The True Sleeping Giant

The alarm is ringing and ringing, will it wake the sleeping giant? It's true that we in the bubble of america have been living in a dream, the american dream. And like most dreams, it quickly becomes a nightmare when we refuse to wake up. Our american dream has always been the nightmare of the rest of the planet, including most of the united states. But the sleeping giant that is now awakening is not the american middle class, or even the american worker, it's the workers of the world. If we keep isolating humans with the false walls of nationalism we will fail to realize the true potential for this moment in time. What is happening in Wisconsin has spilled over into almost every neighboring state and no person can deny the spirit that binds our mid west uprisings with the north african uprisings.

Some are saying the sleeping giant of the american middle class is awakening. It's absolutely crucial at this time that we drop this reference to the american middle class, this is not about any middle class. This is about the workers of the world rising up to throw off their corporate masters, to flush out the parasites of capitalism across the planet. I know that the phrase "middle class" has a powerful effect in our political rhetoric, but it's used as a distraction from a far more realistic model. We hear the phrase "middle class" so much, especially during election seasons, but when do we hear the phrase "lower class" or "upper class"? These phrases have a powerful effect in our rhetoric also, a very different kind of effect. If you just dropped down to earth in the middle of the last election season you might think there were no upper or lower classes, just one big middle class. And it sounds like a world without much conflict doesn't it? We're all just one big happy class.

Do I want to create division where none exists? No. Do I want to create unity where none exists?Hell Yes! Many people who lived their whole lives thinking they were a part of this big middle class have found that in fact, they are poor and they can no longer deny it. Usually when you hear the phrase "middle class" it is a call for them to be treated fairly in our state and local budgets, and not get stuck with the bill when the super rich cause a deficit. You might think it's a given that the poor are a part of this calculation, that of course they too should be treated fairly, but they are not. In fact, politicians aren't really that concerned about the poor, it's the middle class that they're sometimes looking out for. And if you want to be specific, and/or partisan, it's the Democrats who try to look out for the middle class and sometimes the poor and the republicans who look out for the super rich. But democrats are afraid to mention poverty because the republicans (on behalf of the rich and mostly via fox news) start screaming "Socialism!", "Entitlement!", "Distribution of wealth!!!"

But where is it written that a class system has three tiers? You could just as easily cut it in half and call it upper and lower, but it would be far better if we made a less arbitrary line. There are only two classes in reality: Workers and Owners. Unlike the caste system one can change classes but this is the exception, called "new money" among the upper class. Most workers admit that if they suddenly struck it filthy rich they would never work another day in their life, would you? I love my work, but... I might focus on my labors of love, like writing and playing music, but I wouldn't be as motivated to do what I now do to pay the bills. On the flip side, if I grew up in the top 10%, the creme of the american crop, I might take some symbolic positions to look like a functional part of society, but executive jobs are not "work" the way the average american defines it. You won't find an executive office in a corporate headquarters anywhere in the country without office chairs that cost over $1000, have you ever sat in a $1000 office chair? It's tough work, if you can get it.

I dream of a future where former corporate executives and board members have to lie and say they worked in the mail room at Goldman Sachs just to get a little respect. And another future is possible if the workers of the world unite, we can throw off those who drain us and keep us weak and divided. We must unite across all borders and not fall into the trap of nationalism. We must form universal bonds of solidarity and be prepared to stand with workers everywhere against the unjust men and laws that bind them. If we are to wake up to anything, it should be a world united as one, with equal rights and equal democracy for all people. Americans are not better, or special, in fact america is the dream, and it's over. There never was a thing called america, it was all just maps and banners, paper and ink. Nobody ever dug out the earth with a giant american shaped cookie cutter and said, "here's america." It's all in our minds, there are no lines on the planet, just rivers and mountains and oceans and deserts, and people, plants, animals, etc...

Think about it, the upper class has horded so much wealth, that a true redistribution of wealth could potentially wipe out poverty all over the planet.

