Friday, November 18, 2016
In
reading about BPD and childhood trauma, I came across the concept of
"triggering". I understood this concept intellectually, but
only recently understood how I too am triggered. Whenever I see, or
read about, any abuse, bullying or cruelty, I go into a towering
homicidal rage. (Internal raging, sparing friends and family,
thankfully) Not that I would act upon that rage, for intellectually I
know the perps are themselves "only a pawn in their game" ,
that bullies were themselves bullied, and the sources of our problems
are structural, not personal. (Capitalism authoritarianism,
patriarchy, institutionalized racism etc)
Cruelty
triggers my subconscious – in a sense "reliving" my abuse
as a child. I must emphasize the subconscious nature of this. When,
for example, I see a cop beating up a demonstrator I do not
consciously see myself as a child being assaulted by a bully, but it
brings to the fore immense feelings of injustice and of helplessness.
(I am sure that much of my dislike for Trump is because he is an archetypal schoolyard bully) And the rage? When you are a child you
are forbidden to express your anger at the cruelty done to you.
Authorities, whether parents, teachers or cops, will always make it
far worse for you if you react with hostility toward their
oppression. Thus, you learn to hold in your emotions, especially
anger. But the repressed always returns. As an adult you will be
prone to outbreaks of violent anger and not know why.
Will
knowing this make you rage less? Sure would be nice. But here's
something else I have learned – not from books – but experience.
You are never cured. You come to terms with your abuse, you can
forgive your abusers, knowing that they were victims as well. Therapy
lets you HANDLE your problems and allows you to have a "normal"
life. But the pain is always there.
Thursday, February 11, 2016
Borderline - A Song About Borderline Personality Disorder
Borderline
- The following words and music by Larry Gambone, arrangement,
instrumentation and voice by Maurice Soudre.
Thursday, January 07, 2016
Anna Delso
ANNA
DELSO - Poet, anarchist, revolutionary and feminist, member;
CNT-FAI, Mujeres Libres, French Resistance and the CSN
I
met Anna at Librarie Alternative in Montreal in 1988 and was
so impressed with this tiny woman with such immense revolutionary
spirit. We would converse in French – not knowing any Spanish at
the time and her modesty was such I had little idea of her background
except for hearing she was in the Mujeres Libres. When she
presented me with her book, Trois Cent Hommes et Moi, I found
out that she just wasn't a member of Mujeres Libres, but its
secretary, and that at age 16! Fleeing Spain after the defeat
by Franco, she ended up in a concentration camp.
Anna age 66
Eventually free of
the camp, she like so many Spanish revolutionaries, joined the French
Resistance. By this time she was all of nineteen. After
Liberation she and her partner organized a movement which united the
CNT, the UGT, POUM, the Socialists and the Libertarian Movement in a
united front against Franco's fascism. Moving to Quebec she was involved as a militant of the CSN in the textile industry. She was also a cancer survivor. I lost contact with Anna over
the years but am pleased to learn that she is still alive - at age
93! See also https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Delso
Friday, November 27, 2015
Anarchism and counter-culture podcast
This is the podcast of the interview I did for the CFRO program, Red Eye a few weeks ago. Discusses the Vancouver counter culture and anarchism as well as my book "No Regrets". See;
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME AND DISABILITY
UNIVERSAL
BASIC INCOME AND DISABILITY
by
H.
W. Honeycutt
Discusses
the need for a Universal Basic Income (what is also called the
Guaranteed Annual Income) in the United States. Special emphasis on
how the Universal Basic Income would positively effect people with
disabilities.
While
UBI likely would not discourage labor on the whole, turning us into a
nation of slugabeds, it would almost certainly
allow individuals of all abilities to recognize and embrace different
types of non-income generating labor. Labor conditions with UBI would
provide a significant change from our current system, which primarily
reflects the views of market-ideologues who only see value in labor
which generates income.
We
thus need to recognize disability as a much more ingrained feature of
human existence, and account for it accordingly, not with a
continuance of market discipline for people who, through no fault of
their own, cannot generate income. We should instead stabilize the
living situations of all Americans via a UBI.
With
UBI, disabled workers would be in a better position to remain
selective about when they would chose to work, and the income from
any part-time employment would be an addition to, not a reduction of,
their UBI benefits. And because UBI puts more power in the hands of
workers to negotiate not only wages, but
also labor conditions, people with disabilities would experience
greater leverage in shaping their work environments; if they
experience the unwelcoming
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Thursday, October 22, 2015
Big Surprise - Canadian Federal Election 2015
The vast majority of us are breathing a sigh of relief that the Harpercons are no longer in power. The Liberals out-foxed the NDP by moving to the left of that party on economic issues. The NDP talked of balanced budgets while the Libs talked of the need to get things running again. Big mistake for the NDP. The Greens never made their break through as the voters stampeded to the Libs to get rid of the Conservatives. The Liberals are promising much - getting serious about climate change and the First Nations, building coop and affordable housing, democratizing our political system, restore protection to the waterways, legalizing pot, building public transit, funding the CBC, maintaining Canada Post home delivery and many other progressive - and needed - things. The question is, will they act on this or just waffle? Only time will tell, but the Libs have an overwhelming majority, plus for any progressive actions ought have the backing of the three relatively left parties, (by today's standards) the NDP, Greens and Bloc Quebecois. The Libs plus the other three parties have 239 seats compared with the Cons 99 so they could do whatever they want. The only thing needed is the will to do so.
Friday, October 02, 2015
The 2015 Canadian Federal election
After
a summer of being behind in the polls, the Harpercons are now ahead,
after playing the “fear of Muslims” card. Of course, 32% isn't
any kind of ringing victory, but our bizarre and undemocratic
“first-past-the-post” electoral system would convert that figure
into a minority government. If the Harpercrit and his minions are
able to bump that figure anywhere past 36% they would be in majority
territory, and if that happens you can kiss your arse good bye as far
as what remains of humanity, democracy and decency in this country.
What a system that allows 36% of the voters to bully the other 64%!
This
election may well be a cross roads. If we can't vote out the most
retrogressive government in modern Canadian history what can we do?
The inability to change course, even though the vast majority of the
population desires this, indicates that the system is broken. And
with another Harpercon regime, it will become even more broken.
The
only alternative is revolution! Yeah, right... If people can't get it
together to eliminate their worst tormentors electorally, you think
they are going to grow a spine and overthrow the system? Of course,
as the Cons wreck society, attack First Nations and generally
maintain a plunder-based economy, there will be a rise in protest and
civil disobedience. But will it be enough to make the changes we
need? There is little time left, given the pace of global warming.
If we had another 50 years, fine, no problem, but we don't. We need
to make those changes now.
The
only “alternative” is collapse. Capitalism and the state are too
boxed in by their own contradictions to make revolutionary change
possible. The environment, the social, political and economic systems
continue to degrade until the point of no return. Like the Mayans,
the survivors, if there are any, abandon the “temples” and return to a simpler,
human scale and environmentally saner reality.
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