The Blob

[flipper]

When we first got our TV when I was really young .I can remember watching movies and documentaries about communism. I can remember seeing pictures of communists and being worried that I might be infected by watching pictures of communist. I think the movie the Blob is the very best expression of how communism was presented. Think of the domino affect.

Recently I discovered that the period of about 1850 to 1950 more radical than any thing in the 1960s. Unions did not just want better conditions for the workers they wanted a new political system. There were more communist in the United States before 1910 then there were in Russia. Part of Spain was organized as an anarchist state. "Anarchism the highest form of organization." Communism,anarchism, and socialism, were all serious candidates. The elite decided that there was a real threat so they bought us off with pensions, holidays, rights, better wages, and better working conditions. The other part of the attack was to jail the radical union leaders and replace them with more amenable union organizers, like the mafia. Hoover would would not bother the mafia, only communist until Bobby Kennedy made him. Here are some examples of history that I did not know was there:
Jewish Radicals.Why were they so radical? What accounts for the disportionate involvement of American Jews in leftist causes, socialist parties, and radical debates? Tony Michels traces the contributions made by Jewish immigrants and their offspring to left-wing theory and activism. Also, Amy Herzog has written a play about three generations of a radical Jewish family.
Tues 9.17.13 | Jewish Radicals | Against the Grain: A Program about Politics, Society and Ideas
Edmund Wilson appealed to his fellow progressives to give up their expectations of “salvation by the gradual and natural approximation to socialism” and urged them to become a militant minority actively struggling to attain socialism here and now.
Radical Intellectuals in the 1930s
In the terror of the Fifties hundreds and hundreds of American writers, artists, actors, directors, school teachers, college professors and scientists were fired from their jobs; penalized economically and socially; and jailed for ideas! For something they had published in the thirties.
And nine times out of ten, the alleged "crime" had been committed in the Thirties!
Jospeh Freeman's "The Vision of the Thirties"
The 1919 Winnipeg General Strike
The 1919 Winnipeg General Strike
Robber Barons, Revolution, and Social Control. It was this revolutionary fervour that permeated the conniving minds of the rich and powerful within America, that stimulated the concepts of social control, and laid the foundations for the emergence of the 20th century as the ‘century of social engineering.’
Robber Barons, Revolution, and Social Control | Global Research
This suggestion is for your viewing pleasure:

 

[Pygar2]

If only these silly, unworkable notions *had* been stamped out...

 

[flipper]

If only these silly, unworkable notions *had* been stamped out...

They have been stamped out:
Radical Jews for social justice has been replaced by AIPAC
socialism, communism, anarchism has been replaced by very free market capitalism
the common has been replaced by the privatization of everything
the general strike has be replaced by no unions and no jobs
social programs have been replaced with austerity packages
public programs with Public Private Partnership (the public pays and the private gets the profit)
the protection of local jobs, markets, and resources, with free trade
the nation state with the national security state

THE NATIONAL SECURITY STATE; KEEPING THE WORLD SAFE FOR PLUTOCRACY

 

[Tyger]

Thank you for posting the links, flipper.

 

[Charlie Prime]

The elite decided that there was a real threat so they bought us off with pensions, holidays, rights, better wages, and better working conditions.

My research indicates something different. Communism was an elite control mechanism, similar to "terrorism" today.

Indeed, there are genuine Terrorists who desire to kill infidels/blacks/jews/etc. But if you dig in, you find that the development of their ideology was funded by elites, their early organization was shaped by elites, their major thinkers are controlled by elites, and their actions are directed by elites.

That black guy who murdered the British solider in the street was a true believer, acting on principle, but he is really nothing more than a pawn. Osama Bin Laden really did believe in Wahabbist Islam, but he was really just an elite tool, and he knew it.

Communism was the same way. The ideology was developed by elite academics. The early organization was run by elites. Useful idiots like H.G. Wells, George Bernard Shaw, and Emma Goldman were used to spread the ideology.

Even today ignorant children like the Zeitgeist kiddies promote the latest iteration of it. Communism was and is a powerful human resource management tool for global elites.

