thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-04-22--The Carnage of Wolf Trapping in Idaho

The Carnage of Wolf Trapping in Idaho

Federal speciesism fueled , as usual , by powerful agro-ranching interests , takes a heavy toll in pain and death in the wild .
Meantime , the mass media barely covers this old and shameful story .
One might imagine the immoral and barbaric persecution of this animal would have ceased by the 21st century , but then one would be very wrong .
new public records request to Idaho Department of Fish and Game reveals that Idaho wolf trappers are capturing nearly as many non-target species as they are capturing wolves .
47 % of the species captured between @ @ @ @ @ @ @ including rare fishers , wolverine , eagle , and lynx were non-target species .
Of the non-target species captured , 57 % of those were killed .
During the period covered by the public records response , wolf trappers killed 813 wolves , caught 620 non-target species of which 269 were released alive and 351 were killed .
It is likely that a percentage of those animals that were released alive eventually died from injuries sustained from the traps that either killed them outright or made it difficult for them to find food @ @ @ @ @ @ @ showing capture or mortality of non-target species such as deer , elk , mountain lions , fishers , wolverines , eagles , pets , bobcat , etc .
caught by wolf trappers in Idaho between the dates January 1 , 2013 and December 31 , 2019.
” A previous public records request in 2013 revealed similar problems with wolf and fur trappers in Idaho .
That request revealed that 58 % of the species captured by trappers who also had a wolf trapping permit , were non-target species .
Some of the species @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the species were captured while trying to trap wolves .
For example , the data reveals that two fish were killed which is probably more indicative of beaver or muskrat trapping as the cause .
The public records response did not explain much about the records received .
The rare species caught included an eagle , 56 fishers , a lynx , and two wolverines .
There is no open season for fisher , kit fox , lynx , or wolverine in Idaho .
Lynx are protected under the Endangered Species Act @ @ @ @ @ @ @ active petitions to list them under the Endangered Species Act and eagles are protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act .
Here is the breakdown of the data :

Federal speciesism fueled, as usual, by powerful agro-ranching interests, takes a heavy toll in pain and death in the wild. Meantime, the mass media barely covers this old and shameful story.
One might imagine the immoral and barbaric persecution of this animal would have ceased by the 21st century, but then one would be very wrong.
[dropcap]A[/dropcap] new public records request to Idaho Department of Fish and Game reveals that Idaho wolf trappers are capturing nearly as many non-target species as they are capturing wolves. 47% of the species captured between the 2012/2013 to 2018/2019 trapping seasons, including rare fishers, wolverine, eagle, and lynx were non-target species. Of the non-target species captured, 57% of those were killed. During the period covered by the public records response, wolf trappers killed 813 wolves, caught 620 non-target species of which 269 were released alive and 351 were killed. It is likely that a percentage of those animals that were released alive eventually died from injuries sustained from the traps that either killed them outright or made it difficult for them to find food.
The request was for “data showing capture or mortality of non-target species such as deer, elk, mountain lions, fishers, wolverines, eagles, pets, bobcat, etc. caught by wolf trappers in Idaho between the dates January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2019.”
A previous public records request in 2013 revealed similar problems with wolf and fur trappers in Idaho. That request revealed that 58% of the species captured by trappers who also had a wolf trapping permit, were non-target species.
Some of the species caught by trappers indicates that not all of the species were captured while trying to trap wolves. For example, the data reveals that two fish were killed which is probably more indicative of beaver or muskrat trapping as the cause. The public records response did not explain much about the records received.
The non-target species included bobcat (29), deer (206), dog (15), duck (21), eagle (1), elk (9), fish (2), fisher (56), goose (3), house cat (14), lion (89), lynx (1), magpie (32), marten (2), moose (10), otter (5), porcupine (8), rabbit (42), raccoon (6), raven (5), red fox (8), snowshoe hare (9), squirrel (39), Stellars jay (2), wolf (4), and wolverine (2).
The rare species caught included an eagle, 56 fishers, a lynx, and two wolverines. There is no open season for fisher, kit fox, lynx, or wolverine in Idaho. Lynx are protected under the Endangered Species Act. Additionally, fisher and wolverine have active petitions to list them under the Endangered Species Act and eagles are protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.
Here is the breakdown of the data:


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-04-22--Lockdown Therapy for Capitalism

Lockdown Therapy for Capitalism

ne might think that artists wouldn ’ t mind being isolated and having more time in studios on account of the current Coronavirus situation .
After all , we spend an enormous amount of time alone , and isolation allows us to have uninterrupted amounts of time to let our imaginations fly .
But there are other elements in play when we examine creativity .
For example , it is crucial that we feel safe to expose all our senses to our environment so that we ground our minds properly to our surroundings , harmoniously with all our channels open @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I was at an art residency in Cape Cod , Massachusetts .
I lived in a communal setting with twenty other artists and writers .
As soon as public spaces became inaccessible and “ social distancing ” became the norm at the residency , many of the fellow artists experienced lack of productivity .
I felt an immediate blockage to my making process .
Perhaps , since our society does not make artists ’ activities a priority , this might be the last thing one would consider as a serious “ problem ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a concern might be secondary to many artists themselves who will be subjected to enormous economic difficulties .
It is “ understood ” that this is a “ crisis ” and we must “ fight together “ against our “ common enemy ” which is the virus .
But who could blame those of us who are very much suspicious of such a momentum , as we hear “ decrees ” being issued to dictate our social activities while all instruments of state violence and repression are in place to regulate our behaviors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ same society which has baselessly demonized Muslims while bombing , colonizing and destroying their countries in the name of “ war on terror ” .
Young black people have been openly demonized to justify gentrification , mass incarceration , exploitation through substandard labor conditions and so on and so forth in the name of “ war on drug ” and “ tough on crime ” .
We know that a “ crisis ” presents opportunities and tools for the ruling class to shape and perpetuate the social structure .
The system in which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to fail ” while oppressed people keep failing so that they are safely cornered into hopelessness , cynicism and complacency to the feudal order of money and violence .
It is not a speculation that there are people who prosper and even benefit during an economic crisis—as smaller business owners struggle , large corporations and banks benefit from huge government subsidies , giving them more power to buy failing small businesses , for example .
And it is a fact that many of those people have enormous economic power to shape the policies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not a speculation that they would appreciate having strict measures of control against the people by limiting their freedom of speech , freedom of assembly , and freedom to travel , or by installing means of surveillance , check points and official certifications for activities that might give freedom to the people beyond the capitalist framework .
It is not a speculation that they would benefit from moving our social interactions to the digital realm , which can commodify our activities as marketable data for the advertising industry , insurance industry and any @ @ @ @ @ @ @ political institution , legal institution , and financial institution .
Such matters should be seen within the context of the western history being shaped by unelected capitalists with their enormous networks of social institutions .
In fact , private foundations and NGOs are working with governmental organizations and global institutions to implement potentially dangerous policies of draconian measures as well as financialization of our activities for sometime .
According to researchers—Cory Morningstar , Alison McDowell and others , the potential impact of the transformation which is about to take place through the Internet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and etc .
under the banner of the fourth industrial revolution can be devastatingly inhumane to our species ’ path .
Examining those matters must not be subjected to being labeled as “ conspiracy ” and dismissed .
Needless to say , a draconian momentum against the capitalist hierarchy accelerates hardships of “ invisible people ” who struggle against economic deprivation and social repression .
How do homeless people “ stay home ” ?
How do people in jail practice “ social distancing ” ?
How are people vulnerable to domestic violence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ continue to stay in business ?
How do poor people survive while public services and spaces are eliminated , while affluent people are stock piling in their generously equipped gated communities .
How do people with addiction stay sober ?
How do people with suicidal tendency secure their dwindling connection to humanity ?
But those discussions are rare among us .
A hint of doubt can trigger those people who are “ fighting together ” .
Because once our creative minds learn to live safely in an authoritarian framework of draconian rules and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thoughts and ideas .
Our minds get weaponized to uphold the authoritarianism as a path to “ democracy ” , “ freedom ” , “ justice ” and “ humanity ” , which have been mere euphemisms to describe blank checks given to the ruling class .
Once people turn into soldiers of the authoritarianism , the path to the ” solutions ” is paved by their relentless adherence to corporate political parties , official decrees and carefully concocted narratives within the capitalist framework .
Our discussions cease to be mutually respectful exchange @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in which dissenting voices are vetted , attacked and eliminated .
A society that can ’ t sustain artists is a society that kills minds to care , understand , empathize and share .
A society that enforces its imperatives with fear instead of trust in humanity deprives a healthy mechanism to guide itself .
As I see how public sentiment is developing over the virus situation , I must mention one more thing .
There has been a proven method of silencing anti-capitalist voices within our society , used by media , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It requires a few steps .
First , amplify the voices of people who willingly sacrifice those who they consider to hold lower positions than they do in demanding their righteous positions within the capitalist hierarchy .
The voices might come from racist nationalists , patriarchal misogynists , flag waving anti-immigrant activists or heartless Trump supporters demanding old people to die during the coronavirus pandemic .
Those people recognize that an aspect or a policy of the establishment will compromise their lives—after all they are also oppressed by the capitalist order .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ order in essence .
They do not tolerate sharing their positions with people who they despise .
Second , claim that you are with victims of racism , misogyny or xenophobia , or old people who are vulnerable during the coronavirus pandemic .
Third , falsely equate an anti-capitalist perspective with that of those political villains .
Forth , dismiss those who are calling out the ruling class agenda as “ racist ” , “ misogynists ” , “ fascist worshiper ” and so on .
This method has been very effective .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ expressed a concern over capitalist domination can recall being labeled as what they actually oppose .
The method achieves a few things at the same time .
First , it obscures the mechanism of capitalist hierarchy .
Second , it divides people who should be fighting against the system together—obscuring the meaning of class struggle .
Third , it augments the capitalist hierarchy .
Forth , it vitalizes the political legitimacy of corporate political parties which utilize the division .
Needless to say , the narrative of division is actively generated by corporate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ imperative that we recognize the predicaments of the people who are most oppressed within our society , while we firmly recognize the dynamics within the capitalist hierarchy , and stay away from being a part of the mechanism which safely turns our predicaments into driving forces of capitalism .
I hope above writing can generate much needed discussions on the topic among us .

