Counter Military Recruitment Thoughts

A young 19 year old man, I've known since he was about 9 years old just told me that he just took the test to join the army. His mother and I were fairly close friends for a bit, having bonded as fellow single mamas and so Andrees and this boy spent quite a bit of time together. I'd only just reaquainted with him- he came up to me at the cafe and said hello and inquired about my son. I had no idea who he was, my son's been living with my sister since he was 10 and lately I've run into various young adults who remember me so well and I feel like an ass for not remembering them. So at first I'm racking my brain trying to figure out which random old school friend he might be. Then I realized it wasn't a school friend at all but this friend, who I remembered very well. We talked a bit about how my boy's been, how he's been. He talked of starting community college. I encouraged him toward welding. At one point he smiled really big and suddenly there was that 9 year old boy, I remembered, full of wonder, curiosity and potential for a bright future. So hearing his plan just yesterday, made me very sad. I sat there trying to look positive and understanding, but inside I was beseeching, "no, no, please, no!" I didn't have words to say to him to dissuade him. Partly because I'm a pussy and fear confrontation. Partly, because I can understand the urge to get the hell out when one is feeling stuck. And partly because I'm just not versed enough in my opposition- I also don't want to be yet another person just negating a young person's thoughts without info to back it up.  I had my laptop in front of me and wonder why I didn't just ask him if he had time to watch a video with me. I know why, actually, it's because in the moment, I wouldn't occur to me what exactly to show him so I put this together for him and for future reference. I wish I'd done it a long time ago. I don't expect, necessarily to change his mind. Just give him and others and provide myself with some rational information that we don't normally get from society. Here is the start I will add to it as I have time and find more information. 

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PREFACE 

Economic hit men (EHMs) are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. They funnel money from the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and other foreign "aid" organizations into the coffers of huge corporations and the pockets of a few wealthy fami-lies who control the planet's natural resources. Their tools include fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder. They play a game as old as empire, but one that has taken on new and terrify-ing dimensions during this time of globalization. I should know; I was an EHM, I wrote that in 1982, as the beginning of a book with the working title, Conscience of an Economic Hit Man. The book was dedicated to the presidents of two countries, men who had been my clients, whom I respected and thought of as kindred spirits — Jaime Roldos, president of Ecuador, and Omar Torrijos, president of Panama. Both had just died in fiery crashes. Their deaths were not accidental. They were assassinated because they opposed that fraternity of corporate, government, and banking heads whose goal is global empire. We EHMs failed to bring Roldos and Torrijos around, and the other type of hit men, the CIA-sanctioned jackals who were always right behind us, stepped in. I was persuaded to stop writing that book. I started it four more times during the next twenty years. On each occasion, my decision to begin again was influenced by current world events: the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989, the first Gulf War, Somalia, the rise of Osama bin Laden. However, threats or bribes always convinced me to stop. In 2003, the president of a major publishing house that is owned by a powerful international corporation read a draft of what had now become Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. He described it 

From "Confessions of an Economic Hitman" by John Perkins

John Perkins from Zeitgeist Addendum Part II 

"Confessions of an Economic Hitman"

When you have time, I encourage you to watch the full films Zeitgeist Addendum and Zeitgeist Moving Forward. And visit www.thezeitgeistmovement.com

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"...The chief aim of any power at any of these conferences has not been to achieve disarmament to prevent war but rather to get more armament for itself and less for any potential foe. There is only one way to disarm with any semblance of practicability. That is for all nations to get together and scrap every ship, every gun, every rifle, every tank, every war plane. Even this, if it were possible, would not be enough. The next war, according to experts, will be fought not with battleships, not by artillery, not with rifles and not with machine guns. It will be fought with deadly chemicals and gases. Secretly each nation is studying and perfecting newer and ghastlier means of annihilating its foes wholesale. Yes, ships will continue to be built, for the shipbuilders must make their profits. And guns still will be manufactured and powder and rifles will be made, for the munitions makers must make their huge profits. And the soldiers, of course, must wear uniforms, for the manufacturer must make their war profits too. But victory or defeat will be determined by the skill and ingenuity of our scientists. If we put them to work making poison gas and more and more fiendish mechanical and explosive instruments of destruction, they will have no time for the constructive job of building greater prosperity for all peoples. By putting them to this useful job, we can all make more money out of peace than we can out of war -- even the munitions makers. So...I say, TO HELL WITH WAR!"
From "War is a Racket" By Major General Smedley Butler [ The Smedley Butler Society ]

