Carl,
We are having a debate about semantics. You are insisting that I use the words
that you have designated, in order to describe the situation in which we
believe our country to be. I am not denying that there is an elite that rules
the country. I understand that regardless of someone's economic status, he or
she has little power to influence what our government does unless he or she is
part of the elite. What I don't agree with, is a refusal to recognize that the
population that is not part of the elite, is divided according to economic
status, education, lifestyle, ethnic and cultural background, , and the values
held by various groups. Americans who are not members of the ruling elite, are
not one indifferentiated clump of humanity. People who have the same income,
may have very different values, educational levels, and lifestyles. The
insistence on dividing people into the working class and the bourgeoisie and
whatever other class is included in a particular economic or philosophical
theory to which someone belongs, insisting on those terms as the only
acceptable ones, is as rigid and pedantic as the insistence on categorizing
people as the saved and the damned by Evangelical Christians. It's like there
are rules on this list for which descriptive words are permitted and which ones
are forbidden. It's thought control to insist that there's no such thing as,
"middle class", because that term isn't used by people who belong to certain
political parties.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Wednesday, October 27, 2021 12:49 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: BIDEN ADMINISTRATION IS UNDERMINING THE
VENEZUELA DIALOGUE
Middle Class is an euphemism. It stands for subjugated.
For purposes of survival, there are only two classes, the Rulers and the Ruled.
The Rulers cannot rule without the support of a portion of those who are Ruled.
Whether you are sleeping in a dumpster or in a mansion, if a portion of your
personal wealth is passed on to the Rulers, you are Ruled(owned).
While some of the Ruled live betgter, and many employe others to do their work,
they are still governed(kept in bondage)by a judicial system that is
established first and foremost to protect the Rulers and their interests.
Whether you are a service provider or own a manufacturing business, you are
governed by laws that have been set in place to benefit the Rulers, and only
incidentally protect you. So long as we stay in our places and make no
trouble, we are allowed to exist. Our prisons are full of the Ruled who caused
the Rulers to take action.
Look at January sixth. The fact is that it did not matter to the Rulers
whether the day ended with the nation under a democracy or a dictatorship.
Whatever the form of government, the Rulers will rule as long as they continue
to own the nation's wealth and own the military and the Courts.
We, the Ruled, have been suckered into supporting our present system.
Indeed, it goes back as far as Man's ability to keep records.
We allowed the Creation of an all wise, perfect God. When things go right his
existance is self evident. When He screws up we say He moves in mysteerious
ways. So what do you think we accept from our Rulers? When things go wrong,
we, the lowly Ruled, are blamed. And when the wealth of the Ruled is being
sucked up without a hitch, it is because the Rulers are all wise and created
superior.
In short, we, the Ruled, have the power to change this crazy system, but we do
not have the will to take the Rulers on.
We go to great lengths to avoid calling it like it is because we are just smart
enough to understand what will happen to us if we stand up on our hind legs.
Remember, our prisons are filled to overflowing with those whom the Rulers
found troublesome.
Carl Jarvis
On 10/26/21, Roger Loran Bailey <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Re: [blind-democracy] Re: BIDEN ADMINISTRATION IS UNDERMINING THE
VENEZUELA DIALOGUE That is why, if there is a middle class, it is
technically the petty bourgeoisie and traditionally refers to the
highly paid professional class like doctors, lawyers or bankers. That
is what is between the rich and the lower classes. It doesn't make a
lot of sense to call the vast majority of humanity middle class. But
if you are going to talk about class it makes a lot more sense to talk
about classes that have a specific role in the economic system.
Otherwise, why talk about class at all?
___
― Aron Ra, “This is what science always has to do, but religion will
not do that. While scientists themselves may be religious individuals
of many different faiths, their methodology was designed to be the
antithesis of faith—it requires that all assumptions be questioned,
that all proposed explanations be based on demonstrable evidence, and
that all hypotheses be testable and potentially falsifiable. Blaming
magic is never acceptable because miracles aren't explanations of any
kind, and there has never been a single instance in history when
assuming the supernatural has ever improved our understanding of
everything.
