We need to educate ourselves. I recommend visiting alternative media Websites often to read articles by people like Norman Solomon, Ramzy Baroud, Charles Sullivan, Mike Whitney, Phil Rockstroh, Uri Avnery, Kim Petersen, Paul Craig Roberts, Mickey Z, and Jack Dalton. I suggest authors like Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, Tariq Ali, Thomas Frank, Scott Peck, John Bradshaw, Sam Keene, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Sinclair Lewis, Upton Sinclair, Henry David Thoreau, and Franz Kafka. Turn off the television and pick up a book or read an article on the Internet. The ruling elite has taken American's intellectual apathy to new heights through the medium of television. I work to avoid watching this "opiate to the masses", which is nearly a perfect medium for propaganda delivery. I read as often as I can, often falling asleep at night with a book in my hands.
Children are the foundation of our future. It is crucial that we teach them to think critically and to approach situations with a healthy amount of skepticism. Helping them with their homework, staying involved with their studies, and giving them an education beyond their schooling are ways to prepare them to combat tyranny and support social justice as they grow older. I often encourage and challenge my three children to apply critical thinking strategies, and to question virtually everything with which they are presented. I encourage them to read often. I teach and model my core spiritual values to them. I want them to grow up to be independent thinkers, decent human beings, and people with the moral courage to act on their beliefs regardless of peer pressure or consequences.
They Will Work to Forge New Chains"
While the ruling elite possess great power through the military, the CIA, and domestic law enforcement agencies, their capacity to truly impose their will upon us is actually quite limited. Our minds and souls belong to us. Unfortunately, it is up to each individual to break the psychological strangle-hold the wealthy individuals, monolithic corporations, deeply conservative Christian churches, and various other entities have placed upon the American psyche through the propaganda they disseminate. As more individuals educate themselves, and break their intellectual and spiritual chains, the Bush regime, or its successor, will resort to overt tyranny and martial law. In their deeply narcissistic existence, the ruling elite worship money, success and power, and they will allow no moral or ethical boundary to stand between them and the objects of their devotion. As they see the sun setting on the American Empire, they are expending resources in an obscene manner, defying international and domestic law, committing egregious acts of state terror, sending American service people to die for their "nobility cause", and raping Mother Earth in their frantic attempts to preserve their imperialism, materialism and Social Darwinism. When enough Americans free themselves from its psychological grip, the US government will train its savage tendencies on its own citizens.
Symbolism and Acts of Solidarity Are Powerful
Protests and marches are viable means to express dissent and evoke change, even if it is incremental. On 9/24, over 300,000 demonstrators gathered in Washington DC to promote social justice and peace, and to show opposition to the Bush administration. The following day about 400 supporters for Bush (and his regime's illegal war) gathered. Think people around the world did not sit up and take notice of this gross disparity? Just this past weekend, Louis Farrakhan led the Millions More Movement in which tens of thousands more protestors converged on DC with the goal of "transforming American society and eliminating poverty and injustice". How does our current regime respond in a logical manner? They are incapable of doing so without lying because their agenda is one of social, racial, and economic inequality and injustice. I was in DC on 9/24. I felt deeply moved to see so many others willing to sacrifice their time and money to make the trip. The presence of 300,000 people showed tremendous solidarity in the quest to realize social justice and to oust the criminals who hide behind the veneer of "democracy". Despite the meager coverage by the mainstream media, many Americans received a powerful message that day that they are not alone in their distress over this nation's dissent into madness. I know because many of them wrote about it on the Internet, commented on my blog, or emailed my fellow activists and me. People from many other nations were watching too, and now realize that many Americans see our leaders for the malefactors they are. I feel thankful for Mr. Farrakhan's and his group's follow-up efforts to provide another powerful symbol of solidarity for social justice and against the scourge in DC.
To provide an example of an upcoming protest (which will be largely symbolic, yet will still hold power if large numbers participate to show support and commitment), I will be participating in a day of fasting on November 1. The purpose of the fast is to show support for the hunger strikers at Guantanamo Bay who have been denied justice since 2002. Sending a letter to your representative in Congress demanding justice and humane treatment for the detainees, and committing yourself to one day without food is as simple as clicking:
http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/ccr/campaign.jsp?campaign_key=1341
Look (Hard) for the Union Label
Unions once represented a powerful force in this nation which forged (and protected) rights, decent wages, and benefits for the working class. Since the Nixon era, when Social Darwinists began reasserting their hold on this nation, union membership has declined significantly. According to the latest US Census, union members comprise a meager 13% of the workforce. In 1954, the figure had peaked at 35% and by 1983 the number had declined to 20%. Corporate deregulation, outsourcing, massive layoffs, long-term temporary employees, a minimum wage which has not increased since 1997, and shrinking benefits are the order of the day for workers in the American economy. Corporate executives (making hundreds of times the salary their average employees take home) and their shareholders love it. Wal-mart (my wife and I have not shopped there in over a year), the largest employer in the nation, offers sub-standard wages and benefits while fighting tooth and nail to keep its employees from unionizing. I strongly urge you to join a union, or work to form one, if your work-place lends itself to unionization. US labor needs to become empowered once again.
