It seems that
my last diary pissed some of you off. Good. You deserve it. I'm tired of seeing so many failures result from blogging, especially on this site. However, since I'm such a nice guy, I'm going to answer a few of the questions people posed, and challenge you once again to get off of your lazy asses and go to the streets and do something.
First, let me get this out of the way as it is really just a distraction from the point I want to make:
In your opinion what is the best outcome? (0 / 0)
Could you favor us with your description of the best outcome regarding the immigration issue, perhaps in a new diary tommorrow?
by ProgressForGoodGov on Wed Apr 12, 2006 at 11:33:48 AM CST
Sorry to dissapoint, but I don't think I will write another diary here on immigration. It's simply not worth it to me because immigration diaries get the same tired lies in responses from the same idiots. Sure, some good conversation results from it, but the white supremacists on this site (yes, there are a few, believe it or not) shit on everything.
However, I will tell you to go to MigraMatters, where myself and some other users of this site focus exclusively on the immigration debate. Maybe I will write something up there to address this question if someone else hasn't already.
On to the next response:
Allow me to go ahead and suggest (17+ / 0-)
that you are divisive. Your part is important. So is mine. So is the participation of all who post here, all who study, read, act, cheer, boo, argue, and desire to serve the goals of peace, equality, and freedom.
No need for the divisiveness.
"Every silver lining contains a dark cloud."
by socialist butterfly on Wed Apr 12, 2006 at 09:13:23 AM CST
I was not being divisive, just honest. I've seen way too much talk here, and too little action. I think one of the downsides of blogging is that it is not used as a tool for organizing actions here, but rather a place to give self important people a soapbox to talk about things in such minute detail that they lose all importance.
Additionally, I have a big problem with the neverending stream of critics on this site who criticize those who are actually doing something. Maryscott O'Connor was a big motivator for me to write my rant. She goes on Faux News and destroys the right-wing strawman of what we on the left are supposed to be like. Sure, she is not perfect, and may not do everything the way everyone here likes, but the point is that she is out there doing something, and making a positive difference. The same goes for the immigrants civil rights marches. They were not perfect either, but they have shamed the rest of the left by showing all the other leftist movements that we have been slacking. So my point was not entirely to divide us, but to kick people's asses out of their seats and get them in the streets.
Ok, next point:
In one ear and out the other... (7+ / 0-)
You're not going to get very far towards accomplishing these goals by randomly going after those that don't live up to your ideal of activism.
Most people who support this movement aren't on top of the resource and time food chain. Most people have to raise families and pay mortgages, they have day jobs to think about.
If you want to harness the abilities and energies of these people, then you need to rethink the processes of change to allow people to contribute more.
Either propose ideas that people can integrate into their already busy lives or don't bother ranting. All of your energy sounds like a call for martyrdom. Do you have a contact list that you send out suggested letters to editors and letters to politicians to? Do you know how to effectively organize?
If you do have this knowledge, then you ought to be documenting and refining it, not sitting around complaining that everyone else hasn't caught on yet.
-3.00 -5.13
by cjohnson on Wed Apr 12, 2006 at 09:19:12 AM CST
The ironic thing is that you complain to me for criticizing people with "mortgages day jobs and families to feed" when those who marched on Monday probably had even less resources than those who you talk about. However, those tend to be excuses rather than reasons. I rent a house so I have no mortgage, but on Monday I took a day of unpaid leave from work to march. I've taken unpaid days off to do other things, such as help hurricane Katrina evacuees. Most people who do work full time get some sick days or vacation days. Is it too much to ask that they blow one on doing something for the future of their nation and all mankind? We've got global climate change destroying the planet, we've got a potential for a nuclear war with Iran, we've got the worst healthcare of any first world nation, we've got problems with oil prices, we've got government corruption out the wazoo, and we've got our people dying in Iraq for no reason. If the majority of Americans (or rather, American'ts) refuse to call in sick one day to go do something to make some difference to the future of the planet, then we as a people deserve whatever bad things happen to us. Sacrifice is sometimes necessary. I'm not asking for anyone to become a martyr for their country or suffer. I'm just asking for people to do something more than talk.
Additionally, you're asking me for strategies and plans. That's beside the point. You'll never succeed with some great plan that solves everything and makes it easy. No such plan has ever existed, nor will it exist. We have to make cultural changes within our own lives so we are willing to do whatever is necessary to make this country a better place. I question the dedication that most people here have to this country and planet. I question their resolve and willingness to act. The point is not to have some great plan, it's simply to go out and try with whatever you can. If that's simply making posters that say "IMPEACH" then so be it. If it's running for office, then so be it. If it's marching in the streets and yelling, then do it. We don't have a perfect plan, but we've got more than enough options to start.
