Tag: america is run by fascists

I Want to Make a Case for New England Seceding From the “United” States

A thing I think about sometimes. Maybe you do too?

I sometimes fantasize about our northeastern states seceding from the Union (capitalized for clarity and for the sake of divorcing the word from certain specific meanings) because I no longer feel that the government as constituted in Washington DC represents the interests of its citizens. It would be easy enough to claim that the problem is Stinky Don and his minions, but the issues run deeper, and are unlikely to be resolved by replacing him as head of state.

It would be hard. Crashing out comes with damage. Along with the risks, there would be some rewards, most having to do with not having to listen to and work within the whims of the cadre of corrupt billionaires who currently run too much of our lives. As such, this might not be my last post about this. I think about national divorce a bunch.

There are a number of areas of governance we would have to consider here: economics/feeding ourselves, defending ourselves/relations with our neighbors, living by the social contract/civic policy, and the thousand unknowns of going it alone seem to me to be the basics.

This map is from the US Geological Survey.

One thing I often hear talked about is that New England states are “donor states.” In truth, three New England states qualify as donor states, and three of our number are recipient states. Massachusetts and Connecticut consistently pay more in taxes than we recieve in benefits, New Hampshire is usually a donor state, though not always because they’re close to the line between donor and recipient always. Maine, Vermont, and Rhode Island are consistently recipient states.

The thing to remember here is that states don’t pay federal taxes, individuals do. Massachusetts and Connecticut (and to a lesser extent, southern New Hampshire) are where the highest concentrations of wealth are. Every possible solution to the donor/recipient state disparity that I’ve heard looks like bad policy, including some “fixes” that are pure regressive taxation.

This is not something that should be thought of in making the case for secession. Honestly, the fact that the first place I went to in thinking about this is an example of right-wing framing is surprising to me, now that I’ve investigated a little bit. To get to the goal of a free New England, there’s clearly some reflection and self-deprogramming that needs to happen.

Perhaps the main reason I want to cut away from the rest of the country is that this region, in self-rule, would be more humanist and more left-leaning. A smaller system would be more likely to support the people of that system. It would be our responsibility to realign away from sheer wealth creation to making a local system of governance that respects and supports individuals in a way that the current federal government has almost completely abdicated from.

Sorry this post is so random. There’s a ton to think about here, and I will have to do a bunch of digging to even scratch the surface of how this massive historical shift could even begin to be considered. I will make little swipes at this from time to time… more so if readers of this blog show interest, of course. Does anybody else around here sometimes imagine a social-democratic New England, standing proud and free? Let me know in the comments.

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Zeitgeist 8/25/26

The last week of August is always weird…

It’s that quiet time when nothing is really happening, but the whole world seems to be full of a kind of denied anticipation/dread of what comes next. We’re just under two weeks out from a delayed American Labor Day — this year it lands on the last day it can mathematically be, September 7th. It feels like we’re getting an extra week of “summer.”

Kids are waiting for school to start. The produce section at the local grocery store is still full of stone fruit and tons of obviously-local leafy greens, but the greens are a little bit leggy and the peaches are taking on that late-season sweetness that I wait for the whole year, even though it means they’re about to disappear from the farm stands.

I still haven’t seen any Hallowe’en candy® or heard anyone mention Pumpkin Spiced Everything®. That will all magically appear on September 8th, and at that point, we’ll all start wearing our fall colors and anticipatorally bringing along a sweater, just in case.

Some years, I’ve even noticed that the weather will change, as if on cue. These long-but-shortening Summer days will be and feel of the season almost past, and then that one week the feeling in the air will be different. The air will be noticeably cooler, you’ll take note of a few harbinger trees which are starting to take on their fall colors. City streets will be busier, the highways less so.

And then at the end of the month there’ll come an entire week of rain every day, and on the other side of that, those just-in-case sweaters will come out of our bags and get pulled over our shoulders. It’s all downhill from then on.

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Speaking of downhill,

AI slop, obvi.

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Speaking of downhill, the American Empire looks to be toast. Stinky Don and his Stupid Minions are making every destructive wrong decision they can come up with, and it’s costing us in every corner of the world. The economy is still appearing to hold up, though not well, but all of the underpinnings are being eaten away at a precipitous clip. (How are those “strategic reserves” hanging in, Donny boy?)

The cracks are beginning to appear domestically, but on the international stage, things are much worse, as evinced by the fact that we’ve just learned that 15 US military bases around the Persian Gulf have been completely obliterated. We are not welcome there. Even the Saudis aren’t defending us, having restricted access to their airspace to US armed forces in response to ongoing attacks from Iran (on US bases on Saudi soil, and due to Irans rising power.)

We continue to burn through our allyships and Pumpkinhead is trying hard to align the US with rogue pariah nations who have the authoritarian leadership style he obviously wants to instill here at home. He is more unpopular with the electorate here than he was after the January 6th, 2021 riot in DC. None of this is sustainable. If he somehow manages to eke out a win* in the midterms, I can’t imagine how this country will ever recover. Our only hope is to check his power now. A shortfall, no matter how compromised the election might be, will only encourage these morons to push all of their terrible policies into overdrive.

As it is, some revision of the world order is in progress, and this country is going to have to face up to its new reality. I hope we can find some way to minimize the damage being done, but I’m not hopeful.

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It’s a beautiful, bright morning, I’m working on the blog I enjoy writing, I have my second cup of coffee here on the desk sitting on one of my old COVID masks which I now use as a coaster. I love my home and I’m not willing to be chased out of it.

Hope you are the same.

