Since leaving America August 2006, I have traveled to sixteen countries. A great deal has happened. This site is to share my thoughts, photos, music, writings, travel experiences, and developing political/social commentary with you. I hope you find it interesting and informative.
Idiots in power!(I try not to judge people by their looks but I have to be honest. These people are scary!)
Above are just some of the people in positions of enormous influence and power who are promoting the war in the Ukraine. Make no mistake about it. They couldn’t care less about Ukraine or the Ukrainian people. What they truly care about is destroying Russia.
Contrary to what 111.99% of what is reported in the Western MSM, Russia did not want this conflict. Putin did not want to “invade” Ukraine. Putin and the Kremlin do not want to kill innocent Ukrainian citizens. Russia does not want to take over and occupy Ukraine.
Russia was FORCED intentionally into this military action. This nightmare is the product of US/NATO provocation, intimidation, aggression, all engineered at minimum to give Russia a bloody nose, at maximum to liquidate Russia as an independent country.
So where is this heading?
Everyone in the idiot gallery above is for sending more arms to Ukraine. Of course, arming Ukraine with lethal weaponry, the threat of Ukraine arming itself with nuclear weapons, is what made it necessary for Russia to destroy the Ukrainian military — which is what it is now doing — because it had become an existential threat. So what’s the solution proposed by the above brain trust for addressing the crisis? How do they propose fixing this mess?
More arms . . . more weapons . . . more threats to Russia!
“Gee, what started that apartment building on fire, chief?”
“Apparently, open cans of gasoline and kerosene in the basement.”
“Well, gosh darn, there’s only one option. Let’s pour more gasoline and kerosene into the building and see what happens.”
Several of the idiots in the scary collage above have moreover suggested that NATO and the US establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine. Which will mean — please give this your full attention — US/NATO planes and missiles deployed to shoot down Russian aircraft. Translation: Direct engagement, military conflict — yes, war! — with Russia.
Gee . . . how will this turn out?
After decade after decade of bombing; after twenty years of the War on Terror; a meltdown of the economy in 2008-2009; two years and counting of Covid-19 technocratic terrorism still hovering over us like a sledgehammer; with a coming economic meltdown which will make 2008 look like a rounding error; with the raucous, maniacal, increasingly fever-pitch pounding of war drums and shrill harangues against Russia and China; with a Congress and White House apparently inhabited by the certifiably insane (again just look at the above collection of whackos) . . . hmm. Whaddya think?
What will the future look like?
My prediction is that if we keep going the way we are, the future will indeed be . . . bright!
Very bright! And hot! Here’s how I imagine it’ll turn out . . .
I
came up with the Peace Dividend strategy over two years ago. At the
time, recognizing that the plan was -- to say the least -- very radical,
completely unprecedented, totally outside-the-box, I thought that if it
had even the slimmest chance of getting any traction, it was going to
be a long and winding road to successfully "sell" and implement it.
To
get the plan underway requires that we package peace in an entirely
different way, that instead of only appealing to individual conscience,
we target individual self-interest.
This
is not meant to be cynical. It's not that people don't care about
suffering. It's that most individuals care first about the suffering of
those immediately around them, not that of those in far flung nations
they can barely find on a map.
The
Peace Dividend strategy is a bottoms-up, grass-roots approach
especially targeting those on the bottom of our economy -- the 160+
million who are hovering around or are below the poverty line -- because
these folks are most devastated by the economic impact of our war
economy.
The
Peace Dividend strategy is about letting citizens know what's really
going on with the military waste and the endless wars, and making them very angry!
Angry enough to do something about it, certainly for their country, but
most of all for themselves and their families -- those whose suffering
they see every single day in the struggle for survival.
Such
a citizen's "uprising" would be premised on generating a widespread,
critical mass understanding that in terms of America's prosecution of
wars, aggressive foreign policy, promoting militarism both overseas and
here at home, we as citizens are "being lied to", we are victims of a
huge scam, that the "system is rigged", that a bunch of "insiders" are
running the show who couldn't care less what the general public
considered important, what we as regular citizens wanted done.
Do "being lied to", "system is rigged", "insiders are running the show" sound familiar?
Trump's
election as president, leaves little doubt that a large segment of the
population, viewing our government establishment as a whole, do indeed
believe those things. It's obvious to anyone paying attention that
everyday citizens are being taken advantage of, that we have been and
continue to be had by a ruling elite, that they will suck every last
drop of blood out of the American economy and us individually if we let
them.
