In The Information Age, We're Deliberately Being Dumbed Down
In the Information
Age We’re Being Deliberately Dumbed Down
Junious
Ricardo Stanton
“Since 1985 the technological control over
the masses has deepened and overwhelmed any resistance to its creeping
governance of our daily lives. The proliferation of computers, 24-hour cable TV
and “smart” phones for the masses has given the unseen manipulators of the
public mind, known as the invisible government, the ultimate tools for
engineering our minds and deciding what will be perceived as the central beliefs
guiding our daily lives. We have come to love our oppression and learned
ignorance, adoring the very technologies enslaving us in trivialities,
disinformation, shallow displays of virtue signaling, and eliminating our
capacity to think.” Technology: Distracting, Deceiving and Deluding
Ourselves To Death
https://www.theburningplatform.com/2019/01/27/technology-distracting-disturbing-deceiving-deluding-ourselves-to-death/
I came across a Website
https://www.theburningplatform.com
whose critique of current
US
culture is right on target. In an article entitled Technology: Distracting,
Deceiving and Deluding ourselves to Death, they point out how pervasive media
influence is and how coupled with the indoctrination provided by the US
education system, American people and the world are being systematically
induced into a catatonic state, not by force or coercion, but through our own
foolishness as we fall for every fad and Trojan Horse technology the corporate
puppet master of the kleptocracy put before us.
We have been brainwashed to believe
that when the US
succumbs to totalitarian fascism it will be through force, an outside attack or
sudden shift in politics and the socio-economic structure. The fact is we are
already here, it happened right in front of our eyes but we were too ossified,
distracted, duped and deceived to recognize what was happening. The US is as corrupt as any a banana republic,
but unlike most banana republics whose corruption makes them impotent, the
endemic corruption in the US with its concomitant hubris, greed and megalomania
it is showing it real face as the bully of the world.
But in order to minimize dissent, opposition,
reform, rebellion or revolution the ruling class has developed and employed the
technology to dumb us down, pacify and short circuit us. The Website article I
referenced points this out and striking terms, “The tyranny being inflicted
upon the masses by the likes of Google, Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, and other
tech behemoths on behalf of their Deep State benefactors is chilling in its
depth and depravity. The oppression from the current day Big Brothers through
censorship, banning of truth tellers, demonetization of those who don’t
conform, and public shaming of dissenters has replaced the soft tyranny of
mental manipulation. The establishment now openly suppresses the truth through their
control of all mainstream media channels and outlets. The alternate media is
scorned and ridiculed as conspiracy theorists, nutjobs, and Russian
collaborators. The level of fake news vomited by
Deep State
propagandists has reached a new level of hysteria. Dissenting viewpoints are
crushed through economic penalties inflicted upon those who dare go against the
approved doctrine of the state. The use of technology to control the minds of
the masses has produced unintended consequences which threatens the power of
the Party.”
https://www.theburningplatform.com/2019/01/27/technology-distracting-disturbing-deceiving-deluding-ourselves-to-death/
I have been
saying the same thing for decades; now more white people are noticing and
trying to wake people from their comatose state. The people know, even in the
midst of their technology, media, alcohol and opioid induced stupors, something
is amiss, something is wrong. Perhaps this is why the opioid crisis and suicide
are on the rise and US
life expectancy is on the decline!
We are
being feed not just fake news but a fake reality, what some call the Matrix.
Like in the Matrix films we have the option to opt out of our illusionary daze
and see the world as it is. But I must warn you, seeing the world as it is will
be shocking and overwhelming. At first the shock will repulse you and cause you
to want to return to your stupor because part of the Matrix message is,
resistance is futile, you can’t win.
But deep
down inside we know this is just another one of their many lies. Deep down
inside, we know we can transcend the illusions and delusions they use to keep
us submissive, misdirected running around like chickens with our heads cut off.
But let’s be honest, mental decolonization,
self-determination and self-mastery require work, vigilance, persistence and
perseverance. The good news is we can do this. When we learn to think critically,
with our own minds and for ourselves, we will do the right thing to save
ourselves and this planet from the debasement and destruction the ruling class
intend.
