The Great America Robbery

Toys R Us went bankrupt today. I Heart Radio filed for Chapter 11. This is just another stage of what historians of the future (if there are any) might call The Great America Robbery.

Private equity firms - Bain Capital is one of them - have been taking out loans to buy control of many major retailers and other companies. Then they have their new acquisitions take out massive loans. The borrowed funds are used not only to pay off the loans that the equity companies took out to acquire the business - meaning that they effectively buy control of the business at the business’s expense - but the rest of the funds are taken by the equity company as profit.

The business is left with the debt, And even if it’s a profitable business (and they usually are, or they wouldn’t have been targeted in the first place) the debt they’ve been saddled with by the equity company is so huge that they simply cannot pay it off. So they go bankrupt.

Often the equity company still owns the real estate. So they’re left with massive profits and empty stores. You might think that they’d rent those stores out. But these are private equity companies. So they set the rent so high that NOBODY could possibly make a profit in those locations. And then they write them off as losses on their taxes.

The result? It's being called the Retail Apocalypse. More and more empty stores. Economic deserts, that can never be used for retail - and all at our expense. Deserts that will keep expanding, because the private equity companies just keep doing the same thing: taking out loans, buying companies, and destroying them. It won’t stop until there’s nothing left for them to take.

Or if the people wake up and stop them.

Q.E.D.

Facebook is LITERALLY owned by an oligarch. What makes anyone think that they'll be allowed to start a revolution there?

Shadow On The Land

In 1968 a TV movie was aired. It depicted a near-future America which had become a dictatorship. An underground of freedom fighters were depicted as terrorists by the media. The movie featured a false flag attack, and a new organization, the "Internal Security Forces" which acted as Federal secret police. Sound at all familiar?

That movie was never released on video or disc, and it was never remade. I searched for a decent copy for years, but all I could find was a 20th-generation copy that wasn't much more than patterned static. Someone posted a legible copy of the movie on YouTube recently. You may find it a bit prescient.You might also want to download a copy, because I wouldn't be surprised if it got taken down soon.

A modern remake would really be something, wouldn't it?

The Real Gun Problem

Right now people are in a frenzy over the recent school shootings. But that won't last.

You don't even need me to spell it out for you, do you? Something else will come up, and people will get distracted. There's only so long that you can maintain a state of outrage, after all. And there's always a new atrocity.

Then there will be another shooting, and it will all start over again. Some will advocate gun control, others will advocate arming teachers and students, people will talk about mental illness, and still others will come up with other approaches. But nothing will be done. The shootings will continue.

Here's the thing: These shootings don't occur in a vacuum. They're not isolated incidents. They are a symptom of a larger problem: a society that is having everything of value extracted by the oligarchy. A people who are isolated and afraid of each other, spending most of their lives looking at screens instead of interacting face-to-face with real human beings. The relentless squeezing of a nation to death.

The psychological pressure that is being put on Americans is deadly. Most just live lives of secret fear...but some are closer to the breaking point. In a sane, humane culture, they wouldn't be under such killing pressure. And there would be medical and psychological services available to them, to help them cope with their problems rather than be crushed under them.

But our leaders aren't interested in providing such services. So some of the people under pressure...snap. They make plans. They buy weapons (from which the oligarchy profits). They go on a killing spree. The people react with terror and anger, pulling away from each other (which benefits the oligarchs). The media swarms in, and again the oligarchy profits.

What's the common denominator? The oligarchy. The real problem isn't guns, although obviously there are many sensible restrictions that should be in place. It's not mental illness, either. Rather, it's that the oligarchy is creating the circumstances which inevitably lead to breakdowns FOR THEIR OWN PROFIT.

Both sides of the gun debate are being used.The reality is that the issue is one of profit and power. The elite makes money in many ways with guns and gun violence; first, they profit from the sale of arms. Second, they profit from the inevitable media frenzy when a mass shooting occurs. Third, they profit still more after a mass shooting, because renewed calls for gun control increase the sales of guns and ammunition.