Therefore,
I'm now convinced that if we as peace advocates make the case for the
Peace Dividend with boldness and clarity, it is all but inevitable.
Yes! It could really happen.
As rigorously documented in The Peace Dividend: The Most Controversial Proposal in the History of the World,
the military-industrial-security complex allied with a lunatic inner
circle within our foreign policy institutions have perpetrated over the
past two-and-a-half decades the most odious fraud in history.
This conservatively amounts to stealing $4.82 trillion of tax payer
money. We have every right to and should demand not only that the
deception and theft immediately end, but that as victims of this swindle
we as citizens be compensated. We deserve and demand full
reimbursement: The Peace Dividend Refund.
I
consider the beauty of my approach to voicing our outrage and asserting
our rights as citizens is that it is entirely legal, based completely
on the official facts published by our government, assiduously aligned
with the Constitution -- therefore not able to be labeled
insurrectionist or illegal -- and consistent with democracy based on
government of the people, by the people, for the people.
I'm not going to condense a mercifully short but still 86-page-long book for this article. What I will do is give you the "big picture" so that you don't so casually dismiss the idea.
RECOGNIZE:
No current elected official will go along with the Peace Dividend
proposal. They and their ruling class puppeteers will oppose it with
every dirty trick in the book.
CONSIDER:
When everyday people understand that they've been ripped off,
defrauded, bilked out of at least $4.82 trillion, there might be a
little bit of anger out there.
ACKNOWLEDGE:
When everyday people realize they have the power to demand this
fraudulently collected tax payer money back in the form of a $14,952
refund to each and every living citizen, they might just get a little
excited. In fact, if the word gets around, I predict they will
immediately, forcefully, uncompromisingly demand their money back -- every last dollar!
Let's
put this together. The VOTING public demands their Peace Dividend
refund. The incumbents cannot, will not even fake interest in giving in
to such an outrageous demand. They will dodge and lie and rail against
it. The VOTING public sees this as more evidence that the "system is
rigged", that "they are getting shafted", that they are again being had
by the establishment blowhards who never do anything for everyday
citizens. Here we have the seeds, the tinder for a MASSIVE VOTER
REVOLT. We unite these angry, frustrated voters into a VOTING BLOC,
rejecting business as usual -- fraud as usual! -- behind the
demand of justice and fair compensation in the form of a Peace Dividend
Refund. As a result, the vast majority of corporate lapdog incumbents
are defeated and replaced by OUTSIDERS who agree to go to Washington DC
and put into law . . .
The Peace Dividend Refund Act of 2019!
Sound
at all familiar? Sort of the way an OUTSIDER got elected to president,
via a voter revolt that basically said: "Fuck you! We're sick of it.
The hell with politics as usual."
Is this mere fantasy? In these outlandish, ridiculous times? Really?
I
think it's pretty clear. And it will especially true after Trump and
the current pack of bloodthirsty, Wall Street/ruling class puppets in
Congress totally muck everything up.
People are going to be ripe for revenge! They'll want their money back, I guarantee you!
By the way, please take a few minutes and look atthe way the Peace Dividend is funded. You
will note that it drives a lot of the very things on any sensible
progressive reform wish list. Meaning, the Peace Dividend is a
watershed for revamping the way our government does business. I would
think that alone would make it worth the time to carefully study, with
an open and alert mind, and some creative engagement.
I
know that marching in the streets, getting clubbed, pepper-sprayed,
manhandled and arrested, are good times and all. But a lot of people
are working two or three jobs just to make ends meet, and can't join in
on the fun. All the Peace Dividend strategy requires is that people
look at it, then stand strong and united -- stick up for themselves and
other good decent American citizens who have been getting the shaft --
then go into the voting booth and only vote for candidates who give us a
legally-binding guarantee that they will go to Washington DC and do
what needs to be done.
And
even if a lot of folks have extremely demanding schedules -- thus are
too busy to fly to Washington DC to attend a peace rally -- I'm
confident most will find the time to deposit $14,952 in their bank
account.
How about you?
[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . http://jdrachel.com ]
Understandably,
the first reaction I get when I tell people we're going to get the U.S.
government to refund to its citizens $4,826,000,000,000 is: "What?
We can't afford that. Our government is already in hock over $19
trillion and every year since 2000, we've been running a deficit."