[dropcap]O[/dropcap]ne might think that artists wouldn’t mind being isolated and having more time in studios on account of the current Coronavirus situation. After all, we spend an enormous amount of time alone, and isolation allows us to have uninterrupted amounts of time to let our imaginations fly.
But there are other elements in play when we examine creativity. For example, it is crucial that we feel safe to expose all our senses to our environment so that we ground our minds properly to our surroundings, harmoniously with all our channels open.
When the “lockdown” started I was at an art residency in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. I lived in a communal setting with twenty other artists and writers. As soon as public spaces became inaccessible and “social distancing” became the norm at the residency, many of the fellow artists experienced lack of productivity. I felt an immediate blockage to my making process.
Perhaps, since our society does not make artists’ activities a priority, this might be the last thing one would consider as a serious “problem”. And to a lesser extent such a concern might be secondary to many artists themselves who will be subjected to enormous economic difficulties.
It is “understood” that this is a “crisis” and we must “fight together“ against our “common enemy” which is the virus.
But who could blame those of us who are very much suspicious of such a momentum, as we hear “decrees” being issued to dictate our social activities while all instruments of state violence and repression are in place to regulate our behaviors.
After all we live in the same society which has baselessly demonized Muslims while bombing, colonizing and destroying their countries in the name of “war on terror”. Young black people have been openly demonized to justify gentrification, mass incarceration, exploitation through substandard labor conditions and so on and so forth in the name of “war on drug” and “tough on crime”.
We know that a “crisis” presents opportunities and tools for the ruling class to shape and perpetuate the social structure. The system in which they thrive is always “too big to fail” while oppressed people keep failing so that they are safely cornered into hopelessness, cynicism and complacency to the feudal order of money and violence.
It is not a speculation that there are people who prosper and even benefit during an economic crisis—as smaller business owners struggle, large corporations and banks benefit from huge government subsidies, giving them more power to buy failing small businesses, for example. And it is a fact that many of those people have enormous economic power to shape the policies that can benefit themselves. It is not a speculation that they would appreciate having strict measures of control against the people by limiting their freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom to travel, or by installing means of surveillance, check points and official certifications for activities that might give freedom to the people beyond the capitalist framework. It is not a speculation that they would benefit from moving our social interactions to the digital realm, which can commodify our activities as marketable data for the advertising industry, insurance industry and any other moneyed social institutions Including education, political institution, legal institution, and financial institution. Such matters should be seen within the context of the western history being shaped by unelected capitalists with their enormous networks of social institutions. In fact, private foundations and NGOs are working with governmental organizations and global institutions to implement potentially dangerous policies of draconian measures as well as financialization of our activities for sometime. According to researchers—Cory Morningstar, Alison McDowell and others, the potential impact of the transformation which is about to take place through the Internet, block chain technology, artificial intelligence, and etc. under the banner of the fourth industrial revolution can be devastatingly inhumane to our species’ path. Examining those matters must not be subjected to being labeled as “conspiracy” and dismissed.
Needless to say, a draconian momentum against the capitalist hierarchy accelerates hardships of “invisible people” who struggle against economic deprivation and social repression. How do homeless people “stay home”? How do people in jail practice “social distancing”? How are people vulnerable to domestic violence protected? How do small business owners continue to stay in business? How do poor people survive while public services and spaces are eliminated, while affluent people are stock piling in their generously equipped gated communities. How do people with addiction stay sober? How do people with suicidal tendency secure their dwindling connection to humanity?
But those discussions are rare among us. A hint of doubt can trigger those people who are “fighting together”. Because once our creative minds learn to live safely in an authoritarian framework of draconian rules and decrees, the narrow framework restricts our thoughts and ideas. Our minds get weaponized to uphold the authoritarianism as a path to “democracy”, “freedom”, “justice” and “humanity”, which have been mere euphemisms to describe blank checks given to the ruling class. Once people turn into soldiers of the authoritarianism, the path to the ”solutions” is paved by their relentless adherence to corporate political parties, official decrees and carefully concocted narratives within the capitalist framework. Our discussions cease to be mutually respectful exchange, instead, they become battle grounds in which dissenting voices are vetted, attacked and eliminated.
A society that can’t sustain artists is a society that kills minds to care, understand, empathize and share. A society that enforces its imperatives with fear instead of trust in humanity deprives a healthy mechanism to guide itself.
As I see how public sentiment is developing over the virus situation, I must mention one more thing. There has been a proven method of silencing anti-capitalist voices within our society, used by media, political figures, corporate dissidents and others. It requires a few steps.
First, amplify the voices of people who willingly sacrifice those who they consider to hold lower positions than they do in demanding their righteous positions within the capitalist hierarchy. The voices might come from racist nationalists, patriarchal misogynists, flag waving anti-immigrant activists or heartless Trump supporters demanding old people to die during the coronavirus pandemic. Those people recognize that an aspect or a policy of the establishment will compromise their lives—after all they are also oppressed by the capitalist order. However, they do embrace the capitalist order in essence. They do not tolerate sharing their positions with people who they despise.
Second, claim that you are with victims of racism, misogyny or xenophobia, or old people who are vulnerable during the coronavirus pandemic.
Third, falsely equate an anti-capitalist perspective with that of those political villains. Forth, dismiss those who are calling out the ruling class agenda as “racist”, “misogynists”, “fascist worshiper” and so on. This method has been very effective. I am sure that anyone who has expressed a concern over capitalist domination can recall being labeled as what they actually oppose.
The method achieves a few things at the same time. First, it obscures the mechanism of capitalist hierarchy. Second, it divides people who should be fighting against the system together—obscuring the meaning of class struggle. Third, it augments the capitalist hierarchy. Forth, it vitalizes the political legitimacy of corporate political parties which utilize the division. Needless to say, the narrative of division is actively generated by corporate political parties as well.
It is imperative that we recognize the predicaments of the people who are most oppressed within our society, while we firmly recognize the dynamics within the capitalist hierarchy, and stay away from being a part of the mechanism which safely turns our predicaments into driving forces of capitalism.
I hope above writing can generate much needed discussions on the topic among us.


