LUMPENPROLETARIAT—[Friday, 19 FEB 2021, 03:52 PST]  Forget the 24-hour news cycle.  Indeed. We tune in to the news of the day to stay informed, to self-educate for correct political action. We search for a diversity of perspectives outside of the corporate media gaslighting because we seek to be true to reality. Professor John Vervaeke (Univ. of Toronto) teaches us about Awakening From the Meaning Crisis. We harmonize perspectives to establish reality. And we establish community, a sangha, but with the understanding that community is not class power.

It’s Day 31 of Mr. Biden’s presidency. Today, Mr. Biden spoke before the Munich Summit on his presidential administration’s foreign policy ambitions. For many of us, those of us on the left, people of color, it was disappointing because it sounded insincere. We’re not saying we’re surprised. But what does it mean to give people the benefit of the doubt? And how many times must we be betrayed before we come to expect betrayal? And does the expectation of betrayal necessarily lead to revolt? Or does it lead to a form of what Trent Reznor sang about, “Happiness In Slavery“? We can talk about wage slavery in America. Bob Marley sang, “Are you satisfied with the life you’re living?“

Democrat voters must be satisfied. There is virtually no pushback against Mr. Biden’s continuation of the evil of militarism, which is represented by US/NATO imperialism. “America is back,” declared Mr. Biden at today’s Munich Summit. The bizarre reality is that the more overtly abusive Mr. Trump, representing the more overtly abusive political party, the Republican Party, Mr. Trump opposed NATO during his presidency. But this morning we heard Mr. Biden speak on his ostensible foreign policy priorities, which include the furtherance of US/NATO imperialism.

Mr. Biden’s entire speech was unacceptable, vague, like narcissistic abuse, like gaslighting, unclear, dog whistle politics, and deceit. I’m sure we can find some media dissectors, who’ve picked apart its duplicitous aspects. We will expand on this theme, and corroborate it, validate it, as time constraints allow. But our general impression is that Mr. Biden intends to continue Obama-style neoliberalism.

But we refuse to succumb to illusions, to the smoke and mirrors of the American ruling class. We know an evil minority of ruling elites (the 1%) have always waged a class war against the majority of Americans (the 99%). From day one, from the founding of our nation, at least half the population was immediately excluded from the political process because women were excluded, as were people without property or land, and as were all people of color, especially the original Native Americans, upon whose land the invading and ungrateful colonizing hordes saw fit to establish colonialism, slavery, and genocidal intentions. 

So, we take notes.  But we also tune out of the news of the day, occasionally, to focus on a broader scope, to get a bigger picture and a longer view.  News outlets are only tools for us to use in the struggle for freedom.  They are not meant to be something we’re enslaved to, like news junkies. 

(Having said that, we must not let them sell off any Pacifica Radio stations. On the contrary, we need to be opening up even more free speech radio stations. We’re still not fully caught up with the latest internal politics at the various Pacifica Radio stations. Dirty laundry is not something anyone enjoys airing. But Ian Masters (KPFK) and Dr. Gary Null (WBAI) have recently raised serious concerns, of which all, us, lovers of free speech radio must self-educate ourselves on, if we hope to keep Pacifica Radio on the air with its Pacifica (i.e., pacifist-anarchist) Mission intact. Please support free speech radio with a donation today.)

Who Rules America?

Last month, Danny Schecter, “the news dissector”, narrated an exposé on “the true decision-makers behind the world’s self-proclaimed democratic role model” (on the ENDEVR YouTube channel). The role model in question is the USA. In reality, we know this so-called role model has conducted itself like a bully on the world stage. Danny Schecter’s exposé, about “the corporate takeover [of America, i.e., coup d’état] and the rise of the military-industrial complex,” is actually Episode Three of a six-part series on ENDEVR called, Who Rules America?

That question is, Who Rules America?, is arguably, the most important question for the American working class. (Know your enemy.) Why is there always widening inequality? Why is there always unemployment and poverty? Who is responsible for these matters of social concern, economic concern, of “racial” (i.e., ethnic) justice. Who Rules America? is a question that goes back to our most celebrated truth-tellers, from Dr. Peter Phillips to C. Wright Mills, Dr. Noam Chomsky, Michael Parenti, David Talbot, Dr. Peter Dale Scott, Mickey Huff, Dennis Bernstein, Ian Masters, et al.