Aside
from the fact that the deficit spending -- which has been the focus of
overwrought debates, ultimatums, government shutdowns, and a celebrated
hand grenade tossed back and forth in the political blame game -- is
both unnecessary and entirely intentional, the ultimate impact of the
Peace Dividend is actually to remedy such fiscal irresponsibility. The
Peace Dividend refund drives a whole host of fundamental
reforms which will over time help to put our financial house in order.
However, that's a topic for another blog.
The
Peace Dividend is paid out over three years. Thus, each year we have
to come up with a little over $1.6 trillion each fiscal year.
Here's how we do it. Here's how we raise a minimum of $1.6 trillion dollars each year . . .
I better slow down! I'm already way over $2 trillion!
Now,
as you all know, I'm not an economic analyst, a statistician, a
financial wizard of any ilk. Yet, I was able in broad strokes to
demonstrate how simple it is to make the necessary adjustments.
Granted, my plan will have to be fine-tuned by acclaimed and
self-anointed experts. But before the proselytizers and pretenders
armed with skepticism and hatchets subject us to their pompous, pedantic
and patronizing pruning, just bear this in mind . . .
The Peace Dividend is a refund due to American citizens. That is a given. Read my book. It's all there. I didn't make this stuff up. The facts are clear. American citizens have been the victims of the greatest rip-off of tax money in the history of the world. They deserve -- and should demand, no excuses, no negotiation, no compromise -- a full refund. No analysis can alter this reality.
Yes,
it may be unprecedented. It most certainly is controversial.
Traditionalists and those who have a vested interest in maintaining the
status quo -- because it keeps them wealthy and in the centers of power
-- will declare it outrageous! Insane! Irresponsible! Impossible!
But
the the truth is, what is outrageous, insane, irresponsible, and
impossible is to promote and pursue never-ending war, keep needlessly
killing innocent people -- including our own fine young men and women in
uniform -- continue to turn America into a pariah in the world community with the incessant bombing and support of terrorist proxies.
What's truly outrageous, insane, irresponsible, and impossible is
spreading chaos, destruction and death, fomenting terrorist attacks and
an unparalleled refugee crisis across the globe. What's outrageous,
insane, irresponsible, and impossible is the pursuit of a psychopathic
agenda of imperial conquest, which has destroyed our democracy and
imposed a vulgar, savage regime of fear here at home, in the form of the
insidious and fraudulent War on Terror. This madness must be stopped
or America will crumble under the weight of its own hubris and delusions
of grandeur.
The
point here is a simple one. What's not lacking here are the mechanics
of finding and refunding the money. What's lacking is the political
will. What's lacking is any sense of responsibility among our corrupt
pay-for-play political leaders. What's tragically lacking is the public
awareness of how far out-of-control the situation is. Were people to
wake up to what's really going on with our military madness, imperial
delusions of world empire, and ruthless oppression of everyday citizens
under a systematic, propaganda-fueled, carefully crafted and entirely
orchestrated regime of totalitarian control by a veritable handful of
rich and powerful elites, heads would role!
Maybe
I'm naive, but I'm hoping it won't come to that. With 300 million guns
at hand, when things start getting violent, we can only expect a
bloodbath to unfold. My sincere hope is that the urgently required
regime change is still possible non-violently. We do this by replacing any uncooperative legislators
with ones who understand that their obligations are first and foremost
to their constituents, that being elected to represent us, implies that
they actually will represent us, putting our welfare and the health of our families and communities ahead of all else.
I propose the Peace Dividend as a decisive test. It's a line in the sand.
Either "they" are for it or against it.
It's
how we decide who to vote for. If a candidate won't support it -- by
signing a legally binding contract to guarantee his or her support -- we
find one who will.
The
games are over. The rich and powerful plutocrats have had a good run.
They've bled the country and its citizens dry. Now it's payback time.
If
the politicos who've created and perpetuated the mess we're in can't
own up to the error of their way and fix the problem, beginning with
proper redress in the form of a full refund of the money taken
fraudulently from good, decent, hard-working Americans, then they are
not serious about making the necessary changes, regardless of what they
say.
Either they give us our money back, or they get their walking papers.
They do not deserve our support and will be removed -- unelected -- from office.
These soon-to-be ex-congressman and presidential hopefuls are very talented people.
I'm sure they'll do well on the comedy club circuit or selling time-shares in the Caribbean.
[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . http://jdrachel.com ]