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-04-22--“C h i n a   L i e d”

“C h i n a   L i e d”

This article is part of a series on disgusting US-led imperialism ne of our correspondents and colleagues in the Far East , Godfree Roberts , an Anglo-Australian expert on Chinese questions , sent us this gem : • China lied in 1999 about “ massacres ” committed by Serbia and bombed Belgrade to set up the narcomafia organ-smuggling so called state of “ Kosovo ” .
• China lied about Saddam Hussein having WMDs and invaded Iraq in 2003 .
• China lied about “ imminent massacres ” and “ Viagra rape ” in Libya in 2011 , and deliberately @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bomb and destroy that country and hand it over to slave trading jihadi headchopper gangs .
• China lied about Syria using chemical weapons from 2013 onwards , armed and trained and financed terrorist gangs , conducted missile strikes on the country , and continues to occupy and steal oil from East Syria .
• China organised a blatant Nazi coup in Ukraine in 2014 and lied about it being a “ popular democratic revolution ” .
• China murdered Iran ’ s top general Qassem Soleimani in 2020 and lied about him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he was actually on a peace mission .
Note this is NOT an exhaustive list of US ruling class criminality .
The whole story would take far longer .
Read it in your language • Lealo en su idioma • Lisez-le dans votre langue • Lies es in Deiner Sprache • Прочитайте это на вашем языке • 用你的语言阅读 Keep truth and free speech alive by supporting this site .
Donate using the button below , or by scanning our QR code .
THE DEEP STATE IS CLOSING IN The big social media —Google @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to silence us .
Sign up with TGP so we can always reach you with our vital information .
Don ’ t let the darkness win .

This article is part of a series on disgusting US-led imperialism
[dropcap]O[/dropcap]ne of our correspondents and colleagues in the Far East, Godfree Roberts, an Anglo-Australian expert on Chinese questions, sent us this gem:
"C H I N A. L I E D"
China lied in 1999 about “massacres” committed by Serbia and bombed Belgrade to set up the narcomafia organ-smuggling so called state of “Kosovo”.
China lied about Saddam Hussein having WMDs and invaded Iraq in 2003.
China lied about “imminent massacres” and “Viagra rape” in Libya in 2011, and deliberately misused a UN Security Council resolution to bomb and destroy that country and hand it over to slave trading jihadi headchopper gangs.
China lied about Syria using chemical weapons from 2013 onwards, armed and trained and financed terrorist gangs, conducted missile strikes on the country, and continues to occupy and steal oil from East Syria.
China organised a blatant Nazi coup in Ukraine in 2014 and lied about it being a “popular democratic revolution”.
China murdered Iran’s top general Qassem Soleimani in 2020 and lied about him being about to conduct terrorist attacks when he was actually on a peace mission.
And China lied about...
MLK
JFK
Jack Ruby
USS Liberty
911
Venezuela
Honduras
Haiiti
Hiroshima
Vietnam
Syria
Palestine
Russia
Ukraine
Libya
Epstein
Afghanistan
32 Trillion dollars missing from the Pentagon
Note this is NOT an exhaustive list of US ruling class criminality. The whole story would take far longer.
Read it in your language • Lealo en su idioma • Lisez-le dans votre langue • Lies es in Deiner Sprache • Прочитайте это на вашем языке • 用你的语言阅读
[google-translator]


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-04-23--MoA: It Is Not ‘Authoritarian’ To Support Quarantine Measures – It Just Makes Sense

