Stuff and Nonsense

[Dora]

A post in another thread asked "But what can we do?" And I started thinking about revolution, and what it takes to begin one. I don't know. I'm no historian, but I've been paying attention to poll numbers, and there's no longer any question about our numbers: there are more of us than there are of them. If our numbers appeared on their doorstep, if our citizen armies of indignant and outraged Americans put their collective foot down... then surely, surely they will end their madness. They have to. That's how it's played. Isn't it?

It worked in Venezuela. But they had the support of the military, I believe. Where, you may ask, is our military? In Iraq being killed and maimed day after day after day after day.

The problem is our inertia.

We're wedded to our jobs, to our kids' soccer games, to our tv shows and our football parties. We're trapped by our activity, racing with our debt. We've filled all our moments with stuff and nonsense and it's goddamn hard to find time to think about getting to DC for a protest when we have to spend a goodly time thinking about whether to put $20 of gas in the tank or $2.

The destroyers of this nation have played their cards well. They have trapped us in webs of debt, attachment, neurosis, and distraction. We have confused culture with celebrity, and sufficiency with wealth. We go to meetups and chatrooms and share mutinous ideas under anonymous user IDs. We protest politely, with permission, behind chain link fences with law enforcement circling our periphery like carrion birds.

It's not working, my brothers and sisters. Your life must change. My life must change. We must learn and act on what Gandhi meant when he said that we must be the change we wish to have happen.

We must change our relationship with money. We must end our addiction to television and tabloids and easy-to-read Sunday paper inserts and exorcise the hungry ghosts swirling around our minds and our hearts. We must share our ideas aloud, with each other and with strangers. We must identify ourselves publicly, with clear and ringing voices, so that others who have not yet spoken can hear us and stand taller, throwing their voices behind ours until we are at last speaking in chorus.

I call upon ourselves to take leave of our homes and join togother in our public spaces, in our parks and our libraries and our community centers. We must meet in church basements and at block parties. We must fly our varied flags and signs of community and resistance, whether they be bumper stickers or billboards. We need symbols and secret handshakes, witty slogans and vigilant songs, we need the cement of ritual and custom.

We have to put down our candles, pick up our torches and pitch, and start chasing these monsters out of our country. For if we do not, I fear that the darkness we are struggling through today will prove to be merely the gloaming before the darkest days inevitably to come.

[OKDem08]

1. I speak up now and have never really done so in the past

on political issues. My husband and I are planning on going to DC next weekend. I am hopeful there will be a mass of people there too large to ignore.

[Dora]

4. Thank you for going to DC!

I can't. We can't. It's just not possible for us. Know that behind your voice there are the voices of many Americans who cannot go. Speak for us, please.

I'm ready to go to our most popular city park on this weekend with a giant peace flag or a No-W flag and settle in at a picnic table with some potato salad and ham sandwiches to see what kind of attention I'd attract. And do it again the next weekend. And see if anybody else would do the same with me the weekend after.

Perhaps our numbers could grow, if we would just shine our light upon one another.

[daninthemoon]

2. Your piece makes me think of the end of the Soviet Empire. I'm

not sure when or how the individual people were finally able to rise and shake off their oppressors, but I know it had something to do with economic collapse. * has us well on the way to that.

[Dora]

5. That was floating around in my mind as I began to write.

I wonder if there is a Cliff's Notes version of "The Fall of the Soviet Union."

I'd like to know what it was like for the average citizen.

[blossomstar]

3. THANK YOU! I was feeling so beaten and almost talked myself out

of going to DC on Sept. 24th... you know, gas costs so much, can I afford it, I'm afraid of whatever when I get there, I'll get lost in all the traffic, who will look after my dogs, blah, blah, blah. But after reading your post HELL OR HIGH WATER will not keep me from going! You are so right, OUR VOICES MUST BE HEARD! They have played their cards well and have us all bogged down with baggage of our own choosing that is choking the very life out of us all and given them free reign to commit their criminal acts on America. You are so right, we must make a change and take our country back. THank you so very much!

[Dora]

9. I'm doubly glad I posted now.

Thank you for going to DC. We cannot, and like I told another poster in this thread, your voice will rise higher because we will all be speaking with you from afar.

Thank you.