Meanwhile, both political parties get increased fanaticism and devotion from their members; that benefits the oligarchs by increasing the general level of hatred by the rank and file of each side towards the other (and therefore, distracting them from the real beneficiaries of mass shootings: the oligarchy, of course). While people are screaming with hate at those on the other side of the issue, the elite quietly keep raking in money and consolidating their power. It's heads they win, tails we lose - over and over.

The solution is revolution. We need to join together and bring down the oligarchs. At this point, it's either them...or us.

A Proposal

Let's talk about what we can do about the current situation in America.

The oligarchs are squeezing the working class out of everything we have. There's no stopping point. They seem to believe that they can continue to take and take forever, and we'll just keep taking it. They're sure that we'll accept that fate passively. They think of us as cattle, domesticated animals whose only purpose is to passively wait for them to slaughter us. They expect us to quietly disappear from human history like the Neanderthal.

I think they're wrong. I believe that when the suffering gets bad enough, the people will wake up - and the Revolution will begin.

Strangely enough, the election of Donald Trump is one strong indicator that I'm right. And it's actually a hopeful sign for us! In 2016 the people were cheated out of their real choice. We were offered a choice between the corrupt status quo - Hillary - and a supposed agent of change, Trump.

The people chose Trump. He wasn't what they hoped, but he was ELECTED as an agent of change. That's what he ran as. And that means that a huge number of Americans are getting fed up. They're suffering. They're angry. Which means that our nation is moving inevitably toward revolution. You can only screw the People for so long, after all.

We can't know when it will come. What the breaking point will be. But when it comes, it's going to come FAST. And we need to be ready. Which means that we need to start preparing now.

Both DemEnter and third parties have failed. For DemEnter, progressives have been trying that for decades; it has never worked. The Democratic Party is a private entity, and as such it can make, change, or break its rules as it wishes. They've made it clear that they can and will cheat as much as they like to keep progressives out of power. And the courts are apparently powerless to stop them. As for third parties, the two major parties have locked the system down completely against any success by a third party. Even if a third party became extremely popular, the duopoly control our black-box voting machines - and again, there is every reason to believe that they have already used that power ruthlessly to maintain their positions. They will again, if they need to.

We need a new approach. Since traditional political avenues for change are closed to us, we need to go outside the usual paths altogether.

Recent history indicates that what the oligarchs seem to fear the most is direct personal interaction among the people. The Occupy movement terrified them, enough that they were willing to let the mask slip and show the iron fist beneath the velvet glove. They crushed Occupy all across the country in coordinated strikes, all within a week or two. At the same time that movement was, for a while, very effective. Ordinary Americans were beginning to get involved, which is exactly what the oligarchs dread.

We also need to consider the current social and economic environment. People are under enormous pressure, more than most of them have ever experienced before. At the same time, more and more people are living lives of terrible isolation. We evolved as social animals, spending much of the time interacting with family and neighbors on a daily basis - but our end-stage capitalistic society has replaced that human interaction with digital media, easier to monetize, monitor, and control. We spend our time staring at pixels on a screen (like you're doing right now). That's simply not an adequate replacement for the real, living, human interaction that we are emotionally and biologically evolved to require.

People are scared, broke, lonely, and angry. That's what the oligarchs want; it keeps us distracted and weak. And that offers US a huge window of opportunity.

Here's the situation:

The major political parties have sold out, heart and soul, to the oligarchs. They are in direct opposition to the concept of democracy and the common good. As such they are obstacles which must be brought down, not avenues for reform.

The media is likewise almost entirely owned by the oligarchy, and is effectively in thrall. Again, this is a matter of enormous amounts of money - money that we can't match.