Well-Situated Between New York City and Maine on Primary Day

Wherein I discuss certain warriors in the current struggle for Democracy in America

Up in the north and east from where I’m tap tap tapping away drafting this blog post, they put forward Graham Platner as the Democratic nominee for Senator from Maine two weeks ago on June 9th. The opposition besmirching that happened during the final months of the primary campaign and then immediately after the primary from his opponents’ campaigns seems not to be affecting Platner’s strong following significantly.

Graham Platner on a boat
Oyster Farmer and Senate Candidate Graham Platner

I’m sensitive about this, because I see him as crucial to any chance this country has of defeating the fascist oligarchy currently trying to “revolutionize” this country into oblivion. I keep seeing substanceless attacks pointed at his character, some of which have validity, but only in the context of the history of a man who has had some relatable and entirely understandable struggles.

Nothing in his background can compare to things Donald Trump’s administration does in a typical week. His opponent in the coming general election this November, incumbent Republican Susal Collins, has voted with Trump 95% of the time over the course of their concurrent terms in office. Collins’ close association with the Trump regime renders her far less credible in my estimation than the relatively unknown quantity that Graham Platner represents.

I hope to see Platner sworn in as Senator from Maine when the next Congress convenes this coming January.

To the south and west, it’s primary day today in New York. There are 2 Democratic Socialists of America candidates running for US Congress, and I wish them both the best of luck. It’s great to see leftist candidates making headway in these times of rising fascism. Zohran Mamdani‘s win in New York last year still feels like a bellwether event, and I hope it’s enough of a turning point to actually be a mark on the path towards saving us.

Good luck to Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier today. I dare say that their good luck would extend to the country at large.

I checked the map at the DSA site linked to above, and there is definitely a chapter in my neighborhood, which makes me happy. I’m probably going to check them out. They seem to be on about the same page as the Greens policy-wise, and they’re having a bit more success, because they’re working within the framework of one of the “legitimate” facets of the country’s two-party system.

In fact, it looks like every one of the contiguous states has at least a chapter or two, with the possible exception of West Virginia. I would suggest checking them out, if you’re like-minded. It’s a nexus for grass roots leftism, and since we’re in a fight for the life of this democracy, it might be worth remembering that the USA was always a leftist populist project, and that when working people wake up to the need to fight, and when we align with these left-populist impulses, we’re pretty much unstoppable.

Here in my area, we have a fairly good congressperson in Jim McGovern, and I’ll be supporting his re-election bid. I’ll never forget him mentioning the possibility of a general strike at the town hall he did here in Greenfield last year. The impetus towards that strike has long since dissipated, but it was nice to hear it mentioned by someone with the position, power, and influence to actually help with that project mention the possibility.

Of course, at the same time, he said supportive things about Hakeem Jeffries, who I see as a major part of the problem the Democrats have with their elected officials, but I think it would be very difficult to come up with a better candidate than McGovern for my disctrict right now. We’ve got a long struggle ahead of us. We’re not going to restore American Democracy tomorrow. So as we travel this long, uphill road, we need to pick leaders who can help us get where we’re trying to go.

People who I see as being helpful leaders on the path, I’ve linked to their websites. You can tell who I see as obstructionists by the lack of any such link.

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Americans Are Pissed

Don’t piss it all away…

I heard a guy with an English accent
Use the word “pissed” in the American sense.
No one else noticed.

He was talking to Americans
And Americans certainly know
What it means to be pissed.

A prominent example of an American being pissed. Note the red hat.

We are pissed. We all are.
So much of the time
And for every imaginable reason.

Over there on the other side
Of the big drink,”pissed” means “drunk.”
Being pissed is something you do to yourself.

But what are Americans drinking
That makes us so angry?
I answer that question all the time.

We swim in righteous dudgeon.
We ride a high horse as we wade through the river.
We vote our values.

Apparently, one of those values is revenge.
Another is the fear of being wrong.
But the greatest value is property.

You can own all the things
If you buy them in installments.
The things you own also own you.

Don’t piss it all away, some say.
If piss has no value,
Does that mean it’s free?

Like life in the USA is free?
Or bought with borrowed money?
Or rented, like beer and coffee?

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When the Establishment Gadflies Go Gadding About, Causing Massive Cognitive Dissonance.

I’m trying not to repeat things that are being said everywhere online right now. You don’t need that from me. I don’t need that from me. Maybe I have something to say, if I say it now? Someone else will come along with a similar hot take and a larger following soon enough.

Still…

In the aftermath of the Maduro abduction (and the related murders of various Venezuelans in order to accomplish the crime) all I can do is watch the news come out, gather what information I can, and try to think about what’s happening from as many viewpoints as I can manage.

One viewpoint that I’m having real trouble with, though, is the number of people who are willing to try and justify the US’s actions in this case. That hurts my head. There are so many people out there willing to ignore every relevant fact that doesn’t fit in order to say, “The people of Venezuela are actually happy we invaded their country and kidnapped their president and his wife, and killed a bunch of people in order to accomplish it!” How stupid do they think we are?

“Now we’re going to steal all of the good things out of their ground just like a bunch of pirates, which is what we are. But if we’re pirates, we’re pirates for the good of the Venezuelan people!”

And yeah, there’s a brilliant video online already where a guy says he’s taking over his neighbor’s houses “for the good of the neighborhood.” I can’t top that. I can certainly enjoy it though. Go find it, it’s really funny.

Screenshot

But what it comes down to is that Fascism doesn’t give an inch, and it will take a mile if you give an inch. And here’s the time when we see the proof. Remember: these people are stupid – too stupid to realize that in the long term, Fascism always fails, and that the way forward for humanity and the planet is science, reason, and compassion.

We have to be adamant, and set the world on that course.