Uncle Sam is in crisis!

Why is acting much more marvelous than one may have first imagined? A desire to better understand human existence is basic to the nature of art and propels the desire of artistic minds to create. Acting and motion picture making are ways to search for that understanding and seek deeper awareness of the human condition.

Human healing and transformation through the Arts

Acting is one of the most essential elements of this art of human healing and transformation. Storytelling, theater, and motion pictures are critical to the stability and progress of our society. These arts give the community the opportunity to examine old and new ideas and to develop the ability of reflecting, learning, and of discovery as central reasons for the existence of the human community. Fellini’s films reflect this in a very special way because they are free from conventional constraints.

The Fellini Way

Anyone wishing to undertake the intense task of studying acting needs as much encouragement and guidance as possible. The Fellini Way strives to encourage student actors and actresses to express their inner reality and perception of human states in a manner that best harmonizes with their individual interests, aspirations, and abilities. The wonderful thing about teaching acting as Fellini did is the individualized attention which makes it easier and more stimulating to personal growth than any methodological, academic theatrical style. The focus is on nurturing the creative energy of students and fostering enthusiasm on their part for personal discovery through the acting process. Perfecting one’s acting ability is different for each aspirant.

There are basic skills actors and actresses need to understand regarding speech, movement, and character which must be developed. Refining each performance according to what works best under the circumstances is the greatest way to accomplish rapid progress.

Becoming an actor or actress in our society depends upon being strongly committed not only to the art from a personal standpoint of growth and career, but also by a commitment to the larger effect of Art as an essential power to lift our society in many rewarding ways.

Acting as science

Acting is not only art, it is also a science. For example, it should be clear that if you “act” an emotion, it will appear false. Acting must be honest in the sense that you act the emotion you really feel. That is where the very subtle science of managing self-imposed emotions comes into play.

The first aspect of it is imagination. For instance when your acting makes emotions rise in the audience, you have tapped in them one of the triggers you must learn to activate in yourself.

Clearly this requires two steps. The first is to understand the actual flavor, so to speak, of the emotion you are trying to act and evoke in the audience. For example: fear. You feel a coldness inside, a tension, a faster heartbeat, a trembling, a near expressionless face with drawn lines, dry mouth, speech difficulty…and so on. Remember that in motion picture acting you may be asked to express fear suddenly and then be asked to do it again a dozen times between takes.

Language and movement are the tools and essence of acting for they are what this art is about — communication. Communication between actor and audience, director and actor as well as actor and actor. Acting is doing. Scene work helps actors to understand that acting is a collaborative art. An actor’s responsibility is not only to his lines and the camera but also to other actors in the scene.

No correct way to act

Acting methods often get in the way of realism. There is no single correct way to act. In fact, one has to discover one’s own way through the process of work/study and trial and error. Too often actors are taught that there is one way to act instead of realizing that different styles of drama will require different approaches to acting and performance. That is why Fellini often preferred untrained people for his films to highly stylized stars.

The importance of professionalism

Film people, whether in Hollywood, Rome, New York, London or Paris, have one thing in common: they admire professionalism. Given a choice between two actors, professionalism will often be the deciding factor. Competence and reliability are crucial to the forming of a reputation far more treasured than erratic brilliance.

The student seeking to become a professional actor must develop and refine understanding of the extra disciplines that filming demands.

For example: you’ve got to know how to help the camera. In a close up, the camera magnifies your actions, so you have to know how to scale down the action of your performance without losing intensity as the shot gets tighter. The professional will reduce performance physically in a close up, but not mentally. In fact, the mind should work even more intensely in a close-up because in a close-up the performance is all in your eyes and facial expression, and you cannot use the rest of your body to express yourself.

The synesthetic medium

Fellini often remarked that movies are a synesthetic medium. The effects on the senses from peripheral images and sounds other than the central elements in any scene. The collateral effects, such as seeing good food in a scene and having one’s appetite stimulated. A song meant for the ears but which brings visualization or evokes memories or historical periods. All these effects are referred to as synestesia.

Fellini was deeply aware of synestesia and encouraged actors to use this second layer of awareness which impacts an audience almost subliminally.

The power of imagination that is the foundation of great acting is implicit if we are to achieve wholehearted harmonious collaboration especially from those who have digested the immense possibility that opens into our lives when we have decided to fully embrace the profession of movie acting.

Alertness and relaxation

The importance of alertness and the wisdom of relaxation in movie acting.

“If you are knocking yourself out, you are doing it wrong,” according to Michael Caine.

Therefore, one of the first things we have to learn is how to overcome nervousness.

We must seek what Socrates asked for in the prayer from the “Phaedrus” when he said:

“May the outward and the inward person be at one.”

It is by this “pulling oneself together” that our greatest powers and talents are helped rise to the surface. Our lives are granted periods of spontaneous grace, when we feel exceptionally well and at ease. Finding the secret for extending these periods of intrinsic happiness until almost everyday of our lives is a fulfilling joy is like finding a magic power.

Reaction vs. action

Acting, by its very nature, is a moving from the world of reactions to the world of self controlled action. In life we are often like boats without direction whose captain is asleep at the wheel as our boat is tossed aimlessly toward dangerous shores. The accomplished actor learns to handle the sails of emotions and stays awake by holding the rudder of reason to take advantage of the pressure of winds and currents, and thereby sets course for safe harbor. Achieving control of your vessel gives you immense self confidence and fills you with joy.

So, as an aspiring actor, if a life storm has pushed you off course do as all good sailors do: head into the wind, reduce sail and then reset course so that by taking advantage of the energy of the storm you make great progress in the good direction where the island of fulfillment awaits you.

Fellini’s style

Fellini had all the appearance and presence of a very simpatico man of the people. He was warmhearted and simple in his daily communications with others and cordial to the constant calls of his admirers. Under his casual and normalizing Romanesque presence Fellini manifested a world of profundity and understanding of the human condition and — least known to most in spite of its appearing in brilliant flashes and in grotesque symbols in many of his films — he had an astounding intellectual intuition of esoteric realities and a vast, refreshing spiritual vision.

His understanding of the magical power to be evoked in the synergy of a cast of actors supported by film technicians all collaborating in the art of making a movie was key to his free directing style and his teaching actors to think and become immersed in the reality of roles. He understood that it was energy and enthusiasm generated by sharing a collective creative process that made motion pictures the principal and most powerful art of the Modern Age.

The chosen art

The artist, whether a poet, singer, dancer, actor, musician, writer, or craftsman, invests first in himself/herself and follows his/her love for his/her chosen art. In many cases more than one art fills the life of the artist. Dedicated artists soon intuitively discover that as they perfect their art, after much work and even pain propelled by love of it, gradually and sometimes suddenly a luminous quality, an inner well being, enters their life and with it a profound understanding of life itself. This understanding becomes the very wine the artist produces and feels compelled to offer others so they may become “inebriated,” even if for a moment only in a theater, while reading a book, by hearing a song, and share the artist’s vision of life’s potential for perfection.

Learning to act frees our power for self expression. By gradually learning to express feelings in the interpretation of a role, a power is developed inside of us that can unleash joyful enthusiasm not only for this great art but for the infinite dimensions of life itself.

