Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Monday, April 16, 2007
If not now, when?
Really love the way you get behind all the stale thinking that passes for “public discourse” in America today ... Your attacks on Bush / Cheney / Rove—BCR—are spot on ... But even more impressive are pieces like this, where you expose the ludicrous assumptions of political correctness, the sad sad residue of what was—for a brief moment—a broad-based coalition for a better country that was based on the civil-rights movement and in the anti-Vietnam war movement ... This is exactly why I always thought Network was a terrible “model” for “mobilizing” public outrage—after you stop being “mad as hell” after a while, your commitment fades with the emotion ... and then the whole “people will rise up” notion of political change just collapses ... keep it up—so to speak—Mick ... glad to be part of the scene ... and plesae do check out my blog, Grok Your World ... http://www.grokyourworld.com/louisxiv/ ... Thanks again ... Dave
Posted by Dr DC on from San Francisco, California 04/16 at 06:05 AMSomething that is a bit strange to people not from this country, which I can’t explain, is that people don’t fill the streets. This is a theme of things I’ve read, people I’ve heard, over and over in the past month. I read “Hear my testimony” by Maria Teresa Tula, writing about her experiences in El Salvador. She went to a protest in the states, and was shocked that people were simply standing on the part of the sidewalk they were told they were allowed to stand on. In El Salvador, she said, the people owned the streets, and there is no way they would have simply stood on the sidewalk. And consider that El Salvador was a place where people were tortured and disappeared for simply trying to find people who were tortured and disappeared. They were terrified of the police, and that wouldn’t stop them.
People all over the world were waiting for the people of the US to fill the streets in protest when the election was stolen in 2000. Where were we? What were we doing? (watching tv, i suspect)
I worked with someone who told me, in all seriousness, that the news didn’t do enough to be entertaining. She didn’t feel like watching it. She refused to read it. Maybe if it was in comic format, 5 second blips. She even saw how ridiculous she was being, and refused to consider educating herself. (yet she would rant and rave about american politics, which was a bit odd, really)
I think that what it will take is for the middle class to be hit hard where it hurts - in their comforts and luxuries. I’m basing that on Argentina, really. I think that we’re anesthetized in this country, convinced that participating in life means watching reality TV, and that upsetting the status quo will make us unsafe or some other vague and vaguely negative thing. 45 million uninsured, another 40 million underinsured. The middle class is starting to be hit by these realities now. Guerilla gardening is definitely a good idea.
Posted by Deb on from NoVa 04/16 at 07:20 AMYour right Deb, N. Americans appear to be anethestized. Thats what it might take, tortures, murders, and disappearing right off the streets and out of homes before people revolt. Maybe this is what Bush and Co. mean when they say, “If we dont fight them there, we will have to fight them here.” This is said so often there must be some truth in it, if the statement can be put in proper context.
What Dr.DC says about ‘commitment fading with emotion’, rings true in my experience. It is difficult for an indivual without community support to sustain the drive to lead a rebellion.
The N. American people are not stupid. They are the recipients of a psycological campaign of massive proportions.
We/they need more posts like this one that attempt to lay out the big picture, and encourage intelligent discussion.Posted by Frances on from bc 04/16 at 08:27 AMI once asked William Blum a similar question, and I think his answer, sadly, is probably near correct: (paraphrasing) many Americans won’t trouble themselves to do anything to make a difference until the government breaks down their doors and takes their firstborn.
His recommendation, I think, was also a good one: forget about the blockheads and move on to those who are reachable.
Posted by Jeremy on from Taipei, Taiwan 04/16 at 08:48 AMHi Frances...you said, “Americans appear to be anethestized. Thats what it might take, tortures, murders, and disappearing right off the streets and out of homes before people revolt”
Yes...they won’t....please master, don’t kick me until I’’m down...Gurdjieff always said, not only has man accepted his enslavement, he has even become proud of his enslavement...!
Posted by Joe of Maine on from 04/16 at 09:13 AMMorning all…
James/Mick, my plans to come to NYC this weekend fell through. I will be coming Memorial Day weekend with a bunch of my family and we will all be attending the Yankee game on that Saturday. Can’t wait for that…
If either of you have anything going on that weekend let me know...I’d love to get together sometime.
By the way...I did sign up at the hardocre Vegan group thing and was denied by the group leader who sent me a very nice note explaining why and where a non-vegan such as myself should go.
Posted by JOS on from Chicago 04/16 at 09:30 AMHey JOS that’s too bad about this weekend, I guess we’ll just wait and see about Memorial Day. Did you really try to join the Vigilant Vegans and tell her that you’re not vegan? I could see how that wouldn’t go over too well, I mean I wouldn’t have cared really, but she’s pretty serious about it all with the club. It must have been fun to read her note to you!
Posted by James on from work 04/16 at 09:52 AMHello JOS...you mentioned hardcore Vegen group...does this mean there are Militant Vegen’s?