How do we identify, expose, and shame the American ruling class for their many crimes against humanity? We know they don’t want to live in shame. Supplication has been tried. We’ve heard Dr. Peter Phillips discuss the 17 largest hedge funds, or money managers, which manage the global elite’s wealth. (See Giants by Dr. Phillips.)

And what do the giant investment firms of the global elite invest in? Renewable energy? Working class jobs with dignity? Unfortunately, such concerns prove unprofitable in their cost-benefit analyses. Their surest investment is the pursuit of forever wars everywhere, not to mention the militarization of U.S. policing. All of this, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr., and others have tried to tell us is morally wrong. How can we incentivize war for profit? How can we put our young people in harm’s way for the mere profits of next quarter’s earnings?

Malcolm X and Dr. King were not allowed much time to explain why “the three evils of society”—racism, militarism, and materialism (i.e., capitalism)—are wrong. Such prophets were silenced by violence, and then silenced in death by historical obfuscation. Of course, we would like to think the reasons why for-profit militarism is wrong would be obvious to anyone. But, then, that assumes possession of some form of moral compass. Our society does not always provide us with opportunities to develop empathy or compassion or morality, which has courteous regard for others. If one needs to have the reasons why violence is wrong explained to them, then, we contend, such person’s character is in question.

We are not talking about self-defense. We train; we move weight; we focus the mind, for self-defense. We train in the martial arts. But self-defense is not violence when the intention is de-escalation, or self-preservation. So, we do our best to avoid people of poor character, to avoid conflict. But, inevitably, moments of reckoning arise, like the historic wake-up call we all experienced on January 6th, as antidemocratic violence was visited upon state capitols around the USA.

As Dr. George Simon reminds us, “Character matters.” Of course, he also said that shame is not allowed, as a behavioral corrective, by custom and tradition in the field of psychologist counseling or therapy. We know narcissists tend to avoid reflection, whether guided by a professional or by one’s own internal awareness. Well, maybe it’s time for certain customs and traditions to change. To that end, we are grateful for Against the Grain on free speech radio KPFA, for (re)introducing to our collective consciousness the concept of the “political uses of shame,” as co-host Sasha Lilley phrased it the other day, referencing the new book, Worldly Shame: Ethos in Action.

An elder’s wisdom reminded your author that, at times, there would be somebody or some family in the old village back in Michoacán, who just didn’t understand reciprocity. Everybody else in the village seems to be well-bonded, cohesive, living in solidarity. But certain persons, occasionally, were known to be untrustworthy, unreliable, or toxic. They became social outcasts. The village meant no harm. It was simply self-preservation. It seems, in our American society, those unscrupulous, untrustworthy people with poor character have taken over everything because we see so much deception, duplicitous behavior, and gaslighting.

Where I come from, not speaking for anyone else, just one brown person, a Chicano in Aztlán, my elders taught me that one must always be correct. This is not about having the right answer to a question. This, perhaps, is a foreign concept to some contemporary Americans. But this quality of being correct has to do with character, with being morally upright. I was recently reminded of this ancient wisdom from an elder at a wake for her husband, a friend of my parents, from the old country. Her husband died due to COVID-19-related causes. (We have attended several post-pandemic funerals, until the funerals simply started happening on YouTube.)

In conversation with this elder, she discussed that particular philosophy of village life in Mexico, a philosophy of reciprocity. It is not unique to Mexico. But it does seem to be unique to peasant life, as opposed to bourgeois life. The elder’s wisdom corroborated something, which Dr. John Henry taught us at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, at their heterodox economics department, in a course on the history of economic thought. There is a philosophical difference, which is subtle, yet fundamental and vitally important to understanding colonialism, nationalism, and, ultimately, racism. This is the difference between hospitality and reciprocity. This difference seems to have been lost in translation early on, during the first encounters between white and brown and black and yellow and red. The European colonialist tended to offer hospitality, and conditionally, at that, as evidenced by all the broken treaties. But the indigenous people tended to offer reciprocity. We must be clear on what, and who, we’re dealing with. Know your enemy.