Training the will

Part of the actor’s work is to train the will so that the personality can break out of all self imposed limitations born of fear and illusion about the human condition. Only in a fearless state do we become fully empowered to manifest what is best in ourselves. That is when we can fully share and enjoy life with others.

We hear often the question: “What’s new?” and life responds, “I am always new! Haven’t you noticed?”

Acting is the art of conscious renewal. Some of the greatest actors are known to have experienced the sudden “awareness of awareness, ” what in the traditional Japanese “No” and “Kabuki” theater is known as the “Zen of acting.”

The profound transformation called “renewal” is best grasped by those who, facing the shock of imminent death, are suddenly reprieved and literally given a new lease on life. That is when human awareness fully awakes and experiences a rebirth and a full restoration of a sense of proportions: eyes see better, ears hear more sharply, and all sensations become deeply real as they were when we first entered life and had no questions yet.

We tend to forget the cyclic aspects of life, even though we are taught the lesson of cyclical repetition daily with the rise and setting of the sun and with each season, and by the four directions rotating around the axis of high and low.

Although classified as a Neorealist, Fellini defies this label more so than he confirms it. This is because his best accomplishments stem from the unconventional aspects of his films. Guest post by Lorenzo Vidali.

Rooted in deep philosophical disagreement with Neorealism, Fellini chooses to wander into dreams and fantasy rather than focusing on a concrete, historically based narrative, saying:

I’m a liar, but an honest one [Fellini, Fellini on Fellini, p. 49].

In other words, the literal content of his films is historically false, but they allude to intangible meanings that are in and of themselves true. Thus, he abandons practical realism for a metaphysical one, using unorthodox technique to address spiritual realities instead of socioeconomic conditions. In his book Fellini on Fellini, he writes:

Realism is a bad word. In a certain sense everything is realistic. I see no dividing line between imagination and reality. I see a great deal of reality in imagination. Realism is neither a tight enclosure nor a one-dimensional panorama. A landscape, for instance, has a number of layers, and the deepest, which only poetic language can reveal, is not the least real. What I want to show beyond the outer surface of things is what people call ‘unreal.’ [p. 152]

His work has expanded the genre from simply (according to contemporary French critics) “showing that unjust and perverted social structures threaten to warp and pervert the essential and internal human values,” to detailing the psychological struggle of individuals who strive for human connection in a lonely world [Liehm, Neorealism is like... p. 135].  Nights of Cabiria, therefore, is an expansion of Neorealism’s philosophical reach. It addresses the human condition rather than our social condition:

Our trouble, as modern men, is loneliness, and this begins in the very depths of our being… Only between man and man, I think, can this solitude be broken, only through individual people can a kind of message be passed, making them understand – almost discover – the profound link between one person and the next. [Fellini, Fellini on Fellini, p. 61]

This theme, virtually ubiquitous throughout all his films, has a more specific manifestation in Cabiria (1956), which focuses on the plight of women. That is, it shows them playing an important role in “calling others to spirituality and love” [Fellini, Fellini on Fellini, p. 62]. Using episodic structure, character motifs, open endings, and borrowing from surrealist aesthetics, Fellini delves deeper into psychological realm of the human condition, as Nights of Cabiria displays the emotional struggle of a woman who resiliently strives for love and connection against all odds.

It is important, as a start, to recognize the commonalities between Fellini and Neorealism proper, one of which is the dominance of micro-action over macro-action [Bazin, Cabiria: The Voyage to the End of Neorealism, p. 90]. Just like Bitter Rice (dir. Giuseppe De Santis, 1950) and Sciuscia (dir. Vittorio De Sica, 1947), Cabiria places priority on individual episodes within the story; but unlike the others it lends more emphasis to “phenomenological description of the characters” than to causality [Bazin, "Cabiria: The Voyage to the End of Neorealism," p. 90]. In Sciuscia, for example, we follow the two boys as their unfortunate encounter with the robbers leads to their imprisonment, and eventually, Giuseppe’s death. Under Fellini’s direction, however, Cabiria endures a series of distinct misadventures, which are linked through thematic parallels rather than a causal chain. In the beginning, Giorgio deceives Cabiria, stealing her purse and leaving her to drown. After being saved by a group of boys, her humiliation leads to anger, erasing any gratitude for having been saved.

Indeed, aggression as a concealment for an injured ego remains one of Cabiria’s main character traits, which ties the disjointed episodes together [Murray, Fellini the Artist, p. 100].

When she arrives at her typical “night shift” location, her anger breaks out again, this time against an older prostitute named Matilda. The source of her rage (bitter disappointment) is just as important a motif as the anger itself. In each stage of the film, Cabiria’s expectations are violated, first by Giorgio.

“…the heroine is finally driven to reveal the extent of her hurt: ‘Why did he do it?’ she asks. ‘Why? I gave him everything. Why would he shove me in the river for a mere forty thousand lire? I loved him” [Murray, Fellini the Artist, p. 101].

Next in line to disappoint is a well-known movie star, who after an intense argument with his attractive mistress, summons Cabiria to divert himself for the evening. Intoxicated by her temporary status (by proxy), the protagonist gloats to herself, imagining the jealousy of her rival prostitutes when they discover who she has been with. When they return from the nightclub to the actor’s lavish mansion, we witness a brief moment of connection as they eat and talk about Beethoven’s fifth symphony. Even after receiving an autographed picture as proof of the evening, Cabiria’s desire to gloat is momentarily superseded by a glimmer of hope that her rapport with the actor could grow; but it is immediately quashed when his blonde lover returns. Cabiria must hide in the bathroom, where she spends the night with a puppy as her only consolation: a harsh return to her low and lonely condition.

Anger and disappointment continue to define her experience when she and her companions visit the Madonna to confess their sins in exchange for forgiveness, renewal, and the power to change. At first, her skepticism causes her to brush off the entire ceremony; but hope inevitably lures her in. The surrounding fervor brings the film to its most dramatic point yet, as Cabiria, swept up by her surroundings, weeps for forgiveness and relief along with the other worshippers. Outside the church, disappointment once again leads to anger. Intoxicated with alcohol, and wanting for diving intervention she screams:

We haven’t changed!

These patterns continue and intensify as the story progresses. Under hypnosis she suffers letdown and humiliation, reacting with anger. Her first encounters with Oscar are subdued by cynical distrust, followed by, hope, joy, love, and intense relief, once again to be followed by tragic disappointment when Oscar robs her as Giorgio did. In all instances, Fellini manages to connect episodes using emotional motifs instead of causality [Stubbs, Federico Fellini as Auteur, p. 55]. Therefore, he is able to address the psychology of oppression instead of the social structures responsible. The film depends on an emotional cycle for this to work: cynicism, hope, joy, disappointment, anger. Unlike the beginning, however, the ending is more uplifting, as Cabiria is cheered up by a lively band of young musicians, a testament to her willingness to soldier on and continue her search for happiness.

For a Neorealist film, this ending is atypical and serves a unique function. As stated by Rosselini, Neorealism is a moral position that governs the content and aesthetics of a film to deliver a message [Liehm, Neorealism is like ..., p. 129].