 

[Jeff Davis]

My research indicates something different. Communism was an elite control mechanism, similar to "terrorism" today.

Indeed, there are genuine Terrorists who desire to kill infidels/blacks/jews/etc. But if you dig in, you find that the development of their ideology was funded by elites, their early organization was shaped by elites, their major thinkers are controlled by elites, and their actions are directed by elites.

That black guy who murdered the British solider in the street was a true believer, acting on principle, but he is really nothing more than a pawn. Osama Bin Laden really did believe in Wahabbist Islam, but he was really just an elite tool, and he knew it.

Communism was the same way. The ideology was developed by elite academics. The early organization was run by elites. Useful idiots like H.G. Wells, George Bernard Shaw, and Emma Goldman were used to spread the ideology.

Even today ignorant children like the Zeitgeist kiddies promote the latest iteration of it. Communism was and is a powerful human resource management tool for global elites.

Very interesting. Does your research falsify the underlying notion of what is the Zeitgeist documentary? I have no investment there, I have just always wondered based upon it's conspiratorial contention that Jesus (the Christian Jesus) never historically existed.

 

[Charlie Prime]

The Christ Myth Theory part of the Zeitgeist movie is a huge, old area of academic research.

Christ myth theory - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You could spend the rest of your life digging through that research and never reach a satisfying conclusion. I keep an eye on the topic because I find it interesting, but I'm not well educated on it.


The Zeitgeist movie is really just a reiteration of the old communist promise, updated with spiffy Artificial Intelligence computers commanding the economy instead of a dictatorship of enlighten intellectuals.

Communism is inherently irrational because it's based upon the non-sensical idea that you do not own your own body, and it ignores the old Economic Calculation Problem.

P.J. Mercola is a stock day-trader and failed musician who discovered he could gain a following of groupies by repackaging communism for kids with updated techno memes and cool graphics.

 

[Randall]

The Christ Myth Theory part of the Zeitgeist movie is a huge, old area of academic research ...

I once asked myself the question of whether or not there was enough substantial evidence to believe that Christ ( Jesus of Nazareth ) actually existed. I fully expected to find things that he had made as a carpenter in some museum along with bits of scripture that he had written, and maybe even some tools and bits of clothing. To my surprise surprised it turned out there was no ( zero, nothing ) material evidence that Christ existed. The famed shroud of Turin was exposed as fake years ago, and was obvious that it was in the first place. All evidence that Jesus existed consists of myths. It's a totally faith based religion. I also find theories as to how the myth came into being to be more intriguing than had there been a real historical character.

 

[flipper]

My research indicates something different. Communism was an elite control mechanism, similar to "terrorism" today.

Indeed, there are genuine Terrorists who desire to kill infidels/blacks/jews/etc. But if you dig in, you find that the development of their ideology was funded by elites, their early organization was shaped by elites, their major thinkers are controlled by elites, and their actions are directed by elites.

That black guy who murdered the British solider in the street was a true believer, acting on principle, but he is really nothing more than a pawn. Osama Bin Laden really did believe in Wahabbist Islam, but he was really just an elite tool, and he knew it.

Communism was the same way. The ideology was developed by elite academics. The early organization was run by elites. Useful idiots like H.G. Wells, George Bernard Shaw, and Emma Goldman were used to spread the ideology.

Even today ignorant children like the Zeitgeist kiddies promote the latest iteration of it. Communism was and is a powerful human resource management tool for global elites.

I am familiar with this understanding of herstory. Who financed Lenin and Trotsky?
Who financed Lenin and Trotsky?
I can agree with this sentiment. We are wrestling with a judo expert for the steering wheel of a giant ship. He thinks in multi dimensions and uses our own weight against us. However I think that there is a genuine struggle by us for a better world. Do you not think that when Louis XVI and Nicholas II was executed that the elite where wondering who was next? When Tommy Douglas brought free health care to all Canadians he saved so many lives. He prevented needless suffering. Whether you agree with my examples or not, do you not agree that there is a real struggle and we have won victories?
I do not agree with Zeitgeist at all, the history is totally false.
I have read an article which I can no longer find that the soldier was killed by someone who was programed to keep hatred of Muslims going.
The Execution of Louis XVI, 1793
The Execution of Tsar Nicholas II, 1918
Guns and Butter - October 2, 2013 at 1:00pm | KPFA 94.1 FM Berkeley: Listener Sponsored Free Speech Radio

