People Power – Part 4: The Peace Dividend Strategy

The Peace Dividend strategy is a practical plan for achieving a very specific goal. That goal is regime change in Washington DC, i.e. replacing the pro-war, pro-Wall Street, anti-democratic, power-drunk megalomaniacs now in control, with individuals who reflect the real values and priorities of real people living real lives. It’s about getting rid of the lapdogs and liars and electing honest individuals who will answer to and serve the people who put them in office. 

Until WE THE PEOPLE seize power from those who now commandeer the machinery for setting foreign policy, who shape our military priorities and agenda, who view themselves as the indispensable, infallible rulers of the planet, until WE THE PEOPLE are able to decide the direction of our country, create a legal and economic framework which serves all of the people, not just the rich and powerful, the U.S. will continue to bully other countries, topple governments, kill innocent people for geopolitical advantage, create conflict and chaos, inflict untold misery and suffering on everyone on the planet (including increasingly its own citizens), and provoke Russia and China into a major, possibly human life-ending conflict. The rich will just get richer and our best and finest will be sent into battle to protect their portfolios.

Thus, the Peace Dividend strategy is about seizing power, putting it into the hands of a democratically-empowered citizenry, reversing the disastrous trajectory of our foreign policy and aggressive pursuit of world domination, and implementing peaceful solutions for the monumental problems confronting the world in these challenging, tumultuous times.

To lay a foundation for citizen participation and activism, the Peace Dividend strategy focuses on the abuse of political and military power from 1992 to the present. This time frame is chosen for a very specific reason. To achieve its stated goal, the Peace Dividend strategy lays out a carefully constructed but entirely truthful message which the general public, or at least 150-200 million of them, can grasp, appreciate, and embrace. The message is the impetus for very simple and achievable action.

Why take this approach?

Most peace messaging unfortunately is too abstract, too broad, too philosophical. It might seem noble and inspiring to those already in the peace movement, good folks dedicated to achieving a world without war. But to everyday citizens who are bogged down and preoccupied with the more practical pursuits of survival, raising a family, holding down a job, making it from one paycheck to the next, most of the appeals currently wielded by peace activists sound like hippie slogans and pie-in-the-sky pining. Often such activists are viewed as misfits who are out of touch with reality.

The reason is obvious. People can’t feel much empathy for cholera victims in Yemen or refugees in Syria, when members of their immediate family are suffering. Everyday folks can’t pay attention to our aggressions in the South China Sea and Russia’s borders, when they need to pay attention to keeping a job and food on the table.

The approach of the Peace Dividend strategy is simple and direct: Just tell the truth! Tell the truth about our endless wars and bloated DOD budgets! Expose the whole “defense industry” game for what it is: an enormous con, a rip-off, a massive fraud perpetrated on the American citizenry. The Afghanistan War was based on lies. The Iraq War was based on lies. Destroying Libya was based on lies. Attacking Syria was based on lies. The need to upgrade our nuclear weapons is a lie. The need for a Space Force is a lie. The need to go to war with Russia is a lie. The need to go to war with China is a lie. It goes on and on. Trillions and trillions of dollars wasted! Manufactured crises. Manufactured consent.

And then crucially, we connect all this fraud and waste to the rough times people are going through . . .

WAR IS MAKING US POOR!

People should be very angry. When they see what’s really happening, THEY WILL BE VERY ANGRY! Trillions of our taxpayer dollars have gone up in smoke. OUR MONEY has been squandered and our future mortgaged. The facts don’t lie. It’s even on the nightly news now! How $2.3 trillion was wasted in a 20-year war in Afghanistan, which to rub salt in our wounds WE LOST!

The Peace Dividend strategy doesn’t stop there. The war criminals and their puppets in Congress and the White House have stolen our money.

We want it back!

We want back at least some of the trillions taken from us as good, decent citizens under false pretenses, then used to fight unnecessary wars and buy military junk we never needed. Money which just ends up in the coffers of the defense industry, and ultimately in the bank accounts of wealthy investors who profit from the never-ending wars. It’s a pipeline right from the pocketbooks of everyday citizens and their meager family budgets, to the already incomprehensibly rich.

