The pro-peace in the US thread

Post Reply New Topic

I'd thought I start with an essay from a staunchly Republican country music star named Charlie Daniels titled "It’s Only a Matter of Time Before There Is Blood on the Streets", written on February 14, 2017 (Valentine's Day, 2017). Here's an excerpt followed by the link to the full text:

http://www.cnsnews.com/commentary/charl ... od-streets

Cooler heads on both sides need to take back control of the debate.

According to a survey by the American Psychological Association, Americans are at their highest stress levels over politics and the future of the country in at least the last 10 years. This represents a steep increase from last year's survey, taken before the election, with 2/3 of the population concerned about the future of the country. Millennials (people born between about 1980 and 2000), people in urban settings, victims of sexual trauma, and minorities are among those most affected. Veterans have also been getting affected:

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2017/f ... t-the-fut/

The current news cycle has been extremely stressful for the population, as joked about in the People's Court parody on Saturday Night Live last weekend, and while Americans should remain informed, we should also know when to shut off the news feed, such as when we're about to go to bed:



I also think that there has been some irresponsible news reporting, like this alarmist report from rawstory.com which asserts what it believes to be a credible source that the Deep State is getting ready to Deep Six Trump:

http://www.rawstory.com/2017/02/he-will ... urce-says/

IMO, this is the kind of thing we don't need at this juncture. We need to be working toward reconciliation. Note, I mean reconciliation, not giving in. It may be difficult, but civil war does not sound appealing to me. There are times when a civil war may be necessary, but now is not that time.

Like with what Charlie Daniels was talking about with the South insisting on keeping slaves, which should have been clearly wrong, we on the left should form a coalition to state in no uncertain terms what we believe to be wrong and to state the solution. With a clear set of ideals, something the fractured left has struggled to articulate (just like there are a million and one different types of Linux from the fractured development community on that platform, making things nothing but frustrating for inexperienced users), we may finally be able to present our case to a divided country and start the long and tiring but ultimately fruitful work of implementing solutions.

I think strikes by minority groups like the Day Without Immigrants coming today, 02/16/2017, can be very productive, endeavoring to show the country just how valuable their labor is and how they shouldn't be taken for granted:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/15/us/p ... .html?_r=0

Something similar happened in Iceland in 1975 with the Icelandic women's strike, when 90% of the country's women refused to go to work or do housework or child-rearing for one day,, which helped make real progress for women's rights:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_Icel ... n's_strike

There's lots of stress going on in this country---but it's not quite like it was in the late 1960s--or, especially, during the height of the Cold War (i.e., the early-to-mid 1950s).

I believe there will be a reaction to all this crap soon. And that reaction will consist, at least partially, of a call for peace and calm.

This is definitely true.

People know they are angry or should be angry about something but don't really know what it is. So when someone give them an answer be it cis white males or immigrants no mater how blanket this excuse it they take it and run with it.

It is a state of group neurosis, where critical thinking and principle goes out the window.

I do think the the Trump victory is a reaction to the regressive ideas of those that appose him. I'm not supporter of Trump but I'm in not in any way surprised.

So called liberals are acting very illiberal. They need to understand how rights work and stop acting like entitled brats. They are judgemental, bigoted and authoritarian, not liberal. Is it any surprise that they get the opponent they deserve and everyone else gets drowned out?

There is resentment from all sides. Activist are proposing that a policy of resentment is the solution when in fact it is the problem.

I think there is a legacy to the cold war propaganda.

During the cold war the policy was to oppose what was viewed as the enemy of democracy, but in the process the country became less free, or there was attempt to limit rights and abuses of power. The rhetoric of that time is very much imprinted on the American psyche and is still very much apart of contemporary politics.

Also those that studied the history like my father, will point out the US obsession with the Soviet Union started well before Stalin's rise to power and WWII.

The key point to make is the hypocrisy. USSR was the enemy but in the process the US allied with some pretty distasteful regimes. So it was not some much about moral superiority as to super powers fighting it out.

I don't think that the left is that serious a threat, as in a revolutionary army able to defeat the conservatives and forcibly establish a Communist state.

The big thing is that they don't have a single cause to rally around. That's the same problem that did in the Occupy movement, despite Occupy being backed by the main revolutionary leftist parties like CPUSA. All these leftists gather together and immediately start arguing among each other as to what cause they support. Some want environmental action, others want LGBTQ rights, others want to organize the working class in a syndicalist manner similar to the "soviets" or worker councils that existed in Russia right before the 1917 revolution, and many many more microcauses.

The factionalism is so bad that the leaders of the main parties are looking towards opposition to Trump as a unifier. The problem is, "We're Not Trump" won't get them very far among the working classes they need for their revolution. Add to that the fact that many of the Left's useful idiots come from the affluent bourgeoisie and have never fired a gun (or even know which end the bullet comes out of) or have any organizing skills, and you get a Left that is very unlikely to win a revolutionary war against well armed (and knowledgeable about those arms) conservatives who have unifying principles and the assistance of veterans who have served several years in Iraq and know from experience how to win an asymmetric guerrilla war, and those conservatives have the support of most of the population (look at the county by county vote totals, 5/6 supported Trump). So you get a weak Left that will absolutely be slaughtered on the streets.

I think that the people in the streets of America need a good shot of the peace hormone to help them behave.

I feel that people are being herded into the violent protest/riot mentality because they are told that to not take direct action against Trump, fascists, cops etc. is an act of racism, an act of sexism, of homophobia, of transphobia etc. Nobody wants to be called a bigot- they are guilting innocent people into violence. It's the old ISIS "we don't care if you've lived your life as a devout Muslim who prays five times a day, you're going to hell unless you fight for OUR cause" trick.

They should look at some of the black civil rights campaigners who came before them. They marched peacefully. So did the early LGBT movement. It may have taken decades but it got them equal rights. What is rioting going to do, especially under a Republican president?

Group neurosis like.....listening to one voice on the internet and accepting the idea that every source besides three hilariously biased ones are "fake"?

Regimes impose rule over people by making them fight against one another (Rwanda, South Africa) and/or sowing fear and mistrust (*cough* Putin), and it feels like that's being used. We have to recognize that and take a step back.

How many riots are supposedly happening outside of Portland in November and a proportionately small group at the inauguration? I'm genuinely curious.