Politically and theoretically, they are rooted in the anti-Marxist
conceptions
of postmodernism, obsessed with race, sex and gender." As a lifelong
socialist myself- still learning- I deeply appreciate this refreshing
shift to a pure CLASS point of view. Most socialists-until the last few
decades- were always more than sensitive-within their context- to
special forms of oppression - like anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, racism,
sexism, homophobia, ageism . Now we have too many capitalist-imperialist
friendly-oh-so-politically correct - " socialists " . Why not just ask :
what is wrong with an economic- political system that can only be
defended with lies and brutality ?
You got it right :
PSEUDO-LEFTISM is openly serving the class enemy. How can telling the
truth wreck anybody's " world-historic " party or organization ?
TRUTH is always liberating .
Thursday, December 31, 2015
In defense of " rapist " Bill Cosby
Black women defend Bill Cosby
If I were on the jury I would certainly give a merciful benefit of
the doubt to old Bill Cosby. Black women, I just read, are quick to
defend Cosby. As a democratic Socialist I am well aware how bourgeois
feminism is corrupting the souls of American women. They are now judged
fit to serve in combat roles in the military . Can you imagine one
female officer being accused by 30 lower ranking male soldiers of
violent DRUGGED rape ?
As Henry Kissinger observed : power- wealth-celebrity- is an aphrodisiac. A completely uninterested- in- sex rape victim should report it right away.Not years later with $$$ in mind.
As Henry Kissinger observed : power- wealth-celebrity- is an aphrodisiac. A completely uninterested- in- sex rape victim should report it right away.Not years later with $$$ in mind.
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Capitalism breeds sexism
Evelyn Reed lecture on women's history
The violent rape of a completely uninterested female is criminal, of
course. But this is not so easy to PROVE in a law court in the case of
Bill Cosby. Modern feminism had its very roots in the Socialist
movement. And a rather well known socialist( SWP ) and feminist, Evelyn
Reed, explains the oppression of women as a sex in a one hour lecture(
1970 ) on You Tube.
Reed's position is that capitalism-not men in general- is the real enemy of women's liberation.
The sexist attitude toward women is encouraged by our capitalist, consumerist culture. Long ago advertising learned that " sex sells ". How many " normal " males can rise above all this manic sexual stimuli ? And even very aged males have to listen to those silly Viagra commercials on TV every night at supper time. The message : " Always be ready ! "
Capitalism is corrupting the human soul .
[ " Many women in the liberation movement, especially those who have studied Engels’s Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, have come to understand that the roots of women’s degradation and oppression are lodged in class society. Quite correctly they coined the term “sexist” to describe the capitalist social system, the final stage of class society, which discriminates against women in every sphere of life " ( Evelyn Reed , socialist and feminist ) . ]
Reed's position is that capitalism-not men in general- is the real enemy of women's liberation.
The sexist attitude toward women is encouraged by our capitalist, consumerist culture. Long ago advertising learned that " sex sells ". How many " normal " males can rise above all this manic sexual stimuli ? And even very aged males have to listen to those silly Viagra commercials on TV every night at supper time. The message : " Always be ready ! "
Capitalism is corrupting the human soul .
[ " Many women in the liberation movement, especially those who have studied Engels’s Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, have come to understand that the roots of women’s degradation and oppression are lodged in class society. Quite correctly they coined the term “sexist” to describe the capitalist social system, the final stage of class society, which discriminates against women in every sphere of life " ( Evelyn Reed , socialist and feminist ) . ]
Bill Cosby as Mozart's " Don Giovanni "
Overture to Mozart's " Don Giovanni "
As a democratic Socialist-well aware of the aphrodisiac properties of
celebrity and wealth- I must give now old Bill Cosby the merciful
benefit of the doubt. I just listened to a 67 year friend -driving his
now junky Lincoln Town Car-tell me about all the erotic sexual
adventures he had with women -eager and willing young females-after he
inherited " only " a million dollars from his dead mother.They just
smelled MONEY, he said.
After paying cash for a new sports car this middle aged frog had turned into a real life prince, a Don Juan- the notorious " seducer of women " celebrated in the Mozart opera: .In a memorable scene Don Giovanni refuses to repent and a come-to-life statue - symbolizing AUTHORITY and high Catholic morals - escorts this proud but damned soul into the very fires of hell.
To be sure, not a few of these coldly seduced women made a shrine to The Don in their lust-haunted bed rooms.
Poor male peasants -even today - can only daydream of such delightful lechery. For them only melancholy and monotonous monogamy.
But let us pray for ALL lost souls .To forgive Don Giovanni is to forgive only the LIFE FORCE.
I will not throw the first stone at old Bill Cosby.Let him be generous in his will to ALL his sexual " conquests ".
After paying cash for a new sports car this middle aged frog had turned into a real life prince, a Don Juan- the notorious " seducer of women " celebrated in the Mozart opera: .In a memorable scene Don Giovanni refuses to repent and a come-to-life statue - symbolizing AUTHORITY and high Catholic morals - escorts this proud but damned soul into the very fires of hell.
To be sure, not a few of these coldly seduced women made a shrine to The Don in their lust-haunted bed rooms.
Poor male peasants -even today - can only daydream of such delightful lechery. For them only melancholy and monotonous monogamy.
But let us pray for ALL lost souls .To forgive Don Giovanni is to forgive only the LIFE FORCE.
I will not throw the first stone at old Bill Cosby.Let him be generous in his will to ALL his sexual " conquests ".
 |
| Bill Cosby as Mozart's " Don Giovanni " |
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
The best critics of Zionism are Jews themselves
For many years now most socialist groups have been quicker to defend anybody's free speech rights than today's very illiberal liberals. For me the best and most credible sources of Zionist criticism are Jews themselves who have never betrayed their humane ideals.
For example , the late Oliver Sacks - a rather non-political Jewish neurologist . In his biography " Uncle Tungsten " Sacks talks about his very negative impression of Zionist fund raisers for Israel in his English neighborhood in the 1940s. The famous scientist ( played by Robin Williams in the movie " Awakenings " ) described them quite simply as " bullies ".
On You Tube you can find scholars Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky passionately defending the rights of oppressed Palestinians.
In 1975 the United Nations declared Zionism to be a form of racism. But in the United States today it seems like anti-Zionism is considered anti-Semitic racism.
