Heavenly Peace

 Heavenly Peace

by C.A. Matthews

Silent night, holy night. All is calm, all is bright.
‘Round yon virgin mother and child.
Holy infant, so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace!
Sleep in heavenly peace!

There’s nothing in any classic Christmas carol about “Shop until you drop!” There’s nothing about spending tons of cash on gifts, food, travel, clothing, or general rabble-rousing. There’s nothing about “He who dies with the most toys wins,” or how great it is to send billions of dollars in weapons to a proxy war and drone bomb civilians, either. Carols tend to emphasize qualities such as “silence” and “peace.”   

How did we ever find ourselves in the mess we find ourselves in today? To understand where we are now, perhaps it’s best to unravel the string of events that led us here.  

Let’s travel back in time and see where our Christmas celebrations took a turn away from silence and peace and landed us in a pit of noise and turmoil. What wrong step did we take? How can we get back on the path of peace and stillness, away from this madness that calls itself “Christmas” in the 21^st century?

The idea that Christmas was about going broke every December buying numerous superfluous presents for loved ones, friends, co-workers and bosses is a relatively recent invention. Most place the blame on Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s shoulders. Albert and Victoria (both of German descent) introduced the tradition of Christmas trees to the English-speaking world. 

 

Of course, being tremendously wealthy, the royals lavished tons of toys and other gifts on their huge brood of children. The British middle class was coming into its own in the mid-19th century, so they had an overwhelming urge to copy the customs of their young and spendy queen. Hence, the yearly mad rush to the toy and department stores began.

To outdo your middle class neighbors, you had to have the biggest tree with the biggest pile of gifts under it. Competition was not only encouraged in Victorian times, it was practically mandated. This competition started near the beginning of the industrial revolution, and mass-produced items were becoming the “in-thing” to give. Simple gifts of food and drink were seen as inferior and only for the poor and disadvantaged to share with each other on Christmas Eve.

The burgeoning middle class had to have the best their money could buy from the best stores and manufacturers. To aid these not-quite-as-rich-as the-queen folks and guide them toward where  they could purchase the latest mass-produced gift items, a new art form was developed. “Advertising” told the middle class exactly what was the in-thing that year and, more importantly, where it could be purchased and for how much. 

“Be the first family on your street to own this wonderful consumer item!” advertisers shouted, bursting the peace and silence of the beautiful snowy skies.

This is where the Western celebration of Christmas took that big wrong turn.

“Okay,” you say. “Materialism is bad. Unselfish giving of our time and talents is good. We all stop purchasing useless mass-produced goods we never wanted or could use and end this stupid competitiveness, and everything will be hunky-dory, right? We'll start now, and the world will be peaceful before you know it."

But it isn’t, and you know it. We still have hatred, violence, and endless war. What wrong turn did we take there? 

Would you be surprised if I told you it was the same one? 

The same mass production and keeping up with the neighbors and allowing the elites to dictate how we ordinary beings should live our lives has led us into this mess. There can be no “Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Humankind” when there’s money to be made creating billions of useless disposable items—from $1 plastic do-dads to $1 billion bomber aircraft.  

By creating an insatiable need to have more and use more via advertising, we perpetuate the modern myth that Christmas is a holiday for commerce. Because what’s the use of having stockpiles of anything—including weapons—if you don’t have the means to deplete them before next year’s big rush to the “toy” store? Ka-boom!

 

Capitalism depends on endless growth in order to make capitalists (the elite) endless profits. Endless resources are needed to produce ever more mass-produced products for consumers to buy (as they're instructed by advertising to demand more and more) year after year. When the natural resources are depleted at home, capitalists must go abroad and take them. 

 

Sure, capitalists could offer others money and a fair trade, but bombing another country to smithereens and destroying their economy is much more fun, isn’t it? Once you’ve destroyed another country's economy via either a "hot" or "cold" war, you can assume all its resources and use its people as cheap/slave laborers. They have to work for you now, or they don't eat. More profits to be made for the "winning" capitalists. Yeah!

To reiterate, advertising drives the middle class into a frenzy of crass materialism each December, which then leads corporations into destroying our environment in search of the raw resources needed to manufacture these items while also making these corporations vast profits, and these resources are being obtained more and more via endless warfare. Rinse and repeat.

