American Dream.

        America, the richest country in the world, though that might not be too accurate when you consider it massive debt. Never the less, in capitalist terms, it is the richest country in the world. The image it portrays to the rest of the world  is America is the land of plenty, opportunity, and of course the "American dream". Unemployment at a record low, stock market ever rising, money, money everywhere. Often we are shown how poverty thrives in "third world" countries, but America, it is the shining example of good living, and prosperity. Of course, it is a capitalist country, and anyone who knows how the system works will be well aware, that is an illusion. 

         40 million plus, Americans live below the poverty line, homelessness is mushrooming, medical care is not for everybody.

A couple of videos and extracts from Peak Prosperity: 

At least, it has been.
        Recently, it’s become impossible not to see the signs that more and more people are falling into poverty. They just can’t afford the rising cost of living, even if they have a job.
       Here where I live, nowhere is this more apparent than the Joe Rodota trail connecting my small town of Sebastopol with the nearby city of Santa Rosa. Over the past year, this previously quiet, clean, bike & pedestrian route has exploded into a sprawling homeless encampment for hundreds of dispossessed people.
        Here’s a 2-minute video I took of the encampment this afternoon (h/t to my daughter Charlotte for manning the camera as I drove):

And:

      If you have the time, I recommend watching this 45-minute documentary on US poverty produced by a German public broadcast service. Currently more than 40 million Americans live beneath the poverty line — that’s twice as many as in 1970.
       Viewing our country through their outsider’s eye is a stark warning that we ignore this metastasizing social epidemic at our peril:       Back to my question at the start of this post: What’s it going to take? How many more millions will fall into poverty? How much more abuse will continue until of those of us paying attention, with growing fear at the social implications and perhaps at our own financial vulnerability, actively revolt against the elite-centric status quo?
       For thousands of years, history has warned us that such social imbalance will not stand:

Read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk 

What If------!!

          Some thoughtful words from Not Buying Anything:

       What is the ethos of our time? Most people would agree that it is the American Dream, or globally speaking, the Consumer Dream.
An ethos is defined as "the characteristic spirit of a culture, era, or community as manifested in its beliefs and aspirations." So ours is something like - work hard and you will be able to buy everything you have ever wanted. As nice as this lie sounds, it has had some unintended consequences.
         There are currently several individuals in the world that are in the running for designation "First Trillionaire". They truly exemplify the ethos of our day, which could also be read as "The Ethos of More".
But only for me. Not for you. My gain is at your expense because there is a scarcity of everything. There is not enough so we have to compete with each other, and winner takes all. This is a distortion of the facts when we live in an infinitely abundant universe. “If you perceive the universe as being a universe of abundance, then it will be. If you think of the universe as one of scarcity, then it will be… 

         I always thought that there was enough to go around - that there are enough ideas in the universe and enough nourishment. It’s very hard to move beyond the idea that there is not enough to go around, to move beyond that sense of ‘I better get mine before anybody else takes it away from me’.” 

- Milton Glaser

       Our current ethos, The Consumer Dream, has become The Planetary Nightmare.We need a new characteristic spirit to guide us, one diametrically opposed to the one we have today.
        In an abundant world there is plenty to address everyone's need, but there will never be enough to fulfil the greed of even a few. Needs are finite, while greed is unlimited.
        What if we are not as greedy as the economists tell us we are? Maybe we don't have infinite wants, or wouldn't if it weren't for being immersed in profit propaganda and advertising our whole lives. Maybe, with a new world view, people would give simplicity a try, and discover that a simple life of limited wants is a sustainable, happy existence. It is enough.
Imagine if, in an Ethos of Abundance, we all thought that there was more than enough to satisfy the needs of every human on the planet. In such a world view we could freely share the gifts of Earth with everyone taken care of in the healthiest way possible.
        In such a world we would spend our time taking care of ourselves and those around us in a spirit of cooperation and sharing. Most people would agree that this would be preferable to competition and perpetual war.
         It is an idea whose time has come. Goodbye American Dream, hello Enough For Everyone. Gift what you can - receive what you need.

"What if...

Everyone started sharing, just a little bit
With everyone else,
something that they liked to do
and didn’t charge for it?

I like making art and growing plants.
In current society, I have to sell
“things” or my “time” to live.

But if I gave some of my art
And some of my plants away,
And other people gave away some of what they do
Before long our society
Would have a different shape.

I believe we would soon have
More time for 'giving'
than for 'selling'."

- Candace Ross

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

GUNS AND STATE VIOLENCE.

        There is a lot of sound and fury going on in America at the moment about guns, should they be banned, should certain types of guns be banned. Of course the gun lobby keeps up the cry that guns don't kill, it is people. Others say that it is rage that is at the root of all those shootings and massacres. Of course there is rage in America, perhaps it is because, even subconsciously, the American people now realise that "the American dream" was an illusion, it was a con, perpetrated by the corporate world.  It never did reach all Americans and it is doubtful if it ever reached anywhere near the majority of the American people. It was a propaganda weapon that kept everybody beavering away with the selfish desire that they were going to make it big time. They were going to get up the ladder higher than others and accrue more than others. A little bit of rationalism would have told them, that can't happen to everybody, so the dream was flawed from its inception. On the matter of guns, my only question is, what are guns for? Their only purpose is to kill, that is what they were designed to do, they are not fashion adornments, they surely aren't status symbols. Somewhere in the psyche of gun lovers there must be some link with the guns only purpose. Of course simply banning guns will not stop murders and massacres, but turning away from the love of guns might change that psyche.

      However, I see American society as a microcosm of the American state. Across the globe we see America indulging in mass killings by the biggest guns on earth, they make it quite obvious that they take it as right that they should solve what they deem to be problems, with firepower, but throw their hands in the air in anguish when individuals do like wise. Throughout our history, guns have always meant power, as we rampaged across the planet raping and plundering its resources, but this violent response to what the state sees as problems, is labeled morally right and stamped legal, but that violence is meant to be its prerogative. When individuals and groups do likewise to solve their problems, it is labeled morally wrong and stamped illegal. It is obviously a flawed system. 

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