Tag: #elections

You Dirty Commies!

jamie

They want you to be afraid of Socialism and Communism because they would hurt the 1%. The ones who make the rules. Our owners, as George Carlin would say. Because the answer is simple. They would have to give up some of their wealth to make the system more fair.

They pulled a switch on us.
They took our legit fear of certain autocratic Communist and Socialist regimes, and turned it into a fear of communism and socialism. The Cold war fears of Russia, China, and Cuba, thanks to the valid threat of nuclear annihilation, became a fear of Communism and Socialism.

They told us to be afraid of corrupt autocratic governments that took away the rights of their citizens, who might lob nukes at us. They used those fears to make us afraid of the economic theories that attempt to redistribute wealth more evenly, and make things better for the common folks. Why?
For One Reason:
To protect their wealth, power and control.

But it’s not the appropriate-ism that was ever the problem with China or Russia. It was the autocratic part. The corruption. Because corrupt autocrats seek to limit freedoms and take away rights.

And the nukes. Don’t forget the nukes. We now know that Communists ALL want to nuke everything good.

Socialism and communism are actually about social justice. They are about ensuring basic needs for people as human rights. They are about freedom from hunger and disease. Equitable distribution of wealth and goods. For all people, not just the ones who can afford it. Nothing to fear from, unless you have WAY too much and you’re worried someone will take it away and give it to someone in need.

You could actually make a better case that Capitalism is humanity’s grand problem, because of the inherent inequality and exploitation. Greed without controls or conscience is a recipe for mass cruelty. Capitalism is out of control in America, and Congress is complicit.

They want you to be afraid of Socialism and Communism because they would hurt the 1%. The ones who make the rules. Our owners, as George Carlin would say. Because the answer is simple. They would have to give up some of their wealth to make the system more fair. And THEY are the insatiable rich, who thirst for more no matter how much they already have. Gluttony. Greed. Capitalism. All one in the same thing.

Democratic Socialism is just capitalism with a conscience. Let the rich get rich. AFTER the rest of us are out of poverty. AFTER everyone can see a doctor and not worry about the bill. The important things that everyone needs must be a available to all. Owned by all. Not profit centers for the rich and shameless.
You can still make a killing selling people shit they don’t need…after we guarantee that everyone has the shit they DO need. Science says if you end poverty, crime is virtually non-existent, while productivity and knowledge increase…along with happiness.

Increased happiness goes a long way to solving social problems of all sorts. From shoplifting to school shooters. Happy people with their needs met (physical and psychological) don’t do that shit.

Yes, this is the picture I chose. #selfie

Authors Note: All opinions expressed here are just that: opinions. If you don’t like mine, I probably won’t like yours either. Let’s just nod, and walk away. Maybe come back with solutions instead of opinions. Because of the two, only solutions actually matter.

It’s Not About Abortion…

jamie

Dear Christian Friends,
There’s a lot more to it than abortion. Nobody wants to have one of those anyway. It’s really about Christian values. It’s a WWJD question.

Should you vote for the party that wants to feed the poor, heal the sick, and welcome the immigrant? Who accept all people as equal, regardless of religion or gender or skin tones?

Or should you choose the ‘Good Guys’, the one’s in Red Hats, who think they have the right to force their ‘Christian’ beliefs upon all American women? Upon the rest of secular America. It’s not the Beliefs, it’s the forcing. Don’t let them lie to you: Christians aren’t hated for what they believe. It’s more what they DO in “God’s Name” that pisses people off.

At some point, you gotta ask yourself honestly: How would you like it if someone forced YOU to join the Satanic Temple? Or if they changed The Pledge to “One Nation, Under Allah” and forced you to say it. Or put “In Beelzebub We Trust” on the Greenback? Putting 666 on every bill, coin or credit card?

Because if you allow them to do it in Jesus name, they could do it in Lucifer’s in 2028, right? We’d all be much better off, by the way, because the Satanic Temple would allow us freedom to worship as (or IF) we please. #FirstAmendmentRights are important, right?

But finally, it’s your choice to make. Decide wisely, while you still have a choice. Re-read that last Book in your Bible (before they censor IT…again) and maybe seek God’s advice, if you STILL have doubts. You don’t need me to tell you what it says about…well, you know. #AwakeNotWoke

Protest for Women’s Rights
WWJD?

