"Tyranny becomes a habit, and scenes of suffering, often repeated, render the heart callous. We first crush people to the earth, and then claim the right of trampling on them forever, because they are prostrate.”
Lydia Maria Child, 1861
"Why do German people behave so apathetically in the face of all these abominable crimes, crimes so unworthy of the human race? Hardly anyone thinks about that. It is accepted as fact and put out of mind. The German people slumber on in their dull, stupid sleep and encourage these fascist criminals; they give them the opportunity to carry on their depredations; and of course they do so.
Is this a sign that the Germans are brutalized in their simplest human feelings, that no chord within them cries out at the sight of such deeds, that they have sunk into a fatal lack of conscience from which they will never, never awake? It seems to be so, and will certainly be so, if the German does not at last start up out of his stupor, if he does not protest wherever and whenever he can against this clique of criminals, if he shows no sympathy for these hundreds of thousands of victims. He must evidence not only sympathy; no, much more: a sense of complicity in guilt.
For through his apathetic behavior he gives these evil men the opportunity to act as they do; he tolerates this 'government' which has taken upon itself such an infinitely great burden of guilt; indeed, he himself is to blame for the fact that it came about at all."
The White Rose,
Second Leaflet, Munich, 1942
"A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our present policies. On the one hand, we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life's roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho Road must be changed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar.
A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth with righteous indignation. It will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa, and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say, 'This is not just.'
Now it isn't easy to stand up for truth and for justice. Sometimes it means being frustrated. When you tell the truth and take a stand, sometimes it means that you will walk the streets with a burdened heart. Sometimes it means losing a job— means being abused and scorned. And I've long since learned that to be a follower of Jesus Christ means taking up the cross."
Martin Luther King, Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam, April 30, 1967
Why do we have this current state of 'forever war' that has become the norm for the past 40 years or so? Why are we seeing this violent and hysterical assault on freedom of speech and peaceful protests, not only the most recent examples, but going back to the brutal, bipartisan repression of the Occupy Wall Street moment?
These are the trappings of the industrial-security state, of the lawless plutocracy which now dominates our professional and political class so thoroughly.
It has not been this bad since the military-industrial complex started persecuting people and murdering key public figures in the 1960's, in order to firmly establish and perpetuate the cold war, and global covert wars of regime change and repression.
This is not sustainable. The winds of change are gathering strength. And the powerful few are afraid.
Stocks were under a bit of pressure early on, but found their footing and rallied into the close.
The VIX fell.
The Dollar fell.
Gold and silver were under pressure recovered into the close, with silver showing its usual resiliency.
The demands for silver in high tech industrial applications are fueling increased use of bullion. And the central banks and the paper constructs of the Banks cannot substitute leverage for the metal in use.
But this is all prelude, to the Non-Farm Payrolls report tomorrow.
Our markets and financial system are corrupt, our politicians are unprincipled hirelings, and we are complicit in awful abuses of human rights at home and abroad.
“We are little flames poorly sheltered by frail walls against the storm of dissolution and madness, in which we flicker and sometimes almost go out.”
Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front, 1928
Babylon, Babylon. What are we becoming?
Have a pleasant evening.
