I want to ask a question: What would life in America be like if us commoners had exactly the same "power" the Corporation has?
"The Constitution is a delusion and a snare if the weakest and humblest man in the land cannot be defended in his right to speak and his right to think as much as the strongest in the land."
And now a few words from a concerned citzen who has hijacked London's Emergency Broadcast System in order to have 5 minutes' worth of honest chat with his countryman:
He's right, you know: There IS something terribly wrong with this country.
There are those who don't want us to speak.
Who do not want us to know.
Who do not want us to organize.
Who want to silence us, put us in free speech zones and have the creepy men visiting to intimidate people into silence.
We know we have to do something and we have been trying.
But we have been thwarted.
Our government no longer represents us - it represents corporations. Corporations hate the Constitutional protections we have and they abhor the power the constitution gives us little people. They hate it and they have worked diligently to steal it from us.
Politicians suck up to the Corporations and do what they want, not what we want. We have less power, less "personhood" than a "corporation".
And this must be rectified.
So....Does it REALLY have to come down to this?
Those who make peaceful protest impossible make violent revolution inevitable
John F. Kennedy
Will we really have to occupy TV stations or go fight the police and other defenders of Team Bush and the Corporate Elite out in the streets of America?
Can we really find/does there even exist a non-violent, peaceful way to bring them down? To end what is little more than the biggest hijacking ever and capture the perpetrators?
I am just one guy and honestly I cannot easily imagine the stuff we are going through can be altered through following the rules we are forced to follow.
I have difficulty imagining that rioting in the streets won't be inevitable as we see how far the Republicans have sunk, how crazy the Neocons are, and how spineless and compromised much of the Democratic party is.
We have been patient.
We have asked politely.
We have followed the rules.
We have been fought every step of the way.
We have been betrayed: by our media, by our government and by the Democrats we elected to represent us.
We have been sold down the creek (you know the name of this particular creek, don't you?) and our paddle stolen.
But before we pour into the streets with burning torches, pitchforks and rope (which we should be stocking up on right about now) let's revisit some recent more cool-headed wisdom from Chris Bowers of MyDD and Eugene at daily Kos regarding our recent defeat of the Republican control of the US Government: Chris Bowers -
Now that the Democratic Party has a share of governing power in Washington, D.C., and also in the vast majority of states around the country, the progressive movement has reached a point where ideological concerns need to play a larger role in our activism than they have over the past five years.... We need to end the longstanding Democratic practice of trying to chase after the center, and instead engage in the war of ideas and persuade the center to move to our side. Even beyond electoral politics and ideological dialogue, we need to organize within the major national institutions that produce our ideology, and seek to build a progressive country not just in governance, but also in the way we live. If we are going to have a governing, and potentially long-lasting, progressive majority in America, we need not only a progressive Democratic Party, but also a progressive culture and a progressive nation....It is impossible to build a progressive party, government, culture or nation if ideology is always de-emphasized.
I most whole-heartedly agree with this.
We got the Repubs knocked out of controlling power and about half the Democratic Party has rendered that gain rather meaningless. I totally agree that the party needs a vast overhaul.
I want to bring up 2 things:
The concept of Laying Siege to Corporate America
Getting the Attention of the Democratic Party
1: SIEGE!!
In addition to the planning of periodic massive protests and demonstrations, which I would love to see escalate, I say we should think in terms of laying siege to corporate America's vision and income.
This should be inherently non-violent, not expensive and available for all sorts of people to do as you don't have to travel anywhere or risk losing your job.
Sieges involve surrounding the target and blocking the reinforcement or escape of troops or provision of supplies (a tactic known as "investment"[2]), typically coupled with attempts to reduce the fortifications by means of siege engines, artillery bombardment, or sapping (also known as mining), or the use of deception or treachery to bypass defenses. Failing a military outcome, sieges can often be decided by starvation, thirst or disease, which can afflict both the attacker or defender.
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Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of low-intensity warfare (until an assault takes place) characterized in that at least one party holds a strong defense position, it is highly static situation, the element of attrition is typically strong and there are plenty of opportunities for negotiations.