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Venezuela Is In The US Cross-hairs Again
From The Ramparts
Venezuela Is In US Cross-hairs Again
Junious Ricardo Stanton
“Essentially, the Obama administration—like the Bush
administration, which was involved in the short-lived 2002 coup against Hugo
Chávez—had a policy of promoting ‘regime change’ in Venezuela. That policy has
taken a more aggressive, overt, and dangerous direction under Trump…The
majority of the political and media establishment appears to believe that Trump
has the right policy agenda for Venezuela,
with many liberals pointing to cases of corruption, human rights violations and
other crimes allegedly involving Venezuelan officials as justification for
harsh measures.” The
United States
Hand in Undermining Democracy in
Venezuela,
Alexander
Main https://nacla.org/news/2018/05/18/united-states’-hand-undermining-democracy-venezuela
The incessant 24/7/365 media circus
surrounding Donald Trump serves as a intentional distraction preventing us from
seeing the mischief the US government is
fomenting around the world and brainwashing us to see, think and believe the
world is as the corporate media says it is. The news about Trump’s latest cabinet
member’s resignation, arrest or indictment obfuscates and obscures the
shenanigans the US
is engaged in around the globe.
In a display of supreme hypocrisy, mendacity and hubris
Trump, Pence and Pompeo have given their full support to an unelected
Venezuelan politician named Juan Guaido they’ve designated as the “legitimate
president” of
Venezuela
notwithstanding Nicolas Maduro the duly elected president of
Venezuela was
reelected in 2018. They say they are doing this to restore “democracy” with a
straight face, forget the fact Guaido declared himself president never having
run as president or held any public office prior to early this month! “Guido
has his origins based in the popular middle class, he is an engineer graduated
from a private university, even his physical appearance is far from the
traditional profile opponent. His image contrasts with the one of the president
of
Venezuela,
Nicolas Maduro, who comes from the working class as a bus driver. Guaido was a
protagonist of the violent actions of the opposition in 2007, 2014 and 2017
usually known as Guarimbas.”
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/New-Coup-Attempt-In-Venezuela-Led-by-Juan-Guaido-20190123-0022.html
President Nicolas Maduro took over
on March 5, 2013 following Hugo Chavez ‘s death from cancer. Not liking Chavez’s
progressive pro-people policies or his anti globalization political leanings,
the US
attempted to destabilize the country and plotted an unsuccessful coup against
Chavez in 2002. They kept their destabilization efforts going after Maduro assumed the presidency. https://www.mintpressnews.com/the-strategy-behind-washingtons-destabilization-of-venezuela/227967/
To the
US
neo-colonial fascists Chavez posed a serious threat. “
Chávez, moreover, had been trying to institute all manner of reforms to
relieve the suffering of the poor (who comprise about 80 percent of the
population), a program not likely to win favor with a class-conscious,
privatization-minded US government and Venezuelan upper and middle classes:
restructuring the state-owned oil company, which he regarded as having become a
state-within-a-state, to achieve greater national control over oil resources;
reinforcing a constitutional ban on the privatization of the oil company; changing
the agreements with foreign oil companies that were excessively generous to the
companies; establishing a new progressive constitution; numerous ecological
community development projects; enrolling over one million students in school
who were previously excluded; increasing the minimum wage and public sector
salaries; halting the previous government’s initiative to privatize Venezuela’s
social security system; reducing unemployment; introducing a credit program for
women and the poor; reforming the tax system to spare the poor; making health
care much more available; lowering infant mortality; greatly expanding literacy
courses; land redistribution in a society where two percent of the population
controlled 60 percent of the land.” https://williamblum.org/chapters/freeing-the-world-to-death/us-coup-against-hugo-chavez-of-venezuela-2002
Nicolas
Marduro attempted to implement many of Chavez’s policies to the chagrin of the US imperialists
and their minions. Marduro faced constant criticism, demonization and internal
strife fomented by the US.
The US imperialists and their
lackeys became even more incensed as Venezuela
partnered with Russia and China striking
deals for oil, natural resources, financial and military support.
