Originally Posted by Kobi
I totally agree with you. And, I havent a really good solution to offer. I do have suggestions tho.
What I can say, is the pioneers of drastic change in this country, were those who were willing to put themselves out there, organize, speak to the realities, and fight for what was right.
We, as a people, have become very complacent yet we are not powerless. We just dont use the power that we do have in a systematic way.
Some of the power we have:
1. Voting. Not just the right to vote but choosing how we choose to vote. Does it have to be about evaluating and selecting the least offensive donkey in the herd?
Personally, I made the decision a long time ago that I might not be able to fight the machine but I can work to put a kink in things. This means I rarely vote for an incumbent. I figure if we keep turning over the politicians every term, no one can become too entrenched and an intregal part of the farce. The more turn over, the slower the process.
Example - look at the horror show of Congress after the last election. The turnover was unprecedented. The sides are so opposed to one another, so entrenched in their own power shit, so busy fighting one another, they have constipated the entire process of government. This is sometimes scary or used as a scare tactic. I would rather them be embroiled in a pooping contest than steamrolling over the people.
We can choose to NOT vote for the primary party candidates. Period. Both are corrupt. Both have their own agendas and neither have the good of the people as the basis of their beliefs and actions. If people start voting for other parties, it is another stick in the spokes of the machine. If done on a wide enough and consistent enough basis, it sends a message that their power and control are in jeopardy.
For as much as we complain, imo, we have GIVEN those with the power - economic and political, the power they have. And, we can take that power back. They know it too. Retaining that power, and discouraging people from acting against it, is what the Patriot Act and that new bill are all about.
2. We have a boatload of economic power if people would work together. Recent examples....Verizon nullifying their attempt to charge a 2 dollar fee for something or BOA wanting to charge a 5 dollar fee for using your ATM. Both revoked because of widespread complaining and threatening to stop using their services.
How much power would we as a people have if we systematically decided to boycott a particular company for whatever reason? Dramatic decreases in income gets attention....really fast.....not just for the company being boycotted but for others in the same business.
The dynamics of power games is a good guide to the things that can help the collective us. Others here are more versed in them than I am.
3. Sheer numbers. In sheer numbers, there are more of "us" than there are of "them". We have become accustomed to our numbers making an impact using electronic means. What kind of impact would the visual display of sheer numbers have? What kind of impact did sheer numbers have in the past?
My point, I think, is we are not helpless, hopeless, and powerless...unless that is what we want to be. What we might be is unorganized, fragmented, frightened of the uncertainties that come with the process of profound change, and lacking in leadership.
I think it was Einstein who said, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result. We need to do something different, demand something different, use a different set of rules etc.
|