Next comment:
You left something out of you poll! (5+ / 0-)
Since I cannot walk I blog daily, comment on every single diary I can, and have been writing about all of this and am looking for someone who cares, to help out on my site since Bush and 9/11, to no avail yet. That said, I, you, and many others will continue in whatever capacity we are able in order to ensure we all receive equal treatment.
James M Joiner www.anaveragepatriot.com or http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com
by jmsjoin on Wed Apr 12, 2006 at 09:23:33 AM CST
Of course I am not criticizing you for not marching when you can't walk. I also appreciate that you have set up your site. You are physically limited, but as you indicate by blogging, your mind is not. Here's the problem though. What difference does it make to blog here or on your site? It's good to have the information available, but the American people are so used to propaganda all you will accomplish is to either reconvince those who already know what happened with 9/11, or make those who don't want to believe it even more convinced that you are crazy. Despite the physical aspect that you can't walk, you can use a phone and a computer. You probably have some other talent that can help the cause too. Maybe you are good at designing flyers and can design and print some for the next major protest, and coordinate with others who can actually go distribute them. Perhaps you can plan a march, even if you can't participate in it, and organize it all over the phone. Your work can be very valuable despite any physical challenges.
funnily enough (6+ / 0-)
I don't remember any of these folks out marching after the stolen elections of 2000 and 2004. Maybe they were working at their jobs. Could it be until they were threatened with eviction that they came to the table. I'm not casting aspersions on the marchers, I back them 100% and wish them well with become citizens of this once great nation, just don't assume anything about the rest of us.
tung sol
'cause you're the green manalishi with the two prong crown--Peter Green, Green Manalishi
by tung sol on Wed Apr 12, 2006 at 09:28:54 AM CST
This is a typical response I've seen about this topic on many sites. It boils down to, "They didn't help with my cause, why should I help with theirs?" The answer is simple. When you help people, they are more prone to help you. When you join their cause, you can inject some of yours in theirs. At the rally here in Houston, there were anti-war signs and chants. There were gay rights signs being flown. I like what Ben Franklin said, "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately." We have to work together and put aside petty selfishness and bickering over who has to approach who first. You'll solve nothing by sitting around waiting for other people to come to your cause. You have to seek them out first.
And now we get to the part where YOU can do something. You see, for years now there has been a site called Democracy For America It has things that are being done on the local level. All I ask is for you to sign up, volunteer to do something in your local area. Look for other local groups, one of the easiest ways is by finding your local Democratic party HQ and talking to them. If they are incompetent, well, bad luck, find someone else. If you can't find anything, go out alone and do what you can. Prior to the 2004 election, I went out on my own and hung flyers around town. I was not affiliating with any group to do this, I just felt like it should be done. However, I've found that Democracy For America is a great source for finding stuff to do. A few days prior to the immigrants civil rights rally, I attended an immigration workshop at the Democratic HQ in Houston that was organized off of Democracy For America. A few weeks prior to that, I found a group called CRECEN by simply emailing liberals that I know and eventually someone responded by sending me an invitation to a meeting that was never on the radar of the blogs. My first political meeting was after I saw Fahrenheit 911 and there were people outside the theater handing out flyers inviting us who watched it to sign up to attend MoveOn house parties.
You and I have to use these tools and others to network. We have to be the ones standing outside of the theaters, handing out papers in nightclubs letting people know what is being planned, etc. I promise you that if you can get the word out enough, people will come. If you plan something, don't worry if it sucks, just try. If you try to have a meeting to plan something that you care about, if you get the world out you will have others show up who can help you. There are people out there, millions of them, who would gladly join up with you if you asked them to. You just have to show them how they are not alone and how they can make a difference. Blogging won't cut it alone. Blogging is probably not even 5% of the solution. We need to get out in the streets. We have to talk to people who have never heard of us before. It's ugly, dirty, and sometimes scary work, but somebody has to do it. That's us.
If you care about civil rights, join me on May 1st. So far all we know is to not go into work and to not buy anything. If you don't care about civil rights or don't want to participate for whatever reason, then go to Democracy for America and sign up to do something that is being organized there for other events. There are anti-war marches being planned, there are workshops to help us get better, and there are other things you can do. Above all, just do something.