From the – to the +

 

Bitch! Bitch! Bitch!

Whine! Whine! Whine!

What's the point?

I agree. 

If all we do is bitch and whine and stop there, there isn't much of a
point. It's just more pain and frustration piled on devilry and
dysfunction.

But . . .

It doesn't have to and shouldn't stop there.

From my perspective out here in Expat Land, the biggest obstacle there in
America is that people don't understand the problems. Often they are so
overwhelmed, they just bury their heads in the sand. Americans are
misinformed, disinformed, and in the throes of massive collective
denial.

Understandably, everyone just wants to go on with their lives, do their job 
__ if they have one __ take care of their kids, mow the lawn, watch some TV, 
and try to eke some fun and comfort out of their often miserable and tense lives.

And if things in America were on track, this certainly wouldn't be too much to ask.

But things are not on track. In fact, the country is heading 180º in the wrong direction.

People sense this. Every day there's some new crisis. Prospect of another war.  
Scary stuff everywhere. New terrorist threats. ISIS. Russia. China. Iran. Contagious 
diseases. Ebola. Killer Avian Flu V. 3.0. Violence by the police. Counter-violence
by angry mobs. More arrests and police killings. Ranting and raving in
Congress. More gridlock. Shutdown of the federal government.  Ranting
and raving on TV.  Muslims, beheadings.  Immigrants. Same-sex marriage,
abortion. Climate change. No climate change. Moreguns. Fewer guns. 
Stand your ground. Arm teachers. Arm bus drivers. Bring a gun to church. 
Bomb Syria. Arm Ukraine. Bomb Iran. Sanction Venezuela. Bomb North Korea. 
On and on . . .

Beyond the anxiety and outright fear caused by this ongoing tsunami of chaos and
trauma, there is a growing sense that all this calamity is not just a
string of bad luck __ that there is something fundamentally wrong!

The problem is that with all of the yelling, finger-pointing, and verbal
mayhem, no one can keep any of it straight, and anything resembling a
constructive conversation is impossible. The lunatics have taken over
the asylum.

We no longer have time for this. There are three challenges which if not faced squarely and honestly pose an existential threat to our nation. They ultimately could destroy us.

The three existential threats?

• Collapse of the economy
• Destruction by war
• Climate change
  

Insiders know where we're heading and what's coming if some things don't change very dramatically, very soon. Vast stores of ammunition have been set aside in anticipation of internal unrest. 
We increasingly see the police being militarized, being authoritarian and unaccountable.
Some observers suggest we are already on the threshold of being a
police state. Those responsible for maintaining the status quo __ i.e.
the standing configuration of power __ know where the incipient chaos
and dysfunction is taking the country, and understandably are preparing for the worst.

But they are not heading off the potential catastrophes. In fact, they are largely to blame!  
They are the reason we're in the mess we're in and plunging toward even worse times.

This bleak future is not inevitable. We can turn this around. 

We! 

Not our current crop of myopic leaders. You and I. But it will take some doing.

And doing starts by getting people to pay attention.

Maybe that's where the bitching and whining comes in.

But it can't stop there. Out of the negativity of recognizing how bad off things 
are now, there can and must emerge a positivevision of what should follow. 
That means each and every one of us deciding what's important. We start 
by asking ourselves what makes our country great . . .

Is it having the biggest military?

Is it having the most billionaires?

Is it having the largest economy?

Is it winning the most gold and silver medals at the Olympics?

Is it the freedom to buy all sorts of stuff __ a seemingly infinite selection __
because television ads tell us that will make us happy?

Is it our entertainment industry __ envy of the entire world, cranking out movies,
TV shows, video games, music __ into which we can escape and live rich
fantasy lives?

Is it how easy things are __ meals we can pick up at drive-thru windows, credit
cards we can swipe when we're broke but want something really bad,
social sites where we can find out what our friends are doing every
waking moment of our lives?

