It seems that there are four qualitatively different trends in the world at the beginning of the twenty-first century. On the one hand there is the progressive nationalism of nations like Cuba. Wars of national liberation could be thought of as naturally trending towards progressive nationalism but that has not proven to be the case in much of the world.
Even the former Soviet Union could be lumped under this category.
Then there is the not so progressive nationalism of many other nations, say Saudi. The idea of a nationalistic capitalism is what I am pointing to and I suppose that is a lot of what imperialism is about with the imperialist and exploited nations having nationalists that think of nationalism as serving a small elite, usually but not necessarily capitalist in nature. The term comprador bourgeoisie comes to mind and so many nations have "traitor" rulers who sell out their peoples to foreign empires.
Then there is new world order capitalism or what Kautsky might call so-called ultra-imperialism. Maybe capitalism will unite the world and we will have an integrated world economy and certainly a more integrated and united world politically. In this area we keep on looking for the consolidation of national and even regional economies into one world economy with the idea of a sort of more integrated world scale capitalism.
Progressive internationalism would be the socialist or anarchist alternative ot capitalism on a world scale. "Workers of the world unite!", seems to express in a relatively simple slogan this concept. The various Internationals reflect the waxing an waning of this trend.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Thursday, June 4, 2009
RATIONAL HUMANISM
I am fairly happy to say that I support rational humanism, that this binomial expression is something I can embrace as a liberation and even happiness orientation. Rational Humanism doesn't sound very cool to me right now. Maybe it will seem more beautiful in the morning.
I believe that Hurricane Carter fellow now calls himself a rational or revolutionary humanist. Maybe revolutionary humanist is a good term to embrace, maybe that is the binomial that seemed "cooler" than "rational humanist".
What is the relationship between revolutionary humanism and rational humanism? What about radical humanism? What is a human and will humans survive another two generations?
I believe that Hurricane Carter fellow now calls himself a rational or revolutionary humanist. Maybe revolutionary humanist is a good term to embrace, maybe that is the binomial that seemed "cooler" than "rational humanist".
What is the relationship between revolutionary humanism and rational humanism? What about radical humanism? What is a human and will humans survive another two generations?
I WANT TO BELIEVE IN OBAMA BUT REASON MUST PREVAIL!
It is remarkable that Obama has spoken out so strongly about an end to Jewish settlements (fortresses really) on Palestinian Territory recognized as Palestinian territory, by all parties now with the exception of Israel or certain Israeli trends.
Some Israelis still seek the conquest of all of Palestine. This was the goal of the Zionist founders and most Israeli leaders ever since. Then there are the settlers which are the armed militias that illegally occupy the West Bank. Settlements were expelled from Gaza but settlers want to return.
That is what the settlements are all about, making a two state solution impossible and creating the basis for the complete disenfranchisement of the Palestinians, the indigenous people of Palestine.
Today, in Cairo, Obama seemed to repeat this opposition to the Jewish military outposts known as "settlements". Will he flip flop? He hasn't yet.
Obama's speech to the so-called Muslim world, really it seems more the Arab-Muslim world was in many ways remarkable as well. His speech was nuanced and seemed steeped in a level of understanding and even wisdom generally unthinkable for an American President. I will bask in the notion that the United States has a President who is not obsessed with demonic forces such as Gog and Magog but seems fully in contact with reality!
Obama's cultural literacy and indeed multicultural literacy and yes understanding of those Abrahamic texts allowed him to wax as we hope
the good King would alway wax, with genuine respect, understanding and compassion in his heart. I want to believe that all this improvement in understanding is not towards some similar or new evil, I want to believe in Obama and those words he spoke today. So I believe will millions and tens of millions.
And if Obama flips and flops or is unable to continue his efforts in the future I believe that those who heard his words today, women of the Abrahamic faiths in particular will change the world, will remake the world with the wisdom of soft but working hands.
Yes the feminist revolution is rising in the United States and the whole world. Women will not be held back. Women will soon rule the world in a way they never have since the earliest times. It is a great hope and a great challenge for those of us attached to patriarchal rule.
His words in support of women was a very politic and powerful idea. One wonders how Bush missed such a simple way to appeal for change, one based on words, mutual understanding and mutual support rather than warfare.
