The Glass Is Refillable

The Earth looks so beautiful from space. Let's keep it that way.

The Glass Is Refillable

by C. A. Matthews

Most of us reach a breaking point at one time or another in our lives. There’s simply too much crap being thrown at us. We’re in pain both mentally and physically, and we’re long past the point of caring at work, school, or home. Since nothing is going our way, and it appears to be the last days of the Late Great Planet Earth, the urge to do absolutely nothing but tear down others who voice even an ounce of optimism is too tempting to resist.

So, we sit on our backsides and insult absolute strangers on the internet whenever they suggest possible solutions to our or the world’s problems. Simply put, we don’t want to hear that the glass is “half full.” Oh, no, no, no! We bitch up a storm and tear those faceless internet posters a new hole and make them feel as horrible as we feel, because we don’t have any optimism left when we’re in the midst of a breaking point.

Well, pardon me for breathing, but I think you actually can generate some enthusiasm for life even when the sh*t has hit the proverbial fan.

Optimism is Mother’s Nature way of keeping us alive and functioning and not wallowing in self-pity or destructive behaviors. Because while we’re wallowing, nothing is getting done, and we’re actually adding to our own problems as well as the planet’s. Screaming—or the online equivalent in all caps complete with asterisks and exclamation points—that the glass isn’t even “half empty” because it has been spilled and smashed into a million pieces only provides a mere nanosecond of relief. The pain inside remains.

 

The goal for intelligent, rational creatures is to rid ourselves of pain, not continually do things that ask for more of it. We are hardwired to take action to end the pain, and we can do so without killing ourselves or others. (Editor’s note: If you are feeling suicidal, in the US please call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988. If you’re feeling homicidal, put all weapons out of reach, take a deep breath, and contact Emotion Anonymous to find a meeting near you.) 

Rash actions are often regretted and cannot be rescinded, but wisely planned and deliberate actions taken toward a reachable goal can ease our pain and provide possible solutions to the challenges facing us.

For all those who feel hopeless and see no way to fight against those who are destroying Earth’s biosphere, I feel your pain. Peter Kalmus, a NASA climate scientist, recently said in his keystone address at the Green Party Annual National Meeting how much it hurts him to see what’s happening in the world, too. He told us: “Don't lose hope—but don’t have false hope.”

This means we can’t deny what is happening any longer. We need to educate ourselves about the main causes behind the environment’s degradation. For example, we have to look at our outdated economic system. It is disheartening and maddening to watch heartless capitalists turn the precious planet we’ve come to know and love into one huge polluted cesspit for the sake of ever bigger profits for a tiny handful of billionaires. It makes no sense. Don’t these a-hole billionaires breath oxygen and drink water, too?

It's the senselessness of the mega-polluters’ stupidity that causes us the most pain. Their asinine and self-centered attitudes reveal the true cause behind these insanely short-sighted behaviors: they’re a-holes and selfish bastards.

There, I said it. Now, what do we do about the situation? Do we allow the super-wealthy to continue wallowing in their a-holery and selfishness?

Nah, that would be wrong of us. We want the sick-o billionaires to be happy and healthy functioning human beings, right? They can’t remain these hideous, soulless creatures, raping the planet of its natural resources, filling landfills and oceans with toxic wastes, poisoning life as we know it. It’s time to take action to turn the billionaires into actual human beings even if it impoverishes them in the process. It’s time to take away their power and their playthings and stop others from cooperating with them in the destruction of Earth.

How we go about this awesome feat depends on our own individual/personal philosophies. Some activists will take to the streets in protest and boycott products from countries that are greatly contributing to the biosphere’s demise. A great example of focusing attention (and possibly bringing about some real change) on how destructive the fossil fuel industry is to our environment is happening on September 17 at the March to End Fossil Fuels in New York City. 

If marching down Broadway while screaming at the billionaires doesn’t bring you out of yourself and generate renewed determination to become a doer and not just a wallower in your pain, please find someone to talk to, such as a professional counselor. Asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness, and we need all the strong people we can get.

Environmental activism (protests, marches, sit-ins, demonstrations, etc.) can include resisting and preventing the growth of the military-industrial complex (MIC) and fighting for peace as well. The US military machine has not only killed millions of innocents, but it’s also the fifth most polluting organization in the world, ranking far ahead of actual countries.

Shutting down America’s endless wars for resources would help stop the MIC’s pollution, and it would also create friendlier conditions among nations to cooperate and fight climate change together. Once everyone is on the same page and talking to each other, without fear of having an American nuclear bomb dropped on them, it would go a long, long way in solving all our planet’s problems.

Isn’t it better to take the “half-full glass” of optimism and run with it than to throw the glass on the floor in a fit of existential pique?