Is it all of the instant gratification __ drugs, fast food, smart phones, Instagram, 
Twitter, free porn, online shopping?

Is it the seemingly endless variety of spectator sports __ football, baseball,
boxing, cage fighting, basketball, hockey, pro wrestling, the amazing
spectacle of the Super Bowl?

Is it the American Dream __ though the vast majority of us don't get to live it?

We also must decide how we are going to go about shaping our society and
country, how our democracy will function, how decisions will be made,
how much of the responsibility to ourselves and future generations we're
going to entrust and delegate to our leadership elite, the elected or
de facto pillars of society . . .

Can we just depend on "experts" __ corporate CEOs and our political leaders __
to make the right choices for our communities, our schools, every aspect
of our lives?

Can we let corporations decide everything for us __ what to buy, what is safe,
what is healthy, what products and services are constructive and
sustainable, what makes for a better society and positive future for our
children and our children's children?

Can we let expensive campaign ads during election cycles substitute for meaningful
debate and serious discussion of critical issues that effect us, our
safety, the quality of our lives?

Can we in good conscience permit the privatizing of everything __ schools, roads,
water, sewage, electricity, libraries, the internet __ because some
corporate-owned demagogues say government is bad bad bad and private ownership 
is good good good?

Should we allow our leaders to worship at the altar of "free trade" __ NAFTA, TPP,
TTIP __ if it means surrendering national sovereignty and handing over
the design and control of our entire future to multinational
corporations?

Can we continue letting our schools, towns, roads, bridges fall apart and
become worthless because we have wasted so much money on unnecessary
wars and military bases, that now we supposedly don't have any funding
left for education and crucial infrastructure?

Should we allow capitalism and pure unfettered pursuit of profit trump individual 
and community needs and values?

Can debt-based currency creation __ the privatization of the right to "coin money" 
by ceding that power to private banks __ over the long haul serve the greater good 
of the country and provide equitable distribution of our national wealth?

Can the monopolization of production and services by large multinational
corporations fulfill the long term goals and aspirations of our country?

After our humiliating record of defeat on the battlefield __ Korea, Vietnam,
Afghanistan, Iraq __ can we trust that our leaders, locked into a
feckless 'war-and-more-war' approach to foreign policy, will do the
right thing on the international stage going forward?

After being lied into the war in Iraq, after having the economy completely
mucked up, after seeing our factories and jobs shipped overseas, after
being conned into bailing out the big banks and watching the wholesale
looting the Treasury and Federal Reserve to stuff the wallets of Wall
Street fat cats and corporate CEOs, can we trust our current politicos
with respect to anything at all?

In theory, nothing in our democracy is written in stone. We __ you and I __
can change the priorities. If our country is headed in the wrong direction,
we can turn it around.

At least . . . in theory.

I'm currently writing a political tome, a concise but powerful, practical
manual for change, which I believe can make a difference. It is my
attempt to help put 'We the people' back in the political
equation, giving the majority of American citizens say in shaping the
future of the country. It's about taking power back from those who
driven by greed and hubris have bankrupted the country and made us the
most feared and hated nation in the world, then assigning that power to
its rightful owners __ you and I.  It is not about tossing
power capriciously into the filthy hands of an unruly mob, but a plan
for thoughtfully and respectfully placing it in the guiding hands of a sane 
and sensible majority.

I hope to have it out late May or early June.

Working title . . . 

Candidate Contracts: A Manifesto (A New Front and Perhaps Last Stand 

in the Battle for True Representative Democracy in America).

Do you see now? At the end of the day __ and it has been a long day for sure __ 
I don't mean to merely be negative.

I actually intend to be quite positive.


[ This originated at the author's personal web site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]

Distractions

 
Magicians are adept at distraction, as are card sharks, pickpockets and politicians.

And when you throw in the main stream media as a partner in crime, you have the perfect storm for a misinformed and malleable public.