In fact, such excuses have only ever impeded our attempts at discovery.”
― Aron Ra, Foundational Falsehoods of Creationism On 10/26/2021 3:35
PM, Frank Ventura wrote:
block quote
Poppycock, "middle class" would infer that we are somewhere equally
between the abject poor and the wealthy. Which end do you think us
working folk are closer to?
-----Original Message-----
From:
blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
On Behalf Of Miriam Vieni
Sent: Monday, October 25, 2021 9:55 PM
To:
blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: BIDEN ADMINISTRATION IS UNDERMINING THE
VENEZUELA DIALOGUE
Well Roger, that's what he means by, "the middle class". Most working
class people consider themselves members of the middle class. They
have been accustomed to do so because, for all of their lives, they
were told that as their incomes rose and they were able to purchase
their own homes and cars, and move into the suburbs, they had moved
into the middle class. Additionally, those of us whose parents, (and
when I was growing up, it was their fathers only), were working class
folks with factory jobs, went to college and perhaps received graduate
degrees, were considered professionals, even if their profession was
teaching elementary school. People with college degrees did not think
of themselves as working class, but as people who had moved into the
middle class.
Only Communists and socialists continued, sometimes, to identify with
the working class or to divide people into the classes about whom you
write. Small business people, like candy store owners, also thought of
themselves as
middle class So if one is an American politician, one would address
his audience as middle class. It would be an insult to a white guy
earning $25 an hour as a worker in an auto factory, to call him
working class. Only, very recently, has some of this thinking changed
and mostly, it's young people reading and writing on the internet, who
think differently.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From:
blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
On Behalf Of Roger Loran Bailey ("rogerbailey81")
Sent: Monday, October 25, 2021 9:34 PM
To: blind-democracy
<blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: BIDEN ADMINISTRATION IS UNDERMINING THE
VENEZUELA DIALOGUE
If Joe Biden is pretending to be a friend of working people I have
trouble seeing it. I don't seem to recall ever having heard him ever
even mention working people. He sure does go on and on about the
middle class though.
___
― Aron Ra, “This is what science always has to do, but religion will
not do that. While scientists themselves may be religious individuals
of many different faiths, their methodology was designed to be the
antithesis of faith—it requires that all assumptions be questioned,
that all proposed explanations be based on demonstrable evidence, and
that all hypotheses be testable and potentially falsifiable. Blaming
magic is never acceptable because miracles aren't explanations of any
kind, and there has never been a single instance in history when
assuming the supernatural has ever improved our understanding of
everything.
In fact, such excuses have only ever impeded our attempts at discovery.”
― Aron Ra, Foundational Falsehoods of Creationism On 10/25/2021 3:40
PM, Miriam Vieni wrote:
block quote
Carl,
I think that Joe Biden is a self interested politician who pretends to
be a friend of working people. Actually, he clains to be one of them.
If you read the book, The Bidens, which is on Bookshare, you can see
that he and his family are as corrupt as Donald Trump. But he's a
politician and not crazy like Trump is.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From:
blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Monday, October 25, 2021 2:12 PM
To:
blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: BIDEN ADMINISTRATION IS UNDERMINING THE
VENEZUELA DIALOGUE
As usual the American Corporate Empire is not looking out for the
wellbeing of People, neither Americans or Venezuelans. What is going
on between President Joe Biden and the Ruling Class in Venezuela will
be of benefit to the Corporate Powers in each nation.
Joe Biden is not a friend of Working Class People. Here in America he
certainly is better than Donald Trump. But that does not mean that
Joe Biden is our long lost People's Champion.
Carl Jarvis .
