antihumanagenda

In the 80s and 90s, one of the right's rallying hate-ons was "secular humanism." It probably still is, for all I know. I used to think they just didn't understand the deep roots of humanism in our civilization, going back to Renaissance, going back to Greece. I now fear they do know, and intend to unwrite all of our civilization's history and moral progress to root out the philosophical roots of humanism.

Humanism is the notion that humans have moral worth for themselves rather than as servants to lord and Lord. Labor movements, which go back at least a hundred years before Marx, stem from humanistic ideals. Women's rights as they have been hard-won in struggles over decades and centuries, depend on understanding the worth of each person's experience, rather than their fitting into an ordained social role. Racial integration and religious tolerance, scientific inquiry, freedom of conscience, freedom itself, depend on philosophical humanism.

noteconomicallyevolved

In our perfected system, the more aggressive (and not discernably wiser) monkeys are encouraged to beat down their comrades to ascend the slats of a small ladder, earning an advantageous position for flinging poo, and the privilege of imagining they are growing nearly as tall as their keepers.

It's messy, but at least it's free of any trace of godless queer European-style socialism.

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Many classic texts explaining capitalism and advocating for total laissez-faire with no regulation, democratic feedback, or social responsibility beyond stockholder value make analogies to evolution. The above has exactly as much to do with evolution as does any economist's argument.

valuedomination

LTE. A bit Tea-Partyish, I know. But I actually bother to define my usage of 'fascism.' It's an exercise in social-cognitive damage control and messaging.
See also the Serene Babe's irregularly updated page on America's creeping fascism.
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News about the rallies in Wisconsin sheds light on a broader pattern.

There is a false moral system that puts purity and strength above truth, that holds military valor as the only meaningful patriotism, that would break the working class and twist public institutions to serve the wealthiest businessmen. Mussolini said fascism is properly called 'corporatism'; government of, by, and for business. Fascist values say captains of industry are the best the nation has to offer, and so are the ones the state should serve.

We see union-busting, the Citizens United ruling, billionaire funders of astroturf with their own bought-and-paid-for governor, constructed hostility to any honest doubt of U.S. foreign policy, wars that throw away soldiers' lives and loyalty so that billions in no-bid contracts can be given to government contractors, corporate welfare, privatization of intentionally underfunded and neglected infrastructure, and slashing of essential and hard-earned services for working people.

Corporatism is the system of government and economy in America, and neither voting conservative "values" nor liberal "hope" ensure against it.

discoverfuture

The First Decade of the Future is Behind Us

wisconsinsolidarity

Democracy wants you for your body.
Rally to Save the American Dream (MoveOn.org)

competitiveevolution

Twisted overlap: those who warn that acceptance of evolution would lead to everyone giving in to dog-eat-dog competition and self-interest, and those who warn that prosperity and "economic freedom" require everyone to give in to dog-eat-dog competition and self-interest.

essentialtruth

History is identity, identity is history; there is no essence.

dempartytrad

""The tradition of the Democratic Party is: be more liberal than the Republican Party on domestic matters. Not too liberal, but more liberal. On matters of foreign policy, don’t be much different at all." --Howard Zinn, 2009 interview with Dave Zirin

The think tanks that drive Republican policy have realized for at least 20 years that Democratic policy is only defined relative to Republican policy, that Republicans could move arbitrarily far to the right and the Democratic Party would follow.

abusedpledgeletter

Abuse of the Pledge

This past Monday I attended a public debate at the Salt Lake City Library. I won't go into who was there or why, it's tangential to my point and you can easily find it if you like.
Most of the event was interesting and engaging, and most of the participants showed to have some common ground on critical moral points. However, early on one side chose to invoke the Pledge of Allegiance. This was not done at the opening of the whole event, but was instead reduced to a stunt during that speaker's assigned time.
I started to stand along with many in the audience, but it was bluntly obvious what this speaker was trying to do. Not being especially fond of loyalty oaths nor mandated spiritual rituals, I chose to keep my seat. My commitment to the ideals of America is not a tool for public speakers to score points over.
My suspicions of the speaker's intentions were confirmed when, as expected, his side later tried to use people's response to the Pledge to divide the audience and call support to that side.
The Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892 (slightly altered, since then) by Francis Bellamy (a socialist, if that matters) with the purpose of inspiring a sense of unity among the diverse peoples and classes of the country (though his own sentiments were less than perfect).
Some act as if the Pledge has magical significance, so that anyone with the 'correct' sentiment will be overwhelmed with the need to speak it, but no one is ever actually required to take part. If a child were drowning in a nearby pool, you obviously would not take part. When Liberty is drowning in a nearby pool, you should not take part. When demagogues invoke the Pledge against the spirit of unity, as a stunt to test in-group loyalty and divide people into Us and Them, that is an excellent reason not to take part.
Years ago, I fixed the Pledge in my own heart. Here is my Pledge:
I pledge my allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America, and to the ideals to which it aspires, Liberty and Justice for All.
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The event was a debate on immigration issues between United for Social Justice and the Utah Minutemen. I may have more to say on that later.
This was a letter submitted to the Salt Lake Tribune today. They'll edit it, of course, though I know I've seen printed letters longer than their word limit. I'm at least a hundred over. I hadn't seen the limit 'til after I sent it.