Professor Cal’s New Year Message
Jan 4, 2012
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—Calvin Luther Martin, PhD
Somehow, over the centuries, Americans lost their power. I mean ordinary schmucks like you and me. (Disclosure: My ancestors settled tidewater Maryland in the 17th century. They fought in the French & Indian Wars, American Revolution, and so on.) We made a Big Federal Union on the back of (eventually) fifty Big States and, over time, allowed Big Business to take over and run the whole shebang—and style itself Big Government.
Now we’re well into the 21st century and even more shackled to Big Government. Yeah, they make roads—levy taxes—run the Postal System—levy taxes—wage war—levy taxes—set up endless regulatory agencies—levy taxes—blah blah blah.
Here’s a dumb question. Is any of it truly necessary? I mean, couldn’t all this stuff be done by the Citizenry instead of Big Business? (I live near a large Amish community. The Amish would answer with a thunderous, “Yes! The people can do it themselves!”)
Wait a minute! Didn’t the signers of the Declaration of Independence envision a Government of “We, the People” doing it ourselves? (Little-known historical fact: Between the Revolution and the adoption of the Constitution, and continuing into the early years of the new Republic, there was a 2nd, quiet Revolution tilted very much in favor of Big Business. Oops!)
Amish barn raising
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Maybe all the so-called good stuff done by Government is a sideshow orchestrated by Big Business to convince all of us dumb bastards that Government is necessary and doing something essential. Whereas the real business of Government (aka Big Business) is to levy taxes and screw us with regulatory agencies and laws—and, above all, have us buy stuff. (Did you perform your patriotic duty today, and go shopping?)
Till now, it was Big Business (aka the Government) screwing the other guys—overseas. Now, it’s here; now Government screws its own citizens.
Has your community been “fracked” yet?
Has it been “windfarm-fucked” yet?
Has it had all its manufacturing moved “offshore”? (That’s the story of Franklin County, NY, where I live. Once prosperous. Could still be. Now, the poorest county in the state.)
Abandoned factory, Malone, NY (Photo by Mindy Robinson)
How about toxic waste dumped nearby? (Talk to the Mohawk Nation, just to the north of me. They’re about to go to war over the toxic shit dumped by Big Business on the rez. Yeah, soaring cancer rates. Dr. Pierpont used to be the pediatrician for the rez.)
Hey, how about Gulf Oil Spill Sickness? Haven’t heard of that one, right? ‘Cause the NY Times won’t report on it. Click here for the scoop. Prepare to shit your pants! (By the way, the Times won’t report on WTS, either. We tried, but someone got to the head of the Op-Ed Dept at the last minute.)
How about Wall Street bank bailouts?
All the above is really necessary stuff, for sure—right?
But wait! It’s not Government; it’s the big imposter, Big Business. And we’re not Citizens; we’re Consumers.
If I’m right, it’s Big Business screwing Consumers—all under the pretense of Government caring for its Citizenry.
Have a splendid 2012 voting for the Big Imposter. (And remember: Shop till you drop!)
Comment by Craig Mosburg on 01/04/2012 at 3:56 pm
Amen on the Big Imposter! Website is a forum in the hometown with a “LOVE” for wind companies and wind farms. NextEra Energy is trying to establish a “farm” in the area, with no luck. Thanks to help from this site.
Comment by Barrie K. Gilbert, PhD on 01/04/2012 at 4:06 pm
Dr. Cal,
As usual y’all have it exactly right regarding mega-corporations stealing our democracy and feeding us horseshit. What do we do after Occupying? National strike? At least retract corporations as “persons” and money as “free speech”—what the f_ck! And get rid of NAFTA, few Christ’s sake, because it dissolves our environmental protection (what little is left in Wild Canada … ha ha ha!).
I’ve been trying to head off offshore industrialization of Eastern Lake Ontario. And like you, my family goes way back around Kingston. (My family owned and lived in Canada’s first PM’s house.)
You may be interested in the map of “Crown Land” applications in the Appendix of the document below, on Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources website. Click here. It shows W.I. Offshore Project (centred on Pigeon Is.), but also zones immediately adjacent to Big Sandy Bay, another closer to Wolfe Island and another stretching between Main Duck and False Duck near Forester Is., Prince Edward Co.