WE DEMAND OUR MONEY BACK!

The Peace Dividend refund currently totals $20,544 for each and every living U.S. citizen.

That’s over $82,000 for a family of four. Everybody gets the same amount. Warren Buffet and Jeff Bezos get the same as you and your 10-year-old kid, your grandma and the guy who picks up your trash.

And if you don’t think we can afford this, stop right there. See Paying For The Peace Dividend.

Understand something . . .

This is not helicopter money. It’s not Covid relief. It’s not UBI. It’s not a bribe. It’s not socialism.

IT’S A REFUND!

It’s everyday citizens getting back money which NEVER should have been taken from them in the first place, and putting that money back in their bank accounts where it belongs.

Our case is clear and our logic unassailable. The public for the past 30 years have been victims of the greatest rip-off in the history of the world!

Another way to look at this:  We are demanding “war reparations” in the form of a Peace Dividend Refund, for the war the power-drunk, war-crazed lunatics have been waging, not just on our alleged enemies, but on us, our families, our communities, our schools.

FOR THE WAR THEY’VE BEEN WAGING ON THE TRUTH!

Will our establishment politicians, now in the pockets of defense industry and Wall Street, beholden to the imperial fantasies of the neocon fanatics, go along with this?

Probably not. THAT’S THE POINT OF THIS STRATEGY. If they can’t serve the people, send them packing. They are fabulously talented. They can become an Amway distributor or a greeter at Walmart. Their phony smiles are perfect for any number of job opportunities.

Then again, maybe a few of the establishment politicians will come around. That’s fine. It’s entirely their choice: But either they commit in writing with the Peace Dividend candidate contract to GIVE US OUR MONEY BACK or . . . we don’t vote for them. We vote for someone who will. Then we’ll get a government that works for all of us and Walmart or Target will get a bubbly employee at the front entrance, just in time for Black Friday.

Is such an ultimatum really necessary?

YES! It’s come to this. The reason is simple. The war machine will continue to accelerate until we stop it.

However, there’s hope. There’s a very proven method for stopping our out-of-control government from further squandering. It’s a proven method! Works every time . . .

Empty the vault! No money. No money for military expansion. No money. No money for imperial wars.

This is exactly what the conservatives have done to us for years, only we’re turning the tables. THEY spend all the money on war and military. “Oh gosh, folks. We ran out of money. Sorry. We have to cut social programs. And there’s nothing now to fix our infrastructure.”

Ah hah! We see how this works! So . . .

We do exactly the same thing to them. THE REFUND (now we’re getting to the real reason for such an outrageous, drastic approach) EMPTIES THE VAULT. Refund $6.832 trillion to THE PEOPLE. No money for war. “Oh gosh, warmongers. We ran out of money. Sorry. You’ll have to close the bases. Start with Guantanamo and Okinawa. And we’ll have to cancel all that silly militarization of outer space. And the upgrading our nuclear weapons? Out of the question. Building more ships and tanks and missiles. FUHGEDDABOUDIT!”

Do you folks get this? This is so obvious. This could work!

But instead we flounder around talking about trimming this and trimming that. SCREW THE TRIMMING! Get people angry! Show them the LIES! The outrageous waste and fraud. Get people to DEMAND THEIR PEACE DIVIDEND REFUND … $20,544 for every single citizen! Spend the money on THE PEOPLE! No money for senseless wars!

How can the people get the power back?

How can we get our military, our economy, our government back on track?

ONLY VOTE FOR PEACE DIVIDEND CANDIDATES!

If we get a veto-proof majority in the House and the Senate, and these newly elected representatives go to DC and pass the Peace Dividend legislation, EVERYTHING CHANGES! Just sit back with a glass of your favorite evening comfort drink and think about it. EVERYTHING CHANGES … at least for now. People get a windfall. The DOD is stopped in its tracks. The MIC has to completely rethink and retool. And we can actually talk about things that matter to most Americans. The entire two-party duopoly gets turned on its head. Why? Because 99% of the establishment candidates from the two major parties will refuse to go along with this. They’ll fight it tooth, nail, cloak, dagger, go nuclear, go INSANE! I already know the kaka that they’ll be spewing. You do too. You hear it every time anybody wants to do something for THE PEOPLE of this country.

