Do Western Leftists Hate Socialist Countries?—

Be sure to circulate this article among friends, workmates and kin.

The Anti-Socialist Western Left
By ANDRE VLTCHEK
(First published on Nov 20, 2014—please note how the world has changed in just 7 years!)

 

chileMichelle_Bachelet_foto_campaña

Chile's Michelle Bachelet was recently re-elected but she faces enormous pressures from a still powerful and cunning upper class determined to abort any attempt at real social change—and she remains far more a social democrat than a genuine socialist.

For the first time in centuries it seems possible to dream about a world that will not be defined by Western imperialism and colonialism!

In so many places, people are once again in charge of their countries, standing tall, building their cities and villages, erecting towers and bridges, putting to work mighty turbines, giving light to the poor, healing the sick and educating those who were kept in darkness, for decades and centuries, as a result of Western colonialism and savage capitalism.

In Latin America, former slums are being converted into cultural centers, connected to the rest of the other urban areas by super modern cable cars.

Cuba, despite its extremely low (national) income (if measured in dollar terms), joined the exclusive group of countries with a ‘very high development index’, as calculated by the UNDP. That group also consists of other Latin American countries with socialist-leaning governments – Chile and Argentina.

Many things that would be unimaginable just a decade or two ago, are now considered normal. The Chilean President, Michelle Bachelet, has been elected for a second time. During the Western-backed Pinochet’s dictatorship, she was held prisoner and brutally tortured. Her father, a military man loyal to Allende, was murdered. She was eventually exiled and became a doctor in East Germany. Ms. Bachelet now governs from the same palace – La Moneda – that was bombed to ashes during the fascist onslaught. Her country with only 18 million inhabitants, is an intellectual powerhouse, as are Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. Chile is not ‘purely’ socialist, but it is implementing sweeping socialist reforms. Now it is so rich that tens of thousands of jobless Europeans are seeking work in its cities and countryside.

In Brazil, a lady, a former guerrilla leader, is lifting tens of millions out of poverty, while turning her country into one of the most important and loved nations on earth. It is one of the pillars of BRICS. Its intellectuals, filmmakers, and writers, are stirring emotions and giving birth to dreams about a much better world.

It is all thoroughly breathtaking, if one really pays attention, if one is there, if one goes out of his or her way to follow the events!

President Raúl Castro has put Cuba in a tacit alliance with BRICS and remains close to both Russia and China in their struggle with the West..

President Raúl Castro has put Cuba in a tacit alliance with BRICS and remains close to both Russia and China in their global struggle with the West.

In South Africa, formerly hopeless slums are now full of life and hope, and initiatives, many connected by modern bus lanes and trains. They have stadiums, malls and fitness centers, modern hospitals and schools. By many measures, socialist South Africa is a super first world country, but still with terrible social problems. But each and every problem it has is discussed, openly and honestly, and thousands of impressive initiatives are moving this awesome country forward! As I wrote in my recent report from there, in South Africa, the African continent is rising!

Eritrea, Iran, and North Korea, are standing defiantly against Western embargos and intimidation. Their people work hard in order to maintain their freedom to move forward their own way, without taking diktats from the same nations that used to plunder and humiliate them.

And Russia, the mighty Russia that was once on its knees, during that monstrous government of the pro-Western puppet Boris Yeltsin, is now back in its saddle, standing on the side of many progressive nations, all over the world. It has forgiven a tremendous, multi-billion dollar debt to Cuba, it is forging powerful alliances with Venezuela, Brazil, and other left-wing nations, and above all, it is finally creating a grand alliance with China.

The world has never been so close to a real breakthrough – to true freedom.

Brazil's Dilma Roussef answering question on national television.

Brazil's President Dilma Roussef, in her youth a Marxist urban guerrilla and tortured prisoner of a US-sponsored military dictatorship, answering questions on national television.

But much of the Western Left refuses to acknowledge that this is a great opportunity for mankind.  It is because it feels left behind, humiliated by the tremendous defeat on its own turf.

It is because, despite all the rhetoric and political correctness, many of its members are actually chauvinists, and even racist. And many thinkers in China, Russia, Africa and Latin America, are actually aware of it.

The perception of the Western Left is that a revolution – a true and pure revolution – has to always come from Europe or North America. It is the West that has to liberate poor Asians, Latin Americans and Africans.

The Chinese revolution is ‘impure’. Who cares that hundreds of millions, the majority of the country, are now eating healthy and nutritious food, live in good housing with high quality services, travel on modern modes of transportation, and getting a very good education? Who cares? It is ‘not real communism’, according to most of the Western left-wing gurus, or it is not even socialism, according to some!

lainfo.es-1165-chavezymaduro

President Maduro has fought hard to keep the Bolivarian Revolution on the path laid down by Pres. Chavez.