It goes without saying that Americans are constantly bombarded with stories and images provoking fear. Just in the past couple months, we've had ISIS sleeper cells, the certainty that Ebola would be spreading like a plague across the land, a cyber attack by North Korea on our sacrosanct movie industry and our freedom of speech, last but not least, the threat of a reconstituted Soviet Union under the rule of that barbarian Vladimir Putin, raining nuclear-tipped ICBMs down on us. 

These are what I would call the "pro-active" distractions, ones which disable our ability to think rationally and turn us into trembling bowls of paralyzed Jello.

But I've decided that perhaps the most insidious distractions are the "passive" variant, the on-the-surface innocent ones that monopolize our attention with crises which are beyond trivial, drain us of energy and focus better directed to important issues that makes a real difference, make a mockery of anything resembling meaningful conversation, and upend and distort both our personal and national priorities.

I could go on for months on these distractions. We all know what they are. They include everything from celebrity gossip, to scandals involving iconic figures in sports, politics, business, and so on.
Just last week, there was a "scandal" which monopolized huge swaths of American media. Everyone had to weigh in, even allegedly serious journalists like Ed Schultz. Frankly, I was tempted to throw my hands up in the air, throw my hat in the ring, maybe throw up.

This was the whole business about the amount of air in the footballs thrown by all-star Tom Brady, quarterback for the New England Patriots. I don't have to explain this "crisis" in technical detail, because if you had your television on at any point, you already know that America demanded to know whether there was the legal minimum amount of air pressure in the footballs Mr. Brady used in his glorious ascent to football stardom.

While one third of America's school children are now officially living in poverty . . .

While despite the rosy figures spewed by our government, the truth is America's economy is in decline and a major economic crash is coming, probably sooner than later . . .

While we as ordinary citizens are being treated as the enemy, with constant surveillance and spying, and a militarized police presence which is often brutal and not adverse to killing innocent people, especially people of color . . .

While the planet is heating up at rates far beyond the most pessimistic predictions, boding unparalleled depletion of food resources, displacement of millions of people, setting the stage for massive global conflict over water and arable land . . .

While the banksters and Wall Street criminals go unprosecuted for their prior malfeasance and fraud __ e.g. the crash of 2008 __ and continue to loot the national treasury . . .

While TTP and TTIP, so-called "free trade agreements" which will be the nail in the coffin for an economy which serves the needs of the majority of citizens in our country, are being rammed down the throats of good, decent, hard-working people to serve the interests of the oligarchy . . .

While the neocon lunatics now in control of America's foreign policy are busy rallying the nation for an unnecessary, unjustified, lethal confrontation with Russia __ a major war, folks, as in World War III! . . .

We are wringing our hands over the amount of air in a football?


[ This originated at the author's personal web site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]

 

Change We Can Believe In

 

According to recent polls . . .

Approval of Congress stands at an all time low. Only 13% think they're 
doing their job.

Almost half of American voters "think their own member of Congress 
does not deserve reelection" while only 25% thought they did.

This is an election year __ perhaps the most important election year in 
recent history __ meaning we have a choice to make.

Will it be more of the same?

Are we going to be obedient little robots again and pull the lever for the 
guy with the clever campaign ads and teeth-whitened smile?

Or is it time to take this seriously?

Our situation is certainly serious. Despite the massaged statistics we are
fed and the latest Wall Street bubble courtesy of our Federal Reserve,
our economy is in shambles. Popular and highly successful programs 
like Social Security and Medicare are still under attack by the viciously
selfish 1%. The rich still don't pay anywhere near their fair share of
taxes, and they seem bent on starving the most vulnerable among us by
cutting food stamps, heating oil subsidies, unemployment benefits, child
care, school lunch programs. Jobs continue to be shipped to slave wage
countries in Asia and profits bankrolled in tax havens around the world.
Corporations get the royal treatment and we regular citizens get the
shaft.

Had enough of this?

It's time for some major change in this country.

It starts November 4th.

