Crossposted from Docudharma
As nearly always happens, people brought their own perspective to the late night rant I recently wrote. I had no idea it would strike such a chord, lol. It was something that needed to come out of me, it took about ten minutes to write... (and add CAPS and bolds and emphasis!!!)
...and as sometimes happens when the muse strikes like that, it seemed to either inspire or provoke people right when they needed it.
Enthusiasm, guilt, (leading to condemning it, haha) inspiration, and approbation....condemnation and appreciation appeared in roughly equal measure as each person read it through their own Lens of Perception and responded as their view of it required.
Sure it was light on substance. After all the whole thing is summed up in the two words in my sig line.
Yell Louder.
And of course some people think Yell Louder and Stand The Fuck Up means to scream incoherently into someones face. To be irrational, not unreasonable as I stated. People thought I was "telling them what to do," or trying to make them feel bad. They thought it was accusatory, instead of just being a ranty pep talk....
Or as it turned out, lol, a bloggy Rorschach Test!
Of course I wasn't trying to condemn anybody, that is a waste of time.....except when it comes to holding politicians accountable.
I was trying to motivate people....to activate people.
Because as everyone who has ever thought much about true democracy agrees...
"Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves, therefore, are its only safe depositories. " --Thomas Jefferson
"We believe that an informed citizenry will act for life and not for death."
Albert Einstein
Be assured, fellow citizens, that in a democracy it is the laws that guard the person of the citizen and the constitution of the state, whereas the despot and the oligarch find their protection in suspicion and in armed guards.
Aeschines
"Our species needs, and deserves, a citizenry with minds wide awake and a basic understanding of how the world works."
Dr. Carl Sagan
All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.
Thomas Jefferson
"The best defense against usurpatory government is an assertive citizenry."
William F. Buckley, Jr
Only a knowledgeable, empowered and vocal citizenry can perform well in democracy.
David Brin
Democracy is the only system capable of reflecting the humanist premise of equilibrium or balance. The key to its secret is the involvement of the citizen.
John Ralston Saul
Dishonesty in government is the business of every citizen. It is not enough to do your own job. There's no particular virtue in that. Democracy isn't a gift. It's a responsibility.
Dalton Trumbo
"The 'well-informed citizenry is in danger of becoming the 'well-amused audience'."
— Al Gore
It is the citizenry Standing The Fuck Up that makes democracy work.
And that is the only way it CAN work.
Edward R. Murrow: 'A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.'
And to drive that point home allow me to add that..........sheep cannot Stand The Fuck Up!
I am not telling you what to do.
I am telling you that you must...if democracy is to work......do.
I am not telling you what to Yell, I just want to make sure that you are heard.
Each person is unique, each person is special, each person is valuable. No matter what the Republicans say! That is the basis of democracy itself, to protect the rights of each individual. That is the basis of all human rights efforts as well. And indeed the basis of all religion....Do Unto Others As You would Have Them Do Unto You. It is the basis of civilization itself.
But in a democracy it is even more critical.
Each citizen is unique, each citizen is special, each citizen is valuable. In fact each citizen is indispensable. Each citizen must stand up IF s/he wants change.
You are an individual. I am an individual. I don't like people telling me what to do and neither do you. But I WILL tell you to do something! That is my right and my responsibility as a citizen. To do what I can and to tell you to get of your ass and do something.
And it is your right to tell me to go to hell!
I may however make suggestions, lol.
But it is up to you. Do what you want, how you want to do it. And that is what Yelling means. It means making sure YOUR voice is heard, your needs are understood. That you representatives in our representative democracy know what YOU want.
It does NOT mean be shrill or join Code Pink, fer gawds sake. Jeez. I know very well, lol, that some of you are uncomfortable with anyone raising their voice above a polite level. But ...fer gawds sake.... politics does NOT reward the polite. Really. Look it up. Politics is about being heard. To be effective politically you have to be heard. Which means the Louder you Yell, the more effective you are. Being effective politically means.....Standing The Fuck Up. And really I don;t care HOW you do it. But your voice needs to be heard and counted.
So BE counted, however YOU want. It doesn't matter what you do, it matters that you do something.
History Is Made by Those Who Show Up.
Show up! Stand UP! And each of you in your unique way....Yell Louder.
For eight long years, it didn't matter too much what anyone said. Now it does.....VERY much matter.
Even if it is just Standing Up from behind your keyboard!!!
The inspiration for that rant came from this quote....
"My hope is that our Democratic colleagues — if you start listening to the bloggers — if we’re going to let the bloggers run the country, then the country’s best days are behind us."
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
That one quote means that what we are doing on the blogs IS being heard, it DOES count, we ARE making a difference dammit.
We are scaring the hell out of them.
Because?
Because we are Standing The Fuck Up!
If it is working, we need to do it more, and better and yes......LOUDER!
I am apparently good at blogging, lol. So that is what I do. Physical limitations prevent me from doing much more, though. So just as some folks rely on me to blog, I rely on other folks to do what THEY do best.....I rely on you to do what YOU do best.
There are 300 million Americans. There are seven billion human beings. If we ALL Stand The Fuck Up and Yell Louder we WILL change the world. Each person is unique, each person is special, each person is valuable. NO ONE can replace you. You bring your own unique, speacial and valuable gifts to the party.
But it is indisputable, if each of us Stands Up and "Yells," each in our own unique, special and valuable way....things will change.
And isn't that why we are all here in the first place?