opinion
Opinion pieces from the left, right, and everyone in between.
The Left Is Not Inclined to Violence
The left is not inclined to violence. All it takes is a cursory glance at history to see an overwhelming trend of tolerance from the left for the often aggressive protests of the right.
Walter RheinPublished 4 years ago in The SwampThe Mounting Crisis Within
One can not help think that the horrific actions of 4 police officers set off a chain of events when they brutally murdered George Floyd. They knew full well that their actions decimated the rule of law, violated civil rights, and out right committed murder with malicious intent. As a result coinciding with other police atrocities of the past that also targeted African Americans have unleashed what just could be the spark that ignites the flames of open rebellion.
Dr. WilliamsPublished 4 years ago in The SwampOh No! Some Workers May Not Want To Return To Work?
Oh No! Some Workers May Not Want to Return to Work? The Federal Reserve reported in its latest Beige Book report that the enhanced $600.00 in extra Unemployment Benefits is discouraging some workers from returning to work. Why should anyone be surprised?
Anthony ChanPublished 4 years ago in The SwampIs Fascism An Ideal Of The Right Or The Left?
Nowadays, you can be called a fascist for just about anything that you say that is in favor of the Republican party. If you say that you voted for Donald Trump to a classmate or that you agree with stricter immigration policies to a colleague casually, chances are that you will be called a fascist. Since the 1970's, everyone from former president Richard Nixon to the late Arizona senator John McCain has been labeled a fascist because of their party affiliation. But do the people that call you that actually know what they are talking about? The answer to that is most likely a big, fat "no." So here's a history lesson. Who conceptualized this horrific ideology? "His name is Giovanni Gentile. Born in 1875, he was one of the most influential philosophers of the first half of the twentieth century. Gentile believed that there were two 'diametrically opposed' types of democracy. One is liberal democracy, such as the United States, which Gentile dismisses as individualistic-too centered on liberty and personal rights-and therefore selfish. The other, the one Gentile recommends, is 'true democracy', in which individuals willingly subordinate themselves to the state.", author Dinesh D'Souza states in a 2017 video for Prager University, titled "Is Fascism Right Or Left?". So what was Gentile's ultimate goal? D'Souza also states, "Like his philosophical mentor, Karl Marx, Gentile wanted to create a community that resembles the family, a community where we are 'all in this together.' It's easy to see the attraction to the idea. ... It was another Italian man, Benito Mussolini, the fascist dictator of Italy from 1922 to 1945, who turned Gentile's words into action. In his Dottrina del Fascismo, Mussolini wrote, 'All is in the state and nothing human exists or has value outside the state.' He was merely paraphrasing Gentile." So what does this have to do with the right or the left? The answer might actually surprise you. Gentile was actually a leftist. D'Souza supports and concludes this argument with, "The Italian philosopher is now lost in obscurity, but his philosophy could not be more relevant because it closely parallels that of the modern left. Gentile’s work speaks directly to progressives who champion the centralized state. Here in America, the left has vastly expanded state control over the private sector, from healthcare to banking; from education to energy. This state-directed capitalism is precisely what German and Italian fascists implemented in the 1930's." (Source: Prager University, "Is Fascism Right Or Left?", Dinesh D'Souza, December 4, 2017, https://www.prageru.com/video/is-fascism-right-or-left/) Contrary to what the media portrays, fascism is a leftist idea. From the anti-Semitic rhetoric by leftist government officials to indoctrination on university campuses, Gentile's infamous ideas didn't go away. They evolved in ways that are not only easy to disguise, but easy to adopt by people who can't think for themselves.
Devin Nassar-ReisPublished 4 years ago in The SwampUnmasking the Trickster
Have you noticed how language is being weaponized and used against us!? Well I thought I’d just reframe a few of these words to more accurately reflect their true meanings...
Mireya BaileyPublished 4 years ago in The SwampCoronavirus will not change the world
Once Coronavirus no longer threatens to profits corporations will reduce costs by requiring home workers to keep working from home and cancelling leases on expensive offices.
Axel P KulitPublished 4 years ago in The SwampOh, The Humanity
Ronald Reagan was the very first president I helped elect into office. Twice. Much to the chagrin of my Minnesota DFL (Democratic Farm Labor) relations, and my died-in-the-wool Liberal, Communist grandfather, I was the family’s token black sheep; the young turk Conservative. Call me the “Alex Keaton” of my family, the tie-wearing, church-going, Reagan revolutionary. For me, Conservatism was the political manifesto of God, and as a bible thumping, ministry-bound seminarian, I laced my speech and actions with the finer points of Reaganomics, and lauded the presidential pink-slipping of striking air traffic controllers. The 1980s was most definitely the Age of Conservatism, with its military build-up that bolstered the Reagan version of Roosevelt’s “walk softly but carry a big stick” philosophy, and the unfettered growth of corporate America, who proved to me over and over again that greed – in it’s proper perspective – was indeed good.
Scotty RobertsPublished 4 years ago in The SwampIs now the time for identity politics?
I am a working-class, northern, female, who attended an academy education. On the other hand, I benefit from the whiteness of my skin, I attended University, I am attracted to the opposite sex, and I am an atheist. This makes me immensely more privileged than a multitude of people.
1924
Maybe I’m obsessed with validation and purpose. A needle is in my stomach. It pokes me periodically. Where are you from, poke. What is your purpose, poke. Who is your family, poke poke. I asked Them, the two relatives who would know family history, for a deeper understanding of the bodies, beings, minds, occupations, preoccupations, histories of my family. I asked Them for traditions. I asked Them for ethnicities. I asked Them for hometowns and cultural practices and stories. I want flesh and blood. I want answers. I want identity.
MINDSOCKETPublished 4 years ago in The SwampSecrecy of labor unions and capitalist bankers
Secrecy of Labor unions and capitalist bankers The two main controllers of all economic activity are too secretive. Both labor and capital are too important to be left just to their own structures. They are both, naturally, focused on self interest but they have such strong influences over everyone else that these self interests need some form of accountability to the rest of the population. If we are to have democratic government, then surly we need open democracy within the two main levers of economy. We are all so interdependent in the the modern time, that the economy affects and to a degree, controls us all. Having elected government without any form of democratic control over these twin pillars of economic activity, is detrimental to democracy itself.
Peter RosePublished 4 years ago in The SwampThere's Nothing Wrong With Being Political
“There’s Nothing Wrong With Being Political” By K. R. King I am not usually the one to go on long rants, but recent events have led me to do so. When people say “it’s all just political”, I bristle and I grit my teeth, and there’s pushback. Shouldn’t fighting for what you believe in be a political thing? Isn’t that the point of politics?
The State Withdraws: The volunteers move in.
We're often told by the left that we require the overwhelming state to provide nearly every public service in society on these fair shores. We simply can not live without the Government - it is impossible and every retreat of that state, in all its mighty glory, will automatically equal yet another child in poverty.
Tom Guyton-DayPublished 4 years ago in The Swamp