Since last Friday's post on Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music I've gotten in the habit of listening to Terry Riley in the morning. A number of full-length albums are available on YouTube. A Rainbow in Curved Air (1969) and Persian Surgery Dervishes (1972) are good records to start with.
November in the Pacific Northwest is usually dark, wet and chilly. Waking up at 4 AM and looking out the window as clouds sweep by, Riley's electric organ compositions are an appropriate way to begin the day.
As Tuesday's election results are sifted it must be dawning on the plutocrats who run the show that more and more money is going to be required of them to maintain their hold on power. The population centers of this country -- the big metropolitan areas where the young, educated people flock because of gainful employment at growing companies -- are Left/Democratic Progressive. There is no doubt about that. A Socialist Alternative candidate, Kshama Sawant, still has a shot at ousting corporate liberal and longtime incumbent Richard Conlin from the Seattle City Council. Sawant built her campaign on a $15/hr. minimum wage, an idea that was successfully taken up by the Yes for SeaTac! campaign. And even though I-522 is likely headed for defeat, corporate behemoths like Monsanto and PepsiCo are being bled by the tens of millions of dollars required to defeat GMO-labeling initiatives at the polls; they're looking to pass a federal ban on mandatory labeling as a way to preempt campaigns underway in as many as 20 states.
No, the plutocrats are looking at tough sledding ahead. Chris Hedges says the revolution is coming. The only question at this point is what that revolution is going to look like. How much force will the plutocrats use to try to maintain their grip? If the Egyptian coup in July is any indication the answer to that question is "As much as necessary."
One silver lining for plutocrats, at least for those who still identify with the Republican Party, Chris Christy, based on his gubernatorial win in New Jersey on Tuesday, seems to be a viable candidate for the presidency in 2016; he won majorities among Latinos and women, two key demographics the GOP has been unable to sway. At this point, you would have to consider Christy a favorite against a celebrity corporate Democrat like Hillary.
Like plutocrats in the United States, the Israelis and the Saudis are trying to maintain a failed status quo. Syria is being turned into Afghanistan. Strenuous efforts will be made to upend the deal being formulated on Iran's nuclear program. Saudis and Israelis will look to expand hostilities in the Middle East.
But the good news in all of this is more and more people are becoming aware of who the real enemy -- of peace, of shared prosperity -- is.
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