Create a "Brain Drain"
One university student has out-lined a long term strategy for academia to cut its ties with the military industrial complex and is engaged in a long-term campaign to redirect US research efforts and technological development toward more peaceful ends. Brian Bogart's project represents yet another means of creating a more peaceful and just society. If enough universities and highly educated individuals agree to stop supporting the military industrial complex, it will starve intellectually. Brian's site is at http://www.strikeforpeace.org/index.htm. I recommend supporting his cause, or joining it if you are in academia.
Money Makes Their World Go Around"
Another viable non-violent weapon "We the People" have at our disposal in the struggle for a more just, free and humane society is a strike or boycott. With effective organization and mass participation, workers and consumers could cripple the system which perpetuates the flow of wealth and power to those living on the high end of the socio-economic spectrum. Ultimately, they need us more than we need them, and a massive strike and boycott, in which people stopped working and shopping for at least a day, would deal the ruling class a significant blow.
Similarly, a well-organized tax revolt with heavy participation by the poor and working class would put a severe gash in the artery supplying the pecuniary life-blood to the plutocracy ruling our nation. I am like many of you. I have a family which my wife and I support. I cringe with disgust when I think of the taxes we pay. I realize that some of that money goes to fund programs and departments of the federal government which benefit humanity, but increasingly, our tax money is going to fund the ruthless and malevolent military machine. At what point do "We the People" come together and agree that we are no longer willing to supply our hard-earned dollars to fill the coffers of the likes of the Carlyle Group to enable its stake-holders to buy another yacht while the streets of Najaf are filling with the co-mingled blood of Iraqis and Americans?
Obviously, to be effective, the massive strike and/or tax revolt which I suggest will need to be well-orchestrated and involve heavy participation. I am not suggesting that individuals engage in either on their own. One individual lacks the means to organize such an effort, or make a real impact by acting on their own. However, I believe that as more people awaken and network with others to fight for justice and human rights, the opportunity to effectively use one or both of these means to attack the deeply entrenched and corrupt system will present itself.
They Can't Force us to Perpetrate Their Crimes
Children are the foundation of our future. It is crucial that we teach them to think critically and to approach situations with a healthy amount of skepticism. Helping them with their homework, staying involved with their studies, and giving them an education beyond their schooling are ways to prepare them to combat tyranny and support social justice as they grow older. I often encourage and challenge my three children to apply critical thinking strategies, and to question virtually everything with which they are presented. I encourage them to read often. I teach and model my core spiritual values to them. I want them to grow up to be independent thinkers, decent human beings, and people with the moral courage to act on their beliefs regardless of peer pressure or consequences.
They Will Work to Forge New Chains"
While the ruling elite possess great power through the military, the CIA, and domestic law enforcement agencies, their capacity to truly impose their will upon us is actually quite limited. Our minds and souls belong to us. Unfortunately, it is up to each individual to break the psychological strangle-hold the wealthy individuals, monolithic corporations, deeply conservative Christian churches, and various other entities have placed upon the American psyche through the propaganda they disseminate. As more individuals educate themselves, and break their intellectual and spiritual chains, the Bush regime, or its successor, will resort to overt tyranny and martial law. In their deeply narcissistic existence, the ruling elite worship money, success and power, and they will allow no moral or ethical boundary to stand between them and the objects of their devotion. As they see the sun setting on the American Empire, they are expending resources in an obscene manner, defying international and domestic law, committing egregious acts of state terror, sending American service people to die for their "nobility cause", and raping Mother Earth in their frantic attempts to preserve their imperialism, materialism and Social Darwinism. When enough Americans free themselves from its psychological grip, the US government will train its savage tendencies on its own citizens.
