A couple of thoughts on this rather lengthy string.
Richard raises the question as to how we can know anything for certain
regarding history that dates from the time Jesus lived. Well, if
looking back through the US history over the past 250 years is any
indication, we are viewing a long, changing series of Fairy Tales,
based on Ancient Fairy Tales. It's probably a good thing we do not
have Time Travel.
And Roger makes a good observation, regarding the lack of productivity
among the Ruling Class.
Back in the Ancient Days of the mid 50's to the mid 60's, I worked for
Bartmann and Bixer, Inc. This was a drapery factory. About 120
employees. Each year during the summer, Mister Bixer arrived in his
private plane, chartered a trip into Canada to some remote lake, and
spent a week relaxing and fishing. Each year Mister Bixer "toured"
his Seattle factory. This was one outlet in a national chain,
headquartered in Passaic, New Jersey. It was a quick walk through in
which he greeted some of the department managers by name and thanked
them for doing such a good job running, "my company".
Many of the factory workers crowded into the doorways and aisles to
get a close look at this great man. Several said they wanted to thank
Mister Bixer personally for "giving them a job".
After his tour, when we gathered in the break room for coffee, gossip
abounded. Stories of Mister Bixer's mansion and life style. Such
stories were mostly third hand accounts of imagined luxury. Even
then, in my 20's, I told my coworkers that I did not get satisfaction
out of helping to make Mister Bixer wealthy. To my thinking, he was
nothing more than a useless drone. In the bee hive, most drones are
killed and pushed out of the hive. The worker bees do not enjoy
feeding and caring for those who are not productive.
Now, I don't mean to imply that Mister Bixer should suffer the same fate...
Carl Jarvis
On 6/29/18, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
OK.
I have a question about Jesus, however. If he actually existed, how do we
know anything about what he was really like and what he said? Could he be
just a symbol of human aspiration?
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Friday, June 29, 2018 11:38 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: News of the day
Without going back and reading what I wrote, I thought I said that the two
Bushes, Kennedy and FDR were members of the Ruling Class.
And when I condemn "The Ruling Class", it is always with the understanding
that it is not each individual, but rather, it is the collective abuse of
the current Ruling Class. Here in America, the Ruling Class is and has been
from the day the ink was put on the Constitution, White Male Landholders.
When I talk about, "The Working Class", I do not intend to suggest that
everyone who is within that category is hard working, honest, caring and
disadvantaged. What I see as the Working Class are those people who are
underwriting the goals of the Ruling Class, and supporting their life style
as well as defending their Right to be the Ruling Class. But within the
Working Class are a growing number of people who no longer wish to do the
bidding of the Ruling Class. When that number grows it could well bring
about the overthrow of the long established Ruling Class. And so, the
Ruling Class has gone about protecting its position. The development of the
Military/Industrial Complex is the brain child of the Ruling Class, not that
of the Working Class. Control of the public media and of the Press is
another defense of the Ruling Class. Our Public Education is also a control
by the Ruling Class, even as the efforts are going forward toward
privatizing education.
Of course, human beings being such diverse creatures, there are many good
people scattered up and down our Class Structure. And by the way, most of
the "good" people are mixed bags. For example, I consider myself to be a
good person, a member of the Working Class, critical of the government,
critical of the long established Ruling Class and its Colonialism, concerned
that nations are becoming subjugated to powerful international corporations,
a strong believer and supporter of Human Rights and human dignity, and yet I
spent my life working to "protect" the position of the Ruling Class. As I
said, I pay my taxes which go toward murdering innocent people around the
world, I worked for most of my life as a government employee, supporting the
Establishment that I criticized, and doing my best to care for myself and my
wife and our families above and beyond those of others.
Finally, I am well aware that it is Human Nature that turns a dominant Group
of People into an Oppressive, controlling Greedy, self serving Master
Race...like the American Empire.
