A Much Needed Anthem

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgDQyFeBBIo&rco=1

 The people are rising! 

We are not free until Palestine is free.

We are not free until everyone is free.

And that goes for  all living things! 

Ultimately, this is so much bigger than Israel and Palestine, it is about colonialism and the manipulative tactics of politicians/media.

While we need to stay focused on the horrors happening in Gaza, protesting for Palestine is, automatically, a protest against all atrocities and for all human rights. 

Let it sink in: concerning this conflict, Biden and Trump are on the same side. They both condone and encourage the shameful, harmful police brutality committed against US students and faculty. An older, male professor had 9 ribs broken by the police. I've broken 3, it's no joke. It is also important to note that some of the US police are trained by the Israeli military.

This should make it very clear to everyone that the democrats and republicans are not here for the people, but solely money and power. 

The plight of the Palestinians is another sickening example of  the colonial/capitalist world we inhabit. A world that demeans some and elevates others, a world that plunders, enslaves and abuses. A world consumed by power and bereft of compassion. Indifference at best and racist, conniving and cruel at worst.

The people are seeing this now, really seeing it. The plight of the The reaction of Western powers and Israeli officials to Palestine has opened our eyes so wide that we can't look away. The binds of conditioning and propaganda are straining as we push forward into a new way of being.

But this awareness, this heartfelt fire for justice and change, for peace has nothing to do with religion and ethnicity. 

Just as the Palestinians didn't chose their oppressor, the protesters didn't chose them either. Therefore, accusing protesters of anti-Semitism is a cop out, a distraction, and a vile smear to undermine valid and needed calls for divestment and a ceasefire. Zionism is colonialism and, ultimately, no different than the colonization of land now called the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. 

Detractors argue, though not in good faith, that if the protestors are genuine they should be protesting all the other wars and atrocities world wide. Why pick and choose unless you're anti-Semitic? 

The answer being that while the West, in some capacity, likely, had/has a hand in any global conflict, the West doesn't blatantly support the bloodshed like it does with Israel. 

And in the case of Ukraine, the West fully supports its right to defend itself against the oppressor, yet in the same breath supports the oppressor of Palestine. Hypocrisy. 

Hypocrisy. Lies. Evasiveness. Omission. Performative outrage. Misleading. Misquoting. Lack of context. 

The tools of suppression and division. Hone in on the language and tone of news reporters and politicians. See how they spin the same story to suit an agenda, to manipulate and deceive. Propaganda. To control. To stay in power.

This video really sums up some of the topsy turvy realities of this current moment.

The Kavernacle, "The Rise of Woke Fascism" 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qQISvfwnn0 

Naomi Klein's book, "Doppleganger" another excellent breakdown of these crazy times.

And her recent Seder in the Streets speech

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U75KcMUjMyI

For people that have never informed themselves about the founding of Israel, it may be easy to stay in the mindset of, yeah, I know there is a power imbalance, and I know that there was colonization and current occupation, but it's complicated and neither side is really in the right. And don't the Jewish people need their own land after all the horrors they've endured. I don't want to take sides.

I understand this mindset. It is one I have, more or less, had myself.  The full details of the founding of Israel and continued atrocities, have been swept away like the memory of thriving Palestinian villages and cities destroyed and eclipsed by the building of Israel. 

But the utterly shocking and disturbing details are there. Found in memoirs, diaries, notes, witness accounts. The Israeli historian Ilan Pappé has compiled such information and presents it in a harrowing read called, "The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine".   

  

This world movement in all its many forms: street protests, student protests, confronting law makers, disrupting political speeches and events is exciting and necessary and an example of a positive aspect of the internet.   

One of the negatives being the conspiracy theories now cropping up to undermine the true meaning and impact of  these protests. Yawn! Sigh! 

That usually revolve around a particular Jewish billionaire. Talk about anti-Semitic. 

 

 

A nice person in a cruel world

Oh, they were too nice, is a sentence uttered by some to explain why a person was picked on, bullied, taken advantage of. 