It is this second definition that is closest to what I have to suggest.
Essentially this is a massive nationwide systematic boycott but with something of a difference. It can and should be an exercise in altering one's consumptive habits and, if nothing else, saving some money AND having a little fun. The concrete and measurable goal is to hear retailers talking about the impact on television.
All corporate restaurant chains, corporate groceries, Wal-Mart, etc... should be deprived as much as possible of your budgeted funds for the items they sell. Local, independent grocers rather than Kroger's or Publix; Independent restaurants versus Pizza Hut and Wendys and McD's.
The main problem with the large organized protests is that, rightfully so, they are in places such that only some people can get there. They last about a weekend and get maybe 20 minutes of disdainful news coverage in the so-called "liberal media". This means a lot of it can be overlooked by the people who most need to see they are being protested.
In a well-planned demonstration we have seen half-a-million to a million people. Imagine that these people would elect to join in just the general corporate boycott. Now imagine that when we see a half-million people at a protest, another million would have loved to attend but couldn't: add them to this.
Imagine 1.5 Million Americans NOT spending a dime on Wednesdays for the next few months. Think anybody would notice?
I know plenty of people are already in long-term boycotts of this company or that company. I have been in a longterm boycott of
Exxon-Mobil - over a decade - I refuse to buy gas from them unless I am running on fumes. Then I buy $2.00 to get me to a gas station I can use.
Note: We are being GANG-RAPED at the gas pump. Nothing less. Just wanted to say that.
Wal-Mart - 4 years.
"Fast food restaurants" - that's nearly 3 years old. My wife likes a chocolate milkshake from one of them. It's a novelty to her: she understands it's very unhealthy.
Corporate groceries in general.
Of course, this isn't remotely enough by itself.
I know it is difficult to do these things in a way that makes everybody happy. Such is politics. I don't want to make life harder on people who are just victims of our miserable economy, but if we don't do something effective now, their lives are just going to suck more anyway. This isn't some sort of "fad". The future of this country is at stake. The boat has to be rocked.
Furthermore, with all due respect, I have been laid off 5 times in the past 15 years. I have lost my job more than once due to managed care hacking into the system so I have both real feeling for people who lose their jobs and have to take crappier ones as well as I have been there myself.
This requires a shift to a more "permanent protest footing" to usurp the "put the nation on a war footing" meme. The Protest should or needs to become a lifestyle. An alternative lifestyle to the artificial hamsterworld of the American Consumer Society.
Whether just temporary for the novelty of it, or as something more enduring and healthy, this can and should be something of an adventure.
2: This Old Democracy
The Democratic Party should undergo an extensive renovation. Period.
There are numerous people with a "D" after their name who no longer represent us and they have to be replaced. The Democratic Party should pay close attention to all protests from now on. If they wish to remain in office.
There are good ones and they should be supported and engaged. The Democratic Representative of THIS phase has to be internet saavy and have some sort of online experience or presence. John Kerry has a presence. Louise Slaughter, John Conyer all have a presence.
I think at some level this may already be underway, but I am unsure. Can't hurt to be really certain.
They have been monitoring the blogs and that's most encouraging. What's most discouraging is that they know what we want and need and recurrently sell us out.
Let me say, in advance, NO, I won't "get over it": the Dems voted to continue the Iraq Occupation when we told them very clearly what we elected them to do.
The "Big Three" contenders seem to be light years from this sort of mentality, though they might be receptive to it if they connected dollars to ideas. I know there are proven anti-war candidates but they seem to be held in "less than cheerful esteem".
None of these folks are terribly inspiring to somebody like me.
What to do?
Maybe any of them will do? This is a mindset that we now have to change.
Here's an excerpt of Digby's acceptance speech at a Take Back America Conference where she was given the Paul Wellstone Award.
