Well, as a working musician with a degree in music and who has played with far superior musicians who were self-taught, I can honestly say you don’t have a clue what art is. And sorry, but posting articles with OTHER people’s art and photography does not make you an artist. Every serious artist spends years studying, honing and refining his/her work. To even equate posting a web page with arrangements of other people’s art work as being in the same league is both insulting to artists and beyond lame.

– Sunil

musicians aren’t artists? Interesting take on that one. Art is the process of creation, whether it be a poet, a sculptor, a painter, a chef, an architect, a dancer, a musician, etc. I don’t suppose you’d see nature as the greatest artist?

Being self taught disqualifies one from the category of artist? Self taught indicates an innate ability to learn without guidance; nobody taught Dali, is he not an artist? Maybe your idea wasn’t expressed clearly, seems like an attack on musicians, and the world could use more of them.

You stated, “they were enormously popular before or while they were learning to play.” How is a musician popular before they learn to play?

Protest music is the expression of a societal member, known or unknown, who vocalizes his/her disgust with societal problems; Dylan, Baez, Lennon, Marley, none of which are artists in your eyes.

Strange take, Lloyd.

Best to you.

http://www.opednews.com/author/author19172.html

Even watching the superficial biographies of musicians on TV proves that many musicians — and especially pop musicians – were self-taught for long periods of time. Which is to say, they were enormously popular before or while they were learning to play.

And…I ask you, what is protest music and where is it learned?

glad to hear that their is no hatchet, any resemblance to “there is no spoon”?

I may shoot over to your blog page and discuss our differences on taking a more militant position, anarchy and consciousness.

Enjoyed the Dirty Harry quote, you’ve reminded me that I need to download a few of his older pictures.

Thanks for your take on things.

Best to you.

“in an attempt to bury the hatchet with you, I’d like to say that I admire your honesty as we are all corrupt and I imagine that most of us on DV do enjoy the derivatives of genocide. As unfortunate as that is.”

There’s no hatchet as I see it. The way in which I write is partly derived from my continued attempt to move the left to a more militant position. Much of the Western left is based on total pacifism, which severely injures the things they claim to be working toward.

“I, too, would like to see a classless society with a homogenization of incomes. Would you mind elaborating on this vision of global socialism?”

Your question brings up another major difference between us – I don’t believe vision matters, at least not much. Global socialism will emerge not from a vision but from the anarchic structure of linked local communities. Consciousness doesn’t create reality – reality creates reality. We don’t lack consciousness right now – we lack the reality of anarchism. Rather than build consciousness, we need to build anarchic structures and destroy capitalist structures.

There’s nothing wrong with building consciousness (unless the time spent doing that prevents more useful actions), but when consciousness runs up against a SWAT team, the SWAT team wins.

It’s not Gramsci, or Chomsky, or Parenti, or Albert who will create a vision that will lead the world to overthrow capitalism – it’s billions of poor people who will become organized enough and determined enough to overthrow it. It will be feet, and hearts, and fists, and guns, which will overthrow it – not ideas.

The Western left just can’t get over the idea that they are the ones who will save the world. However enlightened they suppose themselves to be, they can’t shake centuries of history of the West believing indigenous and colonized peoples to be less than human, especially intellectually. So the West ignores the lives and struggles of the world’s poor, preaching to them and telling them their “visions” of how they can live better lives. By doing this they can tell themselves they “care for the poor” while actually doing harm to the poor, insofar as the poor listen to their visions instead of listening to themselves and their neighbors.

The core of Western intellectualism contains a fatal flaw – it believes itself to be limitless. This fantasy of the unlimited potential of the mind means there is always hope in mental processes – and if some genius or some lucky madman simply thinks the *right* thought, devises the *right* system, dreams the *right* vision, everything will be different – everything will be better. “I think, therefore I am”.

The West, left and otherwise, has never taken Harry Callahan’s (Dirty Harry) best advice – “A man’s got to know his limitations” – to heart.

So the West thinks, thinks, and thinks some more, and the world wastes away. The autopsy will read “Death by thinking”.

you’re welcome and thanks in return.

