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Normally, when I read a new book I like to get the essential message or theme of it quickly, so I can decide whether I will continue reading it very carefully or just make it a quick read. For Mickey Z.'s new book SELF DEFENSE FOR RADICALS: A to Z Guide for Subversive Struggle, I had to wait for page 7, where I hit this statement:
"The current patterns of dissent in America are long overdue for re-evaluation and overhaul. The powers-that-be have long ago figured out how to either marginalize or co-opt dissent. Until our tactics evolve, we remain accomplices to the perpetual global crime we call civilization."
This statement totally resonated with me. For many years I have written about my disillusionment with the lack of an effective, aggressive and even revolutionary dissent movement in the US. Maybe, I thought, Mickey Z. has some answers. Just maybe this small book could help bring the changes real subversives have been waiting for.
One message is that Americans are under attack and have every right to metaphorically bite back or better yet to take the offensive and hit first, even if it means fighting dirty, when the danger is very real.
In the quest for justice and genuine social change in American, Mickey Z. tells us it is time to fight for real.
Readers will have to accept the fact that this book is like one very big metaphor. Physical action against a threat I think is intended to instill more of a fighting consciousness among all kinds of people seeking solid changes in a very unjust, corrupt and sick society. Some may jump to the conclusion that Mickey Z. is promoting violence, but I am not so sure about that. What definitely seems to be the case is that the author is really fed up with dissent in America that is big on talk and very weak on results, which, after all, seems entirely correct if you, like me, see our nation with its two-party plutocracy and the whole planet slipping faster down the toilet.