The US ruling class had conniptions in December when
two Russian TU 160 long range nuclear bombers flew from Russia and
landed at a Venezuelan air field. Then Russian and Venezuelan jets subsequently
held joint aerial maneuvers; which coupled with an agreement allowing Russia to mine Venezuelan gold, sent US warmongers
into the stratosphere.
Now
the US
is openly calling for regime change, blatantly supporting a coup and backing Juan
Guaido as president despite the fact Maduro is still in office. Keep your eye
on this situation and don’t fall for the demonization of Maduro by the
corporate media and Trump administration.
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We've Lost Our Moral Compass
We've Lost Our Moral
Compass
Junious Ricardo Stanton
Africans in America have
experienced horrific abuses, desecration, dehumanization and degradation at the
hand of Euro-Americans. In the midst of our travails we always had leaders most
of whom remain unknown and uncelebrated who urged our people on, exhorted them
to keep the faith to resist and struggle for freedom and righteousness. As we
commemorate the four hundred years in this hemisphere, let us not consign all
our recollections to our debasement and degradation. Let us remember our
successes and triumphs despite the overwhelming odds, systemic violence and
sanctioned oppression.
In the midst of hellish conditions
we always had leaders who stood up and spoke out who sacrificed themselves on
our behalf by offering a clear vision of freedom and urging us on by providing
a moral compass to guide us. Sadly we have lost touch with that element of
leadership within us, somehow we think because legal apartheid has been
minimized or because we have more elected officials, more millionaires, more
visibility, more celebrity and status, we are free that our struggle is
complete.
I am not trying to be a Davey
downer or rain on your parade but we are far from free. What is freedom anyway?
Is it being able to go in debt to buy a shiny car, engage in conspicuous
consumption or deny your core self in order to fit into a society that makes it
clear every day that unless you confirm to their standards you are nothing.
Ever since our kidnapped ancestors
where brought to this hemisphere, we have been treated as commodities, chattel,
subhuman fodder for their wars and capitalist endeavors but now we are viewed
as unwanted nuisances.
When the English colonists decided
to make slavery racial and permanent, our ancestors resisted. We always had
those among us who refused to submit, who refused to give up their souls and their humanity no
matter how vile, foul and horrific their circumstances or the situation they
experienced.
We always resisted on the personal
level we have examples of folks like Nat Turner who led a rebellion, Frederick
Douglas who fought and beat his owner to the point his owner never raised his
hand to him again and Harriet Tubman who led several hundred enslaved Africans
to freedom. We always had men and women who comforted those around them, who
helped heal those who had been brutalized or who were in need. This was a
common reality that dates back to ancient times and ideas like Ubuntu (I am
because we are, we are because I am) and our historic collective spirit and way
of living
We always had men and women who
spoke up, articulated truth so powerfully they changed the very vibration within
their environment providing righteous leadership during horrific times. Many, as
I said, are unknown to us today but we can call the names of a few like: Henry
Highland Garnet, Fannie Coppin Jackson, Harriet Tubman, Benjamin “Pap”
Singleton, Ida B Wells Barnett, Noble Drew Ali, Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X,
Fannie Lou Hamer and Martin Luther King Jr. These dynamic leaders sacrificed on
behalf of our people and didn’t line their pockets.
In the modern era we sorely lack
men and women like them. Today the words sacrifice, struggle, unity and Black
Power are no longer in our lexicon! We have lost the moral imperative and
leaders willing to provide the moral compass. If we are to improve our
condition and status we have to regain our collective moral compass.
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Martin Luther King Jr vs The Military Industrial Complex
Martin Luther King Jr. vs. The Military Industrial Complex
Junious Ricardo
Stanton
“The greatest purveyor
of violence in the world today is my own government” Martin Luther King Jr.
