The New Civil Disobedients and an Ancient Definition of Insanity (1082 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.1 on 24 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by SpikeGoddess (View user info) at 2004-08-31 14:46:52 EDT
Having just gone to my first-ever protest, I have to say that I now understand why it's so addictive. There's a rush similar to a battleground feeling--that you're fighting for something in solidarity with a whole gang of other people who are just as impassioned as you. That being said, some of today's activists need to wake the fuck up.
I have seen T-shirts being sold with swastikas on them saying "Republicans = Nazis".
I have seen signs with George Walker Bush's face photoshopped into a tunic and headdress saying "The Real Terrorist."
I have heard more hypocrisy than I can even hold in my brain to recount here. "War on Poverty," "War on the GOP..."
When are people going to get it?!?!?!
What could be more racist than dressing Bush up in Arab garb in order to make the point that he is a terrorist? What could be more insensitive to the memories of the people who died under Nazism than to splash swastikas all over the place like they're peace signs? What could be more offensive to the idea of peace than using the language of war to acheive it?
Yes, I agree that it's remarkable that Bush has absolutely no sense of how ironic it is when he describes "evil" in the world and yet is simultaneously perpetrating similar crimes. The lack of perspective that requires is truly incredible----
BUT
How much MORE incredible is it that the very people who point this fact out time and time again at the top of their fucking lungs are simultaneously using the language of war and of oppression when those are the very forces they claim to be working to eradicate!?!?!?!?!?
Don't you see, activists, that when you equate Bush with a Nazi and enlist a violent symbol like the swastika you are actually playing right into the hands of the forces you hate? You not only sound like a complete lunatic for oversimplifying a complex issue, but you approach the current leadership with an astonishing lack of empathy and understanding. If you want them to empathize with the poor of the world and with people who are different than they are, you must first empathize with them. Scary? Now maybe you see why it's scary for them to do what you ask.
We can't achieve peace and justice through violent language and injust comparisions. We can't change the world by using the same techniques that we seek to abolish. It's counterintuitive. It's insane.
An ancient definition of insanity is, "doing the same thing over and over and expecting it to turn out differently." People have tried war. War on other nations, war on drugs, war on terror----and now you want a war on poverty? Insane. People have tried marching, people have tried attacking the other side, people have tried civil disobedience and getting arrested to make a point and it has been largely ineffective. Sure, some in-roads have been made in the past under exceptional leaders, but today's activists lack the vision, eloquence, and CALCULATED PLANNING of Ghandi or Martin Luther King, Jr.
The old ways don't work. We need a new way.
As long as we haven't got the leadershp we need or the revolutionary new way to bring about peace and justice, we will have no choice but to continue to march and to gather as we have before--but don't be fooled. The purpose of these activities is nothing more than to birth the new way. The old ways are dead, so we'll just have to keep showing up with our faith and commitment set on the REAL goal, which must be finding our OWN way, the NEW way to change the NEW world.
My hunch is that the new way will have to be based not in opposition but in empathy. If we could truly listen, truly understand, and truly empathize with others, then the solution would become apparent. At the very least, violence would become an impossible option. At the very least, we could take a step toward the future we all claim to want.
It's not just leftists and Democrats who want a better world for our children. It's not just Rebulicans and conservatives who are greedy and power-hungry.
Pull your heads out of your asses and the logs out of your eyes. Then perhaps you will be able to see more clearly how to help your neighbor conquer her own demons.
User Reviews
Submitted by domenad (user info) at 2004-09-02 10:45:00 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Good to hear someone finally spot it. It makes me so sick when I hear some idiot refer to Bush as a "Nazi" or a "fascist", mostly because I know I've run into yet another moron. If Bush was a fascist, there wouldn't be 100k people in the streets of NY. There wouldn't be 10K. There wouldn't be one. They would be rounded up and executed, the way Mussoline and Franco did.
The current movement against Bush is just that - it only opposes Bush. It has no real direction. It's similar to the two teams in a tug-of-war. If one side stops pulling, the other side falls down.
Submitted by SpikeGoddess (user info) at 2004-09-02 10:30:17 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
A few quick points:
~I did not say that Bush is just as bad as Saddam. That would actually be an example of what my entire post was speaking out against.
