Friday, June 5, 2020
"When They Say We Don't Have the Right to Protest," Says Naomi Klein, "That's the Moment to Flood the Streets"
As Trump declares "law and order" clampdown against peaceful demonstrations, author and activist reminds people of most important lesson she's learned studying history of shock doctrine tactics.
by
Jon Queally, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/06/04/when-they-say-we-dont-have-right-protest-says-naomi-klein-thats-moment-flood-streets
Amid a wave of sustained protest in cities across the U.S. and the globe against police brutality and racial injustice, author and activist Naomi Klein on Thursday reminded those experiencing President Donald Trump's America that it is precisely during times when the government is pushing hardest to discourage dissent that massive displays of public opposition are needed most.
While Trump this week has dispatched with calls for calm and unity in favor of "law and order" machismo and threats of deploying U.S. soldiers, more police, and federal agents to put down demonstrations spurred by last week's killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, Klein in a Twitter post reprised a warning she first issued at the outset of the president's term: "When they say we don't have the right to protest, that is the moment to flood the streets."
"One moment when it is incredibly important to resist, is in that moment when they are trying to scare you," Klein said during the 2017 event in Chicago. "In that moment, when they are telling you to stay home, that is when you go out. When they are saying stay home—go out."
Individuals and communities nationwide have demonstrated their inherent understanding of Klein's guidance. Even after Trump had Lafayette Square outside the White House violently cleared of nonviolent protesters on Monday and threatened to send U.S. soldiers to patrol other U.S. city streets this week, the daily and nightly demonstrations, as Common Dreams previously reported, have only grown in strength and size as the week progressed.
Klein told the audience in 2017 that "we won't know when it will happen," but that when it does people should "flood the streets" en masse. "That matters more than anything," she said to applause. "When they try to take away the right to protest, flood the streets, ok? Get ready."
The event was related to Klein's new book that year, titled "No Is Not Enough," which offered an initial framework for understanding Trump's rise to power as well as a blueprint for how best to resist his obvious racist and fascist tendencies.
Watch the full 2017 event, sponsored by Haymarket Books and featuring prominent scholars Michelle Alexander and Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, below:
Ilhan Omar Criminal Justice Reform Bills Offer 'Systemic Solutions to Systemic Problems'
"If we are to change this pattern of violent racism, we need to fundamentally restructure our criminal justice system."
by
Eoin Higgins, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/06/04/ilhan-omar-criminal-justice-reform-bills-offer-systemic-solutions-systemic-problems
Rep. Ilhan Omar on Wednesday announced her intention to introduce a legislative package aimed at overhauling the nation's criminal justice system as the nationwide uprising sparked by the murder of George Floyd by four Minneapolis police officers continues.
"If we are to change this pattern of violent racism, we need to fundamentally restructure our criminal justice system—and our treatment of those advocating for their rights," Omar tweeted.
The legislation would provide overarching support for the victims of longstanding and ongoing police violence and are intended to offer solutions for the deep-seated institutional racism that dominates U.S. policing. The suite also includes a sharp rebuke of President Donald Trump's threats to use the Insurrection Act against protesters.
The package consists of four bills:
The National Police Misuse of Force Investigation Board Act; co-led by Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Calif.), forming a federal commission to investigate police killings around the nation.
The Bill to Criminalize Police Violence Against Protesters, which allows for the charging of police officers who attack protesters to be charged with a federal crime.
The Amending the Insurrection Act; co-led by Reps. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), preventing the president from deploying the U.S. military against protesters.
The Federal Relief Fund, providing funding for communities rebuilding after social and economic disasters.
"We need systemic solutions to systemic problems and those closest to the pain must be closest to the solutions," said Omar.