Several years ago, in Venezuela, I travelled with a very prominent Western intellectual who had been reporting, very well I have to admit, on the events that have been taking place in the Bolivarian Republic. One evening, after several pints of beer, we began talking about China.

“I hate China”, she said. “I don’t trust Chinese people.”

I told her that I had traveled all over PRC and that I am extremely impressed and convinced that China is actually a very successful socialist, even Communist, country. She began arguing with me, passionately. I asked her whether she had ever visited China.

She replied, loudly and clearly: “I would never go there! I hate the place and I hate the people.”

Her statement impressed me: at least she was brutally honest and it was all in the open. Racism against Chinese people is hardly ever pronounced in Western ‘progressive’ circles. It is there, inside all that biased set of ‘analyses’. But it is never admitted. All is covered up by the ‘objective criticism’.

arrow-black-small-down-circle copySIDEBAR: Who is China's Hu Jintao? 

Hu Jintao (2002—2012) the first modern ruler of China without a revolutionary past, presided over nearly a decade of consistent economic growth and development that cemented China as a major world power. He sought to improve socio-economic equality domestically through the Scientific Development Concept, which aimed to build a "Harmonious Socialist Society" that was prosperous and free of social conflict.[2] On foreign policy, Hu advocated for "China's peaceful development", pursuing soft power in international relations and a corporate approach to diplomacy. Through Hu's tenure, China's influence in Africa, Latin America, and other developing regions has increased.  Hu was succeeded by the current president of China, Xi Jinping.

It begins with “can you imagine what would happen to our planet if every Chinese were to have his or her own car and television set, like us in the West?” and ends with “The Chinese are as brutal as we are and they have the same imperialist tendencies”.

Cristina Kirschner, Argentina's president greets China's head of state, Hu Jintao. Latin American leaders for the most part have no problem working closely with China.

Cristina Fernandez de Kirschner, Argentina's president greets China's head of state, Hu Jintao, in 2010. Latin American leaders for the most part have no problem working closely with China.

While China’s transformation into a middle-class socialist society is clearly a miracle (but more than a miracle, it is actually proof of the superiority of central planning, and of the general excellence of the system), perhaps the single greatest success on our planet in the last 100 years, the Western Left mumbles something about what has happened is actually not pure, that it is not really Communist, and that in many ways it is all extremely sinister.

It is because, from their point of view, only what is designed and implemented in the West can be trusted. They would never say so, but it is by now so obvious! That scorn is directed at the great non-Western societies of China, South Africa or Venezuela! That black sarcasm. That overall lack of support for countries that are truly trying to take care of their people!

To most Western intellectuals, one billion human lives that have become comfortable and full of dignity, means nothing! It is because to them, Chinese people mean nothing, as individuals or as a group.

Instead of talking with pride and encouragement about the enormous parks and green areas of Chinese cities, all that is repeated ad infinitum is Beijing’s pollution, or the destruction of some ‘hutons’ – those filthy and unsanitary hives where dozens of families used to shit into one hole. That, to Western eyes, was good – stereotypical and typical of ‘ancient’ China, full of poor people. On the other hand, those proud, modern, high-quality housing towers with all their modern facilities, that are now the norm in all corners of the country, are ‘annoying’, even disturbing. And the fact that Chinese people want and have phones, good clothes, even cars, is seen as a proof of ‘consumerism’ and is used as an argument that China is not socialist, anymore! Because for many Western leftists, while they themselves have nothing against having villas by the sea, those living in the non-Western world have to be pure and poor, functioning like some sort of guinea pigs, if they want to be called Marxist.

No comrades! It is total bullshit! And by now it is clear who really cares for the people.

The goal of socialism or un-dogmatic communism is simple and clear – a better life for the people. Better cities and villages, less fear, more culture, education, dignity and yes, more fun!

And that is clearly what China is achieving, as well as South Africa, Venezuela and other socialist countries!

***

In the past few years, it has become evident that the West is ready to destroy everything that is standing in its path to the total dominance of the planet.

But suddenly, four powerful countries have refused to tolerate such banditry, and have become determined not to allow the global dictatorship to succeed. These countries are China, Venezuela, Cuba and Russia. There are more states joining, gradually, but this is the core.

The smear campaign that was directed against Caracas became epic! I have made several documentary films for Telesur, and I will never forget the words of one of the editors there, during the height of the anti-revolutionary riots sponsored by the West: “We are all working under the barrels of guns!”

It was a war then, and it still is, now. It is a war against fascism, and for humanity. Those who have not noticed should pay better attention.

