Peace on Earth

Most of those of us who have been around for a while have had the notion of Peace on Earth hammered into us throughout our whole lives. This was, perhaps more than anything else, the Post War mantra repeated over and over again, "Let there be Peace on Earth."

Of course peace never came, not really. The mechanics of it were always the problem, weren't they? If there was to be world peace, a Pax Mundi as it were, just how was it to be accomplished? Scholars and mystics the world over struggled to figure it out, and their conclusion seemed to be that the ultimate peace of the world would only come when the Giant Asteroid wiped out humanity. Or some such. Or we blew everything up in a Nuclear Holocaust.

Nevertheless, many of us, we, the Rabble, haven't given up on something as elusive as Peace on Earth simply because it may be an unreachable ideal.

Unfortunately, our situation in the West -- as that part of the world where Anglo-American culture is dominant is still called -- has become so decadent and corrupt, "ideals" are considered a fool's game. Grab all you can before it all goes to shit seems to be the current ethic if you will, an End Times to end all End Times predilection, because I guess if you don't get yours now, you never will. Never ever.

There's just never enough to go around, and it's too bad for them that's got nothin'.

And of course things are going to shit at an accelerating pace. Make no mistake. The End is Nigh.

Many of Our Betters intend to survive no matter what, and I suspect too many of them will.

I was pondering Jeffrey Epstein's bolt hole up the road from our place. The Zorro Ranch is huge, XX,000 acres, I don't know how many exactly, on the border between the Estancia and Galisteo Basins in central New Mexico. An enormous mansion sits on a mesa overlooking both basins. A little western town, like a movie set, sits below on the Estancia Basin side, where apparently the ranching operations take place. They run some cattle, longhorns included, as well as a variety of artisinal breeds, but there are never very many of them, not like some of the other cattle ranches in the area.

There's some dispute over whether Epstein still owns the Zorro Ranch. Apparently the property records aren't clear about its current ownership. The only people we've ever seen entering or leaving through the ranch gate appear to be workers, mostly ranch hands. There's never been a motorcade of bullet proof SUVs and the like, and we've never seen squadrons of helicopters (black or otherwise) coming in for landings at the helipad up the hill.

This is the Google overhead view of the ranch house and helipad:

The mesa on which this spread sits is probably a couple of hundred feet high, and I expect that deluxe bunkers have been blasted into it to preserve, protect, and defend Epstein and whoever else can hie themselves hitherwards when the End comes. I don't doubt that a list has been made, and preparations for transport of selected VIPs have been made. Shuttles are no doubt on 24 hour call.

Epstein's place is one of many such retreats around the nation and around the world built in the past 20 years or so for the purpose of having "a place in the country" for the rich and powerful to shelter in -- just in case.

Our place is nothing like that at all, just a simple hand-built pioneer adobe ranch house, without a ranch any more, surrounded by a modest working class neighborhood, salt of the earth neighbors with whom we get along (mostly) --- even though we're from California. Heh.

But some of our thinking when we bought this place was not unlike that of the High and Mighty selecting their bolt holes for when the time comes.

When I mentioned to a friend in California that we'd bought this place out in the middle of nowhere in New Mexico, he sensed right away that a big part of the reason was to have a place to go "when it all goes to shit."

True enough, I suppose. True enough. Though I don't see actually how we would survive should the plug be pulled on "civilization." We, like most folks, depend on electricity and natural gas for light and heat. We don't have a generator or a fireplace or even a woodstove. We don't have our own well so we'd run out of water pretty quick. We haven't laid in supplies, though there is -- or would be -- room for a pretty extensive pantry should we want to have stuff on hand for the Apocalypse.

We're several miles from the Interstate, where most supplies originate in any case. But there are farms closer, farms and ranches, where produce is grown, livestock raised and so forth, and the ranchers and farmers are among our acquaintances if not actually friends. Some of them have made preparations of their own, though nothing as elaborate as Epstein's, and I would imagine that should everything go to shit, folks around here would pull together to hold on to some of the attributes of a positive and purposeful way of life.

That aside, however, once Ms. Ché and I are out of medications, I doubt either of us would last much longer as we both have conditions that are guaranteed to be fatal -- sooner without medications than later.

Oh well.

