Is This The Year For Political Revolution?

Is This The Year For Political Revolution?

by Still Bernin'

Will 2018 turn out to be one of those legendary years such as 1776 (the start of the American Revolution) or 1941 (WWII begins for the US) or 1969 (man lands on the moon)? Or will 2018 be just another year full of groaning and moaning by  ordinary Americans about how they're being taken advantage of by the super-wealthy 1%, but no one really does anything to change things or shake things up?

I'm hoping we'll be motivated to speak out and take action in 2018, but I have to be realistic.  When you're struggling to  keep a roof over your head and food in your stomach, it's hard to pull together enough time, energy and resources to do anything about your dire situation. You're living moment to moment. 

It's exactly the situation the elite class wants us to be in--too tired to fight. Our unbearable circumstances force us to protest until we're simply exhausted. Then we'll give up and give in. But this is exactly the reason why we need to keep fighting and keep  protesting until we see change... because if we don't stand up for ourselves who will?

After binge-watching the alternative history drama series The Man in the High Castle this past week, I'm beginning to see a disturbing pattern of behavior emerging from the present administration, a pattern very reminiscent of the past. The Nazis had no qualms about saying they were the party of "family and motherhood" all the while they were rounding up "undesirables" such as the Jews, Gypsies, Slavs, disabled and sick and sending them to gas chambers. The American Nazis portrayed in High Castle are every bit as willing and able to fulfill their beloved fuhrer's wishes of ridding the world of "imperfect people" and, with typical American enthusiasm, they become quite good at it. 

It's hard not to make comparisons between the drama series and our country's current situation, on both the domestic front and the international front. The "Greater Reich" of North America can't stand their neighbors to the west--the Japanese Empire controlled "Pacific States"--and so the Nazis are willing to invent a pretense to go to war with the Empire and drop another atomic bomb and then take the Empire's land and resources. (The saber-rattling of the Trump White House toward North Korea springs to mind, but they're are so many other examples from the so-called "War on Drugs" to our drone bombing program.) Coming up with creative lies and excuses to rev up the Military-Industrial Complex in order to steal from others is as old as time itself.

Getting back to our reality and our hand-to-mouth existence as the 99%, why have we allowed things to progress so far? Why do we sit back and allow such despotism (even in its natal form) to take hold in our country? Don't we have any sense of morality--or has that been sold to pay on our college tuition debt?

One thing I take away from a dystopian fictional world is that anything is possible in the realm of human existence. Those in power can take away our civil rights and our very lives and still sleep soundly at night. They  claim to be acting out "God's will" (or their "Leader's will") and they are protecting society's structure and families, at least those of a certain race, social class, and wealth, that is. 

The rich don't fear sleeping in the cold and going hungry very much, now do they?

No credentialed economist denies how the income gap between the rich and poor is widening and worsening worldwide. Jeff Bezos, Amazon head honcho, didn't become the richest man in the world in 2017 (at a worth of $100 billion) all by himself. He did it on the backs of his employees--one of the most punitively overworked group of workers to be found in recent times. Evil is still evil even when it comes with free shipping in a box with a smile on the side.

Those of us subjugated to threats to our health and humanity by the oligarchy should fight back. We can resist. Even more, we can take action. We must take action. It's time to stop cooperating with evil and fight for the greater good.

Our destiny is in our hands. Make a resolution that 2018 is the year of the people, not the corporations and their paid-off political lackeys... or else there may not even be a next year to look forward to.

BIO: Still Bernin' is waiting for more revolutionaries to step up and take the lead on everything from health care for all to saving the world from the effects of climate change. Won't you join our cause? Check out some reasons to join us below.

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RIP Kris Johnson, the Quiet Revolutionary

It's with a heavy heart we announce the sudden passing of our sister in the political revolution, Kris Johnson. Kris was a retired dietitian and an avid supporter of social justice causes from Medicare for All to urban farming and organic agriculture. She and her husband served as missionaries to Tanzania in the 1960s.

Kris attended every meeting of the Our Revolution in Northwest Ohio group as well as many other area social justice organizations. She was soft spoken but effective in her witness. She was always there to lend a hand, raise a sign, and be a friend. She will be sorely missed. Heaven is lucky to have her as its newest resident. Kris will make sure everyone is taken care of and receiving the attention they deserve. 

Never forget to thank your fellow revolutionaries for their time and efforts --you never know when you'll see them again in this life. Remember, the revolution continues. Vow to keep fighting the good fight in their names!

2017

RIP Scott Galindez

RIP Erica Garner
RIP Kris Johnson 
among many others.

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MoveOn.org notes some successes the progressive community had a hand in bringing about in the past twelve months in the following video:

 

Another optimistic view of 2017 from a peace activist:
10 Good Things about a TERRIBLE Year by Medea Benjamin
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/12/25/10-good-things-about-terrible-year

Heads up--the Koch Brothers are spending millions to sell us on the GOP Tax Scam:
https://berniesanders.com/koch-network-launch-multimillion-dollar-campaign-try-convince-americans-support-new-tax-plan/ 

Check out some clips from important interviews of progressive voices from this past year: https://youtu.be/meHlOUiIbtM

January 21 marks the anniversary of the Citizens United ruling. Here are some ways to mark the day with activism:
https://movetoamend.org/january-21st-2018-national-day-action

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From Friends of the Earth: 

Donald Trump and Scott Pruitt are trying to gut the Clean Power Plan and replace it with something far weaker.

That means fossil fuel companies could be allowed to pour even more pollution into our air -- with devastating impacts on public health and the climate.

The Environmental Protection Agency is asking what you think about this plan. So we need you to speak up now!

Tell the Environmental Protection Agency: Any Clean Power Plan replacement must be stronger!

If Trump and Pruitt succeed in weakening the Clean Power Plan, it would undermine the EPA’s ability to limit climate-disrupting emissions. And it could slow down the transition away from dirty coal and natural gas toward clean, renewable energy.

This is the opposite of what we should be doing. Time is running out to prevent climate chaos. We need stronger action to avoid the worst, not a rollback of our existing rules.

So why is Trump slashing our environmental protections? Maybe to help his friends in the fossil fuel industry who funded his campaign -- no matter what the cost to people or our environment.

Stop Trump from gutting our environmental protections: Add your comment now!

Donald Trump doesn’t care about protecting our planet. He only cares about rewarding the fossil fuel industry by increasing its profits.

This isn’t Trump’s first attack on our bedrock environmental protections. He already signed an order to undo the Clean Water Rule. He’s aiming to slash the hard-working staff at the EPA. And he’s trying to hand over our public lands to Big Oil.

But Friends of the Earth members like you are fighting back -- and it’s working. This spring, the Trump administration was planning to hand over millions of acres of our public lands and National Monuments to Big Oil. But after you helped send more than 300,000 comments, Trump backed off and took some of our wild places off the table. This shows that when you speak up, you can force the Trump administration to do the right thing.

The Clean Power Plan should be made even stronger -- not gutted. Will you speak up now to stop Trump’s attacks on our environment?

Help block Trump’s attacks on our environment: Tell the EPA it must strengthen the Clean Power Plan.

Standing with you,
Ben Schreiber,
Senior political strategist,
Friends of the Earth