And in a war, one has to choose sides.

The Western rulers also see China and Russia as the arch-enemies. Day and night, these two giant and mighty countries face vicious propaganda, smear and hate campaigns, provocations, and indirect attacks.

In Asia, the Empire’s goal is to isolate China, to provoke and to challenge it. The West is literally sticking a hot iron rod into the dragon’s mouth. This is common knowledge in the academia in both Philippines and Japan, two client-states of the West in the region. But it is a very little known unknown fact among the Western public.

So where is the mobilization by Western left-wing intellectuals, in support of China, which is clearly being threatened by the United States and its allies?

There is no such mobilization! Instead, some of the left-wing intellectuals are actually repeating, like parrots, most of the lies invented by the mass media outlets in both Europe and North America! All that nonsense about China having imperialist ambitions, in Asia and Africa!

BRICS heads of state meeting in Brisbane, Australia, during the G20 summit.

BRICS heads of state expressing solidarity in Brisbane, Australia, 15 November 2014, during the G20 summit. From left: Putin (Russia), Modi (India), Roussef (Brazil), Xi Jiping (China), and Zuma (South Africa).

If they would only bother to speak to the African people, they would hear that China is admired and seen as the hope, by the African majority. They will hear that “Chinese people are the first foreigners who treat Africans as human beings, even as equals”, as I was repeatedly told at infrastructure construction sites all over East Africa.

And the Western Left is silent or complacent. A great majority of its members do not even bother or dare to travel to places where China is doing a great good.

When the US and Japanese air force flies over what China claims is its territory, when new military bases are built surrounding PRC, the Western Left does nothing, absolutely nothing, to support Beijing!

But when Russia was confronted, smeared and provoked, over Ukraine and Novorussia, there was actually almost immediate mobilization. It is good, very good, that there was one. But why did the Western Left suddenly opt for supporting the Russian government, which is actually not even socialist (although, by inertia from the Soviet days, it is still doing some great things for the nations oppressed by Western imperialism)? Why Russia and not others? Why Russia but not dozens of really socialist countries that are in great need of support?

Could it be that it is because Russia is a predominantly Western and ‘white’ country, while China, Venezuela, Bolivia, Cuba, South Africa or Eritrea, are not?

There should be serious and honest soul-searching, answering these questions. And soon!

***

These days it appears that most Western left-wing intellectuals are not even seeking power, anymore. They are comfortable with their feeling defeated and powerlessness. They appear to enjoy hopelessness and gloom. They constantly describe the faults and crimes of the Empire, but are unwilling to really confront it, in any determined way. They do not build barricades and they hardly fight intellectually.

It actually gets much worse than that: there is an easily detectable and open hostility from the Western Left towards most of the left-wing and anti-imperialist governments, all over the world, be it Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, China, North Korea, South Africa or Eritrea.

Those trusted and supported are only underdogs – those who already lost. That is the company in which many Western progressive intellectuals feel good and cozy.

The strength of those who fought, proudly, against the neo-colonialism and corporatism, and who are now actually governing their countries (or at least some of them are), is being ridiculed, at times even demonized. Nothing is good enough and nothing is ‘sacred’ for the Left in Paris, Berlin or London: definitely not Cuba and Eritrea, South Africa or China.

Again, that ‘religious’ search for the ideal movements, parties and societies!

Russian tanker crews parade in victory celebration over fascism (2013).

Russian tankers on parade in 2016, wearing Soviet uniforms and carrying Red Army banners. Russian tanker crews parade in victory celebration over fascism (2013). Note that to this day, in "capitalist Russia," much of the army retains a definitely Soviet flavor, and allegiance to a revolutionary past. No nation (except for China) paid as high a price to defeat fascism in WW2 as the Soviet Union, who lost the equivalent of the entire population of California, New York and Texas combined, plus the destruction of much of its infrastructure, including 70,000 towns and villages. The losses are so colossal (and conveniently ignored by the Western media and most Western historians) that few people can truly comprehend their magnitude.

 

Chinese intellectuals are indignant. I spoke to some, in 2013, when Tsinghua University in Beijing held a seminar on my work.

All that I am writing here is actually well known in China, South America and Africa!

The arrogance and self-righteousness of the Western Left is infuriating and the result is that there is very little of a working relation now, between the European/ North American left-wing movements and the PRC. Predictably, again, the Europeans will say, “Because China is not left wing enough”. Rubbish! Ask Fidel Castro whether China is socialist. Ask the government of Venezuela, or South Africa.

The main problem actually is, that the Western Left is not internationalist enough, or not internationalist at all! And to me, and to so many other comrades worldwide, internationalism is the essence of true socialism.