Not that we, personally, have any particular need to survive come what may. Whatever contribution we can make, we're making while we have the chance, while we're here, elders with some discretionary resources. It's not for us to hold on to; it's for us to give away while we can.

Many of us understand the nature of the crisis this year's presidential (s)election has precipitated. The installation of Trump and his cronies into power marks a clear and clean break from the nation's past. Nothing like this has happened before. And there is little or no likelihood that prior practice will be restored. This is the end of the Republic in all ways but name. Much like the Roman Republic, many of the aspects and attributes of the US republic will no doubt continue on as empty shells, meaningless rituals and practices, but the Republic established by the Founders and operated more or less competently for the past 230 years will be extinct, and something else, call it an Empire, will take its place.

I doubt that very many people will notice, as we've been on this path for a long, long time. Nixon in fact established the Imperial Presidency -- to much mockery and laughter -- and the precedent was set. But there was more to it than just the show. The underlying premise was that the USofA, as an Imperial power, had an obligation to establish and maintain a Pax Americana that would eventually encompass the globe, and that the US had an obligation to use any and all strategies and tactics to accomplish the goal.

In other words, the Empire, for all its faults, would one day come to rule the world. The US has never deviated from that path ever since the crises of the '70s that led to military defeat and withdrawal in Southeast Asia and the crisis of the Presidency that led to Nixon's resignation and the installation of the nation's first unelected president. That was the break in the nation's republican heritage that has never been repaired.

Precedent was set and here we are.

The precedent was that presidents (and vice presidents)  can be removed and others installed without consultation or the assent of the People.  Who accomplishes the transfer of power is still shadowy. Who is actually in charge at any given time is a mystery.

From my view, the power of the presidency is a matter of agreement between the contending factions of the permanent government and the Overclass. Until now, the Overclass had been content to rule indirectly through the agency of the permanent government. Now with the advent of Trump, the mediation of the permanent government will apparently be dispensed with and the Overclass will rule us directly.

The narrative among most of the Trump defenders and loyalists -- at least among those who can acknowledge the situation -- asserts that this is a good thing, and it's about time that our billionaire Overlords were openly in charge rather than corrupting the managerial class who have been in charge of the government for  many generations. In effect, we're going back to the origins of the government itself when the very wealthy Founders were the ones who ran and in effect were the government.

One could therefore argue the advent of Trump "re-founds" the nation the way it was supposed to be.

An argument in favor of this New America is that Trump and his cronies are so rich they can't be corrupted -- the way today's Congress and the whole apparatus of government under a managerial class (oh, such as the Clintons, for example) could be and has been. It's a ridiculous argument, but it's one that has gained some currency, without the simultaneous recognition that putting the corrupters in charge means that there is no longer any mediation between their interests and demands and those of the People.

Without that mediation, the People get screwed harder and faster than ever before. Duh.

On the other hand, there seems to be no recognition that there are many things Our Betters could do -- rather than screwing the People harder and faster than ever before -- to secure their almost perpetual rule over us, and they could even engineer their longed-for Peace without resort to nuclear or other armed conflict.

No, it seems that nearly all Trump defenders and loyalists are determined to impose as harsh and destructive a rule as possible on everyone but  themselves -- as revenge, apparently, for harm they believe they've suffered under the Republic. They're disappointed that their hero and champion is not entirely on board with them.

In reality, provided there is any sense of social conscience in and among the Trump-ists, to engineer both domestic and international peace and good will; there is no sign it will happen -- just the opposite in fact -- but you never know.

My wish has always been an end to war and violence.

We may or may not get there.

Signs are not looking good. On the other hand, stranger things have happened.

Renewing the Anti-War Coalition?

Could be.

Given the ridiculous disparities in casualties in the current round of bloodletting in Israel-Palestine, the ludicrous propaganda from the hasbaraniks, the truly vile and disgusting support of the Gazan slaughter by nearly every western power, and the grotesque arc of suffering and bloodletting throughout the Middle East these days, it's as close as it's been in more than a decade for the many domestic and global anti-war outfits to coalesce once again and say "No more" to war.

Our governments have long behaved as if the People and the public interest don't matter. They certainly seem to get a thrill at governing contrary to the public interest and will, quite openly and actively supporting the interests and will of an oligarchy that simply cares nothing for anything that is not immediately profitable to their bottom lines. The multitudinous wars and police actions they engage in to force neo-liberal policies on resistant local populations, whether in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, Africa or southeastern Europe, merely serve to reinforce the notion that "there is no alternative," and all must fall into the orbit and follow the directives of the international bankers and financiers and the governments they sponsor -- or else. Misery, death and destruction are guaranteed.

