Forum Post: Our Banner Has Been Trampled
Posted 11 years ago on Dec. 13, 2012, 5:36 a.m. EST by GypsyKing
(8708)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
Since the start of the Occupy movement and the exhilaration I first felt in seeing that someone, somewhere in America, finally had the courage to find their voices in sufficient numbers to be heard, I have spent a lot of time thinking about how we ever got in this position in the first place.
During the Vietnam era I thought America might change its course - that we might see the error of our ways and have the vision to reaffirm our founding values. I protested Central American policy in the 1980's, when only a handful of us were willing to take to the streets. I then saw the vision of Thomas Jefferson dragged through the mud of "greed is good" trickle down economics for thirty years. I saw Ronald Reagan make an under the table deal with religious zealots in Iran, promising them weapons if they would keep American hostages in Iran so that he could win an election, and I saw him cheered for it.
I watched the CIA sell hard drugs in black neighborhoods to undermine black people politically by putting them in jail in massive numbers and on, and on, and on, and all this time from the American people, silence.
Now, after all those years of silence (and therefore of the the tacit condoning of all that evil), many are saying that the democratic system is to blame - that we need to somehow forge a whole new system at this time of global crisis, from scratch, as if the gravity of what we must already face isn't sufficiently daunting!
Well those of us who have been observing all of this since L.B.J. can tell you flatly that we have no one to blame but ourselves. It may be a comforting illusion to feel that something else . . . someone else . . . somewhere else . . . was to blame - that if only we had had some utopian system in place to save ourselves from ourselves then everything would have been different; but the truth is there is no abstract "system" greater than democracy to save us from ourselves.
Our banner is the flag of the United States of America, and it has been trampled.
Just as no conceivable system can overcome the will of the people committed for the good . . . for freedom, for truth, and for a noble vision of mankind; likewise no conceivable system can save the people from their own selfishness, apathy and lack of regard for their fellow man . . . and so we (and I include myself in this) must stop trying to place the blame for our failure on some abstraction (that outside of human consciousness does not even exist), and instead have the courage to accept responsibility for our past mistakes and to atone for them through a relentless engagement, through a willingness to meet our problems as we find them, and to overcome them through our passion, our commitment, and the power of a renewed moral vision.
We in America have carried that banner before. So in the memory of our forefathers, who have fought and died out of nothing but a genuine concern for the human good - and to acknowledge those who have had the courage to retake Zuccotti Park in the teeth of international corporatism - let us make no more excuses, and instead shoulder the weight of that banner once again, through direct engagement in the great legacy of democracy, and in protest, in strikes, and occupations - for nothing but the sake of our honor, and to take back the honor of our flag.
Resist All Dogmas. Come Together!
Great post
Thanks. It expresses what I have been feeling for awhile now.:)
Me too.
Good post Gypsy.
Thanks Nevada.
I could not agree with you more
[ Ive been there since Vietnam ]
but I'd add one ( probably unpopular ) comment
we can occupy, march, protest, post and demand
BUT
unless we find, support, and vote
for more Bernies & Elizabeths & Sherrods, we are wasting our time
It may be unpopular to say so, but I agree completely about finding more Bernie's etc., and it is strange that that would be an unpopular sentiment here. We must see the areas where progress is acually being made and push hardest in those directions at those times.
That is the functioning dynamic of a social movement, and the opposite is becoming caught up by, and split by, codified doctrines.
Those who are real here have the same objectives; and so we must work together as much as possible, becoming split as little as possible by doctrinary (sp) thinking.
That's my opinion, anyway.
GK Yes yes yes...but do we know what it means to coming together......it has been watered down to facebook and alike. Are we willing to share the burdens of others?...share our lives...open our hearts? ps ...Isn't honor of the flag a dogma?
Both ponts well taken. Yet I actually do deeply believe in the founding values of this country, and although patrioism is indeed often "the last refuge of a scoundrel," I have been angered to see the way those values have been twisted by the corporate right into something unrecognizable.
The corporate right is disgusting. But so is the corporate left.
Corporatism is neither liberal nor conservative. It is corporatism. Its its own thing. And you will never hear the MSM talk about it because its all engulfing, and screws everyone.