Please make sure these dispatches reach as many readers as possible .
Share with kin , friends and workmates and ask them to do likewise .
DISPATCHES FROM MOON OF ALABAMA , BY “ B ” This article is part of an ongoing series of dispatches from Moon of Alabama Respected blogger Moon of Alabama comes out strongly in favor of quarantine measures .
Anti-establishment ranks remain divided on issue .
esterday James Corbett of The Corbett Report interviewed Kit Knightly of Off-Guardian about the corona crisis .
At 18:30 minutes in Corbett finds it “ disturbing ” that some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , like Moon of Alabama , support the measures governments have taken to lower the speed of the novel coronavirus epidemic .
Corbett then highlights a discussion on Twitter between me and the Off-Guardianaccount .
It started with this : OffGuardian retweeted my tweet and launched the discussion : Surely your not actually advocating the forced removal of “ infected ” people from their homes against their will ?
# COVID19 # coronavirus MoonofA : To separate infected from non-infected people is the ONLY way to stop such an epidemic .
OffGuardian : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
You believe the govts – the same ones who have lied us into wars , murdered innocents and destroyed the environment – should have the power to invade our homes and take away apparently healthy people whom they “ SUSPECT ” of being infected ?
MoonofA : Our governments already have the right to do so under certain circumstances .
An epidemic which threatens the health of all is one of them .
OffGuardian : That is not an answer .
Do YOU believe these corrupt govts , which you have been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be able to enter people ’ s homes and take away people they claim to “ suspect ” of being infected ?
MoonofA : I support quarantine measures during epidemics .
We have had these for many centuries for good reasons .
We should again use them .
OffGuardian : You support arrest and detention for people the govt claims to suspect MAY have a virus that – according to official estimates – is harmless or mild for 80-99 % of those infected .
You do .
MoA .
Former champion of human @ @ @ @ @ @ @ your mind ?
MoonofA : You are framing a measure that protects your and other families as “ arrest ” and “ detention ” .
It is neither of those .
OffGuardian : Oh ok .
So , should the people ‘ suspected ’ of being infected be allowed to leave when they choose ?
If your answer is ‘ no ’ , then this IS arrest and detention and you are hiding behind blurry language .
As it made no sense to continue I stopped to respond .
Later Mark Sleboda jumped @ @ @ @ @ @ @ discussion between OffGuardian and him unfolded from that .
OffGuardian seemed to become a bit desperate when it then tweeted this nonsense : I have not heard of any epidemiologist who has claimed that .
But maybe I am reading the wrong ones .
This graphic though from the British Office of National Statistics does not look like a flu outbreak : The same ONS data was used by the Financial Times to produce this probably better visual : The few high blue dots around December/January time frame show exceptionally bad flu seasons @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Similar charts from other countriesshow the same effect for current covid-19 outbreaks .
Without control measures like the current lock-downs the red line would certainly go through the roof .
The covid-19 disease the novel coronavirus causes is not a “ flu ” .
We largely do have ‘ herd immunity ’ against the flu .
But this is a new virus causing a new disease .
Nearly nobody is yet immune against it .
It works in ways we are still just beginningto understand and there is no established therapy .
If @ @ @ @ @ @ @ any control measures the death toll will be exceptionally high .
The death per infection rate in Germany is currently estimated to be 0.53 % ( via Christian Drosten ) .
It may be higher in other countries .
That looks like a small number but remember that nearly no one has yet acquired immunity .
It would probably take a year for the epidemic to run through a whole country .
Great Britain , with a population of some 60 million , would be theoretically looking at 300.000 excess death within one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would completely break down and thereby vastly increase the total death toll as there would be no care for most of the critical covid-19 patients and no beds for the usual other cases .
That may already happen as Britain is now estimated to already have 41,000 excess death from the current epidemic .
Current estimates say that 2 to 3 % of the population have so far developed anti-bodies against the virus .
They likely give some immunity but we do not know how long that will hold .
Should this epidemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will likely end during the summer .
Model calculations show that only some 6-7 % of the population would by then have acquired immunity .
A second wave will then come during the winter .
It will be worse as it will start everywhere at the same time and will come on top of the yearly flu season .
We will then likely again need some harsh control measure like temporary lock-downs and case quarantains .
Now back to the Off-Guardian and Corbett critique .
My view on the epidemic was always based @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it developed through the list of posts attached to this one .
As I watched how China defeated its outbreak I had hoped that other governments would take similar measures .
With globally concerted action we could have completely erased this disease !
But one slips into a pandemic with the governments one has , not with the ones one wishes for .
Will our ‘ elites ’ use the crisis to further enrich themselves .
Sure .
Will they abuse some of the control measures ?
That is practically guaranteed .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with regards to the pandemic .
It is now too late to defeat it by eradicating its source .
Social distancing measures like lock-downs are needed to keep the epidemic under control and to not overload our health care systems .
Should the next outbreak wave be worse than the current one we will need even harsher measures than we currently have .
I will support those because I know that they will save lives .
If that makes me an ‘ authoritarian ’ in the view of some then let it be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more useful to tell people to make and wear masks than to post ‘ expert opinions ’ ( scroll down ) from PR-company sites which disagree with the scientific mainstream while their estimates of the total death toll have already been exceeded .
— Previous Moon of Alabama posts on the issue : • The Coronavirus – No Need To Panic – Jan 25 2020 • Novel Coronavirus Defies Conspiracy Theories As Data Shows Its Coming Decline – Feb 1 2020 • The Epidemic Recedes – Number Of New Coronavirus Cases In Decline @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Statistical Change Causes Confusion – New Case Count Continues To Decline – Feb 13 2020 • Coronavirus – The Decline Of New Cases Continues – Economic Ripples Begin To Emerge – Feb 21 2020 • As Virus Spreads Over The Planet Governments Are Slow To React – Feb 27 2020 • Coronavirus – Its Time To Press Your Government To React Faster – Feb 29 2020 • Why Is The Coronavirus More Dangerous Than The Flu ?
– Mar 9 2020 • Coronavirus – The Hidden Cases – Why We Must Shut Everything @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 11 2020 • The Pandemic Will Cause A Global Depression – We Need Demand Side Measures To Counter It – Mar 16 2020 • Coronavirus – A Lockdown Is Not Enough – Mar 17 2020 • False Claims About The Novel Coronavirus And How To Debunk Them – Mar 19 2020 • Coronavirus – On Western Government Failures And Possible Therapies – Mar 21 2020 • Coronavirus – How To Lift Lockdowns And Why We Should All Wear Masks – Mar 23 2020 • More Bits On The Corona Crisis – Mar 26 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Off The Scale – But Its People Can Build A Movement From This – Mar 31 2020 • China Did Not Deceive Us – Counting Death During An Epidemic Is Really Difficult – Apr 1 2020 • Why The U.S. Will Drown In Covid-19 Cases – Apr 2 2020 • U.S. Will Cover-up Its Own Coronavirus Death Toll – Apr 6 2020 • Debunking Some Ideas About The Virus – Apr 14 2020 • The New Anti-China Campaign Is Built On Lies – Apr 18 2020 Posted by b on April 22 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ b ” is Moon of Alabama ’ s founding ( and chief ) editor .
This site ’ s purpose is to discuss politics , economics , philosophy and blogger Billmon ’ s Whiskey Bar writings .
Moon Of Alabama was opened as an independent , open forum for members of the Whiskey Bar community .
Bernhard ) ” b ” ) started and still runs the site .
Once in a while you will also find posts and art from regular commentators .
You can reach the current administrator of this site @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License .

Please make sure these dispatches reach as many readers as possible. Share with kin, friends and workmates and ask them to do likewise.
DISPATCHES FROM MOON OF ALABAMA, BY "B"
This article is part of an ongoing series of dispatches from Moon of Alabama
Respected blogger Moon of Alabama comes out strongly in favor of quarantine measures. Anti-establishment ranks remain divided on issue.
[dropcap]Y[/dropcap]esterday James Corbett of The Corbett Report interviewed Kit Knightly of Off-Guardian about the corona crisis. At 18:30 minutes in Corbett finds it "disturbing" that some of the blogs who usually criticize governments, like Moon of Alabama, support the measures governments have taken to lower the speed of the novel coronavirus epidemic.
Corbett then highlights a discussion on Twitter between me and the Off-Guardianaccount.
Surely your not actually advocating the forced removal of “infected” people from their homes against their will? #COVID19 #coronavirus https://t.co/c7EhuhGqo7 — OffGuardian (@OffGuardian0) April 9, 2020
To separate infected from non-infected people is the ONLY way to stop such an epidemic. — Moon of Alabama (@MoonofA) April 9, 2020
Reminds me of the Bottom Inspectors in Viz pic.twitter.com/qHPCAm7njw — Luniverse Music: (@al_da_drone) April 9, 2020
It started with this:
vanessa beeley @VanessaBeeley - 5:33 UTC · Apr 9, 2020 #BillGates funded World Health Organisation advocate forced removal of family members fm homes if "tested" positive for #COVID19 even tho test is not proven reliable. So, govts hve corralled us in homes & will now unlawfully raid & extract citizens under poss. false pretext.
I retweeted that and remarked:
China did this in phase 2 of the Wuhan quarantine because it was the only way to protect the families from their infected members. Without that policy Wuhan would not have ended the epidemic.
Current test reliability is relativ high if test is immediate used when symptoms appear.
OffGuardian retweeted my tweet and launched the discussion:
Surely your not actually advocating the forced removal of “infected” people from their homes against their will? #COVID19 #coronavirus MoonofA: To separate infected from non-infected people is the ONLY way to stop such an epidemic. OffGuardian: So let’s be totally clear. You believe the govts - the same ones who have lied us into wars, murdered innocents and destroyed the environment - should have the power to invade our homes and take away apparently healthy people whom they “SUSPECT” of being infected? MoonofA: Our governments already have the right to do so under certain circumstances. An epidemic which threatens the health of all is one of them. OffGuardian: That is not an answer. Do YOU believe these corrupt govts, which you have been opposing for so many years, should be able to enter people’s homes and take away people they claim to “suspect” of being infected? MoonofA: I support quarantine measures during epidemics. We have had these for many centuries for good reasons. We should again use them. OffGuardian: You support arrest and detention for people the govt claims to suspect MAY have a virus that - according to official estimates - is harmless or mild for 80-99% of those infected.
You do. MoA. Former champion of human rights and justice.
Have you lost your mind? MoonofA: You are framing a measure that protects your and other families as "arrest" and "detention". It is neither of those. OffGuardian: Oh ok. So, should the people ‘suspected’ of being infected be allowed to leave when they choose? If your answer is ‘no’, then this IS arrest and detention and you are hiding behind blurry language.
As it made no sense to continue I stopped to respond. Later Mark Sleboda jumped in to support my view:
Mark Sleboda @MarkSleboda1 - 5:02 UTC · Apr 9, 2020 Replying to @OffGuardian0 and @MoonofA
Leviathan - save me and mine from such fools.
Another discussion between OffGuardian and him unfolded from that. OffGuardian seemed to become a bit desperate when it then tweeted this nonsense:
Replying to @MarkSleboda1 @ghigoberni and @MoonofA
So you would support indefinite detention for anyone who may be carrying flu virus then. It’s a lot more dangerous to healthy people and children than #covid19, as any epidemiologist will tell you.
I have not heard of any epidemiologist who has claimed that. But maybe I am reading the wrong ones. This graphic though from the British Office of National Statistics does not look like a flu outbreak:
The same ONS data was used by the Financial Times to produce this probably better visual:
The few high blue dots around December/January time frame show exceptionally bad flu seasons like the London flu of 1972. Similar charts from other countriesshow the same effect for current covid-19 outbreaks. Without control measures like the current lock-downs the red line would certainly go through the roof.
The covid-19 disease the novel coronavirus causes is not a "flu". We largely do have 'herd immunity' against the flu. But this is a new virus causing a new disease. Nearly nobody is yet immune against it. It works in ways we are still just beginningto understand and there is no established therapy.
If we let this epidemic run wild without any control measures the death toll will be exceptionally high. The death per infection rate in Germany is currently estimated to be 0.53% (via Christian Drosten). It may be higher in other countries. That looks like a small number but remember that nearly no one has yet acquired immunity. It would probably take a year for the epidemic to run through a whole country.
Great Britain, with a population of some 60 million, would be theoretically looking at 300.000 excess death within one year. But the health care system would completely break down and thereby vastly increase the total death toll as there would be no care for most of the critical covid-19 patients and no beds for the usual other cases. That may already happen as Britain is now estimated to already have 41,000 excess death from the current epidemic.
Current estimates say that 2 to 3% of the population have so far developed anti-bodies against the virus. They likely give some immunity but we do not know how long that will hold. Should this epidemic have weather dependent waves the first one will likely end during the summer. Model calculations show that only some 6-7% of the population would by then have acquired immunity.
A second wave will then come during the winter. It will be worse as it will start everywhere at the same time and will come on top of the yearly flu season. We will then likely again need some harsh control measure like temporary lock-downs and case quarantains.
Now back to the Off-Guardian and Corbett critique. My view on the epidemic was always based on science. You can follow how it developed through the list of posts attached to this one. As I watched how China defeated its outbreak I had hoped that other governments would take similar measures. With globally concerted action we could have completely erased this disease!
But one slips into a pandemic with the governments one has, not with the ones one wishes for.
Will our 'elites' use the crisis to further enrich themselves. Sure. Will they abuse some of the control measures? That is practically guaranteed. And it does not change a damned thing with regards to the pandemic.
It is now too late to defeat it by eradicating its source. Social distancing measures like lock-downs are needed to keep the epidemic under control and to not overload our health care systems. Should the next outbreak wave be worse than the current one we will need even harsher measures than we currently have. I will support those because I know that they will save lives.
If that makes me an 'authoritarian' in the view of some then let it be so.
I for one find it more useful to tell people to make and wear masks than to post 'expert opinions' (scroll down) from PR-company sites which disagree with the scientific mainstream while their estimates of the total death toll have already been exceeded.
---
Previous Moon of Alabama posts on the issue:
Posted by b on April 22, 2020 at 18:02 UTC | Permalink
NOTE ^1000Careerist lackeys serving the elites control the American press. Ever pushing for war and inequality, covering up the oligarchy's crimes... They are in reality shameless disinformers. No wonder the world is in such terrible disarray.
About the author(s) "b" is Moon of Alabama's founding (and chief) editor. This site's purpose is to discuss politics, economics, philosophy and blogger Billmon's Whiskey Bar writings. Moon Of Alabama was opened as an independent, open forum for members of the Whiskey Bar community. Bernhard )"b") started and still runs the site. Once in a while you will also find posts and art from regular commentators. You can reach the current administrator of this site by emailing Bernhard at MoonofA@aol.com.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
ALL CAPTIONS AND PULL QUOTES BY THE EDITORS NOT THE AUTHORS
Comment here or on our Facebook Group page.