On 10/25/21, Miriam Vieni
<miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
block quote
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION IS UNDERMINING THE VENEZUELA DIALOGUE By Leonardo
Flores, Mintpress News October 24, 2021 Above Photo: A mural in
Venezuela demanding freedom for Alex Saab. Yuri Cortez / AFP.
The talks between the Venezuelan government and the extreme-right wing
opposition had been going well. There are still outstanding issues to
be resolved, like ending the economic war, but the discussions held in
Mexico led to concrete electoral developments.
The European Union agreed to send an electoral observation mission.
The United Nations decided to send a panel of electoral experts.
(Both institutions refused to observe the 2018 presidential and 2020
legislative elections, despite invitations from the
government.) Thousands of opposition candidates registered to run in
the mega-elections, which include voting for governors and mayors, as
regional and local legislators.
It’s a good thing that agreements on the elections were reached
quickly, because the Biden administration, following in the Trump
administration’s footsteps, has been actively undermining the
dialogue. To recap, in 2018, the U.S. threatened an oil embargo and
said it would welcome a coup just days before a comprehensive
agreement was about to be signed. Then, in 2019, the Trump
administration imposed a “full economic embargo” right as talks were
going on. Now, it’s the Biden administration’s turn to try to sabotage
the talks, although they’re doing it in a much subtler way.
Alex Saab
On October 16, the U.S. extradited Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab from
Cape Verde. Before getting into why this relates to the dialogue, it’s
worth highlighting a few facts about the case.
Saab was named a diplomat in April 2018. His arrest violates the
Vienna Convention and is illegal. It will surprise no one that the
U.S. insists on diplomatic immunity for its own people, but routinely
disrespects these rights for Latin American countries. In addition to
Saab, there’s been their attempted assassination of Assange in the
Ecuadoran embassy in London and the seizure of the Venezuelan embassy
in D.C.
Saab’s June 2020 arrest took place a day before an Interpol red notice
was issued [link to roger harris article]; the notice was used to
justify his arrest after the fact. This is one of the reasons why the
Economic Community of West African States issued a binding decision
calling for Saab’s release.
In a letter, Saab denounced being “tortured to testify against Nicolás
Maduro and sign my voluntary extradition to the United States.” His
extradition came as he had a pending case in the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit; his hearing was postponed three
times by the U.S.
Attorney’s Office of Miami.
Saab was extradited without the knowledge of his lawyers or family.
His wife considers it a kidnapping. The extradition occurred one day
before elections in Cape Verde. The winning candidate had previously
said he would release Saab. During his time in Cape Verde, the U.S.
sent the Cape Verde government
$1.5 million in pandemic economic relief aid and announced plans for a
new
$400 million embassy, of which $100 million would go directly into
Cape Verde’s economy.
The charges against Saab allege corruption in Venezuela’s premiere
social programs. The Great Housing Mission has delivered 3.7 million
homes for working class Venezuelans, the majority of those built under
sanctions.
Saab
himself was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2019 for alleged corruption in
the CLAP program, which delivers food and other necessities to 7
million Venezuelan families every month in a country of 30 million people.
He was detained by Cape Verde on a refueling stopover. He was headed
to Iran to broker a trade deal that would bring fuel, food and
medicine to Venezuela. Saab is one of the architects of Venezuela’s
capacity for overcoming U.S. sanctions. The U.S. government wants him
in order to destroy this capacity and make Venezuelans even more
desperate.
The opposition knew that any attempt to extradite Saab would threaten
the talks, and apparently, the U.S. government had assured them they
would not take the step. After his extradition, the Venezuelan
government suspended the talks. This led to a predictable response by
the media and D.C. think tanks that blamed President Maduro for the
suspension.
Yet imagine if it had been the Venezuelan government that arrested an
ally of Juan Guaidó in violation of international law. What would have
happened?
It would have been denounced by the U.S., its allies and the
Venezuelan opposition. It would have scuttled the talks and the
Venezuelan government would be blamed.
This sort of hypocrisy is also evident in the case of the six Citgo
oil executives currently jailed in Venezuela on corruption charges.