 

A holiday to honor the birth of a man of peace has been co-opted by capitalism and endless wars for resources. Totally and completely co-opted.  

Now that we know how we’ve gotten ourselves into this mess, how can we get out of it? Could it be all we have to do is ignore the propaganda that capitalism is the best economic system ever? (Propaganda is simply another name for the advertising put out by our governments to prop up private corporations destroying our earth in their race to obtain natural resources.) Could it be that all it takes is to stop billionaire CEOs and the endless warfare and sue for peace throughout the world? Could it be that simple?

“Sleep in heavenly peace!” By following words of peace and not those of capitalist warmongers, we will find ourselves surrounded by the beautiful silence of Christmas, where only the celebration of the gift of love is needed.

Related pieces:

The Madness of Nuclear War is Alive and Well in America https://scheerpost.com/2022/12/16/the-madness-of-nuclear-warfare-is-alive-and-well-in-america/ 

Raytheon and Boeing Can't Be Voted Out (video) https://revolutionaryblackout.substack.com/p/raytheon-and-boeing-cant-be-voted

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Seen on Twitter:

It's the final stage of socialism. This ⬇️ but an entire nation, eventually the entire world. pic.twitter.com/LGmjY5koNn

— ♿☭ Nakama Toni 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ (@bamabulldog21) December 12, 2022

20 million killed in WWI is peanuts compared to the stakes in Ukraine proxy war. With 2000 nukes on hair trigger alert and looming risk of nuclear winter, we're all in the cross hairs. #PeaceNow https://t.co/skq1YiCDLO

— Dr. Jill Stein🌻 (@DrJillStein) December 15, 2022

A Ukrainian Embassy reception was sponsored by Northrop, Lockheed and Raytheon, reports @mideastXmidwest. (Not The Onion) https://t.co/U89y7gER8v pic.twitter.com/fNzika6utb

— Eli Clifton (@EliClifton) December 16, 2022

pic.twitter.com/f9Hvecmohb

— We can have a society that honors life🌲🍄🌻 (@TimOnTheTractor) December 20, 2022

 

 Great Americans?

by C.A. Matthews

 

"The Great Man" theory of history says that history is made by certain charismatic individuals. They inspire and lead others into creating a better country, world, and/or universe. Or not.

It got me to thinking... Who are the "Great Americans" who have shaped our recent history? Surely they'd be mentioned quite a bit in the media. So I thought I'd take a stab at it by scanning the headlines of my Facebook and Twitter feeds this past week. These are the names of "Great Americans" I came across.

Donald Rumsfeld

A lot has been written about the late Secretary of Defense--some of it flattering and some of it quite disturbing. Here's a typical summary of this civil servant's life:

Donald Rumsfeld just died at the age of eighty-eight. Obituaries at outlets like the New York Times and CNN consistently mention the same memorable but pointless bits of trivia. He was America’s youngest secretary of defense (in the Ford administration) and the oldest (in the George W. Bush administration). He wrote so many memos about so many subjects that they came to be known as “snowflakes.” Arriving at the Pentagon in the 1970s, the Times tells us, he became famous for “his one-handed push-ups and his prowess on a squash court.”

To see the full absurdity of this, imagine an obituary of Slobodan Milosevic that lingered on innocuous details of his office management style and fondness for soccer, or an obituary of Saddam Hussein that focused on how young he was when he formally became president of Iraq in 1979 and his favorite dessert in his Baghdad palace.  -- Ben Burgis, from Donald Rumsfeld, Rot in Hell https://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/70238-donald-rumsfeld-rot-in-hell

Here are some other articles reminiscing about Mr. Rumsfeld:

Donald Rumsfeld's Legacy Is Defined by the Disastrous Iraq War and America's Disgraceful Use of Torture  https://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/70199-donald-rumsfelds-legacy-is-defined-by-the-disastrous-iraq-war-and-americas-disgraceful-use-of-torture

Rumsfeld Was Not “Controversial.” He Played a Leading Role in Mass Murder  https://truthout.org/articles/rumsfeld-was-not-controversial-he-played-a-leading-role-in-mass-murder

Rumsfeld's Much-Vaunted 'Courage' Was a Smokescreen for Lies, Crime and Death
https://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/70219-rumsfelds-much-vaunted-courage-was-a-smokescreen-for-lies-crime-and-death

What do you think? Is Donald Rumsfeld a "Great American"?