But to my mind, this is a skewed perspective.

One isn't too nice, the aggressor is an asshole.

You are never responsible for another person's abuse. Mean behavior is the problem of the person meting it out, never the victim. 

However, developing confidence in who you are is a huge deterrent to these types of people. They will cower in your positive self-image and mental health. 

One can be a lovely, caring, thoughtful, in short, a NICE PERSON, without being a target, without being naïve. 

Niceness is not a weakness.

And a man who develops gentleness is very powerful. 

It it easy to give into anger and aggression, but it takes work, self-control and honesty to be decent. Never suppress your anger, step back and interrogate it, get help if you can. Being vulnerable is scary, especially for men. 

From day one, it seems, males are steadily conditioned to hide their feelings. An insidious societal message propagated despite its negative effects. A belief so entrenched that men suffering from its effects nevertheless reinforce its hold. 

Yet culture isn't static. It strains and shifts and evolves. And with its righteous outrage it jumps forward only to clash with opposition to change. Opposition made more effective through the internet: social media, influencers. And this is, sadly, the case with messaging concerning males. 

The more we move forward, the more it is opposed and the more we power on. Culture does change!

Life is change! Never give up!

One of my favorite kid's books is "The Story of Ferdinand".

A beautiful message of the power in gentleness and how manliness has many expressions and forms.

An Ox/Bull is an excellent symbol of the gentle being, a gentle man. While they can certainly kick some ass if needed (needed being the operative word, and is a trait human men should aspire to. i.e., if one is being attacked and/or needs to protect someone), as well as have incredible strength (strong as an ox), they are herbivores. They don't kill for power.

Which leads nicely into VEGANISM. And vegan men.

Vegan males endure lame insults to their manhood: soy boy, weakling, feminine, yet, they carry on confident that they are on the right path speaking up for the voiceless. The abused. 

And so, we come full circle back to the abused. 

Animals are not responsible for the abuse they receive from us. They are not second rate earth dwellers here for our use. They should be protected and respected as equal beings on this planet.

Listed below are some powerful, male vegan activists (all found on YouTube and there are many more, along with amazing and powerful female ones and couples).

Earthling Ed

Joey Carbstrong

David Ramms

Lifting Vegan Logic

Happy, Healthy Vegan

Plant Based News

Animal Rising

Cliff Grant

Plant Chompers

Debug your Brain

Some boos to check out (also found in audio).

Ed Winters, "This is Vegan propaganda".

Alex Lockwood, "The Pig in Thin Air".

Defining Freedom

 

 

Lost the day you knew your name

conformed to gender,

culture, shame.

 

Likes, beliefs are they your own,

or seeds of thought from

parents sown.

 

Endless want, how it requires

a stern dictator

called desire.

 

Freedom elusive?

Conclusive.

A Reflection on Water and Women

 

It is said that life began in the ocean, submerged in the amniotic fluid of the Great Mother. Then compelled, those living things emerged onto dryness, solidness, despite the challenges of harshness, locomotion, desiccation, sensory alterations, breathing in, breathing out. They moved away from lightness and the soothing embrace of this ancient womb.

Water increasingly became a separate domain, one you had to learn to maneuverer through, one that contained immense and inhospitable depths. We, bit by bit, severed our initial connection to this feminine force.

The cut of the umbilical cord.

As a mother you fear for the safety of your children. Does the Great Mother worry about us on our terrestrial journey? 

She provides us with nourishment, like we do our children. When we ignore her, defy her, deny her, she forgives us like we do our teenagers. We long to move on, we yearn for expansion and she allows it like we do our adults. She enthralls our senses with colour and contour, flora lush and scented, sandy to iced terrain, wind song, bird song, sweetness and spice, an abundance of delights. 

And do we thank her?

She speaks to us through nature and the nature of animals. 

But do we listen? 

She reprimands us with stormy outpourings, rises up in floods of frustration. 

But do we learn?