All six are Venezuelan-born citizens, though five have dual
citizenship with the U.S.
and one has a green card. Most media coverage identifies them all as U.S.
citizens, perhaps to create the impression that they’ve somehow been
kidnapped.
In a gesture of goodwill earlier this year, the Venezuelan government
granted them house arrest. As a response to the extradition of Saab,
they have now been returned to prison. The U.S. continually advocates
for their release, despite the serious charges of corruption.
Similar treatment is offered to former Oil Minister Rafael Ramírez,
who is wanted in Venezuela for corruption after seriously harming the
country’s oil industry. Ramírez is currently in Italy, a NATO country
that refuses to extradite him to Venezuela.
SDRs
The Saab extradition wasn’t the Biden administration’s only attempt to
sabotage the dialogue. Gone virtually unreported in the media is the
fact that the U.S. Treasury Department is blocking Venezuela from
accessing what’s known as Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), a sort of
international currency issued by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Approved in August after a year-long delay due to objections by the
Trump administration, the issuance of SDRs is meant to address the
economic consequences of the pandemic. Hundreds of organizations,
including CODEPINK, endorsed this issuance that would allow countries
like Venezuela “to import items they need to address the pandemic,
such as food, medicine … and medical devices.”
But as is the case with Afghanistan, the IMF has blocked Venezuela
from accessing its $5 billion in SDRs. It is understood that the Biden
administration is behind this decision. This de facto sanction has
gone virtually unreported by mainstream media, despite repeated
denunciations by the Maduro government. Again, this decision to block
Venezuela’s SDRs was taken by the U.S. during the ongoing talks.
To add insult to injury, the Treasury Department released a
cringeworthy sanctions “review” on October 18. This review was meant
to address the impact of sanctions on the global response to the
pandemic. Instead, it offered a plan to strengthen the effectiveness
of sanctions, while ignoring the calamitous effect it has on
civilians. This review has been denounced by several advocacy groups,
including the Sanctions Kill coalition, of which CODEPINK is a part.
The Future Of The Dialogue
Even if the dialogue between the Venezuelan government and extreme
right-wing opposition is completely canceled rather than just
suspended, the electoral guarantees would likely remain in place. The
Maduro government has done a lot to bring the more moderate opposition
to the table, and many of their leaders have publicly broken with the
Guaidó faction. Moreover, Venezuela is unlikely to do anything else
that might threaten the participation of the UN and EU in the
elections.
At this point it’s unclear what can save the dialogue. There has been
media speculation about a possible exchange of Alex Saab for the Citgo
6. Family members of the Citgo 6 recently sent a letter to President
Biden criticizing the U.S. government for not negotiating directly
with Venezuela. An offer like this might not be enough to get the
Maduro government back to the table, which rightly sees the case of
the Citgo 6 as being lawful, and the extradition of Saab as illegal
and politically motivated. And it’s unlikely that the Biden
administration would offer this in the first place; if that deal had
been available, it would likely have happened before Saab’s
extradition.
The Biden administration seemingly has little interest in preserving
the dialogue and it remains an open question whether anyone in
Congress will challenge this reckless continuation of Trump’s
policies. The Venezuelan people deserve better than another
administration sabotaging a dialogue and imposing more deadly sanctions.
block quote end
block quote end
block quote end
--
― Aron Ra, “This is what science always has to do, but religion will
not do that. While scientists themselves may be religious individuals
of many different faiths, their methodology was designed to be the
antithesis of faith—it requires that all assumptions be questioned,
that all proposed explanations be based on demonstrable evidence, and
that all hypotheses be testable and potentially falsifiable. Blaming
magic is never acceptable because miracles aren't explanations of any
kind, and there has never been a single instance in history when
assuming the supernatural has ever improved our understanding of
everything. In fact, such excuses have only ever impeded our attempts
at discovery.” ― Aron Ra, Foundational Falsehoods of Creationism
