tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post6894216800728124041..comments2024-03-27T18:00:02.032-04:00Comments on Sardonicky: The False Choice Between Gender Justice and Economic JusticeKaren Garciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15612731479365562803noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-15908421318863442552019-01-11T13:57:19.738-05:002019-01-11T13:57:19.738-05:00"Surely, in the history of lies told to the p...<br />"Surely, in the history of lies told to the population, this is the biggest lie. In the history of secrets, withheld from the American people, this is the biggest secret: that there are classes with different interests in this country. To ignore that - not to know that the history of our country is a history of slaveowner against slave, landlord against tenant, corporation against worker, rich against poor - is to render us helpless before all the lesser lies told to us by people in power." <br />~ Howard ZinnErik Rothnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-77781750255947976582019-01-11T13:23:23.596-05:002019-01-11T13:23:23.596-05:00Demonstrators in the streets know they're far ...Demonstrators in the streets know they're far along when balladeers join them, and even compete, in writing songs for the cause. Here's one French tune that claims to be the official song of the Yellow Vests. (YouTube, 3:30 minutes.) My translation of the lyrics below.<br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ys0m371izM<br /><br /> THE BEGGARS<br /><br />In their crumpled yellow vests<br />They went out to demonstrate<br />In the early morning cold––<br />The beggars...<br /><br />In the streets each day of the week<br />They screamed "Enough's enough!"<br />They demanded that they live better––<br />The beggars...<br /><br />They struggled with poverty<br />No longer willing to be still<br />They didn't ask for paradise<br />Only to be heard––<br />The beggars...<br /><br />In their crumpled yellow vests<br />Nonviolent yet determined<br />They sealed off the venues––<br />The beggars...<br /><br />All through the night they blocked<br />Tollbooths and roundabouts<br />They no longer chose<br />To close their eyes––<br />The beggars...<br /><br />There never were so many <br />Demanding the resignations<br />Of those maggoty politicians––<br />The beggars...<br /><br />Supporting the nobodies of France<br />In their crumpled yellow vests<br />At last we've taken note of them––<br />The beggars...<br /><br />As they saunter past<br />The bosses and the well-off<br />They together and at full volume<br />Chant the refrain<br />"Resign Macron Resign!"––<br />The beggars...<br /><br />They have had enough of BFM-TV*<br />And the rest of the manacled media<br />There to sow fear and division––<br />Such is their mission...<br /><br />We spent years forever<br />Paying without flinching<br />Now it's time to open our eyes––<br />Both of them...<br /><br />If you'd been smart [Macron] you could have<br />Soothed the anger and hunger of those <br />Who carry on on an empty stomach––<br />The beggars...<br /><br />But you're so full of contempt<br />You lack a heart big enough<br />To make room for such people––<br />Voila, voila, voila...<br /><br />Thinking about all that<br />I tell myself<br />Surely, in a real democracy<br />It wouldn't be necessary<br />For people walk back and forth<br />Endlessly<br />Like this.<br /><br /><br />* Fox-like leading news channel in France.Jay–Ottawahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10360356126450612113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-38547155902945348112019-01-10T16:13:57.848-05:002019-01-10T16:13:57.848-05:00" Above all, it's a class war, the assaul..." Above all, it's a class war, the assault of hypercapitalism on regular people." BINGO !<br /><br />Despite that "above all" class war, identity politics keeps stealing the stage. The new identity politics––so real and so close to home for one or another in the cheated or abused subgroups––keeps distracting us all from our first duty as political animals. In recent decades the class struggle, the big picture, has been shredded into a thousand real but narrow constituencies. <br /><br />Identity politics is the new Above All. Our treasured individualism keeps us from seeing ourselves in solidarity as political animals. No solidarity, no state. Sing it, Aristotle, from your songbook "Politics"!<br /><br />"Hence it is evident that the state is a creation of nature, and that man is by nature a political animal. And he who by nature and not by mere accident is without a state, is either above humanity, or below it ... he may be compared to a bird which flies alone."<br /><br />Most of us in the US fly alone or in very small flocks. Our great state has been turned over to the few for their private use. Three in a room, Trump, Pelosi and Schumer are not there for us.<br /><br />There's another remarkable article by Susan Roberts over at CounterPunch. She too urges us to focus on the big picture, which includes lots of what Bernie is usually railing about when he isn't fending off the Pharisees with their trap questions. <br />https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/01/09/is-the-historical-subject-returning-wearing-a-yellow-vest/<br /><br />I'm an old white male. You can't expect me to see an equivalence between gender justice and economic justice. When I point to the Yellow Vests as a way back to the class struggle, I am an easy target for those whose first allegiance is to civil discourse or identity politics. So I find it encouraging when attention is drawn back to the class war not by another old white male but by blacks, browns, LGBTs, immigrants and women (like Garcia and Roberts), the usual victims of personal abuse who nevertheless keep their eyes on the class war as the first order of the day.Jay–Ottawahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10360356126450612113noreply@blogger.com