One minute it's students being arrested for protesting - the next minute it's Israel's war crimes?
PROTESTS: We are not told anything about what those students were doing to get arrested. I'm all for peaceful protest. But breaking windows and unlawfully stopping traffic and vandalising public facilities - not so much. The working class colleagues I have are increasingly upset by Extinction Rebellion and their unnecessary vandalism. Why punish people just trying to get through their day by causing traffic chaos? Want to make progress in promoting climate awareness? Don't do that. I'm known as "The greenie" at work. I hate it when my morning headlines tell me Extinction Rebellion have done something stupid again - because I know I'm going to get it at work!
Then suddenly we jump to Israel's horrific treatment of Gaza. The attack on Israel was also horrific - but Israel has now killed 43 TIMES the civilians that the terrorists killed in Israel - and we have no idea what percentage of those may have even been involved in Hamas. Odds are low that it is even a 10th of 1 percent. But this is then generalised to all states across all time.
Then suddenly we're back on students protests again - "They may even be killed, because we must never assume the state’s willingness to commit violence against its subjects’ bodies stops at incarceration." Wow. Statistics please.
Events like Kent State are still commemorated today - half a century later. Because they're so terrible and rare. But unfortunately in the USA where gun ownership is so insanely high it's something like 110 guns per 100 people - many of the BLM protests in 2020 were actually protestors shooting each other!
Sure BLM raised some systemic issues. Where there are specific issues of policy or police corruption - please call it out! In a specific way. With details. Because no system is perfect. Police and politics and policies can be corrupted because people can be corrupted. People all have their own proclivities.
I'm not stating the 'system' is perfect - but that I am simply grateful for law and order, because the alternative is far, far worse.
Sure - in some regional areas of Australia or America I'd really hate to be black! There are varying kinds of state corruption and bad policing policies. BLM raised some very real issues.
But the way you write it sounds like you believe it's all bad, all the time. Can I suggest not writing with such universal reprobation of everything, everywhere, all at once?
Not every democratic nation is behaving like Israel - all the time. Some have Prime Ministers that speak out against it.
Of course the state has power. That's what it is to live in a nation with law and order. What's the alternative? Anarchy is worse. Far worse.
From the last few months of your blog, I'm getting the picture that we're to trust in the loving vibes and good wishes of an ecovillage commune? WITHOUT a state? Without police? Without laws? Without separation between 'us' and 'nature'? I'm honestly confused as to what you are proposing?
Neo-primitivist anarchy? What could possibly go wrong?
While we're on eco-villages - when was the last time you googled how many communes self-destruct after 5 years because of personal conflict? Even at our best- nature loving ecovillage vegans are people too. Corruptible. Prone to pettiness. Exhaustion. Selfishness. Weird proclivities.
We all have our proclivities. When it comes down to it - I want to be able to call the police when someone has let their 'proclivities' stray into the unsafe or illegal. Because sometimes we need 'state violence'. Like just a few weeks ago at Bondi shopping mall. State violence stopped someone running around with a knife, stabbing women and children. Six people died. It could have been so much worse.
But a cop put a bullet through them and ended it. Are you saying you didn't want that cop to be there?
Wow. Your latest post has really tickled the white middle class professionals! I am not surprised, as these are the people who are taking part or adjacent to the centres of power, are shielded from its violence and have no concept of being outside of that group.
It is a hard time to see clearly, I applaud your strength. I can see, even in your conversation with Olivia, that it is becoming increasingly difficult to uphold the idea that the 'international rules based order' is anything but a veil for a violent structure of extraction - a reality that even Olivia finds difficult to look at. I am increasingly feeling that good people uphold the social fabric of our societies and neighbourhoods despite these systems violence and oppression we call law. The idea that judges in 17th century wigs and the thugs that roam our streets looking for vulnerable groups and women are hear for our protection is laughable, historically illiterate and presently indefensible position.
As I said before, it is this professional class, in the penumbra of power that will intiate fascism to not lose there status, the sense of security it falsely bestows for them through its fluffy myths that its all gonna be alright if we drive electric cars and protest in the right way, because they are the adults in the room.
Nonviolence protects the state and enables its monopoly on violence. In order to be peaceful, you must be capable of great violence. If you are not capable of violence, you are not peaceful, just harmless. Important distinction.
Is it possible that you have cherry picked your facts to put the blame on institutions that follow from collected behavior of 8 billion people rather than lead it?
Getting Rid of Atrocities
Today’s Israel Gaza atrocities are the latest examples of this history.
1. Each atrocity followed from a conflict.
2. Each conflict followed from a scarcity.
3. Each scarcity followed from “too many people” dividing earth’s services.
There are a dozen other causes of scarcity. However, if these other causes were resolved “too many people” would cause scarcity without them.
The “too many people condition” is determined by billions of personal birth choices. Births are rewarded by immediate easily understood personal benefits. Atrocities, being temporally-distant, and non-personal have little influence.
—- the atrocities will not stop until perception of the injuries caused by birth choices diminish population enough to eliminate scarcity.
Crucial words from Rachel Donald. Irreducibly clear meaning.
I'm genuinely confused what you are saying here.
One minute it's students being arrested for protesting - the next minute it's Israel's war crimes?