Mike Gravel

The late senator from Alaska made a name for himself when he boldly read the Pentagon Papers into the Congressional Record. Straight-talking and peace-promoting, Gravel's most recent run for the presidency was actually started by his "fans" on Reddit.

There are many stories and videos detailing the life and times of Senator Gravel, and last week's blog featured one of them. Here's another:  Courageous Anti-War Truth Teller --Mike Gravel RIP  https://youtu.be/nmahus6SSfc 

What do you think? Is Mike Gravel a "Great American"?
 
The next one causes me great personal distress, but it's a name that came up repeatedly.

Bill Cosby

Mr. Cosby made the news again recently when his sentence for rape was overturned by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Apparently openly admitting in a civil case to drugging and sexually assaulting 60+ women can be easily dismissed on a technicality.

I grew up watching Bill Cosby on television most days. I loved his Cosby Kids cartoon series and especially enjoyed his "Fat Albert" character. Later on, he became even more famous as a doctor and family man on another long running TV series. That this "bastion of family values" could get away with rape--not once but dozens of times--makes me furious and sick to my stomach.

Cosby's release is more than a slap in the face to his victims--it sets a dangerous precedence that famous men of wealth can expect to receive a different form of justice.

Bill Cosby's Release Is Exactly Why Rape Survivors Don't Come Forward https://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/70200-bill-cosbys-release-is-exactly-why-rape-survivors-dont-come-forward

There's One Man to Blame for Bill Cosby's Release https://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/70207-theres-one-man-to-blame-for-bill-cosbys-release

Bill Cosby, Britney, and a Tale of Two American Justice Systems https://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/70254-bill-cosby-britney-and-a-tale-of-two-american-justice-systems

 What do you think? Is Bill Cosby a "Great American"?

Edward Snowden

Edward Snowden periodically makes the news with his writings, podcasts and video interviews. Of course he's most famous for spilling the beans on how the US government spies on its own citizens.

Exiled to Russia, if Mr. Snowden ever steps a foot again on American soil they'll lock him up the same as they have other whistleblowers. Our government wants to protect us from nasty truths about itself, after all. It's for our own good that we remain in the dark, don't you know.

Edward Snowden: Why Do Conspiracy Theories Flourish? Because the Truth Is Too Hard to Handle https://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/70229-why-do-conspiracy-theories-flourish-because-the-truth-is-too-hard-to-handle

What do you think? Is Edward Snowden a "Great American"?

I realize that those who make the headlines aren't always worthy of the praise--or the slurs--they incur. Americans really need to start thinking hard about how they want our nation to be remembered by future generations of Americans (if there are any). Do we want to be remembered for Rumsfeld or Gravel? Cosby or Snowden?

Or perhaps the real question is, "Will we be remembered at all?"

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The 26th United Nations "Conference of the Parties" (COP) conference -- of parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change -- is scheduled to be held in Glasgow, Scotland, November 1-12, 2021. Click here to tell participants to stop excluding military pollution from climate agreements.
Here's the text of our petition: As a result of final-hour demands made by the U.S. government during negotiation of the 1997 Kyoto treaty, military greenhouse gas emissions were exempted from climate negotiations. That tradition has continued. The 2015 Paris Agreement left cutting military greenhouse gas emissions to the discretion of individual nations. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change obliges signatories to publish annual greenhouse gas emissions, but military emissions reporting is voluntary and often not included. NATO has acknowledged the problem but not created any specific requirements to address it. There is no reasonable basis for this gaping loophole. War and war preparations are major greenhouse gas emitters. All greenhouse gas emissions need to be included in mandatory greenhouse gas emission reduction standards. There must be no more exception for military pollution. We ask COP26 to set strict greenhouse gas emissions limits that make no exception for militarism, include transparent reporting requirements and independent verification, and do not rely on schemes to "offset" emissions. Click here to add your name. -- The RootsAction.org Team www.RootsAction.org

