spectator

[H2O Man]

“Who or what we human beings really are is the first question we must try to answer. I believe that humanity is the only link between the creative forces of the universe, the source of all existence, and organic life on earth. Unlike a disturbingly large percentage of people on this earth, I believe that science and rational thought have an important role to play in the world. I believe that the universe and earth are billions of years old. I believe that the universe consists of a series of levels, and everything is what it is based upon where it is in this series of levels. I believe that we miraculous human beings must evolve if we are to survive, although the world of nature shows numerous examples of creatures failing to adopt. I also believe that the earth is not the center of all things in the universe, and that we can try, even if we fail, to understand the forces of creation and where we fit into the grand scheme of things. To attempt to know who we are, and why we are here on earth, we must become conscious beings again. As we look around at the state of things on this great planet, we might be forced to conclude, despite the many, many people who attempt to make the world a better place, that the majority of mankind is unconscious and deeply troubled – although they know not why or from whence this feeling comes.”
-- Rubin “Hurricane” Carter


I watched Trump's rally, where he formally announced his run for re-election. I watched as the Trump administration increased tensions with Iran, coming to the brink of starting another war. I watched as Trump spoke about deporting millions of human beings. I watched news reports about the Trump administration's torture of brown-skinned children.

My older son stopped to see me. He said we needed to watch a BBC series on the Holocaust. He said he had always assumed it happened quickly and purposefully, but this series taught him how evil spreads and builds force by way of unconscious people. He said that conscious people have to make a stand, today, now.

Let's roll.
H2O Man

[Me.]

1. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

[H2O Man]

2. Thank you!

[malaise]

3. Yes

Global condemnation is needed

I wonder who is going to call for it tonight

[H2O Man]

4. Thanks!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. Yes, let's roll, my dear H20 Man!

The few of us who are conscious must work to save those who are not.

I stand with you.

[H2O Man]

11. Thanks, Peggy!

[tblue37]

6. K&R. Nationwide protests on July 12:

Last edited Wed Jun 26, 2019, 12:28 AM - Edit history (1)

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212212355

[H2O Man]

12. Great!

Thank you for that!

[mountain grammy]

22. Yes, thank you!

[maddiemom]

38. And anyone who's not a deluded Trumper needs to BOYCOTT July 4th in D.C.

[Karadeniz]

7. Beautiful Carter prose. I'll have to look him up.

[H2O Man]

13. He was amazing.

I was fortunate to enjoy his friendship.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

23. You KNEW him ?

Oh wow. I've read so much about him. He was an extraordinary person.

Lucky YOU !!!

[H2O Man]

30. 40+ years.

We had some adventures.

[democrank]

8. I don't understand, H20 Man.

Why? Why is it taking so long? Where is everyone? Why are the streets empty?

I’ve seen more attention given to the Super Bowl or a new cellphone roll-out! Little children, H20 Man. Tiny little children made to sleep on concrete because they lost their lice comb!

Melania announces new ambassadors for her phony “Be Best” campaign and the media report it like a herd of trained seals! Be Best? What a sick freaking joke that is .

[H2O Man]

14. I hear you.

I think that the on-going, highly upsetting things Trump is doing are causing a fatigue. Reports on his antics come daily. So I understand that. I also understand that we cannot wait for the 2020 elections.

[lunatica]

9. A few days ago I started a thread that contained the following

Netflix has a lot of new documentaries on Hitler

All aspects of Hitler and WWII are covered, from multiple documentaries on the evolution of the concentration camps into death camps, the systematic murder of entire Jewish communities and villages during the invasion of Russia, code named Operation Barbarossa, which is also dealt with in various documentaries. There are some on the specific weapons of war like the Panzer tanks, the Schaefer Gustav cannon which was the largest-calibre rifled weapon ever used in combat and, in terms of overall weight, the heaviest mobile artillery piece ever built. It fired the heaviest shells of any artillery piece. Also there are multiple documentaries of Hitler’s rise to power and on all his Nazi generals and officers who implemented the genocide. There are documentaries of interviews with Holocaust survivors.

I have been watching many of them because I want to know what really happened. Because it’s important to know the facts of the rise of the Third Reich. Because it seems to be taking a foothold in our own country. We must never let this happen. Never.

[H2O Man]

15. All of the things

that you listed are hugely significant. Equally so, in my opinion, is how so many of the people in charge came to their positions and opinions. It's eye-opening. And it's a direction that you cannot continue to drift in.

