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Rash actions are often regretted and cannot be rescinded, but wisely planned and deliberate actions taken toward a reachable goal can ease our pain and provide possible solutions to the challenges facing us.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

 

The Choice

The Choice

by C.A. Matthews

I attended the Green Party US Annual National Meeting this past weekend. Once again we convened together online to hear what our fellow Greens and others have to say about the state of our nation and our planet. I have to admit that I quite enjoy online conventions. They’re cheaper and easier to attend, and you don’t have to dress up—or at all—if you don’t want to. Given a choice, I’d be happier attending online conventions from now on. This is probably going to be possible even with next year’s Presidential Nominating Convention, as I understand they’re planning a “hybrid convention” with both in-person and online components. Sounds good to me.

But some things in life don’t offer you a choice. You’re stuck with what you’re given, like it or not.

I’m one of those persons who’ll fight against anyone who tells me that I’m stuck with voting for only a “red” or “blue” candidate. Unless “red” means they’re a socialist, I’ll politely decline. And if “blue” means I’m supposed to hold my nose and “vote for the lesser evil,” then no thanks. I’m quite happy voting for the greater good by supporting the Green candidate who follows our Four Pillars of “people, planet and peace not (corporations’) profits.” 

My ability to vote for the candidate of my choice is important to me, as I hope it is to others as well. That’s why I’m volunteering to help out with the 2024 ballot access initiative throughout the US, so voters will have the opportunity to vote Green and not feel stuck voting for one of the “lesser evils.” The more choices Americans have at the ballot box, the better outcomes (I hope) we can expect for our country.

But some things in life don’t offer you a choice. You’re stuck with what you’re given, like it or not.

I repeat that line because that was essentially the theme behind this year’s Green Party keynote address given by NASA climate scientist Peter Kalmus. Peter didn’t give us a choice when he stated quite plainly that Earth is in big trouble, and human beings have caused this big trouble, and we might already be at the point of no return even if we act now. Peter isn’t seeing any nation on the planet taking any real actions to address the climate emergency. He told us, “Don’t lose hope—but don’t have false hope” either. 

That was not a thought I wanted to hear. It takes away our choice to do something to rectify this dire climate crisis situation, but Peter is right. We don’t have a choice today because we have chosen foolishly in the past. We have voted for the “lesser evil” too many times and have received evil in abundance by electing politicians firmly under the control of Big Oil.

Worse yet, even with all the signs and warnings from planetary scientists, we continue to act foolishly by supporting and increasing our dependency on fossil fuels. There is no excuse for our behavior. Americans have had choices and have repeatedly chosen the wrong path. The “global boiling” we’ve witnessed this summer in the oceans full of blanched coral reefs, on land with the hottest temperature ever recorded at 136 degrees F., and in the massive forest fires continually burning in Canada that have blanketed most of the eastern half of the US with smoke particulates, killing thousands though respiratory failure, demonstrates that, when given a choice about our leadership, we choose the wrong leaders.

And look where our wrong choices have gotten us—we’ve put our planet and its inhabitants, including the fish, birds, animals, insects and plant-life at risk of total extinction. I hope buying that gas-guzzling SUV and taking all those air flights and Princess cruises to dump sewage water in the Caribbean were worth it. It hasn’t been for the Earth.

Peter stated that he feels rage particularly at the sheer stupidity of our society. He noted that all the seemingly positive talk politicians make about becoming “Net Zero by 2050!” is dangerously misinformed. There’s no way we will be able to sequester all the carbon already let lose in our atmosphere. Our children twenty years from now won’t be able to to use this mythological “carbon capture” technology, even if it does exist by then.  

Why? Well, it’s simply because they’ll have their hands full of dealing with all the constant flooding, massive heatwaves, ocean level rise, increasingly destructive tornadoes, hurricanes and tsunamis creating billions of climate refugees worldwide. When will they have the time and energy to create this magical tech?

Even worse, if we want to even lessen the impacts these disasters will have on our children in the future, we’d need to start now doing what needs to be done. We’d have to kick the fossil fuels addiction yesterday. That means giving up the family car. That means not flying or yachting about the planet constantly. That means no more disposable water bottles and fast-food wrappers. How easy is that going to be? 

Are you willing to give up your creature comforts so your grandchildren can have a livable planet to live on in the coming decades?

 

Americans—well, all human beings really—love to have choices. But some things in life don’t offer you a choice. You’re stuck with what you’re given, like it or not. We’ve hurt Mother Earth. Badly, perhaps fatally. It’s time to repent and change our ways, drastically change our polluting ways. Or else we’ll be as dead as Mother Earth will be.

Peter made a good point that the tiny number of climate activists currently protesting, shouting at, and standing up to the fossil fuel industries isn’t going to make them shut down. The corporations are protected by governments with big armies and deep pockets. The planet is calling out for planetary leadership that puts Earth first before corporations’ profits.

In the US, we ‘ll need the power of executive branch to ban fracking, end pipeline construction project and stop the disinformation coming from the Big Oil CEOs according to Peter. The president should declare a climate emergency and get our economy on a “war footing” like we did during World War 2, but instead it would be fighting to save our planet and its people.

Peter confessed that he didn’t trust either of the “red” or “blue” teams to be up to the task. He recommended Americans work to enact Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) in order to give an alternative (or “third”) party US presidential candidate a chance of gaining the presidency who is willing to take on Big Oil and do what needs to be done. 

