Bulletin N° 756
Subject : CLASS STRUGGLE & LIBERATION vs.
HIGH CRIMES & TREASON.
June 8, 2017
Grenoble, France
Dear
Colleagues and Friends of CEIMSA,
No one
captured the emotional state of schizophrenics better than R. D. Laing
(1927-1989) in his many reports on the outwardly obeisant and internally
conflicted minds of patients, many of whom, he was convinced, were the victims
of hidden violence which was reproduced in the laboratory of the traditional
nuclear family – mom, dad and the kids. Gilles Deleuze (1925-1995) further developed this
thesis, expanding it to relationships in modern capitalist society, which he
argued was an extensive network of schizogenic
relationships. His famous formula, le désir désiré par le corps plein sans organ’,
was used by many critics of capitalism to explain the deleterious effects which
the liberal economy and consumerism inflicted on social
relationships, particularly those within working class families, and served to
divert it from its ‘revolutionary mission’ of human liberation.
In
their book, Mary Barnes: Two Accounts of a Journey Through
Madness, Mary Barnes (1923-2001) and Dr. Joseph Berke (b.1939) describe the experiences and theoretical
understandings of the ‘schizophrenic voyage’. Speaking of the families of
schizophrenics, Burke writes :
To the
casual observer such families may be paragons of moral and civil rectitude. But
once their façade is brushed aside, generations of ‘shit’ come pouring out.
One particular feature of such families and
an essential weapon in the hands of parents bent on destroying the autonomy of
their kids (and later on, vice versa) is known as double binding. Double
binding is a means for putting another in a straightjacket of guilt and anxiety
in order to prevent him from doing something which you have already told him it
is O.K. to do. It is a marvelous tool for driving someone mad. A good example
would be the situation where you and I were together and I took out a gun and
screamed at you to ‘sit down or I shall shoot you dead. If you then proceeded
to comply with my order, I would immediately shout ‘Stand up or I shall shoot
your dead.’ And if you looked confused and didn’t know what to do I would say,
‘If you don’t sit/stand by the time I count three I will shoot you dead, and I
shall also kill you if you try to point out that my orders are impossible to
carry out.’
The following is a common variation of the
above situation as it commonly occurs in the context of the family: Momma goes
out shopping leaving three-year-old Leo with Daddy. As she returns and opens
the door, Leo runs over to greet his mother. Whereupon the woman
involuntarily freezes. Leo sees this and stops. Whereupon his mother
says, ‘Leo baby, what’s the matter, don’t you love your Mommy? Come and give me
a big kiss.’
If baby Leo ignores his first perception and
runs up to the woman again, she freezes and takes his kiss in an offhand angry
way. If baby Leo refuses to budge, she scolds him for being a bad boy. Because
of his age or inexperience, Leo can’t comment on what is happening, or if he
does, either his mother or father scolds him for being naughty. ‘Don’t talk to
your mother/father that way or you will be punished.’ The net result is that
Baby Leo is reduced to an impotent rage whereupon he is sent to bed for being
bad.
Comment: The poor kid never had a chance! Nor do
millions like him. . . .(pp.92-93)
And Mary
Barnes, describing her early experiences, recounts:
Much of
me was twisted and buried, and turned in upon itself, as a tangled skein of
wool, to which the end had been lost.
The big muddle started before I was born. It
went on, getting worse. My Mother and I battled with feelings. My Farther was
in it, then my brother barged in. My two sisters came
and the mess got bigger.
When I was grown up in years, I got a vague
idea there was a big split in me between my head and my heart. I seemed to go
around thinking bit thoughts in my head quite cut off from the life in my
heart.
