I think quite a bit about this topic, particularly in the context of how this can be addressed by political and social movements. I don’t know how Americans compare with other cultures on social conscience but I’d be willing to gamble that we might rank rather low. The U.S. is probably the epitome of a competitive capitalist society and it follows that individual interests are paramount to social interests. Unless we have parents or others around us to present some alternatives, we are pretty much caught up in living in a personal bubble, where we might not pay attention to how others are being damaged, unless we become subjected to the ills ourselves. People pick up the message that to get ahead you don’t rock the boat, hence you stay silent about injustice. As I’m writing this, it crossed my mind to ask if you’ve written about how you developed a social conscience. Did you have one early or was it a progressive development, if you choose to share that.
Great thoughts, Chris. I have to agree with you about American society being probably low on the scale of having a mature outlook on life or a social conscience. Sometimes I wonder if that is what the Trumpsters mean when they say "Make America Great Again"--they are bemoaning the fact that possibly at one point in time the majority of Americans acted like they had a conscience, that they cared about their neighbors and not just themselves, but that isn't the case anymore. I think the more I study history and human psychology and sociology, the less I agree with their plea (and methods), but I do understand why many feel there's been a "loss" of conscience in the US and they wish it could be restored.
You know, I've thought about writing about how I've come to these conclusions at this point in my life (sort of a pseudo-memoir), but I've never sat down and actually written one piece concentrating on that topic. How did I develop a social conscience? How does anyone? I like this idea and would write more on it if I think it would be of interests to others here on Substack, but I might put it up for paid subscribers only. I need the money to survive in this capitalist world, alas! (Grrrr!!!)
But thank you for the idea and I will think on it some more. (As a psych major it's always a contrast of "nature vs. nuture", so it would have elements of both I'd say.)
I'd love to go to Ireland some day, but first I have to get my husband over to England to visit his dad (who is 94 years old). The price of flying is a bit too much for us both to travel and someone has to stay home and baby-sit the cat (our true master). But in theory it sounds great! (Right now I'd choose a very warm climate. This week has been sooo cold!)
I hear ya, Cindy. I have every tree in my yard except a money tree 😉
It’s a thought for the future, perhaps.
It’s been freezing here too as you can imagine. Today hubs needed to go into town and got his two wheel drive truck stuck in the driveway. I gave him the keys to my Jeep and while he was gone I shoveled our 200 foot long drive, put some kitty litter under the tires and whipped that truck out! I sure got my props when he came home !
Wow, 200 foot long drive?! We barely got our 40 foot driveway dusted off when it got covered in ice again. Luckily, the warm days are coming this weekend... Looking forward to t-shirt weather when we hit 40 degrees. LOL!
Well, if I can sell a book this year, maybe I can afford to fly to Ireland and hire a cat sitter than our kitty won't be terrified of. Silly little thing is spoiled rotten!
I need a Make Capitalism Hated Again t shirt. We got to keep pointing out its foibles every chance we get and demanding more compassionate treatment for all people. To give in to the selfish materialists is to doom our future and all life on the planet. So F U to capitalism!!
I'd start a t-shirt and bumper sticker store online to spread some of my more wittier anti-capitalist sayings about, but would that mean I've given myself over to capitalism? I gotta make a living somehow, and the price of eggs is just... Well, let's say we won't be making omelettes again any time soon.
It has been a shocking success of Capitalism that they have twisted our heads into thinking that capitalism and free enterprise are synonymous. ( I think of the fun but jingoistic film “Moscow on the Hudson”). They are essentially opposites: you selling t-shirts or Robin Williams’ character selling pretzels, or Joe the Plumber or Kim the greengrocer is free enterprise, which Big Capital claims to protect but in fact does everything to destroy, leading to a USA where over 65% of small businesses fail (that’s an old figure; I’m guessing that now it’s much higher). True capitalism concentrates wealth into fewer and fewer hands, as we’ve seen, until we have a return to a carefully planned feudalism, with a thousand billionaires and eight billion serfs, none of whom own or control their own means of production.