Now, the real issue is, how do we create this change? Can it feasibly even occur with our present level of consciousness? Having lived abroad now for three years, I am contemplating a return in order to organize and become more active in our redirection, but I am not convinced that my effort would see results. I’m not sure what the public pulse is, if enough people are motivated with a fire in their belly for change.

I talk to people back home who are convinced that voting for Omaba was enough and that he alone will bring about this miraculous change…I think it’s a bunch of bs and complacent behavior. Easier to just cast a vote a have blind faith in the new leader. I think they’re unaware of the powerful forces to overcome in Washington, I don’t even think most are aware of the disintegration of their civil rights in the past decade, especially since Bush. Many are convinced that this phenomena was indeed a movement, obviously unaware of what movement really entails, ignorant to the historical instances.

Lots of questions, many factors.

Best to you.

aspiring to people of prestigious positions is inherent in society, no doubt. But, if kids are given the opportunity to obtain higher education, which is often absent in our demoligarchy, then it’s likely that those kids have the potential to attain one of those positions. I agree with you and trust that they would want to attain that ’status’ based on interest and accumulated knowledge in that field instead of prestige, as earnings would no longer be the motivator, but who really knows? Theoretically what you say makes sense.

As for my request to Brian, it’s not so much the idea of global socialism as a structure, but more so how to implement such a system, the transition thereof. That’s the vision I’m interested in, how do we go from our dysfunctional fascocracy to functional global socialism that eliminates poverty and establishes society on more of a level playing field where people are contributing to the overall improvement of the society they represent instead of competing like blood thirsty animals for dollars and the products they purchase?

Best to all.

in an attempt to bury the hatchet with you, I’d like to say that I admire your honesty as we are all corrupt and I imagine that most of us on DV do enjoy the derivatives of genocide. As unfortunate as that is.

I, too, would like to see a classless society with a homogenization of incomes. Would you mind elaborating on this vision of global socialism?

Best to you.

I have’t read all of Petersen’s aticle, much less perused the comments, but for months radicals have been saying we have to keep this person or that person’s feet to the fire. We HAVE TO KEEP PRESSING FOR THE IMPEACHMENT OF THE Son of a Bush. We can’t just believe he’s all nicey nicey now, and forget about his personality and lies, and the still-present posibility that martial law (whatever that means to Bushco) will be in effect next January 20th.

There are numerous websites devoted to continuing the battle for Impeachment. Cindy Sheehan pledged to do so long ago regardless of the Nov 4 outcome. Elizabeth Holtzman did too. As did JFK’s (?) Attorney General Ramsey.

So let’s keep at, ladies and gentlemen. The fight has just continued.

“I believe that there will ultimately be a clash between the oppressed and those who do the oppressing. I believe that there will be a clash between those who want freedom, justice, and equality for everyone and those who want to continue the system of exploitation. I believe that there will be that kind of clash, but I don’t think it will [ultimately] be based on the color of the skin…” — Malcolm X

I hope it’s not a faux pas to reference other non-DV articles (that nonetheless indirectly reinforce Kim Peterson’s criticism of Greg Palast):

“More of the Same — Only Worse”
http://www.blackcommentator.com/297/297_kir_obama_presidency_pt1.html

“Those so-called leftist and progressives [and Greg Palast is a staunch Zionist and anti-Palestinian racist anyway, so Obama (who intimated that he would even nuke Iran --"do anything/everything"-- for Israel) and Biden are right down Palast's ally] who were and are collaborators with U.S. Empire [including Zionist Israeli colonialism] will, for a time, try to pretend that their support of Barack Obama was not a SELL OUT [having the grandiose self-delusion and greatly inflated self-importance that they "would have Obama's ear" anymore than they had Bill Clinton's (or, respectively, Tony Blair's for that matter)], and that they simply need more time [like the *8* years under Clinton or the full *decade* under Blair] to persuade the U.S. Empire’s colored corporate emperor to do the right thing [I guess like with Clinton and Blair]. Meanwhile, Black, Brown, Red, Yellow, and [middle-class and poor] White peoples will be enduring an unprecedented rate of economic and social suffering [as is already occuring, since the WWII & its recovery era, in Britain!].”