Fellini disagrees: “I never make moral judgments. I’m not qualified to do so. I am not a censor, a priest or a politician” [Fellini, Fellini on Fellini, p. 51].

Consequently, the ending of Nights of Cabiria differs from traditional Neorealist films in a way that reflects this discord. In Sciuscia, Giuseppe dies, illuminating the futility of vengeance. In Bitter Rice, Silvana also dies, showing the ultimate result of betrayal. In Cabiria, the last shot is her smiling. She has no money, no place to go, and the future is uncertain. In the spirit of showing rather than telling, Fellini used this ending to underscore the resilience of Cabiria’s search for love and happiness; but he does not try to state the result of this persistence. He only shows it continues to exist.

It is important to note that Fellini could not have accomplished this without capable talent. If not for the talents of Giulietta Masina, the emotional affect of the film could not have been achieved:

Miss Masina gives a remarkable performance, capturing shades of pain and happiness that are rarely approached on the screen. Her pathos is almost unbearable [Fava, The Films of Federico Fellini, p. 96].

Nonetheless, Fellini does employ strategies independent of actor performance, one of which is defamiliarization.

One goal of conventional Neorealist films is to bring the spectator closer to reality through a disclosure of detail that familiarizes the audience with a particular setting or context [Liehm, Neorealism is like ..., p. 132]. Fellini, on the other hand, employs a kind of “visual decadence” that promotes new, unfamiliar perspectives [Stuffs, Federico Fellini as Auteur, p. 55]. He does this in two ways: one, as mentioned before, is the separation of plot into distinct episodes that could very easily be shuffled to produce the same overall affect. Another, as exemplified by the ending of Cabiria, harkens back to surrealism.

After Cabiria’s final fit of despair in the face of Oscar’s betrayal, she wanders out of the woods onto a lonely road, despondent and overwhelmed. As she walks, a group of young musicians parade down the road past her, whistling and singing cheerfully. In the final shot, Cabiria nearly breaks the fourth wall as she cannot help but absorb the joy of those around her, and she smiles toward the audience. The appearance of the musicians is unwarranted, reminiscent of random apparitions in our dreams. They defy pragmatic realism, but serve a meaningful purpose in highlighting the persistence of Cabiria’s will to happiness.

A peculiar paradox, however, is Fellini’s own opinion on the moral power of avoiding a didactic morality in the ending of his films.

I feel that a film is the more moral if it doesn’t offer the audience the solution found by the character whose story is told. In other words, the man who has just seen a character sorting out his problems, or becoming good when he started off bad, finds himself in a much more comfortable situation… My films, on the contrary give the audience a very exact responsibility. For instance, they must decide what Cabiria’s end is going to be. Her fate is in the hands of each one of us. If the film has moved us, and troubled us, we must immediately begin to have new relationships with our neighbors. This must start the first time we meet our fiends or our wife, since anyone may be Cabiria – that is a victim [Fellini, Fellini on Fellini, p. 150].

In sum, Fellini employs episodic structure, emotional motifs, open endings, and a flamboyant surrealist visual style to touch upon the intangible aspects of the human condition: suffering, longing, love, and striving.

In order to clarify his framing of the female role, however, it is important to briefly illustrate the predominant role of male characters, who themselves chase after something. Giorgio and Oscar clearly pursue money. The wealthy actor, in his boredom and disillusionment, expresses the futility of wealth, which cannot quench his thirst for human connection. He finds a brief moment of solace with Cabiria, but in his own pursuit, he casts her aside in search of what she also is looking for, connection with a lover. In the church, all characters, male and female yearn for redemption and change.

Inevitably, the social aspect of Neorealism comes into play, as it is Cabiria’s low social status that ensures her repeated disappointment, because the men in her life continually cast her aside in search of their own version of fulfillment. Therefore, Nights of Cabiria does examine social structures, but with an emphasis on their psychological effects. In doing so it uses Cabiria as an example of women’s yearning for commitment in a society that breeds a seemingly unshakable restlessness among men, who are rarely content with their relationships, or are blinded by their pursuit of wealth. Nevertheless, the film does not propose change or impose a moral, rather it attempts to show the mental condition of humanity through the struggles of women.

Nights of Cabiria is not a study of one who develops in a certain moral direction – toward either good or evil – but of one who, in spite of constant disillusionment, finds the strength to declare: ‘Yes – I will go on. For it is better to smile than to weep, better to live than to die.’ Far from being merely a picture featuring another ‘whore with a heart of gold,’ Nights of Cabiria has a theme of universal significance [Murray, Fellini the Artist, p. 109].

Although Fellini rejects his Neorealist label, his contribution to the genre has expanded its ideological reach, giving it more power to contend with the dominant ideological machine of Hollywood. Rather than create characters who are defined by the conditions around them, Fellini creates characters who them selves represent a certain social condition [Bondanella, The Break with Neorealism: Fellini, p. 115].

As arguably one of the greatest directors in Cinema, Fellini both challenged and contributed to Neorealism by making a film that addresses many forms of reality, both spiritual and material. He discarded pragmatic realism in the pursuit of a metaphysical realism that penetrated far deeper into the human condition than the most “real” of traditional Neorealist motion pictures.

Confer:

1. Bazin, Andre. “Cabiria: The Voyage to the End of Neorealism,” What is Cinema? Volume II. Berkely: University of California Press, 1971, 90.

2. Bondanella, Peter. “The Break with Neorealism: Fellini,” Italian Cinema: From Neorealism to the Present. Continuum: New York, 1997. 115.

3. Fava, Claudio G. Aldo Vigano. The Films of Federico Fellini. Citadel Press, 1981. 96.

4. Fellini, Federico. Fellini on Fellini. Zurich: Delacorte Press, 1974. 49, 51, 61, 62, 150, 152.

5. Liem, Mira. “Neorealism is like…” in Passion and Defiance” film in Italy from 1942 to the Present. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1984. 129, 132, 135.

6. Murray, Edward. Fellini the Artist. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing, 1976. 100, 101, 109.

7. Stubbs, John C. Federico Fellini as Auteur. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2006. 55.

Full Article

There is nothing worse in this world than an enslaved man who naively believes himself free, except, perhaps, trying to explain to that same man his predicament. You can lay truth after truth before his feet. You can qualify your every position with cold hard irrefutable data. You can plead and scream and raise veritable hell, but before he will ever listen, he must first become aware of his own dire circumstances. As long as he views himself as “safe and secure”, as long as he imagines his chains to be wings, he will see no reason to question the validity of the world around him, and he will certainly never invest himself into changing his own deluded destiny.

Unfortunately, there are many such men crawling and scraping about here in what was once a land graced with a self sufficient and independently minded public majority. The great lie that has been perpetuated in this country over the past several decades is that we can defer our responsibilities of vigilance and place our well being and our futures into the hands of others for the sake of “collective efficiency”, or leisure. We have been conditioned to live in a state of constant indifference, a society which prizes compromise over principle and steadfast resolve. Those who refuse to compromise that which is honorable for the sake of ease and comfort are indicted as “extremist” or even criminal. The idea of personal revolution is treated with discomfort, and all we claim to stand for becomes muddled in a fog of inaction and cynicism. As Americans, we have forgotten what it means to earn and protect our own freedoms. We have forgotten that in liberty, there are standards that must be defended.

