Describe a decision you made in the past that helped you learn or grow.
When I became homeless the first time, I chose family.
The second time, I chose friends.
Left alone the third time, I had no one else but myself.
I decided to choose the version of me that would be a hero to the younger me.
A brave transgender woman fighting for justice, speaking truth to power, and bravely taking the knocks for it.
Because the important decision in that was to fight for others, not just for myself, but as a reflection of where we are, fight for what my younger self needed, what I needed, what I still need, and do so by striking for others. String and deep, strike at the heart of the issues.
That decision has been ever-unfilding since then, and before then when similar decisions were made. But it has forever changed my life to give it to others. Because when all else fails, choosing yourself means choosing the humanity that you share with others.
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The incumbent President of the United States is a big fan of gifts, and, like many narcissists on the right, really enjoys having his ego fluffed up with remarks about strength and the like.
However, words are good, but actions are better. And Trump’s actions were better than the words he received.
President of the second largest NATO-allied militarized nation, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey is a fan of action over words. Russia and the US alike have given aid to Turkey in recent years, especially as Syria began to see civil unrest.
Words are cheap to Trump, so when he could, he said, and when he was stuck, he did. He started by hinting at leaving Syria as he entered office. Yet, after a parade of advisors and fascist leaders from around the world, Trump was near-ready for something else: war with Iran.
It’s cheaper and simpler to turn one’s back.
Trump Betrayed the Kurds
Early Wednesday, Turkey began laying down bombardment on villages in Northern Syria. By the evening the death toll for civilians would tick up to nearly a dozen as many more were wounded. Not including civilian resistance fighters.
As villages such as Kobanê, Zormixar, Siftek, Şiyûxa Jêrîn and Aşmê were under fire, young men and women were reluctant to leave. Thousands of others were heading south toward a US military base and generally out of the line of fire. Many resisted to back down, civilians and security alike took up arms and artillery and returned fire.
Trump is hoping that the Kurds are not ‘cleansed’ as Turkey aims for ethnic cleansing. He said today that he would destroy Turkey’s economy if they wiped out the Kurds. He won’t, and furthermore, he’s not the most reassuring when he says he’s sure Erdoğan “will act rationally,” why would anyone believe him?
The Usual Suspects
There’s a long history regarding Rojava, the place to the West as its called colloquially. The commune started as an anti-state, socialist, ecologist, and feminist autonomous region. For more on that I recommend today’s discussion on Novara Media.
Rojavan Kurds, after having been armed, trained, and supported by the US, was left to handle ISIS fighters on their own, with no ability to have countries take their expats back. Still more to the point that Rojava had to deal with, they were aware that many ISIS militant jihadists were coming from Turkey with passports and sometimes even Turkish intelligence identification.
Turkey isn’t their only problem. While there’s Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Syria to directly be concerned with, there’s a tight spot Rojava is in. For starters, they can’t tackle some of these larger issues because they are being refused recognition by many bodies. And secondly, there’s a serious mess in Turkey and Syria where both sides are being played for the benefit of a certain ruling group, taking weapons from anyone and everyone, threatening others, and more.
There’s a complex situation that needs real leadership and a diplomacy to match. Trump isn’t that and that’s to be expected. But without real leadership, it’s easy to see why a stateless society without hierarchy makes more sense.
“Nothingbindsyou except your thoughts;nothinglimits you except your fear; andnothingcontrols you except your beliefs.”
— Marianne Williamson
The big 1-2-5.
That’s right, 125 years ago, 1894, Labor Day was marked on mental calendars of the working class for the first time. Class consciousness has been beaten out of us since then however, so if you’re unfamiliar with the international struggle, this is a refresh.
Fascism doesn’t take kindly to freedom. A controllable society, one built on hierarchies, the one we live in, has been keeping its fascist face behind a mask. The capitalist class, and their war of division and hate, has been called out before by Marianne Williamson, an author, activist, public speaker, and Democratic candidate for President.
Bread & Roses
You’ll see it in many places. It comes from a rich socialist history. Bread for the fruits of our labor and roses for the peace to enjoy it. Today, we have neither.