Well said! I know the difference between free enterprise/trade and corporate capitalism, but whenever a small business is set up, the larger (corporate) ones eventually force it to go bankrupt and take over. I remember the first WalMart Super Center and what they did to the small town I lived in. All of a sudden the only other grocery store in town closed. Then there were fewer barbers, my eye doctor closed his office after many years and went to work at the WalMart optician instead. He couldn't compete he said. What I wouldn't give to see all the small business open again and the WalMarts gone for good. The boycott planned for February 28 against WalMart, Amazon and all large corporate franchise stores is one step in the right direction.
Thank you for articulating so well what I’ve been seeing very recently! I’ve been getting attacked from some surprising quarters, from people who were gung-ho peace and justice advocates but suddenly are being taken in by right-wing lies in the mainstream media, or whose deep-seated prejudices (like the Palestine Exception, or racist beliefs from their provincial childhood) are being unearthed. I don’t think we should be overwhelmed by this phenomenon, though: these people are being empowered by the MSM in order to create this illusion of a movement and a need to hide progressive beliefs. It’s not real. There are still many millions of us. You are inspiring us to speak out clearly.
I'm glad that I can "inspire" others to speak out--that's been my main purpose here at The Revolution Continues since its beginning, almost ten years now. It is surprising how some folks we thought were thinking along similar lines as we do on important issues all of sudden seem to be thinking just the opposite. I think you're right about deep-seated prejudices. The racism is real and it's been there all along but we just didn't see it because it was somewhat hidden by actions these people did in the past that were supportive of progressive causes. (It's why I'm so disappointed in Bernie Sanders supporting genocide in Gaza--what happened? Was he this biased against Palestinians all along?) It's comforting to know that there are many millions of us who still have a conscience like you, Rebel Nun. Power to the people!
You mentioned that your acquaintances made you feel like a “freak” because of your stance for human rights. A gentle correction: THEY are the freaks, devoid of conscience, ignorant of anything but their own status and comfort. I am acquainted with such and have cut all ties with them: many of them are members of my husband’s family.
I don’t miss them a bit.
I will never forgive and never forget: as an INFJ personality type, this is known as the “door slam”. We never look back.
YOU are the one doing the vital work, Cindy. How I wish we were neighbors!——think of what we could plot and accomplish together!
Now I understand better why we of a 'similar soul' like you said. I'm an ENFJ personality type so basically the extroverted version of you 😄
So as the extroverted version of you, I demand when we meet up in real life (I will do all in my Power to make it a Reality), I will be the one to get us into trouble with different outings and other extroverted fun that is just on the edge of the law 😜
But first, we gotta save this burning world somehow from itself and the mostly fast asleep Sheeples inhabiting it. Sucks to be a hero at times huh 😉😅
Yeesh! 😳😳.. My bad Mademoiséllè, please forgive my error 😞
You may not believe it but seeing your initials, my mind went straight to Jesus Christ and hence my automatic assigning you a male 😅
And I also hate x and didn't even use it one day even when it was still twitter so I'd say I'm making another soul friend in you just as I have with our resident ferocious Gypsy 😀💗
No apologies necessary, Sir. This experience is a learning for both of us. Using my initials is a writing device. ✍️ I'm gifted these initials.
Illusion: JC conjures up Jesus Christ. It's a male construct in a male dominated world. Both males and females are injured by the contrived division of gender in societies, part of divide and conquer. Understand? Have a great day, y'all. 😊
And we WILL meet someday. Would it not be awesome if the likes of all of us here could decide on a meeting place (say, Ireland?) and get together? I think we could change the world!
Looking forward to getting into trouble with you 😂 That’ll be SO MUCH FUN!
Mahn, your proposal makes me remember when I started hanging out the spiritual circles on Facebook and coming into contact with others from across the world like me. I had this vision of creating a community in which we all would uplift each other and grow together and have annual meetings et all... That was before I was rudely cured of my naivety and shown that one being spiritual doesn't automatically mean one is a good person and thus I thought that vision was ended
But with this proposal of yours, I really feel it could work (I dig Ireland as our spot for their stance on Palestine and their history) and to be honest, the people I connect with here on Substack are so much better than the ones I had on Facebook so I really see this developing into something big and I'm all for it!!