She let life move on with unconditional love, the gestation period had passed. The labour, the rise and fall of the waves as life pushed up and fell back, up and back had ended. And there in the open air it was freed from the tangle of seaweed twine left behind on the shore like placental remains.

As our mother, does she delight in our every advancement? We must be in our teenage stage of development, defiant and hungry for autonomy, though we know in our cells, our blood, the deepest regions of our brains this profound disconnection to the feminine source. It invites the abuse of the earth, which is her body, and is mirrored in the subjugation of females and all those deemed lesser.

Water like the feminine spirit is versatile and resilient. Contain it, freeze it, boil it, dam it abuse it, it still flows with so much power you can’t endlessly suppress its force. It will patiently erode at barriers to eventually wash over unyielding landscapes. Soft and soothing, gentle and intimidating. Mysterious depths. Alluring, playful and inspiring. Capricious and reliable.  Impossible to live without.  Beautiful, life giving and sustaining. 

We thirst for it.

Stardust

 

Happy Easter? A question for non-vegan Christians

Nothing says rebirth, renewal, and new life like the mass slaughter of lambs. 

How is slaughtering and eating a helpless, young, farmed creature the acceptable and expected Easter celebration?

I ask this question not only to Christian, but to any other celebrants that partake in ritualized lamb eating.

It doesn't make sense. 

At least, not these days.

Maybe, way back when, sacrificing an animal, and/or indulging in a feast of flesh had some relevance in context to the setting. Unlike now, people did not understand that the seasonal cycle was a cosmic/earthly certainty.* 

People needed reassurance that the sun would return and the harvest would be plentiful. They sacrificed to those beings they deemed to be in control, as a prayer, as a thank you. They ate heartily in celebration and gratitude. But the times have changed.

I am aware that lambs are slaughtered at a later stage than shown in the picture above, nevertheless, they are still babies. Or a baby is the coveted age.

According to this article, older lambs, and even mutton are sold due to the high price of spring lamb, (such a misleadingly cheery name.) 

https://www.irishtimes.com/food/2024/03/29/why-the-lamb-you-bought-for-easter-is-probably-not-spring-lamb/

This article gives a matter of fact account of the practice. For example, the mutton section appears to be written without the author batting an eyelid.**

On one side, this is good. It is, at least, honest. But the author's disconnect to the animals as more than a commodity is disturbing. Also, there's no talk of slaughterhouses, no pictures of bloody lambs. No in-depth details of overworked farmers and slaughterhouse employees (veganism concerns human suffering as well).

So, is the article really that honest? 

To use Christian terminology: in my view, hell is factory farms, slaughterhouses, prisons and war zones. And they are all on earth and created by humans.

*Although, that is highly debatable when Neolithic symbols and structures are taken into account.

**Mutton are sheep older than three. In Ireland these are mostly ewes traded into the meat plants as “cull ewes”. They are culled because they don’t go into lamb, have traits you don’t want to breed from such as lameness or they can’t feed themselves because of teeth problems. These are called “broken mouthed ewes” and this can occur from the age of five.

 

Freedom?

 "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall?" 

That iconic line form the Ronald Regan, Berlin Wall speech, 1987. 

So what does that mean? Well, at face value it means give those people their rightful freedom.

OK. So far, so good. Now let's flesh that out a bit. You have a leader from a democratic country imploring another leader to free the people trapped by his government's political ideology. 

What can one deduce from that other than US, the good guys, Russia the bad. In other words: communism bad, capitalism good. And break that down further: the only alternative to communism is capitalism. And even further: capitalism equals democracy, communism equals authoritarianism/totalitarianism.

But is this really the case?

Not in such a black and white sense. While abuse is certainly associated with Soviet treatment of the people trapped behind the Iron Curtain, as well as other so-called communist regimes, we know, that despite singing their own praises of the land of the free and the bastion of democracy, the US is far from being the good guys, and that goes for all Western countries.