Listen, folks. We’ve got nothing to lose here. Here’s the worst case scenario . . .

Even if we don’t get our refund, if we got this in front of the public, if we got media to pay attention to this idea — and yes, if in 250 congressional races THIS was a big deal, it would be headline news on MSM —  for the first time in decades we’d be talking about the insanity and waste and lies surrounding the endless wars. We’d be talking about PEACE for a change! And maybe have a serious discussion about how truly screwed up the priorities are right now.

Please keep this thought front and center at all times: The Peace Dividend Project has a very specific goal. Stop the war machine before it destroys the country and possibly all life on the planet. Of course, I feel horrible for the people in Yemen, Ukraine, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and all the other victims of U.S. military aggression and twisted foreign policies. But none of them are HERE in the belly of this horrible beast. None of them can vote. We start here and if we can stop the hate and lies inside our borders, we can start spreading the love and truth outside our borders. Maybe the world will forgive us our sins and we can get a fresh start.

By the way, if you want to participate in the Peace Dividend Project, please sign up here . . .

Join us in making the world safer and more peaceful.

[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . https://jdrachel.com ]

People Power – Part 4: The Peace Dividend Strategy | John Rachel

War is over if . . . | John Rachel

John Lennon was idealistic and inspiring. His lovely, if somewhat naive Imagine, embodied the hope and vision most of us share for a better, more peaceful world.

Personally, I appreciate Lennon’s genius even more listening to the background vocals and out-chorus of his phenomenal Christmas ode, Happy Xmas (War Is Over) . . .

The beautifully sung line that really catches my ear and fires my imagination is . . .

John and Yoko certainly had the right idea. It’s an idea most of us want to believe in!

At the same time, despite how good I genuinely feel entertaining such a thought, I see a problem here. That sentiment probably wasn’t true back in 1971 when the song was released, and it certainly is not true in today’s world.

The vast majority of people in the U.S. and across the globe want an end to the wars. But given the current configuration of political power, the realities of who decides where and when the next conflict will take place, what we the people think is completely irrelevant.

We everyday, sane, decent, peace-loving folks CANNOT stop the endless wars for a simple and obvious reason.

We are powerless!

I mean that literally, not figuratively.

WE HAVE NO POWER!

And the people who do have all of the power to make peace or wage war have no desire, have zero motivation to end their aggression, to stop creating more enemies, to reduce tensions, to once and forever retire war as the main mechanism of foreign policy.

In fact, all of the rewards and incentives for those now in power — the ruling elite and their lapdogs in government — are to escalate conflict and confrontation, beat the war drums louder and louder, increase misunderstanding, promote fear and mistrust, and accelerate the march into battle. The threat of war, preparation for war, and starting wars will be endlessly recycled until there is a complete, game-changing, paradigm-shifting challenge to the policies which define the way our government now deals with the rest of the world.

War is among the most profitable investments in play. And the turmoil and chaos resulting from war keeps the current batch of warmongers in power. They make money — enormous sums of money — and lock themselves in a position to make even more money.

Why would they lift a finger to seek peace?

Why would they care whether we want peace or not?

Why would they even pay attention to us when we question them?

Why would those who exclusively benefit and enrich themselves selling war, promoting war, manufacturing and marketing weapons, creating more justifications for more lethal fighting machinery, pushing for endless military expansion, why would these amoral, money-hungry, power-drunk empire builders and imperial plunderers declare ‘war is over’ JUST BECAUSE WE WANT IT?

No, as poignant and beautiful as John Lennon’s inspired and inspiring lyric line is, reality demands we reconfigure it. Maybe it doesn’t sing quite as well or create as warm and fuzzy a feeling in us as his original line. But this is the only way things will change . . .

That is the truth about peace in our time . . . or I should say, perpetual war in our time.