[A]ll of us who blog in the progressive blogosphere have a common goal. It’s the same goal of virtually everyone in this room tonight. We want to begin a new era of progressive politics and take back America. We may argue about tactics and strategy, or the extent to which we are partisans versus ideologues (and believe me, we do), but there is no disagreement among us that the modern conservative movement of Newt and Grover and Karl and Rush has proven to be a dangerous cultural and political cancer on the body politic. You will not find anyone amongst us who believes that the Bush Administration’s executive power grab and flagrant partisan use of the federal government is anything less than an assault on the Constitution. We stand together against the dissolution of habeas corpus and the atrocities of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, and we all agree that Islamic terrorism is a threat, but one which we cannot meet with military power alone. And yes, a vast majority of us were against this mindless invasion of Iraq from the beginning, or at least saw the writing on the wall long before Peggy Noonan discovered that George W. Bush wasn’t the second coming of Winston Churchill....
This is the peaceful protest needed to preserve this democracy. The ability to be heard when you call our leaders crooks and liars is what has been wrested from us.
More from eugene
It is time to build a progressive majority.
To do that we must begin work to build infrastructure, organizations, and ideas that will recast this party as a party not just of Democrats, but of social democrats. We must be willing to pick fights with Dems when they fail us, and above all else, we must be willing to primary bad Dems.
*****
Progressive politics are not just for Seattle and Berkeley and Austin and Boston. They are supported in Butte, and Springfield, and Roanoke, and Orlando, and Tupelo, and Chandler. Our ideas are sound not because a few of us in blue cities hold them, but because they are right.
It is now our task to bring those ideas to the masses. To walk through the open door that the public's rejection of Bush and anger at the present situation has provided to us. We now know that this Democratic majority will never do what we need them to do, even if they had veto-proof majorities with which to do it. We are at a place now where it is not merely about how many folks have a D after their name, but about what those with a D believe.
Finally, this requires us to become activists. It's been a tough couple decades for activism. Locked in an increasingly obsolete 1960s paradigm, progressive activism has not yet caught up with the reality of where most Americans are at. Happily we are best positioned to help provide those solutions. We must become organizers and activists again. We must reach beyond our comfort zones and our blog niches to engage others who are essential to our political movement. We must speak with the poor. With people of color. With those in rural areas and in inner cities and in suburbs. We must be willing to take our message to anyone who will listen.
This is positive and motivational.
Instead of pitchforks and torches and rope (a time-honored tradition) we can seize a current opportunity to do some work on the Democratic Party
My experience with the poor is that if you help them with their children, you have their respect and allegiance. Probably their vote.
Defund the Democratic Party
Speaking of the poor: Defund the major Democratic candidates for the time being. Just stop sending them your money. Start a special piggy bank and save it up for when proper candidates have been identified.
This has got to be one of the single easiest ways to jerk the chain.
They may not listen to us currently but dammit, they will miss our money.
Or do they already have too much?
All three of these candidates have a ton of money. TONS of it. Stop sending them any more. They do not need it and it is likely just being wasted.
People will argue this may not make much of a difference: if it doesn't I can argue it was clearly being wasted to begin with. Stop with the donations for a little while.
There are 17 months until November 2008. You can save up a lot of money between now and then that you can use to support proper candidates if and when they appear.
We should save our money for candidates who embrace progressive values and goals and who speak to our ideas. People who grasp that corporate power needs to be reigned in and the People need to be protected. People who talk about OUR values and ideologies and NOT those of Corporate America.
This means funding new people for places where an established Dem is not doing us any good.
I am certain a few lists of New candidates who are responsive to us will evolve.
But for the immediate future it would be FUN to curtail their donations - just until we hear them comment on it -
Then and only then will we be certain that they can here us.
(Stock up on those pitchforks, torches and rope...just in case....ya know?)
2 Random Notes:
Please check out The Freeway Blogger. This is brilliant and still totally underutilized in this country. Now it the time for this to expand exponentially.
See Michael Moore's SiCKO - starting June 29th. This documentary has fuel for our fire. Nowhere is the greed and disdain for the human condition so blatantly expressed as in the American "Managed Care System". There will be more about this after it all hits the fan.