“A New Jersey town was forced to cancel its Labor Day parade Monday after multiple small explosive devices were found near the route where Gov. Phil Murphy was set to march, officials said.”
New York Daily News, Sept. 2, 2019.
“The images of children crying after their parents were arrested in a massive immigration raid in Mississippi revived a longstanding complaint: Unauthorized workers are jailed or deported, while the managers and business owners who profit from their labor often go unprosecuted.”
AP, Aug. 14, 2019.
“There’s a very common lie… the lies they scare in you… the lies they use to control you…”
“This Labor Day weekend, thousands of Muslim Americans descended on Houston, Texas, for the annual three-day Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) convention. This year’s ISNACON featured many well-known figures, such as Trevor Noah, who shared his story of growing up in South Africa and joked about the ups and downs of “The Daily Show.”
Noah wasn’t the only draw. Well-known Muslim Americans, including Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Women’s March organizer Linda Sarsour, spoke to large crowds. The most popular person, however, was a 77-year-old Jewish man born and bred in Brooklyn. I’m speaking of 2020 presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, of course. While Noah, Tlaib and Sarsour attracted the attention of many, Sanders packed the venue that held nearly 7,000 — receiving several standing ovations.”
Dean Obeillah, CNN | Opinion
Earlier this year, Democratic candidate for President, Senator, and activist, Bernie Sanders announced his inspiration to see the progress of FDR’s New Deal continued today. After a rocky and violent three years of an unapologetic President — of a country — landlord, mob Don, con artist, white nationalist, misogynist, and fascist.
Labor is “the last line of defense,” Sanders said as he accepted his first major labor union endorsement. Following several other endorsements this one is mentionable for its size and name recognition. Especially today.
Mother Jones
“Bankruptcy exposes the economic vulnerability and insecurity of middle class women.”
— Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
Women’s labor has a noticeable history, not just in the forming of revolutions in France or Russia, but in the successful organizing of labor. From the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, to Lucy Parsons, let’s embrace women 100 years after winning the vote and 125 years to today: Labor Day.
“If they want to hang me, let them. And on the scaffold I will shout Freedom for the working class!”
— Mary Harris “Mother” Jones
#ACAB
“If there is going to be class warfare in this country, it’s about time the working class won that war.”
— Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
Following law as a tool to protect property, and estate, the mercantilism of earlier capitalism is revived in the class warfare of today. The police enforce the law; the law of property becomes protected by force. Prisons become the place where those unwilling to labor, or those who threaten property, if they must remain alive, are kept. Especially following slavery, sheriffs became the tool for enforcing property laws, while the slave-catching role falls onto the average officer.
This is a part of the struggle. A part of the class struggle. Increasingly militant and militarized, this spells class war. Why haven’t unions brought roses to this front in the war for bread?
Progress
There’s a lot of ground to cover for making up for labor rights and frankly other basic and human rights that have been shorted out by corporate corruption of government and policy. For trans folx in the United States we see this, for migrants this is most prevalent to mind right now, but there is still quite a lot blocking progress for everyone equally under the law which historically has affected Black communities across the country not only first, but worst.
Not to say there isn’t progress, there is. It’s just hard-fought. Slowly we’ll see a major change in labor in the United States, and I don’t mean automation.
“So much of what we take for granted each and every day – the 40-hour workweek, weekends off, a minimum wage – is the result of the blood, sweat, tears, and in some cases even lives of those who fought to give American workers a better life.
If labor unions weren’t so uniquely effective, the coordinated, heavily-financed campaign to decimate them wouldn’t exist. Unfortunately, the campaign is working – union membership is less than half of what it was 40 years ago. Recent decisions from the Supreme Court’s right-wing majority, such as Janus v. AFSCME last year, threaten to worsen this trend.
It’s no surprise that income inequality has increased dramatically over the same period.
With labor battles still taking place all over our nation – such as the #RedforEd movement to earn higher wages for teachers across the country – I hope you’ll take a moment this Labor Day to reflect on how far we’ve come and how far we still have to go.”
