by Starman » Wed Aug 17, 2005 2:11 pm
Chiggerbit said:<br><br>"It isn't about civility, Starman, it is about not giving the pro-war people a platform."<br><br>C'mon -- WHATEVER folks actually DO to protest this country's mind-numbing, death-worshipping, abuse-of-power, fraud and corruption, war-mongering and lies and insanity is going to be manipulated, spun and used by the pro-Bush, pro-war, happily-fall-into-line faux-Patriotic crowd. You *seem* to think that folks can actually DO something to shake the system without offending ANYBODY or stepping on toes or making a spectacle that the pro-rightwing gang can jump-on and exploit -- that's simply not realistic when the system has become so fouled-up and resistant to reason and change.<br><br>For Christs-Sake -- the political system is broken, where have you BEEN? The electronic election process is filled with holes and flaws, exploited by the Powers that be to perpetuate their scams, the Democratic party isn't the paety of opposition but a sell-out to the same special interests steering the GOP, politicians and chief law officials are intimidated and afraid to take a controversial stance challenging the extra-legal power and authority of the status-quo, the Federal Government wraps itself in impermeable layers of secrecy and special exemptions in order to remove accountability and regulatory oversight, the bureaucracy ignores the voiced concerns of ordinary people while bending over backwards to accomodate the corporatocracy which it increasingly resembles, creating staged terrorism spectacles to keep the populace distracted and off-balance and as a way to rationalize the stripping of civil rights and the militarization of domestic and foreign policy -- and the media has become a willing accomplice to Federal propaganda. What forums beside public activism and the internet do concerned citizens have left to make themselves heard anymore?<br><br>-- And YOU suggest the anti-war movement should abandon any forum or activity that might POSSIBLY be criticized, because the rightwing can distort it and spin their own message?<br><br>I mean, that seems to be the crux of your *point*, isn't it? Also assuming the anti-war movement is a single cohesive, unified and perfectly-disciplined (and well-funded) entity that acts as a single 'group' -- an assumption at tremendous variance with who the anti-war folks are, and where those on the 'liberal' and 'left' side of the sociopolitical spectrum come from and what they're 'about' -- <br><br>As I think I posted somewhere, the real strength of the war-opposition is the tremendous diversity and individuality of the people protesting the idiocy and backward-thinking of the nation's war-agenda -- The 'movement' is based on individual action and resourcefulness and integrity -- So your prodding and suggestions about what 'they' should do are at-best misdirected, at worst plain unworkable and unrealistic. If you feel so strongly about something, then that should be YOUR guide to action -- The missing component is where YOU fit into this struggle. Lead by example -- self-empowerment and personal initiative is what the anti-war movement is 'based' on -- it's not an official group or organization that can be 'managed' or directed --<br><br>AND-- What really gets me -- For pointing this out, and speaking my mind that I find your position perplexing, I'm 'arrogant'.<br><br>It's the comfortable, insulated ambivalence of the Larry Mattladge's of this nation, that are the biggest impediment to substantial change and progressive reform. They are the self-willed, disconnected elephants forging in the community gardens while the starving villagers either hide in the jungle or mill in the plantation-owners courtyard, vainly imploring the unseen masters garrisoned behind their palace walls, to 'do something!'.<br>But a few villagers have banded together to build strong fences, set-traps and dig diversion-ditches, manufacture spears and special bait-scents to prod the elephants and lure them away -- they're actually DOING something, each driven by their own ideas of the best way but finding common purpose.<br><br>So: Do you see the elephants as a problems, are you working on a solution? Or are you hiding in the jungle, or waiting on the bigwigs to find time to listen to your concerns?<br><br>It seems you're telling the villagers, "Return to your homes, everything will be fine, the market will be full of good things to eat tomorrow, you'll see!"<br><br>And *I'M* the arrogant one, for pointing out this doesn't make sense?<br><br>Yeah, well -- whatever man.<br>Different worlds, eh?<br>Peace and lik dat.<br>Starman <p></p><i></i>