unconstitutional as it revokes the right to a fair trial. The executive branch of the U.S. government has now become Judge, jury, and executioner. This "War on Terror" is just the U.S government's way of justifying its global conquest/imperialism. As we have seen in the past, there have always been blanket terms for people who simply do not want to go along with the government's program. By creating havoc in the Middle East with the Afghanistan/Iraq wars, the U.S. has created enemies of the families of the deceased. Truly, "ISIS" was birthed from the U.S. presence in the Middle East. Even President Obama himself was quoted saying that ISIS was an "Unintended consequence" of the U.S. intervention in the Middle East. The "Terrorist threat", exacerbated by continued intervention, shows no signs of slowing down any time in the near future. The U.S. has again, successfully created an enemy to justify a a bloated defense budget, mass surveillance, and quasi-fascist control over the American people. What will be the next fabricated War? I honestly don't know..but I am sure there will be one.
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
ScapeGoat Labeling Theory
"Scapegoat Labeling" and the birth of Wars
The U.S. government has always used certain blanket terms to discredit/vilify people, usually who have little to nothing in common, into the same category. Normally, the U.S. Government uses these terms to strike out any sort of defiance or use it to maintain total control of the masses. In the late 40s and into the 80s, the term was "Communist". Many people, including Henry Wallace(former vice-president of the US) who in later years criticized the U.S. government for perpetuating eternal war. He was an ardent pacifist. Wallace, like many other pacifists, union organizers, activists,anarchists and just plain dissenters were given the token "Communist" to discredit them. This was ongoing throughout the "Cold War". This type of "scapegoat labeling" as I call it, continued after the "Red Scare" was long gone. In the 80s-2000, The U.S. government singled people out calling them "Narcoguerillas" This was mainly used against dissenters of Latin American origin, but was used on a variety of others as well. Noriega is a prime example of this..not to mention all of the low level drug dealers and users throughout North and Latin America. The "War on Drugs" conveniently allowed the U.S. government to continue its "Perpetual war" while also giving them "official" control over the population. This also allowed the government to make a tidy profit by outlawing drugs and selling drugs themselves, and creating a monopoly. Of course, it didn't stop there. From the year 2000-present day, people are labeled "Terrorist". Now some of those labeled as such might deserve it, the majority of people who are labeled "Terrorist" are again, usually union organizers, activists, anarchists, and dissenters. A whole new level was achieved in the scapegoat labeling theorem when the Department of Homeland Security was created. The National Security Agency used this "War on Terror" to institute national/global surveillance on all citizens. More than that, President Obama has allowed the use of Drone strikes to kill people "who might be" our enemies in the future. This is, of course, highly unconstitutional as it revokes the right to a fair trial. The executive branch of the U.S. government has now become Judge, jury, and executioner. This "War on Terror" is just the U.S government's way of justifying its global conquest/imperialism. As we have seen in the past, there have always been blanket terms for people who simply do not want to go along with the government's program. By creating havoc in the Middle East with the Afghanistan/Iraq wars, the U.S. has created enemies of the families of the deceased. Truly, "ISIS" was birthed from the U.S. presence in the Middle East. Even President Obama himself was quoted saying that ISIS was an "Unintended consequence" of the U.S. intervention in the Middle East. The "Terrorist threat", exacerbated by continued intervention, shows no signs of slowing down any time in the near future. The U.S. has again, successfully created an enemy to justify a a bloated defense budget, mass surveillance, and quasi-fascist control over the American people. What will be the next fabricated War? I honestly don't know..but I am sure there will be one.