In 1953, when I was for one year in Saint
Bernard’s Mental Hospital, I got put in a padded cell. I felt so bad, I lay without moving or eating, or making water or
shits. They didn’t let me die, they tub fed me. I wanted to be looked after. I
didn’t know then, I do now, that what I was trying to do was to get back inside
my Mother, to be reborn, to come up again, straight, and clear of all the
mess.(p.13)
For more
information on ‘the voyage’ of Mary Barnes and the alternative therapy which
facilitated her personal ‘liberation’, please see :
“A celebration of the life and work of Mary
Barnes”
Video 1 - 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpjZQpFlC00
Going Down and Coming Up, a celebration of the
life and work of Mary Barnes
(a series of three videos - playing back to back
- running time approx 30 minutes)
&
Joe Berke & Mary Barnes on the
‘Politics of Experience’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljpDsk8o7O0
&
And finally, by contrast, see Noami
Klein’s representation of engineered regression and the experience of the
authoritarian police state:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSF0e6oO_tw
The 25 items below should bring
into our consciousness the impact that our neoliberal capitalist environment
has had on our collectively wounded psyches, producing Fear and Collaboration
more often than Resistance and Critical Judgment.
Sincerely,
Francis Feeley
Professor emeritus of American Studies
University Grenoble-Alpes
Director of Research
University of Paris-Nanterre
Center for the Advanced Study of American Institutions and
Social Movements
The University of California-San Diego
a.
From Debt Peons to Wage Slaves
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/47174.htm
by Michael Hudson
Students
usually don’t think of themselves as a class. They seem “pre-class,” because
they have not yet entered the labor force. They can only hope to become part of
the middle class after they graduate. And that means becoming a wage earner –
what impolitely is called the working class.
But
as soon as they take out a student debt, they become part of the economy. They
are in this sense a debtor class. But to be a debtor, one needs a means to pay
– and the student’s means to pay is out of the wages and salaries they may earn
after they graduate. And after all, the reason most students get an education
is so that they can qualify for a middle-class job. The middle class in America
consists of the widening sector of the working class that qualifies for bank
loans – not merely usurious short-term payday loans, but a lifetime of debt. So
the middle class today is a debtor class.
===========
b.
NSA "Intelligence Report"
Does NOT Show "Russia Executed A CyberAttack"
Do Not Trust The Intercept or How To Burn A Source
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/47191.htm
by Moon Of Alabama
Yesterday The Intercept published a leaked five page NSA analysis
about alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections. Its reporting outed the leaker of the NSA documents. That person, R.L.
Winner, has now been arrested and is likely to be jailed for
years if not for the rest of her life. FBI search (pdf)
and arrest warrant (pdf)
applications unveil irresponsible behavior by the Intercept's reporters and editors which neglected all operational security
trade-craft that might have prevented the revealing of the source. It leaves one
scratching the head if this was intentional or just sheer incompetence. Either
way - the incident confirms what skeptics had
long determined: The Intercept is not a trustworthy outlet for leaking state secrets of
public interests.
===========
c.
Top Climate Scientist,
Journalist & Activists Blast Trump's Withdrawal from Paris Accord
https://www.democracynow.org/2017/6/2/top_climate_scientist_journalist_activists_blast
===========
d.
Arctic Climate Warming
Twice as Fast As Anywhere Else
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=19220
DONALD TRUMP: “Our country is
blessed with incredible natural resources, including abundant offshore oil and
natural gas reserves, but the federal government has kept 94% of these offshore
areas closed for exploration and production. When they say closed, they mean closed.
This deprives our country of potentially thousands and thousands of jobs and
billions of dollars in wealth. I pledged to take action, and today I am keeping
that promise. This executive order starts the process of opening offshore areas
to job-creating energy exploration. It reverses the previous administration's
Arctic leasing ban.”
===========
e.
Breaking News:
Watch:
London Bridge Evacuated As ‘Van Ploughs Into Pedestrians’
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/47178.htm
Armed
police have sealed off London Bridge amid reports of a car mounting the
pavement and ploughing into pedestrians.
Eyewitnesses
report that as up to "15 to 20" people may have been hit by the
vehicle.
===========
f.
The Manchester Bombing as Blowback:
The Latest Evidence
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/47179.htm
by Mark Curtis and Nafeez Ahmed
The evidence
suggests that the barbaric Manchester bombing, which killed 22 innocent people
on May 22nd, is a case of blowback on British citizens arising at
least partly from the overt and covert actions of British governments. The
British state therefore has a serious case to answer. We focus primarily here
on UK policies towards Libya but also touch on some of those related to Iraq
and Syria.
