Parallel Perspectives
DEAR COMRADES
August 2010 #8
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 [March -
April 2009] More bailout (for the Capitalists); The Disarming Myth of the
Liberal Bourgeoisie.
Dear Comrades #5 [July - August 2009] California draconian budget cuts—and more on the way; Anti-religious views; Michelle Obama vs. Laura Bush.
Dear Comrades #6 [November – December 2009] Karma or Complicity? Mission to Mars: Fasten your seat belts?
Dear Comrades #7 [March –
April 2010] Reactionaries in The Occult; School children join demonstrations
over education cuts; Tech industry warns that Obama
administration seeks to kill free websites.]
20. May 2010
civil war in u.s.?
[FINAL UPDATE: 7/14/10]
Dear Comrades,
The Tea Party people & the sordid array of Right wing
vigilantes apparently know what American socialists fail to recognize: The Right has been arming itself for
years, and according to numerous reports, the “patriots” are escalating the
acquisition of arms & “militia” training to fight…us!
One of the many
“reformist” concepts that blindfold the workers movement is the idea that
the Capitalist State can be reformed from within. One of the more toxic
results of this impaired outlook is convincing people to place their trust in
the Democratic Party & to believe that real socialism can be inaugurated,
or even allowed to “peacefully co-exist” through the electoral process. At
first glance Obama’s election seemed to indicate that the Democrats were “Progressive”
and certainly no one can really doubt that the election did prove that
undeniable progress of racial equality had been achieved in the United States.
However, one should also bear in mind the historic reality that racial
integration in the USA was won by a sustained series of militant
confrontations. The success of desegregation on the road to racial equality was
due, in large part, by the organizational efforts of the Communist Party &
other Marxist & social revolutionary groups & individuals. The “Obama
Phenomena” was also possible, in part, due of the growing numbers of African
Americans in the middle and even upper class. However, as we have also seen,
Obama is continuing the course of imperialist war & class oppression.
See also,
REVIEW: REFORMISM OR REVOLUTION?
Dear Comrades #4 [March - April 2009] More bailout (for the Capitalists); The Disarming Myth of the Liberal Bourgeoisie.
The battle cry of The New Right is
“Down with Obama, death to Socialism!” This is the sort of rotten fruit
expected from 80 years of strident anti-Marxist propaganda in the United
States. Previously everything wrong in the world was blamed on the Soviet “Evil
Empire.” The Soviet intervention in Afghanistan was decried from pulpit to
White Press Conferences. The evil of Communism was being exported in order to
overthrow Islam & to replace it with an atheistic police state. Even with
the collapse of the Soviet Union, these main elements of capitalist,
anti-communist propaganda remain in play, albeit applied to different changed
circumstances.
Now the United States is in Afghanistan fighting the very Islamic
reaction once so fiercely defended when the S.U. was forced in the same role.
See also,
There are 3 primary forces that has
galvanized the Right (and this includes Libertarianism as will be indicated
below.)
The Global Financial Crisis of
capitalism
Health Care “Reform” in the United
States.
The election of Obama.
Thanks to the Financial Crisis the “S”
word (i.e., Socialism) is being heard in the general population. Capitalists in
the US & around the globe cheered the collapse of the SU & salivated at
the thought of the new markets (AND workers) to exploit. They thought that
without the Soviet Union they would be free to do whatever they wanted—and they
did—AND they got away with it. Emboldened by Think Tank strategies, the next
move was to focus their destructive energies on the poor & working class.
They were quite neatly managing to wring all kinds of concessions from workers
while simultaneously throwing them out of work & cutting essential
social services.
When Obama
was elected President the issue of Health Care Reform again hit center
stage—and this time it looked like it was on the agenda to stay. Of course, the
issue had been simmering for years—always to be met by cries of “Socialized
Medicine” and “following the path of Mother Russia.” The difference this time
is the fact that Obama's historic political success was dependent on the
African-American vote and “Progressives” in general. They all expected that
Obama would deliver with radical change, that 1. He would pull the troops out
of Iraq & Afghanistan, and 2. He would push forward meaningful Health Care
Reform.