To be sure, no real socialist is ever seduced by toxic nationalism.
I love my country too. But I don't love capitalism and I don't love our greedy ruling class. And I won't say THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE to imperialist occupiers.
[ " I never heard [my parents] talk between themselves about Palestine or Zionism, and I suspected they had no strong convictions on the subject, at least until after the war, when the horror of the Holocaust made them feel there should be a “National Home.” I felt they were bullied by the organizers of these meetings, and by the gangsterlike evangelists who would pound at the front door and demand large sums for yeshivas or “schools in Israel.” My parents, clearheaded and independent in most other ways, seemed to become soft and helpless in the face of these demands, perhaps driven by a sense of obligation or anxiety. My own feelings […] were passionately negative: I came to hate Zionism and evangelism and politicking of every sort, which I regarded as noisy and intrusive and bullying. " ---- OLIVER SACKS ]
For example , the late Oliver Sacks - a rather non-political Jewish neurologist . In his biography " Uncle Tungsten " Sacks talks about his very negative impression of Zionist fund raisers for Israel in his English neighborhood in the 1940s. The famous scientist ( played by Robin Williams in the movie " Awakenings " ) described them quite simply as " bullies ".
On You Tube you can find scholars Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky passionately defending the rights of oppressed Palestinians.
In 1975 the United Nations declared Zionism to be a form of racism. But in the United States today it seems like anti-Zionism is considered anti-Semitic racism.
To be sure, no real socialist is ever seduced by toxic nationalism.
I love my country too. But I don't love capitalism and I don't love our greedy ruling class. And I won't say THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE to imperialist occupiers.
[ " I never heard [my parents] talk between themselves about Palestine or Zionism, and I suspected they had no strong convictions on the subject, at least until after the war, when the horror of the Holocaust made them feel there should be a “National Home.” I felt they were bullied by the organizers of these meetings, and by the gangsterlike evangelists who would pound at the front door and demand large sums for yeshivas or “schools in Israel.” My parents, clearheaded and independent in most other ways, seemed to become soft and helpless in the face of these demands, perhaps driven by a sense of obligation or anxiety. My own feelings […] were passionately negative: I came to hate Zionism and evangelism and politicking of every sort, which I regarded as noisy and intrusive and bullying. " ---- OLIVER SACKS ]
 |
| Dr. Sacks thought Zionist fund raisers were bullies |
" The Ghost of Eugene Debs speaks !!!! " ( ME - Radical Ron ? )
In America- as every democratic Socialist knows- black robed YOUR HONORS fawn on rich people in their courts. If a poor black kid killed 4 while driving drunk no judge or defense lawyer would declare that poverty was an excuse. It seems that this joke term " affluenza " keeps a lot of rich punks out of jail. Under a socialist government no rich kid with " affluenza " will go untreated. Indeed the very right to be a rich kid will be outlawed. In general Socialism will de-legitimize legitimate wealth.
Let any member of this ruling class ONE PERCENT go before a televised congressional hearing and defend his or her right to be born rich -or explain how they " earn " billions of dollars just by working so much harder than the rest of us working stiffs combined . It will be more absurd than the infamous Army-McCarthy hearings of the 1950s.
Let Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont preside over these hearings.
Let any member of this ruling class ONE PERCENT go before a televised congressional hearing and defend his or her right to be born rich -or explain how they " earn " billions of dollars just by working so much harder than the rest of us working stiffs combined . It will be more absurd than the infamous Army-McCarthy hearings of the 1950s.
Let Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont preside over these hearings.
Democratic Socialists view " political correctness " as a sort of anonymous tyranny
Republican
Donald Trump's contempt for " political correctness " - certainly not
his quasi-fascist politics- is shared by a not a few democratic
Socialists who have viewed " political correctness " as a sort of
anonymous tyranny - and a diversion from class struggle.. Socialism is
inconceivable without democratic rights - and good and well meaning
individuals- on the right-and on the left- have been sacrificed to this
pseudo-liberal Moloch, this killer of FREE SPEECH.
And as a democratic Socialist I doubt very much if " Harpy Hillary "- " tough on terrorism " Hillary Clinton- is less likely to start World War III than Donald Trump.
To be sure, even that future Mushroom Cloud will " rise above sexism "-unlike the crude but honest Donald Trump.
The American ruling class is preparing for future major war. The problem for THEM : How best to sell it to the American voters ? Hillary vs. The Donald ?
And as a democratic Socialist I doubt very much if " Harpy Hillary "- " tough on terrorism " Hillary Clinton- is less likely to start World War III than Donald Trump.
To be sure, even that future Mushroom Cloud will " rise above sexism "-unlike the crude but honest Donald Trump.
The American ruling class is preparing for future major war. The problem for THEM : How best to sell it to the American voters ? Hillary vs. The Donald ?
Monday, December 28, 2015
Lenin's " State and Revolution " explains killer cops in Chicago
All
these vindicated killer cops let loose not just on the black community
but on working class America. In " State and Revolution " written just
before the triumphant Russian Revolution of 1917 Vladimir Lenin made it
plain that the capitalist state was in essence an armed gang serving the
ruling class. The main objective of this police force is to defend the
PRIVATE PROPERTY of the rich. The HAVE NOT blacks are often gunned down
for rather petty violations of " law and order " - THEIR order, Lenin
would say.
The Black Muslim Malcolm X certainly agreed with Lenin on the nature of the state : " Show me a capitalist and I'll show you a blood sucker ", Malcolm said in a speech.
We ALL need another March On Washington .Workers of the world unite!
Ask " socialist " Bernie Sanders about the root of racism.
The ruling class wants to muzzle even old Bernie.
The Black Muslim Malcolm X certainly agreed with Lenin on the nature of the state : " Show me a capitalist and I'll show you a blood sucker ", Malcolm said in a speech.
We ALL need another March On Washington .Workers of the world unite!
Ask " socialist " Bernie Sanders about the root of racism.
The ruling class wants to muzzle even old Bernie.
Honest SOCIALISM is still Orwellian Thought Crime in capitalist America
While
invoking Orwell,Big Brother,Newspeak in ridiculing pro-war,
pro-capitalist, Donald Trump," Two Minutes Hate " Republicans, liberal
Democrats in the Hillary camp should not forget another inconvenient
truth: George Orwell was a life long Socialist. In one article he even
stated that " socialism should be obvious ".