Just give me this year or so to balance out as I've been hammered by the evil forces here economically wise (and spiritually but I've mostly settled that score now) but we can be making plans in the meantime and see who else is down for this plan of ours and hopefully make it a Reality late this year or next year and hopefully it will be the start of an Annual tradition if our first meetup goes well
And just remember that I'm Nigerian and fun is our middle name so get ready to party like you never have with me as your faithful wingman 😜🥰
I suggested Ireland because it is so welcoming and beautiful (I’ve been there twice.) And yes, they are SO supportive of the Palestinian people and always have been, knowing a thing or two about occupation themselves.
The good Irish are no strangers to parting themselves! We’ll have a ball in those pubs!
PS
I dont Facebook or X. There are so many truly vile people on those platforms that make my blood boil. Best in my case just to avoid the haters.
Awesome! Seems it's a plan then and we'll work out the details in the coming months
Also, seems like we might have our first sign up to this plan of ours with the lovely feminine JC 😄, unless I'm reading the room wrong
I feel you on the X and Facebook snub as I also snub the former but utilize the latter for learning purposes only as the contents there make it an encyclopedia for the kind of knowledge I'm into.. still, fuck both of them and their reptilian owners 🖕🏼🖕🏼
I tend to "door slam" the people who make me feel uncomfortable, so it's no wonder others return the favor. But it we're going to turn this corrupt hell-hole capitalist DisneyLand that calls itself the US of A around, we've somehow got to reach those folks who think we're "freaks" and vice versa. This is the conundrum I ponder everyday. I want those folks to learn and get with us on the side for fighting for human rights... But marching them off to those guillotines sure is awfully tempting at times! (Better that the NSA doesn't catch us "plotting", eh?)
I have a few folks on Facebook that can't figure it out. Over time we that voted against both party candidates get the lectures. We need to vote for Kamala because we helped tRump. No, I live in WA state. It's 100% controlled by Democrats.
This rigged system awards more power to those swing states. Jim Crow policies in these yt supremacist, racist states have disenfranchised many.
Look up the work of Greg Palast. He has an expose documentary. Vigilante, Inc.
To your point:
How does a sane person vote for psychopaths? while claiming that Kamala is a good choice? We are not given good choices in the failing empire.
I live in the swing state of Michigan. In ‘16, we went Trump. In ‘20, we went ByeDone. In ‘24, back to Trump. As Michigan goes, so goes the country. You are correct that the swing states wield too much power.
It always goes like this: vote Trump because you hate him less than Hitlery. Vote ByeDone, because you hate him less than Trump. Vote Trump because you hate him less than Scamala.
It’s absolutely insane that with all the intelligent and reasonable people who abide in this country, we cannot run candidates who are BOTH EVILS.
Oh wait, we did: her name was Jill Stein and the ignorant Amerikkkan voters gave her a whopping 1% of their votes. Mine was among them.
I believe in quick and painless deaths myself, so I go with the guillotine. Drawing and quartering was just a horrific way to torture a person to death. There's no need to be cruel, IMO. ;-)
I think quite a bit about this topic, particularly in the context of how this can be addressed by political and social movements. I don’t know how Americans compare with other cultures on social conscience but I’d be willing to gamble that we might rank rather low. The U.S. is probably the epitome of a competitive capitalist society and it follows that individual interests are paramount to social interests. Unless we have parents or others around us to present some alternatives, we are pretty much caught up in living in a personal bubble, where we might not pay attention to how others are being damaged, unless we become subjected to the ills ourselves. People pick up the message that to get ahead you don’t rock the boat, hence you stay silent about injustice. As I’m writing this, it crossed my mind to ask if you’ve written about how you developed a social conscience. Did you have one early or was it a progressive development, if you choose to share that.
Great thoughts, Chris. I have to agree with you about American society being probably low on the scale of having a mature outlook on life or a social conscience. Sometimes I wonder if that is what the Trumpsters mean when they say "Make America Great Again"--they are bemoaning the fact that possibly at one point in time the majority of Americans acted like they had a conscience, that they cared about their neighbors and not just themselves, but that isn't the case anymore. I think the more I study history and human psychology and sociology, the less I agree with their plea (and methods), but I do understand why many feel there's been a "loss" of conscience in the US and they wish it could be restored.