The internet is not yet completely locked down. The oligarchs and politicians (their servants) are doing what they can to control the net, but the net was designed to survive nuclear attack - so the process is taking longer than they'd like. We have some time, I hope. But the net is still vulnerable to monitoring and control, particularly on social media sites. I would also argue that any effective movement cannot depend primarily on the internet, as it is insecure, monitored, and under the ultimate control of the oligarchy. If it comes down to a matter of their survival, they'll pull the plug - if they can.

On social media sites (particularly Facebook), progressives are also subject to near-constant harassment by trolls and the "useful idiots" who swim in their wake. There's a reason for that; the oligarchy recognizes that the web is a potential source of danger to them. They saw what happened when populations overseas suddenly woke up and overthrew tyrannical regimes. They're throwing millions into paying trolls to keep us helpless and disorganized. David Brock's ShareBlue, of course, is a prime beneficiary of those millions.

They're also frantically creating false "progressive" groups to divert, divide, and confuse us. Justice Democrats, Brand New Congress, Our Revolution...new ones appear all the time. You can recognize them by their sleek and pre-packaged quality (although I wouldn't be surprised to eventually see some deliberate "amateur" ones). And they're not neglecting older fronts, such as DailyKos, The Young Turks, and MoveOn! All of them have been bankrolled, subverted, or purchased by the oligarchs, and are in their service. They oppose the people.

The power of the oligarchs is money and corruption. They've leveraged that brilliantly. Every potential defender of the public interest has been bought out or corrupted: journalists, politicians, reform groups, identity groups, celebrities. They're all owned, now. Every branch of government has been purchased. We the people are being rendered for our fat, reduced to a state of learned helplessness, kept in chains of fear and debt. We are slated for the slaughterhouse by an elite that views us as nothing more than a resource.

Our power is numbers, although far too many of us fail to realize it. If a substantial percentage of the population wakes up, the oligarchs will face a reckoning. They know this. So keeping us asleep is their primary goal. And since online progressive groups have a relatively high number of "awake" members, they are subjected to near-constant attack by trolls. They're a potential nexus of danger to the elite.

Let's work to make their fears real.

I propose that we set up local face-to-face groups. This could be done via Meetup, local bulletin boards, fraternal organizations, informal groups of friends, houses of worship, clubs...there are all sorts of options, and there's no reason to limit ourselves to just one. The immediate purpose of these groups would be to help members to help each other by pooling knowledge, resources, and skills. They also need to be FUN. People these days are under pressure; they're scared and isolated. Our world has warped to the point that for many, interacting for more than a minute with other human beings (outside of immediate family) face-to-face is unusual. A basic human need is going unmet.

Clubs (call them what you will - Secret Parties, maybe?) that offer social interaction, mutual support, friendship, and fun could take off like wildfire. These organizations wouldn't be cookie-cutter or monolithic; each would be independent and self-run. But they would network. Potentially they could network across the world and be the seeds of a worldwide movement, because that's what we need.

These would not be overtly political groups. They would pool resources for various purposes, but they would not support any candidate or party (although individual members could choose to do so, of course). Rather, the underlying purpose of the groups would be to spread awareness, help more Americans to wake up, and to prepare.

In the meantime members can help each other in many ways:

• Parties
• Helping unemployed members find jobs
• Group outings to fun places and events
• Find ways to save money
• Sharing tips
• Research and sharing information
• Helping each other with transportation, babysitting, elder care
• Preparing for emergencies and times of instability to come
• Someone to talk to, a friendly ear
• Other? I'm sure there are many possibilities that I haven't considered!

We're social animals. The oligarchs took that away from us over the past forty years. These groups could help fulfill that basic human need...and help save the human race at the same time.

The oligarchs are continuing to turn the screws on the populace, relentlessly. They believe that there is no limit to the amount of suffering that the working class will endure. We're cattle, beaten, terrified, and propagandized into submission.

I think they're wrong. In fact, the insatiable greed of the elite is, paradoxically enough, our best chance.