~I agree that many protesters are trying to revive the 60s, etc, and that the form itself is outdated and largely ineffective. Again, one of the points of my post---BUT, until we think of something better, we have to keep doing SOMETHING, just realizing that the goal is to come together in a community of like-minded people so that we can come up with the new form that dissent needs to take.
~There is nothing vague or flowery about empathy.
~Jokes which involve racist symbols are not funny to me. Jokes which involve racist symbols are counterproductive to dissent becase they alienate people. Trust me, it's not just the ardently PC who are offended by swastikas. Ask anybody who's parents or grandparents were killed in the Holocaust how they like seeing that symbol tossed around.
And most of all----
Identifying that there are inadequacies is a separate activity from proposing the solutions to those inadequacies. Sometimes you have to speak about the problem IN ORDER to find the solution. It's been said that anytime somebody identifies a problem, they've got the cure for sale in their pocket. Well, I don't have the cure. If I did, I'd be out DOING it, not on Uber talking about the problem. Being overly preachy is a valid critique of my writing style. Not having a solution for the problems I bring up, in my opinion, is not.
Submitted by Jesus_Loves_TwEE (user info) at 2004-09-01 03:44:48 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Are you a sensible liberal?
http://www.workingforchange.com/comic.cfm?itemid=17313
Submitted by whataefag (user info) at 2004-08-31 20:46:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Excellent points! Very well done ...
Submitted by shitfuck (user info) at 2004-08-31 18:04:24 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
If you can figure out how to teach critical thought to the masses and have them understand it--I'll marry you.
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2004-08-31 17:40:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by dodahdave <dodahdave.at.hotmail.com> at 2004-08-31 17:05:08 (#)
Ranking: 2
Well written and thoughtful.
To Jack McCallum: Iraq under Saddam Hussein was a secular state, which is part of the reason why al-Qaeda refused to work with Iraq. What you're describing is a particularly harsh implementation of Sharia law.
--
Oops. Got Saddam on the brain. Should have read-
One more thing. If this country had an Osama in charge (blah-blah-blah).
The point being- people who accuse Bush of being a terrorist and say he is as bad as those who attacked us have stripped a few gears.
And having said that, Iraq was still hell under Saddam. As far as why we went in there? The lack of actual terrorists and actual piles of WMDs lying around doesn't mean they weren't there, and we keep finding more and more indicators that both were there recently. We may have jumped the gun going in, but I for one am very glad we did, as are a hell of a lot of Iraqis who just want to live normal lives.
Submitted by dodahdave <dodahdave.at.hotmail.com> at 2004-08-31 17:05:08 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Well written and thoughtful.
To Jack McCallum: Iraq under Saddam Hussein was a secular state, which is part of the reason why al-Qaeda refused to work with Iraq. What you're describing is a particularly harsh implementation of Sharia law.
Submitted by shandythedog (user info) at 2004-08-31 16:58:22 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
some good points.
i'm familiar with the feelings: http://www.ubersite.com/m/23774
will get back to you re. film, a bit caught up in other stuff right now
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2004-08-31 16:44:23 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
"Yes, I agree that it's remarkable that Bush has absolutely no sense of how ironic it is when he describes "evil" in the world and yet is simultaneously perpetrating similar crimes."
--
Yo Spikey,
I guess I missed the news story where Bush specifically targeted citizens for death as part of a terror campaign. Muslim extremists give us two choices. (1) Follow Allah. (2) Die.
We are helping the Iraqis work towards elections and democracy. We are seeing that money goes to schools and hospitals and repairing the power grid and restoring the roads and on and on. None of this happened under Saddam. He diverted funds for his own uses. We have a group of Iraqis who are working toward these goals with us while hoping they are not blown to pieces by their own people.
When the war began, I was against it. I've changed that view, because good things are being done over there. If you think we should just let things fall to shit and let another Saddam take over because 'it's their choice' then you are suffering serious delusions.
One more thing. If this country had a Saddam in charge (which you imply by saying Bush is just as bad), you would be told to shut the fuck up just for being a girl.
Want to see what it would be like? Let's test it.