The U.S. government has always used certain blanket terms to discredit/vilify people, usually who have little to nothing in common, into the same category. Normally, the U.S. Government uses these terms to strike out any sort of defiance or use it to maintain total control of the masses. In the late 40s and into the 80s, the term was "Communist". Many people, including Henry Wallace(former vice-president of the US) who in later years criticized the U.S. government for perpetuating eternal war. He was an ardent pacifist. Wallace, like many other pacifists, union organizers, activists,anarchists and just plain dissenters were given the token "Communist" to discredit them. This was ongoing throughout the "Cold War". This type of "scapegoat labeling" as I call it, continued after the "Red Scare" was long gone. In the 80s-2000, The U.S. government singled people out calling them "Narcoguerillas" This was mainly used against dissenters of Latin American origin, but was used on a variety of others as well. Noriega is a prime example of this..not to mention all of the low level drug dealers and users throughout North and Latin America. The "War on Drugs" conveniently allowed the U.S. government to continue its "Perpetual war" while also giving them "official" control over the population. This also allowed the government to make a tidy profit by outlawing drugs and selling drugs themselves, and creating a monopoly. Of course, it didn't stop there. From the year 2000-present day, people are labeled "Terrorist". Now some of those labeled as such might deserve it, the majority of people who are labeled "Terrorist" are again, usually union organizers, activists, anarchists, and dissenters. A whole new level was achieved in the scapegoat labeling theorem when the Department of Homeland Security was created. The National Security Agency used this "War on Terror" to institute national/global surveillance on all citizens. More than that, President Obama has allowed the use of Drone strikes to kill people "who might be" our enemies in the future. This is, of course, highly unconstitutional as it revokes the right to a fair trial. The executive branch of the U.S. government has now become Judge, jury, and executioner. This "War on Terror" is just the U.S government's way of justifying its global conquest/imperialism. As we have seen in the past, there have always been blanket terms for people who simply do not want to go along with the government's program. By creating havoc in the Middle East with the Afghanistan/Iraq wars, the U.S. has created enemies of the families of the deceased. Truly, "ISIS" was birthed from the U.S. presence in the Middle East. Even President Obama himself was quoted saying that ISIS was an "Unintended consequence" of the U.S. intervention in the Middle East. The "Terrorist threat", exacerbated by continued intervention, shows no signs of slowing down any time in the near future. The U.S. has again, successfully created an enemy to justify a a bloated defense budget, mass surveillance, and quasi-fascist control over the American people. What will be the next fabricated War? I honestly don't know..but I am sure there will be one.
Anarchy and Socrates: Unlikely Allies?
If you've read accounts of Socrates( Accounts because Socrates himself never wrote anything down) by Plato, Aristotle, or one of his other students...you would have come by Aristotle's thoughts on rulers. He often talked about rule as if it were a trade...like shoemaking. He also believed that only those fit to rule were meant to. He also never met anyone he believed was " fit to rule", Check out this passage of the book "The Trial of Socrates". by Isidor Feinstein Stone.
"The Socratic Formula giving rule to the man "Who knows" had in it the germ of plato's philosopher kings. But Socrates went further than Plato. socrates could find no one- even among the philosophers- who possessed "Episteme" or real knowledge in his narrow sense of the term. No one could provie the perfect and absolute qualifications he required. Neither could he, as Socrates cheerfully confessed. No one "knew" and no one was fit to rule.
In his own admission, no one was fit to rule. In my mind, that makes Socrates the original Anarchist. One of the guiding principles of Anarchism is horizontal cooperation. The root words of the word Anarchy literally translate to be An-without, and arkhos-leader. If the father of western philosophy believed in Anarchy...why doesn't the west? My answer, poor students. In his time, Socrates taught two men in their youth, who misinterpreted Socrates' thoughts on who was supposed to rule, became barbaric emperors who overthrew "the democracy of Athens twice. It is my theory that every so called "Leader" has either never read Socrates, or has completely misinterpreted his words.
"The Socratic Formula giving rule to the man "Who knows" had in it the germ of plato's philosopher kings. But Socrates went further than Plato. socrates could find no one- even among the philosophers- who possessed "Episteme" or real knowledge in his narrow sense of the term. No one could provie the perfect and absolute qualifications he required. Neither could he, as Socrates cheerfully confessed. No one "knew" and no one was fit to rule.
