My biggest wish for next year (and beyond) is summed up quite nicely in this post in Democratic Underground.
I would extend it a bit, though. We need Dems who can say "BULLSHIT" to the right people, namely, Corporate America, the Big Banks, and Big Media. The current Third-Way bumper crop is only too willing to call "Bullshit" on progressives and others not of a corporate-friendly ilk.
Hope you all have a safe and happy NYE 2014, and see you next year...
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Sunday, December 14, 2014
Divide, Placate, and Subdue
To those who are veterans of the Anti-War movements of the '60s and '70s, as well as from the Occupy movement, its a puzzlement as to why more young people don't take up those causes. With everything going straight to hell - economy, international conflicts and war, etc. etc. etc. - why aren't there more protests? Where is the direct action we thought was synonymous with youth?
This article attempts to explain why the lack of involvement. Crushing student loan debt, the restructuring of our education system to meet corporate, rather than educational goals, the growing surveillance state, and other factors are cited. While I agree with the article, I think it left out a couple of things:
1. The brutality our militarized police uses to crack down on mostly peaceful protesters (I'll never forget the article from I-forget-where, where a converted military tank was profiled with a heading to the effect of "Occupy Protestors, Meet This...").
2. The ineffectiveness of traditional protest methods, and the mockery they engender from those more monied (remember during Occupy Chicago, how those at the Chicago Board of Trade would stare down from their multi-stories-up offices to take pictures, mock, and otherwise thumb their noses at the protesters - some even dropping applications to fast-food joints.)
3. The Weapons of Mass Distraction: the hundreds of entertainment options we now have, which serve as a sort of "soma" for the masses, as Aldous Huxley described the drug in his book Brave New World.
Where to now? I welcome your comments...
This article attempts to explain why the lack of involvement. Crushing student loan debt, the restructuring of our education system to meet corporate, rather than educational goals, the growing surveillance state, and other factors are cited. While I agree with the article, I think it left out a couple of things:
1. The brutality our militarized police uses to crack down on mostly peaceful protesters (I'll never forget the article from I-forget-where, where a converted military tank was profiled with a heading to the effect of "Occupy Protestors, Meet This...").
2. The ineffectiveness of traditional protest methods, and the mockery they engender from those more monied (remember during Occupy Chicago, how those at the Chicago Board of Trade would stare down from their multi-stories-up offices to take pictures, mock, and otherwise thumb their noses at the protesters - some even dropping applications to fast-food joints.)
3. The Weapons of Mass Distraction: the hundreds of entertainment options we now have, which serve as a sort of "soma" for the masses, as Aldous Huxley described the drug in his book Brave New World.
Where to now? I welcome your comments...
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