===========
g.
Cause
and Effect
John Pilger on Terror in Britain
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/47181.htm
===========
h.
Israel’s
Yinon Plan, Saudi Wahhabism
& US Wars: Arab Christians Pushed Into Mass Exodus
by Whitney Webb
“The real danger lies in whether the Christian world loses the
last early Christians...the last ancient souls of the earth.” Such is the dire
prediction by one writer regarding the ongoing exodus of Arab Christians from
the Middle East - an exodus triggered by Western neo-colonialism and Zionist
expansion that suits the military-industrial complex.
===========
i.
Trump Has Fully Embraced A “Zionist Narrative”
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/47171.htm
by Ramzy Baroud
The rights of
the Palestinians were wholly absent from US President Donald Trump’s recent
trip to Israel
===========
j.
Human - What Is Love?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/47180.htm
Must Watch
Accepting
the reality of our own existence.
From
stories of everyday experiences to accounts of the most unbelievable lives,
these poignant encounters share a rare sincerity and underline who we are – our
darker side, but also what is most noble in us, and what is universal.
===========
k.
John Pilger on Theresa
May's Manchester Connection &
Tory’s former Vice Chair on UK election 462
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSL7iiDOzhE
===========
l.
From: DE-MONTLIBERT Christian
Sent: Monday, 5 June, 2017
Subject: Re: Terrorism.
http://ceimsa.org/publications/Scholars/ScholarlyEssays2016-17.htm
Cher Francis,
je te joins quelques textes publiés dans
l'Humanité - le seul journal qui accepte de prendre de tels textes- j'y
insiste- et un court texte publié dans le petit livre de la fondation Copernic
"un président ne devrait pas faire cela". a
toi de voir si cela vaut le coup de diffuser sur internet.
amitiés. Christian de Montlibert.
Sur quels terreaux, le terrorisme se développe-t-il ?
http://www.humanite.fr/sur-quels-terreaux-le-terrorisme-se-developpe-t-il-562791
Comment comprendre et lutter contre le phénomène djihadiste
?
http://www.humanite.fr/comment-comprendre-et-lutter-contre-le-phenomene-djihadiste-558551
ni guerre ni état d’urgence
http://lmsi.net/Ni-guerre-ni-etat-d-urgence
===========
m.
From: "Team Tulsi"
<aloha@votetulsi.com>
Sent: Sunday, 4 June, 2017
Subject: Another terror attack
Francis,
Today we
woke up to news of another terror attack in Britain. It caps a week of tragedy around
the world. A suicide bombing in Baghdad claimed the lives of at least 13 people
who were breaking their fast for Ramadan. There were several bombings in
Afghanistan this past week, the largest killing at least 90 people. Around the
world, terror attacks are increasing, but Trump’s response is the wrong one:
launching an illegal missile attack against Syria, deploying more U.S. troops
into the Middle East with ambiguous objectives, and signing a massive arms deal
with Saudi Arabia.
For the past fifteen
years, we’ve spent trillions of dollars overthrowing governments we don’t like
and trying to rebuild those countries in our own image. It's all been done in
the guise of "helping people,” but it hasn't helped anyone. Our policies
have killed or wounded tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers, caused millions of
refugees, and squandered trillions of U.S. taxpayer dollars -- money that could
have been used to rebuild our country's infrastructure and establish a health
care system for all Americans. This disastrous foreign policy must end.
These wars have made
the military-industrial complex much richer through increased defense spending,
while making every day Americans poorer.
Political campaigns
have become a multi-million dollar business for the PAC and political class in
Washington who think they are the powerbrokers. But they underestimate and
discount the power of our voices to make real change - the voices of real
people in communities all across this country who are working hard every day,
and who care deeply about our country and our democracy. This movement for
peace that is fueled by aloha starts with us.
This is just the
beginning of a new people-powered movement. We hope you will join us.
Aloha,
Team Tulsi
===========
n.