This, however, does not mean we cannot yet again remember ourselves. The desire for freedom is as inborn and natural as our own heartbeat, as our own breath. It is instinct. It cannot be erased from within, only oppressed from without. The tide has always been against tyranny, always, though we may find that hard to believe. If liberty was not ingrained into our very DNA, humanity would have succumbed to bondage and self destructed long ago. This is not the case. Stretching under the surface of our superficial force-fed mainstream culture are the roots of something real, and honest. Simmering beneath our so called “civilized” veneer, many Americans are finally rediscovering their wild and defiant origins. In the recent past we have been taught to feel ashamed of our rebelliousness. Now, we are learning to hold it quite dear.

For those of us who are awake, and for those who are on the verge of understanding, certain rules come into play that strengthen our stance and shield us from folly. Liberty is not a self perpetuating social condition. It requires guidelines, and effort, and sacrifice. Liberty will not survive without our willingness to maintain it. If you are not ready and willing to fight for your own independence, then you are not truly free.

Let’s examine some of the inherent laws and guidelines of free will and free action that will allow us to not only win back our self determination, but to keep it for generations to come. You want liberty? This is what it takes…

Rule #1: Never Take Anything For Granted

A lot of people today seem to have serious issues with expectation and assumption; what we in the alternative media often refer to as “normalcy bias”. We have grown used to the idea of abundance and relative safety. So much so, that we fail to notice when our abundance and safety begin to disappear. We assume that the condition of the world today will be the condition of the world tomorrow, and for all time. In the U.S., we have even come to expect not only that our prosperity and our freedom are inevitable, but that they will also increase exponentially with each passing generation. This is a relatively new and narrow cultural mindset likely caused by the explosion in industrial growth after WWII which seemed to erase all memory of the Great Depression in our society, leaving us with the belief that surely, our circumstances would never become so desperate again.

Those who are truly independent realize that nations, no matter how affluent, can self destruct at a moment’s notice, especially when they fail to recognize their own weaknesses and confront their own demons. Never suppose that that which is good and just will remain without your own initiative. Never wait for others to fix those problems which you could just as easily solve yourself. Never expect that freedoms won cannot also be easily lost. Always prepare for the worst outcome, and strive for the best outcome.

Rule #2: Educate Yourself

Never become a useful idiot, or a waste of oxygen. Being a part of the herd is nothing to be proud of. Strive for knowledge, and thirst for the truth every moment of every day. Many of the things we deem “important” in modern society are in the grand scheme hollow attempts to fill our lives with distraction, only wasting time until we finally bite the dust filled with regret. Pretending to further the depth of one’s life is not the same as actually doing so. I can’t think of anything more horrifying than becoming a man who rushes around frantically every waking moment, but ultimately accomplishes nothing.

Do not assume that you already have a tangible grasp of the truth, especially if all your knowledge has been handed to you. Instead, research that knowledge for yourself. Put that which you have been taught to the test. Only in this way will you finally learn. Expand your horizons. Learn something useful. Remove unnecessary distractions for at least part of your day and focus on increasing your awareness of the environment you live in. There are very few things in this world more important than this, and self education should take precedence over everything else except your family. “Lack of time” is no excuse for ignorance. Make time! The ignorant are led. The knowledgeable lead themselves.

Rule #3: Don’t Be A Pansy

Liberty is not for the faint of heart. Emotional courage is paramount to freedom, and it can be expressed to incredible effect by even the most unlikely heroes. I’ve seen children with more courage and tenacity than some full grown men.

If one recognizes the gravity of the situation we face as a people, if one understands the considerable danger involved in the fall of a Republic to the depths of fear and autocracy, but still does nothing, that person has not only failed the world, he has also failed himself. “Making waves”, or drawing the ire of “authority”, is the least of our worries. If you have utilized an objective eye, and know you are right in your position, then there is no reason to fear criticism from anyone.

Sociopolitical action, nonconformity, noncompliance, and self defense, are unavoidable aspects of a society that wishes to maintain its freedoms. There is no way around it. If you are not willing to stick your neck out and expose yourself to risk, you remove all chance of possible gain. If you are a self proclaimed activist that refuses to sacrifice, that refuses to struggle, then you have failed before you even began. Talk must lead to balanced action. Never thumb your nose at the devil without being ready to trade punches as well, or all is lost.

Rule #4: Stop Waiting For Others To Tell You What To Do

Independent people not only consider and implement the solutions of others, they also work on their own. Complaints abound lately in the Liberty Movement;

“When is someone going to do something!? What are YOU going to do about our predicament!?”

This is the question of a slave, not a free man. A free man asks, “What am I going to do about this predicament? What is MY solution to the problem?” Therein is the key to liberty; decentralized leadership and movements based on fluidity and spontaneity of action, instead of a great mass of people standing around stiffly waiting for orders on high, or a self styled messiah to engineer their world view. As soon as you place your very initiative under the control of others, you have lost the fight. Always consider the solid strategies of intelligent people, and adopt them if they are useful, but do not remain idle because you are too frightened to exert the effort to solve problems bigger than yourself. Spectators only witness history, they do not make history.

Rule #5: Cast Off What Is Unnecessary, Keep What Is Effective

Yes, I stole this rule from Bruce Lee, but it is just as applicable to social movements and economic stability as it is to the martial arts. Invasive debt creation, for instance, is a tool for subversion, and no people forced to bear the burden of liabilities they can never repay is free. Therefore, exorbitant debt must be avoided, or cast off completely.

In our personal lives, how many useless goods do we accumulate on a daily basis, instead of useful items that we may one day desperately need? How much of our life is spent accumulating garbage in order to keep up with “socially acceptable” levels of consumer behavior? How many of us cling to careers we hate in order to service our needless consumption? The ability to prioritize must become a virtue once again, and, we all need to shut off the cable television…

This rule also applies to governments. If a government no longer fulfills its sworn duties to the people, and no longer serves the purposes to which it was originally intended, then it too must be cast off and replaced with one that does serve the people, or, it must be forced to return to its inherent foundations. Today, this kind of talk is often referred to as “extremism”, or insurgency, no matter how correct it might be, which brings us to our next rule…

Rule #6: Ignore Establishment Labels

Tactical name calling is only effective if we actually care what other people think of us. Labels like “homegrown terrorist”, “extremist”, “doomer”, or “conspiracy theorist”, are designed to shame people into self censorship. That is to say, they pigeonhole movements and their participants into categories of public shame, causing said movements to fear social reprisal. They are also meant to forcefully assign “outsider” or “fringe” status to particular political positions in order to marginalize and weaken the resolve of those who hold them. Never mind that almost every powerful and honorable cultural movement in history once started out as “fringe”.