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-04-23--Rania Khalek: Anti-lockdown rage is being hijacked by the right

Please make sure these dispatches reach as many readers as possible .
Share with kin , friends and workmates and @ @ @ @ @ .
These protesters are helping the far right normalize mass death .
Because if we @ @ @ @ @ , the rich can keep making money !
Watch the latest by firebrand journalist Rania @ @ @ @ @ fighting for the freedom to get infected .
There are legit grievances out there , @ @ @ @ @ let these psychos tap into it .
As she notes , “ What should we @ @ @ @ @ capitalism .
At economic elites from both parties .
At the profiteers .
Not at @ @ @ @ @ meant to contain the virus.
” Just imagine what the world could be like if @ @ @ @ @ overpaid dimwitted presstitutes we had people like Rania Khalek in our mass communications system !

Please make sure these dispatches reach as many readers as possible. Share with kin, friends and workmates and ask them to do likewise.
SOCIAL CHAOS IN OUR TIME
These protesters are helping the far right normalize mass death. Because if we get used to the idea, the rich can keep making money!
Watch the latest by firebrand journalist Rania Khalek on the anti-lockdown idiots fighting for the freedom to get infected. There are legit grievances out there, but we can’t let these psychos tap into it. As she notes, "What should we be mad at? At capitalism. At economic elites from both parties. At the profiteers. Not at doctors & nurses & measures meant to contain the virus."
Just imagine what the world could be like if instead of the legions of overpaid dimwitted presstitutes we had people like Rania Khalek in our mass communications system!


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-04-24--The Russians And The Chinese Are Your Enemy

The Russians and the Chinese are your enemy .
Not the oligarchic class in your own country that has been exploiting , propagandizing , deceiving , oppressing and robbing you every moment of your life since you were born .
The Russians and the Chinese .
The Russians and the Chinese are your enemy .
Not the people who have been engineering and advancing endless bloodbaths around the world at no benefit to you using your money and your resources and your political energy .
The Russians and the Chinese .
The Russians and the Chinese are your enemy .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ puppeteers who ’ ve been manipulating your mind to accept omnicide , ecocide , austerity and increasingly Orwellian dystopia as normal and not to be opposed .
The Russians and the Chinese .
The Russians and the Chinese are your enemy .
Not the sociopathic manipulators who give you two thieving , warmongering , power-worshipping sock puppets to choose from in fake election after fake election to give you the illusion of control .
The Russians and the Chinese .
The Russians and the Chinese are your enemy .
Not the people who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ your countrymen that it ’ d be evil and insane to demand the same social safety nets afforded to everyone else in every major country on earth .
The Russians and the Chinese .
The Russians and the Chinese are your enemy .
Not the people who could have paid you a living wage to stay home safely but instead chose to give you $ 1200 and tell you to fuck off while transferring trillions to the plutocratic class .
The Russians and the Chinese .
The Russians and the Chinese are your @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ecocidal devourers who are destroying your ecosystem and endangering the life of every organism on this planet .
The Russians and the Chinese .
The Russians and the Chinese are your enemy .
Not the billionaire class who has a vested interest in making sure you stay poor in a system where money equals power and power is relative .
The Russians and the Chinese .
The Russians and the Chinese are your enemy .
Not the people who are doing everything they can to roll out systems of internet censorship , surveillance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in your own country .
The Russians and the Chinese .
The Russians and the Chinese are your enemy .
Not the authoritarian rulers who demand complete control over what substances you put in your body while creating the largest prison population in the history of human civilization .
The Russians and the Chinese .
The Russians and the Chinese are your enemy .
Not the two-headed one-party system which repeatedly threatens to destroy the rights and lives of marginalized groups if you don ’ t give at least one of those heads @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the Chinese .
The Russians and the Chinese are your enemy .
Not the nationless alliance of oligarchs who use your resources to encircle the planet with military bases , wage countless undeclared wars and destroy any nation which refuses to bow to their empire .
The Russians and the Chinese .
The Russians and the Chinese are your enemy .
Not the people who infiltrate , undermine , sabotage and smear any political movement which tries to help ordinary people the moment it begins gaining any traction .
The Russians and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Chinese are your enemy .
Not the people who are working to normalize the extradition and life imprisonment of any journalist anywhere in the world who exposes the war crimes of your government .
The Russians and the Chinese .
The Russians and the Chinese are your enemy .
Not the thugs who demand the unthinking loyalty of not just you and your countrymen but everyone in the world on pain of violent retribution .
The Russians and the Chinese .
The Russians and the Chinese are your enemy .
Not the media-owning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to sow division among your brothers and sisters at home and around the world so you don ’ t realize who ’ s really been fucking you over .
The Russians and the Chinese .