With these observations in mind, it
really is not surprising that Rightist elements would be incensed & crawl
out of the woodwork. The fact that Obama is African-American must have been the
last straw. With his election they were positive that the Government had
been taken over by Socialists & Communists and with a black person
the helm of a Red Ship of State. I’m not saying that all the Right is
consciously racist—yet—but the Tea Party crowd isn’t exactly attracting a lot
of blacks to join the party.
Gee, maybe they wouldn’t feel
comfortable having tea with racists & other idiots?
So here comes Obama bearing Health Care
Reform like it might actually happen. Stalin reborn!
[It’s revealing that, while Obama in
Washington is touting Health Care reform, malicious cuts in social
services—including health care—are being implemented across the country. In
California, for example, poor & disabled adults receiving Social Security
as have been dropped from receiving dental care. Everyone in California
(for the exception of corporate business) is being forced to swallow
degradation of essential services & income. School lunch programs have also
been dropped along with after school programs. Thousands of instructors have
received pink slips.]
The Soviet collapse led to a triumphant
win for Capitalism & the Right wing in the United States symbolized by the
elections of the insipid Bush family & the fabulous new wealth for crooks
& the upper class (actually one & the same). The Oligarchs felt free to
wage an all out assault on the workers, students and the disadvantaged in
general. The thin line between reality & fantasy became dangerously blurred
not only for the Oligarchy, but even segments of the population who had no
stake in supporting the post-Soviet “New World Order” (NWO) joined the
anti-socialist ranting.
One of the most radical ideas that
formed the basis—and eventual success—of the early American Revolution was the
separation of Church & State. This issue was even more powerful as a
foundation block of the French Revolution. For centuries the highly entrenched
Roman Catholic Church had been abusing its’ privileges & leeched off the people.
The Church reinforced the Monarchy just as the Monarchy bolstered up the
Church. Breaking the hold of the Church was essential to the success of the
Revolution.
The same necessity for the inflexible
separation of organized religion & the State holds true today—but
with an additional proviso: Not only is freedom of private religion
to be allowed, but also freedom from organized religion.
Articles on this site have drawn parallels between the cultural
& religious climate of American society today with that of
pre-Revolutionary Russia. This was really a particularly amazing comparison
during the Reagan era. Nancy Reagan was a sort of American Czarina, consulting
astrologers & god knows who or what else in a sort of frenzied attempt to
create a Reagan Dynasty. Well, that parallel doesn’t exist today, but in
American society there remains an aura of mystical commercialism, an insidious
New Age philosophy that is so discredited & fractured that its’ last hope
for some kind of legitimacy lies in claiming an astronomical Armageddon in
2012. Intolerant Christian Fundamentalism is as strong as ever and feels
emboldened to surge forward with a platform clear in its’ dimension: DEATH TO
SOCIALISM and by proxy, DEATH TO SOCIALISTS!
Everybody loves a good conspiracy
theory—and Americans take 1st Place. We’ve got religious fanatics
mingling with homicidal racists, having tea with mad-as-hell Crackers &
trailer trash, plotting the overthrow of the Soviet of America by Libertarian
landlords, small capitalists, bearded men in Japanese cotton frocks, serious
pot heads, frustrated wives, US military & other people who just generally
can’t get off on life—but who really get off on guns, bombs & death
plots. It is a strange collection, many
with absolutely nothing in common for the exception of burning hatred for Obama
& socialism. They must pine for the days when one had to cringe & retch
every time a Bush—any Bush—came on the tube.
The nature of the NWO depends entirely
on whom you talk to. Libertarians, anti-government militia & the Tea Party Right point to Obama as
Anti-Christ/Communist founder of the NWO. Liberal-leaning conspiracy advocates
believe the Military Industrial Complex (MIC) controlled by various arcane
societies & illusive individuals are training the police & covert
military units to usher in a fascist régime in the USA that in turn will go on
to create the international New World Order.