To be sure , pro-war, pro-capitalist Hillary Clinton is no antagonistic
Emmanuel Goldstein ( who was actually patterned after Leon Trotsky ).And Bernie Sanders is but a pale shadow of the American socialist Eugene V. Debs.
Honest SOCIALISM is still THOUGHT CRIME in capitalist America.
[ Trotsky as potential real-life origin
Trotsky, 1918
( from Wikipedia on Emmanuel Goldstein )
Sunday, December 27, 2015
The Beat Generation beat most psychiatrists in recognizing the SICK SOCIETY
A compassionate understanding of the gay sexual orientation had a promising beginning with socialist humanists more than a century ago. But psychiatrists like the late Erich Fromm clearly thought that modern " psychotherapy " had been corrupted by a mindless -but lucrative -acceptance of the capitalist social order. In the 1950s a group of young, alienated persons- who became known as The Beat Generation-openly rebelled against " the system ". Life Magazine ( Nov.30 , 1959 ) described them as " The Only Rebellion Around " in the conformist 1950s. In his cult poem " Howl " Beat poet Allen Ginsberg defended both his own liberated homosexuality and the " communist " social philosophy of his " insane " and committed to a mental hospital mother. Ginsberg also opposed the Vietnam War. But back then most professional psychiatrists were devoted to greasing the " Odious Machine " ( Mario Savio, Berkeley Free Speech Movement ).
Only rich people can afford psychotherapy anyway today. So there is no chance for poor or working class gay kids to be talked into a return to " normalcy ". But how much real mental illness is induced by a stressed out " adjustment " to the capitalist rat race in America ? How conducive to mental health is the ferocious competitiveness of global capitalism ?
And how many poor victims of killer cops are just the neglected mentally ill ? Whole books have been written by dissident professional psychiatrists on the moral catastrophe of 50 years of DE-INSTITUTIONALIZATION .
American psychiatrists with any SOUL left should be ashamed of our sick society.
NOTE : Erich Fromm wrote a still relevant book titled " The Sane Society ". He too was a democratic socialist.
*****
[ " A young, gay Jewish man. But that's not all, of course. He was raised by a mentally ill mother, which ended up having a pretty big influence on his social philosophies—clearly, modern life drove people mad.
And, perhaps most importantly, Ginsberg was the flame that lit the fuse of the American cultural revolution. What he revealed to the world doesn't seem that shocking today. Because after the Beats came the 1960s. " ]
Only rich people can afford psychotherapy anyway today. So there is no chance for poor or working class gay kids to be talked into a return to " normalcy ". But how much real mental illness is induced by a stressed out " adjustment " to the capitalist rat race in America ? How conducive to mental health is the ferocious competitiveness of global capitalism ?
And how many poor victims of killer cops are just the neglected mentally ill ? Whole books have been written by dissident professional psychiatrists on the moral catastrophe of 50 years of DE-INSTITUTIONALIZATION .
American psychiatrists with any SOUL left should be ashamed of our sick society.
NOTE : Erich Fromm wrote a still relevant book titled " The Sane Society ". He too was a democratic socialist.
*****
[ " A young, gay Jewish man. But that's not all, of course. He was raised by a mentally ill mother, which ended up having a pretty big influence on his social philosophies—clearly, modern life drove people mad.
And, perhaps most importantly, Ginsberg was the flame that lit the fuse of the American cultural revolution. What he revealed to the world doesn't seem that shocking today. Because after the Beats came the 1960s. " ]
Just too much INEQUALITY in the world
Looking for outside enemies- a fascist practice Democratic Socialists were saying for more than a 100 years that human
civilization must rise above the prison-even the mental prison- of the
nation state. Among establishment politicians -on the Left and on the
Right- one ” problem ” rarely mentioned is the capitalist system itself.
You can put it in very non-inflammatory, undramatic words: There is just an unacceptable degree of INEQUALITY -in all its forms- in a world which FINALLY has the means to abolish it.
In America the ruling class is prepared to offer us an absurd contest between pro-war, pro-capitalist Hillary Clinton and pro-war, pro-capitalist Donald Trump.
The capitalist news media wants to marginalize even mild mannered Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont-an odd duck ” socialist ” Democrat.
You can put it in very non-inflammatory, undramatic words: There is just an unacceptable degree of INEQUALITY -in all its forms- in a world which FINALLY has the means to abolish it.
In America the ruling class is prepared to offer us an absurd contest between pro-war, pro-capitalist Hillary Clinton and pro-war, pro-capitalist Donald Trump.
The capitalist news media wants to marginalize even mild mannered Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont-an odd duck ” socialist ” Democrat.
More cop racial killings- a SOCIALIST explanation
Innocent black mother killed by Chicago police
These
almost weekly stories of " killer police " attacks on black people need
to be analyzed beyond racial oppression. As a democratic Socialist I
see a dysfunctional capitalist economic , social, and political order.
The nuclear family-so troubled in recent decades- is also clearly
dysfunctional.
You can give cops of ANY race or ethnic background daily lectures on " sensitivity " and politically correct law enforcement. But the root of the evil is a humanly unacceptable degree of INEQUALITY.
Among the two party system candidates ONLY Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont at least questions the capitalist system -- not even as a very militant socialist. But a good beginning .
You can give cops of ANY race or ethnic background daily lectures on " sensitivity " and politically correct law enforcement. But the root of the evil is a humanly unacceptable degree of INEQUALITY.
Among the two party system candidates ONLY Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont at least questions the capitalist system -- not even as a very militant socialist. But a good beginning .
Saturday, December 26, 2015
A sickening " heart warming " Christmas strory
To a degree even individual sanity depends on some rational
understanding of the HUMAN world. In general a socialist
perspective-about half as old as modern science-provides that for any
real " seeker of truth ". A quite sickening " heart-warming " Christmas
story told on local, conservative talk radio here: On Christmas Eve in
the midst of the battlefield horror of World War I - which has been
more and more idealized lately with that old Wilsonian blather-
spontaneously, they say, British and German trench warfare troops
suspended fighting and began singing Christmas carols together. What a
MIRACLE ! Then the generals restored ORDER- and the slaughter continued (
Verdun was in the near future, I think ).