Here are some related blogs:

Trust No Incumbent
It's Nothing Personal
VIDEO BLOG: It's too complicated
VIDEO BLOG: "Take me to your leader!"
Guillotine or Exile?
Real News
The Day That Changed The World



[ This originated at the author's personal web site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]

Spreading The Love

                "I'm America's CEO."

In the post-election euphoria, we've been led to believe that President Obama's trip to Asia is about spreading goodwill, creating new friendships, renewing old alliances, and making the world safe for democracy.
It's a charm offensive that's much longer on "offensive" than "charm".

What this trip is actually about is selling TPP, the Trans-Pacific Partnership" __ "selling" here being the equivalent of jamming a building the size of the New York Federal Reserve between the spread cheeks of the leaders of the countries in this part of the world.

TPP is not exactly popular even in the U.S. In fact, the more people learn about it, the more they realize that it's a Trojan Horse, another so-called trade agreement, which in point of fact mitigates the effectiveness of many environmental and worker-protection laws, compromises the sovereignty of nations, and puts in place yet another powerful mechanism for the already bloated and rich transnational corporations to amass more socially unproductive profits. Encouragingly, more and more people are outraged and speaking out against it. This is predictably being countered by a public relations campaign using our public officials as spokespersons for the transnational corporate elite who are promoting this onerous, ill-conceived weapon of economic destruction.

Don't be fooled by this self-serving and bogus propaganda.

Yesterday, for example, I read an article called Canada Sued under NAFTA for Banning Fracking which tells about an American corporation initiating a lawsuit for damages of $250,000,000. You see, if a business entity feels that the laws of a participating country interfere with their now inalienable rights to exploit that country, NAFTA sanctions "investor-to-state" litigation. In this case, Lone Pine Resources Inc. spent large sums of money securing mining permits, but Quebec Province, where the mining was to take place, later determined that exercising those rights would cause grave environmental damage. NAFTA allows U.S. and Mexican companies to sue the Canadian government if they feel they have been wronged by a government policy or action. This is saying that Lone Pine Resources had no responsibility in determining in advance the environmental impacts of its plans. It can throw money down, then if local authorities discover that their proposed mining will pollute the water, dump toxins in the soil, subject people to carcinogens and other life-threatening chemicals, Lone Pine Resources has to be compensated for their own shortsightedness and stupidity.

As the article goes on to say: "Amazingly, instead of looking for ways to scale back and eliminate the rules in our trade agreements that threaten public interest policies in favor of corporate profits, eleven countries, including the United States and Canada, are currently in the middle of negotiations to expand the NAFTA investment rules in the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact."

This is madness!!

TPP is NAFTA on steroids. Yes. Anyone who has looked at this "trade agreement", as its being misrepresented, can see it's nothing but another monstrous assault weapon being handed to transnational corporations to bulk up their bottom line at the expense of just about everything having to do with quality of life __ safety, human rights, worker rights, sustainability, environmental protection. Please! Just read this and this and this, then do your own research. This is not a shades of gray issue. It's black and white, folks.

Let me give a brief example from my own experience.

Japan Post is the postal service here. It is truly amazing in every respect. It's essentially a privatized, public service institution that with scrupulous government oversight, conjoins several organizations to provide a variety of services. At Japan Post, not only can you mail letters, cards, and packages locally and internationally, but you can pay your bills with a fully-functioning cash transfer system, do banking with an ATM machine, secure an entire range of insurance (home, life, auto, accident), purchase gifts, make travel plans and purchase tickets. When I look at the shell of an institution the U.S. Postal Service has become under the relentless assault of private corporations there, it's no contest. It's like comparing a scrub game of neighborhood football to the Superbowl.

The Japanese are furious about TPP. Under TPP, corporations in the U.S. through legal challenges would tear Japan Post apart. They'd claim the panoply of services and the incredibly competent and efficient delivery of those services are "unfair competition".

It's competition alright. It actually works! It provides useful services making the lives of Japanese citizens better and more hassle-free.