 

[Tyger]

This suggestion is for your viewing pleasure:

Ah, flipper, I 'recall' this film well. It introduced a a very powerful meme into the general consciousness. I just re-watched it. Love the part at just past 59:00 when the character Barbara Eden plays launches into pure Ray-Bradbury-like poetry - something like: 'Oh fathers, take me back from this hot and heavy land.' Great stuff. They say 'from little acorns mighty oaks do grow'. People are not aware how fertile the science fiction genre was with these kinds of stories.

How many of us have those 'memories', though - of other seas, other skies, other suns - and what poetry and art might come of it. Wouldn't it be a hoot - and there's fodder there for a story - if the so-called 'New Agers' (I have an inkling why that term came about) - are actually real-life aliens come to time-shift the earth? Come to that, who are you, flipper?

The film is also a hoot to watch - those cars! Reminded me of the vintage 1967 Chevy Impala I once owned - a veritable tank on the road. Also, made me laugh - the guy who wrote the story, Mr Matheson, must have had one nightmarish experience with his pregnant wife. Ha!

Now let me share one of my all-time favorite television miniseries: Ray Bradbury's 'The Martian Chronicles' that starred Rock Hudson. It was great then and is adorable now - so dated yet its very datedness makes it just that little-bit alien to make it enticing.

Here is one of my favorite parts - who'd'a'thunk'it - Martian Zen!
LINK:

 

[stonehart]

They have been stamped out:
Radical Jews for social justice has been replaced by AIPEC
socialism, communism, anarchism has been replaced very free market capitalism
the common has been replaced by the privatization of everything
the general strike has be replaced by no unions and no jobs
social programs have been replaced with austerity packages
public programs with Public Private Partnership (the public pays and the private gets the profit)
the protection of local jobs, markets, and resources, with free trade
the nation state with the national security state

THE NATIONAL SECURITY STATE; KEEPING THE WORLD SAFE FOR PLUTOCRACY

I want that on a T-shirt!

 

[Tyger]

Flipper - you got me going ('The Stranger Within' sent me into that area of YouTube with all these tv movies) - I've just watched the 1974 made-for-tv movie 'Where Have All The People Gone'. So low key but hits all the key points. Precursor to all the films that were to come in the 80's. Those darn solar flares!

LINK:

 

[Charlie Prime]

Whether you agree with my examples or not, do you not agree that there is a real struggle and we have won victories?

Yes.

 

[Jeff Davis]

Flipper - you got me going ('The Stranger Within' sent me into that area of YouTube with all these tv movies) - I've just watched the 1974 made-for-tv movie 'Where Have All The People Gone'. So low key but hits all the key points. Precursor to all the films that were to come in the 80's. Those darn solar flares!

LINK:

My personal favorite Rad Bradbury movie, trailer:

My personal favorite Ray Bradbury/Ray Harryhausen pertinent documentary:

 

[Jeff Davis]

Certainly, this is without question, one of the heaviest things I have ever considered. Namely, a reflection on the survival and propagation of our human species across time. The manner in which substantial historic record concerned itself with humankind's victor/annihilator, onset/demise, and the manner in which we as a progressively civilized species have been both developed and destroyed based solely on sub sets of deterministic principles and qualities. It's bad ass in terms of it's depth, but stark ravingly brutal in the reality of it's detail. The book is honestly even better!