Early in our lives, we are taught that it is far better to be accepted, and to avoid standing out, even at the expense of our individualism. Unfortunately, many adults never outgrow this childish belief, and thus become vulnerable to tactics as absurd as simple ridicule. At bottom, being slandered by a thieving bureaucracy infested with soulless parasites bent on centralization at the expense of innocent human life is a bit laughable (this goes for you too, SPLC). Globalists, along with their media cronies and their think-tank sock puppets, will say ANYTHING to get what they want. Empty words and false labels cannot stop the truth, or a movement driven by the truth.

Rule #7: Cynicism Is The Path To Defeat

It is good to be critical, but not to the point of nihilism. America’s past is riddled with mistakes, bad judgments, horrible crimes, and downright stupidity; that doesn’t mean that the principles on which this country was founded are any less vital. We hear often from cynics that humanity has become too stupid and complacent to do what is right. However, stupidity and complacency are not inherent qualities. That’s an elitist fantasy with no basis in fact. Stupidity and complacency are learned behaviors, and they can be unlearned. What IS inherent is our ability to choose what path we will take. For adherents of liberty, we need only remind people that they have this choice. We can whine and cry all day long about how nobody pays attention and how there is no hope, or, we can exhaust all options before throwing in the proverbial towel. We don’t need to “like” society the way it is, but we do need to recognize the underlying potential of all people to become something much more than what they currently are (I can’t stand blind ignorance either, but I’m certainly not ready to accept it as a fact of American life). Remember, no fight is over until it is over.

Rule #8: True Authority Is Derived From Respect That Is Earned, Not Bought, Or Taken

A corrupt politician is just a criminal conman in a nice suit. A law enforcement officer who refuses to follow Constitutional Law is just a petty little tyrant in a black uniform. An economist who knowingly skews data to fit his own political bias or to serve the political biases of men above him is just a liar or an inept buffoon with an embossed piece of paper from an expensive university. A lab scientist or doctor who flubs experimentation to support the interests of the corporate world rather than the needs of the public is just a quack in a white coat. All too often, though, we find ourselves taking these cretins seriously all because they talk the talk and wear the costume. They are just people, and if they cannot do their jobs honestly, then they are useless people, who deserve our disdain, not our respect. We should never allow such men to wield positions of authority over us.

Rule #9: Take It Personally

When someone tries to steal from you, hurt you, or enslave you, unless you are some kind of nut, you take it pretty personally, right? Why should it be any different when a government commits the same grievances? Americans should be furious over the destruction of their economy, their currency, their infrastructure, and their Constitutional freedoms! They should be enraged over the endless wars overseas that are bankrupting the nation. They should be bellowing to the rooftops over the cooption of their political system by a slimy brood of corporate bankers. Is this “extremist” behavior? Who cares!? If your anger is not visible then it is not worth a damn. Don’t just get active, get emotional! This is about your life, and the lives of those you love. That’s not to say that we should take out our frustrations randomly and haphazardly, but if we can’t at least make known our anger over the misdeeds of government, then what the hell is the point of calling ourselves free?

Rule #10: You Are The First And Last Line Of Defense

Like it our not, this is our job. We have inherited a country on the verge of disaster, and we are tasked with cleaning it up, otherwise, there will be little left to pass on. We do not get to bask in illusory prosperity for the rest of our days. We do not get to feed off the entitlement program trough until we are fat and contented. We are not going to retain our rights without blood, sweat, and tears. We will not be building magical floating cities in the clouds or skyscrapers on Mars. We will NOT be remembered fondly as members of some fantastical “golden era”.

We have been thrust into the muck and the mire. We are being molded as the lost children of an age better forgotten. We have been slapped in the face with a dilemma so volatile and so incredible it may one day be called the greatest crisis of all time. We have drawn the short straw.

This could be viewed as some terrible doom. It could be held as a star crossed act of ferocious fate. We could fall to our knees and lament with despair, overcome with woe at our unbearable lot. But, this would be in violation of rule #3, and nobody wants to be a sobbing pansy. On the contrary, every “bad luck generation” is only so if they refuse to see the great fortune at their fingertips; if they refuse to seize the moment and conquer the giants of their day. The greater the hardship, the greater the enemy, the greater the heroes. We are faced with possibly the most unrelenting antagonists and the most treacherous obstacles in recent memory, or even distant memory. In the same spark of confrontation, we are also presented with unparalleled opportunity to change the course of the world forever. Whether or not we succeed, is entirely up to us.

You can contact Brandon Smith at: brandon@alt-market.com.

Neo-fascists and terrorists against liberty come in all shapes and sizes and in every human era. 9/11 = the burning of the Reichstag. What followed in both cases evidences that history does indeed repeat itself.  But were most of us astute enough to see it happening again?

On September 11, 2001, seventy-one years after the Berlin Reichstag fire that Hitler exploited to make himself supreme dictator, a heart-rending tragedy struck the United States. More than three thousand people died suddenly in an inferno of flames in the pulverized wreckage of the most prestigious building of international capitalism: the World Trade Center in New York City.

No Air Force defense was triggered after the first and then after the second plane hit the most prominent target in the financial capital of the world. An F-16, where normally stationed, could have scrambled from about 20 miles away and could have saved the Pentagon from the third attack that followed 44 minutes later. Instead, there was no alert whatsoever when a still unidentified craft or missile struck the headquarters of America’s military might, opening a 15 ft diameter hole and penetrating deep into the building. Not a single defense shot fired – not even a beep – to warn people in the buildings.

The fourth hijacked plane went down at a 90º angle. The Government did not release the voice recorder from the cockpit. A piece of that plane was found two miles away from the point of impact. To those who have studied all reports available, the 9/11 Commission’s conspiracy theory never rose to the lowest level of a joke.

“Elementary!” Sherlock Holmes would say, but then our mainstream media (now generally known as the cloaca maxima media – the Roman Empire’s name for the main sewer of ancient Rome) – yes, friends and citizens, our mainsewer media did not report what could be easily deducted from obvious facts.

Deranged individuals at the service of global plutocrats moved to entrench a new kind of totalitarianism – inverted totalitarianism – disguised as democracy under a fake state of war against an invisible enemy called “terror.” Following 9/11, instant war drumming began against alleged foreign terrorists by an illegitimate administration. Later many facts were exposed proving that top criminals at the wheel of our government had long been seeking a new Pearl Harbor-type crisis to justify a war of aggression to steal the oil wealth of Iraq and to occupy that country as a base for further dominion of the region.

By spreading death and destruction at will upon defenseless populations in any region of the globe it chooses to attack, enslave, and pillage, the ruling global oligarchy hopes for forever-flowing profits. This insane permanent global war on an invisible specter of fabricated terror is being pitifully justified as America’s effort to establish and defend democracy. Such a deceitful justification has opened a new era, transforming the entire planet into a scientific battlefield that destroys our freedom and suspends civil liberties indefinitely – even habeas corpus which was granted to everyone since the days of the Magna Carta.

Does history repeat itself? Let us compare the events in 1933 Germany to the unfolding anti-democratic events that began with the 2000 election coup d’etat that ended America’s democracy, unfolded into a covert totalitarianism after the 2001 false flag attack of 9/11, and was followed by the dictatorial Patriot Act.