Even those among us who understood that we need to find a way to control our
own Human Nature, people like Jesus, even Jesus became entangled in the
Human Web, mixing His philosophies into the religion and the government of
the day. And both religion and government seized upon His teachings and
corrupted them for their own use as a controlling tool.
Even Jesus was a product of His world. Taken alone, His teachings are
powerful. But they must be modified and carefully controlled in order to be
of use to those wishing to continue in power.
Carl Jarvis
On 6/28/18, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Well first of all, FDR, Kennedy, and the 2 Bush's were members of the
ruling class, not wannabees.
Second: I don't want to shock you or anything. However, it is
conceivable that an individual who was born into a family that is part
of the ruling class, might be a really good, kind, moral human being.
I'm not saying that the people whom you mentioned were, but really, to
condemn every person who is born into a wealthy family is as
prejudiced and discriminatory as condemning all poor people by assuming
that they're all lazy or stupid.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2018 8:52 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: News of the day
In my lifetime I have not seen a single president who would serve as
an example to me. Even my great hero, when I was young, FDR.
All of these men served, to one degree or another, the Ruling Class.
Most of these men were not even of the Ruling Class. But oh how they
longed to belong. FDR, Kennedy and the Bushes would probably be
allowed in. But the rest? Pretenders. Lackeys. Shills!
My three heroes are unknown to most Americans. First, my dad, Clyde
Fletcher Jarvis; next, Al Fisher; and lastly, Paul Robeson. Men of
principle. Men who knew how to stand tall for the causes they believed
in.
If our species survives, it will be due to Jarvis, Fisher and Robeson
and many, many other unsung heroes, not the Trumps and Bushes or the
Clinton's and Obama's, who took their pieces of gold and bent to kiss
the hem of the Koch Brothers royal robes.
Carl Jarvis
On 6/27/18, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I read a really long article about Obama last night, about what he's
doing.
What he's doing is what he's always done, taking care of himself. I
may have already mentioned it on this list. So there are members of
his party who are very distressed with him because they feel that he
should be leading the "Resistance", doing more to fight what Trump is
doing. I find it interesting that the well known political figure who
is doing all he can to fight back, Is Bernie Sanders. He is making
speeches and introducing legislation. He visited Puerto Rico after
the hurricane. He made a statement about the Israelis shooting the
demonstrating Gazans. Obama played Golf with other rich people,
traveled to foreign countries, and has been making speeches for high
fees like $300,000. There's a podcast called, Reveal from The Center
For Investigative Reporting and PRX which I resubscribed to yesterday.
They did a report on immigration and I learned that under Obama,
families were also separated, nothing as drastic as what is happening
now, but it was happening. I was releaved that in the report, they
managed to make a gentle statement about how the problems in South
and Central America from which people are fleeing to the US, are a
result of US policy. It was comforting to know that this is being
said on podcasts other than those on the far left.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2018 7:32 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: News of the day
They say that it's always darkest before the dawn. But that bright
light is probably the end of civilization.
Carl Jarvis
On 6/27/18, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Justice Kennedy is retiring. Sometimes, he voted with the liberal
justices.
Now that he's retiring, Trump can appoint another right wing judge.
We already had 3 terrible supreme court rulings today, upholding the
Muslim ban, destroying union funding, and ruling against a
California law that required crisis pregnancy centers to tell
patients that abortion is available in California. The supreme court
will now have a
6 to 3 right wing majority.
If you can find a way to hear today's episode of Intercepted, you
should do so. It is the recording of the live show they did on June
21 with Sy Hersh and it's excellent.
However, Seymour Hersh confirmed my belief that we are now a Fascist
state, that it's impossible to impeach Trump, and that Trump may
very well win a second term.
Miraculously a very young, Puerta Rican social democratic female
with out big money, won the democratic primary in NYC against a ten
term well funded machine Democratic congressman.
Each day, I encounter evidence that my aging brain is becoming more
scrambled.
Miriam
