"Now I'm a waitress in a chain restaurant. That's been a good lesson in capitalism. I'm making a lot less money, but the government still takes a hefty chunk of it to kill people who might be a threat to them."
Hathaway: "What are you doing to stop that?"
Davis: "I've become an enemy of the state. I'm actively working to bring it down, particularly the patriarchal, capitalist form that we live under."
Hathaway: "Would a matriarchal, socialist form be better?"
Davis: "I can't say for sure. That's not a question for our generation to answer. I don't think we're going to be the ones to build a new society. Our job is to weaken this monolith so it will eventually fall. We need to undermine it, to chip away at it however we can. That's probably going to be a lifetime assignment for us. The generations who come after us can decide what to build in its place.
"Planning a new society at this point seems to me to be just daydreaming, a waste of time. First we have to break this system's power. Otherwise our descendants will still be living under it."
Hathaway: "That sounds awfully pessimistic."
Davis: "I'd call it realistic. It's clear by now that this system is not going to allow basic changes. Only superficial reforms come out of congress, and they're often reversed later on.
"Both major parties are tied to the business establishment, which wields the real power. The Democrats tolerate an occasional eccentric like Jesse Jackson or Howard Dean to create an impression of progress, but they don't have a chance of achieving power. The establishment uses them to channel public discontent into dead-end streets, to convince people if they wait another four years, the system could change. But it never does. Liberalism maintains the power structure by stringing people along with hopes for a better future."
Hathaway: "But what's the alternative?"
Davis: "Direct action. There are all sorts of nonviolent ways to undermine power."
Hathaway: "Such as?"
Davis: "Depriving the corporations and their government of money is a good start. That can be done by refusing to buy things, by tax evasion, by work sabotage. Corporate and government resources are limited. Every dollar they have to spend keeping things running here is a dollar they can't spend killing people overseas.
"Making concrete suggestions about this could get me put in jail these days, so I can't be too specific. But each of us has gifts for resistance, and I think we should use them to toss monkey wrenches into the works. I have a few personal projects that mean a lot to me.
"Doing something as nonviolent as voting for a minor party deprives the major parties of votes and shows how illegitimate they are."
Hathaway: "What if that helps someone like Bush get elected?"
Hathaway: "What are you doing to stop that?"
Davis: "I've become an enemy of the state. I'm actively working to bring it down, particularly the patriarchal, capitalist form that we live under."
Hathaway: "Would a matriarchal, socialist form be better?"
"Planning a new society at this point seems to me to be just daydreaming, a waste of time. First we have to break this system's power. Otherwise our descendants will still be living under it."
Hathaway: "That sounds awfully pessimistic."
Davis: "I'd call it realistic. It's clear by now that this system is not going to allow basic changes. Only superficial reforms come out of congress, and they're often reversed later on.
"Both major parties are tied to the business establishment, which wields the real power. The Democrats tolerate an occasional eccentric like Jesse Jackson or Howard Dean to create an impression of progress, but they don't have a chance of achieving power. The establishment uses them to channel public discontent into dead-end streets, to convince people if they wait another four years, the system could change. But it never does. Liberalism maintains the power structure by stringing people along with hopes for a better future."
Hathaway: "But what's the alternative?"
Davis: "Direct action. There are all sorts of nonviolent ways to undermine power."
Hathaway: "Such as?"
Davis: "Depriving the corporations and their government of money is a good start. That can be done by refusing to buy things, by tax evasion, by work sabotage. Corporate and government resources are limited. Every dollar they have to spend keeping things running here is a dollar they can't spend killing people overseas.
"Making concrete suggestions about this could get me put in jail these days, so I can't be too specific. But each of us has gifts for resistance, and I think we should use them to toss monkey wrenches into the works. I have a few personal projects that mean a lot to me.
"Doing something as nonviolent as voting for a minor party deprives the major parties of votes and shows how illegitimate they are."
Hathaway: "What if that helps someone like Bush get elected?"
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