Boy..it’s good I stopped chain smoking cigars before I logged in...(-:
Posted by Joe of Maine on from 04/16 at 09:53 AMSpeaking of vegans:
http://tinyurl.com/ytqvvmPosted by James on from work 04/16 at 09:54 AMHello Expendables...from a wet, rainy, soggy, Astoria. It’s <still</i> raining and we have a leak in the bedroom. It woke us up in the middle of the night and I ended up canceling clients today due to lack of sleep and the nedd to manage the problem. Can you imagine what life is like in the cities and towns being blown to bits by bombs that we paid for?
P.S. Welcome to the site, Dr. DC and Deb: how was the Anarchist Book Fair?
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 04/16 at 10:00 AMNoam Chomsky and Howard Zinn today over at Democracy Now. Talking about public dissent, patriotism, vietnam and Iraq. Timely.
Joe, my ‘pack a day’ habit tells me Gurdjieff is right.Posted by Frances on from bc 04/16 at 10:04 AMJoe, my ‘pack a day’ habit tells me Gurdjieff is right. Great wit Frances! Yes Mickey what’s a little water...when others have army tanks making house calls!
Posted by joe of maine on from 04/16 at 10:12 AMMickey, the bookfair was pretty good. We didn’t get to all of the talks we hoped, and the ones we saw weren’t necessarily as excellent as I had hoped, but overall it got me thinking, which is the point anyway. And I got to eat a vegan dosa from a cart at washington square, just as if I were a normal person! :D
And there was a talk about Josh Wolf at bluestockings afterwards, which ended up being a video conference with him, since he was freed about a week and a half ago. That was good, and this guy (wish I could find his blog) talked afterwards about an incident where the ny police basically tackled him and stole his video camera at a protest about brad will outside the mexican embassy…
Jeremy, William Blum sounds overly optimistic! I’m not convinced the average american would do much even if their first borns were taken. The wars are certainly taking plenty of first borns, and even if a draft happened to take those who weren’t “volunteering” (whether through poverty or whatever other reason), it would be students flooding the streets (I hope they would, anyway), not their parents. I’m not sure *anything* could shake my parent from their complacency, really.
Posted by Deb on from NoVa 04/16 at 11:08 AMJames: “Did you really try to join the Vigilant Vegans and tell her that you’re not vegan?”
Yes, pretty funny, huh? I could not tell a lie as I still had bacon grease at the corners of my meat-eating mouth. The group leader was very nice about the whole thing.
Joe: “Hello JOS...you mentioned hardcore Vegen group...does this mean there are Militant Vegen’s?”
I’ve found vegans to be the most militant of all groups!
Posted by JOS on from Chicago 04/16 at 11:17 AMThe eye of the storm has reached MA, but it’s not over. Though not nearly as severe, this storm system looked almost as big as Katrina - stretching from eastern Kentucky to the Maine/NB border at one point.
What It Takes For Change: A few days ago, a young man from Nigeria filled my car with revolutionary petrol (Citgo, baby, YEAH! - A. Powers). He’s been here five years and is living in my hometown. “So, what do you think of America?” I asked. “On the TV, you never see poor people in America. And in Nigeria, if you don’t have a job, you live with your [extended] family, not in a homeless shelter.” I replied “Many from this country don’t think there are poor people, and wouldn’t care too much anyway.” We also spoke about the core social differences between Europe and the US, and agreed that travel, even within a country, is essential for understanding what goes on. I think he’ll turn out OK. This place, not so much.
That said, the tipping point in the US will have to include large numbers of white people who formerly thought themselves safe/privileged, but have become stripped clean of any pretense. Economic self-delusion is the largest block to this before the fact, and latent racism to solidarity afterward. Partial proof: http://tinyurl.com/3bjpfb
Captcha sez ‘waiting.’
Posted by Zen Prole on from Urth 04/16 at 11:45 AMare you all seeing this about the shooting. whats going on?
Posted by michael on from scotland 04/16 at 11:50 AMBreaking/Broken News: http://tinyurl.com/3993jy
According to Michael Moore, Canada has more guns per capita than the US but doesn’t contend with murderous rampages on a weekly basis. (Frances, please follow up on this if necessary.) I’ve taken to poring over these regular accounts for any sort of sociopolitical reality. No luck yet.
“Armed Madhouse” is Greg Palast’s latest book.
Posted by Zen Prole on from Urth 04/16 at 11:51 AMSo long as the AvAm (and yes!Mickey coined that phrase)has his/her 150 channels of television, plentiful gasoline and shopping malls to visit, nothing will change.
The most important virtue to the AvAm is that EVERYONE works hard. We cannot sing loudly enough the praises of “being a hard-working American.” Working hard allows one to partake in the Great Consumer Society and Consumption is the truest expression of patriotic zeal.
And Corporate Jesus is the ideological foundation for our Great Way of Life. Because we love Jesus better than anybody else on the planet, Corporate Jesus has seen to it that we are “blessed’ with more stuff than anyone else. So if we have Corporate Jesus’ blessing, how can we ever do anything wrong?
