Freedom of Conscience To What Extent

The Price of Freedom: Renewing Courage and Conscience

The Perspective

Freedom is sweat, tears and blood. Indeed, history is replete and continues to repeat itself in a cause of a struggle to redeem one's nation and people. When men and women brush aside the fear for personal safety, ready to pay a price for human dignity and discover strength by confronting evil and say "NO MORE", swift victory is certain to be won. When men and women who live by the power of inward moral conviction, and are not under bondage to outward restrictions; energy is bond to release that conquer's evil.

This article is a testimony of my effort to deepen the understanding of our readers and as a medium to express my respect, pay tribute to and applaud the Liberian Human Rights Community that has paid, and continues to pay, a thankless price for raising an active voice against the evil and human rights tragedy that is consuming our country and its people. The Liberian Human Rights Activists with firm sense of social responsibility who are compelled by international standards to call the Government of Liberia to judgment for its horrible human rights violations, and change its policies and implement good governance, have suffered severe punishment under the regime of Charles Taylor.

Instead of giving respectability to these national heroes of conscience for their service to humanity, they are imprisoned and charged with bogus crimes, tortured and forced to leave the country for fear of their lives.

These unplanned departures of the lucky ones have proven too bitter a pill to swallow. These faint-hearted, spirited and dashing young men and women whose struggle and crusade for the respect of human dignity and the rule of law are made to suffer because of their commitment to protecting the rights of the people. Taylor sanctions these inhumane acts and his loyal disciples have destroyed the souls and hope of these courageous people for trying to save their beloved country. Yes, their escape has destroyed families, as some were breadwinners for their families, leaving what they have worked for and owned.

In this vein, we pray for our colleagues back home who in the face of growing threats continue to speak out and face persecution at the hands of the government's insane security men, who are graduates of the school of death and holding the sword in their hands waiting for order from their supreme commander to persecute and execute human rights defenders. These mass murderers and high-core sadists and their chief have considered human rights defenders (moral crusaders), as troublemakers and enemies of the state. What a pity!

I write from experience. I was there and felt the pains and wrath of these mass murderers. I experienced the cruel hands of torture administered by these tugs. They told me "who do you think you are - we will skin you death". I was stripped naked at the police headquarters and one of the officers with "muscled jacket dealt" with me. He kicked me with his booth while he escorted me into the cell. I was pushed into the inner room among the high-core criminals. I shivered, hating the environment, hating the tightness in my throat and told myself not to cry. I tried to be brave to cope with my new environment, but raindrop-sized tears rolled down my cheeks. I got angry with myself for behaving like a child and used the back of my hand to stifle my tears.

In my hour of contemplation, I was greeted by one of the prisoners with "welcome to our den and be a man". While grief is normal and natural, clearly the most powerful of all emotions, it is also the most neglected and misunderstood experience, often by both the griever and those around him. I was weeping because a nasty man, a drug addict was torturing me - kicking and hitting me all over my body because I was part of the voices that echoed loud and clear, telling the angels of terror and death, men who engaged in relentless campaign of anarchy and bloody games that this thing is wrong. This thing must stop! That was a price for standing up for what is morally right and trying to secure justice for our people. 

The irony and saddest fact of it all is, the engagement role played by Liberian politicians during this horrible situation in Liberia. Politicians that should be vocal on these ills in our society, sit in the corner mute - watching these demons displaying their cruelty, they wait on elections' timetable. It is indeed an unpardonable sin for these political leaders to not condemn or criticize Taylor and his followers. These crude and murderous politics in our country will have to STOP. 

However, I salute and pay tribute to the Human Rights defenders in Liberia and encourage them to continue because they are our only hope in these darkest hours in our country. Their relentless crusade and commitment to be the voice that continues to speak on behalf of our people. The facts remain that we are part of the whole (society) and as such, we cannot seek personal comfort within the context of threatening national disasters. When we allow the fear and uncertainty of our security to isolate us from looming threat only would we suffer personal loss and jeopardize the peace of our families and the larger society. Failure to stand for what is morally right is the prelude to becoming a victim of what is criminally wrong. 

Though, you expose yourself to danger in honoring your conscience for a noble and humble cause, it is worth bearing in mind that you represent courage, strength, suffering and sacrifice- the courage of conviction, strength of character, suffering for rights and sacrifice of life. Those who carry sinister agenda and whose conscience and influence are designed to blight the soul of a nation and its people, and who are purveyors of terror, sow seeds of anarchy are always on the wrong side of history. But your faith, moral conviction and willing commitment to answer the call of duty, brings fore the reality that, indeed, you are a catalyst of change for a better Liberia.

And in the words of Sir Winston Churchill, "history will be kind to me because I intend to write it". And that is true we write our own history and eulogy through the choices we make and the consequences they leave us and future generations. Based on this reasoning, when we are true to our conscience, and work to bring relief in the lives of our people and our neighbors to experience peace, then satisfaction is guaranteed. To this effect, I say Bravo to the Liberian Human Rights Defenders! 

Joseph F Barber

By James Torh

How It Could Finally Be Possible to Prosecute War as a Crime

How It Could Finally Be Possible to Prosecute War as a Crime

By David Swanson

War is a crime. The International Criminal Court has just announced that it will finally treat it as a crime, sort-of, kind-of. But how can war’s status as a crime effectively deter the world’s leading war-maker from threatening and launching more wars, large and small? How can laws against war actually be put to use? How can the ICC’s announcement be made into something more than a pretense?