So much for the message of the Prince of Peace. At the beginning of Bush's Iraq War one TV Catholic Priest -now disgraced- told his flock that " Mother Mary wore combat boots ".
But then how many American combat soldiers will find fighting -and dying-inspiration in Ayn Rand's " Virtue of Selfishness " ?
" Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition ".
Merry Christmas !
So much for the message of the Prince of Peace. At the beginning of Bush's Iraq War one TV Catholic Priest -now disgraced- told his flock that " Mother Mary wore combat boots ".
But then how many American combat soldiers will find fighting -and dying-inspiration in Ayn Rand's " Virtue of Selfishness " ?
" Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition ".
Merry Christmas !
 |
| Christmas Eve. truce of 1914- " A Christmas Miracle " ? |
Friday, December 25, 2015
New Atheists outvoted in any democracy
" Atheists, agnostics and those who do not
affiliate with religion will make up a smaller percentage of the world's
total population by 2050 — even though the group is growing in the U.S.
and Europe. "
As a democratic Socialist I have one point of concern with the vociferous-and often belligerent -New Atheists: If you share with socialists a desire for a more just, more rational world, you simply must respect the religious faith of the world's billions.I cannot imagine ANY left-wing political organization becoming a VOICE for the masses if it shows a hateful, contemptuous attitude toward people of faith. The worst example was set by New Atheist idol-and ex-Trotskyist- Christopher Hitchens . I read his nasty book " God Is Not Great- how religion poisons everything ". It did not surprise me that Hitchens' Islamophobia culminated in his support for the criminal war of U.S. imperialism in Iraq.
I recall with a smile the Catholic Catechism's warning against the sin of intellectual pride: Smarter than Thou ? Ask a New Atheist.
And I guess " democracy " just out votes them.
affiliate with religion will make up a smaller percentage of the world's
total population by 2050 — even though the group is growing in the U.S.
and Europe. "
As a democratic Socialist I have one point of concern with the vociferous-and often belligerent -New Atheists: If you share with socialists a desire for a more just, more rational world, you simply must respect the religious faith of the world's billions.I cannot imagine ANY left-wing political organization becoming a VOICE for the masses if it shows a hateful, contemptuous attitude toward people of faith. The worst example was set by New Atheist idol-and ex-Trotskyist- Christopher Hitchens . I read his nasty book " God Is Not Great- how religion poisons everything ". It did not surprise me that Hitchens' Islamophobia culminated in his support for the criminal war of U.S. imperialism in Iraq.
I recall with a smile the Catholic Catechism's warning against the sin of intellectual pride: Smarter than Thou ? Ask a New Atheist.
And I guess " democracy " just out votes them.
Thursday, December 24, 2015
We do not need a fascist police state to discourage prostitution
NEW ZEALAND - A campaign against loan sharks operating in
low-income communities was launched at a meeting last night. "One person
in particular, who works with young people on the street, talked about
how many of them are selling their bodies into prostitution because of
addictions to gambling, or to pay off borrowed money,"...]
Oh -so-respectable TV and radio news celebrities pimp the state lottery every hour of the day, then report these stories of prostitution busts with a moralizing smirk on their cosmetic perfected faces.
Asked " What makes a great scientist ? " on NOVA TV physicist, Stephon Alexander said: " Thinking the Unthinkable ".
Decriminalizing prostitution in Rhode Island should not be so " unthinkable ". We do need a " sense of sin " in thinking about human depravity. But we do not need a fascist police state to regulate personal morals.
Why not put the innocent victims of the reckless U.S. " war on terrorism " on the Providence Journal's " Operation Front Page " ?
low-income communities was launched at a meeting last night. "One person
in particular, who works with young people on the street, talked about
how many of them are selling their bodies into prostitution because of
addictions to gambling, or to pay off borrowed money,"...]
Oh -so-respectable TV and radio news celebrities pimp the state lottery every hour of the day, then report these stories of prostitution busts with a moralizing smirk on their cosmetic perfected faces.
Asked " What makes a great scientist ? " on NOVA TV physicist, Stephon Alexander said: " Thinking the Unthinkable ".
Decriminalizing prostitution in Rhode Island should not be so " unthinkable ". We do need a " sense of sin " in thinking about human depravity. But we do not need a fascist police state to regulate personal morals.
Why not put the innocent victims of the reckless U.S. " war on terrorism " on the Providence Journal's " Operation Front Page " ?
 |
| Gene Valicenti pimps the state lottery - with unfaked enthusiasm |
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
An erosion of support for FREE SPEECH on the right and on the left
It is only political common sense for activists on the Left to respect " free speech " tradition, not to disrupt right wing speakers, not try to silence even the most Far Right voices. The people willing to speak for the have-nots in this society rarely have easy access to the means of public communication- an access taken for granted by the corporate elite. So it is only the force of public opinion- a public that truly believes in free speech- that gives socialist candidates, antiwar candidates, even right-wing third party candidates the " opening " to get out their anti-establishment views. And the TRUTH itself is subversive. Would a very well informed public tolerate another year of this phony " war on terrorism " - in reality a war to make the world safe for the New Colonialism ? Would working class soldiers be willing to kill and be killed for Wilsonian blather ?
There has been a erosion of support for simple FREE SPEECH RIGHT on the left too. Nothing can be more illiberal than liberal " political correctness ". Professors are losing their jobs over the pseudo-right not to be offended ? I guess the old search for the truth is brutal on over-sensitive, petty-bourgeois neurotics.
A democratic Socialist myself I laugh at ACLU liberals who think the PRAYER ON THE WALL is an intentional insult to the godless. I am sure working class intellectuals did not invent identity politics-or the vicious New Atheism with its chorus of Islamophobes.
MERRY CHRISTMAS to ALL-even to all on the Far Right
There has been a erosion of support for simple FREE SPEECH RIGHT on the left too. Nothing can be more illiberal than liberal " political correctness ". Professors are losing their jobs over the pseudo-right not to be offended ? I guess the old search for the truth is brutal on over-sensitive, petty-bourgeois neurotics.
A democratic Socialist myself I laugh at ACLU liberals who think the PRAYER ON THE WALL is an intentional insult to the godless. I am sure working class intellectuals did not invent identity politics-or the vicious New Atheism with its chorus of Islamophobes.