Protests and marches are viable means to express dissent and evoke change, even if it is incremental. On 9/24, over 300,000 demonstrators gathered in Washington DC to promote social justice and peace, and to show opposition to the Bush administration. The following day about 400 supporters for Bush (and his regime's illegal war) gathered. Think people around the world did not sit up and take notice of this gross disparity? Just this past weekend, Louis Farrakhan led the Millions More Movement in which tens of thousands more protestors converged on DC with the goal of "transforming American society and eliminating poverty and injustice". How does our current regime respond in a logical manner? They are incapable of doing so without lying because their agenda is one of social, racial, and economic inequality and injustice. I was in DC on 9/24. I felt deeply moved to see so many others willing to sacrifice their time and money to make the trip. The presence of 300,000 people showed tremendous solidarity in the quest to realize social justice and to oust the criminals who hide behind the veneer of "democracy". Despite the meager coverage by the mainstream media, many Americans received a powerful message that day that they are not alone in their distress over this nation's dissent into madness. I know because many of them wrote about it on the Internet, commented on my blog, or emailed my fellow activists and me. People from many other nations were watching too, and now realize that many Americans see our leaders for the malefactors they are. I feel thankful for Mr. Farrakhan's and his group's follow-up efforts to provide another powerful symbol of solidarity for social justice and against the scourge in DC.
To provide an example of an upcoming protest (which will be largely symbolic, yet will still hold power if large numbers participate to show support and commitment), I will be participating in a day of fasting on November 1. The purpose of the fast is to show support for the hunger strikers at Guantanamo Bay who have been denied justice since 2002. Sending a letter to your representative in Congress demanding justice and humane treatment for the detainees, and committing yourself to one day without food is as simple as clicking:
http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/ccr/campaign.jsp?campaign_key=1341
Look (Hard) for the Union Label
Unions once represented a powerful force in this nation which forged (and protected) rights, decent wages, and benefits for the working class. Since the Nixon era, when Social Darwinists began reasserting their hold on this nation, union membership has declined significantly. According to the latest US Census, union members comprise a meager 13% of the workforce. In 1954, the figure had peaked at 35% and by 1983 the number had declined to 20%. Corporate deregulation, outsourcing, massive layoffs, long-term temporary employees, a minimum wage which has not increased since 1997, and shrinking benefits are the order of the day for workers in the American economy. Corporate executives (making hundreds of times the salary their average employees take home) and their shareholders love it. Wal-mart (my wife and I have not shopped there in over a year), the largest employer in the nation, offers sub-standard wages and benefits while fighting tooth and nail to keep its employees from unionizing. I strongly urge you to join a union, or work to form one, if your work-place lends itself to unionization. US labor needs to become empowered once again.
Create a "Brain Drain"
One university student has out-lined a long term strategy for academia to cut its ties with the military industrial complex and is engaged in a long-term campaign to redirect US research efforts and technological development toward more peaceful ends. Brian Bogart's project represents yet another means of creating a more peaceful and just society. If enough universities and highly educated individuals agree to stop supporting the military industrial complex, it will starve intellectually. Brian's site is at http://www.strikeforpeace.org/index.htm. I recommend supporting his cause, or joining it if you are in academia.
Money Makes Their World Go Around"
Another viable non-violent weapon "We the People" have at our disposal in the struggle for a more just, free and humane society is a strike or boycott. With effective organization and mass participation, workers and consumers could cripple the system which perpetuates the flow of wealth and power to those living on the high end of the socio-economic spectrum. Ultimately, they need us more than we need them, and a massive strike and boycott, in which people stopped working and shopping for at least a day, would deal the ruling class a significant blow.
Similarly, a well-organized tax revolt with heavy participation by the poor and working class would put a severe gash in the artery supplying the pecuniary life-blood to the plutocracy ruling our nation. I am like many of you. I have a family which my wife and I support. I cringe with disgust when I think of the taxes we pay. I realize that some of that money goes to fund programs and departments of the federal government which benefit humanity, but increasingly, our tax money is going to fund the ruthless and malevolent military machine. At what point do "We the People" come together and agree that we are no longer willing to supply our hard-earned dollars to fill the coffers of the likes of the Carlyle Group to enable its stake-holders to buy another yacht while the streets of Najaf are filling with the co-mingled blood of Iraqis and Americans?
Obviously, to be effective, the massive strike and/or tax revolt which I suggest will need to be well-orchestrated and involve heavy participation. I am not suggesting that individuals engage in either on their own. One individual lacks the means to organize such an effort, or make a real impact by acting on their own. However, I believe that as more people awaken and network with others to fight for justice and human rights, the opportunity to effectively use one or both of these means to attack the deeply entrenched and corrupt system will present itself.
They Can't Force us to Perpetrate Their Crimes
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