Musical Uprising

Artist: Jasirix/ produced by Cynik Lethal and directed by Paradise Gray

This is not one of my usual posts in essay format but my attempt to make this video viral as rapidly as possible. This pro-worker hip-hop masterpiece was filmed live on location at various rallies in Madison, Wisconsin over the past weeks as the state workers unions and their many supporters are fighting for their rights to collective bargaining. Asking unions to give up their collective bargaining rights is like asking corporations to give up their limited liability status, though that would be a good idea. I'm keeping this brief so please repost this, we are the Global Uprising we have been waiting for!

Lyrics:

Scott Walker works for multi billionaires
John Boehner works for multi billionaires
while corporations get billions in welfare
and millions in this country been out of work for years

Sarah Palin works for multi billionaires
American workers vs multi billionaires
they wanna end social security and medicare
while millions in this country don't have a dime to spare

Can main street get a bailout
Tell the president our checks weren't mailed out
Tell the house of representatives and senate
And whatever business got the stimulus and spent it
Now they getting record profit that's tripling with no limits
But they cutting jobs and unemployment benefits have ended
How we gone live with no income coming in
And the little help we get is cut from the budget then
What's the role of government
Do workers stand a chance if multi billionaires are running it
Oh now you worried bout the deficit and cutting it
But when them banks needed billions you had enough for them.
Them car companies you had bucks for them
2 wars rebuilding 2 countries guess we stuck with them
the average citizen just ain't lucky then
cause we be getting pimped so I guess we getting fucked again

Rush Limbaugh works for multi billionaires
Bill O'Reilly works for multi billionaires
while corporations get billions in welfare
and millions in this country been out of work for years

Sean Hannity works for multi billionaires
Crazy Glenn Beck works for multi billionaires
they wanna end social security and medicare
while millions in this country don't have a dime to spare


When did the American worker become the enemy
Why is wanting a living wage such a penalty
What happened to justice and liberty
These billionaire haters wanna crush us literally
On the box is Murdoch and his foxes
And if you watch it you might as well be an ostrich
They terrorists cause they hold facts hostage
24 hours straight of we hate what Barack did
If you want to unionize your a communist
But if you buy a congressman they just call you a lobbyist
It's so obvious but here's where the problem is
they act like regular Americans but they sloppy rich
Why you think they wanna cut taxes
cause every single one of them in the higher brackets
This ain't white or black it's class warfare time for action
Just look at wide the gap is

American workers vs multi billionaires
The middle class vs multi billionaires
while corporations get billions in welfare
and millions in this country been out of work for years

Rupert Murdoch is multi billionaires
the Koch brothers are multi Billionaire
they wanna end social security and medicare
while millions in this country don't have a dime to spare

REPOST! THANK YOU!

Class War Criminals

The concept of a class war is somehow omnipresent and yet not there, a reference to nowhere. We hear about it once in a while usually when right wing conservatives are commenting on union activity in the news. On a rare occasion you may hear the opposing version when corporate friendly union busting politicians are attacking the hard won rights of the workers. But we are now entering a heightened stage of this mystical, metaphoric war in which both sides will be fighting for their very existence. Though we've never heard the term "class war" in most history classes, it's somehow more important, more prevalent, and more instructive in our current world of multinational corporate power than any military war in the history of the planet. In a way it's also the longest running war when you begin to see the consistent thread of aristocracy through the bloody legacy of empires from roman to american. Maybe it's time we include a history of class in history class, to teach about the class war on par with WWII.

Clearly the most notable difference between a military war and the class war is the role of nations, or the seeming insignificance of their roles. Wars are most often visited from one nation upon another, both with massive resources to draw from. When a nation wages a war it is overwhelmingly the poor to middle class (or bottom half) who put their actual bodies on the lines in the ultimate sacrifice. But this is not how class war works because the wealthy simply do not fight, and when they do join the military they are rarely if ever in harms way and historically enter the ranks at officer levels. Wealthy people have too much to live for, they cannot be expected to fight in infantry positions and therefore their numbers are severely low, especially when compared to the middle to lower classes who make up the bulk of fighting forces around the globe. Imagine if the class war were waged in the same military manner as WWI and II, the odds would be overwhelmingly in the favor of the poor. The rich and powerful upper 10% of the world population are not dumb enough to challenge the bottom 90% militarily. On the contrary, they're smart enough to get the bottom to do virtually all of the bidding for the top for a sliver of the reward.

