(NOTE: Here is another profound article from one of our
favorite writers. We posted the first & last paragraphs, &
link for the complete article with everything in between.)
favorite writers. We posted the first & last paragraphs, &
link for the complete article with everything in between.)
By Chris Hedges
There is no hope left for achieving significant reform or restoring our democracy through established mechanisms of power. The electoral process has been hijacked by corporations. The judiciary has been corrupted and bought. The press shuts out the most important voices in the country and feeds us the banal and the absurd. Universities prostitute themselves for corporate dollars. Labor unions are marginal and ineffectual forces. The economy is in the hands of corporate swindlers and speculators. And the public, enchanted by electronic hallucinations, remains passive and supine. We have no tools left within the power structure in our fight to halt unchecked corporate pillage.
The last paragraph:
It is time to think of resistance in a new way, something that is no longer carried out to reform a system but as an end in itself. African-Americans understood this during the long night of slavery. German opposition leaders understood it under the Nazis. Dissidents in the former Soviet Union knew this during the nightmare of communism. Resistance in these closed systems was local and often solitary. It was done with the understanding that evil must always be defied. The tiny acts of rebellion—day after day, month after month, year after year and decade after decade—exposed to everyone who witnessed them the heartlessness, cruelty and inhumanity of the oppressor. They were acts of truth and beauty. We must take to the street. We must jam as many wrenches into the corporate system as we can. We must not make it easy for them. But we also must no longer live in self-delusion. This is a battle that will outlive us. And if we fight, even with this tragic vision, we will lead lives worth living and keep alive another way of being.
For everything in between: Link to the complete article on truthdig
Sometimes I think I am "over the top" with my frustration and anger at those who have stolen everything, from the lowly Port of Shelton, the the Supreme Court of the United States...
ReplyDeleteThen I read words like those above, and they remind me I am not nearly angry enough, that I have not yet lost my voice from screaming my indignation, and that the idea that working "within the system," will bring about change is the ultimate path to madness.
Thank you for this site and for these reminders!
Great article. When we first began to oppose biomass in Mason County I asked people, "If you knew you were going to lose the battle would you still fight?" The answers were not as important as the question. Many times, success against injustice, when achieved, comes about long after the original participants involved in the effort have moved on or died. There may well be no victory dance for today's opponents of biomass. But not to fight diminishes us in a way corporate america could never do.
ReplyDeleteI have ALL WAYS been fond of fighting in "losing battles" my entire life, & have even found, much to my surprise, occasionally these "losing" battles are even WON!!!
ReplyDeleteHowever, the possibility of winning (no matter how remote) is NOT why I engage in so called "losing" battles. Some actions need to be carried out, regardless of whatever results may or may not occur. For me, the options of standing by just watching, or sticking my head in the sand have never existed (my spouse says it's genetic programming).
If nothing else, I & those of like mind (or similar genetic programming), will be able to look back on our lives & know in our hearts that we did our very best to make things better than they are for those who come after us...no matter what the outcome, no matter what the personal cost. We will be able to leave this earth with peaceful hearts.
submitted by Dick Curtis
ReplyDeleteNot that long ago, 7/2010, I stood up in a County meeting and read to the Commissioners the Definition of TYRANNY: … A Government wherein the Rights & Liberties of the people are Violated At Will by those in Power (i.e., Mason County BOCC, Port of Shelton, the Courts) and where the people possess No effective remedy to hold the Transgressors Accountable….
Further, I stated that “they are Chipping Away, withholding one citizen right after another. “ We live in America, a Constitutional Republic. How can this continue to be allowed to happen here?
When citizens are faced with TYRANNY, they have the Right and the Duty to take back control of their government. We, the citizens of Mason County, Washington, will NOT allow TYRANNY to Rule!
Ahh, “Power and the Tiny Acts of Rebellion” …. Together, these small acts of rebellion may not be so tiny! Should the citizens of Mason County simply state that there is nothing more we can do? Then, and only then, can the citizens be Held at Fault. Remember the recent article… ”We Have Only Begun to Fight” and add …”The MANY tiny acts of rebellion….”
Yes, yes, and more yes.
ReplyDeleteYesterday I was despondent; today, I am confident again. Not necessarily confident that we will win every battle, but that we can take pride in not giving up, in not sticking our heads in the sand, no matter how desirable it may look; it would diminish us to do so.