Friday at the People’s Library

Posted on August 31, 2012

Happy Friday from the People’s Library! Come visit us in front of the Douglass-Truth Library in the Central District, at the corner of 23rd and Yesler. Bring your family, neighbors, and friends!
Arts, crafts, and games will be available for kids all day, including materials for kids to WRITE THEIR OWN STORY! Today, we are hoping many children will write and draw in these blank books and share their creation with the Library at 2 and 6pm storytime!
Today, we are also happy to debut BUTTON MAKING! Kids (of all ages) can design their own buttons using materials provided.
We do not have anyone scheduled to provide live music tonight. If you would like to play for the Library, please leave a comment here or email duetobudgetcuts@gmail.com All styles of music are welcome! We had a fantastic time hearing (and learning to play!) fandango- style music on Wednesday and are looking forward to more live music.
10am: OPEN!
11am-1pm: Hot- and cold-brewed coffee from Black Coffee Co-op
1 pm: Lunch, donated by Operation: Sack Lunch
2pm: Children’s Storytime
5:30 pm- Dinner, meat and veggie dogs from Eileen. (We are currently searching for a grill for this. Please comment or email if you can provide one!)
6pm: Children’s Storytime
7pm: Live music
8pm: Close
Everyone is welcome to read at storytime, lead activities, perform, or bring food to share. We also need folks to help set-up starting at 9am and break-down starting at 7:30 pm. To volunteer, email duetobudgetcuts@gmail.com, leave a comment here, or just show up!

You've got to stop voting ~ reprint !

You've Got to Stop Voting - by Mark E. Smith

Submitted by folkie on 2 August 2011 - 5:10am

(This article was edited and updated on April 8, 2012)

The most common activist strategies, such as street demonstrations, protests, etc., rarely seem to bring about any change in government. There is only one nonviolent tactic that has been proven to work. Recently I asked the new president of a local activist group that had banned me from speaking, if I would be allowed to speak under the new leadership. I explained that I'm an election boycott advocate. The reply I got was:

"So my question is - how does NOT voting change anything? I can see actually writing in someone you believe in - but not voting simply is giving up."

I decided to answer the question as thoroughly as I could. Here's what I wrote, which I'm posting here with the person's name removed:

South Africa endured many years of violence under the Apartheid regime. Many people and countries worldwide boycotted Apartheid, but the US government insisted on supporting the Apartheid regime, saying that while the US abhorred Apartheid, the regime was the legitimate government of South Africa. Then the Apartheid regime held another election. No more than 7% of South Africans voted. Suddenly everything changed. No longer could the US or anyone else say that the Apartheid regime had the consent of the governed. That was when the regime began to make concessions. Suddenly the ANC, formerly considered to be a terrorist group trying to overthrow a legitimate government, became freedom fighters against an illegitimate government. It made all the difference in the world, something that decades more of violence could never have done.

In Cuba, when Fidel Castro's small, ragged, tired band were in the mountains, the dictator Batista held an election (at the suggestion of the US, by the way). Only 10% of the population voted. Realizing that he had lost the support of 90% of the country, Batista fled. Castro then, knowing that he had the support of 90% of the country, proceeded to bring about a true revolution.

In Haiti, when the US and US-sponsored regimes removed the most popular party from the ballot, in many places only 3% voted. The US had to intervene militarily, kidnap Aristide, and withhold aid after the earthquake to continue to control Haiti, but nobody familiar with the situation thought that the US-backed Haitian government had the consent of the governed or was legitimate.

Boycotting elections alone will not oust the oligarchy, but it is the only proven non-violent way to delegitimize a government.

A lot of people here are complaining about the Citizens United decision. Some want to amend the Constitution because there is no appeal from a Supreme Court decision (their edicts have the same weight as the Divine Right of Kings), but getting enough states to ratify is a long drawn out and not always successful process, as I'm sure you recall from the ERA. But suppose that the corporations spent ten to fifteen billion dollars on an election (they spent at least five billion on the last midterms, so that's not unreasonable) and almost nobody voted. Do you think their boards of directors would let them do it again?

Here are some of the most common canards that political party operatives use to argue against not voting:

1. Not voting is doing nothing.

If you're doing something wrong, or something that is self-destructive or hurting others, stopping might be a good idea. If delegating your power to people you can't hold accountable has resulted in the devastation of your economy, do you really want to keep doing it? If granting your authority to people you can't hold accountable has resulted in wars based on lies that have killed over a million innocent people, do you really want to keep doing it? If granting your consent of the governed to people you can't hold accountable has resulted in government operating on behalf of big corporations and the wealthy instead of on behalf of the people, do you really want to keep doing it?