Some activists will hack into banks’ and corporations’ computer systems and take the power away from those who do the most harm by financing the resource wars that increase pollution. Relieving billionaires of their wealth and redistributing it to those who are in need will end most social ills, too. Once income inequality is addressed many good things will fall into place. In the US that would mean the end of homelessness, health care for all, and free education from the youngest to the oldest of students. Solving those issues could lead to the end of racism and classism. Less pain for everyone!

Some activists feel more comfortable working “within the system” or at least attempting to overthrow the corrupt system from within. They put time and effort into electoral politics and assisting political candidates and causes. Is this the most effective use of their time, energy, and intellect? The jury is still out.

One thing's for certain, to sit around and scream obscenities online at those who are involved in the electoral process is definitely a waste of time, energy, and intellect. Acting like a “troll” online does not solve anyone’s problems, let alone the planet’s. It doesn’t meet the challenges of ending wars or fighting for the environment or preventing income inequality, for instance. Perhaps the people who have tough skin that can handle the media smears and nasty hit-pieces in the press about their characters while they run for office are the ones most capable of inspiring the majority of populace to take action.

Human beings need honest and hard-working leaders because the game of life is tough and the goalposts seem so far away. Let’s not run the worthy leaders off the field before they’ve had their chance to convince us otherwise. But let's not be afraid to expose and run off the dishonest and unworthy leaders, either. Perhaps a two-pronged approach of direct action as well as electoral action is the wisest route to take after all?

Many people think they have the sole responsibility to fix what all needs fixing in the world. But that’s not true. We’ve got to do it together or not at all. The “not at all” happens while we wallow and criticize others’ optimism and actions. It only adds to our “empty glass” pain.

Taking action by becoming an activist is one way to fight the pain in our hearts and the depression that clouds our thought processes. When you focus your energies toward a common goal—tackling climate change, for instance—then you’re no longer alone in your pain. You no longer have the time to wallow and criticize needlessly. You’re busy doing something worthwhile, and you’ll feel better about yourself and others.

At the very least, you’ll have more things to criticize later when you give activism up and go back to the wallowing and destructive behaviors. So, why not give it a try? You’ve got nothing to lose.

Remember, the glass may not be “half full,” but it isn’t “half empty,” either. The glass is refillable. We’re still here. The planet is still here. We need to get to work now. It may sound hokey, but tomorrow is another day. Let’s use our glass wisely and together.

 

Another way to look at the necessity of activism:

Nuclear brinkmanship. Yemen. Iraq. Starvation sanctions deliberately targeting civilians. Deliberately imposed poverty crushing people to death at home and abroad. Arming neo-Nazis, violent jihadists and right wing counterrevolutionaries in foreign conflicts to advance geostrategic interests. Police brutality. The relentless push for online censorship. The nonstop barrage of propaganda to manipulate our minds. The increasingly loud drumbeats for hot war with Russia and China. The ecocidal nature of global capitalism.

All of these things are profoundly horrific, but people don’t really see them, because they’re being conditioned to look past them.

Our task, then, is to get them to look. Really look, and really see. In this way we can actively abnormalize what has been normalized, one pair of eyes at a time.--Caitlin Johnstone, Abnormalize the Empire

Related Articles and Interesting Links

The March to End Fossil Fuels: https://www.endfossilfuels.us/ 

The Choice https://continuousrev.blogspot.com/2023/08/the-choice.html 

Suicide and Crisis Lifeline--Call 988 in the US and for more info:   https://www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/988-fact-sheet.pdf

Find a meeting of Emotions Anonymous (worldwide): https://emotionsanonymous.org/find-an-ea-meeting/general-information.html 

Montana Youth Turned The Tables And Won An Unprecedented Climate Victory https://popularresistance.org/montana-youth-turned-the-tables-and-won-an-unprecedented-climate-victory/

The Imperialist History Behind the Maui Fires https://www.leftvoice.org/the-imperialist-history-behind-the-maui-fires/

Environmentalists Owe An Enormous Debt To Julian Assange
https://popularresistance.org/environmentalists-owe-an-enormous-debt-to-julian-assange/

The Media’s Role In Criminalizing Climate Protest
https://popularresistance.org/the-medias-role-in-criminalizing-climate-protest/

Japan to release wastewater from Fukushima nuclear plant into Pacific Ocean https://www.nationofchange.org/2023/08/25/japan-to-release-wastewater-from-fukushima-nuclear-plant-into-pacific-ocean/

The U.S. Military Is Driving Environmental Collapse Across the Planet https://www.leftvoice.org/the-us-military-is-driving-environmental-collapse-across-the-planet/

How Ohio’s Chamber of Commerce Killed an Anti-Pollution Bill of Rights https://theintercept.com/2019/08/29/lake-erie-bill-of-rights-ohio/

Abnormalize The Empire https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/abnormalize-the-empire