Fossil Fuel Industry Could Face $25 Trillion Collapse Due to Clean Tech, Climate Policies, and Covid-19 Pandemic
"It's time for a #GreenRecovery: resilient, fair, sustainable economies that meet the climate crisis," declared Greenpeace's executive director.
by
Jessica Corbett, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/06/04/fossil-fuel-industry-could-face-25-trillion-collapse-due-clean-tech-climate-policies
In a new analysis that bolsters climate activists' arguments for transforming the global energy system, the London-based financial think tank Carbon Tracker warned Thursday that declining demand and rising investment risk due to cheaper renewable technologies, aggressive government policies, and the coronavirus pandemic could cause a $25 trillion collapse in future fossil fuel profits.
An annual International Energy Agency report projected in April that "renewables demand is expected to increase because of low operating costs and preferential access to many power systems," but the pandemic is expected to cause significant declines in demand for coal, gas, and oil as well as nuclear power this year.The report, Decline and Fall: The Size & Vulnerability of the Fossil Fuel System, says that the ongoing Covid-19 crisis is accelerating the "terminal decline" the fossil fuel industry was already facing because of competition with renewable energy and climate policies.
Based on a 2018 World Bank estimate that put future coal, gas, and oil profits at $39 trillion, Decline and Fall says that if fossil fuel demand drops 2% annually in line with the 2015 Paris agreement, that figure could fall to $14 trillion, "sending shock waves through the global economy."
Decline and Fall serves as a signal to both investors and policymakers about the financial risks of propping up the fossil fuel system—which scientists warn is taking the world down a path to climate catastrophe—and the urgent need to pursue a rapid but thoughtful transition to clean energy, explained Carbon Tracker energy strategist and report author Kingsmill Bond.
"This is a huge opportunity for countries that import fossil fuels, which can save trillions of dollars by switching to a clean energy economy in line with the Paris agreement," he added. "Now is the time to plan an orderly wind-down of fossil fuel assets and manage the impact on the global economy rather than try to sustain the unsustainable.""We are witnessing the decline and fall of the fossil fuel system," Bond said in a statement Thursday. "Technological innovation and policy support is driving peak fossil fuel demand in sector after sector and country after country, and the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated this. We may now have seen peak fossil fuel demand as a whole."
As Covid-19 has killed over 386,000 people, infected more than 6.5 million, and triggered economically devastating lockdowns across the globe, international bodies and governments have been urged to pursue a #PeoplesBailout, Just Recovery, Healthy Recovery, Green Recovery, Green Stimulus, and Global Green New Deal.
Greenpeace International executive director Jennifer Morgan highlighted Carbon Tracker's report on Twitter Thursday and reiterated calls from climate campaigners, healthcare workers, and progressive policymakers to #BuildBackBetter from the pandemic with relief plans that support the global economy and phase out fossil fuels.
Other climate action advocates around the world shared similar reactions to the report on social media:
The new report and responses from advocates come after campaigners have spent months ramping up pressure on investors to ditch the planet-wrecking fossil fuel industry. In January, advocacy groups launched Stop the Money Pipeline, a campaign urging banks, insurers, and asset managers cut ties with dirty energy companies.
Shortly before fossil fuel giant ExxonMobil's annual shareholders meeting at the end of May, international climate, human rights, faith, and Indigenous groups unveiled the Finance Climate Challenge, which calls on the global finance sector—including asset managers, pension funds, and endowments—to "end its support for fossil fuels and climate chaos."
Amid Covid-19 and Nationwide Protests, America's Billionaires Got $79 Billion Richer Over the Last Week
"Surging billionaire wealth juxtaposed with the suffering and plight of millions undermines the social solidarity required for us to recover together in the years ahead."
by
Jake Johnson, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/06/04/amid-covid-19-and-nationwide-protests-americas-billionaires-got-79-billion-richer
An analysis released Thursday by the Institute for Policy Studies finds that the combined wealth of U.S. billionaires surged by $565 billion between March 18 and June 4—the same period in which 42.6 million Americans filed jobless claims.
Over just the past week, according to IPS, the collective net worth of America's billionaires rose $79 billion as mass layoffs caused by the coronavirus crisis continued across the country. The U.S. Department of Labor announced Thursday that 1.9 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, meaning that nearly 25% of the U.S. workforce is now either receiving unemployment insurance or waiting for approval.
