Criticisms of Communist/Marxist Theory
The promise of a glorious, yet imaginary, future: Some have argued that, like Fascism, Nationalism and many religions, Communism offers a vision of an unachievable perfect future, and keeps its subjects in thrall to it by devaluing the past and the present. It claims to represent a universal truth which explains everything and can cure every ill, and any apparent deviations or under-performance are explained away by casuistry and emotional appeals.

Criticisms of Communist Party Rule
Totalitarianism: It is claimed that Communist parties have maintained themselves in power without the consent of the populations and have degenerated into Totalitarianism. They rule by means of secret police, propaganda disseminated through the state-controlled mass media, repression of free discussion and criticism, mass surveillance, and state terror.
— Philosophy Basics, communism

We’re clearly on the way.

What was once subtle is now in our face and it’s amazing just how well the Democrat elite know those who politically oppose them….

Wow. Maybe Sarah Silverman should have a friendly little talk with Antifa who, “wearing all black, tactical riot gear and ski masks”, ARE currently terrorizing neighborhoods with their standard disruption, violence and destruction.

Very “stupid, authoritarian” legislation will soon be on the table.

Democrats introduce their first bill in the House: H.R.1 – The bill that will destroy America. Nationwide mail-in voting, banning restrictions on ballot harvesting, banning voter ID, criminal voters, DC Statehood roadwork, it’s all in here.

1) Internet-only registration with electronic signature submission.
2) Banning the requirement to provide a full SSN for voter registration.
3) Nationwide ‘Motor Voter’ registration.
4) 16 year olds required to be registered to vote.
5) Nationwide same-day registration.
6) Grants ($25M) for using minors in election activities.
7) Prohibiting attempts to clean voter rolls of non-residents.
8) Murderers and rapists can vote.
9) Mandatory early voting.
— Populist Press, 1/24/21

For those who are reportedly having voters remorse, take a hard look at those who censored valuable information before the presidential election, cancelled those who challenged the election result, and are now literally hunting down anyone who dares not bow down in homage to Biden and Harris. Counter-information was readily available and you chose not to even want to look into it, so don’t act all innocent and shocked.

It will only get worse before it gets better. The only upside is that Democrats habitually overreach whenever they attain power and they will go too far. The next repudiation (and it always happens) should be appropriately harsh because in what is supposed to be a “free society”, Democrats, their Big Tech and media allies deserve to be made politically and socially impotent for decades, if not for good.

But it now appears that their millionaire status has been affected, their ability to make a living stifled, and despite their not missing a meal or worrying about how they’re going to make their next car payment or pay their rent, “artists” want Congress to bail them out by bailing out the places where they perform.

Artists’ Letter To Congress

June 18, 2020

We, the undersigned artists, respectfully submit this letter in support of National Independent Venue Association’s (NIVA) request for federal assistance for independent music venues and promoters across the United States.

We’ve all read stories about self-absorbed artists with outrageous rider demands for the backstage buffets, are abusive to staff and fans alike, but when they want something simply because they exist, they throw in the word “respectfully”.

We will know America is “back” when our music venues are filled with fans enjoying concerts safely. The live music experience is inextricably tied to our nation’s cultural and economic fabric. In fact, 53% of Americans – that’s 172 million of us – attended a concert last year.

These artists can beg for all the money they want, but notice they want “Congress” to act without a guarantee that Democrat governors and mayors will actually open up their states and cities for concerts. So, they could end up getting a bailout and not have to leave the crib.

We urge you to remember we are the nation that gave the world jazz, country, rock & roll, bluegrass, hip hop, metal, blues, and R&B. Entertainment is America’s largest economic export, with songs written and produced by American artists sung in every place on the globe. All of these genres of music, and the artists behind them, were able to thrive because they had neighborhood independent venues to play in and hone their craft, build an audience, and grow into the entertainers that bring joy to millions.

It’s not just those who play “jazz, country, rock & roll, bluegrass, hip hop, metal, blues, and R&B” who’ve been losing money. It’s the hundreds of music company executives and employees who have no musical talent and have exploited musicians for decades so they can live in pricey neighborhoods amongst the rich and important. If Congress bails out “artists”, you really want us to believe a good portion of that money won’t go to those who are not the “artists”?

Fat chance.