[lildreamer316]

6. I will tell you what I am scared of.

Preface: I don't have alot of debit;No car payments; no credit cards; no mortgage. Both hubby and I are in careers where we can go almost anywhere and get a job (he DJ; me dancer) but then again; those are not "essential" services.
The only reason I don't rise up EVERY day and rally my neighbors in resistance is that I have a 1 1/2 year old son that I want to have as normal a life as possible. YES, I do realize that without action on my part he will have no good quality of life to look foreword to, but there is such a thing as spending TOO much time worrying about the future and missing what is going on right in front of your face. I am struggling with making this balance work. Know what I mean?
It's an emotional battle sometimes for me because I feel like I am not doing enough; but with the way our life is structured (he now works an hour & a half away 4 nights a week) it is just not feasible for me to do more than I am (surviving on what he is bringing home only). I believe the universe will provide me with a way to become more active as the need arises; the spirit is definitely willing.

[Dora]

8. Do I know what you mean? I sure do!

I have a seven month old son, and I work 40 hours a week. Everything you said in your post rang true for me.

I struggle with worry every day, and I force myself to let go of it for the sake of my husband and our son.

You're right. Your path to action will be clear to you when it comes. I am seeking mine too.

[Veronicrat]

7. "chasing these monsters"

I applaud your brave and wonderful post. I have often wanted to get even a soapbox and stand on it in the park. just to have a public debate even. Reach out to each other.

there are so many people just tired of what you said.
we do have power to change this.
We can find the quality over the quantity in our lives.
"Chasing these monsters out of our lives."
Indeed so true. but we need to replace it with something better.
and we can.
we can't take for granted liberties that still exist for us.
we have lost some in the battle.

pick up the fight for our country, our children's and our folks really for ourselves, for in the reaching out is also the healing of the nation..
We are all in this together.

[Dora]

10. Amen, and welcome to DU!!!

We haven't lost any liberties, we have simply forgotten how to exercise them.

We must flex our muscles and be the nation we were meant to be, not this flaccid, cravening, befouling tyrant we've become. We are a young nation yet, and we should be vibrating still with the idealism imbued in our forefathers vision.

We have forgotten our ancestors. We must remember.

Go ahead and make that soapbox, and practice standing on it. I had a daydream about a soapbox on a city corner yesterday, and it was a good dream.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

11. Right on. Up the ante so they be more wedded to their jobs, etc.

I'm not much of a rabble rouser, but you've roused me.

Thanks!

The way revolutions work is to up the ante so that the cost of them acquiesing and placating popular demand becomes less than disturbing themselves from their jobs and profit centers, etc.

[Dora]

12. No, thank you! BE THE CHANGE!!!

and good night!

[CrackpotAmerica]

13. Take The French, For Example

Louis XIV pursued self serving policies.

W does the same

Louis XIV proved to be a disastrous military leader.

W does the same

Louis XIV Decided to take his court away from the city and built an ornate palace in Versailles. He rested decadently as France crumbled from within.

W did the same in Crawford

Louis XIV placed the burden of France on the uncompensated poor.

W does the same

The Result? Revolution.

It is inevitable.

It is coming.

:kick:

[lildreamer316]

14. "Those who do not learn from history..."

I swear it is overused but SO SO SO TRUE.

[CrackpotAmerica]

15. I am not afraid of it. . .

I am looking forward to it.

Sometimes, the price of one's life is less valuable than the lives of his or her children.

I don't want my children to live in a world as told by George W. Bush.

[CrackpotAmerica]

16. It is your right to form a militia.

It is your right to protect yourself from your government as well.

My wife and I are learning a lot of skills we wouldn't have ever considered.

I can tie over 50 knots.

I can hit a tin can from 400 yards.

I can start a fire with a rock and a stick.

etc. . .

Just in case.

But honestly, our military will not take orders to fire on their hometowns and families. They will turn around before they obey that order.

Napoleon would call out when approaching the enemy. He would say "You fight for your King. We are French! We fight for France!"

Guess what would happen to his enemies?

I don't think that that bastard has any clout with our noble men and women in the military to begin with. Much less, if he ordered them to march on the United States.

But just in case. . .

[lostnfound]

17. But they don't necessarily need OUR military anymore for that

Mercenaries / private armies.
Immigrants -- say, former death squad students from the SOA.
They've already made moves towards making that easier.

What percent of those serving in Iraq are non-citizens? I heard it was pretty high.

[Dora]

22. What an awful thought.

So we could someday be fighting for our rights against armies of foreigners that have been brought together by our "elected" officials to keep us in line.

We must start meeting together in all our places.

[lostnfound]

26. Yep. With Negroponte as head of "National Intelligence", etc.

I can easily see that happening.

[Dora]

20. We're self-educating too.

Canning, sewing, masonry, gardening. Books on farm implements and tools. Books on log home construction, straw bale construction, and solar and water and wind energy.

Do we have a survival kit stashed? No.

