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Zorra
Zorra's Journal
Zorra's Journal
January 21, 2014
On edit: A final review of a very important lesson from Dr. King's excellent class, "How To Change The World Through Non-Violence".
peace
School's out, brother, lessons are over for now. It's time for those who really care to assume our
responsibilities in the real world.
Above: The 99%, protesting for Justice and Equality.
Ya know, I'm just a regular old 99%er, one who seems to have some type of very serious personal communication deficiency.
So I'm hoping that, maybe, just maybe, more people might pay attention to this 99%er, who was right there with Dr. King, talking the talk, and leading the walk, explaining it all again, and doing it again.
On edit: A final review of a very important lesson from Dr. King's excellent class, "How To Change The World Through Non-Violence".
You may well ask: "Why direct action? Why sit ins, marches and so forth? Isn't negotiation a better path?" You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. My citing the creation of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent resister may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word "tension." I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, so must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood. The purpose of our direct action program is to create a situation so crisis packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation. I therefore concur with you in your call for negotiation. Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in a tragic effort to live in monologue rather than dialogue.
~ Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from a Birmingham Jail
~ Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from a Birmingham Jail
"Ya gotta do what ya gotta do. So if ya know what ya gotta do...then do it" ~ Jane Johnson Jones-Smith
peace
January 19, 2014
The CIA/other capitalist interests have been destabilizing the region in the interests of
corporatism for many decades. The people and land of the Central African republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been the victims of cruel and vicious practices by European imperialists. The area is wealthy in uranium, oil, gold, diamonds, lumber, and hydropower. But the people are among the poorest in the world. They and their land have been repeatedly raped by foreign capitalists, and these foreign capitalists destabilize the government in order to prevent any kind of nationalist movement that would nationalize the resources and take away the sources of the greedy imperialist's profits.
This began in earnest after the Congo gained independence from Belgium in 1960. The people of the Congo elected their first democratically elected leader of the Republic of the Congo, a beloved champion of the people named Patrice Lumumba. Eisenhower, fearing Lumumba was too close to being a communist, sent the CIA over to stage a coup, depose Lumumba, put in their authoritarian dictator capitalist pig crone Mobutu to maintain foreign corporate control of the country and its resources. Naturally, Lumumba was soon executed.
The only reason the US gives a shit about Africa is because Wall St. and the MIC want all Africa's resources for themselves. Global economic interests are the beneficiaries of the cycle of repeated destabilization and reorganization. If a genuine democratic leader interested in the welfare of the people is voted into power somewhere in Africa, you can be sure s/he will be deposed and probably shot by someone acting in service of some foreign global economic interest. But they've figured out how to never let it get to that point by continual destabilization.
In the meantime, who do you suppose is making all the coin from exploiting the abundant resources of Central Africa? The average worker who brings in an average of a whopping $300 a year as a result of the "glorious beneficence" 
of the humanitarian global economic imperialists?
AFRICOM’s mission is to control resources in the continent although Whelan tries to clarify its “misconceptions”. “Some people believe that we are establishing AFRICOM solely to fight terrorism or to secure oil resources or to discourage China. This is not true,” she said. Then she mentions the natural resources Africa has and why many people will benefit from U.S. involvement. In reality, major U.S. oil corporations and the Military-Industrial Complex will benefit in an open-market environment, meaning American interests will be the main focus of AFRICOM.
The agenda is for the control of the natural resources throughout Africa. If Washington can counter China by influencing governments through military and financial aid, then the possibility of exploiting oil and other commodities will benefit the Military-Industrial Complex and Wall Street.