You know, I've thought about writing about how I've come to these conclusions at this point in my life (sort of a pseudo-memoir), but I've never sat down and actually written one piece concentrating on that topic. How did I develop a social conscience? How does anyone? I like this idea and would write more on it if I think it would be of interests to others here on Substack, but I might put it up for paid subscribers only. I need the money to survive in this capitalist world, alas! (Grrrr!!!)
But thank you for the idea and I will think on it some more. (As a psych major it's always a contrast of "nature vs. nuture", so it would have elements of both I'd say.)
Nobody wants to be reminded that they DON’T have a conscience!.
FRIENDS—DO NOT FORGET if you live in Amerikkka…..
24 HOUR ECONOMIC BLACKOUT Feb
27 midnight to Feb 28 midnight
NO GAS
NO FAST FOOD
NO CORPORATE SPENDING
MOM AND POP STORES ONLY!
Join us!
Cindy, are you down with some of us meeting up at some point? I suggested maybe Ireland to Uaifo. We’re not far apart, you and I could go together!
I'd love to go to Ireland some day, but first I have to get my husband over to England to visit his dad (who is 94 years old). The price of flying is a bit too much for us both to travel and someone has to stay home and baby-sit the cat (our true master). But in theory it sounds great! (Right now I'd choose a very warm climate. This week has been sooo cold!)
I hear ya, Cindy. I have every tree in my yard except a money tree 😉
It’s a thought for the future, perhaps.
It’s been freezing here too as you can imagine. Today hubs needed to go into town and got his two wheel drive truck stuck in the driveway. I gave him the keys to my Jeep and while he was gone I shoveled our 200 foot long drive, put some kitty litter under the tires and whipped that truck out! I sure got my props when he came home !
Wow, 200 foot long drive?! We barely got our 40 foot driveway dusted off when it got covered in ice again. Luckily, the warm days are coming this weekend... Looking forward to t-shirt weather when we hit 40 degrees. LOL!
Well, if I can sell a book this year, maybe I can afford to fly to Ireland and hire a cat sitter than our kitty won't be terrified of. Silly little thing is spoiled rotten!
Yeah Cindy..,200 feet. I’m feelin’ it today; I feel like a train hit me 😭
I need a Make Capitalism Hated Again t shirt. We got to keep pointing out its foibles every chance we get and demanding more compassionate treatment for all people. To give in to the selfish materialists is to doom our future and all life on the planet. So F U to capitalism!!
I'd start a t-shirt and bumper sticker store online to spread some of my more wittier anti-capitalist sayings about, but would that mean I've given myself over to capitalism? I gotta make a living somehow, and the price of eggs is just... Well, let's say we won't be making omelettes again any time soon.
I'd buy it!
Over $6.00 here in the Seattle suburb area.
My oldest shirt is white on black. It says,
RISE UP ^ (arrow) ALL PEOPLES! It has a big FIST in the middle. I love this shirt. It's over 20 years old. Faded, but awesome. 👌
It has been a shocking success of Capitalism that they have twisted our heads into thinking that capitalism and free enterprise are synonymous. ( I think of the fun but jingoistic film “Moscow on the Hudson”). They are essentially opposites: you selling t-shirts or Robin Williams’ character selling pretzels, or Joe the Plumber or Kim the greengrocer is free enterprise, which Big Capital claims to protect but in fact does everything to destroy, leading to a USA where over 65% of small businesses fail (that’s an old figure; I’m guessing that now it’s much higher). True capitalism concentrates wealth into fewer and fewer hands, as we’ve seen, until we have a return to a carefully planned feudalism, with a thousand billionaires and eight billion serfs, none of whom own or control their own means of production.