It’s up to us to change the disastrous trajectory that we’re on. It won’t be easy. “They” have the money, control of Congress, the federal bureaucracy, the media, most of academia and the think tanks. “They” have been building a permanent war economy from the 1950s, which even President Dwight Eisenhower tried to warn us about way back when.

On the other hand, we have the numbers. In fact, we vastly outnumber the warrior-class empire builders, and if we are unified, determined, focused, and have a solid plan, we can turn the country around and create the conditions for a world at peace.

It’s entirely up to us. Please get involved!

[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . https://jdrachel.com ]

War is over if . . . | John Rachel

Useful Idiots Are Still Useful

There are a lot of smug, self-righteous folks out there — I hope not but maybe some right here reading this — who like to look down their noses at what they call “sheeple”.

Tellingly, if we are really honest with ourselves, at one time or another and to a greater or lesser degree, we’ve all been sheeple. We’ve gone with the flow. Gone along to get along. Yes, I’m embarrassed to say, I have too.

What am I supposed to take from that?

The hardest thing for me, as a very smart person, with a smart mouth, and a smart aleck attitude, to learn and fully internalize has been this:

Don’t judge.

Of course, there are situations and people all of the time which require a “judgment call”. Should I trust this person? Is that guy over there yelling at the top of his lungs about UFOs dangerous? Is this politician focused on getting my vote telling the truth or blowing smoke?

What I mean by ‘don’t judge’ is simple. Don’t make final declarations which cut you off from any further understanding or appreciation, whether it’s about a person or a circumstance.

Sheeple, for example.

The idiom implies that such people are incapable of thinking for themselves, that they purely are followers. The herd sleeps, they sleep. The herd chews on grass, they chew on grass. The herd runs into the chute to their slaughter, they run into the chute to their slaughter.

There’s some truth to that. But the fact is, we all do this. Anybody out there wearing their pants backwards or answering the phone by reciting Shakespearean couplets? Any of you celebrate your last birthday by playing the drum solo from In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida naked at the bottom of an empty swimming pool? 

We all do a lot of things in concert with others. We go to concerts and sing along with the chorus to our favorite songs. By the millions we watch the same TV shows, laugh at the same jokes, cry at the same tragedies, sit like hypnotized lumps taking in the daily news, then say the same things everyone else is saying about the same scandals.

And the undeniable truth is, sometimes it feels great being part of some “community” of people doing the same thing. Is anyone going to tell me that tens of thousands of people packing into a stadium or millions of people glued to the boob tube, watching grown men — very big grown men — battle to cart what looks like a leather melon to the end of a grassy rectangle, that’s asserting individuality and true independent thinking?

Rah rah rah. More beer! Yay!

Don’t judge.

Let me take this to another level.

‘Useful idiot’ is another phrase I’ve been giving serious thought to.

I watched a couple videos the other day, then shared them with a few trusted friends. They were appalled. They’re not speaking to me now.

Okay, what could be so offensive other than a porn movie featuring Trump, his daughter Ivanka, and a freshly disemboweled chimpanzee?

If you think you can handle it, here are two of a whole series of YouTube videos by a minor-genius video blogger by the name of Mark Dice.

The Common Sense Test

Talking With Californians

Yes, really it’s difficult. I keep telling myself: Don’t judge. Don’t judge.

Okay . . . if I don’t judge, what then? What exactly do I do?

First, some perspective. 

Our heralded democratic system is a great leveler. Every person in those videos, the ones who didn’t know why we celebrate the 4th of July and those who don’t know what country Mount Rushmore is in, has the right to vote. And here’s a truly sobering fact . . . EACH OF THEIR VOTES counts exactly the same as EACH OF OUR VOTES. 

Hey, it’s right there in the Constitution! One person, one vote. This is democracy in action, folks! Equality in the voting booth is the oxygen of our amazing political system! Ladies and gentlemen and everyone in between, this is SO INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL . . . I can’t stop crying! 

[ 42 minutes later: It’s taken a while, but I’ve finally gotten a grip and will now continue with my touching article. ]

Political activists are always asking: how can we get people involved, how can we get them engaged, how can we get them to vote, be a part of the solution instead of a part of the problem? That means everyone! Even the sheeple in the videos deserve to have a voice, right?