Why American Jews Embraced Israel After the June 1967 War
http://therealnews.com/t2/story:19231:Why-American-Jews-Embraced-Israel-After-the-June-1967-War
In the second part of our three-part interview
special, author and scholar Norman Finkelstein analyzes the material, emotional
and psychological factors behind the American Jewish embrace of Israel after
the June 1967 war
===========
o.
Sluggish Economic Growth
in Britain Fails to Compensate for Austerity
Kam Sandhu, co-founder of Real Media,
explains how slow economic growth means that Tories have not been able to
achieve any of their economic objectives and have instead caused a "food
bank crisis"
===========
p.
Design
Fault: Counterterrorism’s Egregious Failures Don’t Trouble
Our
Leaders at All
by CHRIS FLOYD
I think anyone
who takes an objective view of the abysmal record of failure on the part of the
official who as Home Secretary and Prime Minister has been in charge of UK
counterterrorism policy for many years must agree with the declaration of
Theresa May following the London attacks: "enough is enough." Well
said, Mrs. May. We must repudiate these failed policies and all those who have
pushed them, of whatever party or ideological stripe.
===========
q.
New Report
Shows Corporations and Western Governments Continue to Profit from Looting of
Africa
by BEN DANGL
===========
r.
Jihad
2.0: the Making of the Next Nightmare
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/47184.htm
by Pepe
Escobar
Jean-Claude Juncker
warns that Donald Trump’s anti-EU rhetoric could lead to war in the
Balkans.
===========
s.
Max
Blumenthal Grills Progressive Rep. Jamie Raskin about
Russia Allegations
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=19247
Part
one of Real News coverage from the March for Truth in Washington, D.C.
===========
t.
Trump Attacks London's
Mayor & Jeremy Corbyn Calls for Theresa May's
Ouster After Terror in London
https://www.democracynow.org/2017/6/5/trump_attacks_londons_mayor_jeremy_corbyn
===========
u.
John Pilger - La Guerre Invisible (2010)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJh_7Xjq1ek
Published on Dec 4,
2014
Titre
Original: “The War You Don’t See”
Ce documentaire est une critique acerbe du
rôle des journalistes et des dirigeants des grands médias de masse, des
principales chaines de télévisions notamment, qui sont littéralement amenés à
agir comme de véritables agents de la propagande gouvernementale lors des
couvertures médiatiques des guerres contemporaines, tandis que d’autres
journalistes et photographes de presse sont en première ligne, confrontés à des
dangers inimaginables et même à la mort, au nom de la liberté de la presse.
===========
v.
49 Years Ago
Today, Robert Kennedy Was Assassinated
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/47196.htm
by Alan Grayson
June
06, 2017 "Information Clearing House" - America 1968: a
nation driven by war, racism, sexism, young-oldism,
destruction of the environment, and grief – the lingering grief from the
assassination of JFK, and the sharp, harrowing grief from the assassination of
MLK, Jr.
What
Robert Kennedy meant, for so many of us, was an opportunity to heal, to come
together, to end the grief and put the pain behind us.
===========
w.
UK Election
Polls: Can Corbyn Win?
http://therealnews.com/t2/story:19268:UK-Election-Polls%3A-Can-Corbyn-Win%3F
Opinion
polls for the June 8 UK General Election indicate an increasingly tight race
between Labour and Conservatives, but most still give
Conservative Theresa May an advantage, despite May's weaknesses as Prime
Minister, says Real Media's Thomas Barlow
===========
x.
Trump Dumps Qatar to Back
Saudi Bid for Regional Hegemony
http://therealnews.com/t2/story:19270:Trump-Dumps-Qatar-to-Back-Saudi-Bid-for-Regional-Hegemony
Max
Blumenthal of Alternet's Grayzone
Project says President Donald Trump's backing of the Saudi Arabian campaign
against Qatar could be the "pilot program" for a wider regional
agenda of U.S.-backed Saudi hegemony.
===========
y.
Perpetual Crisis in Public Schools By Design
http://therealnews.com/t2/story:19222:Perpetual-Crisis-in-Public-Schools-By-Design
Cuts
to public school funding sustained over a decade is a deliberate strategy to
ensure privatization says Glen Ford of the Black Agenda Report