The Russians and the Chinese are your enemy.
Not the oligarchic class in your own country that has been exploiting, propagandizing, deceiving, oppressing and robbing you every moment of your life since you were born.
The Russians and the Chinese.
The Russians and the Chinese are your enemy.
Not the people who have been engineering and advancing endless bloodbaths around the world at no benefit to you using your money and your resources and your political energy.
The Russians and the Chinese.
The Russians and the Chinese are your enemy.
Not the political/media class and their plutocratic puppeteers who’ve been manipulating your mind to accept omnicide, ecocide, austerity and increasingly Orwellian dystopia as normal and not to be opposed.
The Russians and the Chinese.
The Russians and the Chinese are your enemy.
Not the sociopathic manipulators who give you two thieving, warmongering, power-worshipping sock puppets to choose from in fake election after fake election to give you the illusion of control.
The Russians and the Chinese.
The Russians and the Chinese are your enemy.
Not the people who pour vast troves of treasure into convincing your countrymen that it’d be evil and insane to demand the same social safety nets afforded to everyone else in every major country on earth.
The Russians and the Chinese.
The Russians and the Chinese are your enemy.
Not the people who could have paid you a living wage to stay home safely but instead chose to give you $1200 and tell you to fuck off while transferring trillions to the plutocratic class.
The Russians and the Chinese.
The Russians and the Chinese are your enemy.
Not the war profiteers and ecocidal devourers who are destroying your ecosystem and endangering the life of every organism on this planet.
The Russians and the Chinese.
The Russians and the Chinese are your enemy.
Not the billionaire class who has a vested interest in making sure you stay poor in a system where money equals power and power is relative.
The Russians and the Chinese.
The Russians and the Chinese are your enemy.
Not the people who are doing everything they can to roll out systems of internet censorship, surveillance and police militarization as quickly as possible in your own country.
The Russians and the Chinese.
The Russians and the Chinese are your enemy.
Not the authoritarian rulers who demand complete control over what substances you put in your body while creating the largest prison population in the history of human civilization.
The Russians and the Chinese.
The Russians and the Chinese are your enemy.
Not the two-headed one-party system which repeatedly threatens to destroy the rights and lives of marginalized groups if you don’t give at least one of those heads your full unbridled support.
The Russians and the Chinese.
The Russians and the Chinese are your enemy.
Not the nationless alliance of oligarchs who use your resources to encircle the planet with military bases, wage countless undeclared wars and destroy any nation which refuses to bow to their empire.
The Russians and the Chinese.
The Russians and the Chinese are your enemy.
Not the people who infiltrate, undermine, sabotage and smear any political movement which tries to help ordinary people the moment it begins gaining any traction.
The Russians and the Chinese.
The Russians and the Chinese are your enemy.
Not the people who are working to normalize the extradition and life imprisonment of any journalist anywhere in the world who exposes the war crimes of your government.
The Russians and the Chinese.
The Russians and the Chinese are your enemy.
Not the thugs who demand the unthinking loyalty of not just you and your countrymen but everyone in the world on pain of violent retribution.
The Russians and the Chinese.
The Russians and the Chinese are your enemy.
Not the media-owning class who uses their unrivaled narrative control to sow division among your brothers and sisters at home and around the world so you don’t realize who’s really been fucking you over.
The Russians and the Chinese.


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-04-24--Diseased System in Shut-Lockdown: Never a Better Time to Fight for Socialism

