Saturday, April 21, 2012

Sunday, April 15, 2012

The Nazi Lobby

I just read the news about Nazis Getting Their Own Lobbyist in DC.

How revealing this is of America's brand of capitalism, which is predicated on the survival of the fittest, and of the amoral power that capital has to purchase our politicians.

I do not question the Nazi's right to self expression, to peacefully assemble or any other constitutionally-guaranteed right. This is not the issue. Regardless of what the apologists from both parties that hold the current monopoly might say- Lobbying, using donations to sway votes and favors from those in power, is not a democratic process. If the majority is poor, the majority will not be represented because it lacks the funds to lobby for its interests.

If an industry employs one million workers but pays them minimum wage, the lobbyists from that industry will lobby for the continued exploitation of its workers, for allowing the worsening of their working conditions, and for an increase in the wealth of the employers, the ones who produce and work the least yet earn the most.

If that same industry (let's use, for instance, the McDonalds conglomerate) also has a demonstrated history of being bad for the environment -and we know that beef and pork consumption does more ecological damage than even our current transportation infrastructure-, then if the people who suffer the ill effects of this industry also happen to live in poverty (as they almost invariably do), there will be no lobby representing them. Their government does not belong to them, it belongs to whoever can afford the for-profit American government. Yes, fellow Americans. I said it. We have a for-profit government. Our country is being run as a for-profit venture.

The ideals and values of the Nazi movement, and the obscenely unfortunate historical repercussions of its existence, are shared by only a fraction of the American population, yet in theory if they come into considerable wealth, they might win a number of supporters in Congress and in the future we may see a normalization (aided by media, as so often happens with moneyed groups) of politicians allying themselves with Nazi ideology.

Lobbying does not favor the common good, it's an anti-democratic tradition, and my only hope is that the addition and the visibility of a Nazi lobby will eloquently diluscidate the workings of this parasytical profession and its detrimental effects on our societal health in years to come.

The fact that lobbying effects change whereas the people don't is made worse by our being mindless consumers. We've made our true masters wealthy and powerful, and now they believe they are beyond reproach and are preparing to sacrifice our children to Manon: the welfare of future generations will be at the mercy of Lord Money.

I've become convinced that the changes needed in our civilization will be impossible to attain without a global boycott campaign against the corporatocracy, not an easy feat of populist power and organizing but with social media and the internet ... who knows?
The season of failure is the best time to sow the seeds of success.

- Paramahansa Yogananda

Monday, April 2, 2012

The Real X-Men

In a previous post, I discussed the Stoned Ape Hypothesis which attempts to explain the sudden growth of the early human brain. Today, I read another perspective in the article Tracing autism's roots by David Stipp, where he says

Consider a mutation on chromosome 16 recently tied to autism. The glitch is in a DNA region containing so-called "morpheus" genes, which changed very rapidly as evolution produced ever brainier apes. The genes may well help shape cognitive capacities specific to apes and humans, including ones affected by autism.

Since fast mutation goes hand in hand with fast evolution, it's likely that the new autism-linked gene lies in a DNA "hotspot" prone to spontaneous mutation. In short, the same phenomenon that helped to rapidly evolve our braininess may contribute to autism.


Being the skeptic that I am, for some time I have avoided equating autistic kids with indigo children, which is more of a New-Agey construct, and to remain scientific in my research of autism in light of my niece's diagnosis. However, having read the above article where autistic patients are shown to have increased genetic mutations, and based on other information available on the subject, my views are changing and I believe that autistic individuals deserve a more affirming attitude.

I'm beginning to see autism not as a disease but as part of neurodiversity and the discourse around autism should be reframed within the context of human diversity. That is, diversity includes not only learning to tolerate and live with people of different languages, cultures, religions and sexual orientations but it should also involve learning to live with neurodiversity: learning to relate to introverts and extraverts, learning to relate with autistic individuals and having a broader understanding of how people with different brains see the world. I am not alone in this view. There's even an Autism Pride movement!
TODAY IS AUTISM AWARENESS DAY

I HAPPEN TO LOVE A CHILD WITH AUTISM
MY NIECE
SHE IS VERY INTELLIGENT
SHE HAS KNOWN HER ALPHABET SINCE PRE-SCHOOL
HAS ALWAYS BEEN A QUICK LEARNER
AND IS VERY AFFECTIONATE

SHE'S A NORMAL CHILD
EXCEPT THAT HER BRAIN IS CONFIGURED DIFFERENTLY

AUTISTIC PEOPLE OFTEN HAVE ACUTE SENSES
OF HEARING OR VISION
BUT OTHERWISE THEY CAN HAVE NORMAL LEVELS OF INTELLIGENCE
OR SOMETIMES THEY CAN BE GENIUSES FOR THE SAME REASON

EINSTEIN WAS AUTISTIC

PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO LEARN MORE ABOUT AUTISM
BEFORE YOU JUDGE SOMEONE