AlterNet: Are Americans Too Broken by Corporate Power to Resist?
This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 24th, 2010 at 12:13 PM and filed under Articles. Follow comments here with the RSS 2.0 feed. Skip to the end and leave a response. Trackbacks are closed.
2 Responses to “AlterNet: Are Americans Too Broken by Corporate Power to Resist?”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
What this interview implies, among other things, is that (sadly) Michael’s choice of Orwell’s famous line as the slogan for Civic was prescient, and is becoming increasingly the case. As the “controllers” of the past, present and future (corporate America, MSM, party politics et al) continute to entrench themselves and maintain (if not increase) their control, people become more and more demoralized about their ability to effect REAL change – if not becoming downright apathetic.
One thing not mentioned in the interview as a “controlling” factor – and to my mind HUGELY conspicuous by its absence – is the growing proto-totalitarian “police state.” Not only does the growing “surveillance state” aspect of this demoralize us by robbing us of even basic privacy, but there is nothing that will demoralize the average citizen more – and make them less likely to be “active” – than the threat (tacit or otherwise) of harm or incarceration. And if a person thinks that the relatively simple act of writing a letter or (God forbid!) attending a protest rally might lead to “unintended” (law enforcement or other) consequences, s/he is not going to take the risk.
As the interview reveals, there is no easy solution for this – on any level. To my mind, unless and until people are ready, willing and able to “lay it on the line” – unless and until the situation becomes so bad for them PERSONALLY that they are willing to “engage,” actively, even if it means physical harm, incarceration or (for the hardiest) dying for what they need or believe in – I do not see how we can expect any truly “serious,” broad-based popular uprising against the “controllers.”
Posted on 24-Mar-10 at 6:17 pm | PermalinkI would add that, despite the rhetoric, fomenting, anger and (sometimes over-the-top) actions by the tea partiers and other “populist” movements, they are not the answer here. I doubt very many of them would be willing to die for the cause.
And, ultimately, that is what it takes: historically, there is no social/political movement in the U.S. that has been successful without people willing to go to jail, and even die for their cause. It is naive folly to think that the kind of change that is required can be achieved without the same fortitude – and willingness to (if necessary) die for one’s cause – that was evident in every successful social movement in history.
Posted on 24-Mar-10 at 6:33 pm | Permalink