Dear Comrades,
JULY - AUGUST 2009
Dear Comrades,
This is my spot to politically vent a little—ok, a lot—as well as
a section to post letters from other socialist individuals & organizations.
The opinions I express here do not represent the views of other people
associated with Parallel Perspectives.
Regards,
JEFarrow
Previous Postings:
Dear Comrades #1 [April 2008] California budget woes; Red Army in Afghanistan;
Humans unwilling to modify their behavior.
Dear Comrades #2 [May 2008] Treacherous Arab Oligarchy; Capitalists & the Environment.
Dear Comrades #3 [August – December 2008] Stimulus package; Animal Rights Terrorists;
Castro praises Russian Orthodox Church.
Dear Comrades #4 [July – August 2009] California draconian budget cuts; the scourge of organized
Religion.
07.04.09
Dear Comrades,
I’d wish everybody a happy 4th, but there’s very little to celebrate.
In my previous message (below) I indicated that California’s
monthly contribution to Social Security had been drastically cut. Recipients weren’t notified of this until last week—precious little time to make alternative living arrangements if they could no longer afford to pay the rent.
Now to rub salt in the wounds, in a June dated announcement
from Social Services (only actually received by pensioners yesterday),
the first round of cut services was listed.
Here’s an excerpt:
Dear Beneficiary
The California Department of Health Care Services has sent this notice to let you know of a change in the law contained in Welfare and Institutions Code section 141131.10. Starting July 1, 2009, Medi-Cal will no longer pay for some benefits. This change will affect only beneficiaries age 21 and older…
WHAT BENEFITS WILL MEDI-CAL NO LONGER PAY FOR?
Dental services
Speech therapy services
Podiatric services
Audiology services
Chiropractic services
Acupuncture services
Optometric services
Psychology services
Incontinence creams and washes [This
item is particularly egregious.
A pity patients can’t hold a pee-in
on the Sacramento Capitol lawn.]
This is just the beginning of a well planned scheme to eliminate social services
altogether—AND it doesn’t reflect the cuts to basic education. It’s a slap in
the face and a big Capitalist California DROP DEAD! to the working class.
See also,
15. June 2009
Pre-ramble: What bothers me about nudist colonies & the like is, not
that people are running around naked, but that they make a “principle” out of
it. It's been my experience that "principles" hide more than they
reveal.
Capitalists
would have us believe that California is on the verge of economic collapse.
This is a lie. The infrastructure & social programs are on the verge
of collapse. The Oligarchs are doing just fine. Their rapacious greed is
well-protected by a Governor who clearly delineated the agenda of social attack
last year—and now he, Republicans and the Democrats, are playing political
games to cover-up their mutual acquiescence in pushing the State into social
& economic barbarism.
See also,
Society’s most vulnerable population, retirees & the disabled—those totally financially dependent on Social Security—will see a significant monthly reduction (nearly $100) in their pension as of July 1 (Gee, just in time for the 4th of July celebrations.) This means that in most instances they will have to somehow survive in California on appx.$800 a month—or less. Many renters are already spending well over half their State pittance on housing, and figuring in inflation, we may witness a return to a horrible 80’s phenomena, i.e. aged people resorting to eating canned pet food.
Let’s take a little look see:
$800 per month
-450 rent/mortgage
=350
- 50 (gas, transportation)
=300
-80 (utilities)
=220
-20 (laundry, dish detergent, etc)
=200
- 20 (insurance co-pays)
=180 (food for a month)
These are obviously all lowball estimates—and does not include personal care for the severely disabled.
