The tawny emperor (Asterocampa clyton) female
Ice Age National Scientific Reserve Unit, Wisconsin, USA
2022-07-13 _F2A2932aaa
“We Can’t Build Real Power by Defending Democrats. We Must Organize From Below.
Our current crises are structural, and relying on the Democrats and the Constitution is not going to save us.”
“Left Strategies
For activists and organizers of the left, we need to take stock of this moment if we hope to survive the coming decades and move history in a more humane direction. While the crisis of legitimacy is growing, there is currently no mass organized force from the left that is addressing all of these concerns. Some continue to argue for a U.S. social democracy to be achieved through the very political structures that are failing all around us. Still other longtime voices on the left cling to a strategy of backing the Democrats.
At present, the most vocal and visible groups that point to these political failures and offer a “revolutionary” alternative, if odious for its inhumanity, are on the far right. The January 6 insurrection and the degree to which Trump continues to hold legitimacy speaks to the deep desire for a radical break with democracy on the right.
It is notable that the far right is turning away from seeing itself as extensions of the state and defenders of the established order to being in conflict with the “deep state” and liberal elites. In addition to January 6 itself, far right militia membership grew after the Capitol insurrection and groups like the Proud Boys have infiltrated the Republican Party in Miami, Florida. Recently, the far right attacked public libraries and led violent marches in liberal bastions like Boston and Philadelphia.
On the other hand, the left lacks the organized structures and political articulation to counter the growth of the right in U.S. politics. Further, we lack the ability to articulate an alternative to the current direction when so many on the left conflate ideas of pragmatism and political power with defense of a decaying political order.
In the short term, the prospects for change in a positive direction are grim, but it doesn’t have to be this way. With even a little organization, coordination and consistency from the sections of the left that adhere to a vision of radical social change, the possibility of pushing history in a liberatory direction remains.
It would be wrong to say we face a crisis on the scale of the Civil War; our crisis is different, but it is no less acute. So long as our strategies assume the legitimacy of our current order, we will continue our slow slide to fascism, climate crisis and social chaos. To change the course of history, we must break with these traditions, build a movement rooted in popular power from below that can end these structures that oppress us and create a future worth fighting for.
Frank Ascaso is an activist and organizer in Seattle who writes about contemporary politics.
Adam Weaver is a Miami-based activist who writes on left politics.”
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“Military expert: Congress has been captured by the arms industry — and we're paying the price
Pentagon budget is stunning even by the standards of a department used to getting what it wants when it wants it”
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Pelosi almost single handed my blocked universal healthcare for American’s for DECADES! She has contributed to the unnecessary early deaths of MILLIONS of Americans - while she luxuriated in the spoils from destroying OUR Democracy. Hell is too good for Pelosi
“You Belong In The Depths Of Hell” – Pelosi Confronted Over War Funding”
“The parade of American politicians being confronted over warmongering continues, with former Speaker Nancy Pelosi becoming the most recent target. During a New York City event with New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, Pelosi was accused of being a warmonger, pushing the WMD lie over Iraq and covering up the United States’ involvement in the Nord Stream bombing.”
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“Ben Norton
Absolutely crazy: The US is planning on imposing sanctions on Hungary, a member of both NATO and EU, for refusing to join its war on Russia.
The US empire is so hubristic and so obsessed with economic warfare that it’s now sanctions its “allies”
“US likely to Sanction individuals in EU member Hungary
“US Sanctions Russian-Controlled IIB Bank, Executives in Hungary”
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Lying us into our own extinction:
“‘The current trajectory is one of failure’: How ‘net-zero’ climate goals often disguise pollution
The logic of carbon neutrality got ‘lit on fire’ by big polluters.”
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“A glacier’s catastrophic collapse is linked to global warming
Eleven hikers died after weeks of unusually warm weather led to melting of the Marmolada Glacier in the Alps.”
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“Study warns critical ocean current is nearing 'collapse.' That would be a global disaster.”
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“ENSO Variability to Increase Antarctica Ice Sheet and Ice Shelf Melt Rates: Heading to an El Niño”
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America’s Political and Economic elite are killers:
“Climate Misinformation Is Now Our Main Competitor”
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“The Climate Data Wars are Just Beginning”
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“Emissions From Banned Ozone-Destroying Chemicals Are Mysteriously Rising
A study finds that ozone-destroying CFCs banned in the 1980s are back in use, but it's not clear where or why.”
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Spoiler alert: NO! Don’t be impressed with the dollar amount – a billion dollars is petty cash to Occidental.
“Will Occidental’s Billion-Dollar Carbon Capture Bet Pay Off?”
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“Plastic Recycling Plant Could Send Toxic ‘Forever Chemicals’ Into the Susquehanna River, Polluting a Vital Drinking Water Source
The mayor of the downriver town of Northumberland has joined the growing opposition to the proposed $1.1 billion Encina chemical recycling plant, saying there are too many “red flags.””
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It is against conservative philosophy for Government to solve problems:
“Science tackles the West’s megadrought
As the U.S. Southwest gets drier and drier, researchers recommend ways to lessen the pain from 23 years of megadrought in the Colorado River basin”
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Private jets, water,…and aggregate demand is what creates jobs, so what the hell good are billionaires?:
“Urban water crises driven by elites’ unsustainable consumption”
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“In Africa’s Okavango, oil drilling disrupts locals, nature”
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The gun situation is a direct result of Republican’s need to manipulate voters into voting against their best interests:
“US mass shootings are occurring at an unprecedented rate in 2023
The country has set a new pace with 146 such incidents so far this year”
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Humanity is going to get very inhumane sooner rather than later:
“Universal public services: the power of decommodifying survival”
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“First Republic Bank’s “Rescuers” Had Underwritten $3.6 Billion of its Preferred Shares, Which Have Lost 65 to 70 Percent of their Value Year-to-Date”
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