Chuck Collins, director of the Program on Inequality and the Common Good at IPS, said in a statement that "in a turbulent week in the life of the nation, these statistics remind us that we are more economically and racially divided than at any time in decades."
"Our moral, economic, and physical health as a society depends on building a post-pandemic economy that works for everyone, not just the billionaire class," said Collins. "Surging billionaire wealth juxtaposed with the suffering and plight of millions undermines the social solidarity required for us to recover together in the years ahead."
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world, has seen his wealth grow more than any other billionaire in the U.S. since mid-March even as his employees continue to protest low wages and hazardous workplace conditions. On Monday, Amazon ended a $2-an-hour hazard pay increase for warehouse employees.
IPS listed the 14 U.S. billionaires who have seen the largest gains in wealth since March 18:
Jeff Bezos—up $36.2 billion
Mark Zuckerberg—up $30.1 billion
Elon Musk—up $14.1 billion
Sergey Brin—up $13.9 billion
Larry Page—up $13.7 billion
Steve Ballmer—up $13.3 billion
MacKenzie Bezos—up $12.6 billion
Michael Bloomberg—up $12.1 billion
Bill Gates—up $11.8 billion
Phil Knight—up $11.6 billion
Larry Ellison—up $8.5 billion
Warren Buffett—up $7.7 billion
Michael Dell—up $7.6 billion
Sheldon Adelson—up $6.1 billion
In a blog post on Thursday, Collins addressed criticism that the IPS analysis is "only capturing the recovery in billionaire wealth that plummeted in the proceeding weeks in late February and early March."
"It is true, the market has done better since then," wrote Collins. "But a large segment of the U.S. billionaire class is beating the market. And we stand by our analysis that it is newsworthy and meaningful that billionaire wealth is accelerating while others are experiencing job losses, declining savings, debilitating illness, and death."
'What Authoritarianism Looks Like': Trump Condemned as Busloads of US Soldiers Arrive in Nation's Capital
"The numbers of U.S. military security forces in D.C. right now is just ridiculous. This is pure intimidation. Trump is very afraid. The longer we stay in the streets, the more frightened he gets."
by
Jake Johnson, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/06/04/what-authoritarianism-looks-trump-condemned-busloads-us-soldiers-arrive-nations
As President Donald Trump faces growing criticism from veterans and some ex-military leaders—including his former Defense Secretary Gen. Jim Mattis—for deploying U.S. troops against peaceful protesters, busloads of soldiers arrived in the nation's capital on Wednesday in what critics warned is part of the White House's effort to intimidate and squash nationwide demonstrations against the police killing of George Floyd.
More than 10 tour buses filled with troops pulled up in Washington, D.C. Wednesday afternoon after Pentagon chief Mark Esper—who just hours earlier balked at Trump's threat to use active-duty forces to confront protesters—reversed his order sending soldiers home from the capital region following a meeting at the White House.
"It is unclear if Esper met with President Donald Trump," the Associated Press reported.
The buses arrived as demonstrations in the nation's capital and across the country continued to grow even in the face of brutality from police and members of the National Guard.
"The numbers of U.S. military security forces in D.C. right now is just ridiculous. This is pure intimidation," Tim Shorrock, correspondent for The Nation, tweeted in response to a video of troops lining up in the capital. "Trump is very afraid. The longer we stay in the streets, the more frightened he gets."
"This is what authoritarianism looks like," added journalist Ben Norton. "After decades of waging war across the planet, the U.S. empire is waging war directly on its own people."
The busloads of U.S. troops reached D.C. after Mattis—who has been largely silent about Trump's abuses of power since resigning from his Pentagon post in December of 2018—released a statement condemning the president's use of soldiers to "violate the constitutional rights of their fellow citizens" in order to "provide a bizarre photo-op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside."
"We must reject any thinking of our cities as a 'battlespace' that our uniformed military is called upon to 'dominate,'" Mattis wrote, quoting the words of Esper and Trump, respectively. "We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution."