If we were as hopeless as they believe, Hillary would have won. The election of Trump showed that people are suffering, and they aren't willing to accept the status quo - and as things continue to get worse, more and more will feel that way. There's a limit to how much people can suffer and lose. Eventually, the population flares into rage. They revolt. It has happened here before, and it can happen again. It happens all around the world.

We can't expect to control exactly when the people wake up. But we can prepare for that day, and pave the way for it. And when the time comes, we'll be there - to help, to try to guide, and to win freedom and equality for all of us. A better future. The one we've all been hoping for.

Thoughts?

Something Easy YOU Can Do About The Election

[I first wrote and published this piece on December 4th, 2000 on several progressive and Democratic websites. It was probably the most popular political article I ever wrote. It certainly received the most responses - and those responses gave me a valuable lesson on the practicality of reforming the Democratic Party from within. I've removed the links to the Democratic Party.]

Mon, 04 Dec 2000

American? Liberal? Mad about the Bush junta's coup d'etat? There's something very easy and effective that you can do about it:

Go to [Democratic Party link] and sign up online to be a volunteer for the Democratic Party. They're looking for online activists, and if you're willing to spend some time being non-virtual they'll also steer you to your local party headquarters. Bring your friends!

Some progressives have been saying that there's no point - that the Democrats won't fight hard enough, or aren't liberal enough, or are just overmatched by a mass media that's grossly slanted towards the interests of the rich and powerful.

But if even a small fraction of us volunteered and got active, we could change all that OVERNIGHT. Want to improve the Democratic Party? Join it, and change it from the inside! Otherwise, you're free to complain about your lack of representation until the cows come home - or until the Bush junta and the Christian Coalition take away your right to complain.

If Bush wins this thing, a lot of us are going to be depressed, angry, and afraid. But if enough of us click on the Democratic link and follow through, it'll be the GOP that's in fear! It's all up to you. And it couldn't be any easier. Just point, and click.

[Link redacted]

Pass it on!

Me again, writing in 2003. I thought you might like to hear what the response was to the previous two articles, which were, of course, far less silly than my usual stuff. I actually got a lot of responses - I was quite surprised. I was also surprised, and eventually horrified, to hear what happened to every single person who tried to volunteer: they were told to leave their names and addresses so that they could be asked for funds later, but flat-out told that there was nothing they could do. Some even went in person to their local Democratic headquarters, and were asked for money and then shown the door. The Democratic Party leadership squandered the perfect opportunity to build a nationwide network of passionate, committed activists, a network which could have grown and built all sorts of connections over the following years.

The Republicans have the advantage of money. They always will. The advantage that the Democrats have is people. There are more Democrats than Republicans, and of the unaffiliated population, the majority support traditional Democratic policies, not Republican ones. And yet the Democrats threw it all away. Why? I don't know.

I find it interesting that Howard Dean is now having a huge amount of success by building a network similar to what I urged the Democrats to build four years ago. And yet the Democratic party leadership apparently views Dean as a threat. I'm not a Dean supporter, but I find this all very disturbing.

2017 - And so attempts to #DemEnter in 2000 proved that the Democratic Party apparatus was firmly under the control of the party elite - and they simply wouldn't allow progressives in the door. In the 17 years since they have, if anything, become even more hostile to progressives. And Howard Dean, of course, sold us out.

So why do we need to learn that lesson again?

A CALL TO ARMS

I wrote this article on November 15th, 2000. I posted it on several progressive sites at the time, and it received some positive feedback.  It seems even more relevant now, particularly in the face of the #DemEnter groups that have been popping up lately.


Thu, 16 Nov 2000
 
It's 9AM on the morning of Wednesday November 15th, and at this moment we don't really know who will be the next President. Perhaps George W. Bush's friend and campaign co-chairwoman will manage to block the hand-counts in Florida, and win the Presidency for her man. Or maybe the Florida Supreme Court will require that all votes be properly counted, quite possibly giving a victory for Al Gore. Right now, we just don't know.