Independent venues give artists their start, often as the first stage most of us have played on. These venues were the first to close and will be the last to reopen. With zero revenue and the overwhelming overhead of rent, mortgage, utilities, taxes and insurance, 90% of independent venues report that if the shutdown lasts six months and there’s no federal assistance, they will never reopen again.

Independent venues are important. The local bar is a great place to see bands play cover tunes but the days when record company executives get off their fat asses and frequent independent venues for new talent are long gone. With YouTube and farces like American Idol, the days of playing live to “pay your dues” are no longer a necessity to be discovered.

Using the “independent venue” as the major rationale for a bailout is weak, at best.

These millionaire artists are really being hurt by their inability to play the BIG stadium tours. But what really pisses them off is the first act that will be on stage since the coronavirus lockdown and it will NOT be Lady Gaga or Alabama or Earth, Wind & Fire.

It will be President Donald Trump, who’ll have thousands of people waiting to get in, thousands of people who can’t get in, thousands who’ll watch him on nearby outdoor monitors, and he won’t charge them a dime for attending.

We are asking you to support NIVA’s request for assistance so these beloved venues can reopen when it’s safe and welcome us and our fans back in. The collapse of this crucial element in the music industry’s ecosystem would be devastating.

The fans have easily found concert videos online. Live artist “venue” performances aren’t missed.

Independent venues are asking for an investment to secure their future, not a handout.

Anytime liberals call something they want taxpayers to pay for an “investment”, it’s usually something they could never get a majority of the public to support. “Investment” sounds better than the truth.

One Chicago report found that every dollar small venues generate in ticket sales results in $12 of economic activity.

No link or booknote to that “Chicago report”. You’ll just have to take their word for it.

If these independent venues close forever, cities and towns across America will not only lose their cultural and entertainment hearts, but they will lose the engine that would otherwise be a driver of economic renewal for all the businesses that surround them.

With respect and solidarity, we, as artists and as community members ourselves, urge you to pass federal legislation that will help #SaveOurStages.

Out of the couple hundred signers, here are some of the more familiar names….

Sincerely,

Alan Parsons, Alice Cooper, Amy Schumer, Daryl Hall (Hall & Oates), Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters), Dave Mason, David Byrne (Talking Heads), David Copperfield, David Crosby, David Letterman, Don McLean, Jerry Seinfeld, Jewel, Jimmy Buffett, Jimmy Eat World, Joan Baez, John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band, John Mayer, John Mellencamp, Joni Mitchell, Mickey Hart (Grateful Dead), Miranda Lambert, Natalie Portman, Nate Mendel (Foo Fighters), Norah Jones, Shirley Jones, Steve Vai, The Beach Boys, Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top), Billy Joel, Billy Squier, Blue Oyster Cult, Bob Weir (Grateful Dead), Bonnie Raitt, Earth, Wind, and Fire, Fastball, Lady Gaga, Lee Greenwood, Los Lobos, Ozzy Osbourne, Pat Boone, Pat Smear (Foo Fighters), Pat Travers, Patti Smith, Patton Oswalt, Plain White T’s, Queensrÿche, Tanya Tucker, Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters), Teddy Gentry (Alabama), Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails), Vanessa Williams, Carly Simon, Carol Burnett, Carole King, Cher, Colin Farrell, Cyndi Lauper, George Lopez, Gin Blossoms, Graham Nash, Harvey Mason Jr., Jamie Kennedy, Jay Leno, Jay Mohr, Jed Hilly (Americana Music Association), Jeff Cook (Alabama), Macklemore, Mandy Moore, Mavis Staples, Randy Owen (Alabama), Randy Travis, Ray Romano, Richard Lewis, Rob Thomas (Matchbox 20), Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin), Roger McGuinn (The Byrds), Rufus Wainwright, Sarah Silverman, Whoopi Goldberg, Willie Nelson, Wyclef Jean, Zac Brown

Many of the names are familiar as they’ve taken to their social media platforms to denigrate President Trump and even express outright hatred of Republicans and those of us who voted to put them in office.

Now, they want our tax dollars so the negative impact of COVID-19 by tyrannical Democrat governors and mayors can be softened.

Respectfully… GTFOH.

Instead of debating ideas, the left and right are demanding that anyone who annoys them be cast out of polite society.

Sarah Silverman has been canceled. A Hollywood director fired the progressive comedian because of a sketch she performed a dozen years ago.

