politics

On Capitalism

by Jeph Johnson 


I am a Democratic Socialist because I believe Capitalism (AKA "for profit") should not be the motive in our health care system, educational system, criminal justice system, foreign policy, military, essential food, basic shelter, urban transportation, and the power and resources used to sustain those necessities...and I'm especially not a Capitalist in politics! I'm not even against "corporate personhood" providing it is a corporation for the people! Once those things are taken care of, I'm as pro-Capitalism as the next guy.

 

Author's Notes/Comments: 

2016 

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Why Progressives Should Work at Eliminating Term Limits

by Jeph Johnson 


I've always broken from the pack on the subject of term limits. I think that a politician's term should definitely need to be challenged but if they are doing a good job AND IF MONEY WAS OUT OF POLITICS then what's wrong with Obama having a 3rd term or whatnot? We always try to do the wrong solutions to the underlying problem. Same with raising the minimum wage. That's not a good solution unless the MAXIMUM WAGE is also capped.

Supposedly we have term limits to keep politicians from being "career politicians" and this supposedly is eliminated by term limits. I call foul. I think if a politician was accountable to the people every 2/4 years and they do well we should continue to vote them in. If a politician is susceptible to bribery or lobbying from corporate money, then all this does is elevate the funds getting filtered in - and if a president or congress person is serving their final term what incentive do they have for doing things for the people? I would argue the ONLY incentive they have is to follow whatever lobby group bribes them with their money. So hatred of politicians and the shitty job they do is actually a reason to eliminate term limits and make them accountable to the people not the big money. 

Author's Notes/Comments: 

2017 

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How to Clean Up Politics

by Jeph Johnson

 

Conservatives, unhappy with how social programs are run, want to simply "eliminate 'em." They want to throw the baby out with the bathwater...

 

Liberals, unhappy with not having enough money for social programs, want to throw more tax money at the problems. They keep cleaning the bathwater, but leave the baby in the tub forever...

 

Libertarians remove the baby from the bath. It leaves him shivering and with no way to bathe again if he dirties himself. And he will, trust me, he will. He's a baby!

 

So that is why I consider myself a Libertarian Socialist with very little tolerance for government waste.

Author's Notes/Comments: 

2010

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A Message to the LGBT+ Community from a Current White Cis-Het Male/Former Right-Wing Conservative

by Jeph Johnson

 

Few are going to like reading this but I think it's pretty important to say. I am a huge supporter of LGBT+ rights yet am not welcomed at a few of their parties simply because I once referred to a pre-op transgirl's bits as a "penis" and it wasn't even in her presence! After being informed of the inappropriateness of this, my unrealized insensitivity made perfect sense, but by then it was too late.

 

Look at the term LGBT+ on Wikipedia. The article contains arguments of which letters to include and which order the letters should be in; so even among the politically correct there is dissension and political correctness!

 

I'm chubby and tall. I get called "big guy" all the time. I don't like the term at all. To me it feels like my size is defining me. The same way people often haphazardly use phrases like "he happens to be black", "tranny", "dyke", "colored" or "the man in the dress". In no way is "big guy" remotely equivalent to those words rooted in hatred and misunderstanding, but I must use the comparison to help others understand the workings of the human mind, privilege is not relevant. Privilege only comes into play AFTER someone realizes their privilege.

 

But ya know what? Other people, despite me not liking it, still see me as "big." So I deal with it and don't immediately condemn those people who use that description of me. I sure as hell let them know I dislike it during a future private encounter, but more often than not it falls on deaf ears even then.

 

Now my "problem" of not liking being called "big guy" pales in comparison to the struggles gay and especially trans people face. And that's exactly why I need to make the comparison! In order for white cis-het males like myself to see things differently we cannot always have our experiences belittled by being reminded of our privilege.

 

Please show some genuine compassion towards white cis-het men if you want to get genuine compassion back in return. That's not a threat from me (I try to show compassion to all underprivileged people all the time) it's a warning, because many white cis-het men are not apt to show compassion until/unless it's shown back to them. It's shitty, and shouldn't be that way, but it's the way it always will be and therefore important to understand. Telling your personal story, including the nuances and describing your struggles goes a lot farther to the cause of acceptance than scolding people due to their ignorance of terms and concepts foreign to their own experiences.

 

Gently explaining things works better than smugly being condescending. The smug condescension is something white cis-het privileged men take for granted, and since it is so ingrained, to be told it's inappropriate is their biggest frustration with what they call "political correctness". I completely understand the appeal in wanting to be smugly condescending too; and it surely is a deserved right for you to do it; I'm just saying that you have to take the higher road and try not to if you want it to slowly erode from the modus operandi of white cis-het males.

