LUMPENPROLETARIAT—[Monday, 8 MAR 2021] The Robruken Podcast has invited us back again. We discussed various salient events and developments in the worlds of politics and society.

We began with a clip from one of our favorite YouTube channels, Academy of Ideas:

“All one’s neighbors are in the grip of some uncontrolled and uncontrollable fear. In lunatic asylums, it is a well known fact that patients are far more dangerous when suffering from fear than when moved by rage or hatred.

“According to the psychologist Carl Jung, the greatest threat to civilization lies not with the forces of nature, nor with any physical disease, but with our inability to deal with the forces of our own psyche. We are our own worst enemies. Or, as the Latin proverb puts it, man is a wolf to man.

“In civilization in transition, Jung states that this proverb is a sad, yet eternal truism. And our wolf-like tendency comes most prominently into play at those times of history when mental illness becomes the norm, rather than the exception in a society, a situation, which Jung termed a psychic epidemic.

“Indeed, it is becoming ever more obvious, he writes, that it is not famine, not earthquakes, not microbes, not cancer, but man, himself, who is man’s greatest danger to man, for the simple reason that there is no adequate protection against psychic epidemics, which are infinitely more devastating than the worst of natural catastrophes.”

A housekeeping note: As noted in this podcast, we’re a bit embarrassed by our previous appearance on the Robruken Podcast because of my inability to articulate what I had intended. Also, I made off-color remarks, which I later regretted. To be clear, we love combat sports, martial arts, and practicing self-defense skills. But we are non-violent. It is the discipline of mind and body, which we seek, not gratuitous violence.

Getting to a point of mastering non-violent communication, however, is something which will require a degree of cognitive transformation, but which we’re endeavoring to learn and practice in the traditions of the Venerable Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr; Pema Chödrön; Marshall Rosenberg; Dr. George Simon; Meredith Miller (Inner Integration); et al.

We are eternally grateful to Pacifica Radio’s Kris Welch for having exposed us to Thay and Pema over the years. Perhaps, no other voices have struck such powerful chords deep within our soul and psyche as the voice of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and, especially, the voice of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. The thing about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is that he is one of my earliest memories of any public speaker. And I have admired his Dream, our Dream, since I was a wee laddy. But, sadly, we needed the rage of Malcolm to wake us, the folk, up. (Personally, I had internalized the racism beaming at me day and night since birth, courtesy of American white supremacist ideology and unwitting narcissistic abuse at home. So, we meditate for peace and justice.)

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We only hope to improve our abilities to communicate, especially as feedback comes in and opens our eyes to what we may have been missing.

I suppose I was a bit cavalier about certain things. I’m doing my best to be respectful, even to those I vehemently disagree with. We must overcome fear in order to speak freely and sincerely, and calmly. We aspire to follow in the Kingian tradition of militant non-violent direct action for justice. We do this because we care about our nation and our planet and humanity and want to contribute to making life more wonderful for others, making our nation healthier to itself and to others, causing less harm to its own people and to others. To us, this is the true definition of a patriot, someone who works to make the nation better, rather than simply engaging in nationalism or jingoism.

This is why we study the body of work left to us by Dr. King, as well as Malcolm X, and others. As people of color, we seek freedom, including freedom from state violence. As people of color, our life experiences have been different from those of other Americans. And this is why we may hold different views. So, we ask for understanding as to why we may see things differently from time to time.

@LumpenProles, updated on 11 MAR 2021 at 07:38 PST

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ROBRUKEN PODCAST—[Monday, 8 MAR 2021] Welcome to the Robruken Podcast. Today, I’m joined with Mr. Lumpen Proles from Lumpenproletariat.org. We discussed the psychic epidemic that is the Trump hysteria, which continues its hold on the Republican Party of the United States of America.

Also, we discussed the beginning of the Biden administration and America’s return to perpetual warfare, as Trump’s administration was more focused on domestic issues and control over it’s subjects.

This episode was recorded on February 28th, 2021.

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Our music may be violent; we are not.

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[10 MAR 2021]

[Last modified on 13 MAR 2021 at 06:03 PST]