You come across a hundred “clips to watch” every week. You obviously have to skip most. Don’t skip this one. This is really good. Don’t miss the end to see what happened after he spoke. WOW. From “They don’t exist” to “Can I get your picture with my son?” The power of communication.
HERE’S THE VIDEO CLIP:
https://mobile.twitter.com/nowthisnews/status/909961001876910080/video/1
PS – If you think that our commonality with some Trump supporters is superficial, think again. The statistics below affect all of us. And we should wonder about rhetoric from parties or powers that seek to keep us from unifying. They don’t want us getting together. Because together we would represent an unstoppable force that has the power to change THESE INCREDIBLE STATISTICS BELOW.
Changing those terrible stats below would mean cutting into the profits of a very small group of corporations and super wealthy individuals. So that small group uses the media (90% of which is owned by 7 corporations) to keep us nipping at each other’s heels so we don’t join together.
Unification is the biggest fear of the small group of people who hold power in this country. We live in a nation where 300,000 people (.1%) rule over the other 300 million. And that .1% does not want us, the 300 million, to realize that we’re all in the same big boat when it gets right down to it. (Don’t forget that Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed shortly after he began connecting the civil rights movement and the anti-war movement. Unity is a threat to those who exploit).
Once we realize that we have more in common than we have separating us, we will be able to make decisions from a position of unified strength rather than making demands from a position of divided weakness. Together we are so much greater than the sum of our parts.
Don’t believe me that the 300,000 who run the show don’t want us to unify? Think that sounds outlandish? Check out this 2 minute clip showing a leaked Citibank memo. It was sent to the bank’s wealthiest clients. It shows you what the richest people in the world think of the rest of us and what those elite folks are really afraid of. It also shows the huge power we already have that we’re not using. Watch this. It’ll blow your mind: https://youtu.be/LfvC6mQKbmw . (Here’s a link to the actual 35 page memo but watching the clip above is much easier: http://delong.typepad.com/plutonomy-1.pdf ).
1 person still equals 1 vote. If we unified, we would have 99.9% of the vote and the tiny group that currently runs the show would only have .1%. Look around this country and look at the state of our environment. This is where the current corporate owned congress and incremental centrism have gotten us. Below are some statistics and facts to consider.
People and the planet are suffering, but it doesn’t have to be this way.
** Keep in mind that there are plenty of resources to fix these problems. Those resources are just being hoarded in the hands of a few. Those few have bought undo influence (due to lax campaign finance laws) and pulled the levers of power to shape policy in a way that tilts the playing field. The result is that most of the marbles roll into the pockets of a few (at the expense of the many).
No wonder the powers that be want to divide us. LOOK AT THESE STATS! They certainly want to distract us from our common predicament. That’s the only way 300,000 people can rule over the other 300,000,000 of us and keep us from unifying to use the power of the fact that 1 person = 1 vote. Have heart. We have the power to peacefully fix this unsustainable situation:
* 20 individuals now have as much wealth as the poorest 150 million Americans (half the country) per The Nation magazine. https://www.thenation.com/article/20-people-now-own-as-much-wealth-as-half-of-all-americans/
* 50% of children in the U.S. live below or near the poverty line. (Columbia University School of Public Health study) https://www.mailman.columbia.edu/public-health-now/news/nearly-half-american-children-living-near-poverty-line
* A study by the Atlantic found that 47% of Americans were economically insecure and couldn’t come up with $400 in an emergency (Article in the Atlantic: “The Secret Shame of Middle Class America.” here ) https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/05/my-secret-shame/476415/
* According to a study published recently by CBS News, 78% of workers in America are now living paycheck to paycheck. And each year that percentage is increasing. Article here: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/americans-living-paycheck-to-paycheck/?ftag=CNM-00-10aac3a
* Over a million good jobs have been shipped overseas so highly profitable corporations could get even richer. Click here for more info: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lori-wallach/nafta-at-20-one-million-u_b_4550207.html
* The environment is clearly being damaged at a rapid pace. In addition to climate change and pollution of our air, water and land, there is also alarming news like this: THE GUARDIAN: “Natural World Faces Collapse as Wildlife Population Plummets”: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/27/natural-world-collapse-wildlife-population-plummet-briefing
* Princeton University proves that our members of Congress are only representing the interests of a few. This short video showing exactly how the game is rigged is definitely worth checking out some time: https://clearblueskyoutwest.com/2017/09/09/www-represent-us/
* The enormous economic distress described above creates a climate that is historically conducive to the rise of fascism and racism. (Think about 1930’s Germany and how a strong man swooped in to take advantage of the economic conditions to exploit race, religion, sexual orientation and ethnicity to create divisions). This 2 minute clip lays out pretty clearly how fascism rises. It’s from a 1947 US War Dept. anti-fascist film and is surprisingly timely: https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=YPscKn3-9MI
The game is rigged. (If you doubt that, just read these two items:
1. “After a few generations of this, almost all of the nation’s wealth will be in the hands of a few thousand families. . . If you don’t think this is a problem, go back and take a look at the Roman Empire — right before the fall.” – Robert Reich
2. “THE MOST DESTRUCTIVE POLICY YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF”: https://clearblueskyoutwest.com/2017/09/15/the-most-destructive-policy-youve-never-heard-of/ ).
We can do this. We can join together turn this thing around. We already have the power to do so. We just don’t realize it yet.
Here are “12 REASONS TO HAVE HOPE: We’re going to turn this world around”:
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CNN news clip of Trump rally organizer handing the microphone to a leader of Black Lives Matters, allowing him 2 minutes to speak:
Per the Nation magazine. 20 individuals in the U.S. have as much wealth as the poorest 150 million Americans (half the country).
Clear Blue Sky 