No, man, I so totally KNOW how great it feels! The problem becomes that the elation of it completely blots out the absorption of its ineffectuality! And it makes people want to keep doing it! Like hits of opium. It all becomes a life full of opium hits and trying to get more — COMPLETELY unaware that there is no corresponding EFFECT on the world from this "activism". It's everywhere. They can't help themselves and there is NO prying them loose from their opium hits to ACTUALLY make things happen.
If I could get this through people's heads by bashing them against brick walls, I'd do it. I would NOT enjoy it, but if it would WORK, I swear I would DO it.
If enough people take up the cause as they did in the late 60's the ineffectuality can be overcome.
Things were different then, the media was on our side, not a mouthpiece for the government!
Thinking of the 60's got me interested in finding the underground paper I worked on - Counterpoint - but so far I've only found it at several university libraries in microfiche format. The closest find so far is the University of Oregon.
My university has a current paper of the same name, but it is a University organization, not an underground.
I know the media silence is huge, but activists are now RELYING on that to keep them in donations and the adulation from being perceived as Davids against Goliath. Heady stuff!
It's just an excuse! We FORCED the media to cover us in the sixties and they CAN be forced again... but NOT with a bunch of addicts running after their hits instead of the ball.
Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable. —John F. Kennedy
The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they are ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so. —Ronald Reagan
Some of us who have already begun to break the silence of the night have found that the calling to speak is often a vocation of agony, but we must speak. We must speak with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision, but we must speak. —Martin Luther King
We're all fucked. I'm fucked. You're fucked. The whole department is fucked. It's the biggest cock-up ever. We're all completely fucked. —not uttered by anyone in charge lately
Anyone calling Obama a leftist, liberal, or progressive needs to have the stupid beat out of them. —Old Uncle Dave
As for the Taliban ... their stated grievance is the same as Gen. Washington’s in our war with the British: If you want this war to end, get out of our country. —Pat Buchanan
Obama-era drone warfare ... in general looks like Bush-era drone warfare on steroids. —Scott Horton
There has to be altruism in the universe. —Frank Drake
The morons in Washington are pushing the envelope of nuclear war. The insane drive for American hegemony threatens life on earth. The American people, by accepting the lies and deceptions of “their” government, are facilitating this outcome. —Paul Craig Roberts
I am a child of the South. Janet Napolitano tells me I need to be afraid of people who are labeled white supremacists but I was raised around white supremacists. I am not afraid of white supremacists. I am concerned about my own government. The Patriot Act did not come from the white supremacists, it came from the White House and Congress. Citizens United did not come from white supremacists, it came from the Supreme Court. —Cynthia McKinney
No one has to "marry" anyone else politically; no one has to embrace every tenet or belief that an anti-imperialist ally might hold. You simply have to say: "All of us, regardless of our other views, believe this truth to be self-evident: dismantling the empire will bring immediate and enormous benefits to our nation and to the world." —Chris Floyd
The power of the people on top depends on the obedience of the people below. —Howard Zinn
...the government only starts listening to its voters once the more corrupt option turns out to be untenable. —Matt Taibbi
· One out of seven American homeowners will probably lose their homes by the end of 2010.
· Only 4.7 percent of distressed homeowners who enrolled in the modification plan have gotten any help.
· Out of Obama's $75 billion program, only $2.3 million has been spent—or 0.03 percent.
Obama's performance on the foreclosure crisis—along with unemployment, the biggest problem America faces—makes Bush's laissez faire approach to Hurricane Katrina look caring and loving in comparison. If ever there were a cause for impeachment, look no further. —Ted Rall
As self-appointed champions of civilisation against barbarism, they fail to see that a certain barbarism is the flipside of civilisation itself, inseparable from its smooth operation. For every cathedral, a pit of bones; for every artistic masterpiece, human wretchedness and back-breaking toil. —Terry Eagleton
Here at home and throughout the world people are fighting back against the forces of wealth, privilege, and militarism — some because they have no choice, others because they would choose no other course but the one that leads to peace and justice. —Michael Parenti
I've found that culture, however useful and important, is neither the foundation nor the ceiling of human experience, even if it is commonly used for walls. —Thomas Cleary
I really consider President and Mrs. Mubarak to be friends of my family. So I hope to see him often here in Egypt and in the United States. —Hillary Clinton
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☯ ☯ ☯ ☯ ☯ ☯ ☯ ☯ ☯
Kool-Aid Pie
* 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk * 1 envelope Kool-Aid (any flavor) * 1 small tub Cool Whip, thawed
Mix ingredients until thoroughly combined. Pour into ready-made graham cracker pie crust and refrigerate at least one hour before serving.
I must admit there was a lot of joy going on when I did this...
ReplyDeletehttp://bb2pg.blogspot.com/2008/03/marking-5th-anniversary-of-shock-awe.html
Similar feelings were had in the late 60's with the many anti-war activities I participated in.
Crap - forgot to make it a link...
ReplyDeletehttp://bb2pg.blogspot.com/2008/03/marking-5th-anniversary-of-shock-awe.html
No, man, I so totally KNOW how great it feels! The problem becomes that the elation of it completely blots out the absorption of its ineffectuality! And it makes people want to keep doing it! Like hits of opium. It all becomes a life full of opium hits and trying to get more — COMPLETELY unaware that there is no corresponding EFFECT on the world from this "activism". It's everywhere. They can't help themselves and there is NO prying them loose from their opium hits to ACTUALLY make things happen.
ReplyDeleteIf I could get this through people's heads by bashing them against brick walls, I'd do it. I would NOT enjoy it, but if it would WORK, I swear I would DO it.
If enough people take up the cause as they did in the late 60's the ineffectuality can be overcome.
ReplyDeleteThings were different then, the media was on our side, not a mouthpiece for the government!
Thinking of the 60's got me interested in finding the underground paper I worked on - Counterpoint - but so far I've only found it at several university libraries in microfiche format. The closest find so far is the University of Oregon.
My university has a current paper of the same name, but it is a University organization, not an underground.
I know the media silence is huge, but activists are now RELYING on that to keep them in donations and the adulation from being perceived as Davids against Goliath. Heady stuff!
ReplyDeleteIt's just an excuse! We FORCED the media to cover us in the sixties and they CAN be forced again... but NOT with a bunch of addicts running after their hits instead of the ball.
Yup!
ReplyDelete