2. If we don't vote the bad guys will win.

We've been voting. When did the good guys win? Besides, it is often hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys. Suppose Gore had won, and then died of a heart attack. Do you think the Democrats who voted for him would have been happy with Joe Lieberman as President? Besides, Gore actually did win the popular vote. The Supreme Court stopped the vote count and put Bush in office. So just because the good guys win doesn't mean that they get to take office. Kerry also won the popular vote, but before anyone could finish counting the votes, he had to break both his promises, that he wouldn't concede early and that he would ensure that every vote was counted, in order to get the bad guy back in office again. Our Constitution was written to ensure that those who owned the country would always rule it, so the popular vote can be overruled by the Electoral College, Congress, the Supreme Court, or by the winning candidate conceding, and is not the final say. Even if we had accurate, verifiable vote counts, and everyone who voted, voted for a good guy, it doesn't mean that good guy could take office unless the Electoral College, Congress, and the Supreme Court allowed it. Even then, the good guy might fear that the Security State might assassinate him they way they killed JFK, and either concede or stop being a good guy in order to survive. The Supreme Court, of course, has the Constitutional power to intervene on any pretext, and its decisions, no matter how unconstitutional, irrational, unprecedented, or even downright insane, can not be appealed, so they do have the final say.

3. If you don't vote, you can't complain.

What good does complaining do? When successive administrations of both parties tell you that they will not allow public opinion to influence policy decisions, you can complain all you want and it won't do you any good. But you don't need to vote to have the right to complain. The Declaration of Independence is a long list of complaints against a king by colonists who were not allowed to vote. The right to gripe is one of those unalienable rights that is not granted by governments or kings. If you're treated unjustly, you have the right to complain. A lot of people who voted for Obama are now angry with his policies and are complaining loudly. He couldn't care less.

4. It is a citizen's responsibility and civic duty to vote.

Only if the government holding the election has secured your civil and human rights. If it has not, if it has instead become destructive of your civil and human rights, "...it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." —Declaration of Independence

5. Your vote is your voice in government.

In a democratic form of government it would be. In a democratic form of government, such as a direct or participatory democracy, people can vote on things like budgets, wars, and other important issues, and have a voice in government. In our "representative" government, people can only vote for representatives who may or may not listen to them or act in their interests, and who cannot be held accountable during their terms of office, which is the only time they hold power and are needed to represent the interests of their constituents. Waiting until somebody has killed a million people in a war based on lies, destroyed the economy, and taken away your civil rights, and then trying to elect somebody else, is much too late because by then much of the damage cannot be undone and your grandchildren will still be paying for it.

6. Just because things didn't work out the way we wanted last time, and the time before that, and the time before that, doesn't mean that they won't this time.

Some say that Einstein defined insanity as repeating the same experiment over and over and expecting different results.

7. If we don't vote, the Tea Party, the Breivik-types, and all the lunatics will, and they'll run the country.

They're a minority, no more than 10% at the very most. Of the approximately 50% of our electorate that votes, fewer than 10% vote for 3rd parties. The Apartheid regime in South Africa tried to seat the winning candidates after a successful election boycott where there was only a 7% turnout, but nobody thought they were legitimate or took them seriously.

8. You don't have the numbers to pull off an election boycott.

There are already more people who don't vote, who either don't think our government is relevant to them, don't think their vote matters, or don't think that anyone on the ballot would represent them or could, since anyone who represented the people would be a small minority with no seniority in government, than there are registered Democrats or Republicans. We have greater numbers than either major party, but they haven't given up so why should we?

9. People who don't vote are apathetic.

When you vote, you are granting your consent of the governed. That's what voting is all about. If you knowingly vote for people you can't hold accountable, it means that you don't really care what they do once they're in office. All you care about is your right to vote, not whether or not you will actually be represented or if the government will secure your rights. Prior to the '08 election, when Obama had already joined McCain in supporting the bailouts that most people opposed, and had expressed his intention to expand the war in Afghanistan, I begged every progressive peace activist I knew not to vote for bailouts and war. They didn't care and they voted for Obama anyway. That's apathy. But it's worse than that. Once I had learned how rigged our elections are, I started asking election integrity activists if they would still vote if the only federally approved voting mechanism was a flush toilet. About half just laughed and said that of course they wouldn't. But the other half got indignant and accused me of trying to take away their precious right to vote. When I finished asking everyone I could, I ran an online poll and got the same results. Half of all voters really are so apathetic that they don't care if their vote is flushed down a toilet, as long as they can vote. They really don't know the difference between a voice in government, and an uncounted or miscounted, unverifiable vote for somebody they can't hold accountable. They never bothered to find out what voting is supposed to be about and yet they think that they're not apathetic because they belong to a political party and vote.

10. If you don't vote, you're helping the other party.

No, *you* are. By voting for an opposition party, a third party, an independent, or even writing in None of the Above, Nobody, Mickey Mouse, your own name, or yo mama, you are granting your consent of the governed to be governed by whoever wins, not by the candidate you voted for. If there is a 50% turnout, the winning candidate can claim that 50% of the electorate had enough faith in the system to consent to their governance.

11. If we don't vote, our votes will never be counted and we'll have no leverage.

True, if we don't vote, our votes will never be counted. But how does hoping that our votes *might* *sometimes* be counted, provide leverage? The election just held in the UK had only a 32% turnout. Where people did vote at all, since UK votes actually have to be counted, they threw out major party candidates and voted for third parties (George Galloway's Respect Party for one, the Pirate Party for another) and in Edinburgh, a guy who ran dressed as a penguin, calling himself Professor Pongoo, got more votes than leading major party candidates. http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/may/04/penguin-more-votes-lib-dems?newsfeed=true That's leverage, but it is only possible when the votes have to be counted and are verifiable. Those conditions do not apply in the US.