PROTESTS: We are not told anything about what those students were doing to get arrested. I'm all for peaceful protest. But breaking windows and unlawfully stopping traffic and vandalising public facilities - not so much. The working class colleagues I have are increasingly upset by Extinction Rebellion and their unnecessary vandalism. Why punish people just trying to get through their day by causing traffic chaos? Want to make progress in promoting climate awareness? Don't do that. I'm known as "The greenie" at work. I hate it when my morning headlines tell me Extinction Rebellion have done something stupid again - because I know I'm going to get it at work!
Then suddenly we jump to Israel's horrific treatment of Gaza. The attack on Israel was also horrific - but Israel has now killed 43 TIMES the civilians that the terrorists killed in Israel - and we have no idea what percentage of those may have even been involved in Hamas. Odds are low that it is even a 10th of 1 percent. But this is then generalised to all states across all time.
Then suddenly we're back on students protests again - "They may even be killed, because we must never assume the state’s willingness to commit violence against its subjects’ bodies stops at incarceration." Wow. Statistics please.
Events like Kent State are still commemorated today - half a century later. Because they're so terrible and rare. But unfortunately in the USA where gun ownership is so insanely high it's something like 110 guns per 100 people - many of the BLM protests in 2020 were actually protestors shooting each other!
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/31/americans-killed-protests-political-unrest-acled
Sure BLM raised some systemic issues. Where there are specific issues of policy or police corruption - please call it out! In a specific way. With details. Because no system is perfect. Police and politics and policies can be corrupted because people can be corrupted. People all have their own proclivities.
I'm not stating the 'system' is perfect - but that I am simply grateful for law and order, because the alternative is far, far worse.
Sure - in some regional areas of Australia or America I'd really hate to be black! There are varying kinds of state corruption and bad policing policies. BLM raised some very real issues.
But the way you write it sounds like you believe it's all bad, all the time. Can I suggest not writing with such universal reprobation of everything, everywhere, all at once?
Not every democratic nation is behaving like Israel - all the time. Some have Prime Ministers that speak out against it.
Of course the state has power. That's what it is to live in a nation with law and order. What's the alternative? Anarchy is worse. Far worse.
From the last few months of your blog, I'm getting the picture that we're to trust in the loving vibes and good wishes of an ecovillage commune? WITHOUT a state? Without police? Without laws? Without separation between 'us' and 'nature'? I'm honestly confused as to what you are proposing?
Neo-primitivist anarchy? What could possibly go wrong?
While we're on eco-villages - when was the last time you googled how many communes self-destruct after 5 years because of personal conflict? Even at our best- nature loving ecovillage vegans are people too. Corruptible. Prone to pettiness. Exhaustion. Selfishness. Weird proclivities.
We all have our proclivities. When it comes down to it - I want to be able to call the police when someone has let their 'proclivities' stray into the unsafe or illegal. Because sometimes we need 'state violence'. Like just a few weeks ago at Bondi shopping mall. State violence stopped someone running around with a knife, stabbing women and children. Six people died. It could have been so much worse.
But a cop put a bullet through them and ended it. Are you saying you didn't want that cop to be there?
Wow. Your latest post has really tickled the white middle class professionals! I am not surprised, as these are the people who are taking part or adjacent to the centres of power, are shielded from its violence and have no concept of being outside of that group.
It is a hard time to see clearly, I applaud your strength. I can see, even in your conversation with Olivia, that it is becoming increasingly difficult to uphold the idea that the 'international rules based order' is anything but a veil for a violent structure of extraction - a reality that even Olivia finds difficult to look at. I am increasingly feeling that good people uphold the social fabric of our societies and neighbourhoods despite these systems violence and oppression we call law. The idea that judges in 17th century wigs and the thugs that roam our streets looking for vulnerable groups and women are hear for our protection is laughable, historically illiterate and presently indefensible position.
As I said before, it is this professional class, in the penumbra of power that will intiate fascism to not lose there status, the sense of security it falsely bestows for them through its fluffy myths that its all gonna be alright if we drive electric cars and protest in the right way, because they are the adults in the room.
So you don't believe in the rule of law then? Let's NOT throw out the baby with the bathwater now.
Nonviolence protects the state and enables its monopoly on violence. In order to be peaceful, you must be capable of great violence. If you are not capable of violence, you are not peaceful, just harmless. Important distinction.
Rachel.
Is it possible that you have cherry picked your facts to put the blame on institutions that follow from collected behavior of 8 billion people rather than lead it?
Getting Rid of Atrocities
Today’s Israel Gaza atrocities are the latest examples of this history.
1. Each atrocity followed from a conflict.
2. Each conflict followed from a scarcity.
3. Each scarcity followed from “too many people” dividing earth’s services.
There are a dozen other causes of scarcity. However, if these other causes were resolved “too many people” would cause scarcity without them.
The “too many people condition” is determined by billions of personal birth choices. Births are rewarded by immediate easily understood personal benefits. Atrocities, being temporally-distant, and non-personal have little influence.
—- the atrocities will not stop until perception of the injuries caused by birth choices diminish population enough to eliminate scarcity.
Jack Alpert PhD Director:
Stanford Knowledge Integration Laboratory http://www.skil.org. jackalpert@me.com
600 word summary of Jack's work
https://www.evernote.com/l/AAmZY0Hicy9KbLmuRpZRVAjtdR3UQC_bhEE
The origin of that unspeakable violence of states was well described by R. Luxemburg on her so called Junius- Brochüre.
See also https://open.substack.com/pub/newmeans/p/student-protests-are-exposing-our?r=6u7o4&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email