Seven decades ago Adolf Hitler abused democracy to establish his dictatorship. To do this Hitler manipulated President Hindenburg into dissolving the Reichstag and calling for new elections. He then sought a Nazi majority in the Reichstag to rubber-stamp whatever laws the big corporations financing him desired.

In Election 2000, George Bush usurped the presidency and crushed democracy when he subverted the vote of the people with the help of five treasonous black-robed Supreme Court justices. In one blow, they destroyed America’s 225-year Constitutional tradition of democratic elections by denying the people’s fundamental right of having all votes counted. Bush then got the well-paid support of a majority of goose-stepping neo-fascist in Congress to rubber-stamp everything his corporate masters desired as payback for financing his campaign (witness the colossal tax cut for the rich, corporate favors, and the anti-labor and anti-environmental laws pushed through during of the first year of his illegal administration).

In 1933 Germany, law enforcement officials were replaced by Nazi SA and SS troopers. Anybody harassed, arrested, beaten, or even murdered by these criminals had no one to turn to for help. (Extreme right-wing American racists as far back as the Nixon days secretly admired the Nazis.) That same year the Nazis began their attack on democracy by raiding the headquarters of the Communist Party to steal its membership list.

Half a century later, Republican neo-fascists repeated the same history by burglarizing the Democratic Party’s Watergate headquarters, which ended in Nixon’s resignation. That GOP crime was just a preview of coming attractions for Election 2000. During the days after the 2000 Election, GOP goons were bussed to Florida and paid to riot at vote counting locations to intimidate election officials into stopping their manual recount.

The pattern of historical repetition begins to appear clearly with an even more frightening contemporary aspect. While in Nixon’s times there existed independent investigative reporters willing to bust treasonous plots, today mainstream media is fully under the control of right-wing mega-corporations whose interests are carefully protected.

Göring and Goebbels, with Hitler’s approval, hatched a grandiose plan to shock public opinion and cause massive national panic. They coaxed and helped a psychotic communist to torch prepared combustible fuel caches set up by the Nazis (through an underground tunnel) to burn the Berlin Reichstag – the building where elected representatives of the Republic met in Congress. The crazed arsonist worked a long time to start many fires in the enormous edifice while the efficient German police were inexplicably and conveniently absent from this most important of government buildings. No one explained this abysmal lack of security, just as today no one can explain how allegedly 18 men with box cutters could hijack four airliners on the same morning or how the mighty Pentagon could be struck without warning 45 minutes after a colossal catastrophe hit New York City – even though the FBI had received information that strikes involving civilian airlines were being plotted.

Nazi reactions to the Reichstag catastrophe were without the least reflection as were, 70 years later, the Bush-ists’ reactions to the heart-breaking national tragedy of 9/11. Both the Nazis and the American right-wing chose to instantly beat revenge war drums and rattle swords to reap a maximum political bonanza from public shock, anguish, panic, and anger.

Investigate? Later. Reflect? Never! That might reveal the real causes behind the attack. That might bring to light the many acts of U.S. terrorism throughout the world. Let the press concoct polls created for propaganda and provocation. “98% of the people are lining up behind our glorious neo-Führer!” This is the kind of journalism that gives bullshit a bad name.

Unfurl the battle flags! Sing the national anthem! Unite the people behind the Commander-in-Chief, no matter how evil and corrupt. Sound familiar in both German and English? “Deuschland, Deutchland über Alles!”

Immediately after the fire, Hitler rushed from the scene to his newspaper, the Völkischer Beobachter, to oversee coverage of the story. He worked all night with Goebbels putting together tales of Communist plots to seize power violently. The same security apparatus allegedly caught with its pants down was suddenly so clever and efficient that it instantly spotted culprits and terrorists everywhere and was able to harangue Germany into a frenzy of violent revenge against Communists, Jews, gypsies, and all non-Arian races.

An emergency meeting of government leaders was held in Berlin. Hitler made himself a spectacle of deliberate rage to fan the flames. “The German people have been soft too long. Every Communist official must be shot. All Communist deputies must be hanged this very night. All friends of the terrorists must be locked up. And that goes for the Social Democrats and the Reichsbanner as well!” As a preamble to declaring war on the world, he literally declared war on his own people.

At a cabinet meeting held later in the morning, Chancellor Hitler demanded an emergency decree to overcome the crisis. He met little resistance from lawmakers or his cabinet. That evening, Hitler and Papen went to Hindenburg and the befuddled old man signed the Emergency Decree “for the protection of the state.” The Decree proclaimed: “Restrictions on personal liberty, on the right of free expression of opinion, including freedom of the press; on the rights of assembly and association; and violations of the privacy of postal, telegraphic and telephonic communications; warrants for house searches; orders for confiscations; as well as restrictions on property, are also permissible beyond the legal limits otherwise prescribed.”

A few days after the Reichstag fire, as if by collective hypnosis, the Nazis were seen as all-knowing heroes. They deftly captured the lone culprit (an easy task, since, having helped him, they knew who he was) and grabbed a bunch of others as well. The Nazi Party was instantly believed to be courageous and patriotic. The more the Party blamed foreign and domestic Communists, painted German liberals and democrats as enemies, and threatened to crush its enemies by force, the more the public became deliriously titillated.

This happened in 1933. No independent investigation or a shred of evidence was brought forward about who had plotted the fire. The press and radio (owned by the state and its sponsors) trumpeted the Nazis as being the only force qualified to protect Germany from evil. Germany’s citizens were called upon to unite behind the Führer, to be seen as patriots or else. “You are with us or you are against us!” This climate of hysteria foreshadowed the ultimate destruction of Germany and death of millions in Europe and across the globe.

Seventy years ago, after the Reichstag burned, the neo-Nazi police was ordered to show no mercy to those suspected of independent thinking, i.e., those hostile to Hitler, and especially any alleged “Communist terrorists” who were suddenly believed to be hiding under the beds of all German-Jewish homes or wherever mixed blood might be found. The pure Arian race alone was German and trustworthy enough to goose-step for the Führer.

A similar mindless reaction was sponsored immediately by George Bush and his neo-fascist Republicans. We were told that we must accept limitations on our liberties in the name of national security. One of the most frightening threats to civil liberties was the draconian Senate bill deliberately rushed through by GOP neo-fascists that would dramatically expand the use of secret searches to every criminal case, going far beyond anything necessary to conduct investigations on terrorism. The bill permitted wiretap information to be used and disseminated without prior judicial review or safeguards. It created a new crime of “domestic terrorism,” which could easily transform protestors into terrorists if protestors engaged in conduct that “involved acts dangerous to human life” (this vague wording might include blocking traffic or dropping a banana peel on a sidewalk).

For example, Operation Rescue, the Environmental Liberation Front, and Greenpeace have all engaged in activities that could subject them to a Nazi-style prosecution as terrorists. Under this legislation, those who provide lodging or other assistance to “domestic terrorists” – which could includes parents and relatives of environmentalists protesters or literally anyone who objects to environmental exploitation – could have their homes wiretapped and be prosecuted.