12. The choice is bullets or ballots, so it's a no-brainer.

The Department of Homeland Security has just used the authority that you delegated to the government when you voted, to purchase 450 million rounds of hollow-point ammunition that cannot be used in combat by law and therefore can only be used against US citizens. Your ballots authorized those bullets. There is a third option: not voting, not fighting, but simply withholding our consent. That has the result of delegitimizing a government that doesn't represent us and demonstrating that it does not have the consent of the governed. It is a legal, nonviolent, effective option called noncompliance. Noncompliance can take other forms, such as not paying taxes or creating alternative systems, but these cannot delegitimize a government. Since governments derive "their just powers from the consent of the governed," withholding our consent is the only way to nonviolently delegitimize a government that fails to represent us.

13. Evil people are spending millions of dollars on voter suppression to deny minorities the vote, and people have fought and died for the right to vote, so the vote must be valuable.

Nobody fought and died for an uncounted vote. While corporations do spend millions of dollars pushing through Voter ID laws and other voter suppression legislation, they spend billions of dollars funding election campaigns to get out the vote for the major parties so that they can claim the consent of the governed for their wholly-owned political puppets. If they didn't want people to vote, those proportions would be reversed and they'd be spending more suppressing the vote than getting out the vote. Voter suppression efforts are aimed at trying to fool the ignorant into thinking that just because somebody is trying to take their vote away from them, their uncounted, unverifiable votes for oligarchs who won't represent them, must be valuable.

--Mark

(Items #10, #11, and #12 were added on 5/5/2012, #13 on 5/8/2012, and were not sent with the original email)

I waited a couple of days, and when I got no response, wrote to ask why. This was the answer:

"I did not respond because I have nothing to add to your excellent feedback - one way or the other. All valid arguments for your case. But most of us, and I do admit to including myself, do not act on reason - we act on gut. That sort of makes you a lonely person? But courageous nonetheless. Keep speaking out."

In other words, it is saying that I'm right, but since it makes people feel uncomfortable, I still won't be allowed to speak. I have been speaking out for six years, but since most organizations are in some way political party, candidate, or electoral issue related, they will not allow me a forum. In fact, most activist organizations are non-profit corporations themselves, so when they claim to be opposing corporate rule or specific corporate actions, it appears that they have an inherent conflict of interest.

Voting for lies !

The Illusion of Choice

By Bernhard Guenther

“I voted”. I saw that update coming up a lot the other day on Facebook at election day, neatly put on a red/blue/white button. What is the underlying message of someone who posts that? To show that one is an upstanding American Citizen doing the “right thing” by executing one’s right to vote? To feel good about oneself? To entice others to vote?
What strikes me as curious is that most of the people who had the “I voted” update never really post anything relevant to what deeper issues this country and the world faces in order to help spread awareness and understanding which could actually result in true change. Just this one day, all of a sudden: “I voted”. Voted what? who? why? Of course I’m not implying that Facebook posts and updates are a real life reflection of what people do or don’t do, but it still is an interesting observation. I’m also not saying that people don’t have the right intention. But as the saying goes, “the path to hell is paved with good intentions”. In a ponerized society with a corrupt political system, good intention, hope and voting don’t result in positive change, but merely wishful thinking and denial.
Obama’s election in 2008 should have taught that lesson, but many people still seem to be mesmerized and hypnotized by his persona, hype and slogans that they can’t see him for who he is: a corporate puppet and just as big of a liar as his predecessor, if not worse. The last two years speak for themselves as he supports the same agendas as Bush, most of all the phony war on terror. How can it be that the masses are so easily duped? It didn’t come as a surprise as I wrote in my article two years ago when he got “elected”: The men behind Barack Obama: Hope and Reality

“President Obama does one thing, and Brand Obama gets you to believe another. This is the essence of successful advertising – you buy or do what the advertiser wants, because of how they make you feel. He’s a marketing dream, but like Calvin Klein or Benetton, he is a brand that promises something special, something exciting almost risqué, as if he might be radical. As if he might enact change. He makes people feel good, he’s a postmodern man with no political baggage, and all that’s fake.”
- John Pilger

In regards to the latest election there is something else I noticed. I’ve seen more posts on Facebook about Prop.19 to legalize Marijuana (or not) here in California in the last days than posts on the anniversary of 9/11 to expose the biggest lie of the new millennium. A lie that has cost more lives and affects the world and us more than the issue about pot being legal or not. I’m not against pot being legalized, but it is interesting to see where people’s attention and focus is.
So some of you have voted. May I ask you what you expected by casting your vote, besides focusing on propositions? That your favorite party gets more seats in the senate/house? Which side did you choose: left, right, blue or red or maybe some “independent” liberal party? What do you expect is going to change by casting your vote once or every two and four years?
Let me ask another way. What do you do the rest of the year? Where do you get your information from? How do you educate yourself about what is going on? What are you telling or would you tell your children and kids in general? What do you speak out about, when are you silent, what do you ignore? Do you really know who and what you support by voting? Do you question what you are being told, what you have learned in school and what society, official culture, government and the mainstream media is trying to make you believe?
Just some questions and food for thought. Questions I ask myself all the time. I’m not saying that any of you are not doing their best in their own ways and lives to make this world a better place. Most people’s intention and heart is in the right place, but maybe there is more to consider, something we haven’t honestly looked at?

