Jack Burns Lives!

We should have a national holiday honoring Edward Paul Abbey, born this day in 1927. My favorite curmudgeon would be 84 today, and if he were here, I’m sure he’d still have plenty to say.
Probably something along the lines of Obama being a decent enough man in a nearly hopeless situation, and the current “green” technology and building craze (otherwise known as “Green growth”) being little more than putting lipstick on a pig. Little more than a way to continue to advance capitalism and increase industrialization, two of the greatest enemies to the planet….

But he’s gone, of course, and while we’re poorer for it, I figure he’d also expect us to think less about what he might say or do and think more for ourselves. I have to say, though, since Ed’s departure, I can’t point to much we’ve accomplished. In fact, things are exponentially worse in most areas. I used think we’d made advances in organic foods, but now we’ve let Monsanto bamboozle us on that one. Capitalism marches onward and so does the militarism required to support it. And the crazies have come out of their caves again, this time calling themselves a “Tea Party.” Ed’s beloved Utah will soon have an official state gun, and in doing so, they’ve let the rest of the nation know they’re crazier ‘n a mule humpin’ a goat.

Be happy you’re not here to see it, Ed.

Happy birthday, amigo. I sure miss ya.

My crusty old partner on the Left Coast, Hayduke, is spittin’ out fire and truth again. Be sure to check out his new book, by the way. It’s packed with all sorts of wisdom, wits and ways.
As Ed said, “Follow the truth wherever it leads you.”

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Well, Jack Burns Lives! didn’t survive the 2011 budget cuts. Gotta cut somewhere, and two web sites that cost money each month are biting the dust. I guess we’ll be here until January, then it’s “adios,” at least the URL and the site as it now stands. Could move it over to blogger, which is free, but I’ll lose all the posts. I can’t download this material from WordPress and move it to their site. Bummer.

I hear a lot of talk about privatization these days. Privatizing everything from prisons, police and Social Security. It’s almost always accompanied by some poorly conceived gobbledygook that demonizes government, and it’s leading to the Mafiazation of America.

Philosophically, I’m an old anarchist like Edward Abbey, but I fully understand the importance of government in a society of 300 million people where growing corporate power is huge problem. Anarchism is democracy taken seriously. It doesn’t mean “no rules.” It means no rulers. It happens in our homes, in our neighborhoods and in our workplaces when all people are given an opportunity to express themselves and be heard and where hierarchy and power doesn’t trump the will of the people.

But as it stands today, I agree with Noam Chomsky when he says the best way to counter growing corporate power is with a strong central government.

Our government is us. It’s not evil. It’s not perfect, but it’s not evil or “broken beyond repair.” It’s not some mysterious, Orwellian organization comprised of nefarious beings created in a lab experiment or run by aliens from another planet. The government certainly has its share of problems, but can you honestly tell me you trust Wall Street tycoons or CEO’s that pocket $8 million annual salaries while laying off people just barely making it?

This is what you want? This is who should be handling Social Security? They can’t even provide security for their own employees, because they care far more about their fat cat lifestyles than the general welfare of others. And by the way, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article, the recent government bailout of various corporations saved approximately one million jobs.

Frankly, the idea that Social Security is “going under” is little more than non-fact based hysteria driven by personally motivated people that want to hand trillions over to their buddies. It’s the same type of fear based propaganda used to justify the U.S. military expenditures, when the fact of the matter is the United States hasn’t been attacked by a foreign military since The War of 1812. (Hawaii was not a state when Pearl Harbor was attacked. It was a foreign territory taken from its indigenous people by the U.S. at the behest of the Dole family and their pineapple interests.) The fact of the matter is the United States is not under any threat of any nation attacking us. It’s preposterous to think otherwise, because every nation on the planet knows precisely what the consequences would be.

The blame for our budget crisis and for the never ending wars driving us to financial ruin can be placed squarely on the heads of corporations and the “inside” people that do their bidding, not “the government.” It’s brought about by a revolving door filled with politicos that rotate back and forth from private industry to government positions, almost always to do the bidding of their former corporations. They get to office using corporate money, and once their terms are over, they return back to the cozy corporate nest where they hatched.

And now, thanks to a recent Supreme Court decision, one brought about by activist judges interpreting the law in a manner that best serves their constituents and their friends, corporations will have even more power to control the public coffers without regard to public interest.

Unfortunately, the demonization of government doesn’t just set the stage for privatization. It’s also changing our culture. We now have people wearing guns to political rallies. Politicians and candidates using gun sights and violent rhetoric in political speech. It’s expanding a culture of violence, via the use of words and symbols, that extends far beyond what already existed.

Don’t underestimate the power of words and symbols. Violent language, hate speech and paranoia can turn a society into a very ugly place in short order. We saw it in this country in the 19th century and in Germany in the 1930′s. We saw it in 2008, when a gunman targeting liberals and Democrats entered the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, killing two people and wounding seven others. In the murders of doctors and bombings of abortion clinics. We saw it in Oklahoma City and this weekend in Tucson. The result is nearly always the same.

