No Gods, No Masters

No, I’m not impressed by your fucking Corvette–it’s just a bullshit status symbol.

No, I didn’t read The Four Agreements because I have no fucking bibles.

No, I don’t care that Mr. or Mrs. fucking celebrity donated anything to anyone, I save my applause for shit that makes me proud to be a human being.

No, I don’t insult people by comparing them to children because I don’t value children  less than adults.

No, I don’t think we need some sort of security system for the fucking two-bedroom condo because some of your overpriced crap might get stolen.

No, I’m not excited about the next technological advancement that’s going to displace people from their jobs. All the fucking racists who want to build a wall need to smash all the fucking machines that took American jobs instead.

No, I’m not voting for Bernie Sanders because I don’t believe in fucking messiahs.

No, I’m not going to get the new i-anything because I don’t care, need or want that shit. You’re just paying for somebody else’s fucking mansion when you buy that crap.

No, I don’t take “You’ve lost weight/you look great” as a fucking compliment because I shat glass for three months and lost 20 damned pounds because I was too afraid to eat and it made me fucking miserable. The whole beauty industry is a fucking vampire that feeds off of your insecurities.

And no, I don’t care about fucking Bitcoin because any fucking symbolic form of currency is meaningless crap that doesn’t represent anything that’s worth a shit. Our fucking economy is a house of fucking cards.

 

 

America the Beautiful

I was inspired by a fellow blogger–critical of the system, to write about the current state of things, as I see it, in the U.S. She’s come to the conclusion that even the left is not all it’s cracked up to be. I must agree.

Even supposed progressives still believe in a system that is, by nature, oppressive: namely, the patriarchy/capitalism. Some people seem to think we are beyond multiple forms of oppression and that we can afford to endorse a system that thrives off of certain people being trampled on. Granted, the system we live under is on shaky ground (hopefully) but many seem to be clinging to it for dear life.

Let us not forget that this country was built on oppression–not by bloodthirsty bigots, but by regular people like you and me. Many people who didn’t live through the Civil Rights Era look back at our racist history and gush, “Oh, how monstrous!” Need I remind you that it was not unheard of for entire families to attend lynchings with picnic basket in-hand?

Indeed, lynching was a “monstrous” act but not perpetrated by monsters–perpetrated by everyday Americans. “Well that kind of racism is a thing of the past.” Is it? Not two years ago did a Bay Area girls’ Catholic school serve watermelon and fried chicken for lunch in honor of Black History Month.

What kind of stereotypes do you think those lynch mobs had about black people?

Much of the black community will vote for Hillary this November. I can’t know the minds of black voters but I could imagine they’d sooner see a woman in office than another white man. Perhaps she knows a little bit more about oppression than The Bern. And if you don’t think that sexism is still rampant, type “women” into a Google image search and you can see how far we’ve come. This was one of the first four images to pop up —Some of the first search suggestions were “Body Shapes” and “Body Shapes for Men.” Granted the images that pop up for “men” are also highly sexualized but they too appear to be geared towards other men. Wonder whose interests are being catered-to there??

Children don’t fair much better but do garner more sympathy. They are still primarily viewed as possessions–evidence of our good parenting skills or lack thereof. 

Can we really call our country the “land of the free” when half its’ citizens are governed by the other half and people below voting age are viewed as indebted to their parents? For what? Granting them life, clothing them, feeding them and not beating them? Thank you, benevolent masters!

No, we’re not the land of the free but we might be the home of the brave. You’d have to be brave to wake up every day as anyone with minority status and venture into a world that needs you to kneel down so white, heterosexual men can use you to elevate themselves. (Here’s where the white, heterosexual men write some version of Well, I never! in the comments). Women are being asked, yet again, to put others’ needs ahead of their own this election year. If we don’t learn from history, we’re doomed to repeat it. And, just like 100 years ago, women will have to wait their turn to see one of their own in a top seat in the nation–one nation….

 

…with liberty and justice for all.

Welcome to the (abusive)Family!

I was recently having a conversation with my older brother about society, family, life–all the big, important issues. We were talking about the media circus and exchanging ideas about the motivation for various forms of media propaganda.

During our discussion, I stumbled upon what I thought was an apt metaphor: Our society is like one big abusive family! After recently experiencing a horrifyingly abusive relationship and awakening to the truth of my abusive childhood, I learned that abuse does not involve a single perpetrator and a single victim.

In an abusive family, there are usually multiple perpetrators and victims. An abusive parent may have been abused as a child and those they abuse might also abuse others. Besides becoming more conscious of the patterns of abuse in my own life, I became more aware of the patterns of abuse in other institutions and even in society at large.

People who abuse others need help to do what they’re doing. They need victims to believe they are unworthy of anything but punishment and they need others to agree with that same belief or at least to be so scared that they don’t object. This was painfully apparent in the story portrayed in the movie Spotlight. Stanley Tucci’s character hit on something when he said, “It takes a village to raise a child. It takes a village to abuse one.”

Abusive people rely on their ability to distort the truth in order to wield power and manipulate others. Abusive parents will often turn siblings against one another in order to continue their abuse and use tactics such as gaslighting to make the victim seem crazy or like they’re the ones perpetrating the abuse. If a victim is in any way a threat to the abusive system, they are pushed out.

Abusers also use different tactics to pacify their victims into accepting or even asking for abuse. (Nobody wants to be abused but many are fooled into thinking they’re not being abused.) They will often find different ways to “pleasure” their victims with gifts, sex, drugs, job opportunities, money, compliments and the like. Victims of all ages are lulled into accepting whatever is dolled out afterwards.

We see this echoed in our popular media and news sources(I hesitate to separate the two). Might it not be in the best interests of the powers that be to skew the truth? People are much easier to control when they’re afraid. They’re also much easier to control when they’re stratified. Just like an abusive family, people who can’t see past their differences can’t unite in order to fight the real enemy. Likewise, people who are satiated and brainwashed are more ready to accept abuse.

Should we not ask who is profiting from our divisiveness, from our hate, from our fear and even from our entertainment? Are opposing political parties, other genders or other ethnic groups the real enemies? Are money, status or “likes” what’s really important? Is there another group that stands to benefit from these things? While we’re consumed with fear over who’s going to be the next president, who is infiltrating our country or while we’re thinking about the next technological advance or what we’re going to buy next, perhaps there is a more sinister plot being hatched behind our backs…..or under our noses.

Don’t be scared! That’s what they want. Or, if you are scared, don’t let it rule you. Pause. Take a breath and think, not just with your mind but with your heart and see if their isn’t someone that stands to gain from your fear or your pleasure.