What is the European Left fighting for? It fights primarily for the privileges of its own people, not for the privileges of the other people of the world. It cares nothing about who actually pays for that free medical care or free education, or for the subsidies that the European farmers get.

During the colonial era, hundreds of millions of destroyed and enslaved people in the colonies paid for all those palaces, theatres, railroads and parks of Europe. Not much has actually changed, even to date. Ruined West African farmers are dying so those French farmers get their subsidies, and drive BMW’s and other luxury cars for producing or not producing, depending on the year. Hundreds of millions of destitute, overworked people in the neo-colonies, with no medical insurance at all, pay for those old people in Europe so that they can have free clinics/hospitals/social clubs.

And the Western ‘Left’ is fighting for more privileges for the European people. China is nothing to them. China or Vietnam… Just some annoying Asian nations that are ‘taking ‘their’ jobs away’! Chinese or Vietnamese people are just the multitudes and are un-people.

While China is reintroducing free medical care, it pays for it by the labor of its own people. And so do of course Cuba, Venezuela, Chile, Argentina and South Africa.

***

The Western Left is narcissistic, undisciplined and arrogant, self-righteous and morally defunct. That is why it lost. That is why it has no spark. That is why it does not inspire people.

And the fewer people it inspires the more bitter it gets, more vitriolic.

Vladimir Putin, Cristina Fernandez

(Left) President Putin during his visit to Argentina, being greeted by President Cristina Fernandez de Kirschner.

putin_argentina

It attacks the Soviet Union (post mortem), it attacks China, and it is buying into yet another Western propaganda scoop, that the Khmer Rouge were Communist genocidal forces, not a band of deranged rural desperados that came to power after the US murderous carpet-bombing of the Cambodian countryside. It attacks Cuba and Venezuela for being ‘undemocratic’, and with unforgiveable and sickening consistency, it attacks South Africa.

And even when China fights malaria in Africa, and builds schools and hospitals, when it defends tiny nations in Oceania from total destruction, due to the rise of the ocean level by building sea walls and by planting mangroves (I saw all this with my own eyes, as I have lived in both Oceania and Africa), it is still wrong, because the entire world has to be shit, just because the West and its policies are! This nihilism is sickening, it is defeatist and it is having a vile effect even on the people in the West itself.

One has to conclude, with shock, that most of what remains of the Western Left is actually anti-leftist!

The Russian leader being welcomed by Nicaragua's President, Daniel Ortega and other Nicaraguan dignitaries at Augusto Sandino Airport. (July 2014)

The Russian leader being welcomed by Nicaragua's President, Daniel Ortega and other Nicaraguan dignitaries at Augusto Sandino Airport. (July 2014)

As a result, the people of Latin America, of Asia and Africa, feel much better in each other’s company than with the progressive wing of their former colonizers, and they are increasingly seeking and finding inspiration in each other.

***

Russia has joined, too, in her own way. The more the merrier!

Almost 2 billion people are now living in or building their own socialist homelands. Each country is different in terms of culture and political models. Not one single country belonging to this group is perfect, but all of them are attempting to build a much better future for their citizens, and they are fighting against Western imperialism and fascism – for centuries now, really the only serious threat to the survival of our human race!

The world is now full of hope and optimism. The cranes are helping build and turbines are humming, new television stations and publications are inspiring billions to reject and fight the old colonialist propaganda.

It will be a good world in the foreseeable future. Maybe after some battles, but in the end, it will be.

Russi'a Pres. Putin greets the legendary leader of Latin American revolution, Fidel Castro, in Havana, during his tour in July 2014.

Russia's Pres. Putin greets the legendary leader of revolutionary Cuba, Fidel Castro, in Havana, during his tour in July 2014.  The warmth and mutual admiration were genuine.

Instead of preaching, the Western leftists should admit that they have failed, together with that aggressive Western culture, once described by the great Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung as pathology – a culture that has been enslaving the entire world for centuries.

Then, they should go and learn from the countries where the people have won, countries that are fighting for the survival of mankind!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Senior Correspondent and Editor Emeritus Andre Vltchek was a novelist, filmmaker and investigative journalist. He covered wars and conflicts in dozens of countries. The result is his latest book: “Fighting Against Western Imperialism”. ‘Pluto’ published his discussion with Noam Chomsky: On Western Terrorism. His critically acclaimed political novel Point of No Return is re-edited and available. Oceania is his book on Western imperialism in the South Pacific. His provocative book about post-Suharto Indonesia and the market-fundamentalist model is called “Indonesia – The Archipelago of Fear”. His feature documentary, “Rwanda Gambit” is about Rwandan history and the plunder of DR Congo. André, in failing health, died suddenly in his sleep in September of 2020, while being driven to Istanbul. 