Let's take a look at some examples of government violence against its own people, east and west. The Tiananmen Square protest and massacre in China. Protestors wounded and murdered in Soviet countries. Stalin's Great Purge. The Kent State Massacre of student antiwar protesters in Ohio, USA, the brutal execution of Americans Ethel and Julius Rosenberg accused of espionage, the forcing of Japanese Americans into concentration camps during WWII. *

Now let's look at examples of government violence against other people. The colonization of America, of Africa, of India, the invasion and sinicization of Tibet, the soviet invasion of Afghanistan. *

And government tactics: encourage people to snitch on each other. Make sure there are constant culture wars. Stoke fear, surveil.   

So. No good guys to be seen. Ultimately, just two sides of the same coin, especially in the case of the US and Russia. 

And what about the so-called Western democracies. Is that really the case when the elected officials don't reflect the will of the people or  consistently have their well-being in mind? 

Now, let's ask the question: must a communist ideology always go hand in hand with an authoritarian government? 

The answer is yes and no. 

Yes, if you have to trick the people into it by sweet talking them with populism, wowing them with charisma, deceiving, confusing, and eliciting their worst impulses with propaganda, and/or coercing them with fear and brutality. (Much of the same can be said for western tactics). People don't like to be forced into things. They will always resist and inevitably rebel. So control is needed. 

Yes, if there is still hierarchy present within the system. 

As with all societal change, people must come to the conclusion on their own that there is a way beyond capitalism. For many it will follow a crisis of utter disillusionment, an awareness that opens their eyes and minds to the egregious and unavoidable inequality inherent within the capitalist system: the perpetuated divide between the classes, the races. The culture wars. The confusion, mis- and disinformation.  

The key to a avoiding authoritarianism is to have, absolutely, no hierarchy in the new setup. Of course, natural leaders will emerge, but they are not better or special. Not deserving of more than others. And they must be monitored. Individual power can and usually does lead to negative outcomes. Collective power when heart centered (not mob violence) can lead to positive outcomes. But then the leaders must be kept in check or the oppressed become the oppressors, e.g. the French Revolution, Israel. 

Even parents are meant to be facilitators. They don't own their children. And while they are responsible for them and have a certain level of control over them, the relationship should be based on respect, not overreach.

Individual power is too much to handle and leads to corruption and, ultimately, a type of insanity. Hence the expression: Drunk on power. The energy of power must be dispersed equally throughout a community. Ultimate people power! Yet, it doesn't stop there. That community must then keep itself in check, lest they feel the urgency to force their way of life onto others. We could think of it like one person harnessing all the sun's energy. Everything else would suffer, and the individual would burn up. Which brings to mind the story of Icarus. 

Nuclear weapons are a literal image of power gone crazy.

Despite, the propaganda laden image of equality within communism fed to those trapped behind the iron curtain, the Soviet and East German governments were firmly and comfortably at the top. Corrupt and power tripping they exemplified the "Animal Farm" line of, All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. (As does, and always has, the US government and elites).

Another very important question is: why does Western democracy always go hand in hand with capitalism?

Is it the freedom to be greedy? The freedom to exploit? The freedom to be manipulated by cooperate advertising and lobbying? The freedom to consume and consume and always be wanting? Is capitalism not, in some ways, an illusion of freedom? The better your financial situation, the more freedom you have.

It is true that, generally, East Berliners lived their lives maintaining a low profile. No one wanted to stand out to the Stasi or Wall guards.  But I'd imagine, that's what many African Americans also do. Trying to avoid police harassment, being suspected of shoplifting, scaring the white women on the same side of the street.

So, in a capitalist country, economic inequality is a wall, race is a wall. And yet some white people still insist that there is no white privilege. Of course, the higher you are on the financial ladder the more privilege you have. But when it comes to poor people in the western system, especially in the US, African Americans will always be on the lowest rung.  Low socioeconomic status. A very thick wall indeed. That's not taking into account native tribal peoples who, tragically, really are in their own ignored marginalized category. 