Read by Jules Harlick

Librivox NonFiction

Collection Volume 018

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"...your actions in the military involve far more than whatever's in front of you or in your gun sights at any given moment. Our military operations around the world—and soon that will mean you—have produced all kinds of blowback. Thought about a certain way, I was being sent out in 2002 to respond to the blowback created by the first Afghan War and you're about to be sent out to deal with the blowback created by my version of the second one.
...

Let me start with my first day "on the job."  I remember dropping my canvas duffle bag at the foot of my bunk in Charlie Company, and almost immediately being called into my platoon sergeant's office.  I sprinted down a well-buffed hallway, shadowed by the platoon's "mascot": a Grim-Reaper-style figure with the battalion's red and black scroll beneath it. It hovered like something you'd see in a haunted house on the cinder block wall adjoining the sergeant's office.  It seemed to be watching me as I snapped to attention in his doorway, beads of sweat on my forehead. "At ease... Why are you here, Fanning? Why do you think you should be a Ranger?" All this he said with an air of suspicion.

Shaken, after being screamed out of a bus with all my gear, across an expansive lawn in front of the company's barracks, and up three flights of stairs to my new home, I responded hesitantly, "Umm, I want to help prevent another 9/11, First Sergeant." It must have sounded almost like a question.

"There is only one answer to what I just asked you, son. That is: you want to feel the warm red blood of your enemy run down your knife blade."

Taking in his military awards, the multiple tall stacks of manila folders on his desk, and the photos of what turned out to be his platoon in Afghanistan, I said in a loud voice that rang remarkably hollowly, at least to me, "Roger, First Sergeant!"

He dropped his head and started filling out a form. "We're done here," he said without even bothering to look up again.

The platoon sergeant's answer had a distinct hint of lust in it but, surrounded by all those folders, he also looked to me like a bureaucrat. Surely such a question deserved something more than the few impersonal and sociopathic seconds I spent in that doorway." From "Letter from an Angry Ranger"
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/01/military-counterrecruitment-global-war-on-terror

Some Thoughts on Rachel Dolezal

Everything I've read points me back again to what I see as the root problem that underlies any act of deception for financial gain or prestige. One might ask why we support a system where anyone needs either of those things when we live in a world of such abundance and technological efficiency that we could quash out all inequality. Could dispel the need for inequality. While I understand how people are very angry at this, within this system. It occurs to me that if every human being had their basic human needs met, this would be a non issue. And we have technological capability to do that.

I do not condone what Rachel Dolezal did, but in this system, in which we are all constantly forced to prove ourselves, to struggle to get ahead, I can certainly understand the temptation. I myself have had to ask myself do I really need whatever assistance comes along with checking hispanic. I am hispanic. But I am also white. And I certainly grew up with a hell of a lot more privilege than some other hispanic people I know. So by checking that box and taking whatever extra assistance it gives me- am I not also robbing someone else who might be more deserving- of that?

The whole system seems fucked up to me, when we live in a society technologically capable of making all of this moot. It would then just be an interesting quirk or a cute fantasy like my niece, who when she was 9 and living in Oakland, CA, with mainly black children for playmates and a very close grandmother type black woman friend, in her life and so she would assert vehemently that she was black. Of course she wasn't gaining any privileges for it so it was just smiled and chuckled at. So it's not the same as what Rachel has or has not (I guess up to now it seems hearsay that she's actually done anything illegal) done. But again, it would all be moot, if we lived in a system where no one had any privileges over any other. And that is not a fantasy, that we could live in such a system. It's a very real possibility that many are talking about.