---snip
With the U.S. involved in coups, wars and political manipulation of governments in the past and present, China seems more favorable to most governments in Africa. Why? China is not overthrowing governments or invading countries, they negotiate with the intention of doing business with the country for the long-term. China seeks business partners for its own economic growth with investment projects in many African nations. As for America’s future in the African continent, it seems the Africa Command (AFRICOM) and its new drone base in Niger
does not seem to win the “hearts and minds” of most African governments and its people. Then again, the U.S. can intimidate countries within Africa with its military and intelligence apparatus by either implementing a coup, assassinating a political leader (Patrice Lumumba of the Congo) or even a direct military intervention. The question is will Africa stand up to the most powerful empire in history or will it continue to allow Western powers (U.S. France and Britain) to exploit its natural resources?
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-battle-for-oil-in-central-africa-fighting-joseph-kony-and-the-lords-resistance-army-or-confronting-china/5344311
The agenda is for the control of the natural resources throughout Africa. If Washington can counter China by influencing governments through military and financial aid, then the possibility of exploiting oil and other commodities will benefit the Military-Industrial Complex and Wall Street.
---snip
With the U.S. involved in coups, wars and political manipulation of governments in the past and present, China seems more favorable to most governments in Africa. Why? China is not overthrowing governments or invading countries, they negotiate with the intention of doing business with the country for the long-term. China seeks business partners for its own economic growth with investment projects in many African nations. As for America’s future in the African continent, it seems the Africa Command (AFRICOM) and its new drone base in Niger
does not seem to win the “hearts and minds” of most African governments and its people. Then again, the U.S. can intimidate countries within Africa with its military and intelligence apparatus by either implementing a coup, assassinating a political leader (Patrice Lumumba of the Congo) or even a direct military intervention. The question is will Africa stand up to the most powerful empire in history or will it continue to allow Western powers (U.S. France and Britain) to exploit its natural resources?
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-battle-for-oil-in-central-africa-fighting-joseph-kony-and-the-lords-resistance-army-or-confronting-china/5344311
United States involvement
snip---
The inauguration of U.S. President John F. Kennedy in January 1961 caused fear among Mobutu's faction and within the CIA that the incoming administration would shift its favor to the imprisoned Lumumba.[50] Lumumba was killed three days before Kennedy's inauguration on 20 January, though Kennedy would not learn of the killing until 13 February.[51]
Church Committee
In 1975, the Church Committee went on record with the finding that Allen Dulles had ordered Lumumba's assassination as "an urgent and prime objective".[52] Furthermore, declassified CIA cables quoted or mentioned in the Church report and in Kalb (1972) mention two specific CIA plots to murder Lumumba: the poison plot and a shooting plot. Although some sources claim that CIA plots ended when Lumumba was captured, that is not stated or shown in the CIA records.
snip---
Declassified documents revealed that the CIA had plotted to assassinate Lumumba. These documents indicate that the Congolese leaders who killed Lumumba, including Mobutu and Joseph Kasavubu received money and weapons directly from the CIA.[42][56] This same disclosure showed that at that time the U.S. government believed that Lumumba was a communist.[57]
A recently declassified interview with then-US National Security Council minutekeeper Robert Johnson revealed that U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower had said "something [to CIA chief Allen Dulles] to the effect that Lumumba should be eliminated".[55] The interview from the Senate Intelligence Committee's inquiry on covert action was released in August 2000.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrice_Lumumba
snip---
The inauguration of U.S. President John F. Kennedy in January 1961 caused fear among Mobutu's faction and within the CIA that the incoming administration would shift its favor to the imprisoned Lumumba.[50] Lumumba was killed three days before Kennedy's inauguration on 20 January, though Kennedy would not learn of the killing until 13 February.[51]
Church Committee
In 1975, the Church Committee went on record with the finding that Allen Dulles had ordered Lumumba's assassination as "an urgent and prime objective".[52] Furthermore, declassified CIA cables quoted or mentioned in the Church report and in Kalb (1972) mention two specific CIA plots to murder Lumumba: the poison plot and a shooting plot. Although some sources claim that CIA plots ended when Lumumba was captured, that is not stated or shown in the CIA records.