Some might argue that the Church is the authority we should be following and submitting to. In Soviet Poland and the GDR, as well as Ireland in a different context and time, the Church was a haven for the oppressed. Yet the Church, as most, if not all religions, is built on patriarchal hierarchy and cultivates bigotry and division.

Can we not move beyond all this to a true egalitarian society, a true democracy that incorporates the perfect balance of individualism and collectivism? Not self-centered American style individualism, or dreary cold war collectivism, but a society that accepts and cherishes self-expression in all its many forms, and encourages looking out for each other. A world like this would require work, it would be an ongoing process, but I believe that people have it in them. We need to cultivate our inherent compassion and community spirit. 

oscail do chroí  

 *There are many more examples!

Thoughts About America from an Expat

Another True Red, White and Blue

The glossed over atrocities of the United States (historic and current), are woven into the attitude of its government and the many propagandized citizens. It is apparent in the brazen patriotism: a childlike or childish defense of all things American based on, indoctrination, omission and outright lies. Contrary to the stereotype, Americans aren't stupid, just woefully uninformed and insular. And that's just how the government wants them.

As a child growing up in the US I, of course, learned about the violent displacement of the indigenous peoples, but only on a superficial level and right along with the glory of The Founding Fathers, The Pilgrims and The Revolution. I never learned about the horrendous boarding schools, the infected blankets and so on, in short, the genocide. I never learned about the Filipino war or much about the Korean war. If some Hollywood films told the story of corruption and CIA meddling, more films sang the praises of the US, insidiously or outright. This not only made me receptive to American exceptionalism, it also kept me in a state of cognitive dissonance. How was the US so exceptional when also so bad. But that's the key. Ramp up the exceptionalism to the point where no matter what the US does to another culture/country, US citizens believe it was a necessary act. That is, if they even learn about it. 

Now, the US is certainly not alone in using extreme savagery to sort out the so called savages, the British are a prime example of a country adept at this. But that is irrelevant. It also doesn't matter that some of the victims of US imperialism weren't great themselves. These are not excuses for colonization, coups, invasions, bombs, torture and on and on and on. Even worse (if possible), when committed by a country that sells itself as the heroes of the world and tells its own people fairy tales. 

I don't think that the American people of today (and that goes for other colonizing countries as well) need to live in perpetual guilt for what their ancestors did, but they need to learn about the history, ALL OF IT, every last detail. See it for what it was and should never be again. Informed they can decide what they think of their country: do they want to leave, or stay and make it a better place? Face the past, process it and move on. This would free up US citizens of any burden they may carry, as well as making them more compassionate and wiser people. It would also allow the victims of this tyranny to be truly seen, thus initiating healing from intergenerational trauma. Respect Due! *

Sadly, the US has no intention of stepping down from their pedestal. No intention of telling the stark truth. There will be no war crime trials for any politicians. The Republicans will present the past as a necessity that, actually, had some handy advantages for the victims, and the Democrats will pay lip service to some of the US crimes while engaging in current ones. America may not always send troops, but they will send weapons. Hypocrisy and gaslighting continue.   

Despite this, I'm pleased to see many young Americans now aware of this fact, and articulate it well, along with some good, online, alternative news sources and commentary. The lid's off the box and the truth is flying out. Heartening and exciting, but not enough. So many still respond with either visceral defensiveness if their righteous image is challenged, or with a softer, 'but we meant well' attitude. Their own identity is so wound up in the US identity, they must excuse any wrong doing. 

But, as said, there is no excuse. You can't use the other side's bad behavior as a reason to invade, attack, colonize, interfere etc. If that's your criterion then the U.S. would be long gone. 

I read a comment by a German guy stating that after World War II, a part of Germany should have been given to the Jewish people for them to establish a homeland. For a moment, I was like, that would have been a great idea. And then it dawned on me. No, because the US would have just created another Western type country in place of Israel. That's not even taking into account the Christian and Judaic reasons for wanting Israel to remain where it currently is. 