Can a revival of the anti-war coalition of the past reverse this trend?

Not immediately, no. But if people see their common interest is to be found in thwarting the warring mentality of their Betters, refusing to go along with it, countering it with peace, dignity, justice and community, we can see a time in the not too distant future (probably after my lifetime, though) when war will once more be seen as the abomination it is.

I've noticed that in Albuquerque, the A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition is far and away the most active and reliable community group organizing against police abuse. A.N.S.W.E.R. was also the in the lead of the anti-Iraq War protests more than a decade ago, and at the time, no one really knew who they were. Many people still have no idea. It didn't matter at the time, because they were organized and they were the energy behind protest marches that involved hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people domestically, millions overseas. Those protests did not stop the Iraq War of course.

What may have had a more profound effect was the simple shaming action taken by Cindy Sheehan and others on the roadside near the entrance to the Bush's Crawford ranch (known as the "Pig Farm.") Though Cindy has since been denounced and dismissed as a Communist and a crank -- oh my! -- her efforts brought enormous shame to the Bush - Cheney regime, and it has had a cumulative effect over time.

By combining the efforts of a highly organized outfit like A.N.S.W.E.R. with the individual shaming efforts of those who have suffered irreparable loss, it's conceivable that a new global Anti-War Coalition can be generated.

Bloodshed and destruction seem boundless at the moment. It's past time to reverse the trend.

The New Model Revolution -- Sunday's Reformation

The explosive events of Saturday night's aborted General Assembly at OccupySacramento led to a remarkable level of reconsideration and recommitment to The Cause that took place Saturday night and into the morrow.

In talking to people on the scene and online -- quite a few who aren't in attendance in person are witness to the struggles thanks to Livestream -- it's clear they were dismayed, upset and angry at what happened, yet many understood that these explosions are a natural part of the development of this sort of Revolutionary effort. It's happened pretty much consistently throughout the movement during the early stages of development of each Occupation, including New York's.

And it's OK. Some would say it is necessary.

Because what happens afterwards is that Solidarity is reconfirmed. Yes, some of the angriest and loudest voices against what is going on may leave the Occupation and the Movement -- it's happened here, and it's happened elsewhere. It is to be expected. They may or may not come back after a suitable cooling off period. It's OK.

People have a right to their feelings and their emotions, and they have a right to make decisions for themselves. They have a right to be wrong. They have a right to their anger and to their pain.

Trying to suppress it or cover it up merely leads to greater difficulty down the road. Let. It. Out. And Let. It. Go.

It was obvious by yesterday that many, many people associated with OccupySacramento had done just that. I arrived at the Plaza just before 4:00p after spending most of the day preparing for a workshop on OWS General Assembly practices. There was a surprising number of people already there, engaged in all kinds of productive and nonviolent discussions and seminars and conversations and actively listening to one another. Ideas were popping, identifying and offering solutions to various problems was being hammered out. Focus was on particularly important issues and a growing disinterest in those issues that weren't so important.

For example, The Mayor and the City Council were no longer seen as a focal interest; they were peripheral at best, irrelevant to many participants. The internal problems of authority and transparency were being worked out as productively as possible in a large group that was tasking itself with finding solutions rather than piling on more layers of problems. I don't know what the result was because I had to go off to the OWS GA workshop, but from what I could tell, there was essentially no animosity involved in what they were doing; there was an active effort to come up with consensus solutions, and after that meeting broke up, there was no sign I could see of continuing animosity or anger at one another in the group.

In fact, cohesiveness was growing all over the Plaza as small groups and large ones explored how to rather than whether to move forward in collaboration and solidarity rather than try to continue to go forward in disharmony and rivalry leading to more and more anger and distrust.

What I saw happening was the process of learning to trust one another.

The OWS GA workshop was intended to provide information -- specifically for people interested in learning to facilitate GAs -- on how the process works in New York. It was a surprisingly large group, twice or three times the size expected, and all of them were intrigued to learn that there really is a way to do General Assemblies that works and works well on behalf of all the participants and the Occupation in general. It reinforced the general spirit that we will get through this difficult period and we will be stronger for it.