We are reminded of the wisdom of Alan Watts. What can we say about the reconciliation of opposites?

Like narcissistic abusers, the American ruling class, like the British ruling class, all seem to feature an evil triplet of traits, of narcissistic abuse: a sense of superiority, the inability to empathize with others, and a need for admiration (a lack or absence of humility). Like the British royal crown, which is supposed to be a gentle model of civility for the uncouth and unwashed masses, so, too, did our patrician founding fathers provide the same elitist model of civility and erudition, to which we, the ignorant and illiterate working class were supposed to aspire. We, the working class, had Tom Paine to teach us about Common Sense and The Rights of Man. But we had no class consciousness. We knew there existed some vast differences between people. But we have internalized the social stratification, which was imposed upon us. We, Americans, tend to think that our economic hardships are entirely the fault of our personal choices. Yet, we fail to see where our personal choices were circumscribed long before we were even born.

Before we run out of time, let us leave you, dear reader, with a hypothetical question, sort of a thought experiment. If you’re a Pacifica Radio listener, odds are you are probably aware of Dr. George Lakoff. He teaches us about the concept of the political trial balloon, where Mr. Trump may try some extreme utterance, policy, or behavior to see, if he can get away with it. If he doesn’t, it was only a trial balloon. The consequences might be minimal. But, if he gets away with it, he is emboldened, as he evidently became after being acquitted the first time he was impeached. Was January 6th a trial balloon? What role does the military-industrial complex play in all of this?

Did the Military-Industrial Complex Float Mr. Trump’s January 6th Trial Balloon?

Who Rules America?

“Who Rules America: The Fight for Political Power | US Politics | ENDEVR Documentary” (First Episode) by ENDEVR, 13 DEC 2020.

(This documentary was newly posted to the ENDEVR YouTube channel in 2020, but was originally published circa 2012, during the days of the anti-capitalist, anti-1%, anti-Wall Street, anti-fascist movements, from the so-called Arab Spring movements to Occupy Wall Street.)

Words are beautiful, but actions supreme.

#GeneralStrike

@LumpenProles, 19:09 PST

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Take a look at the law man beating up the wrong guy

Oh, man! I wonder if he’ll ever know…

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Notes from a working class left perspective, tuning into the most critical analyses of the issues of the day…

Download the Pacifica Radio Network app to easily tune in to the live broadcasts of the terrestrial radio signals across the free speech radio network.

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Meditations…

Black Uhuru – Happiness

 What I'mma longing for, is some happiness  What I'mma longing for, is some happiness  Happiness is when you share Jah love with one another  Happiness is when you got it together  You got the youths on this island to blow  They can get no time to ¿¿refresh/rest??  Because of all the distress that the society leaves  What I'mma longing for, is some happiness  Happiness is when you give Jah praises  Happiness is when you live with the free mind, oh oh, yeah  So long we be living and we can't unite  Stop the youths suffering from sophisticated  Diseases, hmm-mmm  You don't got the constitutional right  To rule over I and I  Babylon, sure gonna fall to the bottomless pit  What I'mma longing for, is some happiness, whoa-oh  What I'mma longing for, is some happiness  There's no mercy, for those who have ability  And don't use it, waste it  I would like to go all over the world, oh oh  From Germany to France  Tokio, name it  Hmm-mmm… happiness, happiness, happiness  What I'mma longing for, is some happiness  What I'mma longing for, is some happiness  'Cause happiness is when you ¿¿rave?? to each other  Happiness is when you cheer up one another  Whoa oh, oh, yes  Well, well, well, well  See - th'youths on this island to blow  They can get no time to ¿¿refresh??  Because of all the distress that the society leaves  Hmm, Lord whoa  What I'mma longing for, is some happiness  What I'mma longing for, is some happiness  Well, happiness is when you party together  Happiness is when you give Jah praises  Happiness is when you cheer up one another  Happiness is when you go to many places  Oh, oh, oh…  Hmm, longing for, th'happiness of my brethren  Happiness is, whatever you facing  A summoning in this so-??, oh no  Hmm-mmm  Black Uhuru lyrics are copyright by their rightful owner(s) and Jah Lyrics in no way takes copyright or claims the lyrics belong to us.  Jah Lyrics exists solely for the purpose of archiving all reggae lyrics and makes no profit from this website.  Song details  Released: July, 1980  Style: roots reggae  Country: Jamaica  Releases  Sinsemilla  Released: 07/1980  Like us on Facebook  Copyright © 2009 - 2021

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“Freedom From Choice: How the Government Controls What You Consume | Lobby | ENDEVR Documentary” by ENDEVR, 24 JAN 2021.