I note a news release from Windstream Corp (Ian Baines’s company) that they are proposing 130 turbines, up from earlier 100, up from initial 60! Also news release that they have signed a binding agreement with Siemens Canada to buy 130 turbines. Looks like they will pressure government to terminate the moratorium on offshore construction, just what I suspected. And we’ll see another bullshit environmental study on the ecological impacts, get a pass.
Keep up the inspiring work. And let me know when we start marching or chaining ourselves to trees.
Dr. Bear
Comment by Tom Whitesell on 01/04/2012 at 7:46 pm
Speaking as a 12th generation American: Calvin, have you been reading my mind? Shame on you!
Editor’s note: Tom, my good friend, I suspect many people are thinking this. I suspect it’s becoming a massive, global gestalt. Like happened centuries ago, when blokes like me, all over the world, woke up and said, “Hey, kings and queens are parasites and impostors! Run ’em out of town!” (Yes, in fact, knowing you and having many wonderful conversations with you, were a stimulus for my finally writing this down.)
Comment by Marsh Rosenthal on 01/04/2012 at 8:30 pm
Hi Calvin,
I’ve been reading the responses of the great people who have been weighing in on this blog. The corporate insidiousness of Big Wind has already corrupted the populace and government of my small town, Savoy, MA. We now have the most inviting and lenient windpower bylaws in the known universe.
What Frank Haggerty of Mattapoisett, MA, has referred to as “incivility” has degenerated into violations of my First Amendment right of free speech at a public hearing of the Conservation Commission (what a joke), and a case of attempted vehicular homicide against a pedestrian along the roadside near his home. His family has been bravely standing up against the colonization of his nearby hillsde with five giant wind monsters. (It is only for the fact that he was wearing a side-arm that the perpetrators fled in fear. It reminds me of the atmosphere in Mississippi in the summer of 1964, when you never knew when the bastards in the white sheets would commit their next cowardly act.)
My complaint to the Attorney General’s Office about the civil rights offense was met by the official reply that citizens’ complaints were legally not in their purview, only that of government officials. If you thought you had any Constitutional protections, you were dreaming.
So I ask you good people, what shall I do?
Editor’s reply: Let us all ponder this carefully. I have some preliminary ideas—although, I warn you, I think “outside the box.” (In other words, most people would consider my solutions flaky.)
As I say, let all of us ponder this. There are many fabulous minds and spirits involved in this “wind” fight. (I won’t mention names of heroes & heroines, for fear of leaving out people by oversight on my part, but your name is surely among them. I have always admired your intellect and courage and perspective. When the pompous, self-important Emperor was parading down the street, bare balls, you were the kid who shouted out to his mom, “Hey! He’s not wearing anything!”)
Me? I go back to the Sixties. College in Southern California, 1965-69. Followed by graduate school at the University of California, 1969-1974. That explains a lot. (A disclaimer is in order. I have never taken drugs—honestly!—and never engaged in violence. Both activities have always repelled me.)
Comment by Mark Cool on 01/05/2012 at 7:58 am
Eye for an Eye
Comment by Marsh Rosenthal on 01/05/2012 at 8:08 am
Hi Mark (Cool),
Thanks for your feelings. I noticed that Eric Bibler was called an expletive for his testimony at a recent Cape Cod energy conference. He must have gotten under the conspiratorial skin of the pro-winders to earn that compliment.
I think the best antidote to their bigotry is to shine a bright light on their plans and machinations. Cockroaches always scatter when the lights are turned on.
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Editor’s note: Behold “Mr. Bibler from Connecticut,” as he is jeeringly referred to by the Wind Turbine Gang terrorizing Cape Cod. For Nina & me, the phrase “Mr. Bibler from Connecticut” has been transformed from an epithet to a name of honor and tremendous affection—like the cross of Jesus becoming the emblem of Christianity. The Wind Turbine Thugs meant it as a barb; we turn the barb into a battle cry. (In case you’re wondering, the glasses and nose are real.)
Comment by Preston McClanahan on 01/05/2012 at 3:12 pm
Humor is a formidable weapon. Consider Chaplin’s The Dictator, Mel Brooks’s Springtime for Hitler, and the film Stalag 17 parody with all inmates sporting “Hitler” mustaches and saluting.
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The New Yorker magazine has published some good zinger cartoons and covers, as has our host Prof. Martin.
How about a billboard with humorous content?
To return to the topic: limit runaway capitalism, how? If we can prevail against the wind industry’s boondoogle, tax payer rip-off, we have constructed an example.