I have been having a hard time coping with the reality that is presenting itself. I want to change the world. The things I see happening in the world per selfish, greedy, pricks of purported leaders and influencers agitate me, make me angry, and threaten to tip me into depression.
2020 thus far has found me walking along a rickety fence top aimed for a better world way out in the distance with chasms of despondency to one side and depression to the other. My balance is not always the best.
I feel compelled to act to stop the autocratic trajectory we are on. Trajectories can be changed. Nudge. Nudge. Nudge. I really want to be peaceful. I have decidedly un-peaceful thoughts. This causes me angst which makes me teeter on the fence top.
It makes me ask, “What can I do?” And it makes me write lots of drafts and publish few of them.
If you don’t want to read all this, just support this blog by purchasing the audiobook version of Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny.
“We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.“
Perspective – Hindsight
I tried to make a difference when I worked to stop the Iraq War with Codepink Women for Peace in the mid to late “aughts.” Perhaps I did. I know I kept the topic of peace and the corrupt practices of our government in the forefront of a few people’s minds and acted as a thorn in the side of a few more. But I spend way too much money doing this and became very disillusioned with a mean girl who was “in charge” of this supposedly egalitarian organization of women. Then when I heard that person ridiculing the looks of a very active member who was outside the trust-fund funded “leaders,” I thought I might have to leave the group, that was 2006. I was tangential to group happenings until ten years ago when the mean girl leader brought in her new squeeze to direct volunteer actions.
“Screw that,” I thought. I don’t need patriarchy in my women’s or egalitarian groups!
Then the family caretaking that had accelerated in 2007 came crashing in on me until the last of my generation in my family of birth passed away in 2015.
So content creation and sharing techniques of content creation has filled my life for the past five years.
Do I feel guilty? Yes, a little bit, and no, not at all. I probably should have done more. I also know that I could not have stopped the rise of the current U.S. authoritarian regime.
We should all speak up and speak out!
I can speak up. We should all speak up and speak out! These are the things I am most obsessed with at the moment:
- I am tired of talking heads telling me what I should make of Democratic Candidates. Call ’em out on social media. Especially #upchucktodd on MSNBC pretending to be anything other than the Republican he is.
- I am tired of non-Democrats running in the Democratic primary. We progressives have to take back the Democratic Party. How about Stacey Abrams heading up the DNC?
- I want to see more coverage of Elizabeth Warren. I like her. She is smart, energetic, and savvy. And gives the appearance of being tall, which is important for being elected. I want a to support a woman who is well schooled in economic theory and practice outside of being a legislator or attorney.
Review:
1972 – Nixon. Crook. His re-election was as bad as Trump being put in office.
1980 – Minutes after Ronald Reagan’s inauguration as the 40th president of the the 52 U.S. captives held at the U.S. embassy in Teheran, Iran, were released.
The shorthand historical memory is that, “Reagan gave weapons to Iran for hostages.” Actually, the initiative was partially an effort to counter purported growing Soviet influence within Iran, which a 1985 Special National Intelligence Estimate had warned of. One potential source of leverage that could be reestablished was weakening the total arms embargo that had been in place since 1980. Another side aspect of the arrangement was to raise money—in direct violation of the Bolan amendments—that would support the Contra rebels fighting the Sandinista government in Nicaragua.
Micah Zenko https://www.cfr.org/blog/revisiting-president-reagans-iran-arms-hostages-initiative
I will not go through all the corrupt practices since then, other than to list this nifty little graphic and to remind you that George W. Bush was selected and not elected President, and election tampering was rife in his re-election too. Then Trump was put in office through manipulation of the media and possible tampering.
Perspective – Looking forward
I will join the underground, if I can find it, if this autumn’s election somehow, corruptly puts Trump back in office. I will not let my country become a fascist state.
Seriously, too many elections have been corrupted since I’ve been paying attention to politics, governance, and elections.
Anyway….
I want paper ballots. How about you?
I have hopes for the new social media platform, Voice.com It is launching soon. Tomorrow? It bills itself as:
Social as it should be. We think social networking needs a rework. From bot mobs to data tracking and shady algorithms, social media isn’t our friend. Cue Voice.
voice.com website on 13 February 2020
We WOMEN have to act. It is always us who have to clean up…
Rachel last night ( 12 Feb 2020)
Rachel tonight will be a good watch too. Timothy Snyder is a guest.
Please Just Do Something
Be vocal or visible.
Do not fall in lock step behind anyone.
Leave a Reply