Saturday, October 29, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
The Shocking, Graphic Data That Shows Exactly What Motivates the Occupy Movement | | AlterNet
The Shocking, Graphic Data That Shows Exactly What Motivates the Occupy Movement AlterNet
Some words from FDR in 1933 on the dignity of labor at the end of this piece:
"Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money, it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.
The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto, but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men."
Some words from FDR in 1933 on the dignity of labor at the end of this piece:
"Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money, it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.
The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto, but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men."
Monday, October 17, 2011
Why Did it Take Americans So Long...? The American Awakening
Many people are asking why it took Americans so long to become aware that the American Dream was shrinking to a mere shadow of what it once was and to react to this sad truth. Those who scoff at the Occupy Wall Street movement say the American Dream is still alive... that the dream is to become a millionaire...
But that is not what the American Dream was and is... It was never to become rich and advantaged on the backs of so many others. The American Dream was always to have meaningful work at an income which provided physical, mental and emotional security and health for everyone, not just a few... and to leave the world a better place for future generations.
Unlike the Arab Spring, America has not had a despot reigning over the populace for 30 or 40 years. Our figurehead changes every 4 to 8 years, although sometimes 8 years even seems too much when it's policies produce damaging momentum in a direction almost too huge to change in the next admninistration. This change in leadership seemed to give the populace a sense that it had some voice in the direction of the country's future, not realizing that there are forces behind the scenes which are actually manipulating policy. As a result, the populace of the U.S. never had a specific figure to focus on to rebel against.
Even after the crash of 2008, it was not clear who the manipulators were and why the deterioration of our democracy seemed to be impossible to prevent. In 2010 it appeared that the Tea Party was the beginning of a grassroots movement to throw off the shackles a manipulated economy. As it became clear that the target was the government and the Tea Party was, in fact, a contrivance of multinational corporations, although many Tea Party members were initially truly concerned citizens, a darker truth emerged. The truth was that our government and all public property was about be be sold wholesale to these financial giants, through legislation which they helped to write with the aid of hand-picked, newly elected legislators.
But it was not until the contrived debt ceiling crisis that many Americans woke up saying, "What is wrong with these people in Congress? What planet do they live on that all of a sudden the debt is an issue as their constituents are slipping into poverty not seen for 75 years and are being ignored and even blamed for their own misfortune?"
This is when people started understanding the difference between how a government is run versus how a business is run. There was a minority who understood what was happening, but it wasn't until Congress threatened to do away with Social Security and Medicare that the majority of people realized something is terribly wrong with the direction of our country.
The Obama administration has been working to shift the balance of power from behemoth corporations with fingers in every piece of American's pie back to the citizens. It has gotten little or no attention for these works and has been portrayed as an ineffective administration because Congress has seemingly nullified every program it proposed. It has been to the administration's advantage to not have the attention of main stream media on these accomplishments because they never became sabotaged as targets of its enemies with a few exceptions. As a result, change is already in the works.
Unfortunately, President Obama is still portrayed as failing to fulfill his promises because of this lack of media coverage, media which is owned by those large companies, but most of the major, and I mean gargantuan problems didn't exist when he campaigned for President. It is becoming clear that the economy was much worse off than originally portrayed when he took office and was truly sliding down a cliff to complete destruction until he turned it around. It has also become apparent that a President can only do so much when the reins of power are not really in his hands and when the other two branches of the government's sole purpose is to defeat every proposal and make certain he doesn't get elected a 2nd time.
The irony of the American Awakening is that it is not our leader that we are trying to get rid of, nor is it our form of government, but it is the regime of unseen, but not for long, vested interests who pretend that the destruction of the Executive Branch and Democracy will be our salvation.
If YOU believe the argument of those with the vested interests, then maybe you'd like to buy the Brooklyn Bridge... no really... I think Bloomberg is seriously considering selling it to cover the cost of the police force needed to kettle and contain the Occupy Wall Street protestors who have long term plans to stay.
But that is not what the American Dream was and is... It was never to become rich and advantaged on the backs of so many others. The American Dream was always to have meaningful work at an income which provided physical, mental and emotional security and health for everyone, not just a few... and to leave the world a better place for future generations.
Unlike the Arab Spring, America has not had a despot reigning over the populace for 30 or 40 years. Our figurehead changes every 4 to 8 years, although sometimes 8 years even seems too much when it's policies produce damaging momentum in a direction almost too huge to change in the next admninistration. This change in leadership seemed to give the populace a sense that it had some voice in the direction of the country's future, not realizing that there are forces behind the scenes which are actually manipulating policy. As a result, the populace of the U.S. never had a specific figure to focus on to rebel against.
Even after the crash of 2008, it was not clear who the manipulators were and why the deterioration of our democracy seemed to be impossible to prevent. In 2010 it appeared that the Tea Party was the beginning of a grassroots movement to throw off the shackles a manipulated economy. As it became clear that the target was the government and the Tea Party was, in fact, a contrivance of multinational corporations, although many Tea Party members were initially truly concerned citizens, a darker truth emerged. The truth was that our government and all public property was about be be sold wholesale to these financial giants, through legislation which they helped to write with the aid of hand-picked, newly elected legislators.
But it was not until the contrived debt ceiling crisis that many Americans woke up saying, "What is wrong with these people in Congress? What planet do they live on that all of a sudden the debt is an issue as their constituents are slipping into poverty not seen for 75 years and are being ignored and even blamed for their own misfortune?"
This is when people started understanding the difference between how a government is run versus how a business is run. There was a minority who understood what was happening, but it wasn't until Congress threatened to do away with Social Security and Medicare that the majority of people realized something is terribly wrong with the direction of our country.
The Obama administration has been working to shift the balance of power from behemoth corporations with fingers in every piece of American's pie back to the citizens. It has gotten little or no attention for these works and has been portrayed as an ineffective administration because Congress has seemingly nullified every program it proposed. It has been to the administration's advantage to not have the attention of main stream media on these accomplishments because they never became sabotaged as targets of its enemies with a few exceptions. As a result, change is already in the works.
Unfortunately, President Obama is still portrayed as failing to fulfill his promises because of this lack of media coverage, media which is owned by those large companies, but most of the major, and I mean gargantuan problems didn't exist when he campaigned for President. It is becoming clear that the economy was much worse off than originally portrayed when he took office and was truly sliding down a cliff to complete destruction until he turned it around. It has also become apparent that a President can only do so much when the reins of power are not really in his hands and when the other two branches of the government's sole purpose is to defeat every proposal and make certain he doesn't get elected a 2nd time.
The irony of the American Awakening is that it is not our leader that we are trying to get rid of, nor is it our form of government, but it is the regime of unseen, but not for long, vested interests who pretend that the destruction of the Executive Branch and Democracy will be our salvation.
If YOU believe the argument of those with the vested interests, then maybe you'd like to buy the Brooklyn Bridge... no really... I think Bloomberg is seriously considering selling it to cover the cost of the police force needed to kettle and contain the Occupy Wall Street protestors who have long term plans to stay.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Sunday, October 2, 2011
CORPUS CHRISTI, TX: Move to Amend Texas Tour
CORPUS CHRISTI, TX: Move to Amend Texas Tour
October 10, 2011 7pm to 9pm at 6901 Holly Rd. the Unitarian Universalist Church.
David Cobb, former Green Party Presidential candidate will be speaking.
October 10, 2011 7pm to 9pm at 6901 Holly Rd. the Unitarian Universalist Church.
David Cobb, former Green Party Presidential candidate will be speaking.
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