“The American left is a phantom. It is conjured up by the right-wing to tag Barack Obama as a socialist and used by the liberal class to justify its complacency and lethargy. It diverts attention from corporate power. It perpetuates the myth of a democratic system that is influenced by the votes of citizens, political platforms and the work of legislators. It keeps the world neatly divided into a left and a right. The phantom left functions as a convenient scapegoat. The right-wing blames it for moral degeneration and fiscal chaos. The liberal class uses it to call for ‘moderation.’ The corporations that control mass communications conjure up the phantom of a left. They blame the phantom for our debacle. And they get us to speak in absurdities.” – Chris Hedges

There are no free elections in this country. There hasn’t been in a long time. The Voting System is a fraud sold to the public to give them the illusion of choice. The same goes for the two-party set-up. Democrats and Republicans. Back and forth. Two sides of the same coin. Despite popular belief we actually don’t live in a democracy anymore. People are so caught up in this left/right tunnel vision that they don’t see how they’re being duped and played with.
Brent Kopenhaver Jr. also gives insight in his article “Your Vote Doesn’t count“, addressing some major issues and pointing out:

“Elections are nonsense. Not only are they nonsense – they serve to maintain an illusion that we still live in a free, democratic society.”

The political system is an illusion to keep people in bondage. Most people fight to defend the very beliefs which are established by the controllers to keep them enslaved, just like Morpheus said in “The Matrix”:

“You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it“

What I hear at times when I bring up the issue of control and manipulation is: “But I’m not enslaved, I’m free and can do what I want. That’s the beauty of this great land of freedom!” Enslavement in this day and age is not by force or martial law. It’s by the control of consciousness, by implementing beliefs and desires, forming your mind and behaviors to act and do a certain way, making you believe you are “free” and essentially keeping you complacent and distracted from Truth and the real issues this world faces. It certainly is not man-made Global Warming (one of those implemented beliefs to control/distract the masses) which so many Liberals like to focus on these days. Being “environmental conscious”, “green”, striving towards self-sustainability, permaculture, recycling, composting, driving a “Hybrid” car or planting veggies is not enough if we want true change. There are more pressing issues that cry for our attention and awareness.
Sometimes when I mention these points I’m being called a “conspiracy nut” and ridiculed by the ones who have “faith” in the system and believe themselves to be aware and conscious “good Americans” because they act with good intention and “love” when they cast their vote. However, there is no Love where there is no Truth. There is also no Love where there is Wishful Thinking. Love comes from Knowledge and Understanding, to see the world as it is and to see oneself as one is, not as one likes it to be.

“Give these people a voting day every year, so they have the illusion of meaningless choice. Meaningless choice, so we go like slaves and say “I voted”. The limits of debate in this country are established before the debate even begins and everyone else is marginalized and made to be seen as “communists” or some sort of disloyal person…and now it’s conspiracy [theorists]. You see they made that something that shouldn’t be even entertained for a minute that powerful people might get together and have a plan. Doesn’t happen. You’re a nut case! You’re a conspiracy buff!”- Geroge Carlin

The illusion of National Identification and Patriotism is also something that many people are chained to. As Krishnamurti said “Patriotism is a Disease”. It keeps us separated just like religious identification and belief. The leaders of this country and the world couldn’t care less about America and other nations. These beliefs are just part of the circus show to keep people confined. What rules the world are Transnational Corporations and other interests. Wars are also not fought for National Securities or Patriotism, but the lie of “Patriotism” (with its emotional attachment of “Pride”) is being sold to the masses to follow without questioning.

“Flags are bits of colored cloth that governments use first to shrink-wrap people’s brains and then as ceremonial shrouds to bury the dead.” – Arundhati Roy

There is much information available to show the truth in these matters that need to be exposed before anything will change. Everything else is justre-arranging the surface or like staring at the shadows on the wall in Plato’s allegory of The Cave.
Be it the futility of voting, corporate take-over (also called Fascism), the 9/11 inside Job, Israel’s influence on America’s politic and Zionism in general, especially how it affects the Media, The Global Warming Agenda and the most underestimated topic of all: Psychopathy in Power and Political Ponerology. Political figures and even every day people who have no conscience (by birth, not through upbringing or conditioning) and who do not feel or think like me or you do, no feelings for empathy, compassion, love or remorse. However, they can pretend and act “as IF”. The effects of Psychopathy on Society and the world is underrated and hardly understood, mostly even ignored because people want to believe in the “good” of all people. After all, “we’re all one and we just need to recognize that and focus on “love” “, as it is proclaimed by many “New Age” folks. Yes, we are all one, but we are not the same and some people have a different inner “wiring” than others that is not due to environmental influences or psychological disposition. We’re not talking about serial killers or convicted murderers, but successful charismatic Individuals that can be found in all parts of life, even under Liberals, the New Age and Conscious Movements of today. This has nothing to do about “us vs. them”, but understanding how complex humanity actually is, what we choose to believe/wish for and what we avoid to look at and confront, within and without. Check out these links for more on that:
- The Mask of Sanity
- Reflections on Political Ponerology
- Political Ponerology

