U.S. President Donald Trump gives thumbs up to supporters from this motorcade after he golfed at Trump National Golf Club on November 22, 2020 in Sterling, Virginia. The previous day Preisdent Donald Trump left a G20 summit virtual event "Pandemic Preparedness" to visit one of his golf clubs as virus has now killed more than 250,000 Americans. (Photo: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Defeat Trump. OK, Now Comes the Hard Part.
We must seize the moment. The vision driving these movements, so long mocked and marginalized, must enter the political mainstream and begin to change the world.
Step one: Defeat Trump. OK, now comes the hard part.
We have to take back the country, and what I really mean is take it "forward," beyond situation normal -- endless war, structural racism, consumer culture and ecological devastation -- and into what one might call planetary stewardship.
This sounds, of course, absurd, as though there's any facet of the American status quo, political or economic, that would abandon its interests and embrace a vision-in-progress: of a world that has transcended nationalism, borders and war . . . of a world that has transcended us-vs.-them thinking and dominion over Planet Earth.
Idealism, man! There's nothing Americans are better at than mocking it. Nonetheless, beyond the mockery, I believe there is an enormous segment of the population that understands the need to create real peace and believes -- or wants to believe -- in a future that is not caged in the past. Does such a movement have any resonance, any hope of political traction?
"I believe there is an enormous segment of the population that understands the need to create real peace and believes -- or wants to believe -- in a future that is not caged in the past. Does such a movement have any resonance, any hope of political traction?"
Danny Sjursen puts it this way: "What seems certain is that, as ever, salvation won't spring from the top. Don't count on Status-quo Joe to slaughter Washington's sacred cows of foreign policy or on his national security team to topple the golden calves of American empire."
Nor will a vision of planetary salvation be willingly articulated by the mainstream media, which will report it only in binary terms: progressives vs. centrists, or whatever. For instance, in a typically dismissive headline recently, NBC News informed us: "Corporation-free zone: Progressives press Biden to lock out big business" as he puts together his cabinet. The job of the media is to turn a vision into a cliche -- that's the best way to prevent it from creating actual change.
You might say democracy itself is essentially a cliche at this point. The team Biden is putting together is full-speed-ahead military-industrial complex. No matter how ravaged the world is from endless wars, they will continue and we will not talk about them. America's leadership role is 100 percent militaristic and selling weapons is what keeps everyone (who matters) happy.
Vince Cable, the former leader of the UK Liberal Democrats and a guy attuned to political realism, writing about the American political future in The Independent, believes there is only one way for money to be available for the Biden administration to address anything of value to the people who voted for him: "a big injection of dollars and political support into the armed services. . . .
"This is the one cause for which conservative Republicans may be willing to spend unlimited amounts of public money. The promise to build a new fighter jet in a Senator's state is perhaps the one thing that might persuade him also to put more into health and education. . . .
"In the coming four years, Keynesian economics is not going to be delivered in the U.S. through a 'Green New Deal' but it may come about with the help of defense spending."
So what's coming up in the world beyond Trump is more of the same and then some: the relaunch of NATO, as Cable points out, and maybe a Cold War with China, along with "big arms deals with Taiwan, Japan and India." This all feeds "a narrative, with which both Democrats and Republicans are aligned."
Militarized unity! Of course Biden understands this. And this is the context progressives have to acknowledge; it's the only context we have, and thus it's the context in which a vision of global healing and transcending militarism must emerge. The cliche of American democracy would have us believe that the people have had their say and now it's up to Biden to Make America Normal Again. See you in four years!
The Americans who have taken to the streets this year -- and millions who haven't -- know otherwise. Now it's time to keep our voices loud and vibrant, to push for change at many levels with more urgency than ever.
As George Monbiot wrote: "Trump stormed into the political vacuum. Chaotic and unscrupulous, in some respects he offended the neoliberal consensus, ripping up trade agreements, while in others he reinforced it. But the important point is that he was a monster the consensus created. His success was a product of the fake unity and fake healing of elite political agreement. When mainstream politics offered only humiliation and frustration, people turned to a virulent, demagogic anti-politics."
Trump was the opposite of a visionary. He was a racist clown and liar who convinced almost half the electorate that his political incorrectness was real. Now that things are allegedly returning to a pre-Trump, centrist normal, we must, as Monbiot put it, "build and sustain social movements that are bigger than the Democratic Party."
Left to the Dems, these movements would never get political traction:
* The movement not to defund but to rethink policing and, indeed, social order and security. Broken, impoverished communities need healing, not the presence of an occupying army. This is armed racism.
* The movement for empathy and compassion at the border, and for understanding that U.S. foreign policy is one of the major contributors to global displacement and the creation of refugees.
* The movement to demilitarize foreign policy, dismantle and abolish nuclear weapons, slash the military budget and rethink our relationship with Planet Earth. What does it mean that we all live on one planet?
