Blood Money

by C.A. Matthews

Tax season in the US has to be the most stressful time of the year. Even if you’re fairly certain you’ll receive a refund and not owe anything, you still have to deal with the uncertainty of pleasing our masters. You must give them the correct figures to “appease the beast” and keep its growling belly full and its appetite satiated.

You may think it's over-exaggeration calling the US government an animal, but recent events prove my point. The US is financing and arming a Genocide. It’s providing arms and aid to the ethnostate of Israel to ethnically cleanse the Palestinian people from their land in Gaza. (It is even readying to send troops into Gaza as we've learned recently after the extreme protest of Airman Aaron Bushnell.) Can you get any more beastly than encouraging the mass murder of tens of thousands of civilians and the slow starvation deaths of innocent children?

Now that we’re agreed that the US government is a beast of unparalleled proportions, what can we do about it? Do we keep feeding the beast and hope for the best that it doesn’t turn around one day and decide to devour us as well? Don't think it couldn't happen. Is this any way for us to live, in perpetual fear and loathing? How can we as prey fight back to see a world freed from the bloodthirsty hunger of the beast?

Believe it or not, We the People (prey) do have the power to slay the beast. We can deny it sustenance. We can starve it, weaken it, and when its spinning in confusion, topple it.

Can we do this simply by refusing to pay taxes to the Feds? Good question. There have been some Americans who have done precisely that in protest against the US war machine, and they have been penalized for it with jail sentences and fines. And still, the US funding of endless wars for oil and genocide continues. It’s as if tax dollars don’t really make much of a difference one way or the other in how the US government pays for its weapons and practices warfare.

And really, why should the government tax us at all? The government doesn’t need our tax payments. It can always print more money, or produce more ones and zeroes in a computer spreadsheet, nowadays. Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) shows us how this works. There's no need for a Ft. Knox. There’s nothing backing up the US “petrodollar” except American wars and other oil resources grabs such as the one happening off the coast of Gaza. De-dollarization has begun.

When in doubt, follow the money. Who or what profits the most from the trillion dollar US “defense” budget? If you answer, “Raytheon, General Dynamics, Boeing…”  go to the head of the class! You are no dummy. You aren’t fooled by the US’s supposed democracy heralded by its paid-off politicians. You know who's the real rulers are.

In order to stop the genocide in Gaza, the genocide in the Congo, the genocide in Sudan, the ceaseless bloodbath in Ukraine, the bucks must stop here at the doors of the Military-Congressional-Industrial Complex and its supporters like AIPAC. But how do we shut off the flow of blood money to these heartless capitalist gangsters? This is where We the People need to get creative and grow a pair of whatever-gender-specific-organ that gives you courage and bravery, because it’s probably going to get worse before it gets better.

The Move to Amend movement has been around for some time and receives endorsements from some Congress members, but so far it’s a no go. Neither the House or the Senate has held a vote on the proposal. It appears that Congress members are willing to put their names on it for good marketing purposes but nothing more. Perhaps one day the 28th amendment will come about, but in the meantime, it cannot be our only action.

What else can we be do to shut down the war machine? Move the Money (to Human Needs) is an organization which is working to help to take money away from the war machine, thus denying it of funding. Detroit recently became the biggest US city so far to pass a resolution that calls on Congress and the president to shift public money away from the military to fund social services. The Michigan Peace Council was a major backer of the campaign to win the resolution. It came on the same day that nearly 101,000 Michiganders voted “Uncommitted” in the Democratic primary to oppose Biden’s support for Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people. 

Scrolling my Twitter (X) feed some days can be uplifting because there are so many videos of protests and strikes happening both in the US and around the world that are each in their own small way helping to bring about the death of the beast. From attending politicians’ speeches (including Genocide Joe Biden’s) and shouting for the end of the genocide and all wars, to protesting in front of or on top of the headquarters of arms manufacturers, such as Israel’s Elbit Systems, We the People are making our wishes known. We are the majority.

We’re tired of the blood of innocents being spilled. We’re tired of watching the slaughter of our neighbors worldwide for the sole reason of making billionaire CEOs and their puppet-politicians ever richer. We’re making our voices heard, and we’re engendering fear in these purveyors of death and destruction. 

Protesting and general strikes, especially those events involving large numbers, are more effective than you may realize. The beast thrives on pretending that it only commits these unspeakable horrors out of a need to protect our “freedom and democracy” (TM). We all know this to be complete and utter bullshit. 