For the devil is also in the details and in the many ommissions. Hopefully this imperfect vessel of some real understanding will help revolutionize the world.
I have to say I see no abandonment of military rulers or monarchs by Obama. Will such a speech intentionally or not undermine such rulers?
If only Obama had a streak of Napoleon he might win the world by love and understanding alone. Yet the rulers are intact, I do not think he plans on replacing them?
Why Egypt? Unfortunately it is probably to fix the creation of a Palestinian state so that such a state is entirely under the control of Abbas and the CIA. The Egyptian military dictator is part of fixing the deal so Hamas is iced out of all power and influence and so that the Palestinians stay on the reservation.
While Israel can be thought of as a semi-autonomous sub-imperialism and European white settler state Egypt is really still a semi-colonial dependency of the United States.
So it is a lot like the election of Obama. Obama offers progressive hope but is he a Judas goat of progressive politics, leading us to oppression and injustice rather than hunting us down and fighting us as an open opponent. In other words, "Is he a Democrat?"
Some Israelis still seek the conquest of all of Palestine. This was the goal of the Zionist founders and most Israeli leaders ever since. Then there are the settlers which are the armed militias that illegally occupy the West Bank. Settlements were expelled from Gaza but settlers want to return.
That is what the settlements are all about, making a two state solution impossible and creating the basis for the complete disenfranchisement of the Palestinians, the indigenous people of Palestine.
Today, in Cairo, Obama seemed to repeat this opposition to the Jewish military outposts known as "settlements". Will he flip flop? He hasn't yet.
Obama's speech to the so-called Muslim world, really it seems more the Arab-Muslim world was in many ways remarkable as well. His speech was nuanced and seemed steeped in a level of understanding and even wisdom generally unthinkable for an American President. I will bask in the notion that the United States has a President who is not obsessed with demonic forces such as Gog and Magog but seems fully in contact with reality!
Obama's cultural literacy and indeed multicultural literacy and yes understanding of those Abrahamic texts allowed him to wax as we hope
the good King would alway wax, with genuine respect, understanding and compassion in his heart. I want to believe that all this improvement in understanding is not towards some similar or new evil, I want to believe in Obama and those words he spoke today. So I believe will millions and tens of millions.
And if Obama flips and flops or is unable to continue his efforts in the future I believe that those who heard his words today, women of the Abrahamic faiths in particular will change the world, will remake the world with the wisdom of soft but working hands.
Yes the feminist revolution is rising in the United States and the whole world. Women will not be held back. Women will soon rule the world in a way they never have since the earliest times. It is a great hope and a great challenge for those of us attached to patriarchal rule.
His words in support of women was a very politic and powerful idea. One wonders how Bush missed such a simple way to appeal for change, one based on words, mutual understanding and mutual support rather than warfare.
For the devil is also in the details and in the many ommissions. Hopefully this imperfect vessel of some real understanding will help revolutionize the world.
I have to say I see no abandonment of military rulers or monarchs by Obama. Will such a speech intentionally or not undermine such rulers?
If only Obama had a streak of Napoleon he might win the world by love and understanding alone. Yet the rulers are intact, I do not think he plans on replacing them?
Why Egypt? Unfortunately it is probably to fix the creation of a Palestinian state so that such a state is entirely under the control of Abbas and the CIA. The Egyptian military dictator is part of fixing the deal so Hamas is iced out of all power and influence and so that the Palestinians stay on the reservation.
While Israel can be thought of as a semi-autonomous sub-imperialism and European white settler state Egypt is really still a semi-colonial dependency of the United States.
So it is a lot like the election of Obama. Obama offers progressive hope but is he a Judas goat of progressive politics, leading us to oppression and injustice rather than hunting us down and fighting us as an open opponent. In other words, "Is he a Democrat?"
Thursday, January 29, 2009
WHAT IS PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION ALL ABOUT
What is this collection of blogs all about? It is about learning and maybe helping others learn a bit. You know all the talk about how education is so important? I agree. Only we are often encouraged not to learn and perhaps to learn only a little about a little piece of reality. This can only serve to isolate us and frankly, the capitalist system here in the United States is such a hustler system that the stupefaction of the public is in the interests of hustlers and at the end of the day investors as well.