I’m simplifying but . . .

“Dude! I got some great reefer! If you vote for Bernie Sanders, man I’ll get you so high, you’ll meet Jim Morrison.”

“Hey, you are one fine-looking babe! How would you like $18,000? Tell you what, if you vote for this peace candidate, Theresa Treehugger, I’ll get you your money!”

Ridiculous? Actually, here’s the deal. Either we do it or someone else will. And then it will look like . . .

“Let’s make America great again! F*ck the Mexicans. F*ck the Muslims. Kill the Chinese. Kill the Russians.”

Make no mistake about it: USEFUL IDIOTS ARE STILL USEFUL!

To really make you understand and appreciate how important this is, here’s my final thought. Someone in some elevated seat of power, someone with the money and resources to completely shape the future of your world, is thinking that very thing . . .

AND LOOKING AT YOU!

[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . https://jdrachel.com ]

Useful Idiots Are Still Useful | John Rachel

War is the answer! But what was the question?

In the forums for our national conversation, there is no earnest discussion of peace and cooperation now … period! I’m not talking lip service or political posturing. I’m talking REAL DISCUSSION, widespread, inclusive, comprehensive discussion. In the media, by our leaders, among everyday people. NONE!

We have a war economy, a war on terror, troops fighting in seven countries (that we know of), over 800 military bases across the planet, countless secret missions and ops, soon weapons in space, and to add more gasoline to the fire are insulting and openly hostile to Russia and China — apparently to provoke them into a war. We the public are to believe the only available options are how much war and who to attack next.

There are no prominent media platforms, no high-visibility celebrities, no folk or pop songs being aired, no TV shows or movies, no major love-ins/teach-ins/sit-ins, no massive demonstrations, promoting peace.

If spectacle is out of the question because of Covid-19 lockdowns and social distancing, an effective peace movement would at bare minimum establish a national conversation about peace with the powerful tools that are available. But the current appeals for peace are a total washout. That’s the reality. There are sparsely-attended Zoom sessions, enthusiastic but isolated and very small clusters of activists, occasional listless street protests, none of which create enough buzz to be news to the greater mass of American citizens. They hear as much about peace now as they hear about powdered wigs.

As for our spokespersons at a federal level, all they officially talk about is “defending our national interest” — whatever that means — and the need for bigger, more powerful, more exotic, more expensive weapons. This salivating for a bigger badder military is bipartisan. Apparently blowing things up, creating animosity, and making more refugees are the only items the Democrats and Republicans can agree on.

But here’s the wrench in the gears of this doomsday machine: The simple, obvious truth is, all of the current talk about the urgent need to extend and expand our military is predicated on completely flawed thinking and a deceptive premise, one that we’re hearing belched out with teeth-gritting hysteria more and more these days. 

Here it is:

“We can’t win a war against China or Russia, much less both at the same time.”

Actually yes! This is completely accurate. 

BUT THE REAL TRUTH IS, THIS SHOULD BE A CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION. Because THEY can’t win a war against us either! It’s a perfect standoff. No one wins. No one loses. Why bother?

What a relief! There will be no war. Right?

Wrong.

Instead, it’s the basis of the further absurd claim that since we can’t beat Russia or China, we are militarily weak, vulnerable, lacking the necessary hardware and fire power. It’s used to promote expanding the military even more. 

Where’s the deception? The deception is the wording. It should be: We currently can’t win a war of AGGRESSION against them, attacking them on THEIR soil. The need for the pivot to Asia. Putting NATO troops and missiles on Russia’s borders. Our never-ending wars in the Middle East. Expansion of our military footprint in Africa. Our secret ops everywhere. All of this projection of power “over there” to confront and defeat our “enemies” on their soil, in their waters, in their skies, requires bigger and better weapons, more ships and planes, trillions more dollars to float the bloat.

This sprawl of U.S. fighting forces is predicated false assumption is that WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO DEFEAT ANYONE, ANYWHERE, AT ANY TIME. 

Who voted for this? Did you? I sure didn’t.