ONE WOMAN WANTED TO KNOW WHERE HER WHITE PRIVILEGES WERE " I hate arguing race and Jim Crowe laws and all that. If you go back far enough we are all black because all human ancestry began in Africa. AA students often get a leg up due to race and socioeconomic status, but there aren't any scholarships for white people from the same situations, trust me, there aren't. I think anyone who wants to go to college should be able to go and it should be free like how they do in other countries. To much importance is placed on money, race, socioeconomic status, geography, religion, many other things that just should not matter."

In one manner, your "white privilege" lie in the fact that you as a homeless white person could take a shower, put on some clean clothes -not saying you weren't clean, just that if need be you could do those things and go out in the world and and look for a job and do the things you needed to do without anyone having to know you were homeless. I'm assuming if you were clean and presentable you could also walk through a Walmart without being followed by security. I'm also assuming you could walk through a rich all white neighborhood and not have everyone assume you were up to no good so long as you were reasonably clean and well kept. I myself have been homeless, and as much as it sucked I've always known I still had more privilege than people of darker color than I. However, homeless or clean, I have to wonder if in certain situations, my name kept me from getting fair treatment. In any case, people of color cannot wash that off.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/06/16/if-rachel-dolezal-says-she-s-black-she-s-black-sort-of.html

David S. says:

June 16, 2015 at 6:35 pm

“Dressing up” like another race, not wanting to be who you really are, usually stems from early trauma that causes one to dissociate from themselves. Aside from that, this is yet another distraction from the real issues the world faces. from Variety.com

Former basketball player, Kareem Abdul-Jabar wrote an article for Time Magazine Monday saying, "You can't deny Dolezal has proven herself a fierce and unrelenting champion for African Americans, politically and culturally. He also said, "The black community is better off because of her efforts." From http://www.krem.com/story/news/local/spokane-county/2015/06/16/many-still-celebrating-dolezals-successes/28845771/

On Art and Artists...

"Artists and philosophers, who expose the mercurial undercurrents of the subconscious, allow us to face an unvarnished truth. Works of art and philosophy informed by the intuitive, unarticulated meanderings of the human psyche transcend those constructed by the plodding conscious mind. The freeing potency of visceral memories does not arrive through the intellect. These memories are impervious to rational control. And they alone lead to wisdom." - Chris Hedges 
America's Mania for Positive Thinking and Denial of Reality Will Be Our Downfall The ridiculous positivism, the belief that we are headed toward some glorious future, defies reality - Alternet.com

Conversations with Great Minds P2 - The Economics of Revolution

some interesting points made on thisnthat

My thoughts on the following meme: 

Unlike · Reply · 2 · 22 hrs · Edited

Pia Alicia-Pilar Mogollon And so your post has fulfilled it's intention. The question is do you post only to make others think, do you allow for the process to affect your own thinking or do you stay stuck in your original thinking and assertions? In any case, this post has indeed given me food for thought.

comeback to poor grammar/punctuation ad hominem attack:

Anyone who starts complaining about another's use of grammar and punctuation usually has no other valid points, and just want to be included. Not saying that's what you're doing , but it's like why even call people out on that stuff? You can't make them any smarter, and the ignorance just grows from that point. 

Also, if we still understand their points on the topic it doesn't really matter how they present it. Sometimes a valid point backed with facts TRUMPS a flawless paragraph.  -  Anthony Rappo  - found on Facebook comment thread.   <3 this

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"So, the question is this.... Do these people kill seals because they enjoy it and are "bad" people? Or is it because we have a global economic system which forces profit over life? 

The truth is that we now have the technical ability for abundance for all. There is no ACTUAL need for rain forests to be cut down, wars for oil, this bloody poaching, or any of the rest of it... There is no actual physical need for these things, yet the monetary system demands these things." - Neil Adam Collins, facebook comment thread. 

some thoughts on muslims versus christianity

On Muslims vs. Christianity:
 Like which is the worse crime against humanity...a Muslim who beheads 4 journalists (Terrible gruesome crimes, true). Or Americans shelling in IRAQ with depleted Uranium (20,000 yr. life span) that will cause 1000's of terrible birth defects for generations to come. The same is true in Vietnam Where agent orange was widely spared. In both cases the most innocent of innocents, the yet unborn were heartlessly punished for that of which they knew nothing. I'm just saying be better get our acts clean before we go about judging. We have done some of the worst acts imaginable wining the hearts & minds of the victims of our madness!