Even progressive political campaigns for Sanders, Warren, Booker, and Castro, are unionizing. It’s not only good for the working class that workers the country over unionize, but great for the capitalist class. If collectives negotiate wins for the working class, there’s no reason for capitalists, in and out of government, to be concerned of an imminent general strike.
Ironically, a nationwide Walmart strike would likely be just as fatal to the capitalist engine against the working poor and that’s a single corporation. For instance, earlier strikes over Walmart’s gun sales have recently proved fruitful, maybe even pressuring one of the country’s other largest retailers to act as well, Kroger. Dick’s Sporting Goods also followed suit.
Sanders is ahead of the curve on this issue. He’s been speaking out for unions before he ever reached Congress, so it comes as no surprise that he has a powerful Workplace Democracy Plan. Or as Vox put it, Unions for All, and a campaign that Labor 411 called “a rapid action tool to support striking workers.”
“They’re talking about us.We’re endorsing a slate of candidates who will usher in a new progressive era in Congress. But not everyone is happy about our work.According to Bloomberg, our work is giving Nancy Pelosi a ‘headache’ because we’re unapologetically taking on the establishment. We have an easy way she can get rid of that headache — get out of the way of policies like Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, and an end to mass incarceration and deportation.”
Policies, solutions to issues, I’ll emphasize here, are extremely popular. Especially holistic plans that take on big issues, such as the Green New Deal and Medicare for All. Now if more individuals, journalists and news organizations foremost, spread the details of these plans in an illustrative way.
“Right now the top of the Democratic Party is still disproportionately wealthier, whiter, and more male than the base of our party. But together we’re going to change that and elect a new generation of progressive leaders who reflect our party and country.
Nancy Pelosi and the DCCC have their corporate donors to fall back on for huge checks.We don’t.We rely on your grassroots support to fund our work of taking on corporate Democrats like Henry Cuellar and Dan Lipinski that the DCCC is trying to protect.“
“In 2018, we sent a powerful message: no out-of-touch incumbent is safe from our movement. Now, it’s time to fulfill that promise.”
The Squad. You recognize them, right? Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, and, of course most recognizably: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. That was the Justice Democrats, and they want to do it again.
This week, June 17, the House of Representatives is voting on some notable issues, locked inside of an omnibus spending bill. Call your House member to inform them how you would like to see them vote. Also to learn more about what’s included in this monstrosity. Call now!
1-202-224-3121
To inform yourself regarding the following, start with https://www.congress.gov/ and then whatever methods of information gathering you use for your decision-making on these issues. I like to use Twitter because the amount of opinions out there. But that’s just me. Maybe you ask your parents, or your friends. Whatever you do, democracy needs you. Make your voice heard.
The Omnibus Appropriations Bill – H.R. 3055
H. R. 3055 – Commerce, Justice, Science, Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, Interior, Environment, Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act, 2020.
Farmer, Educator, Nominee for California’s 1st congressional district in 2018, and Candidate for California’s 1st congressional district for 2020. Challenging Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R).
Electronic Frontier Foundation attorney, Grassroots organizer, candidate for California’s 12th congressional district in 2018, and candidate for California’s 12th congressional district for 2020. Challenging Nancy Pelosi (D).
Public School Teacher, Nominee for California’s 42nd congressional district in 2018, Candidate for California’s 42nd congressional district for 2020. Challenging Ken Calvert (R).
Small Business Owner, Former Federal official, Nominee for California’s 50th congressional district in 2018, Candidate for California’s 50th congressional district for 2020. Challenging Duncan D. Hunter (R).
Founder/Former President of the San Diego Progressive Democratic club, candidate for California’s 53rd congressional district for 2020, 2016 national delegate for Bernie Sanders, and political consultant. Challenging Susan Davis(D).
Candidate for Colorado’s 1st congressional district for 2020, Former member of the Colorado House of Representatives from the 5th district, Former Majority Leader of the Colorado House of Representatives, 38th Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives, and part of the Board of Advisers of Let America Vote. Challenging Diana DeGette (D).
Candidate for Illinois’s 3rd congressional district in 2018, candidate for Illinois’s 3rd congressional district for 2020, businesswoman, advocate, and Founder of the “Team Up To Stop Bullying” program. Challenging Daniel Lipinski (D).