Too many people hold the idea that psychopaths are essentially killers or convicts. The general public hasn’t been educated to see beyond the social stereotypes to understand that psychopaths can be entrepreneurs, politicians, CEOs and other successful individuals who may never see the inside of a prison.” – Dr. Robert Hare

This is just skimming the surface. There is more information, articles, essays, books, videos and research that examine each of the points I mentioned in-depth, much of it what others and I post on FB all the time. But who will actually make time and look into it? This is the age of fast food information, of twitter and quick Facebook updates, of texting, ADD and short attention spans. People are too busy with all kinds of trivialities in their lives. Most of them can’t be even bothered to THINK and many are too concerned with themselves to keep an eye on the world. I know life is not easy at times and we do need to take care of ourselves. There is much to do, but “having no time” to look into these matters seems to be a quick excuse these days, especially considering how they affect us and the world at large on a daily basis. Truth can’t be spoon-fed, nor will it be on Oprah anytime soon or neatly packaged in a five min. youtube clip. It is up to each of us to make an effort to seek Truth and speak out about it, even if it contradicts with our cherished long-held beliefs.
I had people saying that these “conspiracies” are “unwarranted claims”, but the same people do not look into the evidence and research that is out there and so debunk something they haven’t even looked into sincerely. There is an unconscious psychological protective mechanism that prevents people to face certain truths about the world and essentially about themselves, because the Truth will shatter much of what they believe in and they’d have to adjust their lives accordingly, most of all admitting to themselves that they have been believing in lies. Of course there is also the question of what “others” may think, peer pressure, friends, family, colleagues and so on. People don’t want to “rock the boat”. This is how the “matrix” protects itself and the “sheeple police the sheeple”, so no ones steps out of line. But in the end only Truth will truly set us free and help us to embrace a brighter future for ourselves and our children. Denial and Avoidance will essentially backfire as it is already.

“The scientific discourse misses the fact that the ability to deny is an amazing human phenomenon, a product of sheer complexity of our emotional, linguistic, moral and intellectual lives. Denial is a complex unconscious defense mechanism for coping with guilt, anxiety and other disturbing emotions aroused by reality.” – Stanley Cohen

There is another issue that come with voting in a corrupted system and believing in lies. On a deeper level (metaphysically speaking), by voting and by identifying yourself with a party (left or right) you actually give validity to the corrupt system, two-party set-up and essentially your “permission” to keep it in place. In a sense you actually give up your “free will” by believing in lies (taking the false for the true and the true for the false) and supporting them with your “vote”. It’s how the “matrix” works and keeps itself in place: By the consensus of the people believing in it and supporting it through their actions and beliefs. No matter how good a lie sounds, how good it feels or what “positive” effect it may have (wishful thinking), there are metaphysical repercussions that affect everyone and the whole world “negatively” and actually feed entropy, essentially keeping the false system and control in place by giving it “energy”, regardless if the people who support/believe lies (unknowingly or not) are very loving, positive and mean well. In a sense by voting and buying into the illusion of “free choice” people tend to do more “harm” than any “good”. The exact opposite of what we’re being told (“Rock the Vote!”) and have been conditioned to believe. Obviously it’s not about just not voting and doing nothing. It’s about gaining Knowledge and educating ourselves and see the “fraud” and the lies for what they are. Then we Know what to DO and most importantly what NOT to do. The more people engage in seeking Truth and work together in that regard, the better the chance that reality (as a Whole) will change for the “better”, because we DO create our own reality but it’s not as simple as portrayed in the many distorted New Age “You Create Your Own Reality” bits. This is a topic on its own, getting more into the realm of Esoterica, Quantum Mechanics and Metaphysics. This article touches upon that issue a little bit: Order Out of Chaos

“Illusion, thinking it is reality, takes reality for illusion” – Boris Mouravieff, Gnosis

One of the questions I’ve been asked is what do I suggest we DO if we don’t vote?
Well, what an interesting question, which reflects how we’ve been conditioned with basically only two options to choose from (left or right). I’m in no position to tell anyone what to do. I can give some suggestions and food for thought, but eventually the drive to seek to truth and act upon it, living life beyond personal interests but with awareness of the bigger picture needs to come from oneself.
Having said that, here are some suggestions:
1. The most important part is to gain Self-Knowledge and work on oneself to become a better person and “be the change“. I touched upon that in the blog “Know Thyself“. Self-Knowledge and Self-Work is also needed to truly understand the world “out there”. We are all works in process and all there is are lesson, but there needs to be effort to cut through our conditioning. It doesn’t happen by itself. It’s about conscious evolution.