* The movement to recognize and begin addressing the planet's climate emergency, move beyond fossil fuels, recycle all "waste" and reconnect with nature.
And so much more! Activists must seize the moment. The vision driving these movements, so long mocked and marginalized, must enter the political mainstream and begin to change the world. The time is now.
FINAL DAY! This is urgent.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission from the outset was simple. To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just hours left in our Spring Campaign, we're still falling short of our make-or-break goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Step one: Defeat Trump. OK, now comes the hard part.
We have to take back the country, and what I really mean is take it "forward," beyond situation normal -- endless war, structural racism, consumer culture and ecological devastation -- and into what one might call planetary stewardship.
This sounds, of course, absurd, as though there's any facet of the American status quo, political or economic, that would abandon its interests and embrace a vision-in-progress: of a world that has transcended nationalism, borders and war . . . of a world that has transcended us-vs.-them thinking and dominion over Planet Earth.
Idealism, man! There's nothing Americans are better at than mocking it. Nonetheless, beyond the mockery, I believe there is an enormous segment of the population that understands the need to create real peace and believes -- or wants to believe -- in a future that is not caged in the past. Does such a movement have any resonance, any hope of political traction?
"I believe there is an enormous segment of the population that understands the need to create real peace and believes -- or wants to believe -- in a future that is not caged in the past. Does such a movement have any resonance, any hope of political traction?"
Danny Sjursen puts it this way: "What seems certain is that, as ever, salvation won't spring from the top. Don't count on Status-quo Joe to slaughter Washington's sacred cows of foreign policy or on his national security team to topple the golden calves of American empire."
Nor will a vision of planetary salvation be willingly articulated by the mainstream media, which will report it only in binary terms: progressives vs. centrists, or whatever. For instance, in a typically dismissive headline recently, NBC News informed us: "Corporation-free zone: Progressives press Biden to lock out big business" as he puts together his cabinet. The job of the media is to turn a vision into a cliche -- that's the best way to prevent it from creating actual change.
You might say democracy itself is essentially a cliche at this point. The team Biden is putting together is full-speed-ahead military-industrial complex. No matter how ravaged the world is from endless wars, they will continue and we will not talk about them. America's leadership role is 100 percent militaristic and selling weapons is what keeps everyone (who matters) happy.
Vince Cable, the former leader of the UK Liberal Democrats and a guy attuned to political realism, writing about the American political future in The Independent, believes there is only one way for money to be available for the Biden administration to address anything of value to the people who voted for him: "a big injection of dollars and political support into the armed services. . . .
"This is the one cause for which conservative Republicans may be willing to spend unlimited amounts of public money. The promise to build a new fighter jet in a Senator's state is perhaps the one thing that might persuade him also to put more into health and education. . . .
"In the coming four years, Keynesian economics is not going to be delivered in the U.S. through a 'Green New Deal' but it may come about with the help of defense spending."
So what's coming up in the world beyond Trump is more of the same and then some: the relaunch of NATO, as Cable points out, and maybe a Cold War with China, along with "big arms deals with Taiwan, Japan and India." This all feeds "a narrative, with which both Democrats and Republicans are aligned."
Militarized unity! Of course Biden understands this. And this is the context progressives have to acknowledge; it's the only context we have, and thus it's the context in which a vision of global healing and transcending militarism must emerge. The cliche of American democracy would have us believe that the people have had their say and now it's up to Biden to Make America Normal Again. See you in four years!
The Americans who have taken to the streets this year -- and millions who haven't -- know otherwise. Now it's time to keep our voices loud and vibrant, to push for change at many levels with more urgency than ever.
As George Monbiot wrote: "Trump stormed into the political vacuum. Chaotic and unscrupulous, in some respects he offended the neoliberal consensus, ripping up trade agreements, while in others he reinforced it. But the important point is that he was a monster the consensus created. His success was a product of the fake unity and fake healing of elite political agreement. When mainstream politics offered only humiliation and frustration, people turned to a virulent, demagogic anti-politics."
Trump was the opposite of a visionary. He was a racist clown and liar who convinced almost half the electorate that his political incorrectness was real. Now that things are allegedly returning to a pre-Trump, centrist normal, we must, as Monbiot put it, "build and sustain social movements that are bigger than the Democratic Party."
Left to the Dems, these movements would never get political traction:
* The movement not to defund but to rethink policing and, indeed, social order and security. Broken, impoverished communities need healing, not the presence of an occupying army. This is armed racism.
* The movement for empathy and compassion at the border, and for understanding that U.S. foreign policy is one of the major contributors to global displacement and the creation of refugees.
* The movement to demilitarize foreign policy, dismantle and abolish nuclear weapons, slash the military budget and rethink our relationship with Planet Earth. What does it mean that we all live on one planet?