Candidate for Illinois’s 7th congressional district in 2018, candidate for Illinois’s 7th congressional district for 2020, Activist, Teacher, and Director of Suburban Unity Alliance nfp. Challenging Rep. Daniel K. Davis (D).
Nominee for Illinois’s 13th congressional district in 2018 , candidate for Illinois’s 13th congressional district for 2020, former nonprofit leader, former teacher, and entrepreneur. Challenging Rep. Rodney Davis (R).
Nurse, pastor, Candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2016, Candidate for Missouri’s 1st congressional district for 2018, and Candidate for Missouri’s 1st congressional district for 2020. Challenging Rep. Lacy Clay Jr. (D).
Activist, member of Democratic Socialist of America, ambassador for the PoorPeoplesCampaign, candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2018, and candidate for the U.S. Senate for 2020.
I’m also hoping to see more candidates support Joshua Collins’ RUN Act to strengthen unions and sign the Progressive Economic Pledge for Higher Wages, Medicare For All, the Green New Deal, College For All, and Ending Corruption. You can sign the Pledge as well and ask your reps, at every level, to sign here as well!
See what candidates I’m supporting, at the end of the month!
Update: H.R. 1957 – Taxpayer First Act of 2019 was insufficient. Introduced to be voted on this week is H.R. 3151, another version of the Taxpayer First Act of 2019. It was introduced by Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) yesterday, June 6.
Considering myself a watchdog, I’m starting this additional series. This is for friends, family, and readers. Anyone interested in following with the news before it’s news, especially as it pertains to Congress, can come here to further inform themselves and their representatives.
I’ll also be sharing these as posts to my Facebook Page, whenever I can, and hopefully will maintain consistency in this work from here on in. I’m not paid for this service. However, if you like what I’m doing, please consider becoming a Patron on my Patreon. Thank you.
This week, June 10, the House of Representatives is voting on some notable resolutions and bills. Call your House member to inform them how you would like to see them vote. Call now!
1-202-224-3121
To inform yourself regarding the following, start with https://www.congress.gov/ and then whatever methods of information gathering you use for your decision-making on these issues. I like to use Twitter because the amount of opinions out there. But that’s just me. Maybe you ask your parents, or your friends. Whatever you do, democracy needs you. Make your voice heard.
Money in Politics Series, 1 of 2. Find the Second Part here.
A Brief History of War for Oil & Soul
Since World War II, following conflicts around the world had less to do with atrocities such as those performed by the post-Wiemar Republic regime, and more to do with oil. For those unfamiliar, it was planned by fascist leaders in Europe to reach outwards to oil fields in the Middle East, the Caucasus range, and anywhere they could for a supply of it in order to force their beliefs upon others in perpetuity. Oil fueled almost every weapon of war and furnace for weapons manufacturing, a key reason why
As history showed however, the Axis had little in terms of an organized force enough for such a venture – an issue the United States and allies have not had in the decades following. What the modern extremist far-right has learned from the furor and his 20th century ilk, though, is the unity of a single national identity. Specifically, as we’ll read here: white Christianity and a single language.
Thanks to Precedent: Eisenhower
Somehow, the President that gave us the following quote, set the country up for failure following this massive global conflict, ignoring the facts of the rise of the fascist state in Germany.
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
Dwight D. Eisenhower. 34th President of the United States, U.S. Army 5-Star General, and Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in Europe during World War II.
Eisenhower is remembered for the above quote as well as his signing into law the Civil Rights Act of 1957, which was the first civil rights legislation since Reconstruction and established the Civil Rights Section of the Justice Department, empowering federal prosecutors to obtain court injunctions against interference with the right to vote. He was the first President to serve during the Civil Rights Movement, and he’s also remembered for his order of federal troops to protect nine children integrating into a public school, in Little Rock, Arkansas, the first time troops were ordered to the South since, again, Reconstruction.
This is where memory of this President, even by Baby Boomers, may cease. Here’s a refresher of where this President opened the door for the abuse of political action committees (which first began in 1943) and imperial hate funding campaign finance.