The Kellogg-Briand Pact made war a crime in 1928, and various atrocities became criminal charges at Nuremberg and Tokyo because they were constituent parts of that larger crime. The United Nations Charter maintained war as a crime, but limited it to “aggressive” war, and gave immunity to any wars launched with U.N. approval.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) could try the United States for attacking a country if (1) that country brought a case, and (2) the United States agreed to the process, and (3) the United States chose not to block any judgment by using its veto power at the U.N. Security Council. Desirable future reforms obviously include urging all U.N. members to accept the compulsory jurisdiction of the ICJ, and eliminating the veto. But what can be done now?

The International Criminal Court (ICC) can try individuals for various “war crimes,” but has thus far tried only Africans, though for some time now it has claimed to be “investigating” U.S. crimes in Afghanistan. Although the U.S. is not a member of the ICC, Afghanistan is. Desirable future reforms obviously include urging all nations, including the United States, to join the ICC. But what can be done now?

The ICC has finally announced that it will prosecute individuals (such as the U.S. president and secretary of “defense”) for the crime of “aggression,” which is to say: war. But such wars must be launched after July 17, 2018. And those who can be prosecuted for war will be only citizens of those nations that have both joined the ICC and ratified the amendment adding jurisdiction over “aggression.” Desirable future reforms obviously include urging all nations, including the United States, to ratify the amendment on “aggression.” But what can be done now?

The only way around these restrictions, is for the U.N. Security Council to refer a case to the ICC. If that happens, then the ICC can prosecute anyone in the world for the crime of war.

This means that for the force of law to have any chance of deterring the U.S. government from threatening and launching wars, we need to persuade one or more of the fifteen nations on the U.N. Security Council to make clear that they will raise the matter for a vote. Five of those fifteen have veto power, and one of those five is the United States.

So, we also need nations of the world to proclaim that when the Security Council fails to refer the case, they will bring the matter before the U.N. General Assembly though a “Uniting for Peace” procedure in emergency session to override the veto. This is what was just done in December 2017 to overwhelmingly pass a resolution that the U.S. had vetoed, a resolution condemning the U.S. naming Jerusalem the capital of Israel.

Not only do we need to jump through each of these hoops (a commitment to a Security Council vote, and a commitment to override the veto in the General Assembly) but we need to make evident beforehand that we will be certain or likely to do so.

Therefore, World Beyond War is launching a global petition to the national governments of the worldasking for their public commitment to refer any war launched by any nation to the ICC with or without the Security Council. Click here to add your name.

After all, it is not only U.S. wars that should be prosecuted as crimes, but all wars. And, in fact, it may prove necessary to prosecute junior partners of the United States in its “coalition” wars prior to prosecuting the ring leader. The problem is not one of lack of evidence, of course, but of political will. The U.K., France, Canada, Australia, or some other co-conspirator may be brought by global and internal pressure (and the ability to circumvent the U.N. Security Council) to submit to the rule of law prior to the United States doing so.

A key detail is this: how much organized murder and violent destruction constitutes a war? Is a drone strike a war? Is base expansion and a few home raids a war? How many bombs make a war? The answer should be any use of military force. But in the end, this question will be answered by public pressure. If we can inform people of it and persuade the nations of the world to refer it to trial, then it will be a war, and therefore a crime.

Here’s my New Year’s resolution: I vow to support the rule of law, that might may no longer make right.

This article was originally published by World Beyond War -

====

Pro Deo et Constitutione – Libertas aut Mors

Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis

Joseph F Barber 

U.S. Military Massacred Civilians in Somalia

U.S. Military Massacred Civilians in Somalia

By atenda Gwaambuka

On the 25th of August, the United States of America’s military led an operation in Somalia's Bariire region that resulted in the death of 10 civilians and at least one child on the 25th of August. It was a massacre whose taint on the U.S. forces’ reputation can be compared to the Black Hawk Down incident of 1993. The victims of the operation were farmers and in its wake, hundreds of people in the Somali town of Afgoye protested, demanding justice for those killed. Survivors refused to bury the dead until the Somali government withdrew allegations that they were members of Al-Shabab and paid reparations. This was revealed in a Daily Beast report written by Christina Goldbaum.

Here's what we learnt:

U.S. Military Lies About its Operations in Africa

AFRICOM claims all its soldiers do is advise, assist and in very limited circumstances, accompany missions. This implies that U.S. soldiers do not go in the front line yet that is exactly what happened in Somalia. The Daily Beast report says U.S. Special Operators fired upon unarmed civilians as bullet casings found on the scene were American, instructed Somali counterparts to collect weapons stored inside a home and place them beside the bodies of those killed before photographing them. American diplomats are said to have also pressured the Somali government to bury unfavorable findings of a Somali Federal Government investigation. This is the height of dishonesty.

U.S. Intelligence is not as reliable as we think

The operation in Somalia is said to have been based on information from unreliable sources. The U.S. soldiers got their information from a Somali National Army brigade leader who is a former Al Shabab commander as well as from a militia leader who is in direct rivalry to the clan of the killed farmers. The translator they used was the same person who they used in another operation that resulted in the death of civilians. These three may have misled the U.S soldiers who are also to blame for their lapse in vigilance. The military was thus sucked into what seems to be a local clan conflict.

Predictably, however, the United States Military denied the claims.

