The Revolution Continues blog is news, views, opinion and other expressions of hope from a leftist point-of-view. (We are not affiliated with any candidate, political party or organization. All are welcome.)
The
anniversaries of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (August 6
and August 9, 1945) pass by most Westerners’ consciousness without
notice. The dates aren’t printed on any calendars I have like “Memorial
Day” or “Presidents’ Day” are, labeled in big, bright capital letters.
The week the first atom bombs were dropped on civilians is not a bank
holiday anywhere as far as I know.
The
anniversary is mostly remembered by the children of the survivors and a
handful of international peace organizations. The one event that should
have motivated humankind to turn around and go in a better direction is
the one event we seem to care the least about. We neither care to
remember it and learn from it nor honor it and promise ourselves we’ll
never do it again.
I have to admit that if GPAX, the Green Party Peace Action Committee, hadn’t presented “Never Again!”
a very informative webinar on August 6, I’d probably would have
forgotten about humanity’s fall from innocence, too. Yes, humankind is
guilty of the sin of unleashing the power of the atom, the genie that
cannot be put back inside the bottle once it has escaped. All life on
Earth will never be the same again.
No
one born since those early August days in 1945 has ever lived in a
world without manmade nuclear radiation effecting them, either directly
through an nuclear warhead detonation, or from being shot with depleted
uranium coated bullets, or from the fallout leaking from a nuclear power
plant that has suffered a “mishap” like Fukushima, or even from a
simple rain shower. Manmade radiation has become a permanent part of our
ecosystem for the worse, not better.
No
one born since then has ever known a world where life as we know it
could be wiped out in a matter of minutes if one or more nuclear powers
decide to launch their nuclear weapons. This knowledge should keep us
awake nights, but the majority of us seem okay living day-to-day in such
a terrifying world.
Could it be we really don’t want peace? Could it be that we’d rather live with the threat of imminent Mutually Assured Destruction
than to give up our creature comforts and affordable lifestyles in the
West? Could it be Americans enjoy the hegemony we’ve gained through the
threat of dropping H-bombs on your country if it doesn’t “cooperate” and
give us what we want? (This means you, Venezuela and Iran. Hand over
your oil or else!)
Or
could it be I’m over-exaggerating the threat of our potential demise?
Could I be minimizing the numbers of activists who are actively fighting
to shut the war machine down? I don’t think so...
To learn what all it takes to organize a successful peace movement, please copy or click on the following link:
There
you'll be able to read the rest of this article, find related links,
see more graphics, and leave comments. You can become a free
or paid subscriber and
receive weekly email posts, along with occasional special
articles just for paid subscribers, too.
This
article is the 583rd blog posting of The Revolution Continues. We began
in June 2015, and we're still going strong. Please keep reading,
sharing, and subscribing to help TRC continue for another eleven+ years. Thanks!
It’s
pretty obvious that I don’t use a AI to write my posts online. I
wouldn’t make so many typos and mistakes in grammar/punctuation if I did
use an AI computer program. I like to write the old-fashioned way—on a
pad of paper with a pen—or on a laptop running Linux without all the
bells and whistles. It just feels more natural that way, not forced,
with no artificial intelligence trying to change my words mid-sentence.
I know what I want to say and how to say it. I don’t need an AI to tell me how to think.
I’m
not anti-technology (despite my advanced years). In fact, I was one of
the first persons to actually own a “PC” or personal computer back in
the dark ages of forty-plus years ago. I worked in a government office
during that time when our case documentation was being transferred over
from pen and paper to computer documents. I’ve even written code for web
sites and done other computer-related things over the years. So, you
can’t say that I’m adverse to artificial intelligence out of a
superstitious belief that all technology is evil and should be stopped.
I
don’t believe it’s the technology that’s evil. It’s the people who are
using it in negative ways and exploiting it that are doing evil. (Pope Leo agrees with me.)
AI
data centers are breaking out like pimples across the face of America.
This demonstrates to me that artificial intelligence isn’t going to be
used for the public good because these data centers are being rammed
down the throats of small town and big city people alike, against their
will. These AI data centers aren’t there to help the locals, but to make
tech bros even richer.
Simply
put, AI is not your friend—especially if you’re not a billionaire.
Don’t believe me? Would you believe economists from the prestigious
Wharton School of Economics?
To learn more what's behind the big push to build AI data centers and how they can adversely effect workers and their jobs, please copy or click on the following link:
There
you'll be able to read the rest of this article, find related links,
see more graphics, and leave comments. You can become a free
or paid subscriber and
receive weekly email posts, along with occasional special
articles just for paid subscribers, too.
This
article is the 573rd blog posting of The Revolution Continues. We began
in June 2015, and we're still going strong. Please keep reading,
sharing, and subscribing to help TRC continue for another eleven years. Thanks!