snip---
Declassified documents revealed that the CIA had plotted to assassinate Lumumba. These documents indicate that the Congolese leaders who killed Lumumba, including Mobutu and Joseph Kasavubu received money and weapons directly from the CIA.[42][56] This same disclosure showed that at that time the U.S. government believed that Lumumba was a communist.[57]
A recently declassified interview with then-US National Security Council minutekeeper Robert Johnson revealed that U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower had said "something [to CIA chief Allen Dulles] to the effect that Lumumba should be eliminated".[55] The interview from the Senate Intelligence Committee's inquiry on covert action was released in August 2000.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrice_Lumumba
Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa Za Banga (/məˈbuːtuː ˈsɛseɪ ˈsɛkoʊ/; born Joseph-Desiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997) was the President of Democratic Republic of the Congo (which Mobutu renamed Zaire in 1971) from 1965 to 1997.
Installed and supported in office primarily by Belgium and the United States,[1] he formed an authoritarian regime, amassed vast personal wealth, and attempted to purge the country of all colonial cultural influence while enjoying considerable support by the United States due to his anti-communist stance.
During the Congo Crisis, Belgian and CIA-backed forces aided Mobutu in a coup against the nationalist government of Patrice Lumumba in 1960 to take control of the government. Lumumba was the first leader in the country to be democratically elected and was killed by a Katangese firing squad; Mobutu soon became the army chief of staff.[2] He took power directly in a second coup in 1965. As part of his program of “national authenticity”, Mobutu changed the Congo's name to Zaïre in 1971 and his own name to Mobutu Sese Seko in 1972.
Mobutu established a single-party state in which all power was concentrated in his hands. He also became the object of a pervasive cult of personality.[2] During his reign, Mobutu built a highly centralized state and amassed a large personal fortune through economic exploitation and corruption, leading some to call his rule a “kleptocracy”.[3][4] The nation suffered from uncontrolled inflation, a large debt, and massive currency devaluations. By 1991, economic deterioration and unrest led him to agree to share power with opposition leaders, but he used the army to thwart change until May 1997, when rebel forces led by Laurent Kabila expelled him from the country. Already suffering from prostate cancer, he died three months later in Morocco.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobutu_Sese_Seko
Installed and supported in office primarily by Belgium and the United States,[1] he formed an authoritarian regime, amassed vast personal wealth, and attempted to purge the country of all colonial cultural influence while enjoying considerable support by the United States due to his anti-communist stance.
During the Congo Crisis, Belgian and CIA-backed forces aided Mobutu in a coup against the nationalist government of Patrice Lumumba in 1960 to take control of the government. Lumumba was the first leader in the country to be democratically elected and was killed by a Katangese firing squad; Mobutu soon became the army chief of staff.[2] He took power directly in a second coup in 1965. As part of his program of “national authenticity”, Mobutu changed the Congo's name to Zaïre in 1971 and his own name to Mobutu Sese Seko in 1972.
Mobutu established a single-party state in which all power was concentrated in his hands. He also became the object of a pervasive cult of personality.[2] During his reign, Mobutu built a highly centralized state and amassed a large personal fortune through economic exploitation and corruption, leading some to call his rule a “kleptocracy”.[3][4] The nation suffered from uncontrolled inflation, a large debt, and massive currency devaluations. By 1991, economic deterioration and unrest led him to agree to share power with opposition leaders, but he used the army to thwart change until May 1997, when rebel forces led by Laurent Kabila expelled him from the country. Already suffering from prostate cancer, he died three months later in Morocco.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobutu_Sese_Seko
Independence
On 1 December 1958 the colony of Ubangi-Shari became an autonomous territory within the French Community and took the name Central African Republic. The founding father and president of the Conseil de Gouvernement, Barthélémy Boganda, died in a mysterious plane accident in 1959, just eight days before the last elections of the colonial era.
On 13 August 1960, the Central African Republic gained its independence and two of Boganda's closest aides, Abel Goumba and David Dacko, became involved in a power struggle. With the backing of the French, Dacko took power and soon had Goumba arrested. By 1962, President Dacko had established a one-party state.