In his own admission, no one was fit to rule. In my mind, that makes Socrates the original Anarchist. One of the guiding principles of Anarchism is horizontal cooperation. The root words of the word Anarchy literally translate to be An-without, and arkhos-leader. If the father of western philosophy believed in Anarchy...why doesn't the west? My answer, poor students. In his time, Socrates taught two men in their youth, who misinterpreted Socrates' thoughts on who was supposed to rule, became barbaric emperors who overthrew "the democracy of Athens twice. It is my theory that every so called "Leader" has either never read Socrates, or has completely misinterpreted his words.
Police State
~~~Police State~~~
I've said it before and I'll say it again; Police were not created to "Protect and serve", that's just a marketing/PR tactic to get you to accept government overreach. There are exceptions of course..those few cops who get up every day to try to help people..but they are blind to the law, the same law that disproportionately targets the poor and your average minority. They are living in a fantasy world without any inkling of what they and their department are truly serving. The police were created for one purpose and one purpose alone, to protect capital and the property of the ruling class. It's sickening to see the glorification of police(as well as military), as if protecting the ruling class interests were of the utmost importance and something to be respected and highly regarded as "Heroic". This is not about "The good cops". There are those who have proven themselves worthy, but in reality, one day they're rescuing a dog from a raging river, and the next they are kicking homeless out of an area and confiscating what little possessions they have, or are racially profiling people, or beating someone up for who knows what reason. The problem is not" A few bad apples". The problem is the law, and in reality, there are just a few "Good apples" caught up in a system that does not support their values. If you want an example, just look into Cointelpro which resulted in a number of police officers invading the home of Black Panther party member Fred Hampton. They raided his home and fired hundreds of rounds of ammunition into his apartment, killing him at 4 am in the morning. His crime? Helping to feed poor children and speaking against imperialism/the status quo. Also look into the Black Panther Party in general to see what the police did to their members. Also look into the senseless beatings and murders of minorities, which in fact has always been happening, people are just now getting it on camera and showing proof. Also, look into the MOVE group. A group of African American activists who were trying to create utopia within their ghetto. They were constantly subjected to police raids, and in the end, the police ended up sending a helicopter to bomb their main building, killing many activists. Again I say, the police are a government agency, which was created to protect the Capitalist agenda and nothing more. Many of my white friends don't see this( or their own privilege for that matter) and it's aggravating. All you have to do is look to recent and past protests to see how quickly the police assemble to thwart a peaceful protest(especially if its a protest by people of color), and how slow they respond to real crimes such as rape. Thousands of rape kits remain untested and the police do not care. This is just one example, if you look closely you will find a lot more. Officers have also been accused and found guilty of ticketing people just to get revenue for the state. The list of abuses goes on and on. I think it's safe to say without a doubt, that systemic racism flows from the very lifeblood that founded this country. The "Kill them before they grow" mentality has always been applied to African Americans. From the deaths of Malcolm X and MLK jr, to the deaths amassed during the civil rights movement, to the deaths of Fred Hampton and Huey P. Newton of the Black Panther Party, all the way up until present day with the deaths of Michael Brown and others. Suppression of black movements seems by force seems to be a well played tactic in the U.S., and it doesn't show any signs of slowing down any time soon. I will add more to this blog as the story develops and I've studied more about the history of the police.
I will leave you with this quote by Omali Yeshitela,
"You have the emergence in human society
Of this thing that’s called the state
What is the state? the state is this organized bureaucracy
It is the po-lice department. it is the army, the navy
It is the prison system, the courts, and what have you
This is the state -- it is a repressive organization
But the state -- and gee, well, you know,
You’ve got to have the police, cause..
If there were no police, look at what you’d be doing to yourselves!
You’d be killing each other if there were no police!
But the reality is..