 

[flipper]

I found this discussion really interesting.
How should we understand copyright politically? Is it mainly a mechanism for protecting creative individuals, and therefore worth defending, or is it politically problematic, and must be opposed? Sean Andrews talks about copyright in the context of corporations, the commons, and political dissent historically.
Wed 11.13.13 | Private (Intellectual) Property | Against the Grain: A Program about Politics, Society and Ideas
In late June, soul musician Stevie Wonder flew to Morocco to perform at a diplomatic conference for the World Intellectual Property Organization. Conference delegates were signing a treaty granting small exceptions to international copyright protections, improving access for blind and visually impaired persons. Wonder said the treaty was important because it helped “information to be accessible forever,” and it demonstrated “that it is possible to do business and do good at the same time.”
Locked Out | Jacobin
The Fourth Kind
A thriller involving an ongoing unsolved mystery in Alaska, where one town has seen an extraordinary number of unexplained disappearances during the past 40 years and there are accusations of a federal cover up.
http://ffilms.org/the-fourth-kind-2009/

 

[flipper]

Left gate keepers keep many on the left from challenging the system on key points:
In response to a question at the University of Florida recently, Noam Chomsky claimed that there were only “a miniscule number of architects and engineers” who felt that the official account of WTC Building 7 should be treated with skepticism. Chomsky followed-up by saying, “a tiny number—a couple of them—are perfectly serious.”
Noam Chomsky and the Willful Ignorance of 9/11 | Global Research
Noam Chomsky on "The Federal Reserve"

 

[exo_doc]

Left gate keepers keep many on the left from challenging the system on key points:
In response to a question at the University of Florida recently, Noam Chomsky claimed that there were only “a miniscule number of architects and engineers” who felt that the official account of WTC Building 7 should be treated with skepticism. Chomsky followed-up by saying, “a tiny number—a couple of them—are perfectly serious.”
Noam Chomsky and the Willful Ignorance of 9/11 | Global Research
Noam Chomsky on "The Federal Reserve"

Privilege breeds contempt for the un-privileged.

I remember watching "Where Have All the People Gone?" and it scared the hell out of me. "The Rockford Files" came on right before it, and since then every time I heard the theme song to it, it made me scared and anxious.

 

[stonehart]

The fundamental problem I believe we now face is that all of our political systems are flawed to begin with and have become corrupt beyond belief for the benefit of a very select few.

So where to now?

Communism simply wont work as it corrupts faster than Democratic systems and turns into totalitarian control sooner or later (sooner being the operative word here) so sorry Zeitgeist kiddy's the utopia you dream of will descend into a totalitarian nightmare faster than you can say Karl Marx.

Pure democracy is a frightening idea as it is simply a nice way of saying mob rule, and the democratic republic when mixed with deregulated capitalism ends up not much better than Communism as far as corruption is concerned.

Constitutional monarchy? well I live in a constitutional monarchy and frankly it is just a fancy way of saying I get to vote for a new set of dictators every few years.

Fascism? well believe it or not that is more or less what America of today has become or is becoming depending on your point of view... Fascism is by definition the state owned and run by corporations or at the very lest the ability to buy the votes needed to achieve their corporate agendas at the expense of the main public body (see deregulated capitalism).

Frankly my nation and many other western nations (not all yet) are becoming Plutocracy's which is more or less Feudalism 2.0, it is so painfully obvious when you look at America of today that you have to wounder how the hell others can not see it. Fascism and Plutocracy are not mutually exclusive incidentally.

Libertarianism? ... ah yeah the market will fix it? god I am not even going to go there.

So what about Socialism? well before you all think I am going to rant on about the great utopia that "pure" Socialism could bring us I will simply say... BOLLOCKS... its no better than the rest as it works fine until you run out of other peoples money (see communism).

Maybe I am just jaded as hell but from where I stand as a common Joe all I see is many different ways of me and my fellow average citizen getting shafted.. some ways faster than others but shafted none the less.

So serious question what do we average people do?

 

[exo_doc]

Stoney, my two bits says any form of government will always be thwarted by human nature. The lust for power over other people and extreme greed will always be the kryptonite to any superman government no matter how well intentioned to begin with.

Maybe a republic is the best, BUT on a VERY short leash.
Term limits for ALL government elected officials, executive, legislative and include the judicial branch in elections as well.
Lobbying of government officials carefully monitored/curtailed, if not outlawed.
All financial records of government officials should be made public for life!
Any ties to corporations and businesses should be blatantly made public.

That would probably curtail at least 90% of the corruption in a government.