The current health and economic crisis will dramatically accelerate the processes of corporate monopolization , finance capital dictatorship , and working class precarity and immiseration .
The only cure is socialism .
“ The duopoly parties ’ refusal to establish a national health care system , beginning with Medicare for All , can only be understood in the context of the Race to the Bottom.
” If growing misery among the masses is what made revolutions , the Lords of Capital would have been deposed from their ruling perches long ago .
But human beings do not spend their lives @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and dignity , and ruling classes are expert at blaming despised Others , foreign and domestic , for the ills of society .
History shows us that economic crises do not become political crises that seriously threaten the ruling order until a critical mass of people come to the realization that the system itself is rotten , unbearable and incapable of meaningful reform .
They must not only hate the rulers , but also hate the rulers ’ system of governance more than they despise domestic Others and “ threatening ” foreigners .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ simply find another face to represent their interests , defusing popular disconnect .
The world is now experiencing a unique combination of pandemic and economic meltdown that will directly kill hundreds of thousands in the imperial United States and Europe and further consolidate the wealth and power of the ruling oligarchy , while wiping out whole sectors of the pre-crisis economy and leaving the vast majority of working class people far more precarious and insecure .
But Black America has for generations been twice as unemployed , five times more incarcerated , one-tenth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of their space/place in “ the system ” than whites , who are themselves suffering unprecedented mortality from “ diseases of despair.
” “ They must not only hate the rulers , but also hate the rulers ’ system of governance.
” The current health and economic crisis will dramatically accelerate the processes of corporate monopolization , finance capital dictatorship , and working class precarity and immiseration .
But that ’ s the direction the Lords of Capital have been moving the U.S. political economy for at least forty years .
It is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been wildly successful in directing the great bulk of national and planetary wealth to their own pockets .
So , what makes this crisis a potentially transformative moment – a chance to upend the dictatorship of capital — rather than just another temporary disruption in the oligarchic order of things ?
The people ’ s level of consciousness determines whether an economic crisis becomes a political threat to the rule of the rich .
As Frederick Douglass said , “ The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ history , although correctly identifying them is easy only in hindsight .
Economic collapse , famines , natural disasters and , especially , wars have most often served to tip the mass consciousness from solemn sufferance to rebellion , at least among the most volatile sectors of the oppressed .
World War One , in which the imperial powers were forced to deploy millions of colonized Africans , Asians , Caribbean people and US Blacks as soldiers in defense of Euro-American empires , produced a quantum leap in self-determinationist politics among the darker @ @ @ @ @ @ @ war showed the weakness and stupidity of the colonial white capitalist powers who , despite their superiority in weaponry could no longer command respect and awe among the oppressed peoples .
“ Economic collapse , famines , natural disasters and , especially , wars have most often served to tip the mass consciousness from solemn sufferance to rebellion.
” The Russian revolutions of 1905 ( a failure ) and 1917 were sparked by the Czarist regime ’ s catastrophic losses in wars with Japan and Germany , respectively .
In 1917 , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ land and naval forces provided the Bolsheviks with a Red Army and Navy to consolidate their October Revolution and beat back invasion by all the major capitalist powers of the world , including the United States .
A generation later another , even more destructive war would make independence of the colonized peoples — at least of the nominal kind — inevitable , causing a rewriting of the rights of nations and peoples .
In the interim between world wars , the wholesale collapse of capitalist economies laid bare the fragility of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a Soviet Union whose economy and military were growing by leaps and bounds .
Socialism became the dominant ideology of the oppressed , including the most active Black strugglers and intelligentsia in the United States .
It was the revolutionary Black nationalist and socialist movements that made the Sixties a period of political change and profound danger to domestic racial capitalism and U.S. imperialism , causing the rulers to impose a counterinsurgency-type system of Black Mass Incarceration .
At the same time , a Black Misleadership Class was cultivated — bound to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Black cities and to limit Black politics to that which is acceptable to the Lords of Capital .
“ The wholesale collapse of capitalist economies laid bare the fragility of the capitalist order.
” Capitalism , now headquartered in the United States , became increasingly a War Capitalism – which was no great leap , since European colonialism and Black chattel slavery were centuries-long forms of warfare on the rest of the planet .
Of necessity , those peoples who in the modern era attempted to break free of War Capitalism had to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with all the contradictions and distortions that such a defensive strategy entailed .
After 70 years , the Soviet Union succumbed to its internal contradictions , leaving the United States as the world ’ s sole superpower .
The global capitalist elites celebrated having outlasted their most formidable state opponent , and some of their intellectuals proclaimed the end of history , itself – as if capitalism had frozen the planet in a political equilibrium .
But capitalism is chaos , not equilibrium , and feeds on war .
Increasingly , it hinders @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the planet , as it systematically funnels more and more wealth to the oligarchy and militarily suppresses those nations and populations that either resist the racist imperial order or that have become disposable – or both .
The fatal stage of capitalism , it appears , begins when the Lords of Capital achieve true hegemony – political dictatorship – in their home countries , having snuffed out effective dissent in the permissible realms of discourse and within those sectors of the governing parties that claim to be open to “ reform.
” With @ @ @ @ @ @ @ – that is , no sizeable electoral opposition party , control of both corporate-run parties , a compliant and cowed labor movement , and only marginalized opposition from the Black and Latino grassroots , in the case of the United States — the Lords of Capital engage in systematic , wholesale privatization of the public sphere and shamelessly promote policies that grow billionaires like dandelions .
Those parts of the public sector that can not be wholly privatized are made incapable of their missions through methodical starvation , under the banner of “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ poverty that is belied by ever-expanding bipartisan war budgets and trillion dollar subsidies and bailouts of banks and corporations .
“ Capitalism is chaos , not equilibrium , and feeds on war.
” The term “ austerity ” is not in common usage in the U.S. “ Race to the Bottom ” is more descriptive of actual late stage capitalist policy , a consensus among the ruling class and their duopoly parties that seeks to strip the working class of all social protections and supports so that workers will be compelled to accept @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Ultimately , the goal is to force U.S. workers to compete with super-exploited workers in the formerly colonized world .
The Race to the Bottom is deliberate pauperization of those sections of the working class that are still useful to the rulers .
There is no consensus among the oligarchs on what to do with the excess workers and “ undesirable ” populations , beyond already existing mass incarceration .
The duopoly parties ’ refusal to establish a national health care system , beginning with Medicare for All , can only be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the Bottom .
Protecting corporate health care super-profits is an important part of the equation , but even more central is the role that privatized health care plays in the grand scheme of austerity .
Workers are far more wiling to bargain with employers for better wages , benefits and conditions if their families ’ health care is guaranteed by the state as a right , not tied to the employer .
That ’ s no way to run a Race to the Bottom , which is why the U.S. ruling class @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for All and have been dismantling and underfunding what ’ s left of the public health sector for two generations of austerity .
Western Europe , whose governments established national health care systems back when socialist parties were still strong and the Soviet Union was an ideological competitor , has relentlessly cannibalized their life-saving systems for the sake of austerity .
This is especially true of Britain , where last year it was reported that 200,000 nurses left the national health service under the Conservative Party ’ s austerity offensive .
Capitalists are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are far more wiling to bargain with employers for better wages , benefits and conditions if their families ’ health care is guaranteed by the state as a right.
” Enter the coronavirus , societal lockdown and an economic shutdown like none ever before experienced .
The U.S. was revealed as having no reserves of personnel , medical gear and equipment to fight , test or track the disease .
The Centers for Disease Control is an agency , not a health care system .
It can press no buttons to make a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ made things worse , as always , but catastrophe was guaranteed by lack of a public health care system worthy of the name .
The people know they have been stripped structurally naked to a killer virus , and they are outraged and afraid .
In these long lockdown hours of unrelieved anxiety , many have reached , or will soon come to , a grim epiphany : they are living in a country run by people that care only for money , and millions of those that survive the epidemic will see @ @ @ @ @ @ @ capitalism , the coronavirus brings with it precarity on a massive scale .
The disaster was made inevitable by a capitalist ruling class , just as an economic meltdown was in the cards due to the nature of the system .
The Lords of Capital work diligently to make the lives of working people precarious – that ’ s what the Race to the Bottom is all about –and the fat cats can count on the government to bail them out of periodic meltdowns .
But the Lords of Capital and their hirelings @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the economic collapse would arrive at the same time .
“ The Orange Menace made things worse , as always , but catastrophe was guaranteed.
” Across the abyss of race and class , the people are staring at the rulers and their shills , and growing a deep hatred of the system – deeper than hatred of Trump , who is too incompetent to cause , or defend against , a double catastrophe of the systemic kind .
Bernie Sanders has proven , dramatically and beyond doubt , that there is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Democratic Party , which is a partner with the Republicans in the austerity regime that set the stage for the double-whammy .
When the coronavirus was making an inarguable case for a national health care system , Sanders chose to surrender to the “ nothing ’ s gon na change ” man .
The Democrats – all of them – are simply rich men ’ s toys , and of no use whatsoever in a fight .
In this time of incomparable economic and health crisis the real Left , small as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for socialism and the overthrow of rich man ’ s rule .
At the beginning of this article I wrote : ” History shows us that economic crises do not become political crises that seriously threaten the ruling order until a critical mass of people come to the realization that the system itself is rotten , unbearable and incapable of meaningful reform.
” I believe that such a critical mass exists , right now .
Not enough to make a revolution , but more than enough to start the process .
BAR executive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Glen.Ford @ BlackAgendaReport.com Please join the conversation on Black Agenda Report ’ s Facebook page at http : //facebook.com/blackagendareport Or , you can comment by emailing us at comments @ blackagendareport.com