April 4, 1967
One year prior to his murder by the
United States’ imperial
forces, Martin Luther King Jr. gave a profoundly well thought out and cogent
speech at Riverside Church in New
York City on why he opposed the Vietnam War. In it
King gave a history of Western imperialism in Southeast Asia, how the United States stepped in to fill the European colonial
vacuum after the French were run out of Vietnam. He gave a detailed
synopsis of the Vietnamese people’s struggle for freedom and how the US callously rejected their attempts to forge friendly
relationships with America.
King detailed the hypocrisy and
mendacity of Americans travelling thousands of miles to wage a war for “freedom
and democracy” when Blacks who were being drafted to be crippled and maimed in
higher numbers than our percentage of the population were denied freedom and
democracy at home. King put the war in a global context of racism, imperialism
and moral depravity. He linked the war in Southeast Asia
and the Vietnamese people’s valiant struggle to free themselves from the yoke
of Western imperialism and neocolonialism with Afro-Americans ongoing struggle
for dignity, human rights and personhood. King noted the cruel irony of an
imperialist war that conscripted Black and white boys to fight and die in side
by side solidarity when they were forbidden to live side by side in the United States
due to vestiges of American apartheid.
King saw the war as a great drain
of resources and waste of human potential at a time when poverty was rampant in
the US,
that the Vietnam War was undermining the struggle for civil rights and economic
justice at home.
He shared with the audience how he
was at a loss to preach to young Black people about the value of non-violent
civil disobedience in the face of virulent government sanctioned brutality especially
when they asked him, “What about Vietnam
and America’s
use of unrestrained violence and atrocity?” He stated in a matter of fact way
to the crowded church that it troubled him deeply that “the greatest purveyor
of violence in the world today is my own government.”
As a clergyman, a citizen, as a
conscious and conscientious human being King stated to remain silent in the
face of such institutionalized evil was betrayal. This marked a change in King’s
program. He added peace to his agenda. Martin Luther King Jr. was the only
prominent religious figure who came out in opposition of the war. Norma Vincent
Peale was silent; Billy Graham uttered not a mumbling word, Bishop Fulton Sheen
remained mute, only King, a Black man, stood up and spoke truth to power about
peace.
His continuous assault on the
Military Industrial Complex, US
foreign policy and his campaigns to break down US racial apartheid and economic
privation was the straw that broke the camel’s back with regard to the ruling
class’ tolerance of his movement.
The same liberal journalists, newspapers and politicians who
lauded him for being non-violent in the face of Southern whites’ insanity and
brutality turned on him when he challenged the moral and financial inhumanity
and waste of the Vietnam War. Once the ruling elites’ campaign to turn the tide
of public opinion against King went into full effect, the government put their
plan to neutralize King in motion.
King was planning a Poor People’s
March on Washington D.C. to galvanize a full spectrum
mobilization of whites and people of color to challenge and change US foreign
and domestic policies in favor of the people.
This was a huge no-no as King’s
support invigorated the Peace and anti-movements and he was forging a wider
coalition for social justice and change, thus thwarting the usual divide and
rule paradigm, so the ruling class determined he had to go!
So a year later on April 4, 1968
Martin Luther King was murdered. King’s assassination was part of a larger
counter insurgency program run by the FBI and CIA called COINTELPRO and
Operation Chaos respectively and local police The US government declared war on
dissent going full bore framing, demonizing, jailing and even murdering US
citizens for daring to want change.
https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/investigations/ChurchCommittee.htm
Today every vile and immoral act
the government sanctioned during that era is legal thanks to the 9-11 false
flag operation. https://www.collective-evolution.com/2017/09/11/16-facts-16-years-later-about-911-that-are-no-longer-a-conspiracy-theory/
Today America is undeniably at the point King warned us about in 1967. He said,
“The war in Vietnam
is but a symptom of a far deeper malady within the American spirit, and if we
ignore this sobering reality... we will find ourselves organizing "clergy
and laymen concerned" committees for the next generation. They will be
concerned about Guatemala --
Guatemala and Peru. They will
be concerned about Thailand
and Cambodia.
They will be concerned about Mozambique
and South Africa.
We will be marching for these and a dozen other names and attending rallies
without end, unless there is a significant and profound change in American life
and policy.”
