Category: Politics

The wrong end of a pistol

August 22, 2021

Out of curiosity, regarding the recent return of the TallyPo in Afghanistan, I went researching (armchair, skip-scanning of articles that matched my topic at-hand—which does not actually qualify as “research”), the treatment of women by the three major Abrahamic Religions.

What I found, anecdotally, made me question why these religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, even exist.

Throughout the ages, these religions pretty much codify the treatment of women as property. Islam being the worst offender. But the other two are just as dismissive of women as equal partners in all aspects of familial and community governance.

Let’s see:

  • The “books” of “God” are all written by men.
  • God is a dude.
  • God created Man and then Woman as an afterthought.
  • Men and Women are both contractually welcome into their associated heavens, not as a generalized people, but specifically as Men or Women.
  • The locations of worship, the synagogues, mosques and churches are generally off limits to women. Women should worship at home.
  • Roles within each religion are segregated and the dominant ones always assigned to men.
  • Women’s roles are always servile where obedience is the “godly” behavior attributed to ascension.

How could 1/2 (or more) of the majority of the population of the planet just put up with such station?

Fuck that.

And now that the women of Afghanistan, who have enjoyed a much expanded set of freedoms (not perfectly equal, but way better) are back under the TallyPo’s oppressive religious regime?

I’ll be awaiting the rise of the Afghan Underground Women’s Rebellion. There’s a shit ton of guns in that country, thank you very much Russia & the United States, and when they fall into the hands of the women whose lives are now once again severely throttled, I suspect the TallyPo will have more to fear from within than from without.

As a white, male, armchair, theoretical tactician I know I should be ignored. I have zero credibility regarding my opinion on such matters. I offer the above as an insubstantial hope that the reversal of women’s fortunes, eventually to the positive, does not demand a sacrifice too dear.

And the village was saved

November 7, 2020

The pall has lifted.
The ugly shroud of Orangina has peel away.
The sword of rationality has pierced the hideous beast and left it golfing in denial.

About Damn Time!

I’m reminded of the lyrics from a Jim Stafford song, one I memorized as a teenager.
 
Here are the pertinent parts:
One day brought the rain and the rain stayed on
And the swamp water overflowed
Skeeters and the fever grabbed the town like a fist
(The swam overflowed indeed! Fully of criminals hired by Drumpf)
…
There came an unseen caller on a town where hope run dry
(Biden)
…
And the whole town took a sip
(of sanity)
…
Fever went away and the very next day the skies again were blue
(As well as the rest of the country. Yay, Democracy!)
…
Said don’t come lookin’ again.
(Oh, they will. The Rabid-Right can’t help itself.)

Yay Us! Mudge, @fifteencurmudgeon, you get to keep on livin’, aren’t you happy? Jesse, give the team a woof!

A progressive argument to battle your conservative friends

October 31, 2020

Crazy times.
Divisive times.
“Them’s fightin’ words,” times.

I’m reticent to even broach this subject for fear of retribution or retaliation. But, fuck it, progressives need better ammunition to fend off the irrational arguments of the Radical Right.

  • “You’re all trying to convert this country over to socialism!”
  • “Get government out of my business.”
  • “Big government is bad business.”

Yeah, I hear your words. Let’s just do a little theoretical experiment and we’ll see where you stand afterward.

#1 You don’t like socialism? Then, you must not like government programs that operate on behalf of society. OK, then, let’s do away with the socialism we currently enjoy. No more:

