Time to go back to school!
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"As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." -- Nelson Mandela, Inaugural speech, 1994
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Just posted this to a related thread but, I think it merits a thread of its own:
Many of us are frustrated by the lack of perceived progress of the Anti-War movement.
Our most serious problem is that we have forgotten the lessons of MLK and the other great leaders of the past that have advocated and practiced civil disobedience in the past. They understood that turning up at rallies with signs was a start but, would not get the job done if peaceful demonstrations could be broken up by the police and would be largely ignored by the public without more effective action.
All over the country the police have been dispersing rallies with a few arrests and then threats of arrest. We must hold our ground out there.
I suggest when arrests start that the group must stay together. If they are going to take one of you make them take all of you. Sit peacefully and lock arms. Refuse to move until taken by the police.
I was at the VERY LARGE march in New York during the RNC. I have dreams of those 500,000 or more people sitting down in the middle of the street and refusing to move. Let the public and the MSM try to ignore that!"
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Please see my site for a more complete discussion and video of recent protests broken up by the police and some suggested tactics how to improve the situation:
http://www.seedsofdoubt.com/distressedamerican/pastfeatures.htm===================================================================
I have had a very negative reaction to the phrase Civil Disobedience. Many assume it is violent action. People have forgotten what it means. On one hand this lack of understanding speaks to the relative lack of political dissent that has occurred (or was necessary) over the past several decades. Unfortunately, circumstances dictate that we reeducated ourselves about these EXTREMELY EFFECTIVE TACTICS!
Here's some good info I dug up:
http://www.web.net/~opirgkin/qcacg/cd.html-Selected snips-
Civil disobedience is the deliberate violation of a law for a social purpose. A distinction must be made: "To violate a law for individual gain, for a private purpose, is an ordinary criminal act; it is not civil disobedience." -- Howard Zinn
History is littered with direct action, civil disobedience, proving pivotal - Diggers and Levellers during the English Civil War, Tolpuddle Martyrs, campaigners against the slave trade on both sides of the Atlantic, Suffragettes, Gandhi and the salt marches, Black civil rights movement, anti-Vietnam War protests, poll-tax riots, anti-road protests, direct action against genetically modified crops.
Non-violent direct action has many dimensions: the destruction of something undesirable, the generation of publicity, part of a strategy to generate awareness, open up closed minds. Direct action is never an excuse for mindless violence.
Democracy is not advanced through the actions of politicians. Politicians have only two interests - self-interest and vested interest, the public is not counted as either of these. The public is a bloody nuisance. The only time politicians take an interest in the public, have any contact with the public, is at election time. This is not because politicians have suddenly become interested in the public—the interest is still, me, me me—but they now need the help of the public to get re-elected, to keep their snouts in the trough; the public is soon to be forgotten until the next election.
Left to their own devices, politicians will always act against democracy and the public interest.
Direct action, civil disobedience, is not an adjunct to the normal political process, it is the only political process that retains and advances human rights, civil liberties and democracy.
Civil disobedience, direct action, is often undertaken when all else fails, when rational debate achieves nothing, when the planning process has been exhausted. For a growing number of people it is where democracy starts, part of empowering the people, bringing responsibility and involvement direct to the people who are effected by the decisions. We don't seek permission from those in power to do what we want to run our own lives, we just do it.
Obedience to law and order is so ingrained it has become almost hard-wired. Liberals feel uneasy about breaking the law, obedience to authority precedes potty training. Laws are man made, men are infallible, men are greedy, men are evil. Laws are interpreted by lawyers and judges, the State decides which laws will be upheld, who will be prosecuted.
The legislators decide which laws to put on the books. The president and his attorney-general decide which laws to enforce. The judges decide who has a right to sue in court, what instructions to give to juries, what rules of law apply, and what evidence should not be allowed in the courtroom.
Blind obedience to Law and Order does not lead to a better society, any more than direct action, civil disobedience leads to anarchy and chaos. Military rule in Indonesia, authoritarian rule in Singapore and Malaysia may have led to 'efficiency' of the sort desired by global corporations, until the stresses of the artificially imposed system cause it to break down in social chaos, riots and civil disorder, but it does not lead to justice or fairness.
Laws are artificial, made by those with the most power. Corporations will often say they are not breaking the law, conveniently forgetting that it was they, through corrupt politicians and intense lobbying, who made the laws.
Direct action can be mass civil disruption, extra-legal activity - sit-ins, sit-downs, mass demonstrations, blocking of roads. Reclaim the Streets will hold an impromptu street party, even if the 'street' just happens to be a six-lane motorway or Parliament Square.
Direct action does not have to involve law breaking. Newbury protesters squatted on the route, claimed their residences as dwellings. The site contractors were obliged to take action through the courts to repossess the land, though they weren't above using violent eviction (ie acting against the law) if they thought they could get away with it and no one was looking.
Civil disobedience does not have to involve direct action. The very act of resisting is disobedience of the ruling class. The most powerful act of resistance is that simple word, 'no'. The 'no' when Vietnam draft dodgers burnt their draft cards and said 'no to Vietnam.'
Activists engaged in direct action experience a strong sense of community, a common purpose binds them close together, they are doing what is right, what they believe in, they are not doing it because they are paid to do it.
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The article is filled with many examples of how Civil Disobedience has been used to make a difference from well know examples like Vietnam and South Africa.
Please take a look and get back with comments. This is an important discussion that WE MUST HAVE if we are ever going to take back our country!!!