Scrubbing History

Colin Powell died recently, and while he is not the worst person in his circle, he was horrible and did undeniable damage to our world. Normally, Powell would not rise to a level of importance that I'd feel the need to talk about him, but the MEDIA can not stop singing praise and whitewashing history...so I feel the need to at least remind people that he was deeply involved in the Iraq War. He pushed (now debunked) lies that Iraq was readying biological agents and nuclear materials to use against us/the world...the so-called "Weapons of Mass Destruction." Again, this war cost the lives of about a MILLION Iraqis (many innocent civilians), and countless US soldiers as well. Even after helping get us into this murderous, oil-stealing, nonsense foreverWAR, he continued to be a direct military participant and popped up for strategy presentations and other propaganda efforts. Egregiously, years later he tried to pretend he was never for the war, told us the Bush-Cheney administration was a force for good, and never fully repented for his crimes or the crimes of the administrations he served.

Now look, can people get things wrong...yes, but your due diligence is measured proportionally to your position of power. This man was a General in the U.S. Military...it is his job to find accurate information and make intelligent decisions regarding military operations. The Media keeps talking about the "Powell Doctrine"...look, I'm tired of people calling out the damage AFTER THEY CAUSE IT. Eisenhower created the Military Industrial Complex, then warned us about it...TOO LATE; Woodrow Wilson created the current central banking system in the U.S., then warned us about the abuse by banks...TOO LATE. I give them all very little credit for bringing the threat into existence...then saying it's bad.

We must not continue to let these people DO massive harm, I don't give two sh*ts what they say before or after. Stop doing the harm.

We must also not let them CHANGE the story after they do the harm. You see it in who actually defeated Nazi Germany in WWII (the Soviet Union under Stalin), to "The Big Lie," to Christopher Columbus, to racism and Civil Rights...they keep trying to suppress/change historical facts. We must protect the facts, and share it with the next generation, however great or terrible the facts are, whether we like them or not. That is how we progress as a civilization.

The "Restraint" Narrative

The new narrative floating around the news is that the police, during the January 6th insurrection, showed "great restraint" by not shooting at the insurrectionists...F this narrative. The police were entrusted to protect the people in that building, the mob had already assaulted/killed(?) security/police, and were shouting to kill (or worse) the legislators/VP. Not only should they NOT have show "restraint," it was their duty to use deadly force on anyone who violently besieged the Capitol in that manner.

Meanwhile, if minorities/leftists don't show their vehicle registration in the exact tone/manner the cops prefer, on a routine traffic stop, they will pump peaceful citizens full of lead at the drop of a dime (as body cam footage shows time after time). It's tiring to see the stark differences in treatment that various groups in society get.

As an example, we all saw how the Bundy's completely hijacked a government building, stole government vehicles, and SHOT at police...but they were allowed to stay in occupation of that building for weeks, while mail/supplies were delivered, they shot video of their crimes and posted them on social media, and even after they were forced out...nary a slap on the wrist for their insane criminal activity. Contrast that with the BLM protests; they were teargassed, clubbed, shot with "less-lethal" bullets, run over by police vehicles, and even black-bagged/kidnapped by unmarked government agents...and video shows the VAST majority of protesters were completely peaceful when the violence against them began.

There CAN'T be these sliding scales of justice. The law must be applied objectively, to prescribed, well-defined conditions/parameters, and in a consistent and fair manner. If we continue down this road, "Rule of Law" will lose all meaning, Social Contract will break down, and we will no longer be a "civilization"...just large groups of tribal marauders, ruled by violence, greed, and delusion.

Our Roles In Change

Most of the activists I meet are not the most vulnerable people in society. I say that, not to diminish their passion, compassion, or importance, but just to highlight that THAT particular group is one that is privileged enough to be able to have some time off work, protest, organize, research, etc. There are also a lot of underprivileged people who, despite being the people MOST likely to need broad Structural change, are unlikely to know the mechanisms needing systemic change, unlikely to have excess time and energy to protest, unlikely to have the positions of most freedom to organize.

Why am I saying all this? We need to know that we are not all in the same circumstances, and therefore, our roles in Structural change differ. We can't expect everyone to show up to every protest, we can't expect everyone to be completely knowledgeable about political policy, we can't expect that everyone knows which politicians to vote for and which ones are liars... those are all things we need to MAKE happen.

If you are one of the "middle class" activists, you can't just sit around wondering why everyone just doesn't "get woke" and hope they all vote the way you think is correct... perhaps your role should be as an organizer or awareness educator... you likely have more time for research and administration than your lower class colleagues, access to more resources, etc. If you are a lower class change actor, don't get caught up in the "blame game" or pity party, you need to realize that your power comes from solidarity and influence in your own circle, and you need to acknowledge that you might have to accept direction if you can't afford the time to organize or gain awareness yourself. If you are wealthy... and for some reason have a conscience and a Structuralist perspective, your job is to lead/seek out honest and dedicated talent, and provide resources for key change actors and movements.

None of us can make change alone, we must all know where we stand in society, and apply pressure where we can be most effective.