Eisenhower started the first National Prayer Breakfast. There, Billy Graham left an indelible mark on conservative politics. It was his influence too that created this meeting of church and state, and later inspired the non-secular additions: “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance, and “In God We Trust,” to the American currency.
“Soon after his election in 1952, Eisenhower told Graham that the country needed a spiritual renewal. For Eisenhower, faith, patriotism and free enterprise were the fundamentals of a strong nation. But of the three, faith came first.”
Successive to the Second World War, the Peace Movement began out of the Civil Rights Movement. The economic, corporal, and costs of life due to the preceding wars had set a fuse inside of many around the world and, most importantly here, in the United States. However, the Peace Movement stateside is embodied by the protests against the war in Vietnam, which many protesters argued was a front to expanding media contracts for Lady Bird Johnson, and the profiteers of war such as the Military-Industrial Complex and most significantly here, Halliburton.
Following that first period, there was enough happening at home with the draft into Vietnam, the Civil Rights Era protests, the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the British Invasion, the Space Race, and, the Summer of Love and subsequent “hippie” concert traditions, that the war continued until about the same period that the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC – not to be confused with the more inclusive OPEC) proclaimed an oil embargo. This oil embargo was in response to the Arab-Israeli War over the Suez Canal, one the world’s eight oil traffic chokepoints, at a period when Palestinians and Israelis were first finding unrest between each other in the region. Many remember from their history classes that this resulted in President Carter negotiating the Camp David Peace Accords.
Yet, before a solid celebration of peace could be had, there was another major conflict during Carter’s tenure. An Iranian Revolution to change leadership was happening, and in its wake, in 1979, oil was halted from export. This caused the Second Oil Crisis and perhaps inspired what many considered to be a false flag operation created by mercenaries for oil companies: the Iran hostage crisis.
While Carter was somehow unable to use the same charm which found him success at Camp David, his successor President Reagan made it look like an easy job, as minutes after being sworn in Carter-era diplomats did the work in Algiers. However, while the Algiers Accords meant that oil companies were barred from Iran internal affairs, this marked the beginning of a new era of efforts in the Middle East. This was especially required since some of the first acts of Reagan were to remove price controls on domestic oil, allowing consumer gouging, as well as repealing the Crude Oil Windfall Profits Tax, that taxed corporations’ massive gains. Just the beginning of trickle-down, supply-side, Reaganomics pushed by corporate advice onto the actor.
While the windfall profit tax is claimed to have increased dependence on foreign oil, that is by in large by the choice of oil companies involved. Returning back to U.S. soil, there was an increase in the use of American reserves for only a short period before the wars for oil continued, and later down the line found profit in transporting oil from the Canadian oil sands. This small moment in history is considered by some conservatives to be why Reagan was iconic, however the following big moment, is the real reason.
The Moral Majority
Following the influence of Billy Graham, the Falwell’s have been following the road map of money in politics. Money that arguably is laundered through churches, similarly to banking and real-estate, to clean the money and erase its roots in what may be a checkered past. Such as televangelists.
Here, I’m just going to leave a quote from Richard Flory, Senior Director of Research and Evaluation at the University of Southern California, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.
Coinciding with the popularity of Ronald Reagan, [Jerry Falwell Sr.] founded the Moral Majority in 1979 as a conservative Christian political lobbying group. Although the founding of the Moral Majority is popularly seen as an anti-abortion and pro-family movement, its real roots were different. Falwell and other evangelical leaders felt the federal government was overreaching with its guidelines into how Christian groups maintained racial restrictions in their schools.
The Moral Majority ultimately expanded its platform from segregation in schools to include what is now a familiar agenda: supporting and sponsoring legislation for “traditional” family values and prayer in schools. It also opposed LGBT rights, the Equal Rights Amendment, abortion and other similar social-moral issues.
Since the Reagan administration, the environment for information has changed quite considerably. In 1987, under the Reagan Administration, the FCC abandoned the “Fairness Doctrine,” which required licensed radio and television broadcasters to present fair and balanced coverage of controversial issues of interest to their communities, including by devoting equal airtime to opposing points of view. This, some argue, paved the way for particular news outlets to provide misinformation under the guise of being, as is sometimes even advertised, “fair and balanced.”