Irony of the morning: captcha word is “public”
Posted by The CultureGhost on from Concord CA 04/16 at 11:58 AMAnd if the AvAM should get angry about not getting his/her share, that anger is expressed like this:
http://tinyurl.com/3993jyPosted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 04/16 at 12:10 PMI wish I could get worked up about the shooting at Virginia Tech, but what can one expect from a culture that adores violence the way we do…
There was gunfire in my neighborhood (just across the street and up two or three houses) late Saturday night. I live in the suburbs...boring middle/working class suburbs. Some clown was driving around discharging a weapon...I turned off all the lights and stayed on the floor until it subsided. The police response was fairly overwhelming...hell, I didn’t know the City of Concord had so many police vehicles....
oh hell...captcha word is “blood” no foolin’
Posted by The CultureGhost on from Concord CA 04/16 at 12:31 PMhey...we’re losing big time to some site called Feministing...go here and vote:
http://www.bloggerschoiceawards.com/blogs/show/730
Posted by JOS on from Chicago 04/16 at 12:44 PMFor some reason today, few days past tax day and with the news of more violence, this song comes to mind-- Vicious, blonde in the 70s:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=T0c8Q6doiJI
Posted by James on from work 04/16 at 01:11 PMZen, looks like people up here in Canada-land are offing *themselves* with guns more than killing each other. When viewing these stats keep in mind Yukon and Northwest Territories are hunting country...probably more rifles than hand guns.
1990-98
http://tinyurl.com/5rd83more gun stats us world canada:
http://tinyurl.com/2g4koaMake of it what you will.
Thanks for the Lou Reed, James, righteous!!Posted by Frances on from bc 04/16 at 03:21 PMplease read…
Posted by michael on from scotland 04/16 at 04:55 PMHello all… I am out of Vermont and in the eye of the storm, snow, wind, and power outages here. Just dropping by to ask if it is a violation of the culture for those in a military school to use deadly weapons and deadly force when they have a difference of opinion. Sad, but maybe it is a symptom of the culture of military type based education????? Thus far I have not heard any news commentator make the connection. Maybe this is another example of chickens coming home to roost???
Posted by rmj on from here, not there 04/16 at 05:00 PMThat’s quite a list there, Mickey! And I would have to agree with you here: it really seems that Americans (or Australians for that matter)will put up with ‘plenty more’ before they take action in sizeable numbers.
‘Hallo’ from a still warm Daylesford (75F today) to Dr DC from SF (my favourite American city, along with NYC), Deb, Frances, , Jeremy, Joe of Maine, JOS, Zen Prole, Michael, The Culture Ghost and mj.
Send some rain from Astoria to Australia, Mickey - please. The drought still hasn’t broken.
Bye from down under, Helga
Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 04/16 at 06:18 PMHey, everyone, what a great group ... thanks for being so welcoming and fraternal ... can already feel the links of solidarity developing ...
... has been a crazy day—which is continuing—but just wanted to say thanks for everyone, and especially Frances and Helga for their specific acknowledgment ... very nice ... must run now, but look forward to continuing here ... David
Posted by Dr DC on from San Francisco, California 04/16 at 06:55 PMHello all,
I’m very saddened by today’s shooting. This is totally insane. My sincere condolences to the family of the dead.
Posted by Ehtesham on from Canada 04/16 at 08:35 PM“I wish I could get worked up about the shooting at Virginia Tech, but what can one expect from a culture that adores violence”
I concur with CultureGost. Just today while attending my 2 yr old niece’s swimming lesson, I witnessed a 20 something year old male swimming instructor yell at a 2 something yr old girl because she wasn’t swimming in “proper” form and the mother just sat there thinking the instructor was wonderful.
Posted by Fiona on from san diego 04/16 at 08:53 PMThis evening with remote control in hand I watched Jamal Albarghouti the graduate student who videoed the police at Va Tech make the rounds of the TV networks covering the shootings. Finally-- looking weary, he talked to Larry King and began to expand on his background which he described on another newscast earlier as Palestinian from the West Bank (who he then quickly added after a nervous pause had lived in Saudi Arabia for an extended time.)
On King, after much morbid questioning, he began describing his sympathy for the friends and family of people killed and then began to describe how he had experienced violence in the Middle East and had been surprised by today’s violence in Blacksburg-- which he thought would be a peaceful place to be.
Suddenly, it seems, the interview ended. King briefly commented on the irony and the program broke for a commercial.
Just a moment ago (the TV is still on as I type this), a CNN reporter announced that it had hoped to speak again to Albarghouti, but Albarghouti could not appear: because he had learned that a friend of his had been one student who had been shot.
All of these sudden and horrifying events are extremely taxing on the mind. One student being interviewed all day was a girl named Sheehan.
While all this is going on, I cannot help search for other breaking news. What is next?
Still, I feel ready to just drop out.
Posted by Robert B. Livingston on from San Francisco, California 04/16 at 09:57 PMFlashpoints radio reports on Virginia Tech and Iraq daily news. Ironically Iraq released a report today documenting the traumatic stress that 70% of students are suffering.
Also my hero Dr. Vandana Shiva gives keynote address at the 25th annual E law conference in Oregon. (speech runs about 35 min.)
http://www.flashpoints.net/Posted by frances on from bc 04/16 at 10:25 PM
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