Bokassa and the Central African Empire
On 31 December 1965, Dacko was overthrown in the Saint-Sylvestre coup d'état by Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa, who suspended the constitution and dissolved the National Assembly. President Bokassa declared himself President For Life in 1972, and named himself Emperor Bokassa I of the Central African Empire (as the country was renamed) on 4 December 1976. A year later, Emperor Bokassa crowned himself in a lavish and expensive ceremony that was ridiculed by much of the world.[14] In April 1979, young students protested against Bokassa's decree that all school attendees would need to buy uniforms from a company owned by one of his wives. The government violently suppressed the protests, killing 100 children and teenagers. Bokassa himself may have been personally involved in some of the killings.[15] In 1979, France carried out a coup against Bokassa and "restored" Dacko to power (the name of the country was subsequently restored to Central African Republic). Dacko, in turn, was overthrown in a coup by General André Kolingba on 1 September 1981.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_African_Republic
On 1 December 1958 the colony of Ubangi-Shari became an autonomous territory within the French Community and took the name Central African Republic. The founding father and president of the Conseil de Gouvernement, Barthélémy Boganda, died in a mysterious plane accident in 1959, just eight days before the last elections of the colonial era.
On 13 August 1960, the Central African Republic gained its independence and two of Boganda's closest aides, Abel Goumba and David Dacko, became involved in a power struggle. With the backing of the French, Dacko took power and soon had Goumba arrested. By 1962, President Dacko had established a one-party state.
Bokassa and the Central African Empire
On 31 December 1965, Dacko was overthrown in the Saint-Sylvestre coup d'état by Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa, who suspended the constitution and dissolved the National Assembly. President Bokassa declared himself President For Life in 1972, and named himself Emperor Bokassa I of the Central African Empire (as the country was renamed) on 4 December 1976. A year later, Emperor Bokassa crowned himself in a lavish and expensive ceremony that was ridiculed by much of the world.[14] In April 1979, young students protested against Bokassa's decree that all school attendees would need to buy uniforms from a company owned by one of his wives. The government violently suppressed the protests, killing 100 children and teenagers. Bokassa himself may have been personally involved in some of the killings.[15] In 1979, France carried out a coup against Bokassa and "restored" Dacko to power (the name of the country was subsequently restored to Central African Republic). Dacko, in turn, was overthrown in a coup by General André Kolingba on 1 September 1981.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_African_Republic
January 19, 2014
% =
January 18, 2014
January 14, 2014
"Failed Everywhere It's Been Tried"
The Deadly Wages of Free Trade
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/01/14/the-deadly-wages-of-free-trade/
Back in the mid-1990’s, the signatories to the North American Free Trade Agreement promised that the border town of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico would become the model city for the new “free trade” pact. Indeed, it has become a model city for NAFTA, but not in the way its architects had intended. Thus, rather than becoming a showcase for economic development and prosperity which “free trade” promised to usher in, Ciudad Juarez instead has become a city plagued by murder rates equivalent to nations at war, and has witnessed the bizarre phenomenon of “femicide” which has violently claimed the lives of around 400 girls and young women since the passage of NAFTA. [1]
In a similar vein, the port town of Buenaventura has become the poster child for the Colombia Free Trade Agreement. Even before the FTA was finally ratified by Congress and signed into law by President Obama in October of 2011, violence began to plague Buenaventura as armed paramilitary groups vied for control of the new ports being built in preparation for the influx of trade which the FTA was to bring. Thus, in September of 2011, acclaimed human rights advocate, Father Javier Giraldo, S.J., wrote to U.S. Ambassador P. Michael McKinley of
the permanent genocide that is being carried out in Buenaventura, where the neighborhoods and the Community Councils around the port are being invaded by paramilitaries supported or tolerated by the armed forces. They cut people in pieces with horrifying cruelty throwing the body parts in to the sea, if any of them dare to resist the megaproject for the new port. This included the expulsion of people living in the poorest areas and it includes the expropriation of the plots of garbage dumps where these people, in the midst of their misery, have over decades tried to survive. [2]
pdf Heading South
U.S.-Mexico trade and
job displacement after NAFTA
Economic integration and deregulation hurt workers in Canada, Mexico, and the United States
http://epi.3cdn.net/fdade52b876e04793b_7fm6ivz2y.pdf
oh, pooh-pooh! The TPP will bring prosperity, opportunity, and bouquets of fresh elderberries
to the 99%, and especially indigenous folks, everywhere.
