Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Sometimes anti-war (sic) really means "anti-THIS-war" or simply "anti-Bush"
too true. i am getting (sic) to the back teeth of it.
Posted by michael on from exile 04/26 at 05:26 AMseriously though… the same problem exists in the UK. people are prepared to go and march against a war but not prepared to change living the sort of lifestyle that makes these wars inevitable
i have even had conversation with some of the so-called revolutionaries who talk about an end to war and violent defence of some revolution or other in the same sentence
Posted by michael on from exile 04/26 at 05:33 AMI´m not interested in revolution, the point I take from being here is to escape cyclical behaviour.
I´ve been lurking briefly the last couple days, just hanging out here in my green hat with a little red feather in it and thumbing through the links, thank you for them. Specially the Coke one - you know Indian farmers use Coke as pesticide?
Read about it in dis hyuh: http://tinyurl.com/qstwvxo.
Posted by owen on from barcelona 04/26 at 07:39 AMi am not interested in that sort of revolution either. I can’t remember who said it but it was something along the lines of…
the day after the revolution the most ardent revolutionary becomes the fiercests defender of power.
something like that. if anyone coudl correct me on that i would be pleased.
Posted by michael on from exile 04/26 at 07:59 AMit´s the oldest trick in the buke of power whereby you treat people so brutally as to foment an uprising then take assume charge of it (assuming you didn´t start it in the first place), wipe out anyone who catches on to the hucksterage as “counterrevolutionaries” - hey presto, illusion of social change and power goes covert.
Posted by owen on from barcelona 04/26 at 08:13 AMGood morning Michael, Owen, and Mickey. From what I see most people oppose the wars of the “other” political party. It is a belief that says, “I love my wars, but will protest your wars.” That seems hypocritical to me. The bombing in Iraq has been going on since 1991 but the Dems forget that. The most effective protest would strike at the heart of the war machine, Predatory Capitalism. I doubt that we will see much opposition to Capitalism at this week-ends protests.
On another topic.... A bit early but I might not have time for my computer for a few days at the end of the week so just want to say a big, “Thank you”, to Mickey’s Mother. On April 30, 1960 she gave the world a wonderful gift. The world has been a better place since then. Mickey was born on April 30.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 04/26 at 08:13 AMwhenever I talk to you I always forget to capitalise the first word of my sentences.
Posted by owen on from barcelona 04/26 at 08:19 AMits just laziness, i do it too.
hint taken RMJ
Posted by michael on from exile 04/26 at 08:22 AMpost number 7 was to michael. Hi Rosemarie, i expect you´re in fine fettle.
Posted by owen on from barcelona 04/26 at 08:23 AMGood morning Every Expendable -
I’ve not heard of plans for another anti war rally around these parts yet but I’ve been rather disconnected lately so I’m sure I’ll find out in plenty of time to get to one if it’s happening. (i hope) It certainly does seem that the anti war movement gets beaten and the proverbial soap-box is co-opted by those who will over-rationalise an event to suit their own purposes or ammassing of power. I also agree that it comes down to our individual lifestyle choices and those are things most people find too challenging to change in a truly meaningful way. Even people who proclaim a desire for change will wilt under the notion that their little bit of effort won’t make a difference, so why make the sacrifice. It’s a crying shame and those who don’t make changes will only see too soon (times are changing faster than ever before) that we all reap the harvest we sow.
I’m still busy as shit lately and likely will be for another couple of weeks. Tried to catch up here a little on the weekend but didn’t say hi since I was even earlier than the Mickster and the day’s post wasn’t up yet.
I hope all’s well with All’s here...and Mickey’s Mom, the whole sha-bang & kit n’ kaboodle like.
So - that’s my little hello for now, don’t know when I’ll be able to get “back” again but I will be “back”!
(owen I now feel that I’d like to be wearing a little chapeau myself)
Thanks and HI to those of you who stopped by my blog to say Ola, I’m pretty much ignoring the internet other than for paid travail and my email.
See you again soon friends - keep well in the meantime.
Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 04/26 at 09:02 AMoh - wanted to share a link: http://tinyurl.com/z5yvr
Jane Jacobs was sharp as a tack until her ticket came due - too bad that more city planners don’t adopt her philosophy when building cities and neighbourhoods.
