Rebellion has many faces. All stem from some form of oppression which is only overcome by action. This action usually takes to form of embracing the stereotype impressed on the rebelling party by the controlling entity, and doing precisely what the controlling party fears most, without concern for the consequences. Probably the most well known form of rebellion is that of the youth approaching adulthood. The youth cannot continue their development toward adulthood by continuing to follow the dictates of the parent. They must start to make their own decisions and learn by their mistakes. If even the smallest deviations from the prescribed behavior are met with stern reprimand, resentment builds and inevitably is followed by more drastic rebellious acts. If what the parent fears most is the use of drugs and promiscuous sexual behavior it is likely that some form of this behavior will ultimately result to demonstrate independence if lesser forms of independent behavior are repressed. The form of independent expression is usually dictated by the accepted norms of the group to which the oppressed individual belongs, which are, in turn, usually dictated by the more daring and bold leadership of the group. A second example is that of oppressed minority cultures. David Brooks of the New York Times has recently commented on the common use of “gangsta rap” customs in both the American youth culture and the participants in the recent uprisings in French minority ghettos: “The images, modes and attitudes of hip-hop and gangsta rap are so powerful they are having a hegemonic effect across the globe. American ghetto life, at least as portrayed in rap videos, now defines for the young, poor and disaffected what it means to be oppressed. Gangsta resistance is the most compelling model for how to rebel against that oppression. If you want to stand up and fight The Man, the Notorious BIG shows the way. When rap first came to France, American rappers dominated the scene, but now the suburban immigrant neighborhoods have produced their own stars in their own language. French rap lyrics today are like the American gangsta lyrics of about five or 10 years ago, when it was more common to fantasize about cop killings and gang rape. The French gangsta pose is familiar. It is built around the image of the strong, violent hypermacho male, who loudly asserts his dominance and demands respect. The gangsta is a brave, countercultural criminal. He has nothing but rage for the institutions of society: the state and the schools. He shows his own cruel strength by dominating women. It is perhaps no accident that until the riots, the biggest story coming out of these neighborhoods was the rise of astonishing and horrific gang rapes. In other words, what we are seeing in France will be familiar to anyone who watched gangsta culture rise in this country. You take a population of young men who are oppressed by racism and who face limited opportunities, and you present them with a culture that encourages them to become exactly the sort of people the bigots think they are — and you call this proud self-assertion and empowerment. You take men who are already suspected by the police because of their color, and you romanticize and encourage criminality so they will be really despised and mistreated. You tell them to defy oppression by embracing self-destruction. In America, at least, gangsta rap is sort of a game. The gangsta fan ends up in college or law school. But in France, the barriers to ascent are higher. The prejudice is more impermeable, and the labor markets are more rigid. There really is no escape.” It’s not such a leap to extend this sort of behavior to dead-end Muslims in ghettos throughout the Islamic world. Along comes an Osama bin Laden or an al-Zarkawi with utopian reasons to commit to a world uprising against The Man, particularly when The Man is doing very well and infusing his cultural norms into a culture dominated by a stifling religion. And what results is Islamic extremism, just another form of rebellion from an oppressed culture with no hope of controlling their own destiny. But, in all these cases, is the rebellion really a threat to organized society if the causes are reduced or eliminated? Can the struggling adolescent, the gansta rapper, or the Islamic extremist take over and control a society by force? Do they really want to? Or are they just looking for some reason to believe they can control their own destiny? Obviously there’s a difference in these three forms of rebellion, and that Islamic extremists are a greater danger than adolescent teens. But, should our approach be to declare war or to protect against such behavior while at the same time trying to correct the situation giving rise to the behavior? The decision is up to us.

by Elwood Anderson (2 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 6 comments) on Sunday, Nov 13, 2005 at 11:36:00 AM

