By Thomas Neuburger. Originally published on God’s spies
Weekend murder in Rafah (source)
The rich don’t rule in anyone’s name other than their own.
-Your humble servant
Bipartisan Consensus Rules America
Bipartisan consensus on most issues governs America. For example, bipartisan consensus controls support for our wars. On April 20:
The U.S. House of Representatives on Saturday approved a $95 billion legislative package aimed at providing aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. … Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican Mitch McConnell had urged Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson to put the bill to a vote.
And on April 27:
The US Senate approved a $95 billion bill to provide security aid to Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific region with overwhelming bipartisan support, aiming to strengthen key priorities of President Joe Biden’s foreign policy.
This is true despite lack of public support for the two wars, and active opposition to the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
The same goes for health care in America. Majorities have favored national Medicare for All plans for years. Yet the bipartisan consensus is against it. Biden said he would veto a Medicare for All billand the Republicans, of course, want a Medicare plan for no one, despite majority support for a public option even among their base.
I guarantee you that even Republican voters, if they had it, would kill to keep expanded Medicare for all. Person think South Park is wrong on the American medical system. We simply have not reached critical mass in active opposition, and the media helps maintain this state of affairs.
It’s the Princeton study again
We could go on and on, but what’s the point? It’s the Princeton study once again. “Major study reveals US is an oligarchy» headlines a title. We all know that this statement is not false.
It is not about Left versus Right. There are problems between left and right, but endless war (to enrich the war purveyors) and endless flows of wealth to the top (to enrich our real leaders and impoverish everyone else) don’t make it so. part.
This about the Rich and the rest. More precisely, it is about How can we stop the rich from ruling the rest? How can we break their hold on politics?
Could Israel support separation between the rich and everyone else?
Which brings me to Israel and my main point.
The people of Gaza are being murdered relentlessly. In response, here at home, there is a surprisingly strong rebellion: students against universities full of money; the governed against their rulers, as billionaire Robert Kraft – and the problem that started it all is a foreign war, the genocide of Israel and its broad and determined support by the elite and the media.
Where could this end?
Results
The best outcome would be for Israel to stop killing people. This would put an end to the deaths and end the revolt against the complicity of our leaders. After all, the George Floyd protests left virtually no trace. The torture of Gazans would continue, as would the killings by police officers, but emptied of its driving force – mass murder – this opposition would likely disappear behind the scenes.
But what if Israel intends to carry out outright ethnic cleansing, either by murdering most of Gaza’s residents, expelling them en masse, or both? John Mearsheimer certainly thinks that this is the the most likely of his four options. Israelis do not want a one-state solution. They don’t want a two-state solution. They must either drive all Arabs out of Palestine or murder those who remain.
So what happens if Israel never stops?
- Biden refuses his support for Israel in a meaningful way and that significant protests cease.
- Biden maintains his support and protests are accelerating, alongside unstoppable killings.
I think it’s all about the choices.
If Biden and the bipartisan gang insist on weaponizing the slaughter of what could end up being a million innocent souls, America’s base – its people – could rise up against the top – its money-fed leaders – d ‘a way that would tell everyone involved. this unavoidable truth: The rich don’t rule us in anyone’s name other than their own.
The unfinished revolution
And it would take the United States back to the 1960s and 1970s, another era of critical mass revolt. At the time, a number of themes – civil rights, women’s rights, environmentalism (called “greening”) and others – each came together around a core of life and death, the refusal of the mass of young men to be sent to die.
As long as conscription was in place, the revolt (“the Movement”) was strong, a solid threat to state authority. As early as the finished draft, the Movement began to decline. The distinct “movements” remained, but lost their critical mass. We live in a post-Movement world, built by Carter (the proto-neoliberal), Reagan, Clinton, Bush and all the others.
What will end American bondage?
As before, many issues threaten our lives today – economic and racial justice, the rape of people for enrichment, our murderous climate – but none has single-handedly united people to rebel, and none has generated critical mass.
Until now, that is, with the horror of the Israeli genocide and the determination of our leaders to see it continue.
So my own result is this:
If Israel continues to massacre Gazans and our leaders continue to impose complicity on us, the revolt could ignite a flame that could reach critical mass – and burn until the Israelis give up, or Biden gives up, or our leaders lose control of the country.
Will Israel succeed in destroying this nation? After all, something must end American servitude. This isn’t going to end on its own. It might as well be the doing of our leaders’ best friend.
