"Another young woman from the CGU [Claremont Graduate University] mentioned that 'people in this generation haven't had their "1960s" yet and need to' and that she would try to spread this out in Claremont... Another gentlemen … had friends that would wear the ribbons too and that he was interested in how this turned out. My most memorable one was the professor that took a ribbon and thanked me for doing what I was doing :) Another professor said that he wanted to see us in front of the school picketing just like they did in the 60's.
"Overall, even though my palms were clammy and I was nervous each time I spoke to someone it was very rewarding and I think I passed out about 150 ribbons, if not more, out [over the course of an hour and three-quarters], especially to classmates and even to a gentlemen at an Empire conference."
On the other hand, those who are already leaders in the society such as public officials, actors, intellectuals, artists, musicians, religious leaders, professionals, teachers, working class organizers, and so on, need to do the same. They need to use their credibility and their influence to take the moral high ground. Some individuals from this strata have done this, but they need to be bolder and there need to be many more doing so.
To contrast two examples of what I mean here I would cite what the Berkeley City Council did in 2008 disinviting the Marine Recruiters from Berkeley and what the Minneapolis City Council did in green lighting the police state measures used against demonstrators during the RNC in August 2008. The Berkeley City Council’s actions helped to spark a thousand Berkeley high students powerfully demonstrating against the military recruiters and the right-wingers who came out to defend recruiting more bodies for unjust wars. The Berkeley students’ actions in turn inspired Portland High School students to do similarly at their City Council’s offices. The craven collusion by the all-progressives Minneapolis City Council with the gendarmes, on the other hand, led to the despicable and alarming fascistic attacks on demonstrators and on freedom of speech and assembly during the RNC. We need much more of what Berkeley did and no more of what the Minneapolis City Council did.
Some people will still say, “But it won’t work. It’s not worth sticking my neck out there. I want something less risky and more realistic. I will/did vote for Obama and I hope that he will take care of this.”
The outcome of the battles to come in our society and world isn’t predetermined. Those battles are already in process, with more convulsive ones to come. That is for certain. What we can also say for certain is that if the American people do not stand up in the millions (on the order, specifically, of several million) and become a powerful, independent political force on the scene fundamentally changing the political balance of forces by demanding a reversal of the Bush Program, then 1) economic disasters will continue and deepen profoundly, and 2) the disastrous war on terror will spawn further catastrophes abroad and at home.
We can see what an Obama presidency will look like unfolding in real-time now with respect to Pakistan. In August 2007 Obama advocated launching military attacks in Pakistan regardless of the Pakistani government’s wishes and without bothering to even notify them that the U.S. was striking on their country. At the time Biden, Clinton, and even George W. Bush ridiculed Obama for being bellicose. In July 2008, as the New York Times recently reported, Bush secretly signed orders adopting Obama’s proposal and the land and air attacks have ensued. Pakistan’s government and its people, including the families of innocent victims of these U.S. attacks, have decried these blatant violations of their national sovereignty. Blowback, the sort that resulted in 9/11, is in the making.
* * *
Which future do we want? Which side are we on? Are we going to be “Good Americans?” Or will the following comment from Debra Sweet recently be the cutting edge injunction by a movement that dramatically turned things around, “Stop thinking like an American and start thinking like a human being”?
"Overall, even though my palms were clammy and I was nervous each time I spoke to someone it was very rewarding and I think I passed out about 150 ribbons, if not more, out [over the course of an hour and three-quarters], especially to classmates and even to a gentlemen at an Empire conference."
On the other hand, those who are already leaders in the society such as public officials, actors, intellectuals, artists, musicians, religious leaders, professionals, teachers, working class organizers, and so on, need to do the same. They need to use their credibility and their influence to take the moral high ground. Some individuals from this strata have done this, but they need to be bolder and there need to be many more doing so.
To contrast two examples of what I mean here I would cite what the Berkeley City Council did in 2008 disinviting the Marine Recruiters from Berkeley and what the Minneapolis City Council did in green lighting the police state measures used against demonstrators during the RNC in August 2008. The Berkeley City Council’s actions helped to spark a thousand Berkeley high students powerfully demonstrating against the military recruiters and the right-wingers who came out to defend recruiting more bodies for unjust wars. The Berkeley students’ actions in turn inspired Portland High School students to do similarly at their City Council’s offices. The craven collusion by the all-progressives Minneapolis City Council with the gendarmes, on the other hand, led to the despicable and alarming fascistic attacks on demonstrators and on freedom of speech and assembly during the RNC. We need much more of what Berkeley did and no more of what the Minneapolis City Council did.
The outcome of the battles to come in our society and world isn’t predetermined. Those battles are already in process, with more convulsive ones to come. That is for certain. What we can also say for certain is that if the American people do not stand up in the millions (on the order, specifically, of several million) and become a powerful, independent political force on the scene fundamentally changing the political balance of forces by demanding a reversal of the Bush Program, then 1) economic disasters will continue and deepen profoundly, and 2) the disastrous war on terror will spawn further catastrophes abroad and at home.
We can see what an Obama presidency will look like unfolding in real-time now with respect to Pakistan. In August 2007 Obama advocated launching military attacks in Pakistan regardless of the Pakistani government’s wishes and without bothering to even notify them that the U.S. was striking on their country. At the time Biden, Clinton, and even George W. Bush ridiculed Obama for being bellicose. In July 2008, as the New York Times recently reported, Bush secretly signed orders adopting Obama’s proposal and the land and air attacks have ensued. Pakistan’s government and its people, including the families of innocent victims of these U.S. attacks, have decried these blatant violations of their national sovereignty. Blowback, the sort that resulted in 9/11, is in the making.
* * *
Which future do we want? Which side are we on? Are we going to be “Good Americans?” Or will the following comment from Debra Sweet recently be the cutting edge injunction by a movement that dramatically turned things around, “Stop thinking like an American and start thinking like a human being”?
[Originally published in the journal, State of Nature, on 10/28/08.]
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