It doesnt divide and conquer. They love divide and conquer.
Corporatism is right-wing ideology. It was the ideology of Mussolini, and there is simply no question that his was a right wing movement. In our desire to unify we cannot become delluded about how things actually stand - if we do we become ineffective.
"Fascism should rightly be called Corporatism, as it is the merger of corporate and government power" - Benito Mussolini
Corporatism needs massive government help to be pulled off, of which the Dems are more known for. Each of the two corporate parties uses their key talking points to further the state of fascism.
The Dems use their key points of "more regulation", but they never hold those accountable at the top. This should be obvious by now. The result is that the smaller guys get the burden of the regulation, of which they cannot financially compete. Hence it drowns out competition, helping the multinationals. Its why after Frank Dodd, nothing has changed except there are 0 applications for new banks and the consolidation continues.
The Republicans claim of "deregulation" to help business appeals to their base. Except they never really repeal any meaningful regulation, only create new loopholes for the multinationals to go through, hence helping the big guys and screwing the little ones.
Obamacare is a great example. Its going to put a lot of small businesses under. The very big ones can handle it, and will, because their market share is going to go up. Corporate restaurants will be fine. The mom and pops will have a very hard time. (I personally would have just raised medicaid up to the national average income of 36k).
Bush claimed that deregulation was great for business. He removed a lot of SEC personel. There were still people getting prosecuted, just not the big guys. The little ones were the focus. Drown out competition.
They are both guilty, and both get towards it by simply appealing to their 20% of the market. Parties taht are bribed....errr.....funded by corporations will always side with the people who got them their jobs, or kept them.
"Corporatism needs massive government help to be pulled off, of which the Dems are more known for."
Wow, on how many levels does this not make sense?
LOL - just a bit confused - ain't he/she?
One small example- Obama wanted a single payer option, which would of course have gradually transformed the system to national health care. The Repubs in congress were able to stifle that, and so now the Dems get the blame?
Why is is that some people think we can't remember what happened three years ago, and make deductions based upon our memeory? What we often have now is ongoing historical revision - the belief on the part of some that by not acknowledging reallity, by not acknowledging facts, they can twist truth in any direction they like.
It is a continuation of the same game. The public in general is out of the loop on what is being done and by whom. Poor news coverage - and no one calling out liar. Allows this game to actually get people to believe the lie.
They do the dirty - then blame it on the other.
This has not worked so well recently as people are pissed off and are looking into things like they have not for a very long time - and they are seeing the dirty deeds doer and their follow-up lies of blaming the other guy.
But habits die hard - and their are still many uninformed people - so the blame the other guy game continues.
The Republicans are the ones constantly screaming about less government., not the Dems. Do you hear Dems talking less government?
Multinational corporations need the parties to leave them alone (Republican deregulation) and many rules to keep the competition from rising up (Democrats regualtions).
Each side says they are doing it in the best interest of the country, but they ignore the ones with the money.
You dont feel as if the population is getting played by this two party system?
Translation . . . "Resistance if futile. You will be assimilated.
Repeat: Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated."
TRUTH
Fundamental change and growth for the BETTER for ALL - will come from the involvement and actions of THE PEOPLE.
Our ( the people - ALL - people ) SPIRIT IS REAWAKENING.
And so we go forward - TOGETHER
Thanks for the post GK. {:-])
You got it!
Great post!!!! Right on!!
Thank you, Sir.
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"Well those of us who have been observing all of this since L.B.J. can tell you flatly that we have no one to blame but ourselves. It may be a comforting illusion to feel that something else . . . someone else . . . somewhere else . . . was to blame - that if only we had had some utopian system in place to save ourselves from ourselves then everything would have been different"
That is spot freakin on. And it is that realization that will lead to people taking the lead, realizing they are to blame, and hence changing their actions or lack of action.
Well now, you can't fight Social Justice can ya? :)
Key words: "over 'ME'."
Theeighthpiece is apparently incapable of actually addressing a point. A hundred monkeys in a room could do a better job of actually saying something that pertains to the topic.
Attackers generally do a tap dance rather then try to make a position discussion.