This mindset, this thinking comprises the essential core of exceptionalist madness. It’s the sort of delusion and arrogance that brings every empire down. And it obvious that it’s bankrupting our country . . . socially, morally, and economically. The self-sabotaging assumption that the U.S. should rule the planet is at the root of all of our geo-political machinations, misadventures, miscalculations. It’s making us the pariah of the world community and ultimately will destroy our unacknowledged empire from within. We will collapse from the weight of our hubris and recklessness. If we don’t push our adversaries too hard and too fast, ending up with a humiliating defeat on the battlefield, then eventually the waste of so much of our national resources on the pursuit of world empire will eviscerate America from within. We already see the shocking signs disintegration, the destruction of a functioning society every time we turn on the news. Some folks only need to look out their window.

THE BIG PICTURE, THE SOBERING REALITY.

Nothing will change, this self-destructive addiction to a failing world view and foreign policy will not go away, with the incentives now in place to perpetuate war, perpetuate empire, perpetuate the MISCM complex. NOTHING WILL STOP THE MADNESS! Yes, there will be minor adjustments, tinkering, fine-tuning. But it will always be tinkering and fine-tuning an out-of-control military, putting a pretty face on a thuggish foreign policy, and disguising our blood-drenched ham-fisted attempts at world conquest as a visit by the Democracy Fairy. 

Most importantly, the policies that have resulted in endless wars, rivers of bloodshed, mountains of corpses, and nation-shattering chaos across the world are choices that the vast majority of everyday citizens NEVER APPROVED OF, NOR WOULD THEY EVER if they truly understood what was happening.

Without a genuine national conversation which at bare minimum focuses on reducing our military footprint  and ending our wanton aggression, redefining the role of the military, promoting real peace, seeking genuine partnerships on a whole host of issues that require international cooperation, reaching out (as both China and Russia both do) to create win-win situations based on mutual respect and shared values, our current trajectory — a high-risk flirtation with nuclear war and other epic disasters — will continue unabated.

How do we begin a national conversation which seriously promotes peace?  

How do we begin a national conversation which marginalizes or axes the warmongers?

How do we the people insert ourselves into making the decisions that impact our lives and future?

It starts with emptying the seats of those now in power. Then filling them with individuals who are not captured by the psychosis of American exceptionalism, not beholden to the military-industrial-congressional-media complex, committed to representing the interests and promoting the general welfare of all citizens, determined to restore the proper balance of the branches of government as required by the Constitution, and invested in promoting cooperation and peace among the nations of the world community.

For that, we need the full support of at least 150 million everyday citizens, who demand to be heard and treated with dignity and fairness. Enlisting and engaging these individuals is the central goal of the Peace Dividend Project.

Its time has come.

[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . https://jdrachel.com ]

War is the answer! But what was the question? | John Rachel

John Rachel Is A Tedious Bore!

 

I just looked at my last five posts and they are all about the same topic.

Listen, folks.  I truly get it.  A lot of people think I'm becoming a tedious bore.

But they're wrong!  I've always been a tedious bore.  Sometimes I'm able to disguise it better than others, dress up my dull, monotonous discursives a bit with some clever photo -- like the pandering photo to the right.

But I can hear the recent cries of anguish from my readers.

"Jesus H. Christ!  Yet another article on candidate contracts?  Is this guy a one-trick pony?"

Actually, the last time I checked I had thousands of tricks.  The thing is, two in particular stand out spectacularly from the rest.  So maybe I'm a two-trick pony?

These particular two stand out, because as far as I can see, both of them offer necessary tactics and solutions to the existential threat ripping our nation apart.  It's one huge, ugly monster with two heads:  Autocratic rule by a rich and powerful elite and psychotic levels of militarism and imperial aggression.

It's been a real interesting ride these last five years trying to promote candidate contracts and the Peace Dividend refund concept, both targeting the oligarchy's sinister, iron-fisted authoritarian grip on our politics -- and just about everything else -- and the creation of a military/security state to further tighten and reinforce that grip on the American citizenry and any other country which holds valuable resources ripe for plunder.