Cover your face. Scrub that floor. Don't make a fucking sound. You are my property, not my equal. And where's my FUCKING DINNER!!!
How does American freedom look now?
Submitted by Teephphah (user info) at 2004-08-31 16:05:22 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
I am sickened by the protestors and frankly, a little disappointed in you Spike.
I've felt since I was in high-school in the early 90's that the kids I knew who were turning into left leaning protestors were doing so less for the causes they claimed to support and more in an attempt to regain some magical and romanticized notion they had of the 60's. I still think that holds largely true. I think Gent hit on that in his comments too.
This scares the crap out of me because I don't know that these people are protesting the right things for the right reasons, or if they are just protesting to have something to protest . . . because "that's what you do." It isn't an exercise of free-speech, its a social event.
I'd get into the whole "Boston had tons more cops to keep any protestors in the "free-speach zones" Glam-daddy and Loki are so up in arms about, while New York isn't imposing any such restrictions on protestors at the Republican convention (coincidence?)" thing, but like you, I am sick of the tone of politics today. See - http://www.ubersite.com/m/42396
Sorry for the hit-whoring, but I think we are kind of on the same page.
Submitted by Judoka (user info) at 2004-08-31 15:57:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: -1
Submitted by FilthyAssistant (user info) at 2004-08-31 15:12:55 (#)
Ranking: -1
You adopt quite a preachy tone here and yet you don't actually suggest any concrete solutions - 'empathise' is incredibly vague and flowery.
I see where you're trying to go and I applaud you for the attempt, but I've seen better.
Submitted by Death_Metal_Dude (user info) at 2004-08-31 15:46:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: -1
90% of the crap you see on signs is sarcastic, intentionally hyperbolic, or mocking. You're taking it way too seriously. It's not offensive to anyone but PC wusses.
Submitted by LadyPlural (user info) at 2004-08-31 15:27:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
"You've got flies in your eyes."
"I've got WHAT in my eyes?"
"You've got flies in your eyes. That's probably why you can't see them."
Submitted by JohnGalt (user info) at 2004-08-31 15:27:30 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by JohnGalt (user info) at 2004-08-31 15:25:04 (#)
Ranking: 2
Why do people think that being selfish is a bad thing?
----------
Where the hell did the rest of my review go?....
Oh well, I basically just wanted to say that greed isn't necessarily bad. I'm too lazy to retype it all.
Submitted by JohnGalt (user info) at 2004-08-31 15:25:04 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Why do people think that being selfish is a bad thing?
Submitted by vodka7tall (user info) at 2004-08-31 15:22:23 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Nicely done.
Submitted by Gent (user info) at 2004-08-31 15:13:29 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I understand your point, but I think it may be idealistic. I do agree that the protests seem to be counterprodutive because they lack true focus. Half the people there would be tounge tied if you asked them to defend what they are marching for. They know the issues about as well as they know ancient sanskrit. And the same rings true for both sides. Ask a majority of the halfwits at the MTV Video music awards why they booed the Kerry daughters the other day, they will likely reply, "Dude, because they're not as LIKE hot as the Bush twins." The what was with the naked protest in NYC? It served no purpose but to draw attention to people that for one reason or another desperatlely crave it.
I do agree with you that the tactics of disobedience must change, but also like you I don't have clear, resolute answers. Maybe the time for violence has arrived.
Submitted by FilthyAssistant (user info) at 2004-08-31 15:12:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: -1
You adopt quite a preachy tone here and yet you don't actually suggest any concrete solutions - 'empathise' is incredibly vague and flowery.
I see where you're trying to go and I applaud you for the attempt, but I've seen better.
Submitted by Snark (user info) at 2004-08-31 15:11:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Very nicely stated.
Submitted by tinactin (user info) at 2004-08-31 15:11:23 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Well written, and a different perspective. +2
Submitted by RouteTwo (user info) at 2004-08-31 15:11:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
good. agreed.
Submitted by wazzawazzayo (user info) at 2004-08-31 15:04:36 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Violence is never the answer.
Submitted by WillZone (user info) at 2004-08-31 15:03:26 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
my protest post goes up tomorrow.
Submitted by Yes (user info) at 2004-08-31 14:59:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
damn hippies