“The change must begin with the human being, not with the outward structure. The human being is confused, the human being is conditioned. He believes, and therefore there is a contradiction in himself. He is really, deeply confused and if he wants to change the social structure, the change from confusion only breeds more confusion. Whereas, if he could bring about clarity within himself, and from that clarity act, then such an action is really a deep psychological revolution. That revolution is absolutely necessary.” ~Jiddu Krishnamurti

2. Educate yourself and seek Information and Knowledge outside the realm of official culture and mainstream media. Question everything! A very good news site I can highly recommend to check out daily is Signs Of the Times . Objective investigative Journalism with contributions from a global network. Probably the best news site on the web.
3. Turn off your TV. As a matter of fact, get rid of it. Create a meditation space there instead. This article gives some insight of how watching TV modifies and programs (literally) our behaviors, desires, beliefs and even is detrimental to your health: Want Better Health? Stop Watching Television…For Good .
Take care of your health with exercise, yoga, qi gong, meditation, massage, breathwork, healthy diet (stay away from gluten, wheat, dairy, sugar), spending time in nature, etc… . The body and mind are one. What you eat and how you live has an effect on how you think and feel.
4. Network and talk about these topics to friends and family or new people you meet. Don’t be afraid to speak up. Awareness is the first step to change, Of course it is not about preaching or forcing one’s view on another, but about raising Awareness and “pushing the envelope”, spreading some “seeds” here and there if appropriate. There is a time to talk and a time to be silent, but not falling into Complacency, Conformity, Self-Importance, Anger or Rage. Meet on a regular basis with a group of like-minded people, so you can get feedback and keep each other “awake”, discussing these issues, creating community based on Truth, Knowledge and essentially Love. Together we’re stronger.

“Cowardice asks the question:”Is it safe”?
Expediency asks the question:”Is it politic”?
Vanity asks the question:”Is it popular?”
But conscience asks the question:”Is it right?”
And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular
but one must take it because one’s conscience tells one what is right.”
- Martin Luther King

5. Blogging and using Social Networks to spread awareness and information. Facebook and other sites can be great tools to raise awareness and network beyond just talking about oneself, how much you love life or what you had for breakfast. We can keep each other informed and provide better and more insightful news than the mainstream media.
These are just some suggestions. More can be done and each of us should look deeply into oneself, of how one is being honest with oneself, others and the world at large. Everyone can do something to raise awareness and make this world a better place, each according to his/her unique talents that go beyond immediate self-gratification or self-interest that keeps one in a subjective tunnel vision. However this also entail questioning what we believe to be true or not and not mistake objectivity for negativity or wishful thinking for positivity.
The future is not set in stone. It all depends on each of us. The more people wake up to truth and see the world as it is, not as we “like” it to be, the better for all. Awareness creates change, not simply “positive thinking”, visualizing or meditating on “peace. Providing solutions without first getting a better understanding of ourselves and what is truly going on in the world can be self-defeating in the long run. Discernment is needed and separating truth from lies, within and without. This higher awareness then results in action that will have lasting positive results and not just change of “appearances”.
There is much we’ll have to come to terms with before true change can happen. Let’s not miss the opportunity during this “Time of Transition”. There is work to do, but it’s what we signed up for.

Seattle Anarchist Book Fair this weekend !!!

It’s almost Seattle’s Anarchist Book Fair weekend!!

Posted on August 22, 2012 by sabf

Looking forward to seeing everyone!!!!
The first workshop is at 11am each day but the soft opening time of the book fair will be 10am both Saturday and Sunday. (come help us set-up :]) There will be a children’s play area and a crafting corner. Food Not Bombs and other friends will be bringing a free lunchtime meal both days (dishes and silverware will be provided but please bring your own if you can!).
Looking forward to seeing everyone at the Cafe Anarquista friday night and the Wildcat Benefit Show/ Book Fair After Party saturday night at the Cockpit! (Bands play at 8pm, Dance party with dj river grimm and underground reverie at 11pm!)
Please be around for the FBI Repression and Grand Jury Resistance presentations at 11am saturday and sunday. Also, visit the Grand Jury Resistance Support table for informational resources… donations to support the non-cooperating subpoenaed will be accepted there as well!
A lot of work is put into a book fair, it also takes money to rent out the space for the weekend… please show your support by purchasing book fair t-shirts(silk screen printed) and posters (printed on offset printing press by foricannotbequiet) to help ensure a place for 2013 Seattle Anarchist Book Fair!!(only a small portion will be saved for next year and the rest will be going to grand jury resistance support and local anarchist projects.)
If there are any questions please visit the book fair info table which will be located near the entrance. (also some volunteers will be wearing ‘danger tape’ that can answer questions as well)

Arrow Park time traveling

the grand tree lined drive which leads to Arrow Park, Monroe, NY

the garden of giant poets

Walt Whitman apparently is the centerpiece

of the only piece of cultural significance in Monroe ~ now that Frank Nigra has died

these plinths and huge busts stand about 12 feet tall

suicide or murder ? pushed down some stairs in Moscow

you can see the guard shack in the background~ we used to sneak in through the woods rather than pay the entrance fee

you can rent rooms, eat cold borscht swim in the lake play beach volley ball go fishing or hike

the employees took us on a tour and we loved it~

the lake as seen from the dining room

Newly restored/ under protest

bedroom fireplace tiles

really cute details of all the wildlife

the lounge / smoking room

outside the cafeteria thankfully not renovated / not pictured


the red 1950's kitchen gear is swell and so inviting against so much dark wood

nice pitcher ! picture !

stairs down to the lake

gunslinger monkey bars~

this place hasn't changed at all in all the years we've been coming / and still no kids in the playground

trash can topper ~ no trash can

where i took Michelle on our first date~ skinny dipp'n

and amazingly a concrete ping pong table ~ so great~


they relocated the old dock which had stood here~ where we had stood in summer days of youth stealing row boats and getting married and finding ant islands and swimming along damnes and hiking trails around the lake and wondering how long such a marvelous place could survive against taxes and sprawl and developers ~ and here it is preserved and perfect in our hearts

NE!L~

Seattle Anarchist book fair ~ oh yeah !

