Tag: independence

“Independence Day”!? Even I must admit that the term is technically true because on this date some rebels, yes rebels, put their lives on the line by signing their names on a piece of vellum parchment(sheepskin), not hemp.

Had a friend of mine say today that this day is actually not a celebration of the military but of agitators. He is right and he is wrong. First, those that signed the document were leaders of their “colonies”, though in reality the people living in them may not have known these cats were starting a war. Secondly, as the representatives(the rich dudes) they were ostensibly the CIC of the Militias.

Joseph would be jealous if he knew the extent of propaganda used to herd the sheep. Karl learned it and taught the Democrats a lesson.

^discern that meaning and you win a prize^

Case in point.

So here we are, free, intelligent humans able to discern truth from fiction. Oh if it were so it would be a beautiful world. I think back to the falsehoods(lies) that were taught when I was but a wee one and cringe. The cringe is nothing when I consider the “willies” induced when I consider what kids are taught today. Too often I throw my hands in the air and say, “such is life” and that “history is written by the victor”.

Well here is a little history from some dopeheads that I have passed on to my grandkid. he’s twelve, I can only hope he teaches his siblings.

Two more different places do not come to mind, yet what we have been witnessing are two instances of the national question which have been in the news recently. I was originally going to write only on Scotland, but the immediacy of the catastrophe that is happening to the Kurds in Syria and the fight being waged against great odds while the world watches (and literally the Turkish army sits in its tanks watching while prevented Turkish Kurds from joining the fight in support of those fighting in Kobaně) needs to be addressed. So I decided to discuss both issues and to ask where the left stands and where it should stand on what should have been termed historically the national question and what criteria we should use to ascertain whether there is a legitimate issue that should be supported.



As we watch the power of states in the advanced capitalist world be weakened through the internationalisation of capital beyond national borders, one would think that the national question (a question arising at the end of the 19th century with the consolidation of nation states like Germany and Italy in the 1870s in the context of the consolidation of bourgeois nationalism and then the creation in the early 20th century of new nation states following the collapse of the Hapsburg and Ottoman Empires, e.g., Hungary, Greece, Czechoslovakia) would have ceased to be a relevant consideration. However, even as we sit here and watch the control over “domestic” capital weaken in state by state (this can be easily seen in the inability to control taxation of profits of MNCs), the issue of the national question still raises its head.  This is not only the situation in the post-world war II period of anti-colonialist struggles (e.g., India, Algeria, Mozambique, Zimbabwe), nor the struggle against neo-colonialism and imperialism’s attempts to control the economic and political situations in other countries, but also includes the issue of the rights of nations currently in union, through historical circumstance, or forced through being conquered historically to be part of a state (e.g., The Basque, Catalonia, Scotland, Wales).    

Since both questions impact significantly on the issue of anti-imperialist in theory and practice, they bring to the fore issues that the Left needs to address. Inevitably, there will be differences among the Left due to different perspectives on the both the acceptance of the right of self-determination, the issue of nation-state themselves, and how this impacts upon anti-imperialist struggles.

Crossposted at Daily Kos

   If you witness a state, county or town fireworks display this Independence Day, you have enjoyed the fruits of American socialism.

Social welfare, public programs and any service that is not performed to make a profit have often been sold to the uninformed, feeble minded and people who do not read books with big words as Socialism.  Why, everywhere you look there is socialism. From the public water fountain that does not require quarters to operate, to the fireworks going off over your head this evening, everywhere this Independence day you can find a small bit of what some people call “Socialism” free for your benefit and enjoyment.

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   That’s right.

   What an amazing country we live in!

   Help celebrate America’s rich social history with me below the fold.