 



Andre Vltchek: Point of No Return

Book Reviews

ponrCover

Michael Schiffmann

 

[dropcap]W[/dropcap]ith his work Point of No Return, the journalist, documentary filmmaker and author of numerous books on the repercussions of Western imperialism Andre Vltchek engages in a risk that has become rare these days, namely, to write an explicitly political novel. And what is more, he succeeds in doing so in a very impressive way.

On the canvas of a strongly autobiographical background, Vltchek develops the arresting story of a politically committed war reporter, his alter ego Karel, a man coming from Czechia in Eastern Europe but living in exile in Latin America and frantically traveling the continents “to learn, to see, and to write,” always in the attempt to make the terrors and revolting conditions experienced in the process public and to contribute to over due change thereby.

The free-floating existence of a war correspondence who has no firm roots anywhere, who is here today and there tomorrow and who doesn’t only market the suffering and pain observed in the process, but also regularly exchanges it for the suffering of other victims of course in- vites cynicism, and this cynicism is lurking in the background of even Karel:

andreVltchekHONGOHAT

The story plays out in Peru, Egypt, Israel/Palestine, Indonesia, and in cities such as Lima, Paris, New York, and Tokyo, which can be seen a reflection of the restless life of Vltchek himself who, according to himself, has traveled more than 150 of the 200 countries of the earth. But before long, we recognize how, behind the permanent haste, the continuous change of location, there are evident deep convictions of the protagonist, a deep relation to and a deep sympathy for the exploited, oppressed, and gagged majority of the world population with whom his job brings him into permanent contact.

In the process, we are witness to many unforgettable scenes, for example, his encounter with an old Palestinian man and his donkey right at the beginning of the book, where the animal has become the only friend of the im- poverished man and is now the beneficiary of the man’s solidarity, even though it has long lost its economic utili- ty, or conversely, when a mob of Indonesian “Christians”

barbarically slaughters a defenseless boy because he is a “Muslim,” and when the aggressors, as always with religious, ethnocentric, racist, nationalist acts of barbarity, pose as the victims mercilessly driven to the wall and never given a chance: “We had to do it! The others didn’t leave us any other choice!”

In the world confronting Karel, those profiting from the injustice and the oppressors servicing them are of course despicable, but on the other hand, their victims are not necessarily decent and good. But even so, the suffering of those who are condemned to a permanent victim status by our world system of economic coercion is both unbearable and intolerable.

 

As befits a mature observer of the human condition, Vltchek does not draw flat, antipodal, moral characters nor does he reduce real people to the level of mere pretexts serving brave political analyses. His villains are contemptible, but the victims are not necessarily paragons of virtue.

What prevents all of this from descending into bare political analysis or sentimental social kitsch are the authentic relations Karel enters into despite his deracination: with his “ideal woman” Reiko (who he, different from his countless girl-friends, loves), with his revolutionary friends in Latin America, and even with an accidental internet acquaintance Hanan in Jordan, whose correspondence with him begins with the announcement of a suicide attack against the “Jewish dogs,” but later ends with suggestions on the part of Karel for effective masturbation without destroying virginity.

Characteristically, the editor of Karel‘s magazine, The Weekly Globe, invokes the usual litany that of course he himself loves the work of his journalists, but that “the public simply doesn’t understand the message.” Even Karel’s relationship to Reiko, a woman belonging to the Japanese upper class, is in danger of failing in the face of her literal consternation once she becomes aware of his political commitment: “Are you a terrorist, Karel? Are you a Communist?” she asks him, after he tells her the tragic story of his girlfriend Ana, who had been killed during an assault by the Peruvian “Shining Path.”

Ana’s is not the only death lining Karel’s way; Ana’s and Karel’s mutual friend meets his end by suicide, an Italian countess, who out of boredom travels right into the midst of a civil war, dies a grotesque death as a “martyr of the people,” and some off Karel’s sources, as, for ex- ample, the forcibly married wife of an officer of the Indonesian occupation army terrorizing East Timor, are living in such a great danger that in fact nobody can know whether, at the time when Karel’s reports finally appear, they will still be alive.

But despite all the terror and despite somber analyses about the battle between “market fun- damentalists and religious fundamentalists” being the main contradiction of our time, Vltchek’s novel projects the same desperate hope that once emanated from Man’s Fate by André Malraux or To Whom the Bells Toll by Ernest Hemingway, and it is presumably not by accident that French critic Catherine Merveilleux has compared Vltchek with these very same authors. And as a matter of fact, Vltchek evokes strong memories of them, but not just because of his reawakening of the buried tradition of political fiction, but also because of his immense narrative talent.