The police become necessary in human society
Only at that junction in human society
Where it is split between those who have and those who ain’t got
I've said it before and I'll say it again; Police were not created to "Protect and serve", that's just a marketing/PR tactic to get you to accept government overreach. There are exceptions of course..those few cops who get up every day to try to help people..but they are blind to the law, the same law that disproportionately targets the poor and your average minority. They are living in a fantasy world without any inkling of what they and their department are truly serving. The police were created for one purpose and one purpose alone, to protect capital and the property of the ruling class. It's sickening to see the glorification of police(as well as military), as if protecting the ruling class interests were of the utmost importance and something to be respected and highly regarded as "Heroic". This is not about "The good cops". There are those who have proven themselves worthy, but in reality, one day they're rescuing a dog from a raging river, and the next they are kicking homeless out of an area and confiscating what little possessions they have, or are racially profiling people, or beating someone up for who knows what reason. The problem is not" A few bad apples". The problem is the law, and in reality, there are just a few "Good apples" caught up in a system that does not support their values. If you want an example, just look into Cointelpro which resulted in a number of police officers invading the home of Black Panther party member Fred Hampton. They raided his home and fired hundreds of rounds of ammunition into his apartment, killing him at 4 am in the morning. His crime? Helping to feed poor children and speaking against imperialism/the status quo. Also look into the Black Panther Party in general to see what the police did to their members. Also look into the senseless beatings and murders of minorities, which in fact has always been happening, people are just now getting it on camera and showing proof. Also, look into the MOVE group. A group of African American activists who were trying to create utopia within their ghetto. They were constantly subjected to police raids, and in the end, the police ended up sending a helicopter to bomb their main building, killing many activists. Again I say, the police are a government agency, which was created to protect the Capitalist agenda and nothing more. Many of my white friends don't see this( or their own privilege for that matter) and it's aggravating. All you have to do is look to recent and past protests to see how quickly the police assemble to thwart a peaceful protest(especially if its a protest by people of color), and how slow they respond to real crimes such as rape. Thousands of rape kits remain untested and the police do not care. This is just one example, if you look closely you will find a lot more. Officers have also been accused and found guilty of ticketing people just to get revenue for the state. The list of abuses goes on and on. I think it's safe to say without a doubt, that systemic racism flows from the very lifeblood that founded this country. The "Kill them before they grow" mentality has always been applied to African Americans. From the deaths of Malcolm X and MLK jr, to the deaths amassed during the civil rights movement, to the deaths of Fred Hampton and Huey P. Newton of the Black Panther Party, all the way up until present day with the deaths of Michael Brown and others. Suppression of black movements seems by force seems to be a well played tactic in the U.S., and it doesn't show any signs of slowing down any time soon. I will add more to this blog as the story develops and I've studied more about the history of the police.
I will leave you with this quote by Omali Yeshitela,
"You have the emergence in human society
Of this thing that’s called the state
What is the state? the state is this organized bureaucracy
It is the po-lice department. it is the army, the navy
It is the prison system, the courts, and what have you
This is the state -- it is a repressive organization
But the state -- and gee, well, you know,
You’ve got to have the police, cause..
If there were no police, look at what you’d be doing to yourselves!
You’d be killing each other if there were no police!
But the reality is..
The police become necessary in human society
Only at that junction in human society
Where it is split between those who have and those who ain’t got
Decentralization
There is not only correlation, but causation, between resource use and hours worked. If we are to live sustainably, it's only natural that everyone work less, therefore consume less. I believe in a sustainable living wage free for everyone..and a slowing down of production of goods, especially foods, which we waste a lot of. If we're thinking about it in the long run for an actual sustainable society, meaning saving resources for future generations, it only makes sense to curb production and consumption. For this to happen, we not only need to see the breaking of the big banks like Sanders is fighting for, but also the breaking up of mainstream media, which nearly all publications are owned by 6 major corporations. And inevitably we'll need to see the reconstruction of the corporation whose only goal is to maximize shareholder profit. The main problem is centralization and monopolization, from food and water, to cable, even to government and as we notice the widening inequality, even wealth and income. I can't see this changing by working within the existing system, as the laws themselves are already set to favor heavy opposition to these goals. It will take a revolution, which I predict will happen in the next 50 years. What are your thoughts on the subject?
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