Unipolar Hegemony Is A Freakish Historical Aberration
https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/unipolar-hegemony-is-a-freakish-historical

Another Day, Another CIA Press Release Disguised As News
https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/another-day-another-cia-press-release

97 Percent of UAW Workers at Big 3 Automakers Vote to Authorize a Strike  https://truthout.org/articles/97-percent-of-uaw-workers-at-big-3-automakers-vote-to-authorize-a-strike/

Double Punishment: California Prisons Set Up Thousands of People to be Detained and Deported by ICE—Including Citizens
https://scheerpost.com/2023/08/24/double-punishment-california-prisons-set-up-thousands-of-people-to-be-detained-and-deported-by-ice-including-citizens/

BRICS Doubles Share of Global Oil Production In Welcoming Six New Members at BRICS Summit in S. Africa
https://themcgwire.substack.com/p/brics-doubles-share-of-global-oil

Ukraine’s Counteroffensive Has Failed—It’s Time to Reevaluate
https://scheerpost.com/2023/08/26/ukraines-counteroffensive-has-failed-its-time-to-reevaluate/

Zelensky Cracks Down on Draft Dodgers, Forces Men to Fight & Die in This War https://scheerpost.com/2023/08/25/zelensky-cracks-down-on-draft-dodgers-forces-men-to-fight-die-in-this-war/

Coming soon, the first book from The Revolution Continues blog:  The Little Red Book of Revolution

How can you get your e-copy? The easiest way is to subscribe to The Revolution Continues on Substack as a paying subscriber. Choose what level you'd like to subscribe at online at: https://therevolutioncontinues.substack.com

If you'd like to help out in the meantime, buy me a coffee!  https://ko-fi.com/therevolutioncontinues

More details to come. Power to the people!

 

Outside the Box (We Actually Have Options)

Thinking Outside the Box

This week's theme is one of optimism and options--yes, we actually have options this presidential election. But first, we must stop ourselves from automatically cooperating with the status quo. We must start exercising our brains and voting for our own self-interests, not the interests of the establishment. We must vote our values and not our fears.  

Our contributors this week make this point eloquently. If you don't agree with them (or even if you do) let us know what you think. Submit your piece to us at Our Revolution Continues blog at thebernieblog2016@gmail.com  It's time for all of us to crawl out of our comfort zones. It's time to vote outside the box.

Critical Thinking

by Bern Notice

Critical thought is a rare beast these days. People accept data from any source without scrutiny when it aligns with their particular bias. When information is presented that runs contrary to their view of the world, it will be rejected by a good chunk of the population. This is why there are so many people who subscribe and align themselves with one particular party while completely ignoring all other options.

It's important to note that this is a symptom of the problem. It does not explain how it began in the first place. How did we get to where we are? To get that answer, you have too rewind the clock back to your youth.

We live in a society where you are told to conform from the day one. Parents tell their children,"They are to be seen and not to be heard," or "You do what I tell you to do, because I said so!" News organizations tell you that you should trust what they tell you because they are a "credible" news source. Religion tells you never to question doctrine and to accept what you're told by "faith." Your government tells you that you are free, even though your rights, freedoms and liberties have been stripped away one by one.

The key similarity between these entities is that they are all authoritarian figures. You are supposed to accept anything that they say or do without question. This stifles curiosity and encourages the hive mentality. What you are taught in youth will most likely determine the traits that you display as an adult. That mindset tend to be narrow-mindedness and a refusal to consider (much less accept) different or new ways of thinking.

This mindset only benefits those in power as they themselves are authority figures. The more people who act like drones and refuse to question flawed ideas and lies, the tighter their grip on power will be. No small number of despots and tyrants can control the masses without their consent. For too long, people have granted their consent to the corruption in government and, in our society, by being unquestioning consumers of authoritarian propaganda.

To make matters worse, even after some of us wake up to how we've been played for fools, we fall for the "divide and conquer" strategy. The strategy pits
neighbors, who share the same primary concerns, against each other over more trivial idealism. It's not to say that the goals aren't important, but until we (the working class) reclaim control of our government, nothing else will ever truly be fixed.

I know that for some this will be hard to hear or accept, but this is the truth. The progressives can't win this fight alone. Independents, centrists, libertarians and conservatives can't do this alone, either. The only way that real reform can ever become a reality is if we shed the labels and realize that only a unified working class starts fixing the biggest problems in our society first. To reach that line of thought, one has to start thinking outside of the box and realizing how badly we've been played.

Bio: Bern Notice is a fellow revolutionary who shares his insights frequently on Google+.