A dialogue on Christianity

" And then there is the almost equivalent 'christian' jihad on america, a vile and backwards country in reality. 'This is a christian nation' they belligerently but falsely proclaim. The bottom line for unbelievers is 'hell' for eternity with these sociopathic, us vs. them mental midgets.

Forcing citizens who do not believe in the biblical nonsense to comply with biblical nonsense in the form of republican/teabag legislation via local, state and federal govt levels.

Stirring the hate pot against all who do not agree with them, including suggestions to legislate imprisonment and even the death penalty for Gays, unbelievers, blasphemers, socialists, etc. and failure of those to bow the knee to their human-made 'god'. Not much difference if any vs. the muslim jihadists, another insane belief system."-A

"Spot on, A, the insanity visited upon us by the religious right is becoming more intrusive in our government everytime a teabilly or religious nut gets elected.
They starve the poor because they love them, they want to execute gays because they love them, they want women who cannot afford babies to have their insides ripped out with coat hangers because they love them. It all amounts to fucking insanity and ignorance that the right wing politicians are quick to capitalize on." B

"So true, B, And every time I hear or read someone who is not a christian saying something to the effect that he is not a 'good' christian...I cringe. There is nothing good about christianity historically or currently. It is a man-made fantasy that takes the believers down to where there is no real thought and no reason, just dedication and obedience to unreasonable insanity. And they demand automatic respect because they think they are doing 'gods work' and there are no questions.

And then they take the rest of us down with them if they delve into politics like they have the last couple of decades, ever increasing and on steroids. They are very much into the Trojan Horse version of politics and have proudly developed a 'stealth' method of getting elected...from school boards on up to the top. And over the years have inserted their creed by getting 'in god we trust' etc on our money, in the pledge, and posted in our courtrooms, while using the 'bible' to swear to tell the truth on. Bullshit. This all needs to be removed. When anyone works to have these references removed, they go ballistic and proclaim gods 'wrath' on the nation if anything along those lines is considered.

I speak of this issue often as fair warning to most. They are true idiots and extremely dangerous to personal freedoms and democracy. They will not just sit back and enjoy their faith. It is their 'mission' and purpose to get everyone 'saved by the blood of heysus' at any cost....it is the most important task in their confused and willfully deranged minds.

'They are conniving liars and twisters of the truth, and will continue to wreck this country. They are used by and using the 1% for mutual convenience to clobber the rest of us with an iron fist of fascism and feudalism.

I have been there many years ago (tried it but it wouldnt stick) and married to one, a speaking in tongues kind. A lovely person as actually many of them are, but ruined by this dangerous mind-bending nonsense. Complete fools because they have been fooled by the purveyors of bullshit for untaxed profit from behind their pulpits of insanity." -A

"A, if America is a vile and backwards nation, why do you stay here? Surely there are better places to be. The plain fact is that America is a Christian nation. It always has been. Part of our greatness is that we have no state sanctioned religion (see 1st Amendment) and among all the nations that have ever been, America exercises the greatest tolerance for people of all other faiths or of no faith. Simple fact." C

"C, if you wish, re-read what I wrote and all of my answers to your question are in there. I speak of christianity because of two things....I know much about it and it is a force in this country like the jihad muslims are in the middle east.

I have no problem with anyone believing anything as long as it does not affect my life or anyone that does not want it in theirs. But christianity does, it seeks to influence and control others who want nothing to do with it. Why? Because this is what their 'god' commanded and they will follow through with utmost obedience and dedication, ruining the country in the process. Like I said, if they could just sit back, believe their bullshit and leave others alone...that is fine. But the christian belief system is not kind like so many non-believers and they themselves think...the kindness has an ulterior motive and is conditional. The bottom line is HELL for eternity for anyone who does not believe. And they will go to any extremes to see that their gods will will be done. I say bullshit." A

"You make a good point C. with an exception, nobody chooses to be an atheist, we just don't believe in some magical power making our decisions for us, logic overrides fantasy.
The argument you made that I did agree with is that all religions should be treated with the same respect , but we both know that will never happen as long as they are all willing to murder other humans in the name of their God." -B

"And C, some other religions are just as bad. Some are non-threatening and although may be delusional, do care about people and the environment and do not shame people or try to force their beliefs on others, or claim it is a 'Buddhist' nation etc.