I've made my case in three books, and literally hundreds of articles.  With this much time invested, and a firm belief that despite a lack of much encouragement I'm onto something of value and positive potential, I'm not giving up.  Sometimes you go with your gut.

Both the candidate contract strategy and Peace Dividend concept have had more than their share of detractors.  Yet I forge on like a punch-drunk old boxer because no one -- NO ONE -- has come up with anything resembling a coherent, decisive reason why either of these detailed battle plans is not viable, why they're dead ends, why they're lost causes, why I should pack it in and live in a Yurt with some nomadic tribe in Mongolia.

I'm serious!  Any criticism dances around them like they're made of depleted uranium.

I get self-assured quips like:  "It'll never happen."  Wow!  That crushed five years of hard work in a single blow.

Or:  "I don't like contracts."  Which is a semi-literate version of, "Your idea sucks, dude!"

One very famous activist -- I won't name him because everyone who would bother to read this knows this guy -- ripped my book, Candidate Contracts: Taking Back Our Democracy to shreds.  I'll give him credit for putting a lot of time into his demolition project.  He sent me a long email listing in great detail seven flaws in my approach.  The only problem was, not one of the seven things he targeted were even in my book!  I am dead serious.  Not a single one of the seven gaping holes in my plan were in my plan.  As I suspect happens a lot, he saw 'candidate contracts', then proceeded to dissect what he thought a candidate contract strategy would be about.  Talk about arrogant posturing.  And this guy is very famous!  Progressives from all over flock to his side for his sage advice.  God help us!

I beg people to give me constructive criticism, any kind of criticism, a bombshell that takes my ideas out like they'd just been hit by a MOAB.  Hey, put me out of my misery!  I've got four novels I'd much rather be working on.  PLEASE!  Give me your best shot.  Deliver me from all this yelling in an anechoic chamber at ghosts who are hologram doppelgangers for activists in a coma.

I'm still waiting.  How many articles have I written here, at OpEdNews, The Greanville Post?  Hundreds!  Now go through the comments.  A lot of the real critical stuff is self-aggrandizing bloviating, the rest irrefutable evidence that either they didn't read the article, or they must have put their brains in a fruit blender before they tried to read it, because obviously they didn't understand anything of what I was saying.

Often I've thought:  Maybe it's you, John.  Maybe you're not expressing yourself very clearly and that's why people don't get it.  (I spend a lot of time alone, so it's not that unusual for me to talk to myself, though usually it's a little more upbeat than this.)

The result has been the vast output of a variety of articles, each coming from a slightly different place, offering a different pitch, trying to find that magic winning formula for getting the ideas across.  I've even resorted to doing videos, despite the fact that if I had the money, the first thing I'd do is hire an actor with a great voice and reality show-host good looks to deliver a more seductive version of the message.

Mind you, I have a phenomenal life here in Japan.  Except for the gnawing aggravation and frustration associated with my long-distance dedication to activism, I live a fairy tale life in a beautiful, traditional, rural community situated between Osaka, Kobe, and Kyoto -- each one of those comes with its own distinct personality and host of urban attractions.  My beautiful, talented Japanese wife and I travel extensively, with her showing me the splendors of this fascinating country which I now embrace as my home.

But when I look back at the "homeland", I want to scream!  What has happened to the U.S. is a nightmare of a nightmare of a nervous breakdown.  In my worst moments, I see the whole world -- including my charming town -- being plunged into a nuclear holocaust, a war driven by pride, hubris, arrogance, ignorance, insensitivity, delusion, demagoguery, pathological levels of disregard for decency and human life.  In my better moments -- fewer and farther between these days -- I just see America being consigned to the septic tank of history, plunged into the dank, degrading stink hole of a Dark Ages Redux.

But there's three compelling reason why I'll continue pushing -- at least for a while -- my two apparently incomprehensible strategies.

