War, economics, ecocide, sociology, revolution

Too many people still don't know what is really going on.
If you know some of those sleep walkers, send them this video.
It says what the teevee doesn't, about war, economics, ecocide, sociology, and revolution.
First, about WAR:
Our government's military policy is crazy.
The tactics are crazy. Only friendship can make us safe --
people don't bomb their friends -- but instead our military is trying to conquer.
They're making new enemies faster than they're killing old ones.
Every innocent civilian who loses a home, a limb, or a loved one gains a reason to
pick up a box cutter or a bomb vest.
Our military's motivation is crazy. All our wars are based on bipartisan lies.
There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
The Gulf of Tonkin Incident never happened.
Roosevelt provoked the Japanese extensively to get them to
attack Pearl Harbor. And so on.
And the budget is crazy. Over half of every tax dollar goes to the military.
No wonder we're going bankrupt.
Eisenhower warned us half a century ago of the military-industrial-congressional
complex, which profits from every war.
They're the only winners.
Next, about JOBS AND THE ECONOMY. Our economic system is not just corrupt.
Its design was defective from the start.
Productivity has been rising steadily for decades --
and that ought to be a GOOD thing --
it would make us all affluent if the gains were shared by the whole team. But
instead the gains are pocketed by the bosses,
so there are fewer jobs and lower wages.
Then the poor will do any work that keeps them alive --
even in sweatshops or the military.
THE MARKET is cruel and stupid.
It disregards honesty,
compassion, and externalized costs.
It's inefficient. For instance, European socialism provides better health care
for less money than our own greed-based system.
Big corporations are psychopaths: They're compelled both by competition and by
law to maximize profits, disregarding or even concealing harm to workers,
consumers, and the rest of the world.
I'll skip over the Federal Reserve system because it's so crazy that you probably
wouldn't believe me anyway.
The gap between the rich and everyone else
is far wider than most people realize and it's still growing.
The winner-take-all board game of "Monopoly" might be an amusing way to
spend an evening, but it's a stupid plan for an economy, and it's even more stupid
if the players who are already ahead get to rewrite the rules.
The rich pay for the advertisements that determine our elections,
and so nothing gets done in our society unless it makes the rich richer.
This crazy system continues largely because many people have been
brainwashed to believe
in a philosophy of selfishness and separateness.
That philosophy has acquired legitimacy and respect,
and it silences any other ideology, and it is destroying the world.
The selfishness was encouraged by Reagan's myth of the "welfare queen."
None of us wants to be taken advantage of; none of us wants to support a slacker.
But this assumes both that other people will be selfish,
and that they would prefer not to work.
But wouldn't you like to do something worthwhile and be appreciated for it,
like a firefighter, a teacher, a doctor?
We should restructure our society so that all jobs are as meaningful as those.

The truth is that no human is an island;
every human depends on a societal web for survival and productivity. Even a hermit
lives with the memory of his or her mother.
Humans evolved in cooperative tribes, thousands of years ago,
doing teamwork, and that's how we're still hardwired. We're all in this together.
Remember, John Lennon sang
"Imagine no possessions -- I wonder if you can."
Just accepting the concept of "yours" and "mine" separates us.
Then your interests are not my interests,
your loss is not my loss, and in fact your lost might even be my gain.
Poof! There's no more teamwork.
The commons should be cherished and nurtured,
but instead it has been privatized and plundered.
Consequently the ECOSYSTEM is deteriorating,
faster than most people realize.
And the deterioration is accelerating
because of feedback loops --
that's where the results contribute to the causes:
As the glaciers and polar ice melt, less sunlight is reflected;
as the permafrost and ocean warm,
more methane is released.
Floods and droughts are becoming more frequent and more intense.
Soon -- though we don't know exactly when -- the deterioration will pass a tipping point
and the entire ecosystem will simply COLLAPSE,
killing us all.
Wars and sweatshops might go on forever but ecocide imposes a time limit.
We're capable of making peace, feeding the world, and saving the ecosystem,
but that's not happening,
because it wouldn't make the rich richer.
Evidently we need to de-legitimize separateness and overthrow the market.
That's an enormous change, our biggest in thousands of years,
but nothing less can save us.
We need a REVOLUTION.
In fact we need something bigger than what the word "revolution" has usually meant.
It will take us where no one has ever been,
so we have no map, and only our hearts for a compass.
We need to figure it out together. And that conversation is the biggest part of
the revolution.
I'm not advocating violence,
though the plutocracy may become violent when they feel their grip weakening.
And removing the plutocracy is not enough:
If we don't change our culture, it will quickly generate a new plutocracy.
So I'm advocating a revolution of IDEAS.
The bureaucracy of brutality will fall without a shot
if all its workers awaken and walk out.
If the enlightenment spreads far enough, the elite will lose their power --
either gracefully or grudgingly -- that's their choice.
Right now revolution may look unlikely because most people are too weary to
think about big change. They just wonder about their next meal and perhaps their next year.
But soon they will realize that any security is only an illusion.
As famines and resource wars accelerate, people will start to
consider more radical ideas.
But will they listen to wise ideas, or hateful ones?
It's up to us to find and spread the wisest ideas we can.
If you like this video, pass it on to others.
And by the way my own favorite news sources are Alternet and Common Dreams.
But we have to keep in mind that everyone has their own trusted sources
for what they believe to be factual information;
and trust can't be won through debate.
Perhaps it can be won through dialogue.
Part of the answer that we're all seeking is an understanding of EACH OTHER.
No one knows the whole song, so keep listening and keep singing.