“Will President Obama feel the pressure? (LOL)”
http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_3969.shtml

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Just a quick word for now — more later (although I hate to right and run).

As an African American progressive political activist, and one who has written articles (some available online) on national Black issues I say, great commentary Kim.

Palast’s argument would also be like saying that Blacks should support Clarence Thomas (and his Supreme Ct decisions) or Condoleeza Rice and Colin Powell (and their foreign policy decisions) because they are Black.

Three short reason that Blacks voted for Obama in such overwhelming %’s:

(1) Blacks figured that if whites could have a premature senile in the White House for 8 years, and an obvious *idiot* in the White House for 8 years, then why not an obviously intelligent Black person (who’s policies, as a Black version of Clinton or Blair, I nonetheless oppose) who’s not some Black conservative overtly adverse to Black-America — Blacks having failed to learn the contemporary lesson that just “a Black face in a high place” (like any number of Black mayors and police chiefs still beholden to white power) is not per se a positive answer — in the White House (or, as Chris Rock said, things are *so* bad in the U.S. that most white-Americans just figured, “Aww shit, let’s just let a *Black* guy try *his* hand at it: he certainly can’t be any worse!”).

You know, I just blanked out on the 2nd & 3rd reasons because I’m watching to see what Leno and Letterman have to say in their late-night monologues since we get more truth from comedians and satirists in America than in mainstream corporate media pundits (like the ones, Repub *and* Dem, who *lavished praise* on Sarah Palin for merely surviving her debate with Biden).

More later…

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“Your assertion that “anyone serious about destroying capitalism has had enough of that” is absurd. Are you “serious?” If so, what is your better suggestion? Maybe you should share it with us “deluded” Marxists? There are a lot of us, and we are everywhere, not just in the west (ever heard of the Naxalites, for example?)”

If Marxism is radical the poor would be Marxists, but with rare exception they are not. It’s primarily Western academics as well as Western “poor” who are Marxists. Therefore Marxism is not radical, and it supports the status quo, simply requesting a transfer of wealth from capitalists to (first world) workers.

It’s important to listen to what the poor want. The poor want populist democracy and they want socialism. Marxism is not populist democracy – it’s top-down socialism where bureaucrats run the state. Populist democracy is anarchic in nature, with local communities in control. Marxists are elitists who believe a philosophy should be followed by the people – that the philosophy (as pronounced by such figures as Marx, Engels, and Gramsci) should be in control and the people have the choice to either be beholden to the philosophy or be punished. Populist democracy puts the needs of people rather than the needs of philosophy first.

Since you asked what I want rather than what the poor want, I want something different. I want global socialism as well as a classless global society – the elimination of class as well as a fairly narrow difference between people’s incomes. Most of the world’s poor do not want global socialism – they have a local outlook.

I’m examining primitivism as well, which is definitely not supported by the poor.

My preference for the future is to enact populist democracy and if that goes well stick with it – if more is needed to save the world a move to primitivism (destroying civilization) becomes necessary.

The people who save the world will not come from the West – they might come from Africa, or Asia, or South America, but not from the West. They will come from colonized countries, not colonial ones.

The belly of the beast dissolves what it contains. That includes virtually everyone on Dissident Voice, including myself. I’m as serious as any Westerner, which is to say I’m complicit in imperialism, and I enjoy the material benefits derived from genocide.

So are any of us serious? Intellectually maybe, but spiritually no. We are all corrupt.

I’d like to add that your last paragraph is precise, bullseye, at least the first three sentences.

As for the rest, which comes across very aggressively, it’s the ‘forcible’ context that makes me wonder if you’re organizing around violent force, as that would be battling one immorality with another, fighting fire with fire.

The organization should revolve around non-violent, strategical, creative and intelligent solutions which contain the potential to not only discard this pathetic discordant and unsustainable system that we call reality, but also produce abundance — the yang of this yin so to speak. And beginning locally, of course.

But my supposition is that you already knew that.

Best to you.