At least they’ve got her books to look to even if she can’t speak to whip them back to reality when the political doublespeak comes out.Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 04/26 at 09:05 AMthe war party (1947-2006) has the ultimate power and is not giving it up.
seems that we’ll just be casual spectators watching its demise, taking crappy photos of it all with our cheap cell phone cameras. we’ll order a pizza from domino’s, drink cheap beer, smoke a joint, and pray to god that our dear leaders will apologize for all of the havoc they’ve created in the third world and elsewhere.
just imagine massive reparations to vietnam, east timor, cuba, venezuela, chile, panama, brazil, argentina, nicaragua, bolivia, iran, iraq, haiti, and all the other countries destroyed by u.s. foreign policy. that’ll be the day…
thousands will hit the streets this weekend, yet MILLIONS will instead watch the ball game and get fat and stupid. they’ll sing the national anthem way out of key, and forget half of the lyrics. they’ll shed tears for the loved ones they’ve lost from this illegal and immoral war, and not even understand it as such!
the propaganda is so thick right now that you can cut it with a knife. the president’s popularity rating is at an all-time low of 32%, yet he’s still running this so-called democracy. we’ve got our peanuts and cracker jacks, so who gives a ####, right?
we can’t live without our dvd’s, our martha stewart, our wal-mart specials, our gas-guzzling hummers, our whitening toothpaste, and all the luxuries of our chemically saturated culture.
this 32% is going to fight us till the bitter end. to them, we’re just flies and they are the fly swatter. we’ll get smacked into submission and learn to just be content with our relative privileges.
“the same as it ever was” (you might think)...
Posted by Pebbles on from Van Nuys, CA 04/26 at 09:38 AMgood to see some new people here...and Amelopsis. Hello Michael, Owen and RMJ…
I am against all war in many different types and lengths. It sickens me.
captcha:period
Posted by JOS on from Chicago 04/26 at 11:11 AMMalcontents, all of you! Don’t you realize that all you have to do is stop by a rally or forward an email about one to a friend to save the world? And you call yourself Expendables. Sheesh. I signed a petition today so be sure to tune into my beatification ceremony tomorrow.
Seriously? Get this: in Krakow a tolerance festival is planned at the weekend by Poland’s gay community to promote civil rights. A counter-rally is also planned, much more visible organization, promotion and so forth. What do the ultra-fundamentalists (in this case, they call themselves “Catholics") want? Simple: they’re anti-tolerance. Lucky for the anti-tolerance people they’ve got pretty much the entire government behind them (no pun intended, I don’t think).
Wonderful to see the Empress Amelopsis checking in. Great link, too. Incredible picture.
Posted by Keir on from Legnica PL 04/26 at 12:25 PMHi Keir, in the homeland of my ancestors, and JOS, and Amelopsis, and all others…
Pebbles… I like everything you say except, I think that it is the 98% who fight us. Sometimes it feels like 99.99% are in opposition to our global view.Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 04/26 at 12:37 PMFirst things first - stop THIS war
Posted by Pisces Iscariot on from New Zealand 04/26 at 02:10 PMHello my Expendable friends, a big “great to see you” to the Empress, and welcome to the growing list of newbies. Thanks for the early b’day wishes, RMJ. How did you know the exact date?
Great commentary here (as always). Thanks to you all. Pebbles’ comment reads like a monoogue the whole world should hear...ten times a day like a g.d. Coke commercial. Coke as pesticide, Owen? Too perfect.
Pisces: I see your point but the all-too-predictable next step would be to ignore the next wave of crimes until things reach critical mass again. Perhaps we need a more holistic approach.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 04/26 at 02:16 PMOk this, is off topic but I need to vent this, apologies for the length…
I’m feeling very disillusioned today. Yet again in my workplace, there were racist comments. A temp is from New Zealand and she was talking about her country and how “It’s ok, but there are so many asians now. It must be a dream for them in New Zealand cos their own countries are so crowded”. She had a really horrible look on her face as she said this.
Then another girl who just started today as a temp and is a local said “Yeah, when I was on the bus yesterday there were so many black people on it. It was like spot the white face”. Then another woman near them said something vaguely but very obviously racist too.
