"Until you change how money works, you change nothing."
~ Michael C. Ruppert, American writer and musician, Los Angeles Police Department officer, investigative journalist, political activist, and peak oil awareness advocate known for his 2004 book Crossing The Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil.[2]
Our monetary system, which depends on infinite growth combined with an economic system designed by the wealthy for the wealthy, drive this predatory capitalism. So, I don't see any permanent correction in the paradigm we're living in unless we address the elephant in the room. And CBDC's will make it infinitely more difficult to resist. Which doesn't mean giving up, but we need to be realistic and much more creative in how we resist.
My opinion is that white hat hackers could eliminate/transfer the bulk of the wealth in a heartbeat with the right skills. How cool would that be!?!
Great piece, Max, and thank you for gifting us with the lessons you have learned from Seattle and the aftermath.
Let's not forget that there are throngs of everyday exploited people working inside the government agencies and rapacious corporations keeping those destructive systems functioning. They all have bills to pay and dreams to fulfill, but they are captives of their own habitual work lives and find themselves serving the beast.
What do you do with that awareness of what your job actually entails? Knowing that you do have a hand at destroying 10,000 acres of forest, or getting that permit filed on time to punch another bore hole to extract oil, has got to wear on people. Maybe the best thing we can do is an intervention to wake up the key administrative assistants to the most nefarious members of the Professional Managerial Class and help them to get another job.
Albeit there's evolutionary 'progress' and as Pete Seeger said, the seesaw can tip with one spoonful of sand, your post has me re-looking at stuff and tactics b/c with all the efforts for decades, stats say things have gotten worse and people don't listen, didn't listen to Cry of the Earth at UN in 90s, etc., and the powers that be don't be, they do too much. There can be small victories, and big ones with enough people, and more and more it seems to me that Mother Nature and Spirit are THE big teachers now b/c humans haven't listened enuf to humans.
Max, I came on a bus of coworkers from Bham in 99 to walk together on the city streets. An inspiring peaceful walk among miles of strong American workers filling sidewalks and streets. When I returned home (no internet then ), the tv news only focused on the drama on capital hill, ignoring the bigger picture of how many showed up in person to protest.
I helped bottomline the first aid base clinic at the main convergence space at 420 Denny. Most impressive to me was the Spokescouncil and how effective it was at making collective decisions. Seeing in action all the necessary disciplines for making a large nonviolent protest of that scale work; Kitchen, Medical, Legal/Jail Support, Media, Comms, Security. We figured a lot of that out during Headwaters Defense campaign.
Midnight Special Law Collective was especially effective and rocked the jail support, Art & Revolution made it a the carnival against capitalism.
I'm still bummed I missed the short 1-block run of the giant siege tower made from pallets & scrap lumber. A cardboard turtle revolution, marching alongside steelworkers in surreal Seattle. I'm still treating patients to this day who were severely damaged by the chemical weapons the riot cops deployed on us. CX gas, and agent orange.
Thank you for all your work, Greta, and for sharing a little glimpse behind the scenes. I'd love to hear more, or any recommendations you have of articles, books, or videos on this.
I was involved in the Reclaim the Streets demo in San Francisco which preceded the Seattle WTO demos by 6 months (6/18/99), in a way setting the stage. I agree with your take re Vincent Kelley's "We're All Trumpians Now." The WTO protests and the movement which followed, culminating with the G7 protests in Genoa, Italy in July '01, which were violently repressed, constituted a genuine global oppositional movement and a threat to the hegemonic capitalist powers. A big reason for the 9/11 false flag event was the overall repression of that movement, and unfortunately this succeeded, due to the failure of that movement to confront the reality of what happened that day. See these two articles by my late colleague Tod Fletcher, who went on to become a major 9/11 activist before his untimely death in September 2014.
"Until you change how money works, you change nothing."