Just like NAFTA did.
NAFTA at 20: Lori Wallach on U.S. Job Losses, Record Income Inequality, Mass Displacement in Mexico--1/3/14
Mexico: Rural workers and indigenous denounce 20 years of destruction 1/8/14
January 14, 2014
"Failed Everywhere It's Been Tried"
The Deadly Wages of Free Trade
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/01/14/the-deadly-wages-of-free-trade/
Back in the mid-1990’s, the signatories to the North American Free Trade Agreement promised that the border town of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico would become the model city for the new “free trade” pact. Indeed, it has become a model city for NAFTA, but not in the way its architects had intended. Thus, rather than becoming a showcase for economic development and prosperity which “free trade” promised to usher in, Ciudad Juarez instead has become a city plagued by murder rates equivalent to nations at war, and has witnessed the bizarre phenomenon of “femicide” which has violently claimed the lives of around 400 girls and young women since the passage of NAFTA. [1]
In a similar vein, the port town of Buenaventura has become the poster child for the Colombia Free Trade Agreement. Even before the FTA was finally ratified by Congress and signed into law by President Obama in October of 2011, violence began to plague Buenaventura as armed paramilitary groups vied for control of the new ports being built in preparation for the influx of trade which the FTA was to bring. Thus, in September of 2011, acclaimed human rights advocate, Father Javier Giraldo, S.J., wrote to U.S. Ambassador P. Michael McKinley of
the permanent genocide that is being carried out in Buenaventura, where the neighborhoods and the Community Councils around the port are being invaded by paramilitaries supported or tolerated by the armed forces. They cut people in pieces with horrifying cruelty throwing the body parts in to the sea, if any of them dare to resist the megaproject for the new port. This included the expulsion of people living in the poorest areas and it includes the expropriation of the plots of garbage dumps where these people, in the midst of their misery, have over decades tried to survive. [2]
pdf Heading South
U.S.-Mexico trade and
job displacement after NAFTA
Economic integration and deregulation hurt workers in Canada, Mexico, and the United States
http://epi.3cdn.net/fdade52b876e04793b_7fm6ivz2y.pdf
January 18, 2014
Business Insider, Jan. 16, 2014: How Occupy Wall Street Won In One Chart
This OP is dedicated to the DU Sacred Order of Random Anti-Justice Movement Trolls.
How Occupy Wall Street Won In One Chart
Agree or disagree with the aims and means of Occupy Wall Street, but the movement changed the way we think about our world forever.
For proof, look no further than the upcoming World Economic Forum in Davos. Each year, the organization puts out a report indicating what it believes are the world's biggest risks.
For the past three years, income inequality has been the #1 global risk.
But prior to 2012, inequality wasn't even on the list. Those protests in 2011 clearly had a profound on global thinking, right up tot he elite level.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-occupy-wall-street-won-in-one-chart-2014-1#ixzz2qmIhbicp
Agree or disagree with the aims and means of Occupy Wall Street, but the movement changed the way we think about our world forever.
For proof, look no further than the upcoming World Economic Forum in Davos. Each year, the organization puts out a report indicating what it believes are the world's biggest risks.
For the past three years, income inequality has been the #1 global risk.
But prior to 2012, inequality wasn't even on the list. Those protests in 2011 clearly had a profound on global thinking, right up tot he elite level.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-occupy-wall-street-won-in-one-chart-2014-1#ixzz2qmIhbicp
January 18, 2014
We were hoping more people, like you, who say they support justice/equality/democracy/movements, would/will assist us in our struggle to attain democracy.