As Common Dreams reported Tuesday, more than 300 veterans have signed onto an open letter urging troops to "do the right thing" and refuse orders to deploy against protesters.
"Today you have to decide whether you are loyal to the values you swore to uphold or to the commanders who would order you to turn on your neighbors for demanding justice," the letter reads. "You cannot be loyal to both."
'This Isn't Going Away': Defying Curfews and Police Brutality in Relentless Push for Justice, Uprising Over Killing of George Floyd Keeps Growing
"Essential workers are exempt from the curfew, and what we are doing here is essential."
by
Jake Johnson, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/06/04/isnt-going-away-defying-curfews-and-police-brutality-relentless-push-justice
Refusing to be cowed by militaristic intimidation tactics, mass arrests, draconian curfews, and violence endorsed and directly ordered by the Trump administration, tens of thousands of people demanding justice for the police killing of George Floyd—and so many others—took to the streets across the U.S. once more Wednesday in a powerful signal that the nationwide uprising is only growing in the face of repression.
A video of thousands of demonstrators lying on their backs in the nation's capital near Freedom Plaza—just two days after law enforcement viciously attacked peaceful protesters gathered at the White House—led Washington Post reporter Marissa Lang to remark that "the crowd keeps getting bigger," even as President Donald Trump ramps up the street presence of the military, the FBI, ICE, and Border Patrol.
"There are more people at this die-in right now than there were in front of the White House yesterday," Kang tweeted. "And more yesterday than the day before."
What was true in D.C. was true in major cities and small towns across the nation on the ninth consecutive day of mass demonstrations, which kicked off last week near the sight of Floyd's killing in Minneapolis and spread quickly across the nation and around the world.
"A bunch of these protests are bigger on a Wednesday than they were on Saturday," observed socialist Virginia Delegate Lee Carter. "They'll be bigger still this weekend. This isn't going away."
In Oakland, California, thousands of demonstrators chanting "Our streets!" defied the mayor's 8 pm curfew and rallied at City Hall Wednesday night demanding an end to police brutality and racial injustice. Thousands also gathered in Los Angeles; San Francisco; Portland, Oregon; Brooklyn, New York; Seattle, Washington; Detroit, Michigan; and New Orleans, Louisiana.
"We all need to stand up for each other, we can't be silenced," Oakland resident Ava Kravitz told NBC. "It's our right to be here to speak so we have to do that, we have to be here."
Amissa Miller, another Oakland resident who attended the demonstration Wednesday, told the New York Times that "the curfew is meant to silence our voices and keep us off the streets."
"Essential workers are exempt from the curfew," said Miller, "and what we are doing here is essential."
In New York City, demonstrators sitting peacefully in the street with their hands up were assaulted and arrested by police for violating curfew:
Here's video of peaceful New Yorkers being attacked by the NYPD tonight. Police charged at them on bikes from behind, and without warning. They were slammed onto the ground and then apprehended for flouting curfew. But of course, not everyone was arrested. I was unharmed. pic.twitter.com/SEtKq0UZiK
— Fred (@WaywardWinifred) June 4, 2020
Late Wednesday afternoon, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced that the charge against Derek Chauvin—the now-former Minneapolis police officer who drove his knee into Floyd's neck while ignoring the man's repeated pleas for his life—has been upgraded to second-degree murder. Ellison also announced that the other three officers who were on the scene during Floyd's arrest have been charged with aiding and abetting murder.
"To the Floyd family, to our beloved community, and everyone that is watching, I say: George Floyd mattered," Ellison said during a press conference unveiling the new charges. "He was loved. His life was important. His life had value. We will seek justice for him and for you and we will find it."
In a tweet Wednesday night, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) echoed the common sentiment that the charges are a direct result of the nationwide protests and urged people to keep up the pressure.
"To those rising up, speaking out, organizing together: this would not have happened without you," said Jayapal. "Keep marching, keep protesting, keep demanding accountability, and keep fighting for justice. Don't stop building the pressure necessary to secure change."
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