If it's true that
action expresses priorities, we American activists aren't overly
concerned about the future.
Mickey Z. -- World News Trust
Protest (American,
definitely not a verb): Wait for UFPJ or ANSWER to stage a
parade (I mean, demonstration) on a weekend afternoon so no
one misses work or school or in any way disrupts the flow of
commerce. Don't make a sign; the organizers will make one for you.
March in an orderly fashion, be polite to the occupying army (I mean,
cops), and be sure to stay in designated free speech zones.
Blame the Republicans. Wear costumes. Make puppets. Exclude
anarchists. Hold a candlelight vigil. Sign a petition. Chant. Vote
for a Democrat and hope for change. Need I continue?
With the stakes never
higher than they are now, why aren't activists ramping up the
pressure and looking beyond tactics that are allowed by those
in power?
Here are my five
guesses:
1. We are trained to
believe that nothing major is wrong. Global warming? Economic
meltdown? Epidemics of preventable diseases? Slavery, genocide,
ecocide? You name it and we're ready to downplay it. We're Americans,
goddammit, we'll figure out a way to fix it. When the going gets
tough, we'll call the experts.
2. We are trained to
leave it to experts. Rather than worry our little heads over why
more than 100 plant and animal species go extinct each day, we rely
on experts. Instead of learning what a "collateralized-debt
obligation" is and how it contributed to the current
economic depression, just let the professionals handle the mess.
Besides, such delegation frees up much more time to watch TV and
update our Facebook pages.
3. We are trained to
embrace non-violence. All the real heroes would never
raise a fist in anger: Jesus, MLK, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, etc. Sure,
the government and its corporate owners are taking away all our
rights and all our money. They're poisoning our air, water, and food
while crafting laws that make prison a looming possibility, but the
moment we contemplate anything more than a non-violent response, we
become worse than any of them. Ain't that right?
4. We feel too damn
privileged to risk prison (or worse). The average Gaza resident
doesn't have the luxury of wondering if their resistance could result
in arrest and thus perhaps ruin their reputation. The average
American? Well, that's a different story. I can't defy insane laws
designed to squash protest. I might get arrested and that means close
proximity to all those scary criminals and it also means hurting my
chances of landing a good job and maybe even losing all my
respectable friends. I mean, I'm an activist and all but that's
asking way too much. Who do you think I am, Mandela?
5. We're fuckin'
cowards. Our acquiescence in a disturbingly
broad range of areas -- access to health care, tolerance for
voting irregularities, directly funding the Israeli war machine,
stomaching the groupthink behind saluting a flag, etc. etc.
etc. -- appears to have no limits. Americans love to talk the talk
about being fearless and tough but when ordered to remove our shoes
before going through airport security, it’s “yes sir”
all the way.
We
know things have passed the proverbial tipping point and that
immediate action is 100 percent needed and justified, but we're far
too spineless to do anything that might get us in trouble. Somehow,
it's more terrifying for any of us to face down a cop than it is to
contemplate the total destruction of our earthly eco-system.
If it's true that
action expresses priorities, we American activists aren't overly
concerned about the future.
We now return to our regularly scheduled slate
of left wing articles…
Until the laws are
changed or the power runs out, Mickey Z. can be found on the Web at http://www.mickeyz.net