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Rob, thanks for putting Bob Herbert's piece online for those of us who are not signed up for «TimesSelect» ; I regard Mr Herbert as the moral conscience of the New York Times, which, as all readers of Judy Miller's «reporting» know, is in desperate need of one. But when he writes «President Bush and Donald Rumsfeld convinced themselves that they could win the war in Iraq on the cheap. They never sent enough troops to do the job.», I have a problem. Bob Herbert never examines publicly (although I suspect that he has his own thoughts on this matter !) just what that «job» was, and whether the United States has any business doing «jobs» in Iraq (it is pretty obvious that there remain lots of «jobs» for the US federal government to do in the US, and I don't include taking away the liberties and rights of US residents among them !). Mr Herbert mentions that 2055 US soldiers had died in the war so far, and this is certainly 2055 too many, but he doesn't mention that through September 2004 approximately 100000 more Iraqis had died than would have been the case if the death rate had remained unchanged from that obtaining during the 14.6 months before the US invasion (http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/lan410a.html). Surely those 100000 deaths too many also merit a word ? If General Shinseki's advice that at least 300000 troops were needed for the Iraqi campaign had been followed (instead of the campaign being called off due to a lack of resources, as perhaps General Shinseki desired), or Mr Rumsfeld had provided better armour for soldiers and vehicles, would that have justified the war ? An unjust war does not become a just one simple because it is pursued with greater profession skill than that presently exhibited by the Pentagon. There is only one alternative for those who wish to support US troops, and that is not to provide them with still more armour and still better weapons and still more «boots on the ground» ; rather it is (as you point out) to withdraw them from Iraq immediately. Then the Iraqis can begin to do whatever «jobs» there remain to do in Iraq....

by mhenriday (0 articles, 17 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 157 comments) on Sunday, Nov 13, 2005 at 12:33:15 PM

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My party , democratic , dosen't seem to have the guts to stand up and do much . You would think with all the corruption that is documented they would be making some real noise that would get in the news instead of voting for shi- like torture and highway pork and so on . I am really pissed , ENOUGH IS ENOUGH , ELECTIONS ARE COMING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

by Frank Herceg (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 2 comments) on Sunday, Nov 13, 2005 at 3:43:16 PM

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Well, It's not the right wingers Rob, it's you, and people like you who sit on their fat asses and beg for money rather than admit there is no peaceful non-violent way to get rid of these bastards. You're a talker Rob, nothing more. Clearly you and the rest of America are content to TALK your way right up to the "elections" of '08. Well, have at it. AS for myself, i'm prepared to pick up weapons and kick east. Until you're ready to back your mouth up with some action, it's best that you all, (and your volunteers) be silent. tedbohne

by tedbohne (87 articles, 103 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 119 comments) on Friday, Jun 15, 2007 at 2:21:41 PM

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Dear sir, I am a Rightest and I applied for the Reserves in 1998. I believe we have a Fascist president who preaches free enterprise and practices government-controlled corporatism. The government contractors in Afghanistan and Iraq were not submitted to the lowest bidder, instead going to corporations which benefitted members of Bush's cabinet. I believe in the free market with not government interference, whether from the Left, as is usually the case, or the Right, as is evident with this president. What can we do? We can be honest and admit we support President Bush. How many of us respect and admire celebrities who travel by private jet - so their bodyguards can carry a piece. So much for opposing the Second Amendment and global warming. How many of us drive an SUV? How many of us eat too much meat? And lastly, how many of us have more than two children?

by Barker (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 120 comments) on Friday, Jun 15, 2007 at 5:02:55 PM

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Rob,

I agree completely with what you said.  It isn't a complicated thing as some people seem to make it.  This "president" has thrown a monkey wrench into so many freedoms we have as Americans.  Not to mention his giving the finger to our check and balance system.  He has done this with cronyism, yes, those arrogant self-rightous bastards just like he is.

And this war has been transparant, to me anyway, from the very beginning.  I knew he was up to serious NO GOOD on the day after Sept. 11, (9/11).  I watched as Saddam's face was being inserted while Bush spoke of the terrorists who attacked us.  I listened to his unusual cleverness, while he convinced the grieving nation that we will seek justice for this horrible act, (it was horrible, and the guilty parties should have been found) and started saying it was Sadam Hussain who did this to us. Not Osama bin Laden, anymore.  Next we heard about intelligence indicating Sadam had WMD hidden in Iraq.  I was flabberghasted, and at the same time very happy that my son was 25 years old, not young enough for a possible draft.(I would NOT have let him go, although he would NOT WANT to SACRIFICE his young life, leave his two year old son for a SCAM being run on Americans by our president!  Thank God for that.)