In this very real war for the power and proprietary rights to the worlds resources, Fox news (or Faux news) is the pillar of propaganda for the rich and powerful, like the Koch brothers (pronounced "Coke") who have together bank rolled the entire tea party phenomena and all of it's puppet political candidates and campaigns. These billionaire cowboys have always been manipulating our so called democracy, but since the supreme courts handy work turned our corporations into "people" in a plot copy and pasted right from the script of Frankenstein, they can shop for the election results they want the same way they bid for fine art at Christie's in Rockefeller center. And wherever the Koch bros want them, there is Faux News repeating ad nauseum the talking points the wealthy corporate interests program them to say. Fox and all of the tea party candidates are little more than billion dollar Koch whores. There has never been a clearer demonstration of the corrosive effects of capitalism on democracy. The cohesion between Fox news and the republican party is seamless, and the claim of "fair and balanced" is designed to convince weak minded people that the far right is the center, effectively eliminating the left in a feat of overt Orwellian mind control.

There is no question that money makes a difference in elections, the only point that could be debated is exactly how much of a difference it makes in each individual election. And there is no doubt where the majority of money is coming from and where it goes thanks to many organizations tracking large campaign contributions from corporations and wealthy individuals. The average american doesn't contribute financially to political campaigns, most don't even bother to vote in midterm elections. So it's simple to conclude that the difference that money makes is overwhelmingly in the favor of the wealthy corporations and individuals who pitch the most into the pot. The one real variable is the significant sector of the poor who vote republican, but those numbers have been historically lower than the poor to middle class who vote for democrats. So for the sake of argument, let's be conservative and say that without any campaign contributions the races would be close, within a 5-10% margin. The difference that money makes only needs to be from 11-15% to ensure a republican victory at the polls. The reason democrats still win however is that without the extra money much fewer people would vote republican and that 11-15% difference just isn't enough.

In the state of Wisconsin there is a powerful, peaceful, peoples' uprising going on (as of this writing) over the recently "elected" republican governor Scott walkers' overt union busting tactics reminiscent of pre-FDR america. Walker has taken the gloves off making it easy to rip the mask off of the class war that is usually so subtle in it's ferocious appetite for destruction. He came into the drivers seat of a state that was well within budget and on track to have a surplus and declaring the state "open for business" (or "for sale") he immediately gave away over one hundred million dollars in corporate tax breaks putting the state into deficit. In the same stroke and without batting an eyelash he demanded that public workers make the sacrifices to pay for the hole in the budget, AND that their unions give up collective bargaining rights, the backbone of union power. Asking unions to give up their collective bargaining rights is like asking corporations to give up their limited liability status. When a somewhat weak union response came back to say "We'll make the sacrifices of our hard earned rights, but we won't give up our right to collective bargaining." Walker was uncompromising, unions must go so corporations could feel safe to call Wisconsin home. Walker beat his democrat rival by a mere 5%, this governor was purchased almost exclusively by the Koch bros for the purpose of destroying the unions and now his work has begun.

This is Class warfare union busting at it's finest, or worst, but one thing is certain, It's on. In the words of Florance Reese's classic union song it's time for everyone in the world to ask themselves deep down "Which side are you on?" The Koch bros and their cabal of Koch head republicans are watching this battle for Madison very closely, if Scott (The Imperial) Walker can destroy unions in their long time stronghold of Wisconsin, they are going to do it everywhere until there is nothing left for working people in this world. It's not as if they say amongst themselves "Lets destroy most unions, but leave a few here and there." they want them all dead, much more than they care to seek and destroy any terrorist hiding in a cave somewhere. And they argue somewhat effectively that our unions are driving jobs out of the nation, as if union members voted to have the factories moved overseas. The only reason the factories go where people won't defend themselves is because their unscrupulous owners want to exploit labor for their own disproportionate gains. Madison may not be Tunisia, but america is not the middle east, I see in Madison, Wisconsin a spark that can begin to resolve thousands of years of inequities in a mass global uprising of the people, by the people, and for the people.

If the unions must be sacrificed so must the system that justifies their existence.