Hey, but while we’re at it, maybe we should eliminate the FBI and go back to Pinkerton men. I’m sure they’ll protect the people from the profit motivated supermen running the country just like they did in the 19th century.

I never was a fan of their militancy or misogyny, but it’s hard to argue with any of the larger points. Certainly, some are simply not attainable in the current climate, much less the climate in the late 1960′s and 1970′s. However, the calls for an end to oppression, racism and war are certainly “spot on,” as is the role of capitalism, as now know it, in expanding and maintain oppression. And socialized medicine….what a wonderful idea! Communities….they understood the issues.

The Ten Point Program

• WE WANT FREEDOM. WE WANT POWER TO DETERMINE THE DESTINY OF OUR BLACK AND OPPRESSED COMMUNITIES. We believe that Black and oppressed people will not be free until we are able to determine our destinies in our own communities ourselves, by fully controlling all the institutions which exist in our communities.
• WE WANT FULL EMPLOYMENT FOR OUR PEOPLE. We believe that the federal government is responsible and obligated to give every person employment or a guaranteed income. We believe that if the American businessmen will not give full employment, then the technology and means of production should be taken from the businessmen and placed in the community so that the people of the community can organize and employ all of its people and give a high standard of living.
• WE WANT AN END TO THE ROBBERY BY THE CAPITALISTS OF OUR BLACK AND OPPRESSED COMMUNITIES. We believe that this racist government has robbed us and now we are demanding the overdue debt of forty acres and two mules. Forty acres and two mules were promised 100 years ago as restitution for slave labor and mass murder of Black people. We will accept the payment in currency which will be distributed to our many communities. The American racist has taken part in the slaughter of our fifty million Black people. Therefore, we feel this is a modest demand that we make.
• WE WANT DECENT HOUSING, FIT FOR THE SHELTER OF HUMAN BEINGS. We believe that if the landlords will not give decent housing to our Black and oppressed communities, then housing and the land should be made into cooperatives so that the people in our communities, with government aid, can build and make decent housing for the people.
• WE WANT DECENT EDUCATION FOR OUR PEOPLE THAT EXPOSES THE TRUE NATURE OF THIS DECADENT AMERICAN SOCIETY. WE WANT EDUCATION THAT TEACHES US OUR TRUE HISTORY AND OUR ROLE IN THE PRESENT-DAY SOCIETY. We believe in an educational system that will give to our people a knowledge of the self. If you do not have knowledge of yourself and your position in the society and in the world, then you will have little chance to know anything else.
• WE WANT COMPLETELY FREE HEALTH CARE FOR ALL BLACK AND OPPRESSED PEOPLE. We believe that the government must provide, free of charge, for the people, health facilities which will not only treat our illnesses, most of which have come about as a result of our oppression, but which will also develop preventive medical programs to guarantee our future survival. We believe that mass health education and research programs must be developed to give all Black and oppressed people access to advanced scientific and medical information, so we may provide our selves with proper medical attention and care.
• WE WANT AN IMMEDIATE END TO POLICE BRUTALITY AND MURDER OF BLACK PEOPLE, OTHER PEOPLE OF COLOR, ALL OPPRESSED PEOPLE INSIDE THE UNITED STATES. We believe that the racist and fascist government of the United States uses its domestic enforcement agencies to carry out its program of oppression against black people, other people of color and poor people inside the United States. We believe it is our right, therefore, to defend ourselves against such armed forces and that all Black and oppressed people should be armed for self defense of our homes and communities against these fascist police forces.
• WE WANT AN IMMEDIATE END TO ALL WARS OF AGGRESSION. We believe that the various conflicts which exist around the world stem directly from the aggressive desire of the United States ruling circle and government to force its domination upon the oppressed people of the world. We believe that if the United States government or its lackeys do not cease these aggressive wars it is the right of the people to defend themselves by any means necessary against their aggressors.
• WE WANT FREEDOM FOR ALL BLACK AND OPPRESSED PEOPLE NOW HELD IN U. S. FEDERAL, STATE, COUNTY, CITY, AND MILITARY PRISONS AND JAILS. WE WANT TRIALS BY A JURY OF PEERS FOR ALL PERSONS CHARGED WITH SO-CALLED CRIMES UNDER THE LAWS OF THIS COUNTRY. We believe that the many Black and poor oppressed people now held in United States prisons and jails have not received fair and impartial trials under a racist and fascist judicial system and should be free from incarceration. We believe in the ultimate elimination of all wretched, inhuman penal institutions, because the masses of men and women imprisoned inside the United States or by the United States military are the victims of oppressive conditions which are the real cause of their imprisonment. We believe that when persons are brought to trial they must be guaranteed, by the United States, juries of their peers, attorneys of their choice and freedom from imprisonment while awaiting trial.
• WE WANT LAND, BREAD, HOUSING, EDUCATION, CLOTHING, JUSTICE, PEACE AND PEOPLE’S COMMUNITY CONTROL OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY. When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and, accordingly, all experience hath shown that mankind are most disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But, when a long train of abuses and usurpation, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.