This is just one small example. I'm not going to do all of the work for you. Just extrapolate from this, read the recommended articles and imagine what will happen if these countries are "persuaded" __ read that as "coerced" or "bullied" __ into this agreement. America's military and economic power often makes such negotiations a sham. America is good at making less powerful nations an offer they can't refuse.

For those of you who might not have heard, America is a very unpopular country in most of the world. Despite the whitewashed image which is promoted by corporate media in the U.S., anti-Americanism is exponentially on the rise. I have experienced this first hand.

People defensively suggest that I don't love my country. This is both silly and ignorant.

I've always loved and always will love what America represents. I love the energy, the optimism, the whole idea of government of the people, by the people, for the people.

But TPP is not America. Corporation X and Corporation Y just because their registered in Delaware isn't America. The tiny powerful coterie of wealthy elite investors and Wall Street bankers who are turning our government into a puppet show isn't America.

You and I are America __ the people referred to in "of the people, by the people, for the people." We are America.

And no proud, sane, decent American would get behind TPP and the expanding corporate juggernaut that's being done in the name of proud, sane, decent Americans. Proud, sane, decent Americans believe in opportunity, justice, fairness, the "general welfare". Proud, sane, decent Americans truly love their country, and would never put corporate profits ahead of how America is supposed to serve its citizens. Proud, sane, decent Americans don't compromise the integrity of communities and schools to improve the bottom line. Proud, sane, decent Americans understand the hope America represents to the world. Proud, sane, decent American respect human rights and human life.

No, I don't hate America. But a lot of people in the world do. And if TPP and similar such agreements are put in place, the worst is yet to come.

We won't have time to spread the love.

We'll be too busy defending ourselves from all the hate.



[ This originated at the author's personal web page . . . http://jdrachel.com ]

Debtor’s Prison

We see constantly in the media economic experts and pundits decrying the sorry state of the economies of several European countries __ Greece, Portugal, Italy, Ireland. Yet as this chart shows, Americans are individually responsible for more debt than any of the citizens of these troubled nations.

Japan is even worse. Its national debt last time I checked was 228% of their GDP. The Japanese are in hock up to their hairlines. But there is a big difference. 85% of that debt is owned by the Japanese people. They have invested in their own country and owe the money to themselves! American because of its borrowing spree owes everyone else in the world __ China, Germany, France, Japan. Next time you go to a Chinese restaurant, you might want to thank them for not foreclosing. Yet anyway.

I personally see no problem with a nation running constructive deficits. Under the current flawed relationships between banks and national economies, it is a necessary evil to both sustain and promote growth.

What is objectionable is having no genuine say in why we borrow. Granted that various social support and entitlement programs benefit us all. But the astounding and insulting truth to those of us who actually believe we live in a democratic country, is that America spends somewhere around $700 billion for war. Yet if you look at any unbiased polling, Americans don't want war. We want peace.

The defense spending of the U.S. nearly equals the total defense spending of all other nations in the world combined. Why do we spend so much to arm ourselves against real and imagined but all relatively weak, if not totally powerless enemies? Our leaders say its to protect our "national interests". This is but a euphemism for world domination and access to the resources of the countries we attack.

This investment in imperial control of the world comes at a price. It costs the lives of soldiers who go to fight pointless, self-destructive wars; it has eliminated the last shreds of credibility we once had in the world as a nation which stood for the most noble principles; it is sapping us of our national pride, the spirit that once drove the country's belief in its mission to spread democracy and lift the living standards of everyone on the planet.

We borrow for bombs.
We borrow to spread death.
We borrow to create enemies.

Someone has to pay for all of this. It's you and I. The invoice is in the mail. Soon it will be stamped 'Past Due'. Not long after that it will say 'Account Closed'.

To live in a country which has borrowed up to its eyebrows to build bombs and promote war is incarceration at its worst. It is living in the confines of a shameful and ruinous nightmare.

We truly live in a debtor's prison.




[ This originated at the author's personal web site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]