We had to discontinue existing tactics at the point where the cops were given the green light to and arrest beat the shit out of us, with impunity. They got it down to an exact science, and they knew we wouldn't shoot back, pepper spray them, or bloody their heads with sticks, like they did to us.
Occupy Arrests Near 8,000 As Wall Street Eludes Prosecution
But our first objective had already been accomplished.
Occupy is alive and well, we are just engaged in many different forms of tactical resistance right now, and we are not much in the news because what we are doing is generally not yet subversive enough for the authorities to justify publicly beating and arresting us.
http://occupysandy.net/
http://occupywallst.org/
Occupy Wall Street activists buy $15m of Americans' personal debt
Free Medical Clinic
Rolling Jubilee
Occupy Madison's 'tiny house' village plan embraced by some neighbors, cops not sold
http://host.madison.com/news/local/writers/pat_schneider/occupy-madison-s-tiny-house-village-plan-embraced-by-some/article_619866f2-7ed5-11e3-83c2-001a4bcf887a.html#ixzz2qm9MczrM
We're all still here; we're all around you.
First of all, the first round was to get your attention about injustice, inequality, corporate
control of existing systems, etc.
You can agree or disagree with the aims and means of Occupy, but OWS changed the way we think about our world forever.
Even they know we won the first round.
Business Insider Jan.16, 2014: How Occupy Wall Street Won In One Chart
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-occupy-wall-street-won-in-one-chart-2014-1
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-occupy-wall-street-won-in-one-chart-2014-1
We were hoping more people, like you, who say they support justice/equality/democracy/movements, would/will assist us in our struggle to attain democracy.
We had to discontinue existing tactics at the point where the cops were given the green light to and arrest beat the shit out of us, with impunity. They got it down to an exact science, and they knew we wouldn't shoot back, pepper spray them, or bloody their heads with sticks, like they did to us.
Occupy Arrests Near 8,000 As Wall Street Eludes Prosecution
But our first objective had already been accomplished.
Occupy is alive and well, we are just engaged in many different forms of tactical resistance right now, and we are not much in the news because what we are doing is generally not yet subversive enough for the authorities to justify publicly beating and arresting us.
http://occupysandy.net/
http://occupywallst.org/
Occupy Wall Street activists buy $15m of Americans' personal debt
Free Medical Clinic
Rolling Jubilee
Occupy Madison's 'tiny house' village plan embraced by some neighbors, cops not sold
http://host.madison.com/news/local/writers/pat_schneider/occupy-madison-s-tiny-house-village-plan-embraced-by-some/article_619866f2-7ed5-11e3-83c2-001a4bcf887a.html#ixzz2qm9MczrM
We're all still here; we're all around you.
January 17, 2014
Occupy still exists. I'm pointing out that when we were pleading with people to help us
take action to bring about freedom, we threw a party, and many said they'd like to come, but that their darn dog had eaten their homework, so they couldn't make it.
Yes, I am absolutely trying to recruit you, for when Occupy goes into direct action mode again. To prepare yourself to engage in direct action peaceful resistance when the opportunity arises again, and help us to make it so that resistance is not futile.
Resistance will always be futile when nobody resists. And trust me, things will only continue to get worse until enough of us take a continuous, active, united stand against the 1%.
I'm not questioning your courage, I'm pointing out that there was an opportunity for possible massive change, and many who were complaining about their situation then, and who are complaining about their situation now, did not rise to action; they did not take advantage of the opportunity to make their life better when the opportunity arose.
January 17, 2014
― Hillel the Elder
I'm not trying to get on your case here, what I'm trying to point out is that I see a whole of rhetoric and complaining here and elsewhere, but no action or willingness to take action when a genuine opportunity for change arises. Solidarity, focus, and sacrifice is necessary among enough like minded people to achieve the critical mass necessary to achieve justice, equality, democracy, freedom and peace.