This article was originally published by The African Exponent -

====

Join the Discussion

It is not necessary for  FREEDOM OR ANARCHY,Campaign of Conscience.readers to register before placing a comment. This website encourages readers to use the "Report" link found at the base of each comment. When a predetermined number of FREEDOM OR ANARCHY,Campaign of Conscience.readers click on the "Report" link, the comment will be automatically sent to "moderation". This would appear to be the most logical way to allow open comments, where you the reader/supporter, can determine what is acceptable speech. Please don't use the report feature simply because you disagree with the author point of view. Treat others with respect, remembering that "A man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still."- Benjamin Franklin.

Pro Deo et Constitutione – Libertas aut Mors

Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis

Joseph F Barber

Has America gone stupid

But there was a special kind of gift that came with embracing the chaos, even if I cursed most of the way. I'm convinced that, when everything is wiped blank, it's life 's way of forcing you to become acquainted with and aware of who you are now, who you can become. What is the fulfillment of your soul?

The Price of Freedom: Renewing Courage and Conscience

The Perspective

Freedom is sweat, tears and blood. Indeed, history is replete and continues to repeat itself in a cause of a struggle to redeem one's nation and people. When men and women brush aside the fear for personal safety, ready to pay a price for human dignity and discover strength by confronting evil and say "NO MORE", swift victory is certain to be won. When men and women who live by the power of inward moral conviction, and are not under bondage to outward restrictions; energy is bond to release that conquer's evil.

This article is a testimony of my effort to deepen the understanding of our readers and as a medium to express my respect, pay tribute to and applaud the Liberian Human Rights Community that has paid, and continues to pay, a thankless price for raising an active voice against the evil and human rights tragedy that is consuming our country and its people. The Liberian Human Rights Activists with firm sense of social responsibility who are compelled by international standards to call the Government of Liberia to judgment for its horrible human rights violations, and change its policies and implement good governance, have suffered severe punishment under the regime of Charles Taylor.

Instead of giving respectability to these national heroes of conscience for their service to humanity, they are imprisoned and charged with bogus crimes, tortured and forced to leave the country for fear of their lives.

These unplanned departures of the lucky ones have proven too bitter a pill to swallow. These faint-hearted, spirited and dashing young men and women whose struggle and crusade for the respect of human dignity and the rule of law are made to suffer because of their commitment to protecting the rights of the people. Taylor sanctions these inhumane acts and his loyal disciples have destroyed the souls and hope of these courageous people for trying to save their beloved country. Yes, their escape has destroyed families, as some were breadwinners for their families, leaving what they have worked for and owned.

In this vein, we pray for our colleagues back home who in the face of growing threats continue to speak out and face persecution at the hands of the government's insane security men, who are graduates of the school of death and holding the sword in their hands waiting for order from their supreme commander to persecute and execute human rights defenders. These mass murderers and high-core sadists and their chief have considered human rights defenders (moral crusaders), as troublemakers and enemies of the state. What a pity!

I write from experience. I was there and felt the pains and wrath of these mass murderers. I experienced the cruel hands of torture administered by these tugs. They told me "who do you think you are - we will skin you death". I was stripped naked at the police headquarters and one of the officers with "muscled jacket dealt" with me. He kicked me with his booth while he escorted me into the cell. I was pushed into the inner room among the high-core criminals. I shivered, hating the environment, hating the tightness in my throat and told myself not to cry. I tried to be brave to cope with my new environment, but raindrop-sized tears rolled down my cheeks. I got angry with myself for behaving like a child and used the back of my hand to stifle my tears.

In my hour of contemplation, I was greeted by one of the prisoners with "welcome to our den and be a man". While grief is normal and natural, clearly the most powerful of all emotions, it is also the most neglected and misunderstood experience, often by both the griever and those around him. I was weeping because a nasty man, a drug addict was torturing me - kicking and hitting me all over my body because I was part of the voices that echoed loud and clear, telling the angels of terror and death, men who engaged in relentless campaign of anarchy and bloody games that this thing is wrong. This thing must stop! That was a price for standing up for what is morally right and trying to secure justice for our people. 

The irony and saddest fact of it all is, the engagement role played by Liberian politicians during this horrible situation in Liberia. Politicians that should be vocal on these ills in our society, sit in the corner mute - watching these demons displaying their cruelty, they wait on elections' timetable. It is indeed an unpardonable sin for these political leaders to not condemn or criticize Taylor and his followers. These crude and murderous politics in our country will have to STOP. 

However, I salute and pay tribute to the Human Rights defenders in Liberia and encourage them to continue because they are our only hope in these darkest hours in our country. Their relentless crusade and commitment to be the voice that continues to speak on behalf of our people. The facts remain that we are part of the whole (society) and as such, we cannot seek personal comfort within the context of threatening national disasters. When we allow the fear and uncertainty of our security to isolate us from looming threat only would we suffer personal loss and jeopardize the peace of our families and the larger society. Failure to stand for what is morally right is the prelude to becoming a victim of what is criminally wrong. 

Though, you expose yourself to danger in honoring your conscience for a noble and humble cause, it is worth bearing in mind that you represent courage, strength, suffering and sacrifice- the courage of conviction, strength of character, suffering for rights and sacrifice of life. Those who carry sinister agenda and whose conscience and influence are designed to blight the soul of a nation and its people, and who are purveyors of terror, sow seeds of anarchy are always on the wrong side of history. But your faith, moral conviction and willing commitment to answer the call of duty, brings fore the reality that, indeed, you are a catalyst of change for a better Liberia.

And in the words of Sir Winston Churchill, "history will be kind to me because I intend to write it". And that is true we write our own history and eulogy through the choices we make and the consequences they leave us and future generations. Based on this reasoning, when we are true to our conscience, and work to bring relief in the lives of our people and our neighbors to experience peace, then satisfaction is guaranteed. To this effect, I say Bravo to the Liberian Human Rights Defenders! 

