Women won the vote by years of dedicated protest, by enduring imprisonment for their protest at the White House gate during World War I. Equal rights were won by Freedom Rider protesters and brave, well trained and prepared activists sitting on buses and at lunch counters. Gay marriage rights were not legislated. They were fought for. They were, each effort, Bottom Up movements of the people.
From flickr.com/photos/32029534@N00/8640207903/: marriage equality rally and march : castro street, san francisco (2013)
(Image by Unknown Owner) Details DMCA
Bernie Sanders showed us the power of Bottom Up activism, passion and movements. He told every gathering of thousands or tens of thousands, "Real change does not happen from the top down. It happens from the bottom up."
To wait for and depend upon politicians to make change happen is a form of infantilization, the acceding of agency, as the passive minions who fall under the sway of authoritarians give up their own will. This is no accident. Politicians, lobbyists, the one percent and the corporation funded and supported mainstream media cultivate this impotent mode of thinking and functioning.
There has always been an effective way to make real change happen. It doesn't involve politicians in the most important stages. The politicians only codify what the people have decided. We can make change happen. WE can do it. Only we have always done it. We can use boycotts and protests, civil disobedience, alternative media, petitions and actions against corporations that affect their bottom line. This is the way it has always been done.
So don't give up hope. Do give up on the politicians who, like serial abusers in bad relationships, have chronically betrayed our interests. Put your time, your energy and your money into Bottom Up activism, into real Bottom media, into causes that fight for social, ecological and media justice.
And don't simply switch your authoritarian dependency focus to Bernie Sanders or any other "leaders." Remember the vision and values of Occupy Wall Street-- that we do this together. Learn from the Zappatistas who have led and maintained a successful revolution within Mexico, by "Caminando pregunta'ndonos," walking and asking questions. Don't expect to have the answers. Don't expect a leader to get you started. Believe you can make a difference and take that single step on the journey of 1000 miles. Find others to take the first steps with you.
There is hope. You won't find it in the fallow fields of politics. You'll find it in the fertile fields of Bottom Up cooperation, empathy and independence where every major history step forward for justice took root. Will you be cowed by the inevitable failure that politicians have again delivered or will you enlist in and be a part of this next stage in the fight for justice?
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