Where is Thomas Jefferson when you need him?

[robinturner]

I know I am getting a reputation on LJ as a Europhile anti-American pundit, but please allow me one more question.

Given that a large number of Americans are strongly opposed to their government's Middle-East bloodlust;

Given that a large number of Americans believe with good reason that the last presidential election was fraudulent;

Given that the current American government exists largely to promote the interest of the few against the many, believes in the principle of one dollar, one vote, and is a quagmire of corruption and nepotism comparable to the England of George III;

Where is the revolution?

I see many demonstrations of popular dissent, and I welcome them, like most people in the free world. But I see no strikes, no civil disobedience, no calls to arms. The current protests are a dim reflection of what we saw in the 1960s. Please read once more your Declaration of Independence. Call a strike. Boycott American goods instead of French goods. Destroy government property. Invade military bases. Physically harass a congressman. You used to be able to do it.

When a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

Comments

[circumambulate.livejournal.com]

Nah, we never did. Aside from a few long-past state v.s. fed issues, the last revolution in this country was against your government, not ours. Americans, as with most people, will protest an issue up to the point of jeopardizing their own well-being.

Additionally, those who are protesting loudest are those who preach peace above all else - not very good stock among which to breed revolutionaries.

[evan.livejournal.com]

Don't forget that Bush in all probability did get 40% or so of the vote, after all...

[solri.livejournal.com]

those who are protesting loudest are those who preach peace above all else - not very good stock among which to breed revolutionaries.

But that didn't used to be the case. The protests and revolutionary movements of the 1960s and 70s came out of the peace movement.

Hey Hanoi Jane! If you haven't sunk between the weight of your aerobics books, get onto the street! Huey Newton, are you still alive and kicking? Eldrige Cleaver, get out of your soul food restaurant!* Jerry Rubin, are you happy being a yuppie or would you rather go back to being a yippie? Timothy Leary - oh sorry, you're dead, man, so I can't criticise - you did OK. Malcolm X - rest in peace. You not only fought for what you thought was right, you listened to others and realised you got some things wrong and admitted it; you were truly great. And Martin Luther King? Where is anyone who even approaches him?

* actually Cleaver was always an asshole, so that doesn't count.

[tristan-moore.livejournal.com]

Keep writing. I like reading your poli-posts.

[solri.livejournal.com]

Only 11% short of a majority, in a two-party system. Something funny here.

Still, I shouldn't jibe - Margaret Thatcher, who ruled Britain for over a decade, had about 30% of the vote.

[circumambulate.livejournal.com]

There's a critical difference, though. The Vietnam War, and the Civil Rights movement were both domestic issues - The Iraqi conflict, at least until wounded soldiers start coming home - is a foreign policy issue. If mainstream Americans cared about US foreign policy, or were even informed about what really goes on abroad, in their name, we wouldn't be in this mess to begin with.

[circumambulate.livejournal.com]

We ain't a democracy, we're a republic. Clinton never won by majority, either.

[evan.livejournal.com]

If we assume there was no voter fraud, then it was closer to 50%. The Florida mess indicates it was probably less than that. The exact number aside, I was pointing it out to show that a numerically significant proportion of the population actually supports him.

[oblomova.livejournal.com]

Huey's dead. Shot by drug dealers in Oakland many years ago.

I think what turns people off the idea of revolution here is that so many of the targets picked by the most revolutionary/radical sects in the 60s were totally ridiculous. The SLA shooting a church secretary whilst robbing a bank for "the revolution" being just one example that comes to mind, thanks to recent news. So many are suspect of using violence to achieve goals. At least in terms of domestic protests.

But a general tax strike and work strike would be great. IF anyone would do it. I think this administration has excelled at keeping people perpetually fearful and off-guard with their "orange alert/ everything has changed since 9/11" bullshit.

So I wish I had some answers for you, pal.

[thewasteland.livejournal.com]

Revolutions will probably come...but right now Americans are not affected enough to begin them.

Until then....go oceania.

[alienghic.livejournal.com]

The closest I've currently come to revolution in the US is to push for bike and pedestrian transit (and continually go off on the US dependence on oil.) Although I do keep desperatly keep trying to stop buying stuff from US companies (I got rid of one of my monopolistic phone companies). I'd like to continue to work toward participating in a shadow economy, though I'm having difficulty finding it and getting involved. (All based on the theory that most of what's wrong with the US political system is corruption from corporate interests, and if we stopped giving them money they'd be less able to bribe politicians).

The other thing is the US government and corporate media do like to push the message that everyone is going along with us, so you should to. (they desperatly keep trying to ignore debate from the progressives).

(Though I'm wondering if my passport woes are stemming from my anti-war emails.)

[katminnaar.livejournal.com]

Where is Thomas Jefferson when you need him?

Good question. I've been wondering that even long before this (http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=aspen_fox&itemid=2459)!

So I heard it's possible that Iraqis might be planning on blowing up the oil wells in the event of war. Now Bush has warned them that if they do, they'll be 'prosecuted.' Prosecuted. For doing something to their OWN property. Riiiiiiiiight.

Please. Someone......... blow up George W. Bush.

Oh, meanwhile, I did write all my area congresspeople. Got the pat replies. Send money to California Peace Action every month; not sure how much that's helping. Hubby even sent the Prez an email to the White House (and he never does stuff like that!). Yeah. Lotta good THAT did. One problem is, although most people oppose the war, there's also a terrible economy right now, gas prices are going up very quickly, and there's a strange media-driven paranoia about terrorist attacks, although I think that's really overblown.

[solri.livejournal.com]

Huey's dead? I heard George Jackson had been killed, but didn't know about Huey Newton. Unless I got my wires crossed, of course.

You're right about the silliness of much 60s radicalism. Being silly is an essential part of being a radical, I think, as you only learn by trying out new things and making mistakes. Certainly I wince when I think about some of the silly things I've supported or harmless things I've opposed. But of course once you put guns in people's hands, the silliness becomes irreversable. You can retract an accusation but not a bullet.

So yes, when I was talking about "revolution" I was thinking of strikes and civil disobedience, not minutemen. The tactics used by the American revolutionaries were appropriate to their time and opponents, perhaps, but not suitable for today.

[solri.livejournal.com]

It sounds far-fetched, but you never know with the current administration.

[solri.livejournal.com]

One of my colleagues mailed Bush some time back, about both Iraq and North Korea (at that time the US was taking a much harder line on Korea). It was quite interesting; speaking as someone who had lived and worked in both the Middle East and Korea (South, in this case), his main point was that Bush was acting with no knowledge of the culture of the nations hewas threatening and their likely reaction to threats.

Over a decade ago, Georg Lakoff made a similar point just before Papa Doc Bush's Gulf adventure in an open letter (http://philosophy.uoregon.edu/metaphor/lakoff-l.htm), noting that Bush had no idea of Arab notion of dignity, which is a crucial factor in both Arab nationalism and Islamism.

[alienghic.livejournal.com]

Rationally I considered it to be highly unlikely, but irrationally there's something comforting about being able to blame Bush for all of my problems.

Also there's one bioweapon that I could cheer the Iraq's for using. There exist some bacteria capable of eating oil and transforming it into protein. No nasty release of pollutants into the air, and they still get to reduce the amount of oil in the world.

[chippiex.livejournal.com]

I've hear 2-1 support George and his war. Haven't met any of them.