There has also been ample praise for Vltchek from someone who, up to now, has rarely figured as a literary critic, namely, Noam Chomsky: “Andre Vltchek tells us about a world that few know, even when they think they do. That is because he tells the truth, vividly, with a keen sense of history, and with a percep- tive eye that sees past surfaces to reality.” Just like authors as Dan Chodorokoff, Ron Jacob, and others, Andre Vltchek is turning another chapter in the history of American literature.

 

Andre Vltchek: Point of No Return, Mainstay Press 2013, 348 pages.

Contact: Michael Schiffmann * In der Neckarhelle 72 * 69118 Heidelberg * 06221-800313 * mikschiff@t-online.de

NOTICE: YOUR SUBSCRIPTIONS (SIGNUPS TO OUR PERIODICAL BULLETIN) ARE COMPLETELY FREE, ALWAYS. AND WE DO NOT SELL OR RENT OUR EMAIL ADDRESS DATABASES.   



THE UPSIDE OF THE DEATH OF PRIVACY

occupy-wall-street-demonstrator-is-arrested-by-new-york-city-police

Under the current regime, under various excuses, dissent is carefully monitored and when necessary, repressed.

RICK STAGGENBORG
SOLDIERS FOR PEACE INTERNATIONAL

(CLICK TO EXPAND IMAGE)


SFPI mask[dropcap]A[/dropcap]ll around us we are witnessing the erosion of our personal privacy. While disconcerting to many, it might be the best thing that ever happened to America. When we keep our thoughts to ourselves, our anger can destroy us. We cannot hide behind a mask of civility while wanting to attack those who disagree with us. We cannot achieve the consensus required to govern ourselves if we feel afraid to let our neighbors know what we think about the issues confronting all of us and the dangers to human civilization of allowing corporate control of the US government and thereby the world. When we do not expose our ideas to scrutiny, we remain ignorant of our false beliefs and continue to fight each other rather than the corporate Puppetmasters who would enslave us all in a fascist New World Order. 

The passage of the National Defense Authorization Act gave Obama and all future Presidents the power to declare any of us enemy combatants, subject to indefinite detention in military prisons without charges. When so few US citizens trust their government, it is a wonder that this did not produce widespread protests. It seems that conservatives remain so afraid of terrorists and Democrats so fearful of Republicans that most did not dare to protest. Those of us on the front lines of the struggle for democracy in America know full well how such power might be abused if we succeed at building a united front against fascism in the United States and war in the world. We will be the first to test this and other laws abridging our freedoms of speech and assembly.

In the face of this blatant warning to dissidents in the US, we must not be cowed into submitting to the international corporate terrorists behind the NDAA and similar legislation. If we are serious about building a united front behind Occupy and similar coalitions, we must face the fact that when we succeed there will be attempts to silence the loudest of us. It requires faith that we can build a movement that is independent of the need for identified leaders and that is wide enough that it cannot be stopped with such simple measures. That is the essence of nonviolent anarchical warfare against the police state and the fascist New World Order that it protects.

Only by making our voices heard can we hope to build such a movement. When enough of us join in a chorus demanding a return to the path toward democracy, our voice will be heard. That collective call must include people from everywhere on the political spectrum who demand change, if we want to claim to speak for the 99% That means that we must keep the message on point, relevant to the needs of the movement and consistent with values shared by all Americans. We will not achieve consensus on many issues but we can all agree that we must fight for the survival of the American dream of democracy in the US and the world.

As a psychiatrist, I am familiar with the dangers of hiding one’s beliefs and attitudes from others. We all wear masks but some are more deceptive than others, capable even of deceiving ourselves about our selves. To have a firm conviction in how to proceed as a group or as a society we must know and trust ourselves. That cannot be done if we live in fear of being exposed as weak, ignorant or tainted by our past. We must remember that we fight the power structure not so much out of anger or fear but out of love for all our children and Mankind itself. That begins by learning to love ourselves, with all  of  our  faults. To  move  forward  together, we must respect others who have angered us. It is division that allows the powerful to control us. In unity lies strength.

Democracy requires that a People be good enough to rule themselves. If we believe that democracy is possible we must believe that however confused they may be, our neighbors are essentially good. We can choose whether to consider them allies or enemies, but I will never choose to make a potential ally my enemy. The cause is all that matters. Those who will not join us will still be our neighbors when the Revolution is over. If we wish the Revolution to remain nonviolent, we must learn to accept those with whom we disagree even as we work to defeat the sick ideology that some unwittingly support.