 ***

Crouching Bernie, Hidden Hillary by Jaeil Cho
www.jaeilchoart.bigcartel.com

Eye of the Liar 

(Sung to the tune of "Eye of the Tiger")

 By Carl Elderton

Gettin' out, back on the street
Did my time, just learned nothing
For my resistance
Now I'm back on my beat
Just a shill and her will to deny
So many times, it happens to us
You trade our passion for glory
Don't lose your grip on the lives of the Free
You must fight to deny them a life
 

[Chorus]
It's the eye of the liar
It's the thrill of the Right
Risin' up to suppression
Of a rival
And the last plaster saint
Stalks her prey in the night
And she's watching us all with the
Eye of the liar

***

Nobody 2016 – 
Insight Behind the Surging Political Trend
photos and essay by Carly Reed

In light of the Democratic committee unlawfully selecting Hillary Clinton as the party’s presidential nominee, Bernie Sanders being discarded despite a massive following, and Donald Trump’s meteoric rise to prominence as a legitimate threat to sit in the Oval Office, the American public is simply fed up. Faith in the political system is at an all-time low, and the result of 2016’s roller coaster election has people in an uproar.

There are multiple third party candidates that hold the potential to initiate great change and bring prosperity to the USA, but the majority of citizens still fail to realize the possibility of electing a third party is a viable option. As such, numerous Nobody 2016 movements have begun to take root across America. When browsing social media, walking around a college campus, or even just conversation with friends, you are likely to come across something encouraging you to "Vote for Nobody" this election.

I first came across this movement while walking to class several weeks ago at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. The campus is currently completely covered in purple Nobody 2016 propaganda--and the number of stickers and posters appearing on campus seems to grow by the day. Additionally, variations of this design are appearing on voter’s cars in the form of bumper stickers, taking control of Facebook groups, and can be found on many homemade shopping website like Etsy and Zazzle. The amount of Nobody 2016 gear being pushed on the public is enormous and cannot be ignored.

The motive behind the message seems fairly clear: boycott the political system and refuse to vote for either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. After conducting some research and looking into the specific organization that was printed on my school’s stickers (www.nobody2016.us) I realized the message might not be so simple. Political frustration is at its peak within the public realm, but this particular organization seems to not be specifically encouraging citizens not to vote. Instead, it appears the Nobody 2016 movement is more of a humorous attempt to highlight the issues with today’s political system. This could be dangerous, but it could also be exactly what America needs. A serious wake up call.

Although every individual’s interpretation of the matter will vary, I personally believe Nobody 2016 is more about refusing to conform to the corrupt system that has presented two unelectable primary candidates. Progressives should vote their conscience; conforming to corruption only encourages more corruption. A vote for a third party, or rather, a vote for "Nobody", will act as the best means of implementing social change in America. Consider this: if Trump and Clinton receive significant support, just in spite of the other candidate, who will be the primary presidential nominees in 2020? 

At the end of the day, the lesser of two evils is still evil.

That’s my interpretation of Nobody 2016. But the idea behind any movement will be perceived differently by everyone. Share what you think. "Nobody" for president might turn out better than Clinton or Trump after all.

Bio: Carly Reed says: "I'm a freshmen at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado, and I'm currently a political science major. Politics inspire me to be better and hope for the best out of society, and I believe Bernie Sanders, win or lose, has done more for America within the past four years than just about any politician."

***

For many voters, the 2016 election will be the first time they've even considered supporting a third party or independent candidate. For those of us who have voted "outside the box" before, this is perhaps the first time we've allowed ourselves the hope of seeing our candidates win office or achieve wider acclaim (in spite of mainstream media censorship). For students and other young voters, below is a simple manual on how to vote third party. It really is that simple...

If you're still having qualms (or you are being told/scolded/threatened that you must vote for a "certain candidate" in order to avoid electing another candidate), take a look at this excellent blog post, The Alternative Factor: http://random-musings-from-a-muse.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-alternative-factor.html

John Laurit explains the "math" of why you can vote for whomever you like (not whoever they tell you to) in a way that's easy to follow and in fact he encourages us all to vote our values: https://johnlaurits.com/2016/09/06/voting-3rd-party-will-not-elect-the-greater-evil/ 

We posted a piece on "The Birfurcation Fallacy" ("voting for Candidate A will cause Candidate B to win" logic fallacy) a while back and you can read about it here (second piece down): http://bernie2016.blogspot.com/2016/06/a-nation-based-on-love.html 

Knowing that you're not falling for a popular myth, propagated by the duopoly establishment, should ease your conscience. Always vote your conscience! 
 ***

A new progressive group, Politics Reborn, has an event coming up soon in the New York area you may want to check out called "Tell Your Story on Camera."  https://politicsreborn.nationbuilder.com/2/tell_your_story_on_camera

They are also collecting information on the "Local Political Process--How Does It Work Where You Live?" Fill out the form by clicking here.

If you know of other progressive groups that would be of interest to our readers, please email us the details. 

Remember: Information is power, and it's all about "Power to the people!"