Looking at reality

What amazes me is that both Democrats and Republicans are united in ignoring the climate cliff that we're headed for. Oh, the Democrats pretend to "listen to the science", but Joe Biden has repeatedly said that he will not ban fracking - and has already shown that the fossil fuel industry will be heavily represented in his administration, while progressives and environmentalists will be completely frozen out.

 

Here's the thing. Climate change will pass the point of no return by the end of 2027 - and that's if we're lucky. So far every time new data has come in, the amount of time we have left has gotten shorter. And once we pass that point of no return, human civilization is doomed. The oligarchs retire to their luxury underground bunkers in New Zealand, and end up eating each other within 5 years - because let's face it, they won't survive on a dying planet without millions of slaves to support them. The rest of us will end up living briefly and dying in a post-apocalyptic world.

 

Maybe you think that's bullshit. That's your privilege, although if you have kids or grandkids they might disagree. But you owe it to them - and to all the children of the world - to take a hard look at the data. It's freely available on the Climate Clock.

 

There's no time left for political games. We have seven years at most. The only option if we want to survive is revolution. Now, that's not up to any one of us. But the elite have been creating the conditions which make revolution almost inevitable. Cops killing people with impunity. Congress serving the interests of the oligarchy exclusively. Covid-19 being completely botched while BOTH parties refuse to consider universal health care. Millions of Americans unemployed (and even more underemployed) while unemployment benefits expire. Topping things off, tens of millions of Americans will be evicted in the next several months - and again, neither the Democrats nor the Republicans will do a damned thing to stop that from happening.

 

Tens of millions of desperate, starving American families in the streets. In winter. What the hell can we expect but revolution?

 

So get ready. Network with neighbors. Be ready for the mass protests and the general strikes. Stock up on essentials. Learn basic first aid, and get enough supplies to help others. Look up protest techniques and equipment. Because either the revolution is coming...or hell on earth.

Facebook Recidivism

 I'm back in Facebook jail. This is my fourth time; I'd gone for years without any trouble, but in the last few months I've been suspended four times.

What was my offense?

Criticizing Bernie Sanders for selling out the progressive movement.

Now, the funny thing is that I've used almost the exact same words to criticize him on Facebook before with no pushback whatsoever from FB. I can only speculate as to the change in FB's response. My guess is that either I have a stalker (not impossible, it has happened before) who is reporting every controversial comment I post, or else Facebook has escalated their censorship standards. It's also possible that I'm on Facebook's watchlist, of course.

In any case, it reminds me of the old Soviet censorship that we used to hear about. It seems that we need to develop a samizdat network of our own; a way to be able to communicate without having Mark Zuckerberg's clammy hands clamped over our digital mouths.

The problem, of course, is that the three major social networks (Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter) are all subject to rigorous censorship by the oligarchy. Smaller ones aren't, but that's because their user base is so small that you might as well write your post on a piece of paper and flush it down the toilet. The oligarchy is perfectly happy to have us waste our time talking to nobody; it's only when we might rile up the sheep (as they see them) that they have their sheepdogs take us down.

It's a problem.

In the meantime, I've been posting on a very small new site called Leftbook.us. It desperately needs more users, but given that Facebook has been flat-out purging leftist groups there (and some libertarian/right groups, too), Leftbook seems like a good option. It's not a place to reach the unaffiliated, but it could be a good place to meet other leftists and organize - which is something that the oligarchs have spent a LOT of money to discourage.

What I hope for from this election

What do I want from this election?

Uncertainty. I know I won't get a Green victory. The only way we’re going to have a chance to avoid extinction is with a full-blown revolution. But I don't want to see either candidate get a clean win. The closer it is, the more contentious and confused the results are, the better for us in the long run.

Because that sort of turmoil will help discredit the whole rotten system. Let the two corrupt corporatist parties squabble and fight. Let the two demented old rapist-pedophiles scream at each other on TV. Better that than a quiet return to business as usual!

Business as usual means extinction for us all.

Changes

Living with the knowledge that humanity will soon be extinct, and that everything - EVERYTHING - that anyone ever cared about, feared, dreamed, built, imagined, loved, hated or felt will be forgotten forever as if it never existed...that's the big one.

 

I imagine there will be a real need for antidepressants in seven years.

The Terror of Amy Coney Barrett

It's funny. I know that Amy Coney Barrett is supposed to panic me. But I just don't care. It's like having terminal cancer, and being told about yet another tumor. It's ALREADY terminal, so who cares?

The only way we get to survive is if we overthrow the whole system. Another tumor more or less isn't going to change that.

A new conversation with a DNC volunteer

Ellie: Hi Peter, this is Ellie with the Democrats. We're about to embark on the largest national relational Get Out The Vote effort ever! We're celebrating all of your hard work and the journey ahead tomorrow at 8pm ET with special guest Zooey Deschanel! Can you join us?

Peter: Not until the Democrats support Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, and a ban on fracking - and convince me that they really mean it.

Ellie: Thanks for sharing. I believe it will take all of us working together to defeat Donald Trump and make progress towards affordable health care and college, clean energy, a strong middle class, and campaign finance reform.