[Hekate]

10. My whole life I have wondered how the German people could have let it happen?

In the last 3 years I have watched in helpless horror while it happens here. While a numerical minority took over our federal government without a shot being fired. They didn't even have to burn down the equivalent if the Reichstag.

Please keep writing.

[H2O Man]

16. Right.

I remember a conversation with Rubin, when he talked about people's ability to understand is limited by their level of being .....and how a tyrant rises when he is abled to get the herd to blame their low level of being on "others." And human history provides numerous examples of exactly that.

I've been busy working on a legal case that my cousin asked me to assist with. Matter of fact, he volunteered me, before asking me! Ha! He knows me! It's taken a great deal of my time and energy since June 4 ..... I've read through DU, and made brief comments on a few threads. So I have a dozen essays on current events in my mind, and will be posting them soon.

[c-rational]

17. Wonderful words by Rubin Carter. And yes the vast majority of mankind is unconscious, I made

a similar remark to my friend the gardener today. Thank you for this post H2O man.

[H2O Man]

18. Rubin was intense.

I miss him.

[llmart]

19. I'm with you.

I think at least on DU there are certainly enough of us who are doing what we can, but we need to take to the streets. In DC. RIGHT NOW! If we were able to organize the women's marches in almost no time, we should be able to do this for the children. Where are our leaders? Who will be our leaders?

[H2O Man]

32. That's an important point .....

There needs to be people who step up to serve as leaders. At the same time, we need the grass roots to recognize that leadership is simply a role, and to have the goodness of Truth take root within. In that sense, leaders are primarily organizers and spokespersons.

[Mr.Bill]

20. As I have read and posted here before,

did you ever wonder what you would have done if you lived in Germany in the 1930s during the rise of Nazism? You are doing it right now.

[H2O Man]

33. Perfect.

I love it!

[Martin Eden]

21. Thank you very much for sharing, H2O Man

Perhaps injustice and suffering can lead to wisdom, where inner strength resides with a light yearning to shine.

Rubin's words are profound, shining with important truth.

Your last paragraph reminded me of the adage that evil thrives when good people do nothing. To that I would add people who are "unconscious and deeply troubled" -- too lost in themselves to see the danger or to understand what must be done.

[H2O Man]

35. Thanks!

Well said!

Rubin's example showed that wisdom sometimes comes not because of injustice and suffering, but in spite of it. He and I used to talk about another group of good people who "do nothing" .....those who have been forced to believe they are powerless, and/or see no connection between their daily lives and events in the larger society. Reaching them, empowering them, is what is the best potential for our Democratic Party. I believe that is the energy force needed today.

[lambchopp59]

24. Failure to adapt

Includes many of the "moderate" souls especially here in the USA who make no personal sacrifice and are not facing the reality
That 8 billion human on this planet cannot all drive individual vehicles of any sort without laying waste to our ecosystem.
We have challenges awaiting our grandchildren that few of the dwindling greatest generation ever would believe, facts that my late father shook off as "impossible" that are now reality.
We must get younger blood into public office, that see how the future is unfolding, that aren't owned by the corporate interests, that are not afraid of radical changes.
Just think of what a shameful legacy the hate media is writing for itself in a future that will be facing devastating storms and a midwestern dust bowl to make the last one look like a small problem.

[H2O Man]

36. Thank you!

I truly appreciate your response here! It is a great example of the best potential for discussion here on DU.

It's curious -- I live "in the sticks" in rural upstate New York. The majority of the guys my age around here are hunters and fishermen. Without exception, they are aware of and can identify changes in the local climate .....things that they've seen in their lifetimes, and especially in the increasing pace of the last decade. And it bothers them. Yet most are registered republicans.

My younger son frequently asks why I bother talking to them, and recommends simply ignoring them. I disagree with him on that. But I certainly understand why he thinks that way.

[lambchopp59]

46. Limited, but a loud few MAGA's here in the North Bay

Very few left who still are denying ciimate change, where we sit in the biggest fire devastation zones in California history. It even burned a few of their made-in-Taiwan MAGA hats with their houses.
Donald Trump didn't even buy us all rakes, and we've got 33 million acres of "floors of the forest to clean" so we're busy...LOL doing much the stuff the millions of New Deal Civilian Conservation Corp did before disbanded for WWII.
Did it occur to him the fire break paths throughout our forests, most no longer useful were done by a New Deal funded workforce? Orange Idiot.
From the SacBee:

"California lawmakers had hoped the national attention the state’s fires drew would force Washington to act. Democrats included the fire fix among their list of demands in the budget negotiations, along with things like equal budget increases for military and domestic programs and a long-term extension of the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

“We need to make sure that we straighten out things in the West so the Forest Service isn’t robbed of funding they need to prevent future forest fires as they take the money for present forest fires. We have to do that,” Schumer said in January as he ticked off Democrats’ priorities in the talks.