Fascist-style patriotism translated into uncritical and sniveling support of whatever actions a half-witted Führer deemed appropriate as well as withholding constructive criticism.

Arab-Americans and people with Middle Eastern names or ancestors were vilified and subjected to special scrutiny by the Government and by their fellow citizens. No American should be persecuted or abused as “disloyal” because of race or national origin. This great democratic ideal is what makes America a civilized country. However, many liberals were cowardly silent and shamelessly unable or unwilling to voice opposition to the illegitimate Bush administration. The U.S. is perilously close to the same situation Germany was in 1933 when the democratic forces there put their tails between their legs and easily allowed Hitler to take over and destroy democracy and Europe along with it, because no one wanted to find out who really burned the Reichstag and for what reason.

After security laws were rubber-stamped by the Nazis, as was done in the U.S. with the passage of the Patriot Act I and II, there followed the first big Nazi roundup as truckloads of SA and SS roared through the streets busting in on known liberal and communist hangouts and barging into private homes. Thousands of citizens, Communists as well as Social Democrats and Progressives, were taken away into “protective custody” at SA barracks where they were tortured and many killed.

Always remember the FBI’s abuses and harassment of individuals like Martin Luther King, Jr. and the official violence it generated to disrupt the Civil Rights and Antiwar Movements. Remember the students killed at Kent State University and never forget the CIA’s history of helping some of the world’s most evil violators of human rights. Let us recall Kissinger’s role in Operation “Condor” where international squads under Latin American dictators sought, tortured, carved eyes out of people, killed, and made thousands disappear.

Next Hitler turned his attention to Election Day. All resources necessary for a big win were placed at his disposal by the same large industrialists who had helped him gain power and who now gladly coughed up millions of Marks. Representatives from Krupp munitions and I. G. Farben were among those reaching into their deep pockets; several American corporations were also included.

Today the same corporate beasts are supporting war, ecological devastation, exploitation of labor, oppressive dictators, censorship by media control, medical monopolies, and a pseudo war on drugs that covers up the reality of an ocean of ill-gotten money supporting political abuse and fraud.

The difference between the Nazi rise to power and the takeover of the American Government by neo-fascists is that neo-fascism is not a strictly national sickness. America is being overrun by a multi-national corporate network positioning itself above national governments and the law through world trade and financial manipulations. The WTO is a rising super-government voiding national sovereignty. U.S. administrators are the errand boys of mega-corporations that have supported the likes of Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, Bush II, and Obama for over a century. The Congressional record reveals that the Bush family supported Hitler and also shows that Bush Sr. was in business with the Bin Laden family. What other information do we need to wake up?

Our last hope is in massive, overwhelming peaceful opposition. Unless Americans – refusing to be divided by the mainstream media – march as one people to defend freedom and turn the tables on its ruling criminals, what happened in Florida will go down in history as the end of our Republic. It is our ethical duty as a free people to oppose tyranny and deceit, to take control of our government, and to sue for peace and justice for all. It can be done when we – united and free – fully engage our proverbial courage and refuse to support evil.

Chris Hedges‘ 4/19/10 article, titled: Noam Chomsky Has Never Seen Anything Like This, opens with the following statement, which is significant for all who seriously seek social change and a better future:

“Noam Chomsky is America’s greatest intellectual. His massive body of work, which includes nearly 100 books, has for decades deflated and exposed the lies of the power elite and the myths they perpetrate.”

Since its inception, our social system, Capitalism, has ruined billions of lives and now threatens to destroy the planet. Change is more than urgently needed. It is now a question of collective life or death.

Noam Chomsky’s comment on the following statement by Italian theorist Antonio Gramsci:

“A main obstacle to change is the reproduction by the dominating forces of elements of their hegemonic ideology. It’s an important and urgent task to develop alternative interpretations of reality”

is:

“I respect Gramsci a lot, but I think it’s possible to paraphrase that comment, namely: Just tell the truth … try to find out the truth and tell the truth. Does that say anything different? It’s something any one of us can do.”

History has shown over and over again that telling the truth is the most dangerous and powerful act as well as the most feared by oppressors in all times. Those who dare proclaim and defend Truth to liberate humanity from oppression want to restore a commonwealth of the people governed by the people for the people. That indeed is change we must all support and that is the change that will give birth to a different world.

Noam Chomsky is the foremost representative of that human hope for real civilization.

View these talks by Noam Chomsky:

Noam Chomsky begins speaking in this video at 8:00:

Conversations with History:

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By Shamus Cooke

01 July, 2009 “Information Clearing House” — There should be no doubts about the U.S.’ decisive role behind the now-crumbling military coup in Honduras. As commander and chief of the U.S. armed forces, the blame for this intervention lies solely on President Obama.

The White House, however, would like you to believe that they “attempted to convince the Honduran military not to intervene.”

Rubbish.

When it comes to the Honduran military, the U.S. government needn’t ask permission for anything. The decades long relationship between the two institutions is one of dependence — Honduras’ military has long been financed and trained by the U.S. The New York Times explains:

“The two nations have long had a close military relationship, with an American military task force stationed at a Honduran air base about 50 miles northwest of Tegucigalpa. The unit focuses on training Honduran military forces, counternarcotics operations, search and rescue, and disaster relief missions throughout Central America.” (June 28, 2009)

And from Latin American expert Eva Gollinger:

“The US Military Group in Honduras trains around 300 Honduran soldiers every year, provides more than $500,000 annually to the Honduran Armed Forces and additionally provides $1.4 million for a military education and exchange program for around 300 more Honduran soldiers every year.”

This year U.S. aide to Honduras was $43 million.

It is utterly unimaginable that the Honduran military would act against the wishes of the hemisphere’s military and economic superpower.

In fact, the chief military leader of the Honduran coup — Joint Chief of Staff Romeo Orlando Vasquez Velasquez — lived and was trained at the notorious School of Americas (SOA), a U.S. military base that trains Latin American military officers to act in the best interests of United State’s corporations. It is no coincidence that another coup leader — Air Force head Gen. Luis Javier Prince Suazo — is also an SOA graduate.

When Honduran President Manuel Zelaya realized that Vasquez was acting against him, he was fired — the rest of the military chiefs resigned in protest; and the coup was on.

The highly conservative Honduran Supreme Court then gave the military the “legal” cover it needed to pursue the coup, a fact the U.S. media uses to justify the events.

The reason for the coup lies in President Zelaya’s recent foreign policy shift — away from the United States towards Venezuela and the rest of Latin America. This turn was the result of the United States largely ignoring Honduras, after a long lasting, villainous relationship had ended: the U.S. had, for years, funneled large amounts of cash and arms to the Honduran government to kill the regions political leftists, the high point being the regions turbulent 1980’s.