Joseph F Barber

By James Torh

https://youtu.be/T6JYLtwNCgQ

This is your life use it well

They want us to be afraid. 
They want us to be afraid of leaving our homes. 
They want us to barricade our doors 
and hide our children. 
Their aim is to make us fear life itself! 
They want us to hate. 
They want us to hate 'the other'. 
They want us to practice aggression 
and perfect antagonism. 
Their aim is to divide us all! 
They want us to be inhuman. 
They want us to throw out our kindness. 
They want us to bury our love 
and burn our hope. 
Their aim is to take all our light! 
They think their bricked walls 
will separate us. 
They think their damned bombs 
will defeat us. 
They are so ignorant they don’t understand 
that my soul and your soul are old friends. 
They are so ignorant they don’t understand 
that when they cut you I bleed. 
They are so ignorant they don’t understand 
that we will never be afraid, 
we will never hate 
and we will never be silent 
for life is ours!

https://youtu.be/NBR-eGtr4Po

The man who is most aggressive in teaching tolerance is the most intolerant of all: he wants a world full of people too timid and ashamed to really disagree with anything

https://youtu.be/T6JYLtwNCgQ

There is no way to peace, peace is the way.

https://youtu.be/L4xBUOWliC0

Homeless “survival kits.” We Create and distribute kits

Homeless “survival kits.” We Create and distribute kits that include items such as cups, pots, pans, soap, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and cosmetics. ( We Try coordinating this through a group that gives out meals from a van, for example.)  During cold weather, organize drives for blankets, coats, hats, scarves, mittens, socks, and the like.
Phone calls.  Help people experiencing homelessness contact loved ones by offering the opportunity to make free long distance calls on holidays. Donate to or organize a cell phone drive for the homeless.

Homeless “survival kits.” We Create and distribute kits
Help ease their burden. Just $25 helps provide homeless survival packs 4veterans.
Mail your Donation 4784 dalea pl oceanside ca 92057
Care of Suzanne D Button Project manager,Contact Info
Phone 760-643 6134 or 442 251 6553
email:veteransproject@yahoo.com  

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10208621969666759&id=1835402667

Why are police no longer respected? What happened to Protect and Serve?

Why are police no longer respected? What happened to Protect and Serve?

https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2016/8/13/1559885/-Why-are--no-longer-respected-What-happened-to-Protect-and-Serve

FREEDOM OR ANARCHY,Campaign of Conscience

FREEDOM OR ANARCHY,Campaign of Conscience: is an alternative media and Information site that is dedicated to the truth, true journalism and the truth movement.

To Serve and Protect is missing from Police Cars Nationwide... , page 1

To Serve and Protect is missing from Police Cars Nationwide... , page 1: To Serve and Protect is missing from Police Cars Nationwide... , page 1

To Serve and Protect is missing from Police Cars Nationwide... , page 1

To Serve and Protect is missing from Police Cars Nationwide... , page 1: To Serve and Protect is missing from Police Cars Nationwide... , page 1

I am my brother's keeper.

“Until we have the courage to recognize cruelty for what it is -- whether its victim is human or animal -- we cannot expect things to be much better in this world. We cannot have peace among men whose hearts delight in killing any living creature. By every act that glorifies or even tolerates such moronic delight in killing, we set back the progress of humanity.” Thanks for your support For personal contact with me the founder please call 24/7 @ 442-251-6553 To all who have assisted in the past. Thank you. Your help is greatly appreciated. Peace and Joy.Founder Joseph F Barber



https://www.gofundme.com/URBAN-SURVIVAL-PACKS



https://www.gofundme.com/toolreplacementfund



https://the-family-assistants-campaign.blogspot.com/p/a-little-about-us.html



Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world...would do this, it would change the earth.” Act now - Become A Supporting member of humanity to help end hunger and violence in our country



Since 2013, Veterans Project & The Family Assistance Campaign has provided free food assistance to more than 20,000 Veterans and their family members, distributing 445,000 lbs. of food. Feed Our Vets mission is to help Veterans in the United States, their spouses and children, whose circumstances have left them on the battlefield of hunger, and to involve the public in fighting Veteran hunger, through: (1) Community food pantries that provide regular, free food to Veterans and their families, (2) Distribution of related goods and services, (3) Public education and outreach.

WE THE PEOPLE IF WE CAN KEEP IT

EVENING FOLKS ITS Late AND I JUST GOT DONE WITH A 26 HRS DAY IF YOU WILL WORK HAS BEEN SHORT DO TO THE LOSS OF OUR TOOLS A MONTH BACK AND TO DATE NO ONE HAS BEEN ABLE TO RECOVER THEM FOR US BUT WHat we have found is the local law enforcement of the high desert seems to favor the law breakers over the law abiding citizens I have made a gofundme page to assist us in the recovery of our tools but to date we have had no contributions https://www.gofundme.com/toolreplacementfund