Alas, the trauma of the Jewish people has been exploited to create an unstable and manipulative set up. An enabled cycle of fresh trauma and revenge deeply tragic for all the people living there. A situation that has now escalated into a genocide of Palestinians.**

Thoughts on responses to this type of critique:

If you criticize the US, you're bound to get a comment along the lines of: you spout a lot of hate towards your country without even realizing how great it is that you can speak freely without persecution.

But is this always true? There are examples where it is not. The Red Scare, for one. Malcom X another. And there are more.

Regardless, isn't the whole point of freedom of speech that you can criticize your government without persecution? So, therefore use it. Just because a country has positive aspects, it doesn't give the government carte blanche to do whatever they want. Should they not be held accountable? Very counterproductive to have the freedom to speak out, but then don't because you're so lucky to be able to.

Then there is the counter argument that no country is an angel and would do the same as the US if they could. 

OK. Let's look at invasions of the US. There was 9/11, Pearl Harbor, The Germans and Russians would have liked to. And there was Britain and Mexico. But what about a foreign coup attempt on the US? Or an assassinate attempt? Or lying about weapons of mass destruction as a ploy to invade?  And even if it is true that most countries are fueled by megalomania, greed and conquest, it is no excuse for America's actions. Of course, a country, a people, have every right to defend themselves, but not invade, bomb and meddle. Time and time again! 

Furthermore, I don't accept that the current way of the world is the way it has to be. Are humans not meant to evolve as a species? Do we not pride ourselves on our civilized ways? If so, then why do we not live up to this professed goodness? 

But for those Americans who use that excuse in defense of their beloved country, if bullying is the way of the world, why then does the government whitewash their atrocities and worse hide them?  Could it be that humans are inherently compassionate with a strong moral compass? And knowing this, the powers that be not only trick you into believing violence is good and necessary, they trick you into believing that struggle, strife and scrambling to the top are the fundamentals of human existence.***

Is it not time that governments world-wide start reflecting the will and ethics of the people?

Why defend a country that lies to you, disrespects your intelligence and actively tries to dumb you down? Why defend a country, any country that claims to be civilized and at the same time rationalizes the slaughter of children.

The US presents a false image to its citizens and the world. They are the purveyors of goodness delivered from the moral high ground. Live up to that or fess up!

Oh and one more thing. No, the US is not the freest and most wonderful place to live in. I have lived in the UK, Germany and Ireland and have never felt my freedoms were less. In fact, the standard of living was/is higher in many respects.

The US doesn't even show up in the top searches for best county or place to live in.

Do keep in mind that US interference causes destabilization in the targeted countries, and then Americans have the nerve to not want these people showing up at their borders as migrants and asylum seekers. Equally abhorrent is to then accuse these countries of being backwards and inferior, violent and unable without seeing  or admitting to America's hand in it all. This type of argument is used against African Americans, and, in all cases, is used to excuse state sanctioned violence against people.

*But, of course, those who still benefit from the spoils of slavery, genocide, and colonization (e.g. Germany, The US, The UK) can not fully acknowledge and respect the victims. Or, in the case, of Germany, the gnawing guilt manifests as a terrible allegiance to your former victims. And then  there are the similarities between Israel and US origins. It's no wonder some Americans can't condemn Israel when their own county was founded in a similar style. 

**Every criticism that can be said of the Israeli government's horrific handling of Palestine can be said about any colonizing country. Therefore, the tactic of smearing everyone who speaks out against it as anti-Semitic is not only disingenuous, it also undermines the actual legitimate meaning of anti-Semitism. And though this conflation is touted as the path to safety for the Jewish people, (along with the unrelenting, brutal assault on Palestine), it does a disservice to the people they claim to protect. Those who, hitherto, had never questioned the actions of Israel are now doing just that. And as they question and are then accused of anti-Semitism, the term becomes a weapon to silence and not a definition of active, terrible hate. 

***If religion is meant to be the path of finding human morality and keeping you there, why do so many religious institutions embrace violence using the same excuses as most world governments?