Sunday's General Assembly followed immediately after the workshop, and some of the principles and practices we had just discussed in workshop were presented to the GA for consideration and adoption on the spot; sure enough, they were so moved and adopted. This was out of order according to our previous practices, but it was realized through the workshop on OWS practices that there really is no ultimate rule book and that the GAs are quite capable of overriding previous practice by adopting new practice by consensus, and that's what happened.

To say that the transformation was immediate and startling is an understatement. It was remarkable -- and very rewarding -- to witness. The General Assembly became "owned" by Occupation as a whole, it was no longer some annoyance going on off on the side, run by "little dictators" and alienating its participants. There was intense discussion of proposals, yet always with respect for one another's positions. Remarkably innovative proposals were offered for development or adoption on the spot, and some were adopted. Others were sent back to the proposer -- respectfully -- for further development and resubmission. Everyone who had something to say about proposals under consideration was heard, respectfully, and new ideas were welcomed.

There were no blocks but not every proposal was adopted, nor should they have been. Nothing was discarded out of hand. Nothing was accepted mindlessly. People really thought about what they were doing and about the decisions they were making, and from my observations and talking to people afterwards, they felt that they were in charge for the first time. They weren't being led or forced or cajoled into doing something or adopting something that they didn't understand or that was potentially not in the interests of the Occupation. They decided based on their best assessment of the matter before them.

And that produced what used to be called "process buy in."

Some of us have been hoping for this to happen, but there is no way to force it. It has to happen organically. And it did. Some of those who have been so frustrated by the way things have devolved over the last few days were very moved to see the transformation.

Hizzoner is supposed to report back to the Assembly today. Whether he will show or not is unknown, but I doubt he will be allowed to hijack tonight. He won't be shouted down, but he won't be given the floor for more campaigning either. Should be interesting....

Also, finally, there is supposed to be a press conference this morning to announce the filing of a civil rights lawsuit on First Amendment grounds, though no details have yet been released.

Things should get very interesting indeed...

Random Notes -- Something's Happening Here

I think most people who are paying attention know that something really strange is going on with regard to the Authorities stemming from the incredible overreaction to protests at the Denver and St. Paul political conventions in 2008.

Yes, still. The Authorities are on a rampage against peace activists.

In Memphis the other day, a SWAT team and the FBI anti-terrorism squad showed up at a meeting of the the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center -- at a church -- to... they said... "protect" the good folks gathered there from... unnamed and unidentified antagonists.

This is absurd.

It's simple harassment meant to intimidate. Like the Authorities have been doing with the peace activists in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Chicago and elsewhere for years. It's still going on.

In this instance, activists refused to comply with the subpoenas to appear before a grand jury investigating terrorism related charges, and for the time being the subpoenas were canceled.

But of course, the whole point was to harass and intimidate.

This is an investigation, by the way, being carried out by Blogger Hero Patrick Fitzgerald, he of the endless cries of "Fitz!" and "Fitzmas!" when he was investigating the Scooter Libby/Valerie Plame business back in the day, but there is nary a word about any of his actions against peace activists in the so-called "progressive" blogosphere. Obviously some First Amendment issues are "important" to "progressive" bloggers while others, clearly, are not.

[As a side note, I suspect the nearly complete lack of interest in what "Fitz!" is up to with the peace activists in Minneapolis/St. Paul and Chicago has to do with the fact that he is a Hero among the loudest "constitutionalists" in the blogosphere for going after Libby. If he's doing something contrary to his Heroic stature, it's best not to say anything about it at all. That's how propagandists work.]

Meanwhile, the assault on the 14th Amendment continues. This assault is supposedly about doing an end run around the "birthright citizenship" clause in the amendment so as to ensure the offspring of illegales born in this country are not themselves citizens.

Steve King has introduced a measure in the House and Lindsey Graham Rand Paul and Jim DeMint David Vitter plan to do the same in the Senate.

But ultimately, this is about undoing the "equal protection clause" in the amendment, something that has sat in the craw of Southern Rebs for generations, and something that plenty many of the rich and powerful -- along with their not-so-bright hangers on -- find meet to press at this time.

And once again, our dauntless "constitutionalist progressives" are all but silent on the matter.

It do make you wonder sometimes whose side they're on.