* The movement to recognize and begin addressing the planet's climate emergency, move beyond fossil fuels, recycle all "waste" and reconnect with nature.
And so much more! Activists must seize the moment. The vision driving these movements, so long mocked and marginalized, must enter the political mainstream and begin to change the world. The time is now.
Step one: Defeat Trump. OK, now comes the hard part.
We have to take back the country, and what I really mean is take it "forward," beyond situation normal -- endless war, structural racism, consumer culture and ecological devastation -- and into what one might call planetary stewardship.
This sounds, of course, absurd, as though there's any facet of the American status quo, political or economic, that would abandon its interests and embrace a vision-in-progress: of a world that has transcended nationalism, borders and war . . . of a world that has transcended us-vs.-them thinking and dominion over Planet Earth.
Idealism, man! There's nothing Americans are better at than mocking it. Nonetheless, beyond the mockery, I believe there is an enormous segment of the population that understands the need to create real peace and believes -- or wants to believe -- in a future that is not caged in the past. Does such a movement have any resonance, any hope of political traction?
"I believe there is an enormous segment of the population that understands the need to create real peace and believes -- or wants to believe -- in a future that is not caged in the past. Does such a movement have any resonance, any hope of political traction?"
Danny Sjursen puts it this way: "What seems certain is that, as ever, salvation won't spring from the top. Don't count on Status-quo Joe to slaughter Washington's sacred cows of foreign policy or on his national security team to topple the golden calves of American empire."
Nor will a vision of planetary salvation be willingly articulated by the mainstream media, which will report it only in binary terms: progressives vs. centrists, or whatever. For instance, in a typically dismissive headline recently, NBC News informed us: "Corporation-free zone: Progressives press Biden to lock out big business" as he puts together his cabinet. The job of the media is to turn a vision into a cliche -- that's the best way to prevent it from creating actual change.
You might say democracy itself is essentially a cliche at this point. The team Biden is putting together is full-speed-ahead military-industrial complex. No matter how ravaged the world is from endless wars, they will continue and we will not talk about them. America's leadership role is 100 percent militaristic and selling weapons is what keeps everyone (who matters) happy.
Vince Cable, the former leader of the UK Liberal Democrats and a guy attuned to political realism, writing about the American political future in The Independent, believes there is only one way for money to be available for the Biden administration to address anything of value to the people who voted for him: "a big injection of dollars and political support into the armed services. . . .
"This is the one cause for which conservative Republicans may be willing to spend unlimited amounts of public money. The promise to build a new fighter jet in a Senator's state is perhaps the one thing that might persuade him also to put more into health and education. . . .
"In the coming four years, Keynesian economics is not going to be delivered in the U.S. through a 'Green New Deal' but it may come about with the help of defense spending."
So what's coming up in the world beyond Trump is more of the same and then some: the relaunch of NATO, as Cable points out, and maybe a Cold War with China, along with "big arms deals with Taiwan, Japan and India." This all feeds "a narrative, with which both Democrats and Republicans are aligned."
Militarized unity! Of course Biden understands this. And this is the context progressives have to acknowledge; it's the only context we have, and thus it's the context in which a vision of global healing and transcending militarism must emerge. The cliche of American democracy would have us believe that the people have had their say and now it's up to Biden to Make America Normal Again. See you in four years!
The Americans who have taken to the streets this year -- and millions who haven't -- know otherwise. Now it's time to keep our voices loud and vibrant, to push for change at many levels with more urgency than ever.
As George Monbiot wrote: "Trump stormed into the political vacuum. Chaotic and unscrupulous, in some respects he offended the neoliberal consensus, ripping up trade agreements, while in others he reinforced it. But the important point is that he was a monster the consensus created. His success was a product of the fake unity and fake healing of elite political agreement. When mainstream politics offered only humiliation and frustration, people turned to a virulent, demagogic anti-politics."
Trump was the opposite of a visionary. He was a racist clown and liar who convinced almost half the electorate that his political incorrectness was real. Now that things are allegedly returning to a pre-Trump, centrist normal, we must, as Monbiot put it, "build and sustain social movements that are bigger than the Democratic Party."
Left to the Dems, these movements would never get political traction:
* The movement not to defund but to rethink policing and, indeed, social order and security. Broken, impoverished communities need healing, not the presence of an occupying army. This is armed racism.
* The movement for empathy and compassion at the border, and for understanding that U.S. foreign policy is one of the major contributors to global displacement and the creation of refugees.
* The movement to demilitarize foreign policy, dismantle and abolish nuclear weapons, slash the military budget and rethink our relationship with Planet Earth. What does it mean that we all live on one planet?
* The movement to recognize and begin addressing the planet's climate emergency, move beyond fossil fuels, recycle all "waste" and reconnect with nature.
And so much more! Activists must seize the moment. The vision driving these movements, so long mocked and marginalized, must enter the political mainstream and begin to change the world. The time is now.