LUMPENPROLETARIAT—[Wednesday, 3 MAR 2021, 02:34 PST] Greetings, readers. We have gathered here, again, to take the pulse of the nation in our daily meditations during Mr. Biden’s first 100 days in office. Today, is Day 43. We’re almost over the hump. But we already know this isn’t going to be a transformative FDR-like first 100 days. There will be no 21st Century New Deal nor MMT-based job guarantee program, despite Dr. Stephanie Kelton’s N.Y. Times bestseller teaching MMT to the world, especially the establishment, which has happily adapted to deficit spending, but to favor Wall Street and corporations, not the American working classes. A few bullet points, which come to mind:

• Mr. Biden is allowing Mr. Trump and his 47 million supporters to continue pursuing proto-fascism and undermining democratic process by not pursuing a case against the ongoing white supremacist domestic insurgency, which just held a national rally at CPAC
• Lillian House, 26, is facing 48 years in prison for working for police accountability in her community
• Mr. Biden has (illegally) bombed Syria, continuing US imperialism
• Mr. Biden has assured NATO allies at the Munich Summit, America is back, continuing US/NATO Imperialism
• Mr. Biden has abandoned his promise about $2K pandemic relief checks
• Mr. Biden has abandoned his promise about student debt relief
• Mr. Biden has continued US military occupation of Afghanistan
• Mr. Trump hinted at running for presidential office at CPAC, before an adoring crowd, after his failed coup attempt
• Various legal experts, political scientists, scholars, and others are ringing alarms about the clear and present danger of allowing Mr. Trump to act as a legitimate political candidate.
• At least one book has laid out a case that Mr. Trump has been compromised by the KGB and groomed as an asset for decades, including via his arranged marriages.
• Dr. Gary Null interviewed a doctor yesterday, who represents a growing movement of people raising serious concerns about the profit motives of our ‘state-orchestrated’ drug-dealing, or so-called vaccination program. But ‘flu shots’ are, technically, not vaccines, as seasonal viruses mutate and are, thus, impossible to eradicate via injections. (Seasonal ‘bugs’ are different from, say, polio.) The doctors also questioned the private entity known as the World Economic Forum, another Bill Gates project, which they emphasize is not a governmental institution. Critics are questioning the World Economic Forum’s role in pushing drugs, since drug companies are profiting from mass ‘vaccination‘ programs. World Economic Forum founding members, such as Bill Gates, have stakes in vaccine sales. The doctors are accusing Dr. Fauci and others of fraud, for using the PCR test, which was never meant to be a diagnostic test, to test for COVID-19.
• The medical requirement of informed consent is under assault by the creeping notion of mandated vaccinations and vaccine passports.
• Will COVID-19 close our open society? Will corporate vaccines be mandated to get a job? To attend a baseball game? To get a driver’s license? Are we heading toward a fascist future?
• Is this a pandemic, or a plandemic? COVID-19? Or COVID-1984?
• What is the Great Reset and why is the media world avoiding this question?
• The mainstream media, including NPR, Democracy Now!, and Pacifica Radio (generally), are still not framing the Siege of January 6th in DC as an inside job, as Media Roots, et al. have done.
• We empathize with the QAnon types, who were deceived and betrayed, and the Trump loyalists, who sincerely want to protect democracy, we just don’t quite understand them. We must admit, however, a number of the Trump loyalists have clearly embraced white nationalism and fascism. That means hate groups against people of color and others. We hope to dialogue further with them to build bridges of working class solidarity across ideological lines. As Fred Hampton emphasized, there is nothing more important than stopping fascism because, if we don’t, fascism will stop us all.
• As always, please find our daily, scrappy, semi-edited critical media notes at the bottom of this blog post, which we all use for future reference and future scholarship.

We are proletarians, workers; and we encourage development of class consciousness. The capitalist class, the owning and ruling classes, is organized and arrayed against the people. This is why wages have remained stagnant since the rise of Reaganomics and neoliberalism. So, we encourage working class solidarity across ideological lines to eradicate this oppression, which has kept wages stagnant as the cost of living has gone up, and which has allowed unemployment and underemployment to fester and worsen. We encourage international working class solidarity to liberate humanity.