What the ####? And the sad thing is, I didn’t even challenge them or say anything. Like I should’ve said to the kiwi - “Erm, you aren’t a maori - so couldn’t you and all the others descended from the european invasion be accused of being immigrants?”. And what about the near genocide of maoris anyway? How can someone say that there are too many foreign people coming to a country like New Zealand with it’s history?
Unreal. Sometimes I am hopeful that change can happen and that a more just, tolerant world can emerge. But then I go to work or meet new people and very often they are racist, bigoted, fucking idiots full of hatred. People who I think are ok come out with the most shocking statements and opinions. There is supposed to be a lunch with the some of these people in work tomorrow and today’s (and past incidents) has put me right off. As for challenging them, I am disappointed I didn’t but I have in the past, and it didn’t seem to have any effect and even got me accused of “being on my high-horse” etc.
I despair, I really do. Plus, I was looking up the news on teletext and there were letters of support for the BNP along the lines of “Our govt are ignoring us the ordinary working people, so I’m voting for the BNP”. The implied meaning is that most ordinary people agree with the BNP and it’s white supremacist, right-wing agenda and it’s about time it showed.
You can scoff and say these people are mis-guided and don’t speak for anyone but I’ve witnessed racism and prejudice with a majority of people I’ve worked with and it scares me to say so. I am angered with how things are and worried things might take a turn for the worse, especially if the theories about peak oil and impending economic collapse are true. I hate to say it, but I could see people falling for fascism in a big way once the shit hits the fan (and come to think of it, things are turning that way in US / UK as it is)..
What the hell is wrong with people?
Posted by Paul M on from Scotland 04/26 at 03:07 PMIn case you don’t know - the BNP is British National Party a bunch of fascist, racist cunts and teletext is as it sounds a text service on TV.
Posted by Paul M on from Scotland 04/26 at 03:14 PMRMJ- I like this line:
“The most effective protest would strike at the heart of the war machine, Predatory Capitalism. I doubt that we will see much opposition to Capitalism at this week-ends protests.”
The fact that we won’t see much opposition only reaffirms what we already know- the institutions of civil society are subordinate to the economy.
Posted by Fiona on from San Diego 04/26 at 03:37 PMToo right you are, Mickey! Talk about cutting to the chase.
And as always, ‘hi’ to Michael, Owen, Rosemarie, Amelopsis (good to see you back!), Pebbles, JOS, Keir, Pisces Iscariot (from New Zealand ..), Paul M. and Fiona.
A fine autumn day has just dawned in Daylesford, Australia: sunshine and 70F, so some outdoor activities might be on later.
Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 04/26 at 04:01 PMOh, and thanks for the head-up on Mickey’s birthday, Rosemarie! I’ll keep it in mind ..
Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 04/26 at 04:07 PMgreat turn out today…
Paul...I hear you on racism. I wrote a sort of poem on the subject a little while back:
racism is nothing
but learned ignorance…
the classroom is
our artificial reality.Posted by JOS on from Chicago 04/26 at 04:17 PMI’m not into poetry but that was short and sweet. I’m just getting sick of it and how common it is. Seriously, it’s maddening.
And it’s not just racism in people that gets me down. It’s the way they obey, consume and never question etc.
I’m just feeling pessimistic about things improving. Can someone give me evidence that suggests otherwise? Fucking Bush and Blair STILL in power....un-fucking-believable..
Posted by Paul M on from Scotland 04/26 at 04:29 PMHey everyone, Mickey… looks like Seth’s party will cap the protest day, and celebrate both our birthdays. Can’t wait! gotta run, thank for this great discussion, see you later…
Posted by James on from Hell's Kitchen 04/26 at 04:42 PMPaul...Thanks for venting. It is good for all of us to see it when someone has a fire burning in their belly. Keep that anti-racism fire burning.
Hi Helga, Fiona, Paul, and all…Mickey, it is a long story and it might offend some, ah, what the heck, I’ll tell you how I know the date. A long time ago, when Al Lewis died, you told us. I wrote it down. Then in my chaotic life, I lost the paper on which it was written. I was so upset with myself that I made a deal with God that if I found that piece of paper, I would say a decade of the rosary. (That was my promise, because the rosary is hard for me because it is boring. Remember how way back in Catholic school we were always being taught to make sacrifices?) So there, now you know my secret. I am an agnostic who sometimes prays. I am constantly being challenged by my friends, most of whom are atheists. Don’t laugh. Prayer worked this time. Maybe it was just luck or chance but that is something that cannot be proved one way or the other. (I can just imagine what Mudge would say about this.)