Updated: 2012 Seattle Anarchist Book Fair Workshops!!!

Posted on August 17, 2012 by sabf

Saturday, August 25th:
FBI Repression and Grand Jury Resistance – Education and Q & A:
11-Noon (60min)
Donations will be accepted at workshop and will be passed along to support the non-cooperating subpoenaed resisting the grand jury currently fishing in the PNW. (there is also a grand jury resistance support fundraising table inside the book fair that will be handing out informational literature, answering questions regarding grand jury, accepting donations, etc.)
The Ecology of Growing Up – An Anarchist Discussion on the Nature of Childhood and Parenting:
Noon-1:20pm (90min)
The dominant culture teaches ways of parenting that are, at their core, based on domination and suppression, and are damaging to us all. The Ecology of Growing Up is a presentation about the experience of parents trying to develop and practice anti-authoritarian methods of raising children. This workshop is based largely on theories of human development and the history and anthropology of parenting in other societies, including those based on foraging. We will also be discussing natural learning versus compulsory education, youth liberation and a culture of respect for children, culture making through media, literature and language, why anarchists should be distinctly concerned with childhood and parenting and why this discussion should be vital part of the anarchist project.
Bash-Back! Queer Ultra Violence:
Noon-1:20pm (90min)
A presentation chronicling the (non)organizational and militant queer tendency known as Bash Back! Although short lived, Bash Back! had an astonishing impact on both radical and queer organizing in the United States. Bash Back! took on gay assimilation, anti-queer violence, the queer radical establishment, and capitalism with a queer struggle that rejected traditional identity politics. The anthology complies essays, interviews, and communiques to document the queer tendency spawned be the Bash Back! years.
Decolonize Seattle, Panel:
1:30-2:50pm (90min)
A panel discussion with organizers within Occupy/Decolonize Seattle about how the concept ‘Decolonization’ came into the Occupy Movement. What it meant, where it comes from, it’s use within anti-colonial struggles; the role of the state, nationalism, and nonprofits in counter insurgency tactics, and anti-statist legacies of resistance to colonization.
Radical Mycology:
1:30-2:15pm (45min)
An overview of the ways fungi relate to the lives of humans and all species, this workshop brings a novel, radical perspective to the 5th kingdom. Topics will cover fungi for food autonomy/security, pollution clean up (remediation & restoration), permaculture, medicine, spiritual evolution, and ecological & social justice.
Pharmakon Health Conspiracy:
2:15-3:00pm (45min)
Discussing “men’s” reproductive health, sexual health and STI treatment, “women’s” reproductive health, such as irregular menstruation and fertility awareness. And touching on herbal contraceptives and abortifacients.
What If We Threw A Revolution and No One Came?:
3:10-4:30pm (90min)
What does anarchist practice without the hope, or desire, for revolutionary social change look like? Is it possible or are anarchists, ultimately, utopian?
SeaSol – Collective direct action, solidarity networks, and workplace revolt:
3:10-4:30pm (90min)
Seattle Solidarity Network has successfully used collective direct action against bosses and landlords to win a series of small fights over stolen wages, deposits, repairs and injuries. What is the next step? How can we build on this and also learn from and combine forces with other movements such as Occupy and the port truckers? We will introduce the group’s tactics and what we’ve done so far, followed by a discussion on the potential for using this model to build a combative revolutionary anarchist movement in Seattle and beyond.
Sunday, August 26th:
FBI Repression and Grand Jury Resistance – Education and Q & A:
11-12:30pm (90min)
Donations will be accepted at workshop and will be passed along to support the non-cooperating subpoenaed resisting the grand jury currently fishing in the PNW. (there is also a grand jury resistance support fundraising table inside the book fair that will be handing out informational literature, answering questions regarding grand jury, accepting donations, etc.)
Long Live the Oakland Commune:
12:30-1:50pm (90min)
On the origins and trajectory of the Oakland Commune. Why did shit pop off the way it did in Oakland during late 2011 and early 2012? What are the limits that have been reached through the struggle in Oakland and what can we learn from them. A mixture of analysis and stories from the streets of Oakland along with a slideshow of relevant documents, photos and propaganda. Presented by a small panel of comrades visiting from the Oakland Commune.
Bad Bitches:
12:30-1:50pm (90min)
Deconstruction of white anarchist/leftist/liberal attempts to assimilate loud, tough, brazen, bold, fierce cultural attributes of Women of Color into behaviors and personalities that are passive. Connecting these perspectives and experiences to our own erased radical histories. Women of Color perspective, history, reclaiming of feminist history and re-writing the current radical collective history.
The Killer of the Civilized Ego- queer theory against progress:
2-3:20pm (90min)
Making a critical intervention into the anti-social turn in queer theory, we will argue that Lee Edelman’s work in No Future: Queer Theory and the Death Drive, while expressing the nihilist geist of the times in the context of queer theory, is in fact based on the ideas of Walter Benjamin and Guy Hocquenghem, but that Edelman radically severs himself from their project by cleaving idea from practice. Our intention is to salvage what is dangerous about No Future from the safety of the academy and turn it to a weapon in the project against progress.
NW APOC/Decolonize: Kyriarchy, Decolonization , Anti-Blackness & radical liberatory organizing, Panel:
2-3:20pm (90min)
NW Anarchist/Autonomous People Of Color & Decolonize Portland speak of the struggles radical POC face in engaging with mainly white radical organizing spaces, ways in which the process of decolonization is an integral part of anti-Kyriarchal practice and how anti-blackness is at the root of systemic oppression and marginalization. Radical liberatory organizing within communities of color, and the importance of creating safe spaces for POC to organize with POC as part of decolonization.
No Juvenile Detention Center / Art & Direct Action in Communities of Color, Panel: Seattle No Juvenile Detention Center
3:30-4:50pm (90min)
A group against King County Council Voter Ballot Levy that passed to build a $210 Million new Juvi Jail at 12th & Alder, Central District a POC community. Black and Brown youth are forced by circumstances into prison, unemployment, low skill minimum wage jobs, hustling, etc. Seattle-King County is setting up youth on a School-to-Prison Pipeline. The Prison Industrial Complex (PIC) imprisons more black men today than were slaves in 1850. They are building a Racist System that locks up kids and divides families.
Anarchy & Climate Crisis, Panel:
3:30-4:50pm (90min)
A Panel style debate by anarchists of varying tendencies on the nature of the climate crisis and the potential of revolutionary responses to it. Panelists include Autonomia Cascadia offering a Green bio-regionalist perspective, Javier Sethness-Castro, member of the Institute for Anarchist Studies and Author of recently released “Imperiled Life: Revolution Against Climate Catastrophe”, and others.