MERRY CHRISTMAS to ALL-even to all on the Far Right
CIA could have replaced the Zbigniew B humanoid with " Hal " in "2001 - A Space Odyssey
" It is instructive to recall the words of former national security
adviser ...'..Democracy is inimical to imperial
mobilization.' "
A HUMAN being would be proud that " our " democracy is inimical to imperial mobilization. ". Here I can imagine a reductio ad absurdum argument for the existence of the human soul: so many of the intellectual representatives of this depraved capitalist system have lost their souls.
What sort of " privilege " can even tempt a once decent MAN to violate even Isaac Asimov's THREE LAWS OF ROBOTICS ?
The CIA could easily replace this Zbigniew B humanoid with a " Hal " ( from " 2001-a Space Odyssey ") .
A HUMAN being would be proud that " our " democracy is inimical to imperial mobilization. ". Here I can imagine a reductio ad absurdum argument for the existence of the human soul: so many of the intellectual representatives of this depraved capitalist system have lost their souls.
What sort of " privilege " can even tempt a once decent MAN to violate even Isaac Asimov's THREE LAWS OF ROBOTICS ?
The CIA could easily replace this Zbigniew B humanoid with a " Hal " ( from " 2001-a Space Odyssey ") .
Monday, December 21, 2015
Afghanistan - a Vietnam style quagmire
This summary is not available. Please
click here to view the post.
Sorry but " Joe Sixpack " is not a natural fan of fascist Donald Trump
[" NPR analysis
earlier this year found that one reason Trump has been able to sustain
his surprising momentum so long is that he has strong support among
those blue-collar voters — mostly white men without a college degree."]
To think that Donald Trump is the ideal candidate of " Joe Sixpack " is to slander the working class in general. In the last few decades of fatuous political correctness POOR WHITES have been invisible to the capitalist news media . And clearly " underprivileged " white people have been disdained and stereotyped by the black bourgeoisie. Working class white males have a lot in common with the still oppressed and exploited black masses. Indeed the Black Muslim Malcolm X made a connection way back in 1965 between racism and capitalism, between racism and U.S. imperialism.
The American ruling class plays a divide and conquer-at home and abroad. Naturally the working class white man is infuriated to hear that ALL whites are privileged in this society.
The neo-Democrats have been betraying New Deal economic principles for decades now. They fawn on the stressed out middle class : " Save the middle class ! ".
The neo-Democrats -now led by Hillary Clinton- are tone deaf to socialist Michael Harrington's " Other America ". Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is a refreshing exception- indeed he has at least detoxified the word SOCIALISM.
" Joe Sixpack " -when he sees the face of H.P. Lovecraft on his Narragansett Beer bottle- should know that HPL was a very sober SOCIALIST.
" Joe Sixpack "-- with just a little enlightenment ---will vote his CLASS interests- not for the very symbol of the ONE PERCENT, ruling class presidential candidate Donald Trump.
" Joe Sixpack " has no interest in capitalism at home or imperialism abroad.
" Joe Sixpack " is a pacifist at heart. A pacifist who still hates bullies like Donald Trump.
" Joe Sixpack " respects people who really WORK for a living.
earlier this year found that one reason Trump has been able to sustain
his surprising momentum so long is that he has strong support among
those blue-collar voters — mostly white men without a college degree."]
To think that Donald Trump is the ideal candidate of " Joe Sixpack " is to slander the working class in general. In the last few decades of fatuous political correctness POOR WHITES have been invisible to the capitalist news media . And clearly " underprivileged " white people have been disdained and stereotyped by the black bourgeoisie. Working class white males have a lot in common with the still oppressed and exploited black masses. Indeed the Black Muslim Malcolm X made a connection way back in 1965 between racism and capitalism, between racism and U.S. imperialism.
The American ruling class plays a divide and conquer-at home and abroad. Naturally the working class white man is infuriated to hear that ALL whites are privileged in this society.
The neo-Democrats have been betraying New Deal economic principles for decades now. They fawn on the stressed out middle class : " Save the middle class ! ".
The neo-Democrats -now led by Hillary Clinton- are tone deaf to socialist Michael Harrington's " Other America ". Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is a refreshing exception- indeed he has at least detoxified the word SOCIALISM.
" Joe Sixpack " -when he sees the face of H.P. Lovecraft on his Narragansett Beer bottle- should know that HPL was a very sober SOCIALIST.
" Joe Sixpack "-- with just a little enlightenment ---will vote his CLASS interests- not for the very symbol of the ONE PERCENT, ruling class presidential candidate Donald Trump.
" Joe Sixpack " has no interest in capitalism at home or imperialism abroad.
" Joe Sixpack " is a pacifist at heart. A pacifist who still hates bullies like Donald Trump.
" Joe Sixpack " respects people who really WORK for a living.
 |
| Donald Trump replaces Sarah Palin for " Joe " |
Foolish war on prostitution
American society of the 21st century resembles Orwell's " 1984 " in another rarely mentioned way: its sexual repression hidden behind mass media hedonism and sexual fantasy. This war against adult consent prostitution is as foolish as the idiotic and equally futile war on drugs.
Despite crackpot claims of bourgeois feminists most females in the " oldest profession " are not terrorized slaves exploited by depraved male pimps and " Johns ".
Back in the days of the Sexual Revolution this Brown professor would never have been disgraced.
Bourgeois marriage remains just LEGAL PROSTITUTION - and gay marriage is no exception.
***
The police involved in this war on the world's oldest profession should be ashamed of themselves. The bourgeois feminists devoted to man hating are just politically correct crackpots.
In capitalist society the human soul is FOR SALE. From the fascist- fem point of view an abortion factory is more moral than a sexually liberated House of No Shame.
END THE WAR ON PROSTITUTION !
Police war on prostitution
Despite crackpot claims of bourgeois feminists most females in the " oldest profession " are not terrorized slaves exploited by depraved male pimps and " Johns ".
Back in the days of the Sexual Revolution this Brown professor would never have been disgraced.
Bourgeois marriage remains just LEGAL PROSTITUTION - and gay marriage is no exception.
The police involved in this war on the world's oldest profession should be ashamed of themselves. The bourgeois feminists devoted to man hating are just politically correct crackpots.