It could be that many of you fine people chose to believe that I personally have deceived you with the false allegations and statements made all around the net about me be a member of those that would still the honor of our fellow troops and veterans and in that you would be wrong i have proven to the department of defense allegations were false and that the veterans project and the family assistance campaign are 100% honest and true to we the people  but then they had I was told already knew that but had to investigate the allegations do to the point of fact some people continued to make demands that we were being decebtive in our work and in the actions of our causes that to we have shown to be false and have been cleared of any and all actions ,in fact these actions will backfire on the two individuals responsible for their misrepresentation of the truth and the defamation of my character and filing false affidavits with the federal government I will also add that, I am very disappointed in Facebook as they even if in willingly assisted these individuals by allowing them to step aside of the same community standards we are all held to or punished for if we break these said rules and believe me they were informed of the se actions from day one and still allowed the defamation to continue. my advice from all this is simple this my friends  Be honest with yourself and with people always do everything on time. Never give up, go to your goals, even if all the bad. In this life, all really, you only need to do. The more I talk to people, the more I am convinced that in general they have one goal - to become the richest dead in the cemetery,yet for me my goal differs from that A working class hero is something to be I think

I have not always been a good man i have had my days in my youth i stepped outside the bounds of common folks did things that even to me today I find unacceptable but I have at the least tried to become a better man through the years by using my faith and honesty and to give of myself to others as much as i have been able to and the tools that were taken was a tool i used not only for my own well being but for that of those I was able to help with the money I could make with them and those that I could give work to 

I am know working some with a friend of mine he needed my help and called me I came to his aid he tells me he is grateful but I am the truly grateful one if not for him we me and my family would have been on the streets just like many of those we have help through the years and understand not because we have been irresponsible or dishonest or been caught doing the wrong thing in any way but by the actions of those who have jealousy and hatred with in them and as it was said to my by them both because they could.

   We're creating a positive information network. We need your help. https://www.gofundme.com/toolreplacementfund

The war on terror, economic disasters, racial wars, big pharma and food quality/modification. When you look at our world today you have to wonder how we got here.

It was in my later years of high school that I began to feel relief about something that bothered me for a long time: I started to realize how the world really works. Now at 55 years old, I’ve interviewed, met with and worked with many of the top researchers in the field of truth seeking and several conclusions are clear, but one more than others: our world is run by psychopaths.

I want to be very clear here, this is not meant to be a judgment, to rile up our emotions and call these people evil, no. This is about coming to a stark realization about what’s really going on in our world so that we can actually change it.

“As difficult as it was for me, I’ve come to an inescapable and profoundly disturbing conclusion. I believe that an elite group of people and the corporations they run have gained control over not just our energy, food supply, education, and healthcare, but over virtually every aspect of our lives; and they do it by controlling the world of finance. Not by creating more value, but by actually controlling the source of money.”

Why It’s Important

You know it, you feel it. Something is not quite right with our world and as each day goes by, more and more people are realizing this in a big way. In 2016 we witnessed millions begin to realize how elections are rigged and that we truly have no choice.

We began to learn on a wider level that our world leaders are closely involved with companies who fund terror and that the war on terror is fabricated to justify certain actions.

Coming to understandings like this shows a shift in our overall consciousness as a planet and helps us to realize how we can move forward. Should we keep voting expecting to see change when that’s not how our world actually works? Should we spend money supporting companies who are harming us and our environment? Should we support the medical system blindly vs working to create better health and wellness so illness doesn’t happen?

The more we understand how the game works, the more we know how to change it. Think of it this way, imagine you are playing a game and you find out someone is cheating and rigging the rules so you can never win. You may get up and just walk away and say I’m not playing anymore. Since that person can’t play with no one, they just stop. In a sense this is exactly what we need to work towards.

A transformation in consciousness comes from understanding, which leads to taking new actions, which helps to create a different world and bring solutions. But it starts with knowledge and consciousness.

EVOLVE 

‘Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us, and the world will be as one.‘

‘You don’t need anybody to tell you who you are or what you are. You are what you are!’

‘My role in society, or any dreamers role, is to try and express what we all feel. Not to tell people how to feel. Not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of us all. ‘

I hope I have expressed my heart here tonight and hope you will consider a contribution to our project 

Get Behind Veterans Project & The Family Assistance Campaign Remember, Veterans Project & The Family Assistance Campaign is independent because it is wholly funded by YOU Veterans Project & The Family Assistance Campaign is one of the webs only truly independent sources of news and opinion. Without YOUR help it can not continue to exist. Please help - Act now! Click the link below Please provide whatever you can- $1, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100- To Use your debit/credit card or check pay here on facebook pay to Founder Joseph F Barber : WE believe that to meet the challenges of our times, human beings will have to develop a greater sense of universal responsibility. Each of us must learn to work not just for one self, one's own family or one's nation, but for the benefit of all humankind. Universal responsibility is the key to human survival. It is the best foundation for world peace Low income readers: DON'T send money, just encourage others to subscribe.

Thanks for your support For personal contact with me the founder please call 24/7 @ 442-251-6553 To all who have assisted in the past. Thank you. Your help is greatly appreciated. Peace and Joy.Founder Joseph F Barber

https://www.gofundme.com/URBAN-SURVIVAL-PACKS

https://www.gofundme.com/toolreplacementfund

https://the-family-assistants-campaign.blogspot.com/p/a-little-about-us.html

Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world...would do this, it would change the earth.” Act now - Become A Supporting member of humanity to help end hunger and violence in our country

Since 2013, Veterans Project & The Family Assistance Campaign has provided free food assistance to more than 20,000 Veterans and their family members, distributing 445,000 lbs. of food. Feed Our Vets mission is to help Veterans in the United States, their spouses and children, whose circumstances have left them on the battlefield of hunger, and to involve the public in fighting Veteran hunger, through: (1) Community food pantries that provide regular, free food to Veterans and their families, (2) Distribution of related goods and services, (3) Public education and outreach.