A
few years ago, there was a fad to wear a bracelet with the letters
“WWJD?” inscribed on it. In times of doubt and uncertainty, one was to
contemplate what the person whose name in English begins with “J” would
do in that particular situation. The “What Would J Do?” method helped a
person to confidently take action and not become paralyzed with fear or
indecision.
It
worked. It was an effective means to an end, because if J wouldn’t be
afraid to take action, then you shouldn’t be afraid, either. So, you
followed J’s example and carried on boldly without hesitation, trusting
that things would work out for the best. The WWJD bracelet wasn’t a
magic amulet, but it could indeed work wonders.
The
time has come again for a useful aid to help activists who are being
overwhelmed with self-doubt and self-recrimination. I’ve read one too
many comments online recently that go along the lines of “Why don’t you do something? I don’t know what to do. Nobody seems to know what to do, but somebody has got to do something to make things better, right?”
This
sentiment could also be phrased as “We need a revolution to end this
corrupt system, but apparently no one is going to lead us, so we might
as well stay home.”
The
paralysis of not knowing what to do is what the oligarchy depends upon
to keep us working class peons in our place. They’ve kept us overwhelmed
with one distressing event after another on purpose from the start of
the year...
We
haven’t been given a moment’s rest from the sensory overload. It’s just
too much. We long for a respite from the capitalists’ constant
nastiness and relentless stress. Why can’t our side celebrate a victory
now and then? If only we had someone fighting against the system to look
up to, somebody to emulate, then we’d get off our backsides and start
fighting back.
But
why are we waiting on a “hero” to lead us into battle? History is full
of examples—Gandhi, MLK Jr., Malcolm X—that we could follow. Recent
history is providing us with even more.
My
suggestion is to pick a person or group with experience you admire and
follow their example. Do what they’re doing/have done with maybe a few
tweaks for your particular situation and culture. If “plagiarism is the
sincerest form of flattery,” then why not flatter those we look up to by
copying their tactics and methods until we come up with some of our
own?
To discover a couple of excellent examples of activists to plagiarize, please copy or click on the following link:
There
you'll be able to read the rest of this article, find related links,
see more graphics, and leave comments. You can become a free
or paid subscriber and
receive weekly email posts, along with occasional special
articles just for paid subscribers, too.
This
article is the 572nd blog posting of The Revolution Continues. We began
in June 2015, and we're still going strong. Please keep reading,
sharing, and subscribing to help TRC continue for another eleven years. Thanks!
It’s more than a song title—it’s how we’ll win this thing.
The most common reply I get whenever I post a blog or make comment on another’s blog about this topic goes like this:
“Well, since you’re so full of ideas—how the hell do we pull this off? How do we get rid of the raping-pedophile-fascist-imperialist-capitalists-in-power?
Because if we can’t get rid of them, then what’s the use of pointing
out how evil and corrupt they are? Learn to live with it, [insert
insulting epithet here].”
It
is tiring repeating myself constantly, but if that’s what it takes I’ll
do it. Our planet and our children’s futures depend upon this current
generation of human beings doing the right thing and getting it done.
Perhaps
words alone are not enough to make an impression on some minds… Here
are some photos from a recent “ICE Out!” march, an organizers’ fair, and
a “No War on Iran” protest along with a brief explanation of what I’m
talking about.
First off, we need to organize. This is not a dirty word. Here’s an explanation of what it means...
To
learn more about what it means to organize versus mobilize, please copy or click on the following link:
There you'll see related article and video links, all the graphics, and
be able to leave comments. You can become a free or paid subscriber and
receive weekly posts in your email, along with occasional special
articles just for paid subscribers, too.
This
article is the 556th blog posting of The Revolution Continues. We began
in June 2015, and we're still going strong. Please keep reading,
sharing, and subscribing to help TRC continue for another eleven years. Thanks!
The company isn’t exactly hard-up. It’s the most
profitable firm in America. Its executive chairman and largest
shareholder, Jeff Bezos, is the richest man in the world, holding more wealth than the bottom 39 percent of Americans put together.
It backfired big-time. (Amazon stock even dropped!) More and more sympathize with and support the Amazon warehouse workers in their attempt to organize and start the first union at an American Amazon facility. Nobody likes a bullying billionaire, after all.
But why did it have to come to this? Why couldn't Amazon cooperate and listen to the workers' demands? There's only one reason and Robert Reich is right: Amazon abuses its workers because it can.
Amazon's owner Jeff Bezos knows he can get away with it. A government that won't enact a decent minimum wage or give its citizens universal health care that isn't connected to their employment isn't exactly demonstrating that it cares for those who are being abused by a billionaire monopolist. A government that allows a fast food corporation to crush the measly attempt at a living wage--$15 per hour--isn't exactly proving that "promoting the general welfare" is very high on its list.