~ Michael C. Ruppert, American writer and musician, Los Angeles Police Department officer, investigative journalist, political activist, and peak oil awareness advocate known for his 2004 book Crossing The Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil.[2]
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Ruppert
Our monetary system, which depends on infinite growth combined with an economic system designed by the wealthy for the wealthy, drive this predatory capitalism. So, I don't see any permanent correction in the paradigm we're living in unless we address the elephant in the room. And CBDC's will make it infinitely more difficult to resist. Which doesn't mean giving up, but we need to be realistic and much more creative in how we resist.
My opinion is that white hat hackers could eliminate/transfer the bulk of the wealth in a heartbeat with the right skills. How cool would that be!?!
Great piece, Max, and thank you for gifting us with the lessons you have learned from Seattle and the aftermath.
Let's not forget that there are throngs of everyday exploited people working inside the government agencies and rapacious corporations keeping those destructive systems functioning. They all have bills to pay and dreams to fulfill, but they are captives of their own habitual work lives and find themselves serving the beast.
What do you do with that awareness of what your job actually entails? Knowing that you do have a hand at destroying 10,000 acres of forest, or getting that permit filed on time to punch another bore hole to extract oil, has got to wear on people. Maybe the best thing we can do is an intervention to wake up the key administrative assistants to the most nefarious members of the Professional Managerial Class and help them to get another job.
Albeit there's evolutionary 'progress' and as Pete Seeger said, the seesaw can tip with one spoonful of sand, your post has me re-looking at stuff and tactics b/c with all the efforts for decades, stats say things have gotten worse and people don't listen, didn't listen to Cry of the Earth at UN in 90s, etc., and the powers that be don't be, they do too much. There can be small victories, and big ones with enough people, and more and more it seems to me that Mother Nature and Spirit are THE big teachers now b/c humans haven't listened enuf to humans.
Max, I came on a bus of coworkers from Bham in 99 to walk together on the city streets. An inspiring peaceful walk among miles of strong American workers filling sidewalks and streets. When I returned home (no internet then ), the tv news only focused on the drama on capital hill, ignoring the bigger picture of how many showed up in person to protest.
Par for the course for mainstream media.
I helped bottomline the first aid base clinic at the main convergence space at 420 Denny. Most impressive to me was the Spokescouncil and how effective it was at making collective decisions. Seeing in action all the necessary disciplines for making a large nonviolent protest of that scale work; Kitchen, Medical, Legal/Jail Support, Media, Comms, Security. We figured a lot of that out during Headwaters Defense campaign.
Midnight Special Law Collective was especially effective and rocked the jail support, Art & Revolution made it a the carnival against capitalism.
I'm still bummed I missed the short 1-block run of the giant siege tower made from pallets & scrap lumber. A cardboard turtle revolution, marching alongside steelworkers in surreal Seattle. I'm still treating patients to this day who were severely damaged by the chemical weapons the riot cops deployed on us. CX gas, and agent orange.
Thank you for all your work, Greta, and for sharing a little glimpse behind the scenes. I'd love to hear more, or any recommendations you have of articles, books, or videos on this.
Thanks for an inspiring piece, Max. Revolution is the sound of your heart still beating -- perfect!
You're welcome. I love that quote from Dominique, too.
I was involved in the Reclaim the Streets demo in San Francisco which preceded the Seattle WTO demos by 6 months (6/18/99), in a way setting the stage. I agree with your take re Vincent Kelley's "We're All Trumpians Now." The WTO protests and the movement which followed, culminating with the G7 protests in Genoa, Italy in July '01, which were violently repressed, constituted a genuine global oppositional movement and a threat to the hegemonic capitalist powers. A big reason for the 9/11 false flag event was the overall repression of that movement, and unfortunately this succeeded, due to the failure of that movement to confront the reality of what happened that day. See these two articles by my late colleague Tod Fletcher, who went on to become a major 9/11 activist before his untimely death in September 2014.
https://dailybattle.pairsite.com/2010/after_genoa.shtml
https://dailybattle.pairsite.com/2010/911_desperate_provocation.shtml.