I'm wearied, we're all wearied, of mass protests which get little or no coverage. If it gets coverage the ass with the mask throwing rocks and being tear-gassed gets most of the visual time. While the voice-over mischaracterizes the issue which got everyone there in the first place.
And if a protest gets full-day coverage, like the before-war, world-wide, Iraq protests did in some places, so what? The people who make decisions have made decisions, and anyway they didn't really ask for our opinion in the first place.
We all call and write our Congress critters, but it is discouraging that time and again we end up with exactly the opposite of what we ask of them. Even when it's a simple majority, or two-thirds, or four-fifths of the general public who want the thing.
In fact, there seems to be a rule that democratic outcomes cannot possibly result from our democratic system. "Hmmm, this would actually solve real critical problems, and the people really want it? Completely not pragmatic, off the table and into the rubbish with you."
Somebody says that somewhere. Is it an elite body, or just a class custom, doesn't matter. Still gets said.
Well, dang, this ain't a very good situation, now is it? It's like our government is immune to input from the public. Oh, sure, a sound bite here and there, throw a few bones, sing a few tunes... But decisions are made as if we weren't there. No democratic outcomes from a democratic system. Just ain't right.
Let's see what we can do...
Okay, we all know that mass protests and mass contacting-the-pol leads to whatever it is they want to do anyway on a pretty consistent basis. Not what we want. There's exceptions, meaningful exceptions, but the split runs about 90-10 against us by my sense of it. Might be too optimistic on that point.
Well whatever the split, it consistently runs against the public will. Of course anyone paying attention knows this is because our political class has effectively resigned from "Serving the People." They've got a business enterprise going with the Bankers and Big Money in general, and We, the People are not shareholders in this enterprise. And as the saying goes, "anyone not a shareholder is expendable." At least I think that's what the law on business partnerships says.
Did I say we ain't shareholders in this politics/money business?
How do we get the politicians attention then? How do we make them take notice and start talking about what we care about? They ignore the mass demos. True, big enough and intense enough they might notice. Then, too, under the law organizers of such can be called terrorists, and everybody who shows up can have exotic sound and heat weapons aimed at them, get tear-gassed (that ass with the mask again), etc etc. Like what happens in Greece and Spain and the like. (And don't think "they won't go there.")
They ignore the phone calls and emails unless they come from somebody who can deliver money or insider tips to them. Every now and then we can make them back off an egregious thing. Now and then.
We need another tool, because these have been around a long time and are not doing the job.
And this is where "National The King is Naked Day" comes in.
We pick a week. First Monday of August, for discussion. That week, everybody makes a sign, makes copies of signs to hand to their associates if they can't make their own. The sign has a message.
This is a very important part coming up, so please pay close attention to what follows.
The message is not partisan. See, the idea is to cut through Congress' habitual ways of taking things. Make them pause and think "Wait, they all think something's gone horribly wrong with Congress!" Or even "Oh shit, the game is up!" This will take almost every American, because they've got the factions in a box over there, the politicians, the media does. First sign of faction, boom!, into the little box and you are managed. You are off the table and into the rubbish.
So the message has to be not partisan. If you have a partisan message, the project is dead on arrival. So let's make sure that the message is not partisan. Hopefully, dear reader, you get that the message must appeal to all Americans, express something all Americans feel, if it is to actually affect anything.
Okay? There are some of you, if you aren't clear, please read the previous two paragraphs. If you think partisan, you stink partisan, and the message is dead. Do something else with your time, it'll be better all around.
Just to be clear about "not partisan, all-American."
Back to the message. I vote for this one
Congress, We Know You Are On the Take.
This goes on your sign, maybe it's red on an letter-size paper. Maybe it's a plaid and on a banner ten feet across. Whatever, it's your sign. But it has this one message. You can add footnotes, but it starts with those words (or whatever we pick.)
Here's my one-minute design version. It could be done better, maybe with a picture of the Capitol Building behind it or whatever. It's late. Here's a picture.
Next. So it's the first week of August. Do not get on a bus. Do not go anywhere. Do not arrange meetups and marches. Okay, if you have to, do it. But really we don't need everyone to do that. What we need is that everyone set aside 5 minutes, a half-hour, or 18 hours, your call, that Monday and every day that week. During 9-5 hours is best. It can be different times every day, even 10 minutes 3 times a day, whatever you can do.
We take time to stand in front of where we work, or our home, or along main street, or in front of a Representatives office. Maybe near a media headquarters, print, radio, or tv. And we hold up the sign. Have extras to hand out if other people want them. Print the directions on the back of the sign about how to use it.
Here's the advantages if ... and it's a big if... "National The King Is Naked Day" goes viral.
- C'mon you wanted easy, right? There's practically no rules to follow here, it totally accommodates your schedule and your finances.
- This builds community. Not in cyberspace, and not from a shared wonderful weekend on an exciting adventure of protest, but where you live and work. You can bet money your neighbors feel the exact same way, whether they've got sandbags around their house or rainbow chimes tingling on the doorstep.
- It doesn't matter if Media covers it. You walk down your street, drive to the mall, you've seen, everybody's seen, people with this sign everywhere you went. And there's more on the street on Wednesday than there was on Monday.
- Media will see it, and if they report on it, they can't stuff it in a little box, show scenes of mass violence, or pretend the message isn't saying what it's saying. They need photos to cover a story after all. Photos of what the sign says. And if they don't talk about what everyone is seeing, they discredit themselves with everyone who is unaware that Media usually ignores real people. (And yes, that's a lot of people.)
- The politicians will see it. Some people who've covered their own turf, or who want to assemble, can go find where the politicians dine, where they drive by, where they meet. You can tweet, fax, and facebook them pictures of what the streets look like.
- You don't have to turn your life upside down and spend money you don't have to do this. You just need a printer, or a friend with a printer, and you are in business. You can do it while your laundry is in the washer. You can do it all day if you are out of work.
- You'll respect yourself for standing up locally. And you'll likely come to respect most of your neighbors as you bond. New avenues of community will become available.
- Each politician will reveal what they are about to all concerned of every faction. The simple fact of whether they deal with their lack of credibility openly, or they try to pretend it never happened.
- Who are the flying squads going to hit? Everyone, everywhere?
- We'll have the exciting situation of everybody knowing that everybody knows that everybody knows Congress is on the take. People, politicians, media, joined together at last! Exactly like when the little boy in the tale shouted "But the King is Naked." Here, "The Politicians Greed Is Naked." When politicians hand their coat to the cloakroom girl, they'll be thinking "she knows we're corrupt." When they make a speech at the 4H club, "they all know we're corrupt." Their vanity will turn to shame; their gaming tables will be overturned. This will have a most salubrious effect on our political class, which has become very very ill indeed from not listening to its people.
I bet there's more advantages, but I'm done in at the moment.
This is serious, it's not a joke. This is a practical thing which can actually be done. The only thing is settling on an appropriate message, a time to do it, and getting the idea to go viral.
You might think it's silly, but it sure isn't any sillier than thinking our traditional ways of getting the attention of the political and media class work well enough. That's for sure.
We need some mould-breaking in this nation.
Okay, this started as a quip. It took hours. I'm off to bed, so please excuse my absence from responding to any comments right away.