We encourage readers to consider joining the struggle for freedom for people of color and all working class people suffering under the oppression of our current social relations. We encourage readers to question the legitimacy of a two-party political cartel, which blocks alternative political parties from ballot access via Top-Two Primary laws, gerrymandering, winner-take-all elections, Electoral College manipulations, voter suppression laws and practices, closed presidential debates, and so on. The system is rigged, Ralph Nader admitted long ago. He was the last serious contender to mount a third-party challenge to the American oligarchy. It’s a two-party dictatorship, he said. Indeed.

Alternative political parties have been, effectively, eliminated from the Super Bowl of politics—the presidential debates. Since the two-party dictatorship has hijacked the presidential election debates, and taken the platform away from the non-partisan League of Women Voters, now the two corporate parties have dysfunctional and meaningless crosstalking and gaslighting in all directions masquerading as presidential debates. Any sincere, half-informed leftist could, literally, walk on stage and win in a debate against any Democrat or Republican presidential candidate, which is likely why they block voices from the left.

But, worse than this, is how the media world has internalized this narrow two-party system narrative, where alternative political parties never even enter the discussion, which virtually guarantees we stay trapped in this polarizing and anti-democratic two-party system. So, perspectives from the left, which critique the Democrat Party are suppressed or censored by the liberal media, which people turn to for left-of-center perspectives, but too often are actually centrist or center-right perspectives. We recall that virtually all of the 2020 presidential candidates were in the upper right quadrant of a two-axis political compass model.

We must open up dialogue and debate across ideological lines. We encourage readers to continually question their reality within the rat race sphere of influence. We encourage each other, the working classes, to question our working class values. What are our American values?

What prevents the American working class from building unity? How is the American working class divided? How can we unite? What is class consciousness?

What are our American values?

Is racism an American value? Is police terrorism an American value? Is preservation of lower life expectancies for people of color an American value? Is keeping wages stagnant since the rise of Reagaonimics and neoliberalism an American value? Is poverty an American value? Is houselessness an American value? Is protecting the fossil fuel industry an American value, as scientists desperately warn us against human-induced climate crises? Is enacting forced medical procedures an American value?

America is slowly slipping into darkness. People have been driven indoors and discouraged from collective action and solidarity. But people are waking up, and speaking out, and taking action. People are clearing the fog, rejecting the gaslighting. Black Lives Matter represents, perhaps, the biggest social movement in U.S. history. Like Dr. King, we all have a dream. And, like Dr. King, we reject the three evils of society—racism, militarism, and materialism (i.e., capitalism).

Are you satisfied with the life you’re living?

How can you be telling me that you care? When, every time I look around, the people suffer in every way…

And, if you don’t care, how can you fault the suffering people for seeking self-care, or self-defense? We see the hate. We see the cruelty. We see the exploitation of wage slavery. Where is the love? Where is the humanity?

Every man got a right to decide his own destiny…

Where do you position yourself within this whole class warfare, dear reader, which is being waged by Wall Street and the American ruling class with this police state repression apparatus and surveillance capitalism arrayed against working class people? Do you perceive ruling class antagonisms?

Is the world classless and free? Perhaps, you are sheltered from the suffering of the American working class, the wage slaves, and others struggling to find a living wage in a sea of minimum wages and poverty wages. Perhaps, dear reader, you blame the individual for structural or societal phenomena. Remember, in the USA, the minimum wage is zero. It’s unemployment. It’s homelessness.

Our friends and family tell us: Yeah, you gotta eat shit at work. The boss is always evil. Or, even if the boss is alright, it’s the corporation… There’s a lot of corruption and lies and nepotism and patronage systems and narcissistic abuse at work. Hard work and growth is not always rewarded. But, hey, at least you have a job. Small businesses may be kinder, but they can hardly afford payroll.