But we're preparing our hearts and our heads.

[Peace Patriot]

18. Here's the chief difference between Venezuela and the United States:

The Venezuelans have electronic voting but with open source code--that is, the forumlae for tabulating votes is in the public domain and anyone can inspect it. We have electronic voting with SECRET, PROPRIETARY source code owned and controlled by two major Bushite corporations--code so secret that not even our elected secretaries of state are permitted to review it. Not that they would care, the corrupt, no good bastards.

Open source code = you get a good president.
Secret, proprietary source code = you get a bad president.

It's simple, really.

Wake up, my friends! Wake up! It's time to throw these election theft machines into 'Boston Harbor'!

One if by land, two if by sea! You know what I mean? NOW!

[Dora]

19. Controlling the vote is their key to tyranny.

You are so right. We MUST reclaim our polling booths. We MUST return responsibility for elections to the hands of our friends and neighbors rather than private corporations.

We are waking, and waking, and waking.

[marions ghost]

24. Job #1 for Saving Democracy in America

:applause:

[zippy890]

21. here's a good read:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/05/09/17_revolution.html

on the topic of revolution, good insights & thoughts

[Dora]

23. You're right. It's an excellent read. Thanks for posting the link.

We're all thinking similar thoughts these days, and I feel encouraged.

Perhaps I missed it, I skimmed it quickly, but the article didn't address the means of joining together the various disaffected classes. How can the working class connect with the poor? The professionals? Our stratification is real but it is not insurmountable.

Katrina has given us a welcome opportunity for change. It has provided us with the opportunity to confront this stratification in real and powerfully effective ways.

We have work to do.

[Gregorian]

25. We've been asleep as a nation. (a couple of points)

Sleeping people don't make for revolutions.

But thanks to Bush, many of us have awakened and become involved.

If we're willing to physically attempt to change politics, then we would have to expect the "other half" of America to have the same freedom. And that is not something I want. They suck just being the way they are. And besides, they're the ones with the guns.

Speaking of guns. I remember this conversation came up on Bartcop years ago. A young guy posted the obvious- what would you do with a handgun against a 50 mm turret mounted machine gun. I've tried to put out a large fire with a garden hose before, and it's worthless. The pen is mightier than the sword. And besides, I'm not shooting anyone. Not that you suggested that. But if it's not that, then what is it? Pushing them? Ok, a general strike? We reel ourselves back in to the same political and legal system that exists.

The problem is, America just wasted five years and 8 trillion dollars. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. The most productive minds have been in fight mode. That could be the biggest loss of all. Shit, I'm an inventor who has just spent five years on forums trying to catch up on the crimes past and present of the Bush empire. Intriguing, but hardly what I should be doing when we need to change the energy infrastructure of the planet.

And in Venezuela it was a lot of poor people against a few Jaguar driving rich. Here, it's neighbor against neighbor. And civil war is ugly. I think most Americans don't have a clue how bad the civil war was. And furthurmore, I predict that just about anything we do would be impeded as we've seen the republicans do.

There's only one answer that I see- intelligence. Bring back the Fairness Doctrine. Build schools. It's no wonder they want to drown the govt in a tub. An intelligent nation doesn't allow what is going on right now.

We didn't get where we are in four years. It took decades to get to this rotten place. It's not going to change with a revolution. And it's not going to change quickly. We've already put down our candles. We've already started.

[Dora]

28. But if we become the change we wish to have happen

Guns do not have to be part of the equation.

Sure they have guns, but a lot of people have guns. I don't think there's as much disparity between the "sides" as you imply. Not to disagree with you on your point however - I think the black hats are nervous and have itchy trigger fingers. We have only to look at post-Katrina New Orleans to see how close we are to living in a complete police state.

We cannot rely on the vote alone to communicate our feelings to each other. People still believe that Bush won the 2004 election, and why? Because those of us believe it was stolen have allowed our petulant whines to be drowned out by bullies, naysayers, and scofflaws.

Next election, if we feel, suspect, know it's not right, we must act accordingly. This isn't a schoolyard game when if the other side cheats, we just go back inside when the bell rings.

So how do we change the game? We do the very things that they do not want us to do. We talk to each other. We stop spending our money on the flotsam and jetsam of American waste. We turn our televisions into fish tanks. We ride our bicycles and the buses. We grown as much of our own food as we can. We buy American-made, and we reduce what we use, we reuse what we can, we recycle the rest. We give to each other freely. We support locally owned businesses in order to keep our local economies stronger and healthier. We deprive the corporatocracy of its lifeblood - our money and our dependence. We boycott our debt if necessary, because the time has come when we must chase the moneychangers from the temple.