In capitalist society the human soul is FOR SALE. From the fascist- fem point of view an abortion factory is more moral than a sexually liberated House of No Shame.
END THE WAR ON PROSTITUTION !
Police war on prostitution
News celebrity ( 630wpro.com ) Gene Valicenti getting nasty himself about " the cesspool of comments "
The decline of the American middle class is no shock to democratic
Socialists who have been observing-and COMMENTING on it-for years now. (
630wpro.com news "
celebrity " Gene Valicenti is pleased this morning that the capitalist
controlled news media is dealing with THIS problem by starting to
suppress the " cesspool of comments". His buddy " The Independent Man "
, John DePetro, is a victim of such nasty comments- coming mostly from
LIBERALS ? I don't approve the station boycott ) .
My high school English class-1965- had to read the " Communist Manifesto " back in the Cold War era- to sharpen our " critical thinking skills ". The introduction- no surprise to socialists- attempted to refute the very content of the revolutionary 1848 document ending with: " Workers of the world unite " ( God forbid! ).
The main point of the " friendly " introduction was that a growing and increasingly prosperous and well educated MIDDLE CLASS proved Karl Marx wrong about class war and the failure of capitalism.
Google the question " Was Marx right ? " and see how many YES views you get. As Gene Valicenti would say: " Yes, a cesspool of comments ". The vulgar masses SPEAK - and the ruling class trembles !
But thank God for right wing Talk Radio .
My high school English class-1965- had to read the " Communist Manifesto " back in the Cold War era- to sharpen our " critical thinking skills ". The introduction- no surprise to socialists- attempted to refute the very content of the revolutionary 1848 document ending with: " Workers of the world unite " ( God forbid! ).
The main point of the " friendly " introduction was that a growing and increasingly prosperous and well educated MIDDLE CLASS proved Karl Marx wrong about class war and the failure of capitalism.
Google the question " Was Marx right ? " and see how many YES views you get. As Gene Valicenti would say: " Yes, a cesspool of comments ". The vulgar masses SPEAK - and the ruling class trembles !
But thank God for right wing Talk Radio .
Sunday, December 20, 2015
The academic world turns rotten with decaying capitalism
Do all these neo-Nazi or pseudo-Left university scholars ever
consider that " ideas do not fall down from the skies " ? All the daffy
scholars- on the Right and on the pseudo-Left are as alien to a
scientific view of history as they are to the great working class. They
think and write as if they never read a word of Darwin, Marx, Freud,
Einstein. They reject everything that is good and decent in ALL the
great religions of humanity-and make their peace with the growing
darkness.
I just received a note from an Ayn Rand professor of philosophy who insists that the Republican Queen of Mean 's " Atlas Shrugged " is the greatest book of all time. Another fruitful category in modern philosophy is the Absurd .
I recall a scene from some now obscure movie where a working class character is heard saying : " All I know is that there are TWO classes. " I guess those terrible Bolsheviks had corrupted his mind.
But most of the daffy scholars are Muddle-Class.
Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong
[ Where do correct ideas come from? Do they drop from the skies? No. Are they innate in the mind? No. They come from social practice and from it alone. They come from three kinds of social practice: the struggle for production, the class struggle and scientific experiment.
I just received a note from an Ayn Rand professor of philosophy who insists that the Republican Queen of Mean 's " Atlas Shrugged " is the greatest book of all time. Another fruitful category in modern philosophy is the Absurd .
I recall a scene from some now obscure movie where a working class character is heard saying : " All I know is that there are TWO classes. " I guess those terrible Bolsheviks had corrupted his mind.
But most of the daffy scholars are Muddle-Class.
Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong
[ Where do correct ideas come from? Do they drop from the skies? No. Are they innate in the mind? No. They come from social practice and from it alone. They come from three kinds of social practice: the struggle for production, the class struggle and scientific experiment.
Where Do Correct Ideas Come from? (May 1963), 1st
pocket ed., p. 1.
It is man's social being that determines
his thinking. Once the correct ideas characteristic of the
advanced class are grasped by the masses, these ideas turn into a
material force which changes society and changes the world.]Saturday, December 19, 2015
The shadowy American ruling class cannot now control the ideological parameters of the 2016 presidential election
Nurse union wants Sanders to form a third party
As an
independent Socialist myself, I think it is just class struggle ABCs
that the Sanders campaign even now is more suited for a THIRD PARTY
organization-not for law suits against the Democratic Party
establishment. The inner circle of Hillary Clinton is as devoted to
capitalism as any Ayn Rand clique within the Republican Party.
So ALIENATED is the average American voter- on the Right and on the Left - that the shadowy ruling class can no longer control the ideological parameters of the 2016 presidential campaign.
Very interesting times.
So ALIENATED is the average American voter- on the Right and on the Left - that the shadowy ruling class can no longer control the ideological parameters of the 2016 presidential campaign.
Very interesting times.
Harrington Hall in Cranston needs a resident public health nurse
Homeless shelter must take in more sex offenders
An often homeless 67 year old friend
of mine ( described as a " Ragged Dave " in a letter published in the
Providence Journal ) " living " in his junky Lincoln Town Car, last
year thought he might find temporary relief at Harrington Hall in
Cranston to which he was directed by some senior citizen social worker
in Warwick. He spent at least one night there . His nightmare
description of the place- AS A HAZARD TO PUBLIC HEALTH-prompted me to
send an e-mail to the Rhode Island Department of Health. I am sure I
have a copy of that communication in my blog [
http://radicalrons.blogspot.com]
A few weeks ago in the Warwick Public Library " Ragged Dave " pointed to a frequent resident of Harrington Hall, a regular public computer user at the library. The poor middle aged man was a non-stop -sick and sickening- COUGHER. As the homeless Harrington Hall man was right across from me- with his tubercular sounding chronic cough- I wondered if it would be " politically incorrect " to suggest that he wear a hospital mask while visiting a very public library.
" Ragged Dave " told me that Harrington Hall was filthy, poorly ventilated at night- a dark,decayed " old fashioned insane asylum " ....... " sounded like a tuberculosis ward ".
During the day these homeless -evicted from Harrington Hall- are everywhere PUBLIC-using the rest rooms of fast food places, on RIPTA buses.
The one PUBLIC PLACE they are not in is PUBLIC HOUSING.
