Revolution Blogging

Last week, I made this rather bleak outlook on our future, judging from Bush's consolidation and the Democrats seemingly falling back into their usual invertebrate tendencies. Rogue left this comment: "You know, I have to wonder what became of us (citizens, not Party members). What happened to the 60's? When did we become afraid of getting beat down by police, protesting, fighting back? When did we decide to just let things slide, kiss our governments ass, and bow down?"

The following was my reply to her that I've been asked to publish on the blog to generate more discussion on why the American public has become so complacent. It was an off-the-cuff response that probably should be cleaned up and reworded for public consumption, but I don't want the message I tried conveying to get lost, so I'm going to print the comment in it's entirety.

Hm. You're asking a simple question that leads into several broad topics that are open for long discussions. (ie: You're making this difficult for me to keep things short. :>)

Back in the 60s, there was a bigger cause to fight for. To be frank, gays and lesbians right now have far more rights than blacks did back in the 60s: they can vote, ride anywhere on the bus, sit anywhere in the restaurant, goto church, not have to kiss the white person's ass, etc. And plus there are no outward signs that someone is homosexual. (OK, OK, that probably isn't true, dependent on individual style choices; I have "gaydar" just like the rest of y'all.) But it's not like being black. Bam! You're black and there ain't no hiding it, now kiss my ass, boy!

In short, homosexuals enjoy more rights now than blacks did back in the 60s. They still lack some rights, but it's not a large enough problem to energize a large scale effort to fight for them.

So what do we need for mass protests?

1) A clearly defined cause

Now I've only brought up the issue with homosexuals. Some may say, "Well, we already have causes!" Very true. We've got a whole slew of causes that I could count on two hands and then borrow your fingers to continue counting. And I think that's also part of our problem. We've got too many causes all trying to shout each other down, and we don't really have a message. So that's the second item we need:

2) A clearly defined, cohesive message.

We're talking two short sentences maximum here. Take the Republicans, for example. We all know what they are for, we could recite it in our sleep: Limiting the size of government, strengthing the rule of law, and blowing shit up overseas. There's your Republican platform right there, pocket-sized and easily conveyable to anyone with two brain cells. And believe me, there are a bunch of people who by this line of shit who only have two brain cells.

Our message has to be instantly recognizable and have broad appeal. It also has to overcome the third factor.

3) People don't protest because they fear losing their careers/livelihood

I know this fear is present in me, especially since 9/11 and the Patriot Act because now I can be defined as a terrorist if I hit the streets and somehow causing violence. The real value of wages against inflation has fallen, causing moe people to live off paycheck to paycheck, week to week. I wasn't alive in teh 60s, but I imagine getting by now is a lot tougher than it was back then. Especially when we all have health insurance hanging over our heads, and if we lose our jobs, we lose that, our house/apartment, vehicle, etc. Our message has to be strong enough to dictate that this doesn't matter.

We also have to take into account cultural factors, which I'll group into...

4) The media keeps us down

Rimone and I email each other pretty frequently. I've only lived in the US, but she grew up here and moved to England, and knows is well versed in the differences between both cultures. One thing I've learn from her,t hat I've suspected for quite a while, is that the media and educational systems beyond our borders are much more comprehensive, detail oriented, and focus on the news local, national, and globe. Half the sources I read to find out what's going on in this country are international, like the Guardian, Telegraph, BBC, Independent, Australian Broadcasting, and Asia Times. The only real news services in this country worth reading are altweekly papers, Salon.com, Mother Jones magazine, small independent publications, etc. I'll read the AP, NY Times WaPo, and oher mainstream media sources based in this country to know what they're thinking, but I always know that they aren't telling me the full story.

And this is the supposedly erudite section of our media that sucks. But once you ge past the "news," it's all downhill from there. Think about this the next time you're standing in like at the supermarket with copies of People, US, Star, Enquirer, Comso, and all these other publications that are filled with utter, useless crap about celebrities and bands and other good for nothing information. Think about the state of our media and try not to cringe when looking at these magazines. Are Jessica and Nick breaking up? Uhm, who knows, AND WHO THE FUCK CARES?!

I don't, but unfortunately, a hell of a lot of people do. These magazines, coupled with all the anti-intellectual fluff you see on television, combines into a multi-billion dollar industry that people keep feeding into. And don't even get me started on how much the local news constantly sucks.

Our media keeps our nation pacified. Whereas in other free societies, like England, their media actually keeps them informed with good, honest, thoughtful coverage from all different points of view.

Is it any wonder why 40% of the electorate just decided to skip the last election? Why? How could they? Don't they care? Don't they know what's at stake? No, they don't, because the media is too focused on selling them perfume or the new J Crew shirt, or that SUV that they don't need, and if they don't want to vote then hey, that's perfectly OK -- The power of the corporations that run the media won't be challanged.

I'm sure there are many other topics to discuss witht his, and I'm hoping people bring them up.

And yes, this was short. :)