What about the “Silent Majority” who is
a-political, whose central philosophy can be summed up: “a pox on all their
houses”? They are the middle-class, that stratum of society (under the
Oligarchs, of course, who stand above society) who has the most
materially to loose, the strata most resistant to political change—particularly
radical, revolutionary change. Like their name, the middle class straddles the
fence separating the Right and the Left—and with the recent austerity measures,
they find themselves in an increasingly uncomfortable position.
Most socialists believe that capitalism
is a global conspiracy of the ultra-wealthy & property owners against the
working class. The only thing “New” about it is that the capitalist system is
cracking owing to the economic contradictions that created it in the first
place. Revolutionary socialists accept the view “Socialism or Barbarism.” We
can see the validity of this view in the post-Soviet realignment of capitalism:
Nation turning against nation, ethnic cleansing, the growing inequity between
the top echelons of the super rich Oligarchs at the expense of every body else.
Capitalism by its’ very nature thrives on war, domination & mass
extinction.
Most Marxists have known that the
contradictions between capitalism & the aspirations of the vast majority of
people on the earth would first precipitate class warfare, within the
individual nations, then extending globally, culminating in Social Revolution,
the elimination of capitalism worldwide. This relies on Marxist analysis, not
gods, seers or devils (as the majority of the Right believe.) The problem is
that few, if any, expected the Global Social Revolution would take as long as
it has to manifest—but that’s another story for a different day.
When I write that Marxists do not rely
on gods or devils & that the Right does, I meant that literally. Here are 2
examples:
On a talk show a homicide detective
voluntarily stated that he believed the “bad guys” were literally demons,
incarnated at this time to wage war against “true Christians.”
As stated above, Rightwing militia are
continuing to arm & train themselves for what they & Fundamentalists
call the End Times, to fight Marxist & kill, other socialists &
the legions of people under control of the Anti-Christ. For socialists to deny
this reality in the United States is suicidal. The middle class wants to keep
its’ tunnel vision blinders on & deny that the threat is serious (they are
definitely more afraid of Islamic terrorism.) This same see no evil attitude
was adopted by large segments of the German populace right before the victory
of Hitler & Nazism.
“New Age” advocates and various
occultists see the world as a mass of complex & often conflicting
conspiracies. They claim to be a-political, but historically have an obvious
Rightwing orientation.
See also,
Dear Comrades #7 [March
– April 2010] Reactionaries in The Occult; School children join demonstrations
over education cuts; Tech industry warns that Obama
administration seeks to kill free websites.]
Review: The Neanderthal Legacy
Anyone can see the alleged thought
process of youth drawn to the current trend of fascist ideology by reading
various selections of Blogs comments. It’s both interesting & repugnant.
More liberal commentators tend to be polite & even toned—or like so totally
sweet & sappy (Catholic girls are the worst.)
The Left needs to find innovative ways
to attract youth to the international socialist movement. Maybe this may
involve taking a page from Christian Fundamentalists and/or Fascists. Host a
few Raves, set up a series of movies on campus. As difficult as they make it,
reach out to youth in the Anarchist movement. Shed the stodgy, doctrinaire
image. There needs to be a more dynamic & involved social image, more
visibility around issues that concern youth most—the environment & animal
rights. Another idea is to re-establish the Lenin Prize with all groups having
a vote on various categories like science, art, education, health care, etc.
WHOSE CIVIL WAR?
Clearly an attempt to shift the
political spectrum beyond the current right-center status quo will be met by
galvanized social reaction.
Let’s look at the major players:
The Right including Libertarians &
other supposedly “anti-authoritarian” elements
Anti-Capitalist reformist Left
Anti-Capitalist revolutionary Left
Anti-Capitalist Anarchists Left &
Right
The Middle Class, don’t-change-anything-voters
(who often don’t vote).
The Working Class & Poor many given
up voting
Pacifist elderly who mostly still vote,
youth “a-political” who believe music alone will change the world.
Christian Fundamentalists &
Religious Right (who usually vote as a block).
The Military & Police.
Let’s look briefly at the last category
because they are the most formidable & first defense of the Oligarchs who
remain in the shadows, preferring others (who like to) remain high profile like
the ostentatious rich & famous.