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 04/26 at 04:52 PMRMJ, I have said this before and say it again now...I believe in a higher power and pray often. It is religion that turns most people off, I think.
Posted by JOS on from Chicago 04/26 at 04:57 PMPaul M., you gotta be as loud and as uncompromising in your opposition to racism---in your support of civil rights for all---as those dumbass people around you smirking or sulking as they make their bullshit comments about others and try to push through plain criminal agendas. Loud and uncompromising.
Nice stuff today. Gotta go to sleep. But I wanna say that doing anti-racist work, or pro-peace, or whatever...it’s not about our ideological opponents. It’s about us.
Posted by Keir on from Legnica PL 04/26 at 05:11 PMThanks, JOS. Now I don’t feel so all alone. I agree with you about organized religion. A comment that I sometimes make to my friends who are atheists is that I am an agnostic and not a believer in atheism because atheism requires too much blind faith.
I just read an opinion-commentary on Mickey’s latest article on Dissident Voice. It made me think of that old saying that “We do not protest to change others. We protest so that others will not change us.”
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 04/26 at 05:23 PMHello again. What an excellent day here on the comment board.
Ah yes, RMJ, me and Al Lewis. Good catch.
Paul: I agree with Keir, but if I took a verbal stand every time I encountered racism, sexism, etc., I’d be in perpetual confrontation mode. Sometimes you have to choose your battles. Hang in there.
Great to see you all here.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 04/26 at 06:30 PMThanks for the comments RMJ and Keir (like the “loud and uncompromising” will try to do that). I was just so completely pissed off because both of the girls had just started, and I thought they were pleasant and decent and then they come out with stuff like that. I’m sorry but decent people are not racist. I’ve lost so much respect for them after that.
I’ll still give them the benefit of the doubt, but if I hear ignorant shit like that again, I will challenge them on it and see what they really think and try and find out why.
Is it just me this stuff happens to? It’s happening a lot recently, racists revealing themselves. Another two women were talking about holidays and one says she was in San Fran, but didn’t like it. Was that because of all the blacks there says the other?
It really upsets me when I hear such bitterness and hate. But I’m not exaggerating when I say that 6 out of 10 in my office have made racist comments, not directly to me any more because I’ve taken them to task over it but I can hear them from the other end of the floor.
I know one woman definitely isn’t racist as she is a bit of a lefty, a christian (who follows the worthwhile tenets in the right way if you know what I mean), and a really lovely woman who actually HAS a brain. Her kindness, thoughtfulness and general conduct in work has brightened up my day and inspired me many a time. As for the others, not heard anything yet so I can only hope.
I know it’s not very scientific but I take my workplace as a microcosm of the local community. In terms of friends and family as you’d expect they pretty much think as I do so no problems there. But with work there’s a certain randomness that I take to be more representative of society.
People in work are ok, but there is definitely an undercurrent of hate, greed, selfishness and nastiness with the majority. Not good signs. I wish it wasn’t so.
--
Oh, RMJ I think it’s fine to pray. Often I do sense / intuit something “other” which has a benevolent spirit so it doesn’t seem strange or worthy of scorn to me at all. I am NOT a fan or organised religion for all the obvious reasons..but often I wonder at the sheer complexity and improbability of the universe and ponder whether there are higher entities or plan(s) of some sort.
I consider many things others may think bizarre : one favourite theory is the 8-circuit / 8 brain model by Tim Leary.
See here:
http://deoxy.org/8circuit.htm
http://deoxy.org/8brains.htmOff on a slight tangent and another long post...sorry!
Posted by Paul M on from Scotland 04/26 at 06:31 PMCheers Micky. I know what you mean. It’s hard to know what to do, but I feel I should say something in these instances. Time for bed now, bye all. haha, captcha “include” - do you hear that racists?...
Posted by Paul M on from Scotland 04/26 at 06:39 PM
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