So without going into a long essay I think we may be able to agree that the system of education in the United States is largely a system of miseducation and that while there is great strength in the public and private schools the other purveyors of information are usually peddling misinformation, disinformation, stuff that makes it easier to pull the wool over our eyes and to take advantage of us. In short, if we are dupes we are certainly led and herded in that direction by a huge system of miseducation.
Of course it is to our advantage to learn anyway and to learn how we are being lied to and deceived and how we can get to a more educated mentality rather than a miseducated mentality. It is a real challenge but it us up to each of us to do what we can to identify and overthrow whatever aspects of "mental slavery" we have internalized.
Underlying the discussion of diverse liberation frameworks is a passionate criticism of capitalism and patriarchy and above all a commitment to preventing the destruction of our one and only ecosystem, the planet earth. Capitalism and a repressive patriarchy seem to be the most destructive systems that are in the world today. Both foster war and ecological destruction.
Of course a practical and robust morality is central to all this passion. I am writing primarily about Liberation Frameworks and this includes all those leftist and liberal movements to seek a fairer and more just society.
I also am focusing on various current struggles and events as I become aware of them and engaged in them. So there is a constellation of blogs on those minutemen movement groups with a particular emphasis on the situation in the Greater Kansas City area when the Minutemen had a meeting in KCMO. This led to a broader study of those predominantly anglo anti-immigrant groups that are not overtly white-supremacist.
More recently there was a big constellation of blogs on the Bush-Cheney policies and policies. We are fortunate to still be alive after that madman was in the White House and his even nuttier Strangelovian Vice-President, Dick Who?
Then there is a cluster of blogs around the recent Presidential election of 2008. The strange world of far right politics was somewhat documented in these blogs.
Currently there a quite a few blogs on Israel/Palestine. Israel's massacres
I have bitten off more than I have been able to chew yet seem to have generated thousands of words of somewhat thoughtful commentary. As I continue I hope to return to the various liberation frameworks and to work with others who may be able to help flesh these out in some facsimile of their glory. Meanwhile I can go back to the various struggles mentioned above to see how the various frameworks contributed to the struggles for a fairer and more just society.
So without going into a long essay I think we may be able to agree that the system of education in the United States is largely a system of miseducation and that while there is great strength in the public and private schools the other purveyors of information are usually peddling misinformation, disinformation, stuff that makes it easier to pull the wool over our eyes and to take advantage of us. In short, if we are dupes we are certainly led and herded in that direction by a huge system of miseducation.
Of course it is to our advantage to learn anyway and to learn how we are being lied to and deceived and how we can get to a more educated mentality rather than a miseducated mentality. It is a real challenge but it us up to each of us to do what we can to identify and overthrow whatever aspects of "mental slavery" we have internalized.
Underlying the discussion of diverse liberation frameworks is a passionate criticism of capitalism and patriarchy and above all a commitment to preventing the destruction of our one and only ecosystem, the planet earth. Capitalism and a repressive patriarchy seem to be the most destructive systems that are in the world today. Both foster war and ecological destruction.
Of course a practical and robust morality is central to all this passion. I am writing primarily about Liberation Frameworks and this includes all those leftist and liberal movements to seek a fairer and more just society.
I also am focusing on various current struggles and events as I become aware of them and engaged in them. So there is a constellation of blogs on those minutemen movement groups with a particular emphasis on the situation in the Greater Kansas City area when the Minutemen had a meeting in KCMO. This led to a broader study of those predominantly anglo anti-immigrant groups that are not overtly white-supremacist.
More recently there was a big constellation of blogs on the Bush-Cheney policies and policies. We are fortunate to still be alive after that madman was in the White House and his even nuttier Strangelovian Vice-President, Dick Who?
Then there is a cluster of blogs around the recent Presidential election of 2008. The strange world of far right politics was somewhat documented in these blogs.
Currently there a quite a few blogs on Israel/Palestine. Israel's massacres
I have bitten off more than I have been able to chew yet seem to have generated thousands of words of somewhat thoughtful commentary. As I continue I hope to return to the various liberation frameworks and to work with others who may be able to help flesh these out in some facsimile of their glory. Meanwhile I can go back to the various struggles mentioned above to see how the various frameworks contributed to the struggles for a fairer and more just society.
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