JOHNSTONE

The empire we live under is everything we're trained to fear. Our own rulers are the murderers. Our own rulers are the terrorists. Our own rulers are the tyrants. Our own rulers are the problem. Reading by Tim Foley.

While I was working on this painting of US oligarch Jeff Bezos I kept thinking about a speech he gave in 2019 where he laid out his nightmarish vision for the future of the human species. Bezos described a future where the overwhelming majority of humans are shipped off to space to live their lives inside “O’Neill colonies” — giant cylinders which rotate to simulate Earth’s gravity. Only a privileged few would get to remain on humanity’s home world, where the ecosystem would be able to repair and thrive now that it’s not being overburdened by more humans than it can handle. One doesn’t have to stretch the imagination to guess which side of the equation Bezos envisions himself and his family winding up on in this scenario. Press enter or click to view image in full size As I was painting I kept thinking about how horrific it would be if Bezos’ plan for humanity was ever put into place, because you know hardly anyone would leave this planet voluntarily. Billions of people would be forced onto space ships bound for these giant spinning space stations, their hearts breaking at the unimaginable loss of their indigenous home world. It would be like a planet-wide Nakba. A Trail of Tears for our entire species. Press enter or click to view image in full size The freaks who rule our world do not have a healthy vision for humanity’s future. Their best ideas are a normal person’s worst nightmare. Jeff Bezos envisions ecocidal capitalism being allowed to tick along completely unrestricted and unhindered, with humanity rescuing itself from disaster at the last minute by shipping most of itself off planet to live inside giant Amazon space dildos. That’s his best and brightest plan. Press enter or click to view image in full size Our rulers are not good people. They are not wise. They are not compassionate. They aren’t even particularly intelligent. They just happen to be good at winning the capitalism game by moving the circumstances of our society around in such a way that the numbers in their bank accounts grow very large. This is not a healthy way for us to live. We cannot keep doing this. Reading by Tim Foley.

Have you ever noticed how whenever you see someone promoting hatred toward Muslims, nine times out of ten it will be someone who supports Israel? There's a reason for that. Zionists promote Islamophobia because convincing westerners to hate Muslims is easier than convincing them to love Israel. Reading by Tim Foley.

They're on the back foot. This has never happened before. We've got a real shot at winning this thing. Reading by Tim Foley.

They get everyone fighting a fake revolution so that nobody thinks about fighting a real one. Reading by Tim Foley.

In today's news, Israel's stupid fucking genocidal rapists ran over an unexploded ordnance from their own evil carpet bombing campaign, blamed Hamas for the explosion, started bombing the fuck out of Gaza again, killed scores of civilians, said they were once again cutting off aid to the enclave, and then quietly backed down on urging from Washington. Reading by Tim Foley.

Last year I banged out an angry rant about the way Israel supporters would yell "release the hostages!" at anyone who talked about the latest massacre of Palestinian civilians, saying Hamas was to blame for the killing because of their refusal to release the Israeli captives, and that it would all stop once the hostages are free. I'm remembering that essay today because the hostages are free, but the massacres are continuing. Reading by Tim Foley.

In one of the more freakish acts of genocide propaganda we've seen in the last two years, the official Twitter account of the Israel Foreign Ministry made a post smearing desperate, starving civilians as cruel savages using the false allegation that they "tore apart" a "whale" that had become "stranded" on the beach. Reading by Tim Foley.

These last two years have shown us that western civilization doesn't need protection, it needs redemption. It needs to save its soul. Reading by Tim Foley.

Israel is so evil it's actually hard to wrap your mind around it. Reading by Tim Foley.