Peter: That's probably true, but the Democrats have made it quite clear that they are not interested in any of those goals. Joe Biden won't even ban fracking, even though we have seven years at most before climate change passes the point of no return. Does that make any sense to you? I have a child, and I can't accept the Democratic party's  refusal to take climate change seriously. It's the greatest threat humanity has ever faced.

Ellie: I understand that and agree. However, Trump is a much bigger threat to humanity. And we all have to do our part to defeat him to reset things, even if they're not ideal.

Peter: It's not a matter of Biden not being ideal. I followed his career for a long time, and I've studied what the Democratic party has been doing - particularly since 1980. They serve the same oligarchs that Trump serves. The only significant difference in their policies is that the Democrats are more eager to go to war. And that's just because Trump is a coward. Have you seen the climate clock? You can Google that. In 7 years and less than 70 days, human extinction becomes a virtual inevitability. But Joe Biden and the Democrats won't even ban fracking! There is no way that I can accept that.

And while I know that the DNC has put a huge amount of time, effort, and money to terrorize Americans about the evil of Trump, it was the Democrats' policies that BROUGHT us Trump. I've read Hillary's Pied Piper email. If Trump was such a threat, why did the Democrats elevate him in the media in 2016? And why have they given him everything he has asked for and more in congress?

They won't even fight his latest Supreme Court nomination. They don't represent me, and they don't care about a future for the children of the world. Their actions prove that. Doesn't that bother you?

Ellie: Sorry for the slow reply, Peter. I hear you. Donald Trump has one word for climate change: "hoax." But Joe Biden and Democrats know a different word applies: "jobs." Biden's clean energy and infrastructure plan will create millions of good-paying, union jobs in the auto, construction, energy and other industries.

I agree with you that climate change is a huge issue, and I believe that it is one that we won't solve over night. I would rather see us take a step in the right direction by recommitting to the Paris Agreement, as Joe Biden has pledged to do, than to have us continue on our current trajectory. I hope you'll agree and join me in voting for Joe Biden this election.

Peter: But that's the horror of it. "Jobs"?!? Really? It's LIVES that are at stake - all of our lives. Joe Biden claims to listen to the science, but the science is very clear and he is ignoring it as much as Trump is. We have less than seven years and three months before we pass the point of no return on climate change. After that, there is nothing we can do to keep the Earth from becoming mostly uninhabitable for human beings for the next 5,000 years. And yet Joe Biden won't even ban FRACKING.  The Paris Accord is a Band-Aid on a corpse. The scientists are unanimous that it is nowhere near enough.

Joe Biden accepts huge contributions from the fossil fuel industry. How do you reconcile that with the climate catastrophe that is bearing down on us so quickly?

Ellie: Joe and Kamala want to tackle the challenges we face as a country. They've put forward big, bold plans to take urgent action on climate change, achieve universal health care, and support working families. Read more here: https://[no I'm not including the URL]/joes-vision/

Peter: I've read their policies. They're absolutely inadequate. What more, I'm quite positive that they will never be implemented. Since 1980 the Democrats have consistently signaled left on their platform and political promises, only to go hard right when they actually had the chance. Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me dozens of times? I don't think so. The Democrats work for Wall Street, the fossil fuel industry, and the oligarchy, just as Trump does. Sorry, but I have been following this for a long time.

And I'm a parent. I WON'T go along with ignoring the reality of climate change. Or with denying health care to millions. Or with driving millions more into bankruptcy for the profit of Biden's credit-industry campaign donors. Or with starting new wars against Venezuela and Syria. Or with supporting the genocides in Palastine and Yemen. Doesn't any of that BOTHER you?

Ellie: I hear your concerns. May I ask who you will be supporting in this election?

Peter: The DNC has successfully convinced me that my vote doesn't matter. By rigging two primaries in a row, they've made it clear that our only choices will be between servants of the oligarchs. I'll vote for Howie Hawkins, but it's very clear that we will not be allowed to VOTE ourselves free. The only Democratic candidate that I will consider voting for is Ed Markey, and that's because the DNC has done everything they can to punish him for co-sponsoring the Green New Deal.

If you Google "climate clock", you'll find a clock counting down the time to which climate change becomes irreversible and our entire species extinction will be inevitable. There are links that document the science behind that clock. Look up what scientists say about the Biden plan. It will not save us. As I said, I'm a parent. I don't know if you are. But I won't go along with a plan that means death for my child and any potential grandchildren. Not to mention the children of the world. I can't imagine any choice that would be more evil.

Ellie: Got it. I appreciate you letting me know. Thanks for your time - stay safe!

Peter: Good luck. And if things go bad, as I believe they will...I hope you'll join us in the streets.

Astroturf

Justice Democrats, Our Revolution, Brand New Congress, the Sunrise Movement...any time a shiny new progressive organization appears, it's a safe bet that it's another astroturf project to sucker leftists into wasting our energy and time by working within the system. The oligarchy is happen to spend money to keep us from the only thing that might save humanity: Revolution.