1. There's a pivotal election coming up.  Forget about 2020.  We might not even make it to 2020.  A lot depends on whether the accelerating implosion of our country and the decline of the fortunes of everyday people continues, or finally meets its Waterloo.  It's up to us and that's why I keep fighting.
2. Very recently I've had some encouraging breakthroughs.  One gentleman in Scranton, Pennsylvania bought 20 print copies of my Peace Dividend book, handed them out to all of his friends and fell0w-activists.  Now they regularly discuss the strategy in their peace planning sessions.
3. I am now on the board of a activist organization called Citizens Against Plutocracy.  This small group of dedicated progressives and its sister organization, Revolt Against Plutocracy, are actively promoting my candidate contract strategy, under the rubric CFAR, which stands for Contract For American Renewal.

[Author stops, spots a frog stuck to the window next to his chair, prompting him to reflect:  Is this as tedious as I think it is?  Maybe I should wrap this up.  Ah!  I'll throw in the old non-sequitur.  That always gets them where the rubber meets the cerebellum!]

1st Rule of Fight Club:  Don't talk about fight club.

1st Rule of Propaganda:  Repeat lies so often people eventually believe them.

1st Rule of Activism:  Repeat truth so often people start paying attention.

Alright, enough.  My mind spilleth over . . . and it's a mess.

Having said all of the foregoing -- are you still with me? . . . doubtful but as a tedious bore, I'm used to rejection -- I'm going to take a short break.  The next two or three articles will not be hard-core political but family-friendly fluff.

Just because I can.

Or is it by popular demand?


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



John Rachel Is A Tedious Bore!

An Open Letter to Dennis Kucinich on Peace in a Military State

I have talked to Dennis on the phone but it's been a while.  He personally sent me a copy of this speech.  Here's what I have to say about it -- an open letter.  I hope he gets it.

Dennis:

As is true to form, your speech is breathtaking in its scope and packed with everything we need to know about what is wrong with America's embrace of aggression and militarism.

Since I have nothing to lose, and you have everything to gain from my unsolicited critique, I'll just give it to you straight with both barrels.

Like EVERYTHING I see coming out of brilliant, recognized, widely-admired peace proponents like yourself, your message lacks TWO VITAL, GAME-CHANGING COMPONENTS . . .

1.  It doesn't speak to the masses, the 200 million Americans we need to reach to turn things around.
2. It offers no decisive solution to the gravest threat in the history of the world -- America's out-of-control military and addiction to war.

It's easy from the "inside" of the peace movement to think our message is valid and powerful.  It is valid in every respect, but unfortunately fails to persuade.  It fails to even get noticed by the vast majority of Americans.  The people we need to reach may not even know who Dennis Kucinich is, they're so dumbed-down and brainwashed.  They certainly don't know who Gareth Porter or David Swanson are.  So everything you well-meaning, articulate folks say is preaching to the choir.

Why do we need these people?  You said it yourself.  While you were in Congress, you made proposals, you argued, you reasoned, you made deals.  What happened?  You were brushed aside like dandruff.  Then you were railroaded out of Congress.

I don't know how you read this, but I know what the correct reading is.  THESE ASSHOLES WILL NEVER LISTEN!  THEY WILL NEVER EMBRACE PEACE!

Therefore . . .

THEY MUST BE REPLACED!  There has to be almost a clean sweep of Congress or the march to war and annihilation will continue.

THAT'S why we need 200 million people on our side.  It's that simple.

Are you offended yet?  Are you still reading this?

SO . . . any speech, any strategy, any campaign on behalf of peace, which does not include, 1) a message for the masses, and 2) a decisive strategy for removing the warmongers from power, will fail.  As long as the peace movement continues to delude itself about this, it will continue to go backwards.

I'm exhausted trying to get you to look at my Peace Dividend idea.  Thank goodness, a brilliant, passionate activist just made the case for me.  Here's John R. Hall's very recent article at The Greanville Post:  http://www.greanvillepost.com/2017/04/28/the-peace-dividend-a-time-to-take-dead-aim-and-attack/

Please read it.  Think about it.  I sincerely hope you want to talk more about this.  I'm still available.

You have my number.

John Rachel

---

 

The Peace Dividend: The Most Controversial Proposal in the History of the World is now available both as an ebook and deluxe paperback at many of the usual outlets . . .

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Direct from printer . . . bit.ly/2c3mJsl



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


An Open Letter to Dennis Kucinich on Peace in a Military State