It takes a village to raise a child.
Would you, then, participate in a general strike, boycott, etc for these reasons/goals?
As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power.
"We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.
They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.
They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.
They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.
They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.
They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless animals, and actively hide these practices.
They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.
They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.
They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.
They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.
They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.
They have sold our privacy as a commodity.
They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press. They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.
They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.
They have donated large sums of money to politicians, who are responsible for regulating them.
They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.
They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives or provide relief in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantial profit.
They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.
They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.
They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.
They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad. They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.
They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts.*
"To the people of the world,
"We, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.
"We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.
They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.
They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.
They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.
They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.
They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless animals, and actively hide these practices.
They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.
They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.
They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.
They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.
They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.
They have sold our privacy as a commodity.
They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press. They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.
They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.
They have donated large sums of money to politicians, who are responsible for regulating them.
They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.
They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives or provide relief in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantial profit.
They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.
They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.
They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.
They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad. They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.
They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts.*
"To the people of the world,
"We, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.
We want another world, and such a world is possible:
1. The economy must be put to the service of people's welfare, and to support and serve the environment, not private profit. We want a system where labour is appreciated by its social utility, not its financial or commercial profit. Therefore, we demand:
2. To achieve these objectives, we believe that the economy should be run democratically at all levels, from local to global. People must get democratic control over financial institutions, transnational corporations and their lobbies. To this end, we demand:
3. We believe that political systems must be fully democratic. We therefore demand full democratisation of international institutions, and the elimination of the veto power of a few governments. We want a political system which really represent the variety and diversity of our societies:
(MORE AT LINK)
1. The economy must be put to the service of people's welfare, and to support and serve the environment, not private profit. We want a system where labour is appreciated by its social utility, not its financial or commercial profit. Therefore, we demand:
2. To achieve these objectives, we believe that the economy should be run democratically at all levels, from local to global. People must get democratic control over financial institutions, transnational corporations and their lobbies. To this end, we demand:
3. We believe that political systems must be fully democratic. We therefore demand full democratisation of international institutions, and the elimination of the veto power of a few governments. We want a political system which really represent the variety and diversity of our societies:
(MORE AT LINK)
“If not now, when? If not you, who?”
― Hillel the Elder
I'm not trying to get on your case here, what I'm trying to point out is that I see a whole of rhetoric and complaining here and elsewhere, but no action or willingness to take action when a genuine opportunity for change arises. Solidarity, focus, and sacrifice is necessary among enough like minded people to achieve the critical mass necessary to achieve justice, equality, democracy, freedom and peace.
It takes a village to raise a child.
January 17, 2014
We can't even get many progressives to agree that sexualization, objectification,
and dehumanization of women are real problems. They are very real things, and have very real impact on both girls and boys.
One thing we can do about it is at least admit that these things are real problems, rather than denying their existence and subsequently not permitting more solutions to these problems to go forward, so we can eliminate some of the "dumbass shit guy" attitudes toward women to stop the manifestations of violence towards women that sexualization, objectification, and dehumanization of women can lead to.
Cyclical dehumanization and abuse of women in the home is very likely a large factor in why many of these "dumbass shit guys have been doing this sort of thing for years".
Sexualization
Objectification and dehumanization of women and men
Dehumanization (or dehumanisation) describes the denial of “humanness” to others and is theorized to take on two forms: animalistic dehumanization, which is employed on a largely intergroup basis, and mechanistic dehumanization, which is employed on a largely interpersonal basis.[1] Dehumanization can occur discursively (e.g., idiomatic language that likens certain human beings to non-human animals, verbal abuse, erasing one's voice from discourse), symbolically (e.g., imagery), or physically (e.g., chattel slavery, physical abuse, refusing eye contact). Dehumanization often ignores the target's individuality (i.e., the creative and interesting aspects of his or her personality) and prevents one from showing compassion towards stigmatized groups.[citation needed]
Dehumanization may be carried out by a social institution (such as a state, school, or family), interpersonally, or even within the self. Dehumanization can be unintentional, especially on the part of individuals, as with some types of de facto racism. State-organized dehumanization has historically been directed against perceived political, racial, ethnic, national, or religious minority groups. Other minoritized and marginalized individuals and groups (based on sexuality, gender, (dis)ability, class, or some other organizing principle) are also susceptible to various forms of dehumanization. The concept of dehumanization has received empirical attention in the psychological literature.[2][3] It is conceptually related to infrahumanization,[4] deligitimization,[5] moral exclusion[6] and objectification.[7] Dehumanization occurs across several domains, is facilitated by status, power, and social connection, and results in behaviors like exclusion, violence, and support for violence against others.