The reality will be far more grim
The master plan is to terminate all welfare programs including Social Security, food stamps, (people receivingSocial Security benefits are not eligible for food stamps already), back-to work programs & in-home support services for disabled persons. There’s more. As noted in the above reference link, capitalists have been so emboldened by political complacency that now they also want to cut prison staff, the police, fire prevention & to close down State Parks, etc. The “Terminator” also wants to sell off State property just like as was done in post-Soviet Russia & the Eastern bloc. He also made an ominous “threat”. He said that if voters refused to vote for his proposed new bonds in a wasteful special election—he would have “illegal” migrants released from jail—now there’s a threat indeed. Well, the middle class voted against The Hammer, but it’s not only Mexican migrants who will be released. No, the plan is to release most “non-violent” prisoners & basically stop prosecution of misdemeanors—and just see how the fickle middle class likes that!
The cuts in education are equally devastating. Public schools in upscale neighborhoods will increasingly relyon “donations” & matching grants. Public schools in poorer neighborhoods will continue to be screwed. It’s ironic that Michelle Obama made a recent visit to an Oakland school in order to push her “volunteerism”campaign. Many people in the overwhelmingly poor & African American area saw through the absurd notion that volunteerism can somehow mitigate the capitalist basis of poverty.
[NOTE: I will say this for the First Lady,
she possesses beauty, charm & charisma, a far cry from the cold & aloof
creepiness of Laura Bush. The Obama Administration deliberately invokes
nostalgic memories of the KFK regime—and they may be accurate in one regard.
When JKF & “Jackie”traveled outside the US, many protestors against US
foreign policy carried signs that read “Jackie, YES—Jack, NO.” Michelle is a great
asset for selling the myth of equality under
capitalism.
Speaking of myths, much of the Socialist Left have discovered “faith-based” allies.
This is just another version of a previous Stalinist maneuver in claiming there was
a “progressive bourgeoisie” in America. Such a fraudulent “principle” did nothing
to prevent McCarthyism—and it won’t foster a permanent social revolution
revolution in Cuba, Bolivia, Iran or anywhere else.
All organized religion is faith-based. Abrahamic religion based on the Old Testament
(Judaism-Christianity-Islam) is one of the major weapons in the State Capitalist
arsenal used against the interests of the poor & working class. This supposedly
“new” socialist principle of “inclusiveness” virtually amounts to
a theological “Don’t, ask, don’t tell” policy. So we are aghast
to witness a Marxist “principle” rehabilitating the twisted
tortuous history of the Roman Catholic & Eastern
Orthodox Churches.
To initially welcome religious people into the Marxist fold, with the “secret”
agenda to later sneak the atheism intrinsic to Marxism in by the back door,
is rather paternalistic & dishonest.
No good can evolve from deception.
Remember People’s Temple & spiked punch?
From the1966 Gnostic Pagan Founding Document:
The ends justify the means only
when the means themselves are justified.
DOWN WITH
THE CAPITALIST OLIGARCHY—AND STATE SPONSORED
ORGANIZED
RELIGION
See
also,
CALIFORNIA
PULLS BASIC DENTAL CARE TO POOR, INDIGENT & ELDERY
MSM
HAS A LOT TO SAY ABOUT THE CPUSA
CASTRO PRAISES RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
The Disarming Myth of the Liberal
Bourgeoisie
Budget battle as deadline nears
GOP YouTube ad slams call for new taxes (SacBee)
Crowds pack S.F. City Hall to protest cuts
Quote of the month:
I have not sold
myself to God.
Patti Smith
May Day 2009
Dear Comrades,
I posted a review of REFORMISM or REVOLUTION ? by Alan Woods.
It is a very interesting & timely book.
Regards,
JEFarrow
Quote-of-the-Month (May):
Her profession’s
her religion,
Her sin is her
lifelessness…
“Desolation Row”
|
|
A very free translation from You gentlemen can watch while I'm
scrubbin’ the floors In this low class waterfront, in this stinkin’ old hotel Askin' me, "Which ones should we kill?” And so still on the dock They’ll pile up the bodies and
I’ll say,
Then the ship with eight sails Also found on HYMNS 10 Return to DEAR COMRADES
www.gnostics.com |
Pirate
Jenny 