The Rhode Island Department of Health never responded to my e-mail alert. Their web site says they respond to all complaints..There should be a public health nurse assigned to Harrington Hall in Cranston.
.More about Harrington Hall
["The food's not bad, but the bathrooms are awful," said longtime Harrington resident Wayne Mackie, 60. "No privacy at all."
The state recently installed new windows and exterior doors. Yet the three bathrooms have no doors on the toilet stalls. Floor tiles are cracked or missing. Black mold fills the crevices and corners. One bathroom has no toilet paper — the dispenser is bolted to the wall in the hallway instead.
"How do I say this? This is screwed up," said Sen. John Tassoni, D-Smithfield, during a recent tour of the shelter. "This is not fit for man. The people in Guantanamo Bay have better accommodations."]
A few weeks ago in the Warwick Public Library " Ragged Dave " pointed to a frequent resident of Harrington Hall, a regular public computer user at the library. The poor middle aged man was a non-stop -sick and sickening- COUGHER. As the homeless Harrington Hall man was right across from me- with his tubercular sounding chronic cough- I wondered if it would be " politically incorrect " to suggest that he wear a hospital mask while visiting a very public library.
" Ragged Dave " told me that Harrington Hall was filthy, poorly ventilated at night- a dark,decayed " old fashioned insane asylum " ....... " sounded like a tuberculosis ward ".
During the day these homeless -evicted from Harrington Hall- are everywhere PUBLIC-using the rest rooms of fast food places, on RIPTA buses.
The one PUBLIC PLACE they are not in is PUBLIC HOUSING.
The Rhode Island Department of Health never responded to my e-mail alert. Their web site says they respond to all complaints..There should be a public health nurse assigned to Harrington Hall in Cranston.
.More about Harrington Hall
["The food's not bad, but the bathrooms are awful," said longtime Harrington resident Wayne Mackie, 60. "No privacy at all."
The state recently installed new windows and exterior doors. Yet the three bathrooms have no doors on the toilet stalls. Floor tiles are cracked or missing. Black mold fills the crevices and corners. One bathroom has no toilet paper — the dispenser is bolted to the wall in the hallway instead.
"How do I say this? This is screwed up," said Sen. John Tassoni, D-Smithfield, during a recent tour of the shelter. "This is not fit for man. The people in Guantanamo Bay have better accommodations."]
 |
| A public health hazard - Harrington Hall in Cranston ? |
Friday, December 18, 2015
Democratic Party establishment sends " socialist " Bernie Sanders to Chump-ville ?
Bernie Hillary data fight
Access to privatized intellectual property- detailed data on potential Hillary
Clinton or Bernie Sanders Democratic primary voters- should be a petty
issue for a CLASS based SOCIALIST inspired presidential campaign. A
socialist candidate -unless already a SOUL-OUT to some entrenched power
elite- will succeed as a socialist only to a degree that he or she
awakens class consciousness in a society divided by extreme economic
inequality. The " Hidden Persuaders " can be used by bourgeois
politicians to advance the agenda of a bourgeois political elite. The
Obama campaign, for example, advanced the agenda of the black
bourgeoisie -but that agenda hardly conflicted with the sacrosanct
interests of Corporate America.
No honest socialist believes that he can square the circle- satisfy both the have-not masses and ruling class elite. A democratic Socialist myself, I think Bernie Sanders should imitate Donald Trump and start talking THIRD PARTY.
Black and Latino voters will benefit themselves by sharpening their CLASS consciousness. Poor whites have been invisible to the politically correct LIBERALS for decades now.
Identity politics should be anathema to socialist politicians. That will never begin to change the class structure of American capitalist society.
I remain a " critical supporter " of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
No honest socialist believes that he can square the circle- satisfy both the have-not masses and ruling class elite. A democratic Socialist myself, I think Bernie Sanders should imitate Donald Trump and start talking THIRD PARTY.
Black and Latino voters will benefit themselves by sharpening their CLASS consciousness. Poor whites have been invisible to the politically correct LIBERALS for decades now.
Identity politics should be anathema to socialist politicians. That will never begin to change the class structure of American capitalist society.
I remain a " critical supporter " of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
Thursday, December 17, 2015
Coming soon : an American equivalent of Celine's " Journey to the End of the Night "
Celine, " Journey to the End of the Night
I read Huckleberry Finn in high school ( circa 1965 ) . Mark Twain 's famous novel was certainly " friendly " to the dramatic civil rights movement in America at that time. A few years later I was inspired by Mark Twain's anti-imperialism and quoted him in a published letter opposing the Vietnam War: " In America we have those three precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice any of them ".
Right wing talk radio in Rhode Island is always associating the more ridiculous forms of " political correctness " with some generic LEFT. For years now I have associated identity politics -often vicious, narrow minded, and punitive- with a degenerate " illiberal liberalism " that has completely retreated from class struggle issues.
And you would think that very fragile left wing organizations would be in the vanguard of any FREE SPEECH movement .
The experience of my life is that TRUTH itself is invariably subversive. And what exposes the SOCIAL LIE more effectively than great literature ? What literate young people today might like to read is an American equivalent of Celine's " Journey to the End of the Night " - reviewed by none other than Leon Trotsky.
One wonders if American capitalism is too rotten to die ( it needs help here ) .
Leon Trotsky reviewed " Journey to the End of the Night "
Of course Czar Putin can understand Czar Donald Trump
Putin praises Trump
Vladimir Putin was shaped by the " communist " Soviet Union. Even the old Soviet "
aristocracy " was a contradiction within the system. But Leon Trotsky
-close up-observed the seeds of corruption early in the Stalin era. In "
The Revolution Betrayed " he predicted that the new privileged class in
Russia could take the country all the way back to capitalism. Do the
ghosts of the old Bolsheviks haunt the Kremlin today ? Putin can only
justify himself by " divine right " not by the " dictatorship of the
proletariat ". Hence his embrace of the Russian Orthodox Pope- who
blesses the New Czar. All very Byzantine. What would Karl Marx think ?
Of course, Czar Putin can understand Czar Donald.
