269) A Trans Girl Playing Chess
You cannot TRY to live with wisdom. Kind of like Yoda said, “Do or do not; there is no try.” You cannot TRY to be authentic. You can just be authentic, or not. Because the simple truth is, if you are not fully connected within yourself, if you are not plugged into your Self, if you are not grounded in Love, then everything is half-hearted.
And as Rumi says, “Half-heartedness does not reach into majesty.”
268) Day 36 -- Reason #36 to revolt against Predatory Capitalism: FREEDOM, Part 1: We all value Freedom
As a true Canadian, I have to say first of all, I’m sorry. This is going to hurt.
267) Day 35, Reason #35 to revolt against Predatory Capitalism: We do not understand what is going on
A key reason to revolt against Predatory Capitalism is that we, the public, the ones who are SUPPOSED to ultimately be in control of our democracy, don’t know what the hell is going on. This is a direct result of many things, especially the Manufacturing Consent problem and the politic-speak problem described in recent posts of mine.
266) Day 34 -- Reason #34 to revolt against Predatory Capitalism: Politic-speak -- e.g., Doug Ford
One of the key problems with Predatory Capitalism, which connects with our previous discussion of Manufacturing Consent, is that the people we elect to be in charge of our system, don’t speak the same language we do. They speak the language of politics. NOT the language of common sense, the language of everyday people, the language of integrity, or even the language of basic logic.
265) The Doctrine of Original Awesomeness, Part 2 (Also, Day 33 -- Reason #33 to revolt against Predatory Capitalism)
Imagine how free, joyful, zestful, ALIVE people would feel if they grew up feeling USEFUL and LOVED by the people in their lives; if they grew up feeling they could contribute to their community, that they were respected, that even though they were still learning the skills of life, the adults around them HONOURED and VALUED them. Imagine how good that would have felt, when you were a kid.
264) The Doctrine of Original Awesomeness, Part 1 -- (Also, Day 32 -- Reason #32 to revolt against Predatory Capitalism)
Today I want to root out one of the biggest delusions in all human history. And replace it with a liberating, vibrant, beautiful, uplifting truth about “human nature”.
263) Day 31 -- Reason #31 to revolt against Predatory Capitalism: Manufacturing Consent, Part 3 -- We are in the fight for our lives.
Progressive ideals, of socialism and community, feminism and human rights, gender and cultural diversity, have become, like communism in the 1950s and “radical Islam” of the 2000s’ War on Terror, key targets for attack by the Powerful, in order to quell dissent and control the population.
262) Day 30 -- Reason #30 to revolt against Predatory Capitalism: Manufacturing Consent, Part 2 -- Freedom Convoy
It turned out that the good ol’ patriotic Freedom Convoy wasn’t what it said it was. Sure, many people in the country and in the convoy didn’t realize that, but they, we, had all been duped. The Freedom Convoy wasn’t a citizens’ movement. It was a scam, an extremist campaign, a well-funded propaganda megaphone for the extreme-right-wing…
261) Day 29 -- Reason #29 to revolt against Predatory Capitalism: Manufacturing Consent, Part 1: Skibidi toilet and a submarine implosion
In Aldous Huxley’s presciently brilliant dystopian novel, Brave New World, the population was placated with a pervasive, readily-available, socially normative drug — soma. The constant ingestion of soma kept people from ever really FEELING just how fucked their society was. Replacing traditional opium-of-the-masses institutions like the Church, soma was a way of escaping responsibility for, and even awareness of, one’s shitty circumstances.
“A gramme is better than a damn” was one slogan.
260) Day 28 -- Reason #28 to revolt against Predatory Capitalism: Because it's what heroes do
Every time you felt that RUSH when the good guys went into battle, when friends rallied and faced down The Enemy, that was you, wanting to BE a hero, to rise to the challenge, to show that you too, are courageous, and on the right side of history.
259) Day 27 -- Reason #27 to revolt against Predatory Capitalism
Whether you are interested in getting more directly involved in social change, environmental work, anti-racism, protecting democracy, anti-poverty, or related issues, here are my best suggestions for how to get started.
258) Day 26 -- Reason #26 to revolt against Predatory Capitalism: You can make a difference
You are a courageous, intelligent, beautiful, bad-ass-motherfucker. Let that light shine.
257) Day 25 -- Reason #25 to revolt against Predatory Capitalism: Civil Rights and the Fight for Freedom
So yes, let’s use the connections we have to resist what’s happening. It’s almost 1939 now. We do not want to repeat that history. Remember all the deaths? Remember all the ceremonies we’ve had, our whole lives, honouring those sacrifices?
There has to be a way through this, together. And we HAVE TO stop being complacent.
256) Day 24 -- Reason #24 to revolt against Predatory Capitalism
Now, as Canada faces a tariff war, and is being literally THREATENED to become the 51st state, our single-biggest weapon, now that we have to think of Canada-US relations this way, is our energy sector. We supply about 60% of the US’ oil and gas. And it goes through our pipelines.
255) Day 23 -- Reason #23 to revolt against Predatory Capitalism: Political Corruption, Part 5 -- Trump's Inauguration Guests
Speaking of promoting fascism, also in attendance were four of the very most influential right-wing megaphones out there — Joe Rogan, Tucker Carlson, Charlie Kirk, and surprise surprise, grifter-extraordinaire and huckster of right-wing bullshit wrapped up in flimsy intellectual-speak, Jordan Peterson. What better way to keep the MAGAs in awe than by inviting four of their key prophets?
254) Day 22 -- Reason #22 to revolt against Predatory Capitalism: True Happiness
With very, very little in terms of material possessions, but rich in purpose, rich in play, and rich in love, you can be happy, every day, forever. And so can your loved ones, your neighbours, and people on the other side of the world. Happiness is not a zero-sum game, in which if one person gets more the others get less. But Predatory Capitalism, is.
253) Day 21 -- Reason #21 to revolt against Predatory Capitalism: Political Corruption, Part 4 -- Trump's Even-Crazier Picks for his Administration
And this is all I have to say, currently, about Trump’s incoming Administration (unless they are stopped, which, so far, doesn’t seem to be the case). If this isn’t a red-flag factory that reeks of corruption, then literally nothing is.
252) Day 20 -- Reason #20 to revolt against Predatory Capitalism: Martin Luther King, Jr. -- Letter from a Birmingham Jail
My friends, I must say to you that we have not made a single gain in civil rights without determined legal and nonviolent pressure. Lamentably, it is an historical fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust posture; but, as Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us, groups tend to be more immoral than individuals.
We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.
251) Day 19 -- Reason #19 to revolt against Predatory Capitalism: Political Corruption, Part 3 -- Trump's Nominees for Top Positions
Is Trump really building a Presidential Team to make the United States enter some Age of Greatness? Or is Trump becoming, quite simply, a dictator, seeking to reshape the world in his self-perceived image? Is this to be America’s Golden Age? Or the American Reich?
250) Day 18 -- Reason #18 to revolt against Predatory Capitalism: Political Corruption, Part 2: Matt Gaetz
It seems very telling that this is the one man Trump thought was Best In The Country, to give him legal advice.
And in terms of Predatory Capitalism, it is crystal clear that only in a system owned by the ultra-wealthy, would someone like Matt Gaetz EVER get close to one of the most powerful positions in the country. Indeed, Competence, not to mention moral integrity, doesn’t seem to be all that important.