So, life is good; and we live in a democracy. So, they say. If this is true, why does our expectation for a democratic society end when we enter a capitalist work environment? Why are we suddenly in a weird gaslighting environment when we work for a corporation? Everyone must drink the kool-aid, or risk displeasing management and their corporate culture. I’ve worked for various corporations in my lifetime. And I only recall one as not having been a toxic experience.

CellNet Data Systems was a wireless data device manufacturer headquartered in San Carlos, California in the 1990s. Thanks to PG&E’s monopolization of the energy industry, CellNet’s technology was suppressed until PG&E was able to duplicate the technology years later. CellNet ended up closing shop in San Carlos, thanks to PG&E. CellNet was bought out by Schlumberger; and a few people took new posts at a Schlumberger site in Georgia. CellNet had a progressive corporate culture. But that’s rare. And, often, they get eaten by bigger fish. And, besides, it was a capitalist non-union shop. It wasn’t a co-op. It wasn’t even union.

Please believe me; I am not a bitter man. (smiling) The written word does not always convey joviality without florid language. But, if we’re in an angry mood, we have a right to rant. Sometimes, you must exhale, like Alan Watts describes nirvana. Perhaps that’s why radio and podcasts and videos and livestreams are so powerful, affect, like TV and film. The human voice is instantly more revealing than the written word, and so much more intimate. It takes much more effort or skill to convey all the complexity of the human voice into written form, without dictation or stream of consciousness writing. And a utilitarian working class bloke doesn’t always have time to be poetic, even though prose is all we ever seem to have. All we have are stolen moments, which we steal away from the 24/7 pursuit of pecuniary prowess. (Now, ain’t that a shame. Trying to start a business during the Great Depression 3.0 isn’t easy; but it beats corporate and institutional abuse and gaslighting.) So, we appreciate your patience with our utilitarian wordsmithing.

@LumpenProles, 14:00 PST.

***

Notes from a working class left perspective…

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.

Wednesday, March 3, 2021

05:00 PST, WPFW > Democracy Now! > 05:26 PST, digital feed glitches out then goes blank.

05:00 PST, WBA & WPFW & KPFT > Democracy Now! > 11:28 PST, Bunny died Tuesday at 73. […] Cuomo corruption details. […] 05:44, Ron Kim, It’s time to impeach aandrrew Cuomo 0546 music break strings | 0550, Ms. Cisneros in Modesto, California, on COVID-19 response for California Central Valley farmworkers. Cornell Farmworker [TW]

0600 kpft rising up[TW] build back better. Infrastructure bill. | fbi decried ‘domestic terrorism.’

08:00 PST, > […] 08:08 PST, real talk. Dr. Gabrielle Foreman(sp?) on “the colored conventions” and the importance of transcribing the records and history of struggle, and also the struggles, generally, by black people for black freedom, which predates white abolitionists, such as William Lloyd Garrison(sp?), the Quakers, and the traditional textbook narrative of slavery abolition most of us were taught in school. [TW] ‘1830s to the 1890s’ ‘also important women’ Francis Harper’ ‘Maryanne Shad-Keary(sp?)’ She said KPFA, then “KPFW”, but said its important for independent media to share all this info. Not all can attend conferences. Indeed. […] ‘freedom from state violence” […] 08:52 PST, THIS IS A FUND DRIVE BROADCAST. PLEASE SUPPORT FREE SPEECH RADIO WPFW. PLEASE DONATE TODAY. > News with Askia Mohammed | re: the 6th, QAnon types look forward | Floyd murder case update |

09:00 PST, WPFW > music: contemporary blues. […] 09:01 PST,

09:00 PST, WBAI > The Gary Null Show(?) > […] 09:01 PST, board op bloke is fundraising. 09:02 PST, ‘We now transition into the program where Gary talks about the cookbook and the retreat.’ 09:03 PST, sounds like rebroadcast audio of apolitical speech from Dr. Null. Is this a censored Null? […] 09:06 PST, 99% certain this is a rebroadcast.