JOSEPH F BARBER

Why Are All Those Racists So Terrified?

Why Are All Those Racists So Terrified?

Racism is not a new phenomenon and while it is an ongoing daily reality for vast numbers of people, it also often bursts from the shadows to remind us that just because we can keep ignoring the endless sequence of ‘minor’ racist incidents, racism has not gone away despite supposedly significant efforts to eliminate it. I say ‘supposedly’ because these past efforts, whatever personnel, resources and strategies have been devoted to them, have done nothing to address the underlying cause of racism and so their impact must be superficial and temporary. As the record demonstrates.

I say this not to denounce the effort made and, in limited contexts, the progress achieved, but if we want to eliminate racism, rather than confine it to the shadows for it to burst out periodically, then we must have the courage to understand what drives racism and design responses that address this cause.

Otherwise, all of the best ideas in the world can do no more than repeat past efforts at dialogue, education, nonviolent action and the implementation of legislation designed to protect civil rights or even outlaw violence, which doesn’t work, of course, as the pervasive violence in our society demonstrates and was again graphically illustrated by the recent outbreak of ‘white nationalist’ violence in Charlottesville in the United States.

Racism directed against indigenous peoples and people of color has been a significant factor driving key aspects of domestic politics and foreign policy in many countries for centuries. This outcome is inevitable given the psychological imperatives that drive racist violence.

Racism – fear of, and hatred for, those of another race coupled with the beliefs that the other race is inferior and should be dominated (by your race) – is now highly visible among European populations impacted by refugee flows from the Middle East and North Africa. In addition, racism is ongoingly and highly evident among sectors of the US population but also in countries like South Africa as well as Australia and throughout Central and South America where indigenous populations are particularly impacted. But racism is a problem in many other countries too.

So why is fear and hatred of those of a different race so prominent? Let me start at the beginning.

Human socialization is essentially a process of terrorizing children into ‘thinking’ and doing what the adults around them want (irrespective of the functionality of this thought and behavior in evolutionary terms). Hence, the attitudes, beliefs, values and behaviors that most humans exhibit are driven by fear and the self-hatred that accompanies this fear. For a comprehensive explanation of this point, see ‘Why Violence?’ and ‘Fearless Psychology and Fearful Psychology: Principles and Practice’.

However, because this fear and self-hatred are so unpleasant to feel consciously, most people suppress these feelings below conscious awareness and then (unconsciously) project them onto ‘legitimized’ victims (that is, those people ‘approved’ for victimization by their parents and/or society generally). In short: the fear and self-hatred are projected as fear of, and hatred for, particular social groups (whether people of another gender, nation, race, religion or class).

This all happens because virtually all adults are (unconsciously) terrified and self-hating, so they unconsciously terrorize children into accepting the attitudes, beliefs, values and behaviors that make the adults feel safe. A child who thinks and acts differently is frightening and is not allowed to flourish.

Once the child has been so terrorized however, they will respond to their fear and self-hatred with diminishing adult stimulus. What is important, emotionally speaking, is that the fear and self-hatred have an outlet so that they can be released and acted upon. And because parents do not allow their child to feel and express their fear and hatred in relation to the parents themselves (who, fundamentally, just want obedience without comprehending that obedience is rooted in fear and generates enormous self-hatred because it denies the individual’s Self-will), the child is left with no alternative but to project their fear and hatred in socially approved directions.

Hence, as an adult, their own fear and self-hatred are unconscious to the individual precisely because they were never allowed to feel and express them safely as a child. What they do feel, consciously, is their hatred for ‘legitimized’ victims.

Historically, different social groups in different cultural contexts have been the victim of this projected but ‘socially approved’ fear and hatred. Women, indigenous peoples, Catholics, Afro-Americans, Jews, communists, Palestinians…. The list goes on. The predominant group in this category, of course, is children (whose ‘uncontrollability’ frightens virtually all parents until they have been successfully terrorized and tamed).

The groups that are socially approved to be feared and hated are determined by elites. This is because individual members of the elite are themselves terrified and full of self-hatred and they use the various powerful instruments at their disposal – ranging from control of politicians to the corporate media – to trigger the fear and self-hatred of the population at large in order to focus this fear and hatred on what frightens the elite. This makes it easier for the elite to then attack the group that they are projecting frightens them, which is why Donald Trump and various European leaders encourage racist attacks. See, for example, ‘This expert on political violence thinks Trump is making neo-Nazi attacks more likely’. It is also useful for providing a basis for enhancing elite social control through such measures as legislative restrictions on human rights and expanded police powers.

Historically speaking, indigenous peoples and people of color have been primary targets for this projected fear and self-hatred, which explains the psychological origins (which underpin and complement the political and economic origins) of practices such as the Atlantic slave trade and European colonialism in earlier centuries. Racism allows elites and others to project their fear and self-hatred onto indigenous people and people of color so that elites can then seek to destroy this fear and self-hatred.

Obviously, this cannot work. You cannot destroy fear, whether your own or that of anyone else. However, you can cause phenomenal damage to those onto whom your fear and self-hatred are projected. Of course, there is nothing intelligent about this process. If every indigenous person and person of colour in the world was killed, elites would simply then project their fear and self-hatred onto other groups and set out to destroy those groups too.

In fact, of course, western elites are now (unconsciously) projecting their fear and self-hatred onto Muslims as well and this manifests behaviourally in many ways, including as war on countries in the Middle East. And when the blowback from these wars manifests as ‘terrorist’ attacks on western countries (assuming they aren’t ‘false flag’ events, which is often the case), such as the recent attack in Barcelona, it is simply used by elites, employing their corporate media particularly, to justify more intrusive social control under the guise of ‘enhanced security’, as mentioned above.