As a Marxist, I completely agree with what you’re saying about the nature of capitalism. It centralises wealth both within states (from the working classes to the ruling class) and between states. Thus, while we are being robbed by the capitalists and government, we are simultaneously benefiting from the looting of the ‘3rd world’ & its people. Capitalism both benefits and harms the western worker. We are complicit in the exploitation of workers in other countries, as we are complicit in capitalism’s wars: because we do not do enough to stop it.

However, it is precisely committed Socialists who are most likely to actively oppose exploitation & imperialism. The problem is there are not enough of us (plus we are disorganised, etc)

Marxism is internationalist & anti-imperialist. The goal of any real Socialist/Communist (as opposed to reformists, Stalinists, etc) is to end ALL forms of exploitation & injustice. It makes no sense to oppose the exploitation of western workers but not that of workers in other parts of the world.

Your assertion that “anyone serious about destroying capitalism has had enough of that” is absurd. Are you “serious?” If so, what is your better suggestion? Maybe you should share it with us “deluded” Marxists? There are a lot of us, and we are everywhere, not just in the west (ever heard of the Naxalites, for example?)

Not only is capitalism in crisis, capitalism IS crisis: it IS war, famine, poverty, disease. It is effectively genocidal. So what is the solution? The forcible overthrow of the existing system. There is no other way, & it has to happen in the west above all. OUR responsibility is to MAKE it happen, to BUILD strong, radical, committed movements. ORGANISE! ACT! ESCALATE!

I appreciate the response and the elaborated train of thought.

While nature evolves along constantly maintained lines of balance and harmony through perpetual competition, our extraction has produced a diametrical effect in human society; thus the natural tendency for monopolization to take such root. And yes, they are the essence of evil, most particular in terms of collective sustainability.

We see it everyday; a need for information, a monopoly on media; a need for fuel, a monopoly on petroleum; a need for products, corporate monopolies, on down the line.

Localism disassembles empires, I like that, good stuff. That’s something to work toward.

Best to you.

“You could also ask why so many poor people choose to participate in the exploitation of other poor people around the world by wearing Nike sweatshop apparel or by shopping at WalMart. I’m sorry to say it, but I think a lot of them just don’t care.”

No – it’s that downtrodden people enjoy lording over those even lower than themselves – the vast majority of people in the world are both below someone else and above someone else. By wearing the work of terrible slave labor they can constantly remind themselves that there are people in the world of a lower social caste than themselves – sweatshop apparel is a status symbol.

The poor of the world are by and large not more moral than the rich. They simply have less power and thus less ability to fuck things up.

This is how capitalism works – divide and conquer. It creates innumerable striations of social classes – one populous class of which is mini-lords who either directly control bottom-feeding slaves or who have some access to the output of low slaves (poor Americans wearing sweatshop gear).

The vast majority of Americans support worldwide slavery because ALL Americans, even indigenous Americans living in concentration camps (reservations) are mini-lords, who reap imperial benefits derived from slaves lower on the power rung than themselves.

This is the truth about abuse that few on the left have come to terms with – the abused become abusers themselves (think Zionists as a result of the Holocaust in their treatment of Palestinians) in order to paper-over their own feelings of impotence. Jews were impotent during the Holocaust so they are “potent” now, and Walmart shoppers are impotent in the social construct of America so they are “potent” with respect to sweatshop workers.

Marxists are deluded in that they treat the world as a dual construct of capitalists/workers. This utter travesty of extreme over-simplification has mind-fucked the left into abandoning the world’s poor – since they treat all workers equally, as “slaves of capitalism”.

Many of the supposedly downtrodden workers are mini-lords, with slaves below them who toil endlessly to provide benefits to themselves. Low slaves in Africa and Asia serve the needs of their “poor” masters in America, Western Europe and Japan, personified by a member of the “working class” wearing Nike apparel.

The global power structure is not capitalist/worker – it’s a ladder with many rungs. Unless you’re on the very top or the very bottom, you’re BOTH a slave and a master.

Marxism and it’s many “errors” have prevented the overthrow of capitalism. Marxism is a belief held by masters who pretend to be slaves. Anyone serious about destroying capitalism has had just about enough of that.

Marxism supports capitalism since it’s constituency (First world workers) benefits from it – the output of low slaves feeds their material well-being.