snip----
Fredrickson and Roberts argued that the sexual objectification of women extends beyond pornography (which emphasizes women's and men's bodies over their uniquely human mental and emotional characteristics) to society generally. There is a normative emphasis on female appearance that causes women to take a third-person perspective on their bodies.[20] The psychological distance women may feel from their bodies might cause them to dehumanize themselves. Some research has indicated that women and men exhibit a "sexual body part recognition bias" in which women's sexual body parts are better recognized when presented in isolation than in the context of their entire bodies whereas men's sexual body parts are better recognized in the context of their entire bodies than in isolation.[21] Men who dehumanize women as either animals or objects are more liable to rape and sexually harass women and display more negative attitudes toward female rape victims [22] In pornography male actors are dehumanized through the suppression of their facial expressions, identities and personalities, and objectified through emphasis on their bodies.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dehumanization#Objectification_and_dehumanization_of_women_and_men
Dehumanization (or dehumanisation) describes the denial of “humanness” to others and is theorized to take on two forms: animalistic dehumanization, which is employed on a largely intergroup basis, and mechanistic dehumanization, which is employed on a largely interpersonal basis.[1] Dehumanization can occur discursively (e.g., idiomatic language that likens certain human beings to non-human animals, verbal abuse, erasing one's voice from discourse), symbolically (e.g., imagery), or physically (e.g., chattel slavery, physical abuse, refusing eye contact). Dehumanization often ignores the target's individuality (i.e., the creative and interesting aspects of his or her personality) and prevents one from showing compassion towards stigmatized groups.[citation needed]
Dehumanization may be carried out by a social institution (such as a state, school, or family), interpersonally, or even within the self. Dehumanization can be unintentional, especially on the part of individuals, as with some types of de facto racism. State-organized dehumanization has historically been directed against perceived political, racial, ethnic, national, or religious minority groups. Other minoritized and marginalized individuals and groups (based on sexuality, gender, (dis)ability, class, or some other organizing principle) are also susceptible to various forms of dehumanization. The concept of dehumanization has received empirical attention in the psychological literature.[2][3] It is conceptually related to infrahumanization,[4] deligitimization,[5] moral exclusion[6] and objectification.[7] Dehumanization occurs across several domains, is facilitated by status, power, and social connection, and results in behaviors like exclusion, violence, and support for violence against others.
snip----
Fredrickson and Roberts argued that the sexual objectification of women extends beyond pornography (which emphasizes women's and men's bodies over their uniquely human mental and emotional characteristics) to society generally. There is a normative emphasis on female appearance that causes women to take a third-person perspective on their bodies.[20] The psychological distance women may feel from their bodies might cause them to dehumanize themselves. Some research has indicated that women and men exhibit a "sexual body part recognition bias" in which women's sexual body parts are better recognized when presented in isolation than in the context of their entire bodies whereas men's sexual body parts are better recognized in the context of their entire bodies than in isolation.[21] Men who dehumanize women as either animals or objects are more liable to rape and sexually harass women and display more negative attitudes toward female rape victims [22] In pornography male actors are dehumanized through the suppression of their facial expressions, identities and personalities, and objectified through emphasis on their bodies.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dehumanization#Objectification_and_dehumanization_of_women_and_men
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