If you are starting to wonder about the sanity of all this, you can rest assured there is none. Elites are insane. See ‘The Global Elite is Insane’. Unfortunately, the individuals who are mobilized in response to this projection are also insane, as a cursory perusal of their written words and even modest attention to their spoken words will readily illustrate. See, for example, ‘Charlottesville: Race and Terror’.

So is there anything we can do? Fundamentally, we need to stop terrorizing our children. As a back up, we can provide safe spaces for children and adults alike to feel their fear, self-hatred and other suppressed feelings consciously (which will allow them to be safely released). By doing this, we can avoid creating more insane individuals who will project their fear and self-hatred in elite-approved directions. See ‘My Promise to Children’.

If you are fearless enough to recognize that elites are manipulating you into fearing those of other races (or religions) whom we do not need to fear, any time is a good time to speak up and to demonstrate your solidarity. You might also like to sign the online pledge of ‘The People’s Charter to Create a Nonviolent World’.

You are also welcome to consider using the strategic framework explained in Nonviolent Campaign Strategy for your anti-racism campaign. And if you want to organise a nonviolent action to combat racism in a context where violence might erupt, you can minimize the risk of this violence by following the comprehehensive list of guidelines here: ‘Nonviolent Action: Minimizing the Risk of Violent Repression’.

Suppressed fear and self-hatred must be projected and they are usually projected in socially approved ways (although mental illnesses and some forms of criminal activity are ways in which this suppressed fear manifests that are not socially approved).

In essence, racism is a manifestation of the mental illness of elites manipulating us into doing their insane bidding. Unfortunately, many people are easy victims of this manipulation because they are full of suppressed terror and self-hatred too.

Robert J. Burrowes has a lifetime commitment to understanding and ending human violence. He has done extensive research since 1966 in an effort to understand why human beings are violent and has been a nonviolent activist since 1981. He is the author of ‘Why Violence?’ His email address is flametree@riseup.net and his website is here.

Nonviolent Action: Why and How it Works

Nonviolent Action: Why and How it Works

Nonviolent action is extremely powerful.

Unfortunately, however, activists do not always understand why nonviolence is so powerful and they design ‘direct actions’ that are virtually powerless.

I would like to start by posing two questions. Why is nonviolent action so powerful? And why is using it strategically so transformative?

When an activist group is working on an issue – such as a national liberation struggle, war, the climate catastrophe, violence against women and/or children, nuclear weapons, drone killings, rainforest destruction, encroachments on indigenous land – they will often plan an action that is intended to physically halt an activity, such as the activities of a military base, the loading of a coal ship, the work of a bulldozer, the building of an oil pipeline. Their plan might also include using one or more of a variety of techniques such as locking themselves to a piece of equipment (‘locking-on’) to prevent it from being used. Separately or in addition, they might use secrecy both in their planning and execution so that they are able to carry out the action before police or military personnel prevent them from doing so.

Unfortunately, the focus on physical outcomes (including actions such as ‘locking-on’ and its many equivalents), and the secrecy necessary to carry out their plan, all functionally undermine the power of their action. Why is this? Let me explain how and why nonviolent action works so that it is clear why any nonviolent activist who understands the dynamics of nonviolent action is unconcerned about the immediate physical outcome of their action (and what is necessary to achieve that).

If you think of your nonviolent action as a physical act, then you will tend to focus your attention on securing a physical outcome from your planned action: to prevent the military from occupying a location, to stop a bulldozer from knocking down trees, to halt the work at an oil terminal or nuclear power station, to prevent construction equipment being moved on site. Of course, it is simple enough to plan a nonviolent action that will do any of these things for a period of time and there are many possible actions that might achieve it.

But if you pause to consider how your nonviolent action might have psychological and political impact that leads to lasting or even permanent change on the issue in question but also society as a whole, then your conception of what you might do will be both expanded and deepened. And you will be starting to think strategically about what it means to mobilise large numbers of people to think and behave differently.

After all, whatever the immediate focus of your action, it is only ever one step in the direction of more profound change. And this profound change must include a lasting change in prevailing ideas and a lasting change in ‘normal’ behaviour by substantial (and perhaps even vast) numbers of people. Or you will be back tomorrow, the day after and so on until you get tired of doing something without result, as routinely happens in campaigns that ‘go nowhere’ (as so many do).

So why does nonviolent action work?

Fundamentally, nonviolent action works because of its capacity to create a favourable political atmosphere (because of, for example, the way in which activist honesty builds trust), its capacity to create a non-threatening physical environment (because of the nonviolent discipline of the activists), and its capacity to alter the human psychological conditions (both innate and learned) that make people resist new ideas in the first place. This includes its capacity to reduce or eliminate fear and its capacity to ‘humanise’ activists in the eyes of more conservative sections of the community. In essence, nonviolent activists precipitate change because people are inspired by the honesty, discipline, integrity, courage and determination of the activists – despite arrests, beatings or imprisonment – and are thus inclined to identify with them. Moreover, as an extension of this, they are inclined to change their behaviour to act in solidarity.

It is for this reason too that a nonviolent action should always make explicit what behavioural change it is asking of people. Whether communicated in news conferences or via the various media, painted on banners or in other ways, a nonviolent action group should clearly communicate powerful actions that individuals can take. For example, a climate action group should consistently convey the messages to ‘Save the Climate: Become a Vegan/Vegetarian’, ‘Save the Climate: Boycott Cars’ and, like a rainforest action group, ‘Don’t Buy Rainforest Timber’.