Alas King was wrong; unfortunately
the peace movement is moribund and non-existent it has been co-opted by the
corporate/government war machine which does not bode well for the soul of America.
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If Beale Street Could Talk
If Beale Street Could Talk
Junious Ricardo Stanton
Do yourself a huge favor; see the motion
picture If Beale Street Could Talk as
soon as you can before it is pulled from theaters. It will not be pulled because it is a poorly
crafted and shot film, but because it is a low budget film produced by a
company that has not spent much money marketing their film.
The film is directed by Barry
Jenkins a talented story teller who has also directed several other “art type”
films, meaning he focuses his energy and creative talents on characters and
stories rather than CGI, violence and gratuitous sex. The film is about Black love,
family and being Black in America
in Harlem in the 1950’s. The film is based on
a novel by the great author and social critic James Baldwin. If you know
anything about James Baldwin you know he holds up a mirror to America and tells
it like it is, straight no chaser.
Without spoiling the whole plot,
Jenkins shot the film using flashbacks and back story to show how two
youngsters Alonzo “Lonny” Hunt and Tish Rivers played by Stephen James and Kiki
Layne respectively, life long friends whose families know each other and have
known Lonny and Tish since they are kids discover love and plan to be together.
Circumstances put a halt to their plans and we watch as they are forced to
adjust, cope and strive to maintain their relationship despite the egregious
discrimination, disrespect and challenges Black folks are forced to endure on a
daily basis that severely complicate their lives but they refuse to allow to
beat them down.
Regina King gives a stellar
performance as Tish’s mother a woman of optimism and a deep love for the
couple. It is a powerful film is about Black family, told in a by-gone era when
Black men were men; fathers did what they had to do to raise their children,
love them and help them during their trials and tribulations.
Lonny like many Black males through
no fault of his own, gets caught up in the system; accused of a crime he did
not commit which turns both families’ lives up side down. Baldwin’s novel and
Jenkins film depict Lonny and Tish’s lives through the socio-economic and
racial realities of New York City; landlords who won’t rent to them, a racist
policeman who frames Lonny because he dared to protect Tish from a white man’s uncouth
advances and we hear Lonny’s friend Daniel tell him what the system and prison
did to him. Subsequently we discover through dialogue how the police and DA
scoop Daniel up and lock him away so he cannot provide an alibi for Lonny that
would help prove his innocence.
The families search for a lawyer to
take Lonny’s case. They find a young white attorney willing to take the case. Looking at the facts he realizes Lonny is
innocent but the families’ lack of financial resources hampers his ability to
get Lonny out of jail. The attorney does what he can to deal with the
corruption of the system; but he also sees the stark contrast between the Hunt
and Rivers lives and his own privileged background.
All the supporting characters are extremely
talented and provide great character presence. Colman Domingo plays Tish’s
father a man who loves his daughter who does what he can to raise money to get
Lonny, a boy he has known all his life and the man his daughter loves, out of
jail. He does this because he knows Lonny and that the system is rigged against
Black people. Michael Beach plays Lonny’s father who loves his son but is
fearful what the system will do to him. The two fathers partner together to
hustle and do what they can to raise the money to pay for a lawyer and get
Lonny out of jail.
The film is narrated by Tish and
the flashbacks provide meaning and substance to her experiences and how she sees
the world. There is one funny scene between the two families but there are
stark contrasts between the River’s marriage and the Hunt’s.
I promise not to give any more of
the plot away but you need to see this film. The camera shots of the faces and
expressions of the actors are awesome; there is a gritty realism, the all too
familiar feel of the oppressive conditions Black people face daily interspersed
with a unique vision of Black love and family.
As a writer Baldwin
never shied away from American racism and its devastating and grinding impact on
the lives of Black people yet in the midst of all that he depicted Black love, resilience
and hope.
This film captures that essence.
The ending may surprise you but the film will stick with you after you’ve left
the theater. Please go see If Beale
Street Could Talk.
