Voting is all fine and dandy. I do it when the opportunity presents itself. I encourage you to do the same. But voting is a very small part of the solution. Only direct action has the power to truly create meaningful change.
http://worldcantwait.net
On October 5th, millions of Americans will take direct action in the streets.
Kossaks, where will you be?
Never in the history of humanity has the ballot box been the primary vector of a political paradigm shift. The civil rights battles of the late fifties and early sixties were not fought at the polling place, but in the streets of Selma and Birmingham. Marches, boycotts, sit-ins, demonstrations... these were the tools that were utilized successfully to win that battle. Not until mass direct action forced the issue into the front pages and kept it there for extended periods of time was there a paradigm shift powerful enough to turn the tide.
The right to vote was not extended to women because men voted for it. The issue was forced into heart of political debate by, you guessed it, DIRECT ACTION.
The forty hour work week did not just magically appear. Working class people did not elect working class representatives who then wrote working class legislation. They took DIRECT ACTION. They went on strike. They took to the streets. They applied pressure until the corporatist Representatives and Senators of the gilded age were forced to yield.
Vietnam did not end because of pressure applied at the polling place. For the most part, the same elected officials who started that war were in power when they decided to end it. DIRECT ACTION made continuing that war a political impossibility.
So Kossaks, I implore you. EVERY ONE OF US MUST BE IN THE STREETS ON OCTOBER 5TH. No excuses. Take that sick day. If you're a business owner, and you can, shut down for the day so you and your employees can march together. Nothing is more important right now than proving to the world that the majority of Americans are sick and tired of this shit. Nothing will stop senatorial sell outs like Stabenow and Nelson other than making them feel that they are on the wrong side of politics. Nothing is more important than putting millions of bodies in the streets of America on October 5th. It is time to shut this nation down for the day.
See you in the street.