My mother, suddenly became a Bush supporter; she had always been a Democrat.  I layed out all the evidence I could find, and there IS A LOT OF IT AVAILABLE!  We have argued over this for four years!  I continue to send her information that she can easily check out.  I remind her of all the things Bush and his flunkies have destroyed.  Finally, yes FINALLY, she called me and said "I was wrong", that she now understands.

So, I say to people, to keep fighting, keep showing all the evidence; in case you are talking to someone without much common sense, be patient (aauughh! that's tough sometimes I know!) and perservere.

As far as one "commentor" or "poster" has said, using radical force against these destroyers of our country and its innocent's, is NOT the way to handle this.  Obviously, I understand the emotion.  Sometimes I just get so emotional that I just want to go to Wash.DC and do something very personal and physical to Bush and Cheney.  But, I would not DO that. 

I am pretty pissed off though, and Rob Kall, I have to say YOU TOOK THE WORDS RIGHT OF MY MOUTH, I agree with you emphatically.  Thank you for having the guts, like many others do not, to come right out and say it like it is!

by judeedee (0 articles, 11 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 29 comments) on Friday, Jun 15, 2007 at 7:33:29 PM

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I guess I'm a coward because I would not even consider taking up arms to engage in a hopeless one-sided fight that would not have an ice cubes chance in hell to succeed and only get me killed or worse. And that's exactly what would happen. So (for that and many other reasons) I'll have no part of it and I will not endorse nor will I participate in any such thing or anything else illegal. However, I am an honest coward because I admit that after many decades of personal effort and observing great national efforts, I now believe that you may be correct in that "there is no peaceful non-violent way to get rid of these bastards." And I am not talking about individuals, I'm referring to the organized corporate groups/"bastards" that really run the show in America.

Sigh - I do not know what the best solution is, but I do know that our methods (i.e. the methods that we have been using for decades) are mostly crap. We Must Change Our Ways.

Anyhoo, it seems to me that something we can do/something that we have not been serioursly doing is to study and learn from the successful methods of our opponents. Now now, I am not endorsing their methods - well...not all of them...but darn it, if you want to win - you must understand your opponent. Right?

I also think that if we are to have any real hope for real change, then we have to gain some foothold/ some control of the mass-media and to grow it from there... Why Don't We Do That?!

Perhaps we could all start by making a pledge/a targeted fund raising donation to help opednews buy a Radio or a TV station? Or something similar along those lines. We could make a meter and watch our efforts grow until we reach the necessary funds? Whaddya say, Rob? Do you think that big?? Do you opednews readers think that big???

P.S. I know that I am rambling but...It's really late and I should be sleeping.

P.P.S. I apologize if I seem arrogant in telling my thoughts/views. I just thought I had something worthwhile to say - not that my views are necessarily better than anyone else's here.

G'night all....

by RCG (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 348 comments) on Saturday, Jun 16, 2007 at 2:43:54 AM

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rcg,

Reminds me of the movie, "The Assasination of Richard Nixon" with Sean Penn, a very emotional portrayal that gives voice to thousands of peoples frustration today. So, I wanted to say I like your ideas on WHAT WE CAN do.  I like the idea of the oped radio program, for one.  Spreading the word, and connecting like-minds.  

Our situation in America has nearly reached the boiling point.  I have honestly felt the rage burning inside me, the more I learn.  But, seconds later I feel empowered due to sites like this one (and many others).  Listening to Free Speech Radio news does the same thing for me.  We become connected with our passion, our intellect, and our motivation.  Thats something that can move...huge mounds of ____.    We got burned for sure, big time.  But, I know I have learned alot, and I pass it all along, especially to those that say they don't care. 

Thanks for your comment.  Guess I'm a coward too :)  I've been called worse than that!--no problem!

Judy 

by judeedee (0 articles, 11 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 29 comments) on Monday, Jun 18, 2007 at 2:06:50 AM

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Thank you for your comments, as well. They are much appreciated.

by RCG (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 348 comments) on Monday, Jun 18, 2007 at 4:44:08 PM

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