Well said! I know the difference between free enterprise/trade and corporate capitalism, but whenever a small business is set up, the larger (corporate) ones eventually force it to go bankrupt and take over. I remember the first WalMart Super Center and what they did to the small town I lived in. All of a sudden the only other grocery store in town closed. Then there were fewer barbers, my eye doctor closed his office after many years and went to work at the WalMart optician instead. He couldn't compete he said. What I wouldn't give to see all the small business open again and the WalMarts gone for good. The boycott planned for February 28 against WalMart, Amazon and all large corporate franchise stores is one step in the right direction.
Cindy, I believe the state of Vermont does not allow Walmarts; they don’t wish to see their small local businesses go under.
What a concept!
Smart move on their part. Maybe there's some hope in the US yet!
Thank you for articulating so well what I’ve been seeing very recently! I’ve been getting attacked from some surprising quarters, from people who were gung-ho peace and justice advocates but suddenly are being taken in by right-wing lies in the mainstream media, or whose deep-seated prejudices (like the Palestine Exception, or racist beliefs from their provincial childhood) are being unearthed. I don’t think we should be overwhelmed by this phenomenon, though: these people are being empowered by the MSM in order to create this illusion of a movement and a need to hide progressive beliefs. It’s not real. There are still many millions of us. You are inspiring us to speak out clearly.
I'm glad that I can "inspire" others to speak out--that's been my main purpose here at The Revolution Continues since its beginning, almost ten years now. It is surprising how some folks we thought were thinking along similar lines as we do on important issues all of sudden seem to be thinking just the opposite. I think you're right about deep-seated prejudices. The racism is real and it's been there all along but we just didn't see it because it was somewhat hidden by actions these people did in the past that were supportive of progressive causes. (It's why I'm so disappointed in Bernie Sanders supporting genocide in Gaza--what happened? Was he this biased against Palestinians all along?) It's comforting to know that there are many millions of us who still have a conscience like you, Rebel Nun. Power to the people!
Hi Cindy
You mentioned that your acquaintances made you feel like a “freak” because of your stance for human rights. A gentle correction: THEY are the freaks, devoid of conscience, ignorant of anything but their own status and comfort. I am acquainted with such and have cut all ties with them: many of them are members of my husband’s family.
I don’t miss them a bit.
I will never forgive and never forget: as an INFJ personality type, this is known as the “door slam”. We never look back.
YOU are the one doing the vital work, Cindy. How I wish we were neighbors!——think of what we could plot and accomplish together!
Now I understand better why we of a 'similar soul' like you said. I'm an ENFJ personality type so basically the extroverted version of you 😄
So as the extroverted version of you, I demand when we meet up in real life (I will do all in my Power to make it a Reality), I will be the one to get us into trouble with different outings and other extroverted fun that is just on the edge of the law 😜
But first, we gotta save this burning world somehow from itself and the mostly fast asleep Sheeples inhabiting it. Sucks to be a hero at times huh 😉😅
ENTJ here.
Ah, the thinking version of myself.. glad to meet you bruv 😄✊🏼
J+C are my initials. Jane here, Sir. My posts are friends only. I avoid the haters. Why bother? I hate X. ✌️
I always loved the name Jane.
Beth here.
I always thought my name was”too soft” but then along came badass Beth Dutton on “Yellowstone”!
😆 😎
Yeesh! 😳😳.. My bad Mademoiséllè, please forgive my error 😞
You may not believe it but seeing your initials, my mind went straight to Jesus Christ and hence my automatic assigning you a male 😅
And I also hate x and didn't even use it one day even when it was still twitter so I'd say I'm making another soul friend in you just as I have with our resident ferocious Gypsy 😀💗
No apologies necessary, Sir. This experience is a learning for both of us. Using my initials is a writing device. ✍️ I'm gifted these initials.
Illusion: JC conjures up Jesus Christ. It's a male construct in a male dominated world. Both males and females are injured by the contrived division of gender in societies, part of divide and conquer. Understand? Have a great day, y'all. 😊
Uaifo, how cool! I love me some ENFJ!
And we WILL meet someday. Would it not be awesome if the likes of all of us here could decide on a meeting place (say, Ireland?) and get together? I think we could change the world!
Looking forward to getting into trouble with you 😂 That’ll be SO MUCH FUN!