Be the change.

[Gregorian]

29. Agreed.

I am probably even more tired of this than you. I say that because I HAVE been living life as I want it to be. My entire life. And it has been a complete waste. I grew up in the most advanced city in the nation, socially. We had electric car clubs and shows in the early SIXTIES! My dad rode his bike to work in the early seventies. I volunteered thousands of hours at the veterans hospital when I was in high school. I was aware of the troubles combustion posed for the planet thirty years ago, and decided to never travel. I suffered immensely for that. I could have seen the world, pre-McDonald's. But I lived my life using as few BTU's as possible.
You're right. I will fully agree with you. You're right. How are we going to do it? Because what I see is very simply stated- those who want to destroy have power over those who want to create. Building a house is really hard. Lighting it on fire takes a simple stroke of a match. I carefully lived my life, but my efforts were drowned out by the breeding masses who didn't give a damn. Where I saw cherry orchards, there are now condominiums. Disaster where there could have been beauty. But how do we avoid becoming what we fight? That is my argument. I could have burned every new subdivision I saw. I could swing a baseball bat at every neocon I can find. And now, in my new home, I could happily eliminate the loggers who are absolutely shredding every forest in my county. And to be honest, I don't see much of an alternative in this political climate.

So after all of that, I think it's donning on me that I am one of the few. What we need to do is instill what I call the real conservative attitude into the people of the world. I mean actually being conservative. Conserving resources.

And even after saying that, now maybe people will understand why I cheer in favor of very high fuel prices. I see that as the foundation of what has gone wrong. Our society and our planet have suffered (and gained in some ways) from the easy power we get from it. And until the taste of reality sinks in, we'll continue with our petroleum psychosis. It's either than, or we use our brains. And enough of us haven't done that yet.

It'll happen. But will it happen due to a crisis, a revolution, or an intelligent decision.

[Dora]

32. Thanks.

I've enjoyed this. Thanks for your story.

We must remind ourselves frequently - we are not alone.

I firmly believe that the more we want and visualize solidarity and action, the more we will recognize the small instances that mean our ranks are coalescing.

We are all together now.

[Blue_Tires]

38. good points

nt

[earth mom]

27. Your post inspires me...and I want it to happen in the worst way...

BUT...! I don't know if it's possible....

This line from your post stands out and I think it's the reason that stops most of people of this country from taking action:

"The destroyers of this nation have played their cards well. They have trapped us in webs of debt, attachment, neurosis, and distraction."

The most crucial fact is that the evil bastards in charge have methodically, systematically and diabolically broken up any kind of financial security most of us have in every way possible!

Sure we all want to oppose these bastards...oh yeah, in the worst way!

But it's difficult to oppose them when they are slowly but surely crushing us like bugs! :grr:

[Dora]

35. So we must change our relationship with money.

It is as much of a drug as oil is.

[Hissyspit]

30. Take it to WASHINGTON this upcoming weekend!

Saturday, Sept. 24, take it to the White House.

[Dora]

34. I wish that was an option for me.

Thank you for going.

[marions ghost]

31. excellent post Dora

right now I think a lot of people are still in shock and denial. It is shocking to realize that you are being abused by your government, by the vultures in your own society, by those entrusted as "leaders." The underlying theme we are wrestling with is Betrayal. Betrayal of a sacred trust.

But as we come out of that shock and put our voices together in resistance in a thousand different ways, we are feeling a way out of this state of inertia and pain and fear.

Keep writing, Dora, you speak truth.

[Dora]

33. Betrayal, of course. And thanks for the encouragement. n/t

[DemonFighterLives]

36. We need a modern day Patrick Henry

Someone willing to give their life for the cause. So far, a few start out that way and are scared out and fall back in their chair.
It is difficult to afford anything in the b*sh economy. Not wanting to whine, but everything costs more everyday. The size of the peasant class has grown substanially during dubco's reign. The have mores have made a haul.

:argh:

[Pepperbelly]

37. Revolution?

No way.

While I'm all for throwing the bums out, I am not in support of a revolution. I personally took an oath to protect and defend the constitution, and I still take it seriously. Seize it BACK from these bastards who have hijacked our nation but revolution ... no way.

[Dora]

39. But how is what you describe in conflict with wanting revolution?

We're asking for the same things.

A rose, after all, by any other name would smell just as sweet, right?

[Pepperbelly]

40. revolution

is defined as, "the overthrow of one government and its replacement with another."

I would actually like to see us keep our constitution and replace these bastards through that system rather than violently.