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“WATCH LIVE: Biden lays out foreign policy priorities at Munich summit:” by PBS News Hour, 19 FEB 2021.

08:00 PST, PBS > Emperor Biden > (c. 08:40 PST, Angela Merkel‘ ‘Of course, Germany is committed to NATO.’ […] 08:50 PST, President Macron (France) [liberal?] […] 09:00 PST, as Macron allowed time for Q&A, unlike Merkel or Biden. Question of NATO, at issue. 0903, Moderator: sorry, we can’t answer question, we’re out of time. 0903″Natalie” […] 0908, ‘the 6th was due to social media, she said basically, passing some new anti-social media act? ‘What is illegal off-line is illegal online‘ […] ‘This is not jusr aboti joing forces. Its about sending a signal ti rhe qorks[…] 0912, ‘nobody wants china to do it for us.’ […] ‘We are up for the challenge.’ […] ‘Colleen’ pres fonderline? […] 0917, Moderator ambassador eeshenger(sp?) […] 0917, next speaker, a bearded bald man, European. .’Our values are those of the free world’ […] 0926, NATO boss speaks, a European bloke. […] “transatlantic solidarity” […] nah, worker solidarity. […] next speaker says they must asser “Article 5”, a twisted bastardization of the old Wobbly slogan: An injury to one is an injury to all. Except NATO limits their circle of concern to their little cartel of imperious nations. […] 09:37 PST, Moderator asks about the relationship between NATO and the EU. NATO chair responded. Of course, he called for further concentration of power “to address the consequences of the rise of China.” Is this not a racist sentiment? […] 0942, Moderator said our next question, unlike prior ones, may be of interest to the general public. Is there a role for NATO around climate change?’ Yes, of course, said the evil NATO sales rep. “Crisis creates [?].” […] ‘So, security and climate change go hand in hand, as we address climate change.’ 09:44 PST, [Pacifica Radio check] Kerry “DC Switch”, YouTube feed turned into a beep and colorcode thing

09:00 PST, WBAI > The Gary Null Show > […] “Mao Tse Tung’ […] ‘And we are headed down that same way.’ ‘They are now wanting Biden to elect a reality tzar.’ [TW] real talk.

0948 TW r Wolff kpft hd2

1000 PST, KPFA > Economic Update with Richard Wolff | On income inequality [TW]

1000 wpfw tw real talk. Latino collective | Interview on the state of the USA, the sieges of January 6th, and the parallels of astro-turfed reactionary populism with US support for dictatorships in Latin America. […)] 10:22 […] ‘the Zorros(sp?) were a Mexican version of The Proud Boys, but like 50 or 60 years ago.

Nolberto Martinez, the founder and original host of The Latino Radio Collective.

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10:00 PST / 13:00 EDT, WBAI > Leonard Lopate at Large

NOTES/COMMENTS (re: LLAL for Friday, 19 FEB 2022): [TW] topics: Antifascism, the 6th, ‘the return to an idealized past as fascism?’ […] This analyst is extremely astute. We need to amplify this interview on the left, center, and right. […] 1044, ‘What does the slogan No Platform for Fascism mean? […] 1048, ‘Have we ever had free speech?’ […] ‘in my book, AntiFa‘ […] 10:50 PST,

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1000 PST, KPFA > Economic Update > […] 10:50 PST, ‘Trumpism is lighting in a jar. And now the jar is gone.’ Rerun?

1053 Robeson kpfk Sojourner Truth

1100 PST, KPFA > VOMENA > 1103 TW sounds like rerun from Wednesday

1100 wpfw tw Resistance Radio? Fund drive please donate aka the John Kane(sp?l show […] 11:40 PST,

1100 PST, WBAI > 1140 ‘The public service commission should not make a decision until the pending lawsuits are settled, and many are still pending.’ Anti-nuke show?

