There is a poignant passage in Kurt Vonnegut’s book Slaughterhouse Five where he imagines a devastating bombing scene as a movie being run backward on a projector. The fires on the ground disappear as the bombs are sucked up into the bombers, which fly backward and land on a military base. There, the bombs are removed from the planes and taken to a factory, where they are dismantled. Perhaps this wishful fantasy was inspired by Vonnegut’s own experience watching the fire bombing of Dresden.
If and when our bombs begin falling on Iran, given our current limitations in navigating space and time, we will not be able to run the movie backward. The dead will still be dead, the destroyed will still be destroyed, and among the casualties will be our own open society. The damage will be irreversible, and in fact will have reversed 230 years of forward progress towards a just society, and a sane world.
But there is something we can and must “run backward” at this time. We must stand together to face the dark forces that have taken us from freedom to fascism, and reverse the momentum back to sanity and freedom.
There are two common impulses at a crisis time like this. The first is, “Don’t just stand there. Do something!” The other is, “Don’t do something. Just stand there.” So instead of futilely flailing about or hopelessly resigning, it makes sense to take a deep breath and fully assess the situation. The first piece of good news is, there are at least 50 million of us in accord that the reins of power have gotten out of our hands, and this illegitimate power must be reined in.
Three situations that have been in the news in recent weeks -- the tasering of the student by police in Florida and the “tasering” of MoveOn by the U.S. Senate; the momentum toward attacking Iran that the Democratic misleadership seems to have fallen in line with; the further exposure of Blackwater as “contractors” in the Mafia sense of “contract” -- have focused a sense of urgency. That’s a good thing.
Perhaps finally those hundred thousand organizations Paul Hawken talks about as working for a healthier world can stop what they are doing and address the huge elephant in the living room -- the American empire that promotes torture and assassination abroad and fascism at home. We must face the obstacle right in front of us that stands in the way of all of the good things that are possible in this world. In other words, there will be no action on climate change until there is political climate change, and to have political climate change requires focus. As the Swami says, “If we want the political winds to change, we must all blow in the same direction at the same time.”
Whoa Cowboy -- A Two-Step Plan to Rein in Illegitimate Power
We don’t want to be wasting precious energy blowing against the wind or rowing against the flow, so it makes sense to look for the open channels that can flow us toward a concerted and effective movement. So first of all, let’s establish two short-term intentions. If we accomplish these, we will be able to demonstrate to our “leaders,” to ourselves and to the world that we are on our way to restoring legitimate rule to America. These are:
So let’s look at our leverage points right now and see how we can begin applying that leverage. What do we have going for us?
1. The Ongoing Up-Wising. There is a growing awareness on the part of progressive left and libertarian right -- not to mention millions of other Americans -- that neither the neoconservatives nor the neoliberals have the interests of we the people at heart. As Ron Paul continues to gather support on the Republican side from disenfranchised conservative voters, more and more people on all sides are waking up to the sad truth that politics as usual means the usual lies. There is a great deal of emotional energy that is being aroused here, and so our task is to find a highly-effective way to focus it.
2. “Generally” Speaking, There is Unprecedented Opposition to War Policies. Those who are bearing the more immediate cost of empire, members of our military, are waking up as well. A recent article indicates that twenty recently-retired generals are speaking out against the Iraq War and the proposed attack on Iran. This includes the former U.S. Commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez. The implications of this are huge. According to the aforementioned article ten days ago in the San Diego Union-Tribune (in the heart of military country), “What might be called The Revolt of the Generals has rarely happened in the nation's history. In op-ed pieces, interviews and TV ads, more than 20 retired U.S. generals have broken ranks with the culture of salute and keep it in the family. Instead, they are criticizing the commander in chief and other top civilian leaders who led the nation into what the generals believe is a misbegotten and tragic war.”
Along those same lines comes the speculation that the recent transport of nuclear weapons from Minot Air Force Base -- and the leaking of that information -- could have been an attempt on the part of a faction in the military to thwart a nuclear attack on Iran.
Pay No Attention to the (Wo)Man IN FRONT of the Curtain.
Steve Bhaerman is a writer, humorist and uncommontator who's been posing as cosmic comic Swami Beyondananda for the past 20 years. As the Swami, Steve is the author of four books including his latest, Swami for Precedent: A 7-Step Plan to Heal the Body Politic and Cure Electile Dysfunction. His website is www.wakeuplaughing.com.
