‘Raise Your Voice’ Archives
Democracy and You
from the series Raise Your Voice! By PETER MOLENAAR Peter Molenaar Democracy is by one definition: “a system of government by the whole population or all eligible members of a state.”“All eligible members?” Note: the ancient Athenian democracy emerged in the context of the existing slave system. In the United States, democracy was initiated in the context of a developing capitalism in conjunction with the then modern system of chattel slavery.In our world, the influence of a small minority called capitalists taints democracy. For this reason, many of us don’t vote! Indeed, our bourgeois-democracy is a reflection of the capitalist system. Before too long, our ruling class will be unwilling and incapable of resolving life and death issues confronting the masses.Does the struggle within bourgeois-democratic institutions have any bearing on the realization of our socialist vision? I am not alone in answering: YES!And neighbors beware: Go online to contemplate the Trump [...]
My Sister’s Ghost
from the series Raise Your Voice By PETER MOLENAAR Peter Molenaar Home again from ponderosa pine and snow-covered peaks… Heidi Hernandez was an accomplished horsewoman who, for a living, scrubbed clean the places meant for tourists. Her children will carry forward her opposition to all forms of oppression. In her memory: If it is true (as some people say) that consciousness is a product of the evolution of matter. Then, let it be said that our Mother Earth gave birth to a splendid spirit… named Heidi! To the gathering she declared: those who vote for Little-Boy-man will receive visits from my ghost. Naturally, son Micah’s Latina child plays with daughter Laura’s Asian-Indian babies… and then there is Lani. Lani expresses an indigenous Hawaiian aspect, to which she has recently added expressions of significant affections for another female. Smile, please. Which reminds me that, a few years ago, the Steel Workers Union convened here. I wrote at the [...]
The F-word Matters!
from the series Raise Your Voice By PETER MOLENAAR Peter Molenaar Here the f-word refers to the potentiality for a home-brewed fascism, i.e., an open dictatorship of the most chauvinistic sector of our capitalist ruling-class. Note: the false patriotism fostered by these imperialists infects our national consciousness, while Zionism, the ideology of the Jewish ruling-class, infects Israel. Hey, Biden is an imperialist, but he isn’t a fascist! So, what is to be done in the electoral arena this time? Well, Biden’s refusal to negotiate with Russia, even as they amassed their troops, suggests what? To this we must add his vacillating complicity with Israel’s genocidal displacement campaign. Clearly then: WE CAN NOT ENDORSE HIM. Yet, the conversation is ongoing…. MN 350 (headquartered at 4407 E. Lake Street) recently posed the question to its membership. After elaborating my opposition to Biden’s imperialism, I railed against the one who sells playgrounds to [...]