California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris also made clear in letters and public statements with Senate leaders that the issue would factor into their decision on whether to support spending bills needed to keep the government open.

Partisan and regional disagreements appear to have upended the efforts to cut a deal." {snip}

Aside from denying the causes they get kickbacks from, they keep de-funding the cures.

[smirkymonkey]

25. Excellent and very important post!

What is going on right now is so insidious, that people don't even understand how they and the society around them are being transformed in real time. We think we are not changing, but we are, as a society and as individuals.

I, for one, noticed that I am completely exhausted by this nightmare and sometimes I just can't muster the strength to put up a fight. I expect a lot of people feel that way.

But we can't give into this, because then evil wins. We have to realize what is happening to us and keep fighting anyway. What would be really helpful and energizing is to see one win, one blow, that is struck against evil and the republicans that sticks to them. That doesn't just last for a day in the news cycle and then fizzles out. Something that weakens them enough to scare them and put them on the defensive.

Anyway, thanks H2O Man! Great post!

[H2O Man]

37. Years ago

(actually decades ago, now that I think about it!) one of the Clan Mothers at Onondaga was talking about the increasing pace of society. She said that when one experiences it going too quickly -- meaning the "completely exhausted" state you identify, and that so many of us are experiencing today -- it is essential that we pull within a smaller circle. To take time to do two things: take care of ourselves and our loved ones, and to focus on smaller issues. To not allow the enormity of the sum-total of problems to weaken us long-term. In doing so, we increase the chances that we can join in that larger struggle.

[spanone]

26. K&R...👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍

[H2O Man]

39. Thank you!

[Hotler]

27. How do we light a fire under the ass of the American people?

It may take some serious protest to send a message to the fascist that we are done playing nice and your asses are on the way out.

[brush]

29. The repugs decades-long education cuts have taken effect.

Too many Americans have little critical thinking skills. Anyone with sense, except the financial vultures who benefit, would vote for crass, imbecilic megalomaniac like trump.

[H2O Man]

40. Good question.

I wish that I had a good answer. But I don't. There are, of course, many good and dedicated people that are active. But they are the tip of the ice cube of people who are not satisfied-to-angry, but do not do much about it.

Many years ago, when I studied such things, I learned that the trick to keeping prisoners of war passive was to put them into groups of twenty. One of the twenty would almost always be the leader, for lack of better term, who motivated the other nineteen to resist. Remove him, and the others stopped resisting. Perhaps that same dynamic can be reversed somehow.

[defacto7]

28. I think this is a powerful message with beautiful and important concepts.

The idea of levels in the universe gets a bit metaphysical for me. But I do think human perceptions divide in ways that can be thought of as conscious and unconscious or awake and asleep; levels could be another way to define it. Within that context the message is very real to me and I appreciate you sharing it.

[H2O Man]

41. Right.

I think that is what he meant by levels .... that while the conscious and unconscious inhabit the same planet earth, we experience and understand things in a manner so different, that we live in different worlds.

[coeur_de_lion]

31. I love the "let's roll" reference

Gosh are we in the fight of our lives. Terrifying.

I do believe we’ll prevail but shit it’s been a helluva couple years!

What do you make of Mueller finally agreeing to testify?

Why now and not before?

[H2O Man]

42. Thank you!

I suspect that Mr. Mueller wanted the subpoena, so that his testifying publicly could not be called "political." Yet, as you know, the republicans will follow Trump's lead, and pretend that Mueller is a mere political operative, attempting to advance the Deep State's attack on Donald. Indeed, Trump's nonsense was flowing today, wasn't it?

Things are moving a bit slower than I anticipated. Slower than I wanted, too. But they are moving, and will be picking up speed and force in July.

[coeur_de_lion]

44. Cool

Looking forward to speed and force.

[panader0]

34. The quote by Carter is so eloquent.

Thanks for posting it.

[H2O Man]

43. Thank you!

Since posting this OP, I've been thinking about how much I liked his 3 am calls, and listening to him talk.

[PETRUS]

45. I'm reminded of an opinion that one of the bloggers I read has stated repeatedly.

His opinion (more or less) is that there are very few truly good people and very few truly wicked people, and that the majority of humans are "weak" (his word) and basically just go with the flow.

(PS. I always appreciate your contributions, thanks for posting.)