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Announcing!! All Tablers for this years book fair!

Posted on August 17, 2012 by sabf

anarchistlibrary.com

Autonomy Cascadia

Beehive Collective

Black Coffee Coop

Black Powder

Black Spring Press

Collective of Geniuses

Corvus Editions

Crimethinc.

Entangled Roots

Feral House

foricannotbequiet

GLITUR

Grand Jury Resistance/ Donation table

I.W.W.

Intellectual Vagabond Editions

L@s Quixotes

Last Word Books/ Earthlight Press

Left Bank

Little Black Cart

Modesto Anarcho

Nada Dada Magazine

PM Press

Prisoners Dilemma

Red and Black Cafe

Seattle Solidarity Network

Storms of Hysteria Press

SubMedia

The Wildcat

Tides of Flame
(as well, some distros unlisted will be unofficially tabling in the courtyard)

here comes everyone ! REPRINT

Carnival of Liberation Occupies Autonomia Social Center

On August 19^th, a group of people marched from the northern end of the Central District down 23^rd Avenue to the old Autonomia social center. The bottom floor of the building has remained unused since the social center was forced to close in the fall of 2011 due to harassment and repression from the gentrifiers, the police, and the city of Seattle.

When the group arrived at the building they found food waiting and the door open. After listening to a short speech people entered the space, ate food, listened to music, hung out on the street corner. The police remained nearby by did not interfere with the festivities. About two hours later, the occupiers of the building chose to leave rather than inevitably get arrested in the days or hours to come (although it is unclear if people did in fact chose to stay the night).

The event contributed to the increasing polarization between virulent yuppie-gentrifiers and the rest of the population. For example, a posh bo-bo couple flipped off the occupiers and were met with insults in return while a man who used to come to Autonomia welcomed everyone back to the neighborhood and was met with thanks.

The atmosphere of the event was generally positive and there was no repression to dampen people’s spirits. It is hoped that people will continue occupying buildings, ideally with the intention of holding them.
-A cell of the Invisible Army

Below is the speech that was given in front of the old Autonomia:

This building here once housed the Autonomia social center, but it was destroyed by the city of Seattle and the gentrifying neighbors who wanted it gone. While it existed, the social center provided free clothes, food, and social events to the neighborhood and the wider area. Now this space is empty and unutilized.

People often asked what we would do without police, laws, or capitalism. Our answer, very simply, is this. We will take back our lives from those who would take them from us. This is the alternative. What we are doing now is but the smallest glimpse of the world as should exist, a free world without money, without an economy, without capitalism. We do not need the market, the government, the police, or their laws. We are free people, and we will remain so.

We wish to express solidarity with our comrades in Oakland, Parnell’s Market, the EZLN in Chiapas, Pussy Riot in Russia, and every rebel who fights in the international struggle against the capitalist world system.

Our bodies are our best weapons, our true weapons. Remember how to use them. Stay, eat, dance, hold the space, call your friends, and remember that we all possess the power to alter the world around us. Never forget that power and hold onto it as long as you can.