[I would like to preface this, my call to action, with this powerful video by Chris Hedges and recommend that you view it before proceeding to read my offering. He details what has happened to us, in this era of Trump, and provides guides to solutions, as I've also attempted with this article.]
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The standard way battles were fought, in the 18th century, was really brutal. The opposing forces would, once within musket range, line up in staggered ranks facing their opposition and take turns shooting at each other. Because it took 30 seconds to a minute to reload and aim a musket "by the numbers," after the front lines had fired their shot they would, in unison, move to the back and reload while the next rank stepped forward to take their shots.
Once the colonist decided that they could take no more of King George's madness and the economic oppression that the out of control British corporations were inflicting on their economy, they declared their independence from England and the Revolutionary War began.
From the start, everyone acknowledged that the rebellious colonist were no match for the well-trained and well-equipped British "Red Coats." So, in order to buy time for George Washington to build a structured army, a rag-tag group of the colonist developed a unique form of guerrilla warfare.
The way it worked, and it worked VERY well, was that the rebels would wait until the Redcoat armies were being marched from one location to another. Of course, they would all march in formation and in long columns. A small group of the rebel terrorist would sneak up on the trailing end of the marching Redcoats and shoot a few of the last Redcoats in the columns. Immediately, the rebels would disperse back into their native woods and by the time the Redcoats could organize a search party, nobody could be found.
At first, this tactic was simply declared a nuisances. But as time wore on, it began to wear down the nerve and resolve of the British soldiers. Many Redcoats at the rear of these columns would just drop out and become Turncoats. Eventually, by the time Washington formed an army, he was confronted by British forces who were less than eager to fight and it is believed that the terrorist tactic edge was instrumental in winning our War of Independence.
[Before you read any further, I would like to state that I am not very optimistic about the future of our country, especially due to recent laws that are being put into place, in various states, regarding demonstrations by activist. As a result, be forewarned that what I'm advocating could involve being arrested.]
I would like to propose that we update, revise and adopt a similar technique. Currently, when we discuss having a general strike or a marching demonstration (like standing in lines shooting at each other or marching in lock-step columns) we are talking about a rather elaborate, expensive, time consuming, environmentally damaging, organizational challenge involving large numbers of people physically congregating at a central location in order to make a statement or protest an issue and hope that the message is relayed through a compromised media and eventually received by the intended audiences. I contend that this process is cumbersome, wasteful, outdated and has lost much its' effectiveness. A perfect example is the largest, but useless, worldwide protest/demonstrations that took place to stop the invasion of Iraq by our country.
Instead, imagine the following scenario:
Being a registered OpEdNews patron, one day you get an email notification that invites you to participate in a "Spread The Word" type demonstration on your local courthouse steps. You locate the address of your local courthouse. You gather up your sign(s) and maybe put on your tee shirt -- which will say something like:
Hi!
I'm with Occupy U.S.
If you would like to know what I'm doing here,
visit our website at:
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