 

Terms like "mansplaining" for instance (though I know to most anyone who's not a white cis-het man) are hilarious, but it really discourages inclusion nor does it show respect for a man's views (whether those views are right is not what initially is important, what is important is that they are acknowledged). Imagine if someone used the term "transplaining" to belittle the experience of a transgender person? When someone's views are not acknowledged we get people like Donald Trump to rise up and force those views upon us, and that's no fun at all.

 

I'm on your side, and due to my experience with white cis-het privilege, I hope I can share these thoughts.

 

I have LGBT+ friends who already employ this patient manner and LGBT+ friends who don't and don't have a problem with any of them. I'm not telling you what to do or even asking you to not do something, I'm simply explaining how, quite often, unrefined white cis-het men react, and also how white cis-het men's minds can change. Obviously it's totally up to you how to present this obvious frustration; I just hope the information I've given can be of use to you in these dangerous and troubled times.

Author's Notes/Comments: 

2016 

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"If You're Not With Him, You're Against Those Who Are Against Him"

What It's Like to Hate Trump as a Cishet White Man

by Jeph Johnson

 

Spellbound my sanity spirals
While the world awaits
A man who's flaws are obvious
To divide the United States

My mentality a microcosm
Of this figurehead of state
Menancing those around me
Who won't partake in debate

But my motives are nontoxic
My disdain for him immense
Yet those who rail against him
Still won't come to my defense

That doesn't mean I'm spiteful
It just means I'm more on guard
Choosing foes more wisely
For the fights in which I spar

Author's Notes/Comments: 

2016 

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"I am Rodham"

Folder: 
Rex Songs' Remixes

by Jeph Johnson (with apologies to Helen Reddy)



I'm defeated, I am sore

I rigged elections once before
But I did it to a really nice old man
Not this crazy brutish boor
The media would not ignore
Hell, I even won the popular vote again! 


The press called me wise

And I wore it with no shame
The banks they helped me heist
From them look how much I've made
If I have to, I can wreck anything
I'm not wrong (wrong)
I am incredulous (incredulous)
I am Rodham


More than half the country hates me

But it only serves to make me
More determined to scare liberals from the polls
They hate my rival even stronger
But his followers are bonkers
Cuz they've watched all The Apprentice episodes


I'm queen of compromise

Which has left my party lame
Now the people pay the price
Less rights but entertained
If we have to, we can wreck anything
I'm not wrong (wrong)
I'm unelectable (I told ya so)
I am Rodham


I am Rodham watch my foe

Grabbing pussies, there he goes!
Spreading hateful rhetoric across the land
It's not your grandpa's G.O.P.
It's as Alt-Right as can be
More isms than cishet white men can stand


We used to have rights

But they'll take them all away
We all must pay the price
So he can make our country great
Now we have to...disgrace everything!
We were wrong (wrong)
We were deplorable (deplorable)
For a woman
Hillary Rodham
No longer viable
We were wrong

For a woman
Unelectable
We were wrong
Hillary Rodham

Author's Notes/Comments: 

2016, parody of "I am Woman" by Helen Reddy 

 

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Let’s Inject Vitamin C into Politics!

Politics is in need of nourishment,


Because it is suffering from a disease,


All around the world,


Let’s cure the malady please!


 

Some say that politics is not ill,


Liable is almost each policy maker!


However we want peace,


We want clashes to be afar.


 

The problem is- who is to bell the cat?

 

We should gravely look forward to that!

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Behind the Curtain

 

valuable

seen through your eyes

fabricated

when the lens comes into focus

ignorant bliss

choosing to not look behind the curtain

knowing what you know for certain

truth can be ignored

if your comfort can be restored

 

a puzzle box to contort, to distort

to simplify all matters into black and white

no room for values of gray

it must remain this way

 

shutting down

your sphere is a bubble

focused signals

when the message can be fine tuned

prophets can bloom

mandatory

seen in your eyes

illusions

when the lens comes into focus

compulsive bliss

choosing to ignore what is behind the curtain

knowing what you know is certain

truth can be ignored

if it doesn't corroborate all you've absorbed

 

a puzzle box to contort, to distort

to simplify all matters into black and white

no room for values of gray

it must remain this way

 

and it all turns to shit

the pieces just don't fit

the world at your hands

reduced to marketing brands

so it's always been bullshit

a toxic fallacy of choice


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Politics of Politics

I don’t understand the politics of the politicians,


They say one thing and do another causing suspicions,


The politics of politics is what they better,


For their own security, for their own turnover.


 

Like the jokers most of the politicians wear,


Masks but they are not as honest as the jokers are,


Like the covetous colonialists they are ever busy,


In running after money.


 

As long as they are in power,

 

They feel like owning the country forever!

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