Republicans and Class War

Today the New York Times published an article titled "Republicans Call Obama’s Tax Plan ‘Class Warfare’" by Brian Knowlton. He writes:

Representative Paul D. Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee and a leading proponent of cutting spending on benefit programs like Medicare, said the proposal[Obama's current one]would weigh heavily on a stagnating economy.

On “Fox News Sunday,” Mr. Ryan said it would add “further instability to our system, more uncertainty, and it punishes job creation.”

“Class warfare,” he said, “may make for really good politics, but it makes for rotten economics.”

It's funny that the only people that still talk about class war are the ones waging it. Class war is rotten economics and rotten politics. Everyone needs to get out their US history books and study how life was for workers in the US before the advances propelled by the labor movement. The class warrior elites want to reduce us to our slave status we had in the nineteenth and early twentieth-century.

Anders Behring Breivik and the Rise of Extremism

The Oslo massacre by right-wing terrorist Anders Behring Breivik has sent shock waves throughout the world. His motto is "never surrender to cultural Marxism" and he views Islam as a great threat to European Christendom. Most white Christian Europeans do not sympathize with his tactics, but it is naive to assume he does not have a large number of silent sympathizers of his views.

It is interesting how Breivik is often termed a "lone extremist" by US media. Ridiculous Bill O'Reilly claimed that Breivik in no way can be considered a Christian, even though Breivik claims he is and celebrates famous Christian Crusaders from times past. Clearly there is a double standard to his approach when it comes to Muslims committing acts of terror. Right-wing radio goon Glenn Beck did not shy from comparing the victims of the shooting to Hitler Youth. I'll refer to this as a political Freudian slip of where the right-wing's sympathies really are (many of the victims were multicultural socialists).

Yet, make no mistake, demographics in Europe are changing. Popular Egyptian-European Muslim preacher Amr Khaled makes a prediction that Muslims will be the majority in Europe within twenty years. Social tensions will no doubt be exasperated by the global economic crisis. One can argue that Islamic extremism and the rise of right-wing nationalism will only be two out of many "-isms" to surge in growth as a result of destructive global capitalism. Especially with the ongoing dismantling of public institutions.

The second youtube post is Anders Behring Breivik's "Deceleration of European Independence." It reveals a lot.

The Bonus Army/Marchers : America's Tiananmen Square

In 1932 US war veterans were struggling to feed their families and needed their government promised bonuses in order to eek out a living. They marched to Washington D.C. with their families and set up camp until their demands were met. Elected officials denied their request. President Hoover sent in troops to squash them. Men who served and fought in WWI would find themselves suppressed. Their suppression was coordinated by some of America's most famous military heroes: MacArthur, Eisenhower, and Patton. When times get tough economically all Americans can rest assured that the US government is capable of doing whatever it takes to keep stability. Even that entails taking down disgruntled veterans with tanks and bayonets.

Uganda's Christian Theocracy/Democracy and Homosexuality

The other night I was at a local bar in Modesto, California and an extremely drunk man almost attacked me. Before this incident, the bartender and I were making jokes about homophobes. The drunk guy became emotional and told me, "I don't like this conversation." As I walked to use the restroom the guy stood up and shouted, "Don't try to touch me! Gays!..." The bouncer got between us and I left the bar. I'm not gay but I received a small experience that many gays go through on a daily basis. Unfortunately homophobia is a global problem.

Currently, in Uganda the treatment of gays is becoming unprecedented. There is an attempt in Uganda to strengthen anti-homosexuality. Anti-homosexual activists hope to make homosexuality result in punishment by death. They want to punish those who do not snitch on citizens that they know to be practicing homosexuality. This is what theocracy looks like. Although, the majority may support these laws. Hence, this is what democracy looks like. Significantly, there is no politically neutral belief system. And each belief system makes an individual inclined to particular politics. Yet, a belief system can also distract a person from actual workings of politics.

We should not view what is happening in Uganda with naivete. Homophobia, like antisemitism and anti-immigrant fervor, can be utilized as a distraction from the greater class antagonism in any given society. In other words,the ruling class can use democratic sentiments (such as cultural trends or prejudices) as a smokescreen to prevent societal frustrations from being centered on those that rule society and create its economic/politcal imbalances. A point that should always be kept in mind as social tensions of any kind build in any country.