Succeeding Reagan, George H. W. Bush (Bush I) made promises to be as similar to Reagan, who he served as Vice President. And while some may argue he didn’t hold true to that, he did, and here’s why: At the same time as the beginning of the hostage crisis in Iran, Saddam Hussein, a nationalist and fascist dictator, rose to power in Iraq, setting up the next oil stage for the US Presidency to step onto.
In 1990, during the Bush I administration, Iraq, led by Hussein, invaded the oil-rich nation of Kuwait. This was the perfect reason to intervene and accept the oil fields there as US protections. His son followed in very much the same vein of thought, guiding foreign policy and the economy very much the same way for years to come.
“If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning.”
Frederick Douglass, American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman.
In the United States, the majority of people are living more comfortably and better off than at any point in the history of the world. However, there are still some critical gains that need to be made such as access to higher education and healthcare so that people have the ability to not only make the best of this position they have, but the American Dream of creating a better world for their families and others around the globe while also attaining and creating higher paying jobs.
Firstly, I’ll focus on Millennials here because they are the second largest voting bloc in the United States, next to Baby Boomers only. They’re a lot older than most people believe. Being born between 1981 and 1996, which includes myself, can be as old as 38, according to the Pew Research Center – which I will be citing in this first portion most often.
If you’re interested in the general statistics of poverty, those follow:
The General Numbers
All of these numbers are from 2017 unless noted otherwise. This information is also from TalkPoverty. TalkPoverty has all the sources for the below points, however, those italicized did not fit my criteria of easily accessible and will be updated to reflect that criteria at a later date. Regarding information on global poverty, WorldVision has put together its own information.
Percentage of households who were food insecure on average from 2015 to 2017, meaning that at some point during the year, they experienced difficulty providing enough food due to a lack of money or resources.
Number of apartments or other units that were affordable and available for every 100 renter households with very low incomes in 2016. Very low-income households are those with incomes at or below 50% of the area median income.
Savings and Assets: 7.7%
Percentage of households that used high-cost, high-risk forms of credit to make ends meet during 2015. This includes payday loans, automobile title loans, refund anticipation loans, rent-to-own, and pawning.
Percentage of people under age 65 and below 138% of the poverty line who did not have health insurance at all.
What A Millennial Wants
Millennials aren’t just calling out to everyone they can to fight the climate crisis and trying to call them in on the issues I put in bold first and foremost: education and healthcare. They’re also fighting strongly on social media and their relationships for themselves and others: racial justice. And that’s because besides the obvious, Trump, almost half of Americans are unable to afford food and rent, and in order to find an escape they’re going online, and unfortunately, Right-wing outlets reign supreme in places like Facebook, and bully online to do so.
However, this means that people are being tuned into the propaganda of the Right, which has been shown to radicalize violent individuals. Which is nothing new, and I reported on the entry-memes and the fascism not too long ago. All of which is ultimately exciting for the billionaire, elitist, donor, ruling class, another topic I cover elsewhere.
Once people, especially white ones, are indoctrinated, they act as a wonderful human shield to make it harder to find the really dangerous terrorists hanging out amongst them in real life and on forums. I say especially white ones because they can be inflamed by news such as CNN’s very recent update that “[w]hite deaths outpace white births in more than 50% of states, and by 2045 the U.S. population will be less than half-white. How does this play out politically?” Well, it plays out that white people ignore that everyone, and especially people are color, are effected by things like, another report that CNN put out, the declining “middle class.”
So there’s a lot of issues that are directly pressing to millennials, and why you’ll see less of my generation in these white nationalist groups, however, if and when you do there are usually some pretty clear signs that they are dealing with a comorbidity of mental health issues. These issues may be a form of PTSD, autism, antisocial behaviors, paranoia, and even the big scaries: narcissistic personality disorder, sociopathy, and psychopathy, as well as obvious violent tendencies. Oftentimes, these young white men have no access to mental health care, or are unwilling due to stigmatization, and they’re being indoctrinated by the “free speech movement” and “gun rights” in colleges as well as in video game and online chat rooms and forums.