  • Judicial system which provides for rule-of-law adjudication of crimes and grievances. No more suing that corporation for poisoning your toothpaste. No more court system to ensure crimes are tried and resolved.
  • No more police departments.
  • No more fire departments.
  • No more emergency services. Your call to 911 will go no where.
  • In fact, no more telecom system as corporations will now own the airwaves and you’ll have to pay that monopoly dues to rent the air waves.
  • No more highway system. No more bridges, tunnels, lights, or smooth driving anywhere.
  • No more banking system. No more Fed. Your money will now be controlled (inflated away) by independent banking corporations.
  • No more financial system. No more FOMC or SEC. The stock market will become a Wild West of robber barons.
  • No more FDA or USDA, the quality of your food and drugs will now be controlled by corporations.
  • No more EPA, your air, land and water will become as polluted as corporations want it.
  • No more OSHA, your jobs will be as risky and egregious as corporations can make them.
  • No more Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, you get old or sick, oh well.
  • No more national security or military. Foreign governments will attack with impunity, with both organized forces and insurgents.
  • This list goes on and on and on… ***

You don’t like socialism? Well, guess what? You already live in a socialist society. AND YOU LOVE IT! And if it were gone — you would suffer.

(You know who also loves socialism, that is, a social system of government of the people, by the people, for the people? … The wealthy and the corporations they run. But do they pay their share for all of these amenities? These privileges? These first-world services and benefits. NO THEY DON’T. You want to point a finger at someone? Point it at the wealthy and their corporations.)

So you say you don’t like socialism, but yet you live in a highly socialistic society as evidenced above. So which is it? Are you a hypocrite or do you just not understand that government IS society.

Next time some Right-wing conservative attacks your progressive, liberal ideals use this argument. We’re not that different. We all enjoy a vast and beneficial social system. Making it work a little better for all of us is what we progressives want.

#2 Without government “in your business”, protecting your business, you wouldn’t BE in business. Without the agencies and laws and equality built into the system (albeit somewhat half-assed right now), your business could and would get commandeered or monopolized out of business.

#3 It’s not that big government is bad, it’s that bad government is bad. Corporate lobbyists that drive legislation — BAD. Lifer politicians that treat their office like a royal award and act more for themselves than the people — BAD. The wealthy who think they can buy elections due to corrupt campaign laws — BAD.  Tax laws that ignore the monumental protections and benefits the wealthy enjoy without them owning up to said benefits — BAD.

Government IS us, We the People. If it’s not working for all of us, then yeah, let’s change it. But ignoring the fact that we’re already living in a valuable and advantageous socialism is denying the health and well being you’re enjoying right now.

[*** These are all social programs created by government to benefit society. Not “technically” socialism, but certainly part of the social fabric we voluntarily contribute to (taxes) and expect results from (all mentioned)…
Including: USPS, National Parks, HUD, FEMA, SNAP, public education, and hundreds of others.]

Kurzgesagt: Drumpf

September 6, 2020

Donald Dimwit Drumpf is a: (fill in the blank…)

  • Impotent playground bully
  • Habitually incompetent robber-baron-wannabe
  • Incoherent bloviating imbecile
  • Lying sad-sack-o-sewage
  • ??? (provide your own…)

Orange never looked so good:

(How do you like my Photoshop skills?)

In a more pleasant universe…

Hetty over here: whothehellknows.home.blog was not aware of my disdain for blog awards. I forgive her. However, because she approached the topic with enthusiasm and goodwill I felt somewhat compelled to comply with her prompt.

  1. Were you a dork growing up?
    Most definitely. Gullible, transparent and naive, I’d easily accept everyone at face-value. My interests were typical boyish things, taking stuff apart to see how it worked, building flimsy structures that collapsed in the breeze, ogling oblivious girls, dreaming of running away to the woods.
  2. Which literary villain most resonates with you?
    I’m a justice fanatic, I can’t think of any villain with whom I’d identify. OK, Hades in Disney’s Hercules … maybe.
  3. What is your perspective on existence?
    Hey, that’s an easy one. Just lookup above and click the Absurd Universe link.
  4. What is your favorite video game?
    Pong? I was never a fan of the genre. I did play my son’s Pokemon handheld in ’97? when they first came out, but only until the monotony underwhelmed me.
  5. Who is the worst boss you’ve ever had?
    I contracted for a fellow who had zero planning skills, no understanding of project management, no desire to participate in the design of a complex system he thought I should “just build”. The fucker threatened to sue me for non-delivery after a few months of work. Fortunately, the asshole got fired before me.
  6. Do you have a “tic” when you think of something embarrassing you’ve done? (eg, I shake my head really hard)
    Turn beet-red. Imagine an embarrassed jellyfish, my pasty white skin reveals all chagrin.