Did George Washington Predict Today’s Partisan Divide?

jamie

Looks like we’ve completely forgotten our first president’s warning against the corruptive power of political parties…

“They [political parties] are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people, and to usurp for themselves the reins of government”

~President George Washington

It took the power of the Internet to push our government to the brink and back, but here we are. Partisan polarization is entrenched, supported by legalized bribery (aka lobbying) and corporate meddling. Our politicians have become an elite ruling class that routinely ignores the will of the People.

The solution is pretty simple:

  • Publicly funded elections. No campaign donations allowed. NONE. Free and equal airtime given to ALL verified candidates, regardless of party affiliation…not just Democrats and Republicans. Issues, not party affiliation should matter again. The number of votes should decide elections, not the number of dollars spent to manipulate our opinions.
  • Term Limits. No one should serve in Congress forever. If our elected officials service is temporary, they can properly focus on making progress, rather than getting reelected.
  • Get rid of the filibuster. Give us true democracy, rather than oligarchy. Americans deserve a popular vote for President and majority rule in the Senate. Independent and Other Party candidates should not be discriminated against by a system that seeks to perpetuate the ‘Two Party tradition’.
  • Truth, Transparency, and Ethics. Politicians must be ethically above reproach, and should not be profiting on their votes. Bills should be simple, readable and single purposed, not 1000s of pages of unrelated legislation. CSPAN should broadcast EVERYTHING and the People should get to vote on the bills too. Then the popular votes can be compared to how our politicians voted. If they vote against us too often, make recall and replacement easy.

Of course it’s complicated. Nothing is just a simple answer. But…These are things that would make a BIG difference, but our politicians will NEVER consider because it upsets the status quo…and things are pretty fucking good for THEM just the way things are. Trouble is, they aren’t so great for all of US. It’s time for drastic changes, folks. Before it’s too late.

Authors Note: All opinions expressed here are just that: opinions. If you don’t like mine, I probably won’t like yours either. Let’s just nod, and walk away. Maybe come back with solutions instead of opinions. Because of the two, only solutions actually matter.

Politics Sucks

jamie

It’s just another election. Another chance to vote for someone you don’t know or care about, and hope they care about you, even though you know they don’t care about you. Two parties with one goal: to keep us regular people from wanting more.

The more we want, the less they can take. They make promises, but things move very slowly in government, and especially at the Federal level, change comes slowly. It can be frustrating. I’ve been expecting cannabis legalization ‘soon’ since 1980. Maybe it will happen this decade. Frustrating.

But I believe this election is different. They’ve taken away just about all they can take, from as many people as they could, and now they are coming for our democracy. Now they want the power to decide who wins the election without regard for our actual votes. They want the power to override the choices of the people, because their own choices are so unpopular that forcing them upon us is the only way.

It may be the one party that’s pushing for a more authoritarian America than the other right now, but in truth it’s the system that allowed it to get THIS bad. Our elections have become about money and manipulation, not issues that most people care about. Re-election and party loyalty have become more important than American progress and the Constitution.

Our government has lost it’s way. Once the greatest democratic experiment in the World, American politics has descended into a system of corporate rule, where the number of dollars is more important than the number of votes. Two party rule means we get to vote for two sides of the same old shit, and lack of term limits and ethics standards means it can be very profitable to be a lifetime politician.

We get to choose which politicians work for the corporate overlords, instead of public servants who work for US. Our government is run by an elite ruling class, rather than everyday Americans in service to make America better for All.

The Founders would cringe at the horror that we’ve wrought from their precious framework. But they also gave us the power to fix it…IF we choose to use it. IF we decide to reform our corrupt system, and refuse to allow our vote to become completely meaningless. Before the corrupt political elite make sure that we can’t.

I will vote tomorrow, and I’m voting BLUE because there are too many MAGA election deniers running on Team Red, and democracy is just too fucking important to fuck around.

#Vote #Election2022 #VoteBlue #Independent

Authors Note: All opinions expressed here are just that: opinions. If you don’t like mine, I probably won’t like yours either. Let’s just nod, and walk away. Maybe come back with solutions instead of opinions. Because of the two, only solutions actually matter.

