What are we doing? Seriously, give some serious consideration to what we, the patrons of this site, are actively doing to regain control of our country?
For almost four years, I have been posting articles and comments on this site and the only results I see are more articles with more comments. No action or even actionable plans. Oh sure, there are an abundance of ideas of what we SHOULD do, but no structured organization designed to convert those ideas into country changing results.
Ever stop to take an unbiased evaluation of just why the Right still not only survives, but is continually gaining power? I have and I think that the key to their successes has to do with the fact that they are heavily endowed with a strong military influence. In case you have never noticed, the military relies on the powerful structure of a chain of command, with heavy penalties for those who don't abide that form of dictatorial rule. As a result, the Left is continually butting heads with -- and losing to -- a well funded and organized political machine that is unhampered by legal, moral and/or ethical standards OR powerful, permanent dissenters from within.
Many times I have heard the famous quote by Will Rogers, when asked what political party he belonged to. His response was, "I'm not a member of any organized political party. I'm a Democrat." I've also heard that trying to organize the Democrats was like trying to control a herd of cats. Those two statements make my point, we -- us on the Left, especially the Progressive side -- will keep losing our country until we recognize our basic flaw -- we are inherently not focused and structured to strategically win.
So, what are we to do? How do we channel our angst and anger to the next level of action? I certainly think that we have to give up our current willy-nilly approach of hammering out our arbitrary concerns and opinions on these pages. Instead, we must organize, organize and organize. Perhaps we could petition Rob Kall to set aside a special area of this site that would be designed around the concept of building a permanent, long-lasting and ongoing response to the Right's takeover of our country.
I recently watched a two part interview with one of the best political minds of our generation -- Chris Hedges -- discuss what is needed to save our democracy. While the interview was done in 2013, it was only recently posted on Youtube a few weeks ago. The links are here and here. Besides showing off Hedges's ability to forecast the future, one of the most important points that he made, was that to be effective, resistance MUST be organized and focused on a central purpose. A positive perspective of the future must be an integral part of the planning, as a vision of purpose is central to success. One-off attacks are a losing waste, as they dissipate the power of the central theme and discourage, rather than encourage expanding participation.
Another valid point that Hedges makes is that the most likely activist will be the young and discouraged. They are on the front lines of despair and are anxious to be shown a way out. I'm reminded of how the Occupy Movement began. It was a group of young people who met regularly to iron out their plans and prepare for set-backs as well as expansion of their movement. What they didn't take into consideration was the nation-wide consolidation among the policing authorities who infiltrated their communications and were waiting in advance of any further expansions of the movement. These are the kinds of "road blocks" that must be taken into advance consideration during the organization stage of dissent.
What kind of "demonstration" of our discontent should/could we attempt? I am not prepared to say. We have in our midst many ideas that could be powerful focal points for our discontent. John Rachel, for example, has an entire "suite" of worthy ideas that should be pursued. I recently thought that it would be interesting to see if we could harness the disgust of the demonstrating masses by promoting a mass exodus to Canada on specified days. I envision thousands of cars queuing up at all of the Canadian Ports of entry asking for paperwork on becoming Canadian Permanent Residents. But again, these singular ideas should only be folded into a larger, more detailed plan with expansion aspects and considerations for retaliations.
So what do you say, OEN patrons? Up for a challenge that requires more than just seeking some ego salve via a posted article or comment? Ready to do some REAL work and put your ideas into the boiling cauldron of reality and see what comes out? If so, bring on those comments ...
(Article changed on March 6, 2017 at 04:29)
(Article changed on March 6, 2017 at 20:55)
5
4
2