Problematic Protests

August 22, 2020

Should I join a protest? Should you?

It turns out, at least in this day and age, protests are problematic agents of change.

Guidelines for starting or joining a protest:

  1. Do you have a legitimate grievance against a commonly accepted illegitimate power, institution or societal norm or establishment?
  2. Are you willing to go the distance and risk everything—your reputation, your income, your relationships, your future and perhaps your life?
  3. Are you willing to accept that the change that you fight for may not come within your expected time frame, may not come within your focus of the situation, may not come within your lifetime or may not come at all?

If you answered YES to those three questions, then you might consider joining or starting a protest. How to evaluate your decision:

ONE: Is your cause both worthy and viable.

• 2003 The Iraq War Protests: Worthy? Generally. Viable? No. The powers that be didn’t care what protestors thought. They went to war anyway.

• 1960 Civil Rights Protests: Worthy? Yes. Viable? Eventually. The legitimacy of the requests far exceeded the ability for government to ignore the worthiness of the underlying reality of what the protests were about.

• 2009 Occupy Movement Protests: Worthy? Yes. Viable? No. Although millions lost jobs and their homes, the central aspect that this was Wall Street and the powers that be are deeply entrenched with that band of thieves negated any hope of success for this movement.

TWO: You may die pursuing your ideals.

• 1989 The Tienanmen Square protests resulted in thousands of dead Chinese dissidents and resulted in no change in policy.

• 2011 The Arab Spring Revolts created nothing but chaos with tens of thousands dying if not hundreds of thousands, including Syrians who were emboldened by the so called success of the Tunisians and possibly the Libyans. The result? ISIS, and the Arab Winter with only Tunisia surviving the tumult that has rocked the region for a decade.

THREE: Change is hard.

• Women’s voting, Women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, Black rights, Workers and Teachers strikes throughout the ages and dozens of other examples. All of those protests, movements or actions resulted in change—eventually. Most took years if not decades.

The Problem

  • These days, organizing a protest is an app on your phone. Tap, tap, tap: Meet at First and Main, bring banners and gas masks.
  • Your cause might be worthy, but we’ve all now got Protest Exhaustion.
  • And the biggest deterrent to any protest—actually making a statement, actually raising awareness in the world today—counter-protest insurgents. Activists actively seeking to disrupt and escalate violence in your “peaceful” protest.

Do protests work these days? My personal belief is no. You want to champion a cause, change the world? Start a GoFundMe page to oust the politicians that are in the pockets of the lobbyists who actually run the world.

fist

 

Addendum:

Up until recently, protests seemed to work much more effectively. And I believe this was due to the egregious injustices that people had endured. As those injustices fall to the righteous revolts whereby lawmakers enact corrective and healing laws, fewer and fewer truly dreadful inequities remain to be corrected.

Yet, folks still feel lesser than—as they should. Look at income inequality, the rich and the rest of us, the 10% and the 90% and then there’s the gender and racial income inequality too. There’s the healthcare issues, and firearm reform. And a dozen other hot-topic issues. However, the intensity of injustice, the divergent level of what wrongs exist now compared to what the future might look like — someday, are not expansive enough to engender the protests reflective of the imbalances of the past.

When such apathy occurs, and it has, the only way to change the system is from within. Green shoots sprouting within the rotting trunk of the Tree of Liberty, not without.

Blood of patriots? If the Idiot-In-Chief gets reelected, well, we may again have thousands dying to water that tree.