When analyzing the political function
of the military you have to define its’ composition. For example, there is a
world of difference between a conscripted army (as was the case during the
Vietnam War) and the current, non-conscripted one. The composition of a
non-conscripted military is largely Rightist, anti-socialist,
under-educated…and violent. A conscripted army today would probably sew the
seeds of its’ own destruction. In this regard—and ONLY in this regard—it’s a
pity conscription isn’t reinstated. I
personally have little respect for people in the military today. They go into
it with eyes wide open (well, more or less) and act as paid agents for State
sanctioned murder. Yes, military
experience can provide opportunities for advancement, but the price is way too
high.
The police as a major group is more
diverse, but basically conservative. In ordinary times they obviously pose a
necessary deterrent to crime & random violence. Individually many of them
possess admirable qualities & many joined the force out of idealistic
motivation. The trouble is, they’re trotted out to play armed goon squad to
protect capitalist interests during times of labor struggle & civil
upheaval. This is unacceptable & a major reason why the worker's movement
cannot accept the notion of a police union.
As armed groups for the Oligarchy both
the military & the police serve reactionary functions & act as class
enemies.
War provides the most effective
opportunity for social brainwashing. It’s clear to see in contemporary America.
Now that everybody has more or less accepted an open-ended time of military
commitment in the Middle East, the culture has gone into high gear producing
pro-military TV shows, creating various military support groups & organizations
(many with ties to Fundamentalist religions) and flooding the press with
pro-military propaganda. What would have been viewed askance during the 1st
Gulf War is perfectly acceptable—even laudable—today.
American culture is preparing for a
self-occupation, a sort of self-coup. This is not a civil war only because none
of the non-military segments of the populations listed above do not by
themselves have the will power or firepower for a prolonged engagement with the
occupying forces. There will be individual acts of mostly ineffectual
terrorism, perhaps some major acts, but the military & police force will
keep demonstrations of defiance contained. It is highly likely that all
Rightists will be reconciled to a neo-fascist government. It is the Left that
will remain the primary targets of repression. Down the line there may very
well be a revolt of the religious right when the need for radical population
control becomes so apparent that the government will take controversial methods
to achieve it—like totally discontinuing aide to the poorest nations.
Today the US is living on dwindling
economic resources & fading glory. Clearly, it is no longer the “American
Century.” The majority of Americans are just beginning to realize this. The
capitalist government is completely unable to stop the flow of economic
hemorrhaging. It is ironic that like the Soviet Union, Afghanistan will push
the US economy even closer to collapse. American democracy (rigged as it is)
will not survive the pressures of continual war & exploitation by the
capitalist Oligarchy.
Up to this stage propaganda &
scraps of stimulus $ still managed to bolster up a cracking & decayed
infrastructure.
What—if anything—is the Left—are we—going
to do about it?
The United States has nothing real to celebrate this
Independence Day.
Regards,
JEFarrow
More screwy, Right-wing, anti-Obama
propaganda:
Barack
Obama:
America's COMMUNIST President
“The
United States now has a Communist president as of January 2009. I was saddened
on November 5th, 2008 to see Obama's supporters proudly waving Communist flags
after the election. Can you imagine? What happened to this once great society
in which we live? The saddest part is that most of the American people actually
want Communism, because they've only seen its friendly side thus far. The dark
side of Communism will soon come upon us in America. Sadly, the average
American citizen won't wake up until it directly affects them adversely. Communism
is not an ideology; but rather, a secret weapon of THE
ILLUMINATI intended to enslaved the human race. “
From “ACCURACY in
MEDIA” (Yeah, right!)
Obama’s Communist Cover-up Continues
I love this image! It’s funny because it does illustrate Obama’s waffling political nature, but he’s hardly a Fascist or a Communist. A Muslim? Frankly I don’t know—or care. A Peacenik? The Nobel Prize idiots seemed to think so.
Then
there’s this:
Obama a Mason too?!!
And this:
President Barack Obama
Gothic Dragon Statue
Was: $17.50 - $29.95
Now: $7.95 - $12.95
This is cute & has got to be
the only item
actually going down in price
in the U.S.
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