If You Really Love Your Country…

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The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
January 20, 2019

If you really love your country, you would not be satisfied with platitudes and flag-waving, national anthems and military parades. A truly patriotic citizen does not sit idle as the land and waters of his country are polluted by extractive industries. A true patriot does not sneer and scorn her fellow citizens who live in poverty or are unhoused. A true patriot does not place higher loyalties with corporations than human beings. A true patriot sees no glory in war, nor security in spending more on military than on peace and justice for all of humankind.

Chris Hedges: Daniel Berrigan’s Play: The Trial of the Cantonsville Nine

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Dandelion Salad

with Chris Hedges

RT America on Jan 19, 2019

The nature and cost of civil disobedience is explored in the play “The Trial of the Cantonsville Nine,” written by the Catholic priest Dan Berrigan.

Yellow Vests, Class Struggle and Spontaneous Revolution by Gaither Stewart

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by Gaither Stewart
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Rome, Italy
January 18, 2019

In What Is To Be Done of 1902 Lenin opposed revolutionary spontaneity because it “strips away the disciplined nature of the Marxists idea of revolution, leaving it arbitrary and ineffective.” True to himself, Lenin then returned to opposition to spontaneous revolution after WWI during the German Revolution of 1918-19 when in a spontaneous uprising against the post-WWI system Rosa Luxemburg and the Spartacist League failed in an attempt to overturn German capitalism.

Caleb Maupin: MLK Day Challenge to Right-Wing Anti-Socialists + Martin Luther King Was A Socialist!

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with Caleb Maupin
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Caleb Maupin (website)
Caleb Maupin (Facebook Page)
January 17, 2019

Caleb Maupin on Jan 15, 2019

“Call it democracy, or call it democratic socialism, but there must be a better distribution of wealth within this country for all God’s children.” — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., May, 1965

Top 10 Reasons NOT to Love NATO by David Swanson

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by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy
January 15, 2019

The New York Times loves NATO, but should you?

Judging by comments in social media and the real world, millions of people in the United States have gone from having little or no opinion on NATO, or from opposing NATO as the world’s biggest military force responsible for disastrous wars in places like Afghanistan (for Democrats) or Libya (for Republicans), to believing NATO to be a tremendous force for good in the world.

Will Griffin: Michael Parenti’s The Face of Imperialism

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With Will Griffin
Writer, Dandelion Salad
The Peace Report
January 14, 2019

Many content creators on YouTube produce collaborative content. Finally, I’m producing my first collaborative piece. For the past 2 weeks I’ve worked with the YouTuber Radical Reviewer (RR) who reviews leftist literature. I find his YouTube channel very important. If you can’t read an entire book, the least we can do is watch a video on the topic. Although reading a book is the best option for learning, watching videos helps save time and money. Also, if the video review is done well it could prompt someone to actually read the book!

The United States of Greed and Bullies

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The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
January 13, 2019

A nation built on greed is not a nation; it is just a legal framework for rape and pillage, slavery and exploitation, theft, murder, and genocide. A nation whose primary function is to protect the exclusive right of the rich to engage in those behaviors under other names has no more moral legitimacy than the lawless state that allows common criminals to run wild. Greed by any other name smells just as foul. Greed cloaked in terms of “national security” or “for the good of the economy” is just as detestable as the greed that steals toys from children and purses from old women.

Chris Hedges and Charlie LeDuff: Shitshow: The Country’s Collapsing and the Ratings Are Great

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Dandelion Salad

with Chris Hedges

RT America on Jan 12, 2019

Societies are held together by a web of social bonds that give individuals a sense of being part of a collective and engaged in a project larger than the self. The shattering of these bonds plunges individuals into deep psychological distress that leads ultimately to acts of self-annihilation, according to sociologist Emile Durkheim. Few reporters have examined this anomie better than Charlie LeDuff, first in his book Detroit, and now in his latest book Shitshow: The Country’s Collapsing and the Ratings Are Great. LeDuff joins Chris Hedges in the studio.

Abby Martin: Trump Expanding The Empire + Trump’s Syria Deception

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Dandelion Salad

with Abby Martin

Empire Files on Jan 11, 2019

In the first installment of this multi-part series, Trump Expanding the Empire, Abby Martin debunks the notion that Trump is an anti-interventionist president, outlining his first two years of aggressive foreign policy that has expanded US wars and occupations. From the biggest military budget in history, to removing its restrictions to “bomb the hell out of” Iraq and Syria, to ramping-up brutal economic sanctions, to becoming America’s ‘Arms Salesman-In-Chief.’

War and Betrayal: Change and Transformation by Gaither Stewart

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by Gaither Stewart
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Rome, Italy
January 11, 2019

I have wondered if the German Field-Marshal Friedrich Paulus after his defeat and capture by Russians at Stalingrad in February 1943 really changed when as a prisoner of war in Soviet Russia he joined the National Committee For A Free Germany and the anti-Fascist Union of German Officers. Were his words sincere when he broadcast anti-fascist messages to Germany over Radio Moskau? Did he betray his entire background, his military career and the homeland he had fought for in order to save his life? Was he a traitor to Germany, to his beloved wife and to himself?

Going Horizontal: Written for Workplaces; Perfect for Activists by Rivera Sun

by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
January 10, 2019

The Occupy Movement ignited popular awareness of “horizontal” concepts, yet many years have passed and few movements – and even fewer organizations – have really figured out how to embody those ideas. Samantha Slade’s new book, Going Horizontal, offers practical tools and tangible practices for all of us seeking to walk our talk … and go horizontal.

Anything War Can Do, Peace Can Do Better by David Swanson

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Note: David’s piece contains many pictures, so you may wish to read it in full on his website.

by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy
January 9, 2019

William James’ idea of the need to create a moral equivalent of war first struck me, decades ago, when I read about it, as about as sensible an idea as inventing a new way to punch yourself in the face. This was not purely because times have changed, because weapons have become more powerful, because the earth’s climate is collapsing, or because nonviolent activism has become widely understood as requiring courage, sacrifice, camarderie, dedication, discipline, and strength, without any of the counterproductive murder, maiming, destroying, occupying, hating, looting, pillaging, or stupidity.

Abby Martin and Chris Hedges: War, Propaganda and the Enemy Within

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Dandelion Salad
Originally posted Sept. 26, 2015

with Abby Martin and Chris Hedges

Empire Files on Sep 26, 2015

Abby Martin interviews Chris Hedges on American myths, war and revolt. Hedges explains the ‘folly of Empire,’ the dangers posed by right-wing extremism and the urgent need for a new system.

Native Americans and the New Confusion in US Politics by Caleb Maupin

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by Caleb Maupin
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Caleb Maupin (website)
Caleb Maupin (Facebook Page)
New Eastern Outlook, Jan. 2, 2018
January 7, 2019

When it comes to the genocide of Native Americans, the people of the United States seem to face an existential crisis. The cultural clashes and recent diversification of rhetoric around this issue illustrates how deeply confused the people of the United States truly are about their identity and their history.

The Tools Of Nonviolent Struggle Should Never Lose Their Edge

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The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
January 6, 2019

The tools of nonviolent action and the skills of struggle are as vital to these times as reading, writing, and arithmetic. Training to use them is as essential as learning how to use a computer. The ability to boycott and strike is as important as the ability to drive a car. Every citizen who knows how to use email should also know how to protest, walk-out, shut-down, occupy, blockade, and more. This is the only way the power of the people can hold the power of oligarchs in check.