But it doesn't matter.

Don't worry, I'm not going Nader on you. Who wins this election does matter, matters a lot - and there's a huge difference between Bush and Gore. Should Bush win, this country's headed for very dark times. Remember Reagan? Remember how the reality was so much WORSE than we feared?

But no matter who wins -- Bush OR Gore - it's time for progressives across the country to stop bickering, stop wasting their energy in solo endeavors, and QUIT FUCKING AROUND.

That's right. There are a hell of a lot of people - I could name ten that I know in the real world without straining even slightly - who are passionate in their belief that the GOP right wing is a threat to every basic American value. They hate what's been done to this country, and desperately want to help to take it back from the hate and lies that have been rising in every state for twenty years.

But even though they all talk about it amongst themselves, even though some of them subscribe to liberal magazines and have contacted their local Democratic party, not one of them - NOT ONE - had ever been contacted by the Democrats other than for money. Not one of them has ever been given the chance by ANY organization to do anything other than maybe ring doorbells and make phone calls -- and that damned rarely.

These are intelligent, compassionate, motivated people. They're a huge potential force for good out there, and they're being completely wasted. No matter who wins the Presidency, it's time to do something about that. These voices need to be heard.

The same is even more true of the online liberal community. In fact, it's hardly a community at all; just thousands upon thousands of isolated individuals, all with strong feelings and much to say, but no way to ACT to promote their beliefs. Sometimes we come across each other in a random chat room or forum, and many read Bartcop and laugh, or Online Journal and get angry...but it's just not enough. Laughing and raging mean nothing if you don't DO something about the problem. And that's exactly what we need: a way to get together and fight back.

Put a hundred isolated individuals up against an army of 50 who've been trained to work and fight together, and the army will win every time. That's the modern political situation; conservatives are organized, active, working together to spread their daily talking points and media spin. They recruit others who feel as they do, and propagandize to convert as many people as possible. Since almost all mainstream media (including so-called 'public' media) are heavily conservative and pro-wealth, they have a lot of fertile ground to work with: uneducated and misinformed human minds.

We desperately need an organization of liberals, by liberals, for liberals, to fight for what WE believe. And the web is the place to start it. Once it's begun web progressives, organized and active, can reach out to liberals who aren't online - bypassing a mainstream media that is deeply under the influence of money and power.

I'm no expert. I guarantee you that there are a lot of people out there with better ideas than mine, and I'm hoping to hear lots of them. But at the least we need an organization to:

• Help liberals to locate each other in their districts
• Supply useful plans of action for small local groups, both for mobilizing
  others and for getting media attention
• Recruit online and offline liberals into effective working groups
• Train investigators to use the Freedom of Information Act and other techniques to acquire, analyze, and PUBLICIZE information about GOP and corporate corruption - as well as the personal lives of prominent individuals. It's long past time to take the gloves off. Larry Flynt is just one man in a wheelchair, and he's been forced to go it alone for WAY too long.
• Enable ordinary liberals to chip in a small amount - say $5 a month - by
  credit card to support group activities (but no donation of funds should be
  accepted without a personal commitment to action, as well)
• Organize national campaigns: media, political, educational, and other.

Much of this should have been done by the Democratic party, of course, but hasn't been. Since the official Democratic party doesn't seem able to help itself (at least not enough to make the difference), it's up to liberals to help it - and ourselves.

So what's the next step? What do we do to get an organization going? I'm not the one to say - I mostly write jokes. But I'm hoping that some smart person or persons out there will come up with some ideas. In the meantime, I'm sending this off to every online liberal organization and writer I can find. If you know any others, please pass this around, or write up your own ideas. And feel free to clean up the dirty words if necessary. :)

"If we don't hang together, we will surely all hang separately". The events of recent days have proven that this is more true than ever. No matter who wins the election, it's time for us to start taking the battle to the other side. And kick some ass.

If we don't, we can kiss the future goodbye.