And how is my anti-christianity 'dogma'. I am pointing out facts and truth here. Not my version of christianity. Having experienced it myself and married to one for eight years, I know what I am talking about. What I have pointed out is happening. The only parts I condemn are the violence of their beliefs and that they are trying to force it on others. What is wrong with that?

When someone of the christian faith talks to me and looks at me like I am a heathen and will be going to hell for eternity if I do not believe in their bullshit, I do not have automatic respect. And that is how all evangelical and dominionist believers function. They look down their noses like the rich do to the working class and the poor." -A

"We are not a 'Christian' nation C, that is just another right-wing lie designed to divide this country so we will be too busy fighting each other than addressing the real problems that are destroying this country." -B

"You are bending my mind with that one C. I know from sitting in many churches over the years listening to preachers and reading their material and the schizophrenic bible what they are up to. I am not cherry picking facts, just summing them up so people can understand what it all means without having to read a complete book on the subject which I could write.

If a religion promotes any sort of violence (or 'force') to further their cause, or force their beliefs on people via the political machine, I will speak out and speak hard. This needs to be fought.

Again I say, anyone can believe anything, that is a right here in the good ol USA supposedly, but the christians are bent on eliminating all heathen religions and inserting their creed as the national religion. So if you speak to a born again evangelical, they would not agree to freedom of 'any' religions...just theirs.

If you read up on the dominionists....a driving force in evangelical chriatianity....you will see that they want to take over the govt and all business and offer punishment and death to unbelievers of various kinds. I am very familiar with their mentality and what their purpose is, C, and just warning people before a complete takeover which could happen and I would suspect even you, with what you have said here, would not be a happy camper if their biblical wet dreams came true." -A

"Oh, this is a thrilling way to wake up---to a friendly discussion of perceptions and points of view. You may wish to check out your American history because many of the founders were not Christians. They were Deists! Check it out. It is a fascinating viewpoint at that time--- in this land of aboriginal natives, who respected all of life, did not make a decision until they considered how it would affect the next 7 generations.
They actually called the white women "cows" because the would "breed" so many children. (generalization) Am not sure but they would only have a child every 7 years or so. They seemed to know that this is a finite planet and could not feed a swollen population. So, many practiced birth control, keeping the land fertile. We got much of our constitution from the 7 nations of the Iriquois, which is another interesting avenue to pursue. As far as being a "Christian Nation" I feel that is an over-generalization, big time. My feeling is that this planet and surrounding universes are so Vast and Incomprehensible to the most astute and brilliant minds, that religion could not encompass any of that great mystery of nothingness, being, non-being. Why a simple rock just might know more than our small egos seem to get caught up in. It is unwise to to play with us vs. them. We are them." -D

"C, Two points:
1. If I choose to not believe in the Tooth Fairy, is that a choice or just common sense?
2. If this really was a Christian nation, there would be no homeless people and no hungry children. If we were to go by objective observation, (let's say an alien from another galaxy lands here and does a brief assessment of cultures around the world) that alien would notice we're the only industrialized nation that does not offer universal healthcare, and he'd notice our social safety net is severely underfunded, resulting in much unnecessary human suffering compared to other countries. This begs the question, if we really are Christian nation, does the pathetic condition of our country reflect poorly on Christianity, or just on the moral character of those who vote against ending human suffering?" -E

"I'm late in this conversation and didn't make it all the way thru but in regards to the idea that this is or isn't a christian nation. Regardless of whether or not there is a majority of proclaimed christians, you cannot call it a christian nation and maintain that there is freedom of religion.

Based on the following facts- "White Americans are the racial majority, with a 77.7% share of the U.S. population, according to the 2013 U.S. Census. Hispanic and Latino Americans amount to 17.1% of the population, making up the largest minority. African Americans are the largest racial minority, amounting to 13.2% of the population." - Would you ever claim this is a White Nation? I would hope not." - Me