The fact that a New Jersey real estate agent is now selling stolen Palestinian properties in the West Bank to American Zionists negates the idea that the US is supporting "freedom and democracy" in apartheid Israel. The fact that the US and other NATO countries cut off funding to UNRWA because Israel told them twelve United Nations staff members were part of "Hamas," which has since been proven to be false, negates that. In fact, new evidence shows that Israel actually tortured (waterboarded) these UN workers into making false confessions. How "democratic" is that?

By standing together in a public space and shouting the lies back at the liars, We the People take charge. The beast finds itself increasingly cornered and isolated. By boycotting (BDS) any products that are funding our enemy's' evil actions, We the People make the beast realize its days are numbered.

We’ll no longer have to cry about the blood on our hands when we at last turn off the flow of blood money. Then true freedom and democracy will reign.

Related Articles and Other Interesting Links

‘Move The Money’: Detroit Votes For Slashing Bloated Pentagon Budget https://popularresistance.org/move-the-money-detroit-votes-for-slashing-bloated-pentagon-budget

Move the Money to Human Needs https://moneyforhumanneeds.org/

Report reveals Israel tortured UNRWA employees to falsely admit links to Hamas https://www.radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/349352-report-reveals-israel-tortured-unrwa-employees-to-falsely-admit-links-to-hamas 

Protesters target Teaneck event promoting West Bank real estate to U.S. Jews https://forward.com/fast-forward/590870/teaneck-protest-israel-property-sale-event/

Israel wants to seize Gaza's multibillion dollar gas field  https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/israel-palestine-war-geopolitics-gaza-multibillion-dollar-gas-field

At least 5 killed after airdropped aid falls on them in Gaza
https://www.yahoo.com/news/least-5-killed-airdropped-aid-144754461.html

Pretending The US Can't Just Drive Aid Into Gaza https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/pretending-the-us-cant-just-drive

"Pay No Attention To That Genocide Right In Front Of Your Face"
 https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/pay-no-attention-to-that-genocide

The US pretends that imposing the Hunger Games on Gaza = humanitarianism https://www.councilestatemedia.uk/p/the-us-pretends-that-imposing-the

Most Americans Want the US to Stop Sending Weapons to Israel, Poll Finds https://truthout.org/articles/most-americans-want-the-us-to-stop-sending-weapons-to-israel-poll-finds/

Oscar Winners Who Don't Speak Out On Gaza This Weekend Will Be Complicit In Genocide https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/oscar-winners-who-dont-speak-out

A US politician has let slip his genocidal intentions for Gaza https://www.councilestatemedia.uk/p/a-us-politician-has-let-slip-his

How the ‘fight against antisemitism’ became a shield for Israel's genocide https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/war-gaza-fight-against-antisemitism-shield-israel-genocide

Leaked Israel lobby presentation urges US officials to justify war on Gaza with ‘Hamas rape’ claims https://thegrayzone.com/2024/03/06/leaked-israel-lobby-officials-war-gaza-mass-rape/

America Enters the Samizdat Era https://www.racket.news/p/america-enters-the-samizdat-era

The government is classing everyone it disagrees with as "extremists" https://www.councilestatemedia.uk/p/the-government-is-classing-everyone?

Saying "Hamas Just Needs To Surrender" Is Saying "We'll Kill Kids Until We Get What We Want" https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/saying-hamas-just-needs-to-surrender

The Most Dangerous Thing In The Western Hemisphere
https://youtu.be/33p-8QHZpzY?si=9lkt9Knz46pI2j00 

Dedollarization: 95% of trade between China and Russia is no longer done in US currency https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/12/19/dedollarization-95-of-trade-between-china-and-russia-is-no-longer-done-in-us-currency/

Blood Money: The Top Ten Politicians Taking The Most Israel Lobby Cash https://www.mintpressnews.com/blood-money-top-ten-politicians-taking-most-israel-money-israel-lobby/286491/

Palestine Action Has Been in Action Four Times This Week--doing what politicians dare not https://www.thecanary.co/editorial/2024/03/01/palestine-action-four-actions/

Liberals Are Always Trying To Distance Biden From Netanyahu, And Netanyahu From Israel https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/liberals-are-always-trying-to-distance

Save the people of Piqua, Ohio, from toxins caused by lithium-ion battery burning their city government is allowing: https://savepiqua.com/