We were already headed there

[SHRED]

We were already headed to a nation where the parking lots of death contractors; Lockheed Martin , General Atomics (Predator Drone), General Dynamics...etc are filling up as "business" booms while simultaneously our public infrastructure crumbles, local municipal budgets are drained, and public assets and services are forced to sell off to private interests.

Now with Repubs gaining we can expect to see a push for faster erosions of predatory capitalism into the common good as it vacuums up our tax dollars to leave nothing but death and destruction in it's wake.


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[Goldstein1984]

1. Things are going to get worse

Then we'll cross a threshold of suffering, beyond which what Howard Zinn called "a power no government can suppress" will come into play.

I truly believe that things will get worse, but that they will eventually get better. Sometimes a nation, just like an individual, has to hit rock bottom before it realizes what's happening and takes control.

The people ultimately control production and non-essential consumption. We ultimately control the military. The system the Few depend upon for their wealth and power cannot function without the cooperation of the Many. It can be brought to a halt with cooperation among the Many. We can bring this corrupt system to its knees. We only have to realize that we can and must. Once we are there, we'll be willing to take a violent punch to deliver a non-violent punch. (When the status quo is threatened, even "liberal" Democrats in government will call for the use of force.)

This is a class war. The Democrat vs. Republican, Liberal vs. Conservative, and Right vs. Left stuff only comes into play as a function of which side they choose in that war.

I know a lot of people are going to disagree with what I've written, because we haven't crossed that threshold of suffering yet.

[Clyde39]

2. The Supreme Court's decision may play havoc with your theory

The enormous damage done to this country by their extreme position gives a huge advantage to the right-wing, which is becoming more and more bat-shit crazy!

[Goldstein1984]

4. I think the SCOTUS decision just brings the threshold of suffering

closer, and makes the inevitable response all the more inevitable.

The SCOTUS is just one of three corrupt branches of government. Their authority won't mean any more than the authority of the other two branches once that threshold is crossed. Like all government, their power rests on legitimacy. Once legitimacy is gone, only power based on force is left. As Shelley wrote, "We are many/They are few."

I don't know where that threshold is. We won't see it approaching. Maybe a charismatic leader willing to put his or her career and life on the line will stand up and take the lead at a time when people are suffering enough to be looking for alternatives. The fact that I can't describe how or when it will happen is a good thing--it means that the Few also can't predict how it will happen, and that they won't be able to prevent it. But I think the way the masses were managed in Pittsburg, Toronto and Copenhagen demonstrate that they do see it coming, and are militarizing police forces in preparation. But there are too few police.

[glitch]

6. That threshold of suffering has been known to take hundreds or even thousands of years.

Best to work to avert it.

[Goldstein1984]

8. I have children and grandchildren, so...

I'm doing my best to avert it, within my tiny circle of influence, all the while believing that it's inevitable, and probably only decades away. I think modern circumstances dictate a faster cycling of events than in the past.

This isn't fatalism as much as it is Stoicism. There are forces beyond our control; social and cultural cycles that repeat themselves; the specifics may change, but the scenarios remain the same.

I know others disagree, and they are welcome to their interpretations of events, but the recurring scenario for me is class warfare.

[glitch]

10. I agree with you.

It doesn't look good but I would rather fight than give up. It just seems a better life choice, regardless of the outcome. What's that saying, expect the best but prepare for the worst. I also like to remember graffiti from a wall in Sarajevo during the war which translated to:

Save despair for better times.

[Goldstein1984]

12. "Save despair for better times."

I've added that to my book of meditations. Thank you for sharing.

I just don't want to tell my grandchildren that I sat back and let things happen. And if we miss the opportunity for nonviolent change, I want to be able to say that I tried the alternative.

[glitch]

13. I know what you mean. Not just about fighting for democracy, but also fighting for the planet.

I've tried my best to keep as small a footprint as possible for the past 30 years. I don't have kids but I care about all the young ones following us, to have been a conspicuous consumer in the face of what is coming would be unconscionable to me.

Hang in there. :hug:

[Greyhound]

3. It will get worse, but I'm afraid I can't share your optimism about it then getting better.

Historically, when the threshold you mention is crossed, the resulting change is usually disastrous. The number of people that understand that the class war exists and is being waged on them is too small and is unlikely to grow sufficiently in time to stop it or effectively fight back.

Here's hoping you're right.:toast:


ETA; forgot 'it or'.

[Clyde39]

5. Sadly, I do agree with your assessment

The Bush years proved that the general public is clueless and easily duped. Big money will make sure to stifle people like Keith Olbermann and our news organizations will continue to legitimize the tea party extremists. I want to believe again, as I did two years ago, but right now, it's pretty hard!

[L0oniX]

7. If only there was a way to get everyone to stop work all together.

Not only that but stop paying bills too. Stop everything for a week and see what the corporations uhm er our government does.

[Goldstein1984]

9. I like that idea

I've promoted both a general boycott and a general strike for a long time. And I've been attacked right here on DU when promoting the idea.

I think the catalyst will be a leader in the public eye willing to put their political career (and their life) on the line to call for and inspire a general nonviolent uprising. I think we have a lot of sheep among us, but I also believe that there are a lot of people with too much to lose if they get their timing wrong, and they would mobilize quickly if they only believed there was a chance.

The argument against a general boycott and general strike is that it would hurt the poor. To that I respond, the poor are already hurting, and when we've crossed that threshold of suffering I've mentioned they will prefer to end their suffering. You have to be able to accept losses to inflict them, and the poor have little left to lose. When they've lost --when they've crossed that threshold of suffering--they will be the proverbial people with "nothing left to lose." People with nothing left to lose are a force to be respected.

I have to be optimistic about nonviolent change. The alternative is worse.

[SHRED]

11. I remember...

....when we took to the streets.
Even as recent as the W presidency.

Now with Habeas Corpus still missing, illegal drone bombings of civilians in Pakistan, and not a whimper from the so-called Liberals.

Obama is like opium to Liberals



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