Of course, Czar Putin can understand Czar Donald.
 |
| Czar Putin hails Czar Trump |
Dr. Ehsun Mirza counters Islamophobia here in Rhode Island
Dr. Mirza defends the Muslim millions
" As only one of the more than 2.1
million Muslims living in America, Mirza said the actions of late have
been shocking when Muslims, living and abiding by the pledge of
allegiance, have been victimized solely for the way they look. He has
story after story of his friends being mistreated for appearing to look
Muslim. "
I commend Dr. Ehsun Mirza's efforts to counter undemocratic -now nearly fascistic- Islamophobia in this country -with its still strong tradition of free speech and freedom of religion and separation of church and state-which should not imply official hostility or contempt for ANY of the world's great religions.. Coming from a Catholic background myself ,I am pleased with the many statements of Pope Francis on this matter of common humanity. Socialist humanists -unlike the belligerent New Atheists- have no impulse to attack the Islamic faith or insult its culture.
Just last night a lady friend and I viewed a documentary titled " Muhammad- Legacy of a Prophet " . This very interesting and instructive video can be borrowed from the Knightsville branch of the Cranston Public Library. The Holy Koran is no less benevolent -in preaching kindness to ALL - than the New Testament. It too has a special message for the poor and oppressed, the " rejects " and the dispossessed of this world. Not surprisingly it sees Jesus as one of the great and holy prophets.
The root of the violence in the Middle East is not Islam but the havoc and disruption caused by rival imperialisms. I note all the former European colonialist powers- led by the United States-now gang-banging, gang-bombing Syria. State terror is no less evil than the terrorism of ISIS.
With the possible exception of " socialist " Bernie Sanders none of the American presidential candidates in the news every day is a PEACE candidate. Certainly not Donald Trump. I call Trump the " It Can't Happen Here " candidate, after the Sinclair Lewis Depression era novel about the rise of a fascist leader in America.
I commend Dr. Ehsun Mirza's efforts to counter undemocratic -now nearly fascistic- Islamophobia in this country -with its still strong tradition of free speech and freedom of religion and separation of church and state-which should not imply official hostility or contempt for ANY of the world's great religions.. Coming from a Catholic background myself ,I am pleased with the many statements of Pope Francis on this matter of common humanity. Socialist humanists -unlike the belligerent New Atheists- have no impulse to attack the Islamic faith or insult its culture.
Just last night a lady friend and I viewed a documentary titled " Muhammad- Legacy of a Prophet " . This very interesting and instructive video can be borrowed from the Knightsville branch of the Cranston Public Library. The Holy Koran is no less benevolent -in preaching kindness to ALL - than the New Testament. It too has a special message for the poor and oppressed, the " rejects " and the dispossessed of this world. Not surprisingly it sees Jesus as one of the great and holy prophets.
The root of the violence in the Middle East is not Islam but the havoc and disruption caused by rival imperialisms. I note all the former European colonialist powers- led by the United States-now gang-banging, gang-bombing Syria. State terror is no less evil than the terrorism of ISIS.
With the possible exception of " socialist " Bernie Sanders none of the American presidential candidates in the news every day is a PEACE candidate. Certainly not Donald Trump. I call Trump the " It Can't Happen Here " candidate, after the Sinclair Lewis Depression era novel about the rise of a fascist leader in America.
 |
| Did the Sinclair Lewis novel predict this GREAT LEADER ? |
 |
| Dr.Ehsun Mirza of Kent County Hospital |
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
Insane profit making for hepatitis C drug
I do recall listening to radio and TV news ads saying that everybody in the baby boom generation should be tested for hepatitis C. Now I read this about drug profit lunacy. A real national health care plan-that really made health care a basic human right- would nationalize the pharmaceutical companies and dramatically take profit making out of our health care system. To be sure, no medical doctors or dentists should be allowed to refuse to see or treat Medicare and Medicaid patients. ALL for profit hospitals and nursing homes should be shut down and re-opened as NON-PROFIT health care institutions. We should also re-institutionalize mental hospitals for long term patients.
I don't expect "socialist " Bernie Sanders or neo-liberal Hillary Clinton to support this idea - in the interest of the vast majority of working class Americans.
Also., a lot of money can be saved for saner purposes by ending the foolish decades long WAR ON DRUGS . *****
I don't expect "socialist " Bernie Sanders or neo-liberal Hillary Clinton to support this idea - in the interest of the vast majority of working class Americans.
Also., a lot of money can be saved for saner purposes by ending the foolish decades long WAR ON DRUGS . *****
Why should baby boomers get tested for Hepatitis C? While anyone can get Hepatitis C, more than 75% of adults infected are baby boomers, people born from 1945 through 1965. Most people with Hepatitis C don't know they are infected. •
Chronic Hepatitis C: Why Baby Boomers Should Get Tested
www.cdc.gov/knowmorehepatiti...
 |
| " Gilead Hep C drug put profits over access " |
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
My Italian immigrant grandmother, living on Federal Hill for 50 years, would -affectionately I am sure - put down my " shoe maker " grandfather: " Hey, Shoemaker, I should've married The Barber ! ".
When my grandfather, Ludovico, lost his own shoe repair shop he found work at UNCAS Jewelry - but was scolded for being " too slow ".
Those old City of Providence Directories( 1922- 1965 ) still found in the reference area of the Providence Public Library can refresh memories about the Old Neighborhood. My grandparents lived at 62 Gesler St.
At Pops's funeral ( from Nardollilo to nearby St. Ann's Cemetery ) my brother Mike and I suddenly had a moment of hilarious, comic relief , doubt : Was Pop ( Domenico ) -just possibly- il barbiere 's ragazzo ?
Another Italian barber memory : a guy known as " Sanitary Joe " misunderstood my kid brother Mike's hair cutting instructions and Mike showed up at an Italian wedding with an awful looking crew cut- just a Marine Corps boot camp style shaved head.
I can still smell Sanitary Joe's Bay Rum- a bit of olfactory pleasantness in his dingy joint
A quartet of Italian barbers had a shop in Washington Park Square in Providence back in the 1950s One had a reputation as " a bookie ". Another said that my uncle Nicholas -fluent in the Italian language - was a " fascist ". The boss of the place was Al . Sitting in the barber chair I could see my Broad Street School and Collier's bakery .
I visit my elderly -but still good- barber Sal only four times a year: in summer, fall, winter, spring. But no social security increases next year ( and soon no more Senior Bus Pass ) . So just one hair cut for me next year- just before Easter. Sorry about that, Sal !