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The fate of the open internet is in the hands of two Trump appointees -- unless Joe Biden acts now. Ajit Pai, who as Federal Communications Commission chair under Donald Trump led the repeal of net neutrality, resigned from the FCC when Joe Biden became president. Nearly half a year later and the fifth FCC seat remains empty. Meanwhile, two of Trump's appointees are still on the FCC. With a 2-2 deadlock, they can continue to block key priorities until the vacancy is filled. In order to reinstate net neutrality and protect internet users from corporate control, we need President Biden to fill the fifth seat.1 Sign the petition: appoint a fifth FCC member and restore net neutrality! ADD YOUR NAME The FCC has a long list of initiatives that can help ensure an open internet for everyone.2 It includes reviving the long-neglected Lifeline program, which helps ensure internet access for low-income customers. As the pandemic made clear, this is a critical priority.3 It also includes guiding federal funds for building broadband infrastructure in an equitable, effective manner. And it includes restoring net neutrality rules dismantled by the Trump administration. But the commission can't move any of these efforts forward without a fifth member appointed by the president. Congress has a limited number of days in session left this year, which means the Senate needs to get that member confirmed and the FCC up and running immediately. Tell President Biden: Help restore a free and open internet by appointing a 5th commissioner to the FCC! Thank you for speaking out, Tal and the team at Watchdog -- a project of Demand Progress DONATE Sources: 1. The Hill, "50 groups urge Biden to fill FCC opening to reinstate net neutrality rules," June 16, 2021. 2. Demand Progress Education Fund, "57 groups call for fifth FCC commissioner," June 14, 2021. 3. FCC, Lifeline program for low-income consumers, June 17, 2021.
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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.

http://paypal.me/camatthews

Thanks for all you do in making the world a better place. Power to the people!

 

The Last Peace Demo

The Last Peace Demo

photos and words by C. A. Matthews

Sunday was the last peace demonstration sponsored by the Northwest Ohio Peace Coalition. At least for now it is. Hopefully by the time this blog is posted a local activist will have picked up the reins and organized the next outing. It's not like there's been a total and complete ceasefire and an end to all armed conflicts on this planet in the last twenty-four hours. With Biden's administration launching bombs on Iranian-sponsored groups in Syria, peace protests and activism are needed now more than ever. (Read: Biden's Bombing of Iraq and Syria Only Serves the Weapons Industry Funding Both Parties.)

The demos in recent years took place on Sundays at noon at the corner of Secor Road and Central Avenue, in front of the Key Bank in the Westgate shopping area of Toledo. It's a very busy intersection. The "Honk for Peace" signs get a lot of responses. But the originators of the Peace Coalition feel that it's time for new blood--read, "younger blood"--to come in and take over and invigorate the group.

Many I spoke with last Sunday said they wanted the Peace Coalition to be known for more than just standing on street corners holding signs and waving at passers-by. They wanted to inspire others to take action. They wanted to teach others how to hold our government accountable whenever it takes arms against other peoples or even our own people, as in the case of police violence against Black Lives Matter marchers and indigenous oil pipeline protesters.

The Northwest Ohio Peace Coalition began shortly after the events of 9/11 and vigorously protested the start of the Iraqi War for Oil. There were large displays of tombstones and boots demonstrating the numbers killed. There were sit-ins of elected officials' offices and arrests made to call attention to the cause for peace. There were buses full of local peace activists heading to Washington DC to march in the streets.

There's great hope there will be similar anti-war activism in the area again--and possibly even greater activism. Now is not the time to be shy. Now is the time to speak out and show up. See you on the corner, in the streets, at the courthouse, sitting-in at your Congressmember's office...

Learn more about how you can be manipulated into supporting armed conflicts. Read Support the Tropes: How Media Language Encourages the Left to Support Wars, Coups and Intervention  https://fair.org/home/support-the-tropes/

Links to learn more about war from World Beyond War:

Guided Missiles, Misguided Policies, and Changing Direction Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love WWIII 

 

Profiting from Misery – A Conversation with the Researchers 

 

Talk World Radio: Michael Messner: Unconventional Combat 

 

Okinawa, Again – The U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Marines Have Poisoned Okinawa’s Water and Fish with Massive Releases of PFAS. Now it’s the Army’s Turn. 