“I recently was going to do a movie … a sweet part,” Silverman said on a podcast this month. “Then, at 11 p.m. the night before, they fired me because they saw a picture of me in blackface from that episode.”

The first line in this USA Today opinion piece by this Jon Gabriel is an insult to anyone who’s been paying attention. It says alot about what he assumes about their audience.

Cancel culture is spreading for one simple reason: It works. Instead of debating ideas or competing for entertainment dollars, you can just demand that anyone who annoys you be cast out of polite society.

Way back in the mists of time, say five years ago, if you didn’t like a TV show or movie, you wouldn’t watch it. Now you can ensure that no one watches it, just by slinging some outrage on social media.

Actually, that’s what conservatives do. When actors, musicians, and athletes insult us (and they do a lot lately), we stop watching their television shows, movies, turn off their games and stop buying their music. We don’t seek to banish them into oblivion, primarily because it doesn’t work. Liberals can do some of the most heinous things in society and still manage to get work. They can sexually assault, beat their wives, drive drunk, plagiarize, say racist things on camera, even call a vice presidential candidate a “cunt” and you’ll still see them on our televisions, movie screens, on the field and on our radios.

Conversely, morally superior progressives will seek the professional destruction of any conservative who crosses a moral line and most of the time, it works.

Our woke mentality is America’s new Puritanism. Instead of a handy list of sins written thousands of years ago, modern sins are ever-changing. A joke that was deemed progressive a decade ago is retroactively condemned as hate speech.

This climate is a liberal creation, embraced by the left when conservatives could be bullied. Bon appetit!

“If you say the wrong thing,” Silverman said, “everyone is, like, throwing the first stone. It’s a perversion. It’s really, ‘Look how righteous I am, and now I’m going to press refresh all day long to see how many likes I get in my righteousness.’”

There is nothing “new” about this. The left is now lamenting on, like many other things, how their tables have been turned back on them. Poor babies.

They cheered when Roseanne Barr lost her job over some not-so-well-thought-through Tweets, not to mention notable casualties like Don Imus, Paula Deen, and Bill O’Reilly. Meanwhile Democrat Ralph “blackface” Northam got a pass and is still in the Virginia governor’s mansion simply because he gave the finger to those who demanded he go away.

Anytime the social media lynch mob of anonymous trolls can beat a target into a whimpering mess, begging for forgiveness, that may not even be enough. Some will just tell you to kill yourself. But when liberals are busted, like during the Bill Clinton – Monica Lewinsky adultery scandal, the left defended him by saying “Everybody does it.” In this case, no, everybody doesn’t do this. It’s almost exclusively from those on the unhinged left who are still in full punish mode after the last presidential election and they flushed all sense of civility down the toilet.

But alas, it’s happening to Hollywood liberals and their overpaid careers are in potential jeopardy, the standard “That’s not who I am” response is not enough, so now it’s something we ALL need to talk about.

It’s time for the perpetually offended on the left and right to bring back two concepts the Puritans were at least familiar with: grace and forgiveness.
— USA Today, 8/20/19

It’s always a “left and right” problem when the liberal boomerang comes back and hits them in the head, but the left very seldom forgives and forgets unless it’s one of their own and they gleefully make it hurt.

So, nice try but not this time. It’s their bed; they can lay in it.

Apple does not tolerate hate speech, and we have clear guidelines that creators and developers must follow to ensure we provide a safe environment for all of our users. We believe in representing a wide range of views, so long as people are respectful to those with differing opinions.
— Apple statement, 8/6/18

Fair enough.

The expected selective enforcement of their “community-standards guidelines” is another thing.

In fact a lot of the online music platforms have sought to purge their sites of “hate speech”, as long as we’re not talking about the left’s protected groups who can use racial epithets, sexist insults or other incendiary words that would get most Americans banned, and as the left is systematically digging deep into the past posts of certain individuals, let’s toss those dice!

For example, if you’re Sarah Silverman, you could say almost anything and suffer few (if any) repercussions.

This particular podcast is no longer available for download from iTunes but given their heightened sensitivities, Sarah Silverman’s Grandma’s Virginity Podcasts shouldn’t even be available today. Then again, the rules are clear that certain liberals can use the most offensive words because they are comedians telling “jokes”.

Try calling the next black person you see a nigger and see if you get a laugh in response.

h/t Shite Sturdwell