Okay, now that is a choice and an action I can get behind. What do you think?

Peter emphasized that disinformation (or what I’d call “propaganda”) aimed at the working class has made these workers vote against their best interests for decades. The Green Party isn’t widely known as being pro-worker, even though its platform is clearly pro-worker with its support of universal health care and the rights of workers to strike. A “Green-Labor alliance” needs to form. The labor movement, working hard to organize the proletariat in order to enact a general strike, and the environmental movement, working to save our world from further ecological disaster through acts of civil disobedience against Big Oil and others, must come together to take on the “rich sociopaths” destroying our planet.

These rich sociopaths, whose private jets and yachts burning fossil fuels cause a large portion of the carbon building up in our atmosphere, have never been held accountable for their actions under our present system of government. Why? They simply bribe the politicians (through their lobbyists with big briefcases full of cash), as well as gifting jobs and trips to the politicians after they leave office. 

 

If both environmentalists and laborers don’t take them on then what will our children say about us in the year 2040 or 2050? That we cared more about placating the polluting status quo than we cared about our planet and their very lives?

In the end, we all have a choice to make. It is a difficult choice, but we must make it. We will all live with the consequences of that choice, for better or worse. Peter Kalmus says we should never give up. The hour is late, but we must rise up together to save all that we can. Nothing is more important. Our children deserve our best efforts.

Which choice will you make?

 

Peter Kalmus:

“Biden’s refusal to declare a climate emergency and his eagerness to push new pipelines and new drilling — at an even faster pace than Trump — goes against science, goes against common sense, goes against life on Earth.”

--from Joe Biden must declare a climate emergency. And he must do so now

Related Articles and Interesting Links:

Keynote address from Peter Kalmus https://youtu.be/Subt87Vsp9E

Joe Biden must declare a climate emergency. And he must do so now https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jul/27/joe-biden-climate-emergency-peter-kalmus

Polluters Rely On Old Rhetoric To Block Clean Energy Future
https://popularresistance.org/polluters-rely-on-old-rhetoric-to-block-clean-energy-future/

The climate movement has a recruiting and retention problem – here’s how we fix it  https://wagingnonviolence.org/2023/08/climate-movement-recruitment-retention-problem/

There Are Enough Resources In The World To Fulfill Human Needs
https://popularresistance.org/there-are-enough-resources-in-the-world-to-fulfil-human-needs/

US/France threaten intervention in resource-rich Niger: Fears of war in West Africa  https://geopoliticaleconomy.substack.com/p/us-france-intervention-niger-west-africa

SCOTT RITTER: The Atomic Executioner’s Lament
https://consortiumnews.com/2023/08/02/scott-ritter-the-executioners-lament/

Decades later, the US government called Hiroshima and Nagasaki ‘nuclear tests’ https://www.nationofchange.org/2023/08/03/decades-later-the-us-government-called-hiroshima-and-nagasaki-nuclear-tests/

Commemorating Hiroshima And Nagasaki Bombings
https://popularresistance.org/commemorating-hiroshima-and-nagasaki-bombings/

Military.com Op-Ed Calls for Military Draft
https://scheerpost.com/2023/08/02/military-com-op-ed-calls-for-military-draft/

How to Ignore 4.5 Million Deaths
https://fair.org/home/how-to-ignore-4-5-million-deaths/

'Will Literally Change Lives': Massachusetts Legislature Approves Universal Free School Meals https://www.commondreams.org/news/will-literally-change-lives-massachusetts-legislature-approves-universal-free-school-meals

Patrick Lawrence: Reading the Mess the Democrats Have Made
https://scheerpost.com/2023/08/02/patrick-lawrence-reading-the-mess-the-democrats-have-made/

Report Details 'Shocking Pattern' of Abuse by US Agents at Mexico Border https://www.commondreams.org/news/migrant-abuse

The Forever War’s Forever Legacy https://scheerpost.com/2023/08/03/the-forever-wars-forever-legacy/

Deep State? Or American Mafia? https://julianmacfarlane.substack.com/p/deep-state-or-american-mafia

Judge Orders DOI to Move on Rule for Tribes Reapplying for Federal Recognition https://truthout.org/articles/judges-orders-doi-to-move-on-rule-for-tribes-reapplying-for-federal-recognition/


Another 165 million people join more than one billion in poverty as cost of government debt servicing soars
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/08/02/kxiy-a02.html

 
UPS-Teamsters: The Strike That Wasn't, The Tentative Agreement, Union Leadership and The Upcoming Vote | How Did We Miss That? https://indienewsnetwork.substack.com/p/ups-teamsters-the-strike-that-wasnt

Wage Gains at UPS Have Amazon Workers Demanding More
https://www.labornotes.org/2023/08/wage-gains-ups-have-amazon-workers-demanding-more 

Headlines and front lines: How US news coverage of wars in Yemen and Ukraine reveals a bias in recording civilian harm https://theconversation.com/headlines-and-front-lines-how-us-news-coverage-of-wars-in-yemen-and-ukraine-reveals-a-bias-in-recording-civilian-harm-209652

 

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 via the buttons on any post 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! 

 

Seen on (formerly known as) Twitter:

Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, just recorded a heat index of 136°F (57.8°C) at midnight.

A heat index that high is near the limits of human survival. pic.twitter.com/nFRPhJWyM7

— Colin McCarthy (@US_Stormwatch) August 6, 2023