A peace group should consistently convey such messages as  ‘Don’t Pay Taxes for War’ and ‘Divest from the Weapons Industry’ (among many other possibilities). Groups resisting the nuclear fuel cycle and fossil fuel industry in their many manifestations should consistently convey brief messages that encourage reduced consumption and a shift to more self-reliant renewable energies. See, for example, ‘The Flame Tree Project to Save Life on Earth’.

http://tinyurl.com/flametree

Groups struggling to defend or reinstate indigenous sovereignty should convey compelling messages that explain what people can do in their particular context.

It is important that these messages require powerful personal action, not token responses. And it is important that these actions should not be directed at elites or lobbying elites. Elites will fall into line when we have mobilized enough people so that they are compelled to do as we wish. And not before. At the end of the Salt March in 1930 Gandhi picked up a handful of salt on the beach at Dandi. This was the signal for Indians everywhere to start collecting their own salt in violation of British law. In subsequent campaigns Gandhi called for Indians to boycott British cloth and make their own khadi (handwoven cloth). These actions were strategically focused because they undermined the profitability of British colonialism in India and nurtured Indian self-reliance.

A key reason why Mohandas K. Gandhi was that rarest of combinations – a master nonviolent strategist and a master nonviolent tactician – was because he understood the psychology of nonviolence and how to make it have political impact. Let me illustrate this point by using the nonviolent raid on the Dharasana salt works, the nonviolent action he planned as a sequel to the more famous Salt March in 1930.

On 4 May 1930 Gandhi wrote to Lord Irwin, Viceroy of India, advising his intention to lead a party of nonviolent activists to raid the Dharasana Salt Works to collect salt and thus intervene against the law prohibiting Indians from collecting their own salt. Gandhi was immediately arrested, as were many other prominent nationalist leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru and Vallabhbhai Patel.

Nevertheless, having planned for this contingency, under a succession of leaders (who were also progressively arrested) the raid went ahead as planned with hundreds of Indian satyagrahis (nonviolent activists) attempting to nonviolently invade the salt works. However, despite repeated attempts by these activists to walk into the salt works during a three week period, not one activist got a pinch of salt! Moreover, hundreds of satyagrahis were injured, many receiving fractured skulls or shoulders, and two were killed.

But an account of the activists’ nonviolent discipline, commitment and courage – under the steel-tipped lathi (baton) blows of the police – was reported in 1,350 newspapers around the world. As a result, this nonviolent action – which ‘failed’ to achieve the stated physical objective of seizing salt – functionally undermined support for British imperialism in India. For an account of the salt raids at Dharasana, see Thomas Weber. ‘“The Marchers Simply Walked Forward Until Struck Down”: Nonviolent Suffering and Conversion’

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/enhanced/doi/10.1111/j.1468-0130.1993.tb00178.x/

If the activists had been preoccupied with the physical seizure of salt and, perhaps, resorted to the use of secrecy to get it, there would have been no chance to demonstrate their honesty, integrity, courage and determination – and to thus inspire empathy for their cause – although they might have got some salt! (Of course, if salt had been removed secretly, the British government could, if they had chosen, ignored it: after all, who would have known or cared? However, they could not afford to let the satyagrahis take salt openly because salt removal was illegal and failure to react would have shown the salt law – a law that represented the antithesis of Indian independence – to be ineffective.)

In summary, nonviolent activists who think strategically understand that strategic effectiveness is unrelated to whether or not the action is physically successful (provided it is strategically selected, well-designed so that it elicits one or other of the intended responses, and sincerely attempted). Psychological, and hence political, impact is gained by demonstrating qualities that inspire others and move them to act personally too. For this reason, among several others, secrecy (and the fear that drives it) is counterproductive if strategic impact is your intention.

If you are interested in planning effective nonviolent actions, a related article also explains the vital distinction between ‘The Political Objective and Strategic Goal of Nonviolent Actions’.

https://nonviolentstrategy.wordpress.com/articles/political-objective-strategic-goal/

And if you are concerned about violent military or police responses, have a look at ‘Nonviolent Action: Minimizing the Risk of Violent Repression’.

https://nonviolentstrategy.wordpress.com/articles/minimizing-risk-violent-repression/

For those of you who are interested in planning and acting strategically in your nonviolent struggle, whatever its focus, you might be interested in one or the other of these two websites: Nonviolent Campaign Strategy

https://nonviolentstrategy.wordpress.com/

and Nonviolent Defense/Liberation Strategy.

https://nonviolentliberationstrategy.wordpress.com/

And if you are interested in being part of the worldwide movement to end all violence, you are welcome to sign the online pledge of ‘The People’s Charter to Create a Nonviolent World’.

http://thepeoplesnonviolencecharter.wordpress.com

Struggles for peace, justice, sustainability and liberation often fail. Almost invariably, this is due to the failure to understand the psychology, politics and strategy of nonviolence. It is not complicated but it requires a little time to learn.

Robert J. Burrowes has a lifetime commitment to understanding and ending human violence. He has done extensive research since 1966 in an effort to understand why human beings are violent and has been a nonviolent activist since 1981. He is the author of ‘Why Violence?’ http://tinyurl.com/whyviolence His email address is flametree@riseup.net and his website is here. http://robertjburrowes.wordpress.com

The original source of this article is Global Research