The current health and economic crisis will dramatically accelerate the processes of corporate monopolization, finance capital dictatorship, and working class precarity and immiseration. The only cure is socialism.
“The duopoly parties’ refusal to establish a national health care system, beginning with Medicare for All, can only be understood in the context of the Race to the Bottom.”
If growing misery among the masses is what made revolutions, the Lords of Capital would have been deposed from their ruling perches long ago. But human beings do not spend their lives tallying cumulative assaults on their well being and dignity, and ruling classes are expert at blaming despised Others, foreign and domestic, for the ills of society. History shows us that economic crises do not become political crises that seriously threaten the ruling order until a critical mass of people come to the realization that the system itself is rotten, unbearable and incapable of meaningful reform. They must not only hate the rulers, but also hate the rulers’ system of governance more than they despise domestic Others and “threatening” foreigners. Otherwise, the Lords of Capital will simply find another face to represent their interests, defusing popular disconnect.
The world is now experiencing a unique combination of pandemic and economic meltdown that will directly kill hundreds of thousands in the imperial United States and Europe and further consolidate the wealth and power of the ruling oligarchy, while wiping out whole sectors of the pre-crisis economy and leaving the vast majority of working class people far more precarious and insecure. But Black America has for generations been twice as unemployed, five times more incarcerated, one-tenth as wealthy, and infinitely more insecure of their space/place in “the system” than whites, who are themselves suffering unprecedented mortality from “diseases of despair.”
“They must not only hate the rulers, but also hate the rulers’ system of governance.”
The current health and economic crisis will dramatically accelerate the processes of corporate monopolization, finance capital dictatorship, and working class precarity and immiseration. But that’s the direction the Lords of Capital have been moving the U.S. political economy for at least forty years. It is already broadly understood that the oligarchy has been wildly successful in directing the great bulk of national and planetary wealth to their own pockets. So, what makes this crisis a potentially transformative moment – a chance to upend the dictatorship of capital -- rather than just another temporary disruption in the oligarchic order of things?
The people’s level of consciousness determines whether an economic crisis becomes a political threat to the rule of the rich. As Frederick Douglass said, “The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.” There are tipping points in history, although correctly identifying them is easy only in hindsight. Economic collapse, famines, natural disasters and, especially, wars have most often served to tip the mass consciousness from solemn sufferance to rebellion, at least among the most volatile sectors of the oppressed.
World War One, in which the imperial powers were forced to deploy millions of colonized Africans, Asians, Caribbean people and US Blacks as soldiers in defense of Euro-American empires, produced a quantum leap in self-determinationist politics among the darker peoples of the planet. Catastrophic global war showed the weakness and stupidity of the colonial white capitalist powers who, despite their superiority in weaponry could no longer command respect and awe among the oppressed peoples.
“Economic collapse, famines, natural disasters and, especially, wars have most often served to tip the mass consciousness from solemn sufferance to rebellion.”
The Russian revolutions of 1905 (a failure) and 1917 were sparked by the Czarist regime’s catastrophic losses in wars with Japan and Germany, respectively. In 1917, the mutiny of whole units of the Russian land and naval forces provided the Bolsheviks with a Red Army and Navy to consolidate their October Revolution and beat back invasion by all the major capitalist powers of the world, including the United States. A generation later another, even more destructive war would make independence of the colonized peoples -- at least of the nominal kind -- inevitable, causing a rewriting of the rights of nations and peoples. In the interim between world wars, the wholesale collapse of capitalist economies laid bare the fragility of the capitalist order – especially when compared to a Soviet Union whose economy and military were growing by leaps and bounds.
Socialism became the dominant ideology of the oppressed, including the most active Black strugglers and intelligentsia in the United States. It was the revolutionary Black nationalist and socialist movements that made the Sixties a period of political change and profound danger to domestic racial capitalism and U.S. imperialism, causing the rulers to impose a counterinsurgency-type system of Black Mass Incarceration. At the same time, a Black Misleadership Class was cultivated -- bound to the Democratic Party -- to manage the increasingly Black cities and to limit Black politics to that which is acceptable to the Lords of Capital.
“The wholesale collapse of capitalist economies laid bare the fragility of the capitalist order.”
Capitalism, now headquartered in the United States, became increasingly a War Capitalism – which was no great leap, since European colonialism and Black chattel slavery were centuries-long forms of warfare on the rest of the planet. Of necessity, those peoples who in the modern era attempted to break free of War Capitalism had to organize themselves as War Socialist States, with all the contradictions and distortions that such a defensive strategy entailed.
After 70 years, the Soviet Union succumbed to its internal contradictions, leaving the United States as the world’s sole superpower. The global capitalist elites celebrated having outlasted their most formidable state opponent, and some of their intellectuals proclaimed the end of history, itself – as if capitalism had frozen the planet in a political equilibrium. But capitalism is chaos, not equilibrium, and feeds on war. Increasingly, it hinders rather than expands the productive capacity of the planet, as it systematically funnels more and more wealth to the oligarchy and militarily suppresses those nations and populations that either resist the racist imperial order or that have become disposable – or both.
The fatal stage of capitalism, it appears, begins when the Lords of Capital achieve true hegemony – political dictatorship – in their home countries, having snuffed out effective dissent in the permissible realms of discourse and within those sectors of the governing parties that claim to be open to “reform.” With no major organized forces to oppose them – that is, no sizeable electoral opposition party, control of both corporate-run parties, a compliant and cowed labor movement, and only marginalized opposition from the Black and Latino grassroots, in the case of the United States -- the Lords of Capital engage in systematic, wholesale privatization of the public sphere and shamelessly promote policies that grow billionaires like dandelions. Those parts of the public sector that cannot be wholly privatized are made incapable of their missions through methodical starvation, under the banner of “austerity” – a fiction of state poverty that is belied by ever-expanding bipartisan war budgets and trillion dollar subsidies and bailouts of banks and corporations.
“Capitalism is chaos, not equilibrium, and feeds on war.”
The term “austerity” is not in common usage in the U.S. “Race to the Bottom” is more descriptive of actual late stage capitalist policy, a consensus among the ruling class and their duopoly parties that seeks to strip the working class of all social protections and supports so that workers will be compelled to accept any “job” they can get. Ultimately, the goal is to force U.S. workers to compete with super-exploited workers in the formerly colonized world. The Race to the Bottom is deliberate pauperization of those sections of the working class that are still useful to the rulers.
There is no consensus among the oligarchs on what to do with the excess workers and “undesirable” populations, beyond already existing mass incarceration.
The duopoly parties’ refusal to establish a national health care system, beginning with Medicare for All, can only be understood in the context of the Race to the Bottom. Protecting corporate health care super-profits is an important part of the equation, but even more central is the role that privatized health care plays in the grand scheme of austerity. Workers are far more wiling to bargain with employers for better wages, benefits and conditions if their families’ health care is guaranteed by the state as a right, not tied to the employer. That’s no way to run a Race to the Bottom, which is why the U.S. ruling class and its corporate political vassals oppose Medicare for All and have been dismantling and underfunding what’s left of the public health sector for two generations of austerity. Western Europe, whose governments established national health care systems back when socialist parties were still strong and the Soviet Union was an ideological competitor, has relentlessly cannibalized their life-saving systems for the sake of austerity. This is especially true of Britain, where last year it was reported that 200,000 nurses left the national health service under the Conservative Party’s austerity offensive. Capitalists are killer pigs, worldwide.
“Workers are far more wiling to bargain with employers for better wages, benefits and conditions if their families’ health care is guaranteed by the state as a right.”
Enter the coronavirus, societal lockdown and an economic shutdown like none ever before experienced. The U.S. was revealed as having no reserves of personnel, medical gear and equipment to fight, test or track the disease. The Centers for Disease Control is an agency, not a health care system. It can press no buttons to make a non-existent system work. The Orange Menace made things worse, as always, but catastrophe was guaranteed by lack of a public health care system worthy of the name.
The people know they have been stripped structurally naked to a killer virus, and they are outraged and afraid. In these long lockdown hours of unrelieved anxiety, many have reached, or will soon come to, a grim epiphany: they are living in a country run by people that care only for money, and millions of those that survive the epidemic will see their jobs disappear.
Under late stage capitalism, the coronavirus brings with it precarity on a massive scale. The disaster was made inevitable by a capitalist ruling class, just as an economic meltdown was in the cards due to the nature of the system. The Lords of Capital work diligently to make the lives of working people precarious – that’s what the Race to the Bottom is all about --and the fat cats can count on the government to bail them out of periodic meltdowns. But the Lords of Capital and their hirelings didn’t anticipated that the epidemic and the economic collapse would arrive at the same time.
“The Orange Menace made things worse, as always, but catastrophe was guaranteed.”
Across the abyss of race and class, the people are staring at the rulers and their shills, and growing a deep hatred of the system – deeper than hatred of Trump, who is too incompetent to cause, or defend against, a double catastrophe of the systemic kind. Bernie Sanders has proven, dramatically and beyond doubt, that there is no balm for such a disaster in the Democratic Party, which is a partner with the Republicans in the austerity regime that set the stage for the double-whammy. When the coronavirus was making an inarguable case for a national health care system, Sanders chose to surrender to the “nothing’s gonna change” man. The Democrats – all of them – are simply rich men’s toys, and of no use whatsoever in a fight.
In this time of incomparable economic and health crisis the real Left, small as it is, must make the case for socialism and the overthrow of rich man’s rule. At the beginning of this article I wrote:” History shows us that economic crises do not become political crises that seriously threaten the ruling order until a critical mass of people come to the realization that the system itself is rotten, unbearable and incapable of meaningful reform.”
I believe that such a critical mass exists, right now. Not enough to make a revolution, but more than enough to start the process.
BAR executive editor Glen Ford can be contacted at Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com
COMMENTS?
Please join the conversation on Black Agenda Report's Facebook page at http://facebook.com/blackagendareport
Or, you can comment by emailing us at comments@blackagendareport.com