Mahn, your proposal makes me remember when I started hanging out the spiritual circles on Facebook and coming into contact with others from across the world like me. I had this vision of creating a community in which we all would uplift each other and grow together and have annual meetings et all... That was before I was rudely cured of my naivety and shown that one being spiritual doesn't automatically mean one is a good person and thus I thought that vision was ended
But with this proposal of yours, I really feel it could work (I dig Ireland as our spot for their stance on Palestine and their history) and to be honest, the people I connect with here on Substack are so much better than the ones I had on Facebook so I really see this developing into something big and I'm all for it!!
Just give me this year or so to balance out as I've been hammered by the evil forces here economically wise (and spiritually but I've mostly settled that score now) but we can be making plans in the meantime and see who else is down for this plan of ours and hopefully make it a Reality late this year or next year and hopefully it will be the start of an Annual tradition if our first meetup goes well
And just remember that I'm Nigerian and fun is our middle name so get ready to party like you never have with me as your faithful wingman 😜🥰
Uaifo, I love it!
I suggested Ireland because it is so welcoming and beautiful (I’ve been there twice.) And yes, they are SO supportive of the Palestinian people and always have been, knowing a thing or two about occupation themselves.
The good Irish are no strangers to parting themselves! We’ll have a ball in those pubs!
PS
I dont Facebook or X. There are so many truly vile people on those platforms that make my blood boil. Best in my case just to avoid the haters.
Awesome! Seems it's a plan then and we'll work out the details in the coming months
Also, seems like we might have our first sign up to this plan of ours with the lovely feminine JC 😄, unless I'm reading the room wrong
I feel you on the X and Facebook snub as I also snub the former but utilize the latter for learning purposes only as the contents there make it an encyclopedia for the kind of knowledge I'm into.. still, fuck both of them and their reptilian owners 🖕🏼🖕🏼
I tend to "door slam" the people who make me feel uncomfortable, so it's no wonder others return the favor. But it we're going to turn this corrupt hell-hole capitalist DisneyLand that calls itself the US of A around, we've somehow got to reach those folks who think we're "freaks" and vice versa. This is the conundrum I ponder everyday. I want those folks to learn and get with us on the side for fighting for human rights... But marching them off to those guillotines sure is awfully tempting at times! (Better that the NSA doesn't catch us "plotting", eh?)
Cindy, I’m on my way to the lumberyard 😉
ORRRR…
We could give them a choice. Would you prefer the guillotine or drawing and quartering?
I have a few folks on Facebook that can't figure it out. Over time we that voted against both party candidates get the lectures. We need to vote for Kamala because we helped tRump. No, I live in WA state. It's 100% controlled by Democrats.
This rigged system awards more power to those swing states. Jim Crow policies in these yt supremacist, racist states have disenfranchised many.
Look up the work of Greg Palast. He has an expose documentary. Vigilante, Inc.
To your point:
How does a sane person vote for psychopaths? while claiming that Kamala is a good choice? We are not given good choices in the failing empire.
Hi JC
I live in the swing state of Michigan. In ‘16, we went Trump. In ‘20, we went ByeDone. In ‘24, back to Trump. As Michigan goes, so goes the country. You are correct that the swing states wield too much power.
It always goes like this: vote Trump because you hate him less than Hitlery. Vote ByeDone, because you hate him less than Trump. Vote Trump because you hate him less than Scamala.
It’s absolutely insane that with all the intelligent and reasonable people who abide in this country, we cannot run candidates who are BOTH EVILS.
Oh wait, we did: her name was Jill Stein and the ignorant Amerikkkan voters gave her a whopping 1% of their votes. Mine was among them.
I voted for Jill/Ware. You are totally correct IMO
Stein voter here too,both times,and proud of it.Walked away from the Dems in 2016 and never looked back.
Always vote your conscience--never vote for anyone that others scold you into voting for. You only have to look at yourself in the mirror.
I believe in quick and painless deaths myself, so I go with the guillotine. Drawing and quartering was just a horrific way to torture a person to death. There's no need to be cruel, IMO. ;-)
Wellllll Cindy….,
There are always exceptions! 😉
Bravo.