09:00 PST, KPFA > Democracy Now!(?) […] 09:20 PST, anti-Asian hate crimes and violence. ‘anti police terror network’ ‘A-Pink (California)’ ‘Kim Tran(sp?)’ | Up next, NY Governor Cuomo, corruption details.

09:00 PST, KPFK > The Tom Hartman Show > […] [TW] 09:26 PST, Tom Hartmann: Jenny Thomas, wife of Clarence Thomas had planned a woman’s rally, which became a riot. ‘I think we’re seeing the skeleton of the coup here. Am I missing something?’ […] ‘It’s our job to provide information, opinion, and context.’ Indeed. That resonates with us at Lumpenproletariat. “For a lot of us, this is mission.” ‘We are trying to save this country and make our local community better.’ Indeed, the struggle for freedom is our life’s mission. ‘Chris Miller was put there for that role.’ [TW] Compelling narrative of the 6th. Me, a brown listener, and this and previous caller (black-sounding), second Tom Hartmann’s summary. We must get all this together with Abby Martin at the Empire Files and Max Blumenthal at The Grayzone.

10:00 PST, LAP > 10:23 PST, guest just said, stagnant wages for 40 years has meant roughly $50T siphoned away from the working classes. Yet, the ruling class elites are loath to even dispense this $1T pandemic relief package, which is mostly going to the top income brackets.

11:00 PST,

11:00 PST, KPFA > Talkies > 1117 KPFA m Rosenberg nonviolent communication […] Marshall Rosenberg said a wise man claimed that the highest form of intelligence is observing without evaluating, or something to that effect. If observation without evaluation is the highest form of intelligence, then what is the purpose of observation? […] 11:34 PST, on feelings literacy, expanding our vocabulary of feelings. […] 11:36 PST, Pacifica Radio app glitch; audio feed went blank, again. […] Kris Welch just claimed that Marshall Rosenberg’snonviolent communication can be used at the macro level, even from “state to state.” Let’s try a thought experiment: Slave: Please stop enslaving me. Slavedriver: No. It seems to have failed. What are we missing? Or people of color to cops: Please stop killing us with impunity. Cops: Hell no. Once again, the method seems yo have failed. What would Huey P. Newton say about the notion that all we need is nonviolent communication, an interpersonal strategy, for dealing with structural issues, a non-personal issue. […] 11:54 PST, Kris Welch fundraising.

12:00 PST, KPFA > Against the Grain with Sasha Lilley | On the BBC. Interesting implications, as applied to the context of the struggles at KPFA and Pacifica between liberals (i.e., centrist saboteurs) and sincere grassroots activists.

13:00 KPFA > East Bay Yesterday > Black Panther history Oakland and Bay Area. [TW] It was good hearing original audio of descendants of the Black Panthers, as well as veterans. One part we didn’t appreciate was where violence enters the narrative. Some forms of toxic masculinity are blamed overall, in the final cut of the edit we hear narrated in today’s broadcast. We thought that was kinda bullshit because it reinforces the violent thug stereotyped historical narrative. Yet, the reality of police terrorism, harassment, infiltration, and sabotage, and so forth, none of the reality of harassment, police informant-perpetrated violence, and provocation by police. All of that always seems to be swept under the rug, as if the Second Amendment doesn’t exist. We saw a similar problem with the 2021 film, Judas and the Black Messiah.

14:00 PST, KPFA > Voices of the Middle East and North Africa (VOMENA) | [TW] Excellent interview about Macron’s administration in France, trying to be everything to everyone, ‘throwing red meat at all sides,’ like extreme identity politics, but somehow all the contradictions don’t explode everything.

14:00 PST, KPFT [HD2] > Sojourner Truth with Margaret Prescod | […] 14:20 PST, topic: Haiti, Mildred Aristide speaks on the struggle for freedom for black people and people of color around the world.

☆

Where do we go from here? 16 AUG 1967″ by Martin Luther King Jr – Topic, 11 FEB 2015.