 

How Biden Helped Hardliner Raisi Win Iran Election 

 

People-Powered Planet Podcast 

 

Peace Witness: Zelda Grimshaw, Disrupt Land Forces campaign, Brisbane, Australia 

 

Peace Foundation Criticises Rocket Lab New Zealand Government Response 

 

A World Beyond War – What’s There to Gain, and How Is it Possible? 

 

Remember to Forget the Alamo 

 

Talk World Radio: Julie Varughese on the Unending War on Afghanistan 

 

William Astore, Big Lies Have Consequences, Too

 

War is A Lie With David Swanson 

 

Goodbye to an AUMF 

 

Registering Women for the Draft: Equality in Barbarism? 

 

“Wake Up, the World is Dying”: Now Do Something About It 

 

Beware Atlantic Charters 

 

Activists Banner over Seattle Freeway with Clear Message: “Abolish Nuclear Weapons” 

 

The American Empire of the West Deploys Troops for Battle 

 

Why Democracies in G7 & NATO Should Reject U.S. Leadership

https://youtu.be/G4lZ_QxwAo0

A great person who called for an end to the war in Iraq as well as the end of the Vietnam War, Senator Mike Gravel, passed away this week at the age of 91. Here's a short video that shows some great clips of him in action. If only we had more like him office! Rest In Power, Mike.

If you as an American speak out against war and the Military Industrial Complex, you could be labeled a "terrorist." Jimmy Dore and Ron Placone discuss this disturbing situation.

https://youtu.be/AKGy2hmv8Xk 

Be sure to check out Beanstock's World this week for great videos on the housing crisis, Medicare For All,  and the mishandling of our economic crisis. https://beanstocksworld.wordpress.com/2021/06/27/wakeful-video-weekend-2021-06-27-18-videos/

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Monarch butterflies could become extinct as they wait in line to be listed as endangered. Tell the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect them NOW!

Sign Now

The beautiful, iconic monarch butterfly is introduced to most people in early childhood, whether it's in a picturebook or someone's garden. But they may be going the way of history books if the United States Fish and Wildlife Service continues their delay in designating these creatures as endangered, and affording them all the protections that status would give them. The agency wants to wait four entire years before considering legal preservation for monarch butterflies, even though many scientists say the species has reached the threshold of quasi-extinction — aka the point of no return. Beyond their beauty, monarch butterflies play a vital role in our environment and its various cycles. They are pollinators, bringing to life beautiful wildflowers and other plants. They are also an important food source for many other insects, birds, and small animals. But climate change, thousands of acres of habitat loss, and a decrease in milkweed — the sole source of food for monarch caterpillars — are leading to the quick demise of these important creatures. The two migratory populations of monarch butterflies in the United States have fallen by 80% and 99%. There is clearly no time to delay. Tell the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to classify and protect monarch butterflies as an endangered species NOW! Thank you, Lauren The Care2 Petitions Team P.S. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wants to wait another four years to protect monarch butterflies, but at this rate they could all be dead by then. Sign the petition.

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We're in the midst of a global extinction crisis, with the threads of the web of life disintegrating around us. Every hour a species is lost to extinction, and more than a million could disappear in the coming decades. It's time for Congress to act: Urge your representative to pass the Extinction Crisis Emergency Act. This legislation would direct President Biden to declare the extinction crisis a national emergency. The declaration, under the National Emergencies Act, would unlock key presidential powers to stem the loss of plants and animals in the United States and beyond. The Extinction Crisis Emergency Act would also direct the administration to protect hundreds of species on the waiting list for Endangered Species Act protection, curtail wildlife exploitation, and safeguard critical habitat from coast to coast. We must take bold action before it's too late: Tell your representative to pass the Extinction Crisis Emergency Act. Take Action

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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.

http://paypal.me/camatthews

Thanks for all you do in making the world a better place. Power to the people!