After Zelaya was elected in 2006 (he still has one year left in his term), he promised to shift Honduras’ politics toward helping the poorer layers. He realized that he could not achieve any of his promises with the scant amount of aide from the U.S. and looked instead to the Latin American trade association, ALBA. Zelaya explained:

“I have been looking for projects from the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, Europe and I have received very moderate offers … that forces us to find other forms of financing like ALBA.” ( Reuters, April 26,2008 )

The U.S. government did not like this move, since it prefers U.S. banks to dominate the economies of Latin American countries. The New York Times confirms:

“…[Washington’s] relations with Mr. Zelaya…had recently turned colder because of the inclusion of Honduras in the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, or ALBA, a leftist political alliance led by Venezuela.” (June 28, 2009)

Nearly all of the U.S. media’s writing about the Honduran coup is littered with negative references to Hugo Chavez, the “socialist project,” and other buzzwords meant to influence the reader toward acceptance of the coup.

For example:

“…[Zelaya] has the support of labor unions and the poor. But the middle class and the wealthy business community fear he wants to introduce Mr. Chávez’s brand of socialist populism into the country, one of Latin America’s poorest.” (New York Times, June 28, 2009)

Obama himself does nothing to condemn the coup. Yes, he is “deeply concerned” about the events in Honduras, but his vague comments about “dialogue” and respecting “legal procedures” is full of loopholes — big enough for a coup to squeeze through.

If Obama immediately refused to recognize the newly installed coup government in Honduras, while threatening to withdraw U.S. military and financial aide — along with the U.S. ambassador — the coup would dissolve in seconds. Strong actions like these, however, were completely absent.

Eva Gollinger comments:

“I think a clear coup d’etat against a democratic government that also happens to be a major dependent on U.S. economic and political aid should provoke a more firm and concise statement by the US Government.”

Such a statement did come not only from the General Assembly of the United Nations, but from the formerly U.S.-dominated Organization of American States (OAS). Both organizations are refusing to recognize the new coup government in Honduras and are demanding the return of Zelaya. This is a big blow to Washington, who in better times could rely on the OAS and U.N. to turn a blind eye to a U.S.-sponsored coup, such as the one in Haiti in 2004.

Now, however, the OAS has largely broken from the U.S. stranglehold, emboldened by the independent path taken by numerous Latin American countries, though especially Venezuela.

And this is the broader motive for the coup. The U.S. banks and other corporations that once dominated Latin America are being quickly pushed aside, so that governments may use their country’s wealth for social services and real economic development — not foreign for-profit plunder.

The U.S. coup attempt in Honduras is thus a sign of desperation. It was also a huge gamble. Obama had hoped that the U.N. and OAS would let this one slide. It was also hoped that the Honduran people would be intimidated by martial law and a communications blackout. Neither was the case.

Huge protests have defied the military-ordered curfew. Latin American countries have united in defiance of a tyrannical U.S. policy. It is reported that these happenings are causing splits in the Honduran military, while also a general strike was being prepared by the nation’s trade unions.

In consequence, the coup is likely to crumble, and Obama’s first attempt to re-tame Latin America will have failed. The actions of the U.N. and OAS are striking examples of the shrinking international influence of the U.S., meaning that future interventions — both military and economic — are likely to be more direct to restore U.S. hegemony. Obama’s more-subtle attempts to uphold U.S. “influence” in the world will ultimately require blunter, Bush-like tactics.

If the Honduran coup fails, Obama will eloquently discuss how pleased he is that “democracy was restored” — while refusing to admit that he tried to kill it.

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Shamus Cooke is a social service worker, trade unionist, and writer for Workers Action (www.workerscompass.org). He can be reached at shamuscook@yahoo.com.

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Luminous Compass has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is Luminous Compass endorsed or sponsored by the originator.

A burst of voices and laughter heralds recess. Kids bullet out of the classroom to find their favorite spot on the playground. Katie, Allie, and Sam like the sandbox, but so does Gunner and that’s always a problem. Gunner is territorial, piles up the toys on “his side,” tells Katie, Allie, and Sam what to do, and gets aggressive if they don’t play his game. When he starts throwing sand, the others protest but he keeps at it. Eventually they call the teacher. Now imagine the teacher supporting and even encouraging Gunner. Guest post by Viktoria Vidali.

A Simple Analogy

As simple as it is, this analogy explains in part what is happening on the world arena. A few have taken control of what should be shared with everyone. The distorted values of this minority elite are protected by governments, powerful corporations, and to a large degree sanctioned by religion. This minority owns big media that saturates the population 24/7 with the presumptive rightness of its ideologies, like competitiveness (which discourages people from working together and gaining strength to upset the status quo), materialism (which encourages people to work harder so that they can buy more things and also locks in the false connection between self worth and money), and the law of attraction (which abrogates responsibility).

It [the law of attraction] argues that we attract those things in life, whether it is money, relationships or employment, which we focus on. Suddenly, abused and battered wives or children, the unemployed, the depressed and mentally ill, the illiterate, the lonely, those grieving for lost loved ones, those crushed by poverty, the terminally ill, those fighting with addictions, those suffering from trauma, those trapped in menial and poorly paid jobs, those whose homes are in foreclosure or who are filing for bankruptcy because they cannot pay their medical bills, are to blame for their negativity. The ideology justifies the cruelty of unfettered capitalism, shifting the blame from the power elite to those they oppress. And many of us have internalized this pernicious message, which in times of difficulty leads to personal despair, passivity and disillusionment … The message that we can have everything we want if we dig deep enough inside ourselves, if we truly believe we are exceptional, is pumped out daily over the airwaves in advertisements, through the plot and story lines of television programs and films, and bolstered by the sickeningly cheerful and upbeat banter of well-groomed television hosts. This is the twisted ideological lens through which we view the world. ~ Chris Hedges’ Happiness Consultants Won’t Stop a Depression.

As a result, great numbers of people think and act against their own best interests and wonder why they rarely have the freedom and peace of mind to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Even when they “get the whole picture,” they are often so distracted or overworked that they lack the energy and will to bring about fundamental change.

What’s Fair

Since the World Social Forum came upon the supranational stage in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 2001, alternatives to a failed system that deprives too many of a decent life have been proposed and in places implemented by the swelling ranks of the poor and marginalized and by all those who understand that there is plenty to go around. What exactly is being demanded? The right to honest work, a living wage, food, clean water, a home, a healthy environment, an education, health care, a responsive self-government, and peace.

They’re demanding what’s fair!

Social movements to actualize these human rights are gaining momentum one by one across South America – Venezuela,* Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Brazil, and Paraguay. They are bringing hope of a better life and renewal to their citizens. At the same time the world’s people are largely getting poorer, we see the biggest concentration of wealth and income in the fewest numbers.** Gunner has demanded and received more of the sandbox and governments are saying this is perfectly fine. Go right ahead, Gunner! You deserve it!

A Personal Question

Many of us are only now seeing the immensity of these global problems and how they affect all of us and are asking ourselves:

Can we personally be truly happy knowing that so many are suffering?

While we should be grateful for the gifts we have received, we must learn to give our energy and resources to work for a better world where every person’s rights are respected. How can we do this? The answer is to act, because we each have something valuable to give. By giving, we renew our vital connection to all members of the human family. The kind of action we initiate and sustain in solidarity with others is open to our own creative imaginations.

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* For more on Venezuela’s participative democracy, VenezuelaAnalysis.com.

** Confer Political Economics Professor Jack Rasmus’ book: The Trillion Dollar Income Shift – Essays on Income Inequality in America.