Whoo! Our minds were blown away listening to this speech by Dr. King this afternoon. Please give it a listen.

Dr. King opened strongly, establishing a deep gravitas and sharing various recent economic and social wins, including various successful boycott campaigns targeting businesses, who discriminated against employing blacks; and winning jobs, meaning ‘millions of dollars of new income for black people’.

But, then, Dr. King reminded the audience, America still has a long way to go to achieve full freedom for black people, and all people of color, around the world. Dr. King asserted the need for “full employment” in the USA, and a job guarantee or a basic income guarantee (citing economist John Kenneth Galbraith, who was a canonized figure at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, heterodox economics department, where your author earned his degree in economics; cf. MMT; Dr. L. Randall Wray; Dr. Stephanie Kelton; Dr. Fred S. Lee; et al.).

One way or another, said Dr. King, the black man must have a basic income, whether through a job guarantee or a basic income. Citing Galbraith, Dr. King indicated it would cost a fraction of the U.S. military budget, which is spent fighting an evil war against the people of Vietnam.

Dr. King touched upon many issues in this speech, which addressed the theme, Where do we go from here? It was the summer of 1967. The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, a Black Power political organization had been founded by college students Bobby Seale (Chairman) and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, California. (cf. Waiting ’til the midnight hour : a narrative history of Black power in America by Joseph, Peniel E; cf. New day in Babylon
by William L. Van Deburg, 1992).

Dr. King spoke against younger, perhaps less patient, more militant groups. The Black Panthers come to mind, as we listen anew. The BPP had been active in the United States since 1966. At its inception on October 15, 1966, the Black Panther Party’s core practice was its open carry armed citizens’ patrols (“copwatching”) to monitor the behavior of officers of the Oakland Police Department and challenge police brutality in the city. (cf. “October 15, 1966: The Black Panther Party Is Founded” by Kreitner, The Nation, 15 OCT 2015.)

Did the Black Panther Party for Self Defense ever meet with Dr. King? We recall Malcolm X, properly known as el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz, had been assassinated on February 21, 1965. About a year and a half later, the BPP formed in Oakland, California with a far more vanguardist orientation. What influence did the Black Panther Party have on Dr. King, if any. We definitely hear Dr. King present strong arguments in favor of non-violent direct action, even going so far as to remind the audience that no internal revolution has ever succeeded without the sympathy of the military, citing the Cuban revolution as an example. Of course, we recall the failed coup by right-wing forces laying siege to state capitols around the nation on January 6th, particularly at the DC Capitol Building. We recall the military had publicly sent out a stand-down letter, essentially telling its forces to stay out of the conflicts of January 6th.

But, as Dr. King spoke in favor of non-violent direct action, he also seemed to forge a new revolutionary love. He spoke boldly about the need, not just for piecemeal reforms, but for revolutionary change, which can transform the whole of society, which truly reflects our values of humanism.

Dr. King even delivered a compelling philosophical take-down of Friedrich Nietsche’s Will to Power, or at least the way it’s been abused by white supremacists and white nationalists, at least as far back as the days of Nazi propaganda. And this interpretation of Nietzsche’s concept of the Will to Power has certainly colored American values, as expressed by the dominant Euroamerican culture.

(c. 54:00) Concluding remarks.

Dr. King spoke of how caring for others is seen as a weakness in this misinterpreted view of humanity. We are out of time for now, and are failing to summarize this philosophical point. We will definitely return to this theme, and this excellent speech in future. Cheers, all. Solidarity.

☆

18:00 PST,

☆

“Chris Hedges On the Bleak Future of the USA (Audio only) by Reflection of Passion, 11 JAN 2021.

☆

19:00 PST,

Thank you for reading Lumpenproletariat.org.  Also find us at Lumpen.org, for a short URL!  Solidarity.  All power to the people!  What’s the call?  Free ’em all!

***

[3 MAR 2021]

[Last modified on 3 MAR 2021 at 16:56 PST]