There are a lot of better candidates to tackle these serious issues than Trump. 45 has arguably, and I do here, who was put up by big business and the white supremacist army, his “base,” is used as the human shields to defend him. Millennials, “the game” according to PBS NewsHour, are far more interested in less establishment candidates such as Marianne Williamson, Andrew Yang, Elizabeth Warren, and most obviously, Bernie Sanders.
Today is Memorial Day. If you visited a family member or friend who served and is in the hospital after being disabled or visited their grave, you are very familiar with this particular holiday. The human cost, you are certainly familiar with.
Aren’t non-violent technologies and the National Guard, be enough? When did the United States become the world police? How has it defended freedom? Why not give peace a chance?
None of those questions will be answered here. For that, there may be another post in the future, or until then, you can search for answers on YouTube. This post is to look at the costs and ask the question: Does higher education provide a better protection of freedom?
The Human Costs of War
According to reports cited in 2011 by the Quaker organization, Friends Committee on National Legislation, over 6,200 US soldiers have died in the war in Afghanistan alone, since 2001, and another 50,000 have been wounded. These are the American statistics however, and may not even be the worst among them.
Conversely, in 2015 and ’16, Brown University’s Watson Institute of International & Public Affairs took a look at the human costs of war. The paper noted that there were over 31,000 civilian deaths due to war-related violence documented and over 29,900 wounded. But that’s the civilian cost for Afghanistan alone.
Returning home, about nine percent of all homeless adults in the U.S. are homeless veterans, 40,056 homeless veterans, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is terrible, and an alarmingly high number. Perhaps a better use of one’s life would not to be to go to war for something you’re told, and better used to help others and advocate for the betterment of the lives of those scarred by war, and are visibly suffering.
A note here: organizations such as the UN already defend people with “Peacekeepers,” and organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are pointing out human rights abuses. Why not support them? Why accept only wars called for by self-interest?
Then I said I will tell him how important education is and that ‘I even want education for your children as well.’ And I will tell him, ‘That’s what I want to tell you, now do what you want.”
Malala Yousafzai on what she’d say to a Taliban gunman
Compared to People in Higher Education
Since 1982, states have been required by law to provide all students with K-12 public education, regardless of students’ immigration status as they become citizens. This is important because as people come to the United States in droves for the opportunities to learn and support their families, as well as compete in the world, their children may come from places with far different standards. Expats also enjoy this freedom.
“[P]ublic education has a pivotal role in maintaining the fabric of our society and in sustaining our political and cultural heritage; the deprivation of education takes an inestimable toll on the social, economic, intellectual, and psychological well-being of the individual, and poses an obstacle to individual achievement.””
Plyler v. Doe U.S. Supreme Court decision, 1982.
Arguably, a good place for our young people would be in education rather than the military, and after some data, I’ll elaborate why. In fall 2016, over 10.8 million students (roughly 30% of the US population) were enrolled in a four-year university, yet the Census Bureau put out that only 33.4 percent of Americans had even a bachelor’s degree. Here’s why:
In 2016, similar to authoritarian countries around the world, the United States elected its own “strongman,” endangering democracy and freedom in the process. Coinciding with this election, misinformation took a major upward turn. Ultimately, this has shown all individuals in every part of the political spectrum just how ignorant their neighbors are.
Monetary Costs Compared
In a single year, the US could afford Sen. Bernie Sanders’ free public college plan easily if it chose to. Since 2001, according to CNBC, the US has spent $5.9 trillion in its wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Pakistan. Nearly $2 trillion dollars was spent in the fiscal year 2017-18, and that alone would cover several years of the “College For All” plan put forth by the Senator which calls for only $70 billion.
“We risk our country slipping further into the practice of a fraudulent form of American patriotism, where ‘soldiers are sacred,’ the work of actual soldiering is ignored and the pageantry of military worship sucks energy away from the obligations of citizenship.”
“Support for our military remains high at a time when respect for almost every other institution is perilously low, so pushing a military angle as a wedge makes a certain kind of sense. But … our military is justified only by the civic life and values it exists to defend.”
Phil Klay, The Warrior at the Mall. The New York Times. 4/14/18
Brienna Parsons 