1143 kpft hd2 tw ‘women’s rights’ […] ‘Ms. Henrietta Lacks(sp?) was robbed.’ […] ‘Ms. Bath(sp?) was robbed.’ […] 1149 […] 1152, ‘Clearwater website’ > News with Askia Mohammed [TW] […] 11:59 PST

1200 PST, KPFA > atg […] 1221, ‘If our old people are empty, our whole way of life is empty.’ […] ‘find the part of you that’s not in time; and rest it.’ 12:41, next clip, 1245, so true moving, shed a tear, bro

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13:00 PST, KPFA > Project Censored with Mickey Huff

NOTES/COMMENTS (re: Project Censored for 19 FEB 2021 ): Guests: Andy Lee Roth and Steve Macek, Prof., author of Urban Nightmares. | […] ‘MH: Wisdom is what we all need.’ Indeed. 1340, just pledged, signed copy. Nice. “We cannot trust social media.” Hm. Indeed. What about bloggers? How do we validate bloggers? Separate opinion from reporting from analysis? | (c. 32:00) [TW]

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“George Lakoff: Frames, Metaphors & Politics” by Berggruen Institute, 28 OCT 2020.

(c. 11:25)  Dr. George Lakoff:  "What people don't understand is that democracy is based on empathy.  That's the central idea." 

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“Biden Sells Missiles to Fascists + US Base Destroys Ancient Coral Reef” by Empire Files, 19 FEB 2021.

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1700 KPFA > Flashpoints with Dennis Bernstein > […] 1705, neoliberalism, deregulation of fossil fuel extraction and distribution, in the context of this week’s polar vortex winter storm emergency[…] 17:12, solutions? Yes, green new deal with […] 1713 […] 1753, “Greg Palast” [TW]

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“Taibbi & Eskow: The Marcuse Match” by The Zero Hour with RJ Eskow, 19 FEB 2021.

Taibbi argued against oppressive tolerance. But is he arguing against the anti-fascist slogan? No platform for fascism. “Nobody can fully know the truth.”

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1700 KPFK > Background Briefing with Ian Masters > 1713 | “security” “vulnerable software” “Russian hack of (?)” [TW] | See archives for show on new Trump party or faction. Nicole Perlroth (New York Times). […] Sounds like fear mongering, especially given the notable downplaying of surveillance capitalism. […] 17:27, ‘reduced salaries’ ‘a number of people have been fired’ [TW] […] > 17:30 PST, Craig Unger ‘Is Mr. Trump a traitor, or Manchurian Candidate?’ […] ‘Is Trump a Russian asset?’ Craig Unger delves into these and other fascinating revelations about the origins of Mr. Trump’s political career and background in Eastern Europe. […] 17:35, back to interview with Unger. ‘How the KGB Cultivated Donald Trump’ […] 17:36 PST, ‘More evidence Mr. Trump orchestrated the events of January 6th and how the Republican Party is now trying to exonerate Mr. Trump and gaslight the nation, and the world, as if nothing happened. We recall this morning, few NATO reps spoke to the political violence and dysfunction in the US. Mr. Biden, of course, tried to downplay the political problems in the United States. […] 1739, […] 1748, ‘stop the drift toward conspiracy and quackery’ […] 1749, “But we can’t allow KPFK to become Trump Radio.” […] 17:50 PST, THIS IS A FUND DRIVE BROADCAST. PLEASE SUPPORT FREE SPEECH RADIO KPFK.

18:00 PST, KPFA > The Pacifica Evening News with Mark Mericle | […] Biden to present at Earth Day in April? […] 18:20 PST,

“Claire Lehmann: Facebook has made a bad miscalculation” by UnHerd, 19 FEB 2021.

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[19 FEB 2021]

[Last modified on 26 MAR 2022 at 06:58 PDT]

[TW = Transcript Worthy, pending volunteer labor. These are segments of radio, which would make excellent short-length, archivable, easily-searchable videos and quotations to share and, hopefully, make viral news and information from a left, working class perspective.]