Imagine a society where people accept each other rather than judge, where is understood that we have  nothing  to  fear  from  the  judgment of others. Such a world is possible  if  we  learn that in judging others we diminish our selves. It is by accepting the fact  that  humans  are  much  more alike than different that our commonalities are what make us human and that diversity is  critical  to  the survival  of  human  civilization  that we can forge a world society capable of surviving  and  thriving  in  the  post-New World Order. In such  a  world  we  celebrate  the  differences  that  give  life  its  wonderful complexity and the ability to adapt to changing circumstances.

We have nothing to fear but fear of our selves. If we look deep within our hearts and learn to love what we find there, we can find it in our hearts to forgive others. We must know ourselves and to our own selves be true, for it is truth that is the only thing that will set us free. When enough of us learn to  speak the truth without fear, we will create the Tectonic Paradigm Shift in human consciousness that will save human civilization from self-destruction.

This statement is from the personal blog of Rick Staggenborg, MD. The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the official positions of Take Back America for the People, an educational 501.c3 nonprofit established by Dr Staggenborg.


STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

SOLDIERS FOR PEACE INTERNATIONAL (SFPI)

OUR MISSION IS TO JOIN INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS WORKING IN DIFFERENT WAYS TO ENSURE THAT OUR CHILDREN LIVE IN A RATIONAL, SUSTAINABLE WORLD. WHEN ENOUGH PEOPLE ABANDON THE BELIEF THAT WAR IS INEVITABLE,IT WILL BECOME UNTHINKABLE. WAR IS CONDUCTED FOR CORPORATE EMPIRE. THEREFORE,THE FIRST STEP TO ENDING WAR IS ENDING CORPORATE CONTROL OF THE US GOVERNMENT. ALL SOCIAL JUSTICE EFFORTS LEAD TO THE END OF WAR, THE ULTIMATE INJUSTICE. THOSE WHO WORK FOR JUSTICE ARE SOLDIERS FOR PEACE.

SFPI’s Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/groups/sfpiradio/?fref=ts

 

NOTICE: YOUR SUBSCRIPTIONS (SIGNUPS TO OUR PERIODICAL BULLETIN) ARE COMPLETELY FREE, ALWAYS. AND WE DO NOT SELL OR RENT OUR EMAIL ADDRESS DATABASES.  



Poles join the Novorossiya militia in large numbers

polesPassport[dropcap]P[/dropcap]oles join the Novorossiya militia in large numbers photo © РИА Новости. Павел Паламарчук

Ukrainian border guards detained a group of young Poles intending to join the forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic. Those detained are members of the Falanga organization and call themselves Polish Eurasians. (See Appendix)

Falanga leader Bartosz Becker confirmed the detainment. He said that he and his associates were given a three-year ban on entering Ukraine.  © Фото: liveinternet.ru

Falanga supports “an independent Poland in the continental security system.” 

“The European and Eurasian blocs need to cooperate closely for the common good, and for that we need to do away with the American influence, which all over the world is a precursor of bloody conflicts such as those in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and Ukraine,” Becker said earlier. 

It was reported earlier that over 1,500 international volunteers from France, Serbia, Spain, Germany, Poland, Israel and Great Britain are fighting alongside the Donbas self-defense forces. 

Читать далее: http://en.ukraina.ru/news/20141021/1010917594.html

 

APPENDIX

http://www.falanga.org.pl/, as well as demonstrations held in Warsaw to protest Poland’s support for the NATO/Kiev regime.

CLICK IMAGE TO EXPANDpolish-falangaDemonstration3

We demand independence!

[dropcap]O[/dropcap]n 11th November in Kraków members and supporters of Falanga and Xportal.pl, representatives of other radical political organizations (both “Right” and “Left-Wing” ) arrived at the American consulate on Stolarska street starting the manifestation “On Independence Day We Demand Independence!”. Among many national and organizational flags stood out banners with slogans “Stop NATO” and “No wars for Israel – resistance continues” surrounded by flags of movements and nations fighting for their independence and hated by globalists: Syria, Hezbollah, Venezuela and flags used by independence movement in Novorossia. Nearly one hundred participants heard the main idea of the demonstration: not a struggle against nonexistent “communism” or “fascism” but loud, clear and joint objection to problems of our times: liberalism, capitalism and American imperialism. Today, because of present situation of Polish state: economical dependency, colonization by foreign capital, selling out national assets, americanization of culture and lack of political sovereignty, we cannot be content with “soft” mainstream patriotism, but we need once again to fight for regaining independence in all possible aspects.