Or maybe if enough people blew in the opposite direction, the ruling class would sit up and take notice. Imagine if 50 million ''observers'' showed up at this convention:
One thing that has bothered me since the new "movement"'s inception is lack of GLOBAL focus - a movement is needed that is not so AMERICOCENTRIC, as that is part and parcel of the oldmeme. This does not mean going in and finding some token front person.
Too much of the movement has been dedicated (and perhaps subconsciously) to handing over our power to organizations that are personality dominated. Hence it is easy to say that "leaders" are mic hogs or attention whores .. or whatever .. as the inevitable backlash comes back and then precious energy gets wasted propping up said leaders instead of broadening the base of support for our organizations. I think it is HIGH time for some of the leaders to step away from the mic .. it's holding people BACK. Instead, focus on creating new forms of media - OpEd News is certainly one of a new form of media, but we need radio stations, even a TV station beaming back REAL news from around the Globe, 24/7.
In organizing terms, the energy has gone towards building what is know as "technocracies" - groups rallied around so-called experts. Ex CIA people, scholars (!!!), mothers of dead soldiers who devote full time attention to the "movement" has been The Movement's wont rather than focussing on grassroots methods of organizing that have been shown to work over time; these grasssrootz organizations cannot be shredded as easily.
To a certain extent, the reason we are so fond of OpEd News is that this nearly as close to a grassroots organization as has arisen .... but the CONTENT is AMERICOCENTRIC continually. I know good hearted people who do nothing all day but read the Oh! Woe is me! opeds that crop up on the internet, never once pausing to read material being generating in a HOST of other countries. This is so totally imbalanced and impolitic these days.
The more global types of organizations have faltered and fallen in my opinion for at least two identifiable reasons.
First, they tend to be male dominated and women are regularly silenced or not taken seriously. Whenever I get some points made in a group, OUT I GO so that Mr. "enlightened" liberal stays ON TOP. (and that is why I continue to love Rob Kall and will support what he does; I am GRATEFUL. He is truly a GROWING individual. He has a lot to teach the HACKS out there, who are legion.)
Two, they tend to be new agey and don't appeal to the main stream person who has other spiritual ideas. This is not ALWAYS the case, but then the exceptions tend to go back to the Americocentric model.
We live in a world of TRANSNATIONALS, and a rapid concentration of capital "assets" ripped off indigneous peoples. These ripped off people's have PLENTY to say about fighting back and yet people tend to ignore what they have to show and teach us.
The most excellent paper I have read during the last three years was written by Dr. Michael Yellowbird at the University of Kansas, a discussion paper to say native peoples should cease and desist from fighting in wars. I managed through a network to get this paper disseminated in Australia and New Zealand to every single major aborinal communities, WARRIOR communities as well as get it into the hands of every Parliamentarian in OZ and NZ. At the time I did, I wondered would anyone else do that? Make sure it didn't stay with America's shores?
Our organizations stay only as healthy as WE ourselves focus on true service, service undertaken for the good of ALL so we can rise above pettiness and status considerations, which I see just rife in the groups I am in or have left.
Anyone who reads OpEd News for a period of time knows that I push the use of art and creativity continually. That's what WE have and the choke hold of the fascists lacks. That's why we waste our efforts on things like debating Hilary Clinton's campaign, choosing between the lesser of evils!! (I don't, but other people who claim to be Ghadhi-ites do ..) We COULD be out there doing one little creative act a day, with dedication, until it just all mounts up -- that's what American Indian Injustice group does! And it WORKS. There are 700 individuals who get involved when an active alert is sounded.
IMHO, we must reach out higher and FURTHER .. and include every brother and sister in our organizations. I am on one news group made up of Canada, US and Ontario citizens and I love the discussions because there is way more depth to them. The Canadian and UK contingents are more diverse (and I've asked at least one of them to come to OpEd and post his fantastic views, to share his unique insights.)
For myself, the one single unifying issue is the use of low level radiation issue. It affects us ALL. The information on its effects is being SUPRESSED!! Last year the Low Level Radiation campaign released a minority report from a major study that is totally SHOCKING!! without this information NO ONE NO WHERE is operating from an informed position.
