[Ed’s note: the following article is a political call to action not a detailed analysis – AF]
The United States of America is in freefall. The $7 trillion national debt, unparalleled domestic consumer debt, the fall of the dollar and rise of the Euro, peak oil, the rise of the biggest markets by far in Europe and China – all adumbrations of a collapsing U.S. economy.
We have a failed health care and educational system and an all-out corporate war on workers – the people who build and sustain country.
Worldwide opposition, if not raw hatred, for our government continues to grow around the world. Unbridled capitalist power to the corporations through deregulation and privatization is resulting in interminable, unwinnable wars and human suffering such as the world has not known since WWII.
We watch the takeover of our domestic and foreign policy by dual-citizen neocons, fundamentalist Christians and neo-liberals. And now … with the 2004 elections … a blank check has been given by the “moralists” to the belligerant and ignorant regime in Washington. Things are not looking good for our country, indeed for the world.
The only thing left for us is to fight back.
There are millions of people who voted for John Kerry in the elections who now feel angry, demoralized and impotent. There are millions who did not vote at all. They were either convinced that their vote did not matter or refused to validate a corrupt, corporate-driven electoral process with their vote. They were not “apathetic” as often charged in the corporate media. When combined, the people who voted against George W. Bush and those who refused to vote outnumber those who voted for George Walker Bush by enormous margins. They also have a great deal in common. That common ground can serve as a basis for real change in this country and the 2008 national elections are not the solution.
Organize!
The solution lies in organization. Organize, organize, organize – “The People”. American government as we’ve known it is in the midst of complete and total failure. Most Americans are simply not yet aware that this government is in rapid decline. We must fight back now. There is no other choice.
We will not stop. We will not be defeated.
The People! United! Can never be defeated! El Pueblo! Unido! Sera Jama Vencido!
… It is not just a slogan. It is a commitment. It is a battlecry.
These are not times for the faint of heart. We are all called upon to man the decks and for the many to defeat the few. They are collapsing under their own weight and under their own foolish choices. That collapse is already well underway but we must not stand by and wait. We must stand up and fight back, giving them no quarter. Are you afraid? Well, of course! Aren’t we all? But we must not be depressed, complacent and succumb to that fear. There has never been a greater opportunity to bring about real, positive change in this country than right now.
Fear and Courage
Courage takes place in the fields of fear, never in its absence. “Winning” takes on many forms and the weakest of all victories are military victories. It is true! – “They can kill the body, but not the spirit” – just as they haven’t destroyed the spirit of the indomitable Vietnamese, Palestinians, Afghans, Venezuelans or Iraqis. Sacrifice is a stranger to most Americans. Most do not know the meaning of the word – after growing up on the sugars of immediate gratification. Now we are all called upon to sacrifice. What do we have to lose? Our jobs? Our SUVs and cars? Our houses? Our television sets? Our children? Our lives? What does life mean if it is not lived truly, madly and deeply?
Reality
We can either drown ourselves in the opiates of apathy and materialism or we can awaken to the fact that a life spent on such things is not worth living. The poorest of the people of Venezuela came out on the streets in 2002 and wrested their government from the few who stole their democracy from them. They won in a relatively bloodless revolution – Thrice. Some say, “That’s in Venezuela. It cannot happen here”. They are wrong! We can do it too. We have to ask ourselves about our priorities and re-evaluate what we thought was important. It may or may not happen in my lifetime. But happen it will.
Take it Back
We must take back our government and return to self-governance. Feeling helpless? Outnumbered? Outgunned? This is where courage begins. It must begin with you and me, counting our entire lives as one brick in the wall of justice, truth and world peace. Our eye must be on doing the right thing – rather than cowering under the cold stare of the beast.
Finally, with the 2004 U.S. elections, the front lines in the war for truth now stand starkly, in plain view. We have seen the enemy – and he is not us. Each of us faces the choice of taking our stand or retreating to a temporary refuge. Radical? We love being called “radicals”. Our retort is that they are the “radicals”.
What can be more “radical” than bombing innocents in an unprovoked, unilateral attack for the personal gain of a few wealthy sociopaths? What can be more radical than telling the people that you will give them bread and instead, give them a stone? What can be more radical than conducting systematic home invasions; confiscating computer hard drives; putting activists in razor-wire cages; putting people in prison and deporting them for speaking out? What can be more radical than lying about threats from abroad, executing a war based upon those lies, then arrogantly refusing to respond when charged with the crimes? This radical behavior on their part calls for radical behavior on ours – building solidarity among the people against the machine – for survival, justice, truth and peace.
Think we are fools? Very well then. We are “happy fools” – for World Justice, World Peace and World Truth. Do we “hate them”? No. Hatred guarantees the defeat of the one who hates. One does not have to hate an enemy to defeat him. Who will lead us? Real leaders of the people emerge from among the people – not from among the self-appointed corporate/government bosses who have no interest in our lives except to tax, exploit, abuse and assault us. Who will lead?We must restrain ourselves from using such questions as excuses for cowardice. Must violence be the nature of the conflict? Not at all! Only 2% of this country’s population – about 5.8 million people standing together in nonviolent, unarmed, protest on Pennsylvania Avenue is a start. What can you do? Where do you fit in? What will be your role? Nobody else can answer these questions for you. These are questions you must answer for yourself – if you see the need for change.
How have we, as activists in Boston, responded to the November 2004 “elections”? We were already organized for it, regardless of who claimed victory in the electoral college. We launched our first post-election protest on the streets of downtown Boston at 12:30 p.m. the day victory was declared by George W. Bush on November 3, 2004.
We can promise you this: There will be more. We will never turn back and the enemy will never, ever see a white flag in our midst.
© Copyright 2004 by AxisofLogic.com