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2019 Predictions
2019 Predictions
Junious
Ricardo Stanton
As we begin
a new year while I don’t have a crystal ball or the power of clairvoyance, I am
able to see trends and patterns that may continue well into 2019. Much of this will
be unsettling because the US Empire is in rapid decline both on the foreign and
domestic levels. But it doesn’t have to play out this way.
Here are a few things to watch for
in 2019 that I am fairly certain we will see. On the national political level
the Democrats have taken over the majority in the US House of Representatives,
look for them to: continue the canard that the Russians hacked the 2016
election despite the fact there is absolutely no proof that occurred, and look
for them to totally ignore the fact Israel and Britain actually tried to
influenced the 2016 election. Look for more government gridlock and lack of productivity;
we will see increased partisan bickering, more senseless acrimony and a
protracted government shut down.
We will see the continuation of fiscal
irresponsibility, whereby the federal government will spend more than it takes
in thereby increasing the federal deficit way past the twenty-one trillion
dollars already in existence. The Trump/Republican tax cuts have resulted in
lower revenues and there has been no accompanying cut in spending so the
consequences will shoot the deficit higher and higher.
The accounts of fiscal insanity are
all around us, “After fiscal 2018’s deficit increased from $666 billion to $779
billion, the first month of fiscal 2019’s deficit increased from $63 billion to
$100 billion. This was largely driven by increased spending in Medicare (up $28
billion) and defense ($9 billion). The jump in Medicare may be an anomaly, but
it does look like this year’s deficit is on a path to break $1 trillion. Not to
be overlooked is the interest on debt increasing by $4 billion, which at the
same monthly amount will add about $50 billion to the deficit in fiscal 2019;
and should continue to grow.” Trump’s Economy: The Federal Budget Is On a Path
To $1 Trillion Chuck Jones https://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckjones/2018/11/30/trumps-economy-the-federal-budget-deficit-is-on-a-path-to-1-trillion/#17834a2231c3
Despite Trump saying he will bring
US troops home from
Syria
and
Afghanistan
the US Empire is definitely not contracting. The
US will still have over eight
hundred bases around the world in one hundred fifty countries not counting
drone bases and secret covert operations stations. Look for the empire to
maintain its bases and to continue to try and extend its global hegemony
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/06/us-military-bases-around-the-world-119321
and keep imperialism as a top priority.
This massive expenditure of funds for
“defense” and empire will further drain resources that could otherwise go to
repairing the US’s
crumbling infrastructure, create more affordable housing; provide efficient,
low cost health care for all Americans and reduce the overall cost of
government. The US will
continue to provoke Russia
and threaten China, Iran and North Korea while plotting and war
gaming actual wars against these countries. https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-strategies-of-global-warfare-war-with-china-and-russia-washingtons-military-design-in-the-asia-pacific-2/5541976
We will see the US economy take a downward turn due Trump’s tariffs
and trade wars with China,
European allies as much of the world moves away from the US dollar as the world
reserve currency, further diminishing US influence in the world. The US economy will
be adversely impacted by the Federal Reserve Banks’ monetary policies, their
interest rate hikes and how it deals with the money supply (inflation or
deflation) which will impact the interest rates on mortgages, credit cards and
loans for ordinary Americans.
In 2019 the opioid crisis will
continue and unless we as a people change our attitudes, lifestyle and outlook,
the two year trend of lower life expectancy will also continue.
The good news is we have agency and the power
to live our lives differently no matter what is going on around us. We can
choose to eat better, drink more water get enough sleep and treat our neighbors
like neighbors instead of strangers. We can choose to be in it but not of it as
the US Empire, its political and economic systems implode due to moral rot,
corruption and malfeasance and work to make where we are better and more humane
despite what the 1% does.
We can change the tone and tenor of
our lives and our immediate surroundings.
We can reject what the media tells us to believe, buy and be like. We
can stop imitating the “reality shows” and rethink what it means to be kind and
supportive to our coworkers and neighbors. We can be more positive and come
together to make our communities better. If we do this 2019 can be better. We
can think about peace and harmony and make it real in our lives and our
immediate environment and make the nay sayers and negative prognosticators
wrong. We have the power to make 2019 a good year.
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