So I put together a long (but not THAT long) chain letter and asked people to circulate it an important document to show others. One friend of mine put together important youtube videos on aspects of low level radiation that are MUST SEE and included them in my posting. Anyone reading this I implore you to take this information and put it in other people's hands!! Read it and have your feelings and get to work!! by then passing it on in anyway you can. Here's a postcard Eileen Danemann put out.
I am personally hacking away every day on my blog which has a GLOBAL focus, and I also am building a website for earthlings anonymous. I live on disability and running a yahoo research group, doing my blog, writing for OpEd News (although I did some posts in New Zealand this year on interventionISM and recovery from trauma) and getting enough people together to start an INTERNATIONAL website is all I can personally do. But it is what I do ...
My blog has over 1400 items devoted to planetary healing we are ALL suffering PTSD and TRAUMA. I cannot run the large a list of tags, so it must be accessed by putting topics in the blog search box - I direct my 5th chakra energies (100%!) into a daily effort and I Invite people to use at a resource continually - it gets read by right wingers constantly and I am aware of that and write accordingly. Spy agencies, foreign governments, the military - they ALL read it! But the progressives? Forget it! They don't want to re-educate themselves yet seems to me, because it takes finding what we all have in common, rather than focussing on our differences and getting with a DAILY Program of Recovery ... we've all been done in by counterintel pro, psyops,agitprop ... The focus must move to RECOVERY !!
My blog is my attempt to create a HUGE POSTER for recovery .. and I still have another 3000 items to put on it!! The problem is, as it is for many thinking outside "the box" is I don't have resources to take things ever further and get some HELP! I think I have a plan ..
I set up a google group to start a beehive of dialogue on the use of art to catapault the use of OUR propoganda. I announced it here at OpEd News. No one came! No one. I can say that I am "wrong" or I can say the time was NOT right, or . but I still think that massive GLOBAL art demos are the wave of the future . ones that bypass appealing to a deaf, insane, bought off, over lobbied CONGress. Target dates to do mass GLOBAL mails into DC are possible; days to make noise everywhere on the planet can be set. The old methods are truly the best - shout, scream, make noise, the things man did before Big Pharma and the deliberate creation of dysfunction and diseases ...
Our PRESENCE must be felt and the best way to do this is to be totally present each and every single day, beaming our intentions and then DOING what we must do. But it AIN'T gonna change by creating a network of only "this" woman should be listened to, or only "That" guy has credentials to know what he is talking about ... and we must start paying attention to what indigenous people trying to leader us to .. a more fair society for ALL.
Now if we could just truly start thinking of ourselves as EARTHLNGS, living in a Milleium of the Living, we wouldn't be so easy to divide and conquer, although we must bear in mind the only way to achieve human rights/social justice is through national sovereigny . and the FASCISTS truly do want to take that away. Join up and start working against the North American Alliance (NAU ), right now referred to as the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP ). They"'ll keep changing the letters as it suits them ... In North America the front lines are at Lake Sharbot and in Nevada .... and I hope at least ONE PERSON will read this, decide to sign up and help people stand the ground of sanity.
Consider -
More recently, Douglas Valentine, author of THE PHOENIX PROGRAM (CIA torture and assassination program in Vietnam), explained on Radio Liberty on October 18, 2006:
"Democracy has been hijacked from us. It's been hijacked by these very powerful industrialists for whom the CIA really works. They don't work for you. They don't work for me. They don't work for the middle class. They don't work for the lower class. They work for a very elite group of Americans who control the wealth in this country. And their job is, through whatever means possible... to preserve the priviliges of this ruling one or two or three percent of the industrialists in this country. And, frankly, they do a very, very, very good job of it.
The Information Age has been a useful tool for the gathering of the female tribes. Fed up with "finding themselves", women want to find a way to help others and themselves. Life has suddenly taken on new meaning and purpose. We no longer move down the streets in isolation. There is no "glass ceiling" in the streets. We are all equal. All voices are heard. All banners are read and celebrated. We can vote with our feet to say that "Enough is enough." And we know the angels are at our side. We move fearless and forward to a day when we wake up unafraid.
"Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages." - Thomas Edison -
by
ladybroadoak (37 articles, 20 quicklinks, 12 diaries, 390 comments)
on Sunday, October 7, 2007 at 1:01:55 AM
