Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Friday, August 25, 2006
The numbers just don’t add up (and "they" still have the guns)
In the Vietnam War protest song, “Five to One,” Jim Morrison of The Doors sings:
The old get old/And the young get stronger
May take a week/And it may take longer
They got the guns/But we got the numbers
Gonna win, yeah/We’re takin’ over
In my youth, I took solace in the whole “we got the numbers” thing. The very idea filled me with hope…but little did I know, the ones with the guns have had it all figured out for a very, very long time. Philosopher David Hume—in 1758—explained it this way: “As force is always on side of the governed, the governors have nothing to support them but opinion. It is, therefore, on opinion only that government is founded and this maxim extends to the most despotic and most military governments as well as to the most free and most popular.”
This potent combination of muscle and misinformation manifested itself in the events leading up to the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. On February 15 of that year, tens of millions of earthlings marched and carried signs to declare their unambiguous disapproval of America’s plan to drastically ratchet up what had essentially been a 12-plus year war against the people of Iraq.
The massive global protests were barely noticed.
The shock-and-awe invasion went on as planned.
The repulsive occupation continues to this day.
Doesn’t say a whole lot for “having the numbers,” huh?
Read the full article by clicking here.
P.S. I got an early e-mail response to this article. It came from a woman named Faith and read, in part: My point exactly. I for one am ready for the street. 51 years old, poor health, and grown children. I’ve got NOTHING left to lose. Guess I’ll have to wait for everybody else.
(more from Faith next week)
(In other news, Pluto is no longer a goddamned planet.)
Copyright © 2005-2007 Mickey Z.