The mistreatment of workers is nothing new at Amazon. From an article published in 2019:
Amazon’s
cutting-edge technology, unrelenting surveillance and constant
disciplinary write-ups pushed the Eastvale workers so hard that in the
last holiday season, they hit a coveted target: They got a million
packages out the door in 24 hours. Amazon handed out T-shirts
celebrating their induction into the “Million Unit Club.”
But
Dixon, 54, wasn’t around for that. She started the job in April 2018,
and within two months, or nearly 100,000 items, the lifting had
destroyed her back. An Amazon-approved doctor said she had bulging discs
and diagnosed her with a back sprain, joint inflammation and chronic
pain, determining that her injuries were 100% due to her job. She could
no longer work at Amazon. Today, she can barely climb stairs. Walking
her dog, doing the dishes, getting out of her chair – everything is
painful. According to her medical records, her condition is unlikely to
improve. --Will Evans, Behind The Smiles
Amazon (and other companies) leave many disabled workers in their wake. You'd think with the bad press, all Amazon workers would gladly join a union and organize like hell for better working conditions. But believe it or not, they all won't. Decades of anti-union propaganda has taken its toll on American workers according to Daniel Medina:
...the organizing effort has been largely led by older workers, many of
whom worked in union jobs before coming to Amazon. And many younger BHM1
workers have never interacted with a union over the course of their
working lives and may have little understanding of the role a union has
traditionally played in the workplace — a consequence, labor experts
say, of a decade's long assault on organized labor in the Deep South. --Daniel A. Medina, Some Younger Amazon Workers Still Undecided
So, what really could happen if American Amazon workers aren't allowed to organize? Our history paints a grim picture:
On
this day (March 26) 110 years ago, 146 garment workers, including 123 mostly young
immigrant women, died in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in lower
Manhattan. Many of these women were forced to jumped from several
stories to the pavement below because the intensely anti-union sweat
shop owners had insisted on keeping exits locked and only one of four
elevators were operating.
These women were paid $15 a week and worked at least 12 hours a day,
seven days a week. The owners of the sweatshop were outliers, who
refused to acquiesce to the workers' demands that were made during the
city-wide strike by the International Ladies Garment Workers Union for
better pay and a more humane work schedule. --Bob Henelly, 110 Years Since the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, Its Lessons Are Still Unlearned
It's time we learned from history and from the current workers forced to work under inhumane conditions at Amazon warehouses and elsewhere, It's time for everyone to support union organizing. The job--the life--you save may well be your own.
The Revolution Continues
is now in our sixth year taking on the propaganda of the fauxgressives
and their friends in the corporate-owned duopoly. We need passionate
revolutionaries like you to help us provide progressive insights that
are being actively censored elsewhere. If you can donate a little to the
cause, please do so at the Paypal.me link below.
Representative Barbara Lee,
along with Representatives Diana DeGette, Jan Schakowsky, and Ayanna
Pressley have introduced the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in
Health Insurance (EACH) Act. EACH is bold federal legislation that
aims to get rid of the Hyde Amendment and related abortion coverage
restrictions in health care plans.
For more than 40 years, the Hyde
Amendment, which bars the use of federal funds for abortions, has
created barriers to accessing abortion care that disproportionately
affect low-income and women of color. Not only women are affected by
this, but trans men and nonbinary folks are also affected by the Hyde
Amendment which has effectively stripped healthcare from those who
would otherwise have it.
Together, we can work to end the
Hyde Amendment and become one step closer to a world where
Reproductive Justice is a reality, let’s work to get EACH
cosponsored.
URGE is proud to have worked with
our friends at All* Above All and other reproductive health, rights,
and justice organizations and advocates to reintroduce this historic
legislation.
In Solidarity,
Monica (She/Her)
***
We've all seen the screaming headlines about the border this week,
but let me be the first to tell you: they're missing the point.
What's missing from the story is the fact that our collective humanity is at stake. This is about how we as a nation are going to treat children and families.
These are mothers and fathers who like any parent would move heaven
and earth for their children. They've fled horrific violence, abject
poverty, and climate disasters.
Are we really going to slam the door on families who had no other
option but to run for their lives? On kids who had no choice but to come
here alone?
What's happening at the border didn't happen overnight--and
it's certainly not a political football to be thrown around when lives
are at stake.
Because you've stood with Families Belong Together from the beginning, I know you care just as much as I do about protecting children and how we as a nation live up to our values.
I know that time and time again you've shown up to support our
dedicated activists, case workers, attorneys, and coalition of partners
who are working 24/7 to keep children out of detention, avoid cruel
deportations, reunite families, and welcome children with dignity.
The only thing that matters right now is that children are at our doorstep.
We've mobilized and are working directly with our partners on
the ground to push back on the racist, dehumanizing rhetoric that leaves
humanity out of the story.
Do We Really Want Peace?
