"The empire needs its skillful orators and apologists like Obama, but it also needs its iron-fisted overt tyrants like Trump. ... Both are essential components to the operation of the imperial machine."
~Caitlin Johnstone

Aleksandr Solzhenytsin said,"A state if war only serves as an excuse for domestic tyranny."
Herman Goering suggested in his Nuremberg testimony that every form of government is prone to tyranny.
Thus is true of every human institution, because belief, itself, makes us all prone to tyranny.

"The corporate-indentured Democratic Party ... blocks the only mechanism that can save us—popular mass movements and strikes —knowing its corrupt and despised party leadership will be swept aside ... Better to let the whole ship go down than surrender their status and privilege."
~Chris Hedges

The beliefs that make up our identity form the lens of division through which we see the world as me/us and dehumanized "others." Only when we take off this lens and see everyone as flawed, imperfect human beings can we fully practice compassion and return to humanity.

"We have lost our capacity for speaking with kindness." ~Thich Nhat Hanh

For every attachment, we develop a fear of loss, a need to control and defend. Any challenge to an attached belief is subsequently met with unkindness, robbing us of a bit of our precious humanity. That is Identity Politics.

In a hierarchical society based on competition, we are all pushed to pursue a position of power-over. Ideals such as compassion, cooperation, equality, and humility are detrimental and considered weakness. Such a society inherently drives out humanity and delivers us back to barbarism.

We are our own worst enemies. We hold ourselves back; push too far too fast. We blame others for our mistakes; blame ourselves for what's beyond our control. We accept what we should reject; reject what should be accepted. We religiously defend beliefs w/o question.

We must let go to grow.

Bush and Trump show us Republicans are bullies, choosing military might for US domination of weaker nations. Obama and Biden show us Democrats are manipulators, instigating conflicts from the shadows to weaken strong nations. Defending or supporting either party diminishes one's own humanity.

Is there really a difference between a physical bully and a manipulator? Physical abuse and psychological abuse are perceived as different, but practically speaking, they're both abuse with the same intention: Domination or power-over.

Might makes right & moral superiority both = power-over.

Superficial beliefs remain so no matter how deeply we integrate them into our identity. Narrow beliefs remain so no matter how broadly we expound upon them. These illusions of bredth and depth are the dimensions of the comfortable prison within which we choose to reside & resist uncomfortable truths

If your "compassion" is defined by hatred for another group of people, then it's not compassion, it's prejudice.

This is the basis of the prohibition against collective punishment and discrimination enshrined in Human Rights Laws.

Growing up in the Bible Belt, I learned that, "Even the Devil can quote scripture for his own purposes."

I now understand this refers to taking facts out of context in order to create a false perception loosely based on truth. This is the art of skillful manipulation; the essence of propaganda.

Ego often rejects perspectives that are foreign, inconvenient, or uncomfortable ... regardless of how reasonable or true. Does this not explain why Jesus was rejected when he went home to teach? Pearls to swine, indeed!

When we encounter war propaganda, and accept it, we make the enemy a monster in our mind. In reality, however, we just make a monster out of ourselves.

War propaganda invites us to dehumanize others ... but doing so extinguishes our own humanity.

"Love your enemies."
~Jesus--Matthew 5:44

All forms of extremism and supremacy--whether nationalist, racial, or religious--are inherently devoid of humanity.

To limit one's compassion and empathy to a select group of people; to forego humility; to replace conscience with entitlement, all demonstrate a lack of humanity.

Individual humanity involves the traits of compassion, empathy, humility, integrity, respect, and selflessness. With humanity, it is possible to disagree without dehumanizing others.

If you resort to dehumanizing when your beliefs are challenged, then you reject your own humanity.

Books for perspective:
*War is a Racket, Smedley Butler
*The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government, David Talbot
*Empire of Illusion, Chris Hedges
*Vulture's Picnic, Greg Palast
*Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, John Perkins