 

After the speeches were started, the participants lit torches and flags of NATO and European Union flew on the ground. The street echoed with shouts “National and social revolution”, “No NATO, no wars – we want peace”, USA – evil empire”, „Polish industry in Polish hands – Work in Poland for the Poles” “Neither EU, nor NATO – Poland only for the Poles”, “We demand independence”. After recalling the crimes of liberal, neocolonial system against Polish nation – now affected with demographical destruction and with foundations of it’s identity threatened, the flags of Euro-Atlantic oppressors of Poland were burned.

After a change of formation, the participants chanting “Strong state – great Fatherland!” went along the streets to the place where neoconservative pseudo-patriots were celebrating the fact that one of their leaders – journalist Tomasz Sakiewicz – has been given a medal by Ukrainian Security Service. The national revolutionaries immediately started their protest, effectively silencing the cultists of Smolensk plane crash. Slogans like “We remember Volhynia” “We’ll not let banderists live” “Stepan Bandera – Hitler’s puppet” “With hammer and sword strike the NATO scum” “You don’t have monopoly for patriotism”, “Think like Poles, not like Yankees”.

As expected the pro-American mob shouted something about “servants of Russia” and “provocations of Putin’s green men”. They also tried to present their political sabbath as a “patriotic celebration” and histerically asked the national revolutionaries “who do you support?!”. The simple answer came immediately: “Assad – Chavez- Lukashenko!” Seeing the surprising development, the pseudo-patriots swiftly left the stage, and their dumbfounded followers were urged to leave the streets with our shouts “Polish youth will judge you!” and “Poland is us, not Kaczynski and his dogs!”.

When the last supporters of atlantism dispersed, we have finished our manifestation once again proving, that radicalism and effective actions spring from setting proper goals and having well-disciplined activists.

On behalf of Falanga and Xportal.pl we want to thank all organizations and individuals who took part in our manifestation, and we encourage them to continue this cooperation.

 

Demonstrators in Warsaw protest sending Polish soldiers to Ukraine
Читать далее: http://en.ukraina.ru/news/20141005/1010715958.html

[dropcap]D[/dropcap]emonstrators in Warsaw protest sending Polish soldiers to Ukraine (photo © РИА Новости. Михаил Воскресенский)

Demonstrators outside the Polish Parliament in Warsaw expressed their opposition to the war in Donbas and Warsaw’s support of Ukrainian nationalists.

Jacek Mendrzycki, the leader of the ‘Great Polish Camp’ movement, who organized the event, said the demonstration was held as part of the No War with Russia initiative.

«Polish authorities have used their control of the media to spread anti-Russian propaganda. They shamelessly support the junta in Kyiv, which draws on Bandera’s ideology,” he said.   Several dozen protesters waived the flags of Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and the Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics and held slogans reading No Polish Involvement in NATO’s Military Operation in Ukraine, Stop Bandera, No Support for Banderovites. We Remember Volhynia    Поляки против участия в украинском конфликте

The activists are against Poland’s decision to take part in the joint military brigade of Poland, Lithuania, and Ukraine and Warsaw’s policy that promote the creation of a European military brigade.  This is not the first such action in Poland. In September, protesters demanded a stop to the military operation in eastern Ukraine and demanded an investigation into the Malaysian airliner crash and the tragedy at the Odessa’s House of the Unions.   Polish authorities previously announced their willingness to deliver weapons to Kyiv if Ukrainian authorities requested it.
Читать далее: http://en.ukraina.ru/news/20141005/1010715958.html

NOTICE: YOUR SUBSCRIPTIONS (SIGNUPS TO OUR PERIODICAL BULLETIN) ARE COMPLETELY FREE, ALWAYS. AND WE DO NOT SELL OR RENT OUR EMAIL ADDRESS DATABASES.  



John Oliver demolishes the Ayn Rand conservative BS about selfishness being good

john-oliver-silo[dropcap]J[/dropcap]ohn Oliver, an alum of Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show school of political satire, but consistently far more “left” in his establishment critiques (he’s technically a left liberal) has already compiled a large and impressive inventory of left critiques of the many flaws and crimes in American capitalism. This one is typical. Keep in mind, though, that, as a mainstream liberal Oliver, while implicitly suggesting that capitalism is a failed system, does not dare—or can ill afford—a frontal confrontation with the system’s managers. That would be career suicide, and he knows it. —PG
WATCH VIDEO BELOW

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Ayn Rand – How Is This Still A Thing? (HBO)

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver 

NOTICE: YOUR SUBSCRIPTIONS (SIGNUPS TO OUR PERIODICAL BULLETIN) ARE COMPLETELY FREE, ALWAYS. AND WE DO NOT SELL OR RENT OUR EMAIL ADDRESS DATABASES.