Max Wilbert responds to the statement “we are all doomed.”
by Max Wilbert
Anyone who is honest about the present state of affairs on this planet knows that things are very bad.
The oceans are dying. Coral reefs are collapsing. We’re living through a 6th mass extinction event; around 200 species are driven extinct every single day. And things are getting worse, fast. Emissions are rising, not falling. Pollution is increasing. Population is exploding. Energy consumption is skyrocketing. The permafrost is thawing and life as we know it — perhaps life itself — is under serious threat.
Meanwhile, economic inequality is at it’s highest level ever. The rich grow ever richer as the poor work to the bone, grow sick, and die. Meanwhile, popular culture glorifies technology, fast cars, and pornographic images. We live in a culture of adolescents ruled by sociopaths. The Amazon is falling, the forests burn, and millions of tons of plastic churn through the seas. …
In the concluding part of this three part series we are offered a stark reminder of the scale of greed and corruption involved in the drugs trade, a clear analysis of the impact on poverty and a reading recommendations!
By Russell “Maroon” Shoatz/4StruggleMag
Peep the Game
South Amerikan cocaine replaced French Connection and CIA controlled Southeast Asian/Golden Triangle-grown heroin as the drug of choice in the early 1980’s. Remember Miami Vice? Well, as might be expected, this country’s government, intelligence agencies and large banks immediately began a struggle to control this new trade. Remember: control-not get rid of-in complete contrast to their lying propaganda projects like the War on Drugs! Thus, they were in fact dealing with-not fighting-the South Amerikan governments, militaries and large landowners who controlled the raising, processing and shipping of the cocaine. …
In the second part of this series we are offered systemic analysis regarding the methods employed to diminish resistance movements and the impact this had on working and middle classes.
“When you grow up in situations like me and Cliff…there is a
lot of respect for brothers like [drug lord] Alpo and Nicky
Barnes, those major hustler-player cats. Cause they made it.
They made it against society’s laws. They were the Kings of
their own domain”. (Cliff Evans, “The Ivy League Counterfeiter”, Rolling Stone, 2000; in Toure, Never Drank the Kool-Aid, Picador, New York, 2006)
The “Original” Black Mafia (BM)
Albeit a touchy matter to many, it’s an irrefutable fact that the
original Black Mafia (BM) was first established in Philadelphia,
Pa, in the late 1960’s, and has seen its cancerous ideas duplicated, imitated and lionized by Black youth ever since. Moreover, although it’s unclear how much the national Nation of Islam (NOI) leadership knew or learned about the BM, there’s no question of the local NOI’s eventual absorption of the BM-under Minister Jeremiah X. Pugh. In fact, although the BM was originally just local “stick-up kids” culled from neighborhood gangs, their being swallowed by the NOI would eventually turn them into a truly powerful and terrifyuing criminal
enterprise-completely divorced from everything that the NOI
had stood for since its founding in 1930. …
In the first of a three part series this writing lays out the historical context of black and asian movements to reclaim identity and self-worth and a detailed account of the tactics used against them.
“Each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission-fulfill it or betray it.” Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth
Introduction
Within two generations the youth of this country have come full circle. Starting in 1955, youth were driven by two major motivations: one, the acquiring of enough education or apprenticeships, the use of their unskilled labor or street smarts to land “good” jobs or establish hustles, and to make as much money and obtain as many material trappings as possible. …
In this piece, the author describes how to build relationship with a local species of plant to reconnect with ancient traditions and rejuvenate yourself in these challenging times.
All of the images in this post were taken by the author.
by a resident of the Willamette Valley
I live in the Willamette Valley, Oregon, my home for the last forty-plus years. My heritage is European by way of California, or, another way of saying it, is a settler heritage. Although all people’s biological heritage can ultimately be proudly traced to ancestors who used plant technologies, for example ropemaking and basketweaving, for sustainable ecological living, the heritage of Europeans on the North American continent is one of invasion. …
A gold mine project in Veracruz that has run into local opposition envisions a low CAPEX, simple heap-leach open pit mining operation targeting approximately 100,000 ounces of gold production annually. Gold reserves at the project are estimated at 575,000 ounces which assures high pollution and destruction of the land in order to yield as much of the precious metal.
By Alejandro Beltran Cordero / Weave News
A new gold mine in Veracruz, Mexico, will be the first one in the world to be opened only two miles away from a nuclear reactor and from many pipelines — all in the middle of a densely populated, touristic area that is also the most important migratory route in North America. …
In this series of four videos, Max takes us along his journey to two proposed sites for new lithium mines in Nevada, and what it means for the environment if lithium mining goes through in these two sites.
To learn more about the Thacker pass, check out this article and this website. Watch more of Max’s videos here.
By Max Wilbert
This is the first video dispatch from my trip to the area of two proposed lithium mines in Nevada. I’m working to build awareness of the threats these projects pose and resistance to them. …
For this episode of The Green Flame, Jennifer Murnan and Max Wilbert discuss extreme weather around the world. As the Arctic is experiencing catastrophic low ice formation, wildfires have swept western Turtle Island this summer and fall, and storms have pounded southeast Asia and the Caribbean. We include excerpts from a January podcast covering the megafires in Australia, discuss the rise of extreme weather under global warming, the basic science of why this occurs, and more.
From this episode:
Max Wilbert: It’s not too late. This can be a really heavy topic, but I want to emphasize for people that any change that we can make right now, any reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, is going to make the future less grim. …
Indigenous teachings are thousands of years old. People born into these traditions are raised into knowledge that those born outside do not — and should not — have. Do not steal from others traditions. Instead, research your own family history and connect to your own roots.
This award-winning documentary deals with the popularization and commercialization of Native American spiritual traditions by Non-Indians.
Important questions are asked of those seeking to commercially exploit Tribal rituals and copy sacred ceremonies and those vested with safeguarding sacred ways. The film represents a wide range of voices from Native communities, and speaks to issues of cultural appropriation with humour, righteous anger, and thoughtful insight.
Written by Daniel Hart Youtube copyright notice : “Alice Di Micele-Not For Sale (24:16)”, sound recording administered by: CD Baby
This article examines a few things we all can do to enhance our leadership skills.
By Max Wilbert
A friend of mine defines leadership as taking responsibility not just for yourself, but for a larger group or community. As she explains it, a leader tries to ensure things go well.
In general, activists are not very concerned with leadership. We tend to have an understandable mistrust of leaders. This is no surprise, as most leaders in the dominant culture abuse their power for profit and exploitation. But there is another type of leadership that is wise and moral and just. Leadership is extremely important, and we should learn basic principles from those who study leadership most seriously — often businesses and military. …
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