Close To The Edge

jamie

America is on the edge. Many of the freedoms and the progress we’ve made toward civil rights are on the verge of being eliminated.

I’m not trying to scare anybody, but the time for business as usual is over. Thanks to greed, lies and partisan politics, the Rights of Americans have been abused and degraded. Police shoot at unarmed citizens because they are afraid. That should tell you something about the climate on the streets of America…if you’ve been living in a box and haven’t seen it for yourself already. Violence is everywhere. The System is Failing. Shit is breaking down, and things may get ugly.

It’s actually good news, if you can look past the painful present into a better, more equitable future for All. But the truth is, things usually have to break really badly, before they get fixed in America. Slightly broken just won’t do in the USA.

The bad news is that first, people will get hurt. Innocent people, who did nothing except try to live their lives. The assholes of the world will get a little richer and more powerful, and some people will die. Acceptable losses they’ll say. I don’t agree.

At some point though, people will get sick of the same old rich people fucking over everyone else. People will reach their breaking point, and demand better, and I think we’re very close to that precipice. But in America, things have to get REALLY BAD before that happens. Unless it affects people directly, let’s face it: We Americans just don’t give a fuck.

I know. Some of us do. If you’ve read this far, you probably do. I know I do. But so many intelligent, kind, and generous Americans avoid politics completely. Because by and large, American politics is a disgusting abuse of the public trust, legalized bribery at the highest levels, leaving the average voter relegated to just a number to be manipulated, based on race, religion and zip code. I get it, and I don’t blame them for not wanting to dirty their hands.

But we’ve ALL consented to being treated this way, either tacitly by not voting, or actively by voting, but not demanding better choices. They get away with it because we let them. They will keep taking, abusing our trust, until our vote means less than nothing, if we let them.

Here’s why: Government shouldn’t be done by career politicians, a privileged class of elite liars, skilled in wordcraft (most of them). It should be volunteers, who serve their country briefly, and then return to private life. Doctors. Teachers. Sanitation engineers. Artists. Secretaries. Bartenders. People who know about living in America and who want to make the best choices for Americans.

But more importantly, government should serve the people. All the people. Not just the ones who can afford to influence the politicians with their ‘donations’.

That can only happen if the millions of smart, caring, non-voting citizens, decide to get involved in ‘politics’, and use their voices…and their votes…to demand better.

Demand term limits
Demand money out of politics
Demand demilitarized police
Demand equal rights
Demand an end to the corporate oligarchy
Demand better choices
Demand transparency
Demand Truth
Demand Democracy

Get informed. Get involved.
Vote. November 8th.
Do it. Just fucking do it.
We can be part of a bigger solution, not the same shit different day DC dog and pony show they think is fooling us. We’re not idiots.

Authors Note: All opinions expressed here are just that: opinions. If you don’t like mine, I probably won’t like yours either. Let’s just nod, and walk away. Maybe come back with solutions instead of opinions. Because of the two, only solutions actually matter.

Democracy Matters.

jamie

They say your vote matters. This year it really may. Across the country, election deniers are running for offices that can affect the outcome of future elections. If they are elected, they could change the results of elections, despite the will of the voters. It’s clear they are willing to lie and to cheat in order to win, because they know that their policies are so unpopular they couldn’t win any other way. It’s a disgrace to America.

Look. You and I both know it. The American political system is fully corrupt. Lobbying is legalized bribery. The GOP may be the first party to have abused it to the point of absolute lawlessness, based on lies about the election. But for years, both parties have conspired together to exploit and manipulate The People.

Our economy is essentially a ‘caste system’ that allows the elite to profit no matter what, while the average American gets a smaller and smaller piece of the pie. They tell you anyone can make it, but only a few actually do. Corporation shareholder meetings and the Federal Reserve Bank decide our futures, not our votes.

Yet so many of us just accept the shitty system, as our future grows bleaker. So many folks don’t even bother to vote. Nothing changes until The People Demand Change. Peacefully. Sans insurrection.

We need to do a LOT to fix our political system. But, without fair elections, we won’t be able to do anything, and all of us but the wealthiest will be completely voiceless about our futures.

Register. Vote. November 8th, 2022. If you’re not sure who to choose, vote Democrat. Democrats at least will let you choose your shitty future from your shitty choices.