Go with the flow or fight the good fight?

I'm pretty sure I know the general concensus of opinion here, but I was talking to my sister the other day about redistricting and ask if she had received my e-mail about the rally in Austin. She laughed, said yes, but she was writing "letters" about the problem. I have talked to so many that seem to think that we should just ride out the bad time or "go with the flow" and that "things will change": i.e. get better, as they always do. Don't get me wrong, writing letters is good and sometimes even get results, but I think hard core screaming and activism works quicker and better. As an hardcore optimist, it is hard for me to admit but I'm not even sure that anything is going to get better unless we MAKE it happen. So to the many deep thinkers here, what is your opinion??? Go with the flow and enjoy life if one can or scream, make waves, protest, argue, and see what happens and if nothing, which is the case so far, go get a nice Cab or what?

working and go mow.

don't go with that flow, republicans will flow over all of us if we don't fight back.

are screaming in the foggy dark. This is probably not the question to ask here since most agree we should be screaming at the TOP of our lungs about what is going on. It is just so not the Southern lady thing I was taught. (By society, not my Mom.)

gas with the push. Please save me. I much rather be posting here.

Is going to require activism and civil disobedience, at the least.

to the norm is not exactly the easiest life. However, I think we sleep much better at night. (Unless we are obsessing about the present condition and then we NEVER sleep.)

"Things will get better" <---that is the biggest illusion that ever was.
The nation as a whole is getting robbed and raped. Everything is getting "privatized". The result of the last three years is that tens of millions of people will spend their twilight years in poverty, people will work more and earn significantly less, more people will have to choose in between drugs and food and rent, and jobs that offer a pension will be a lot harder to find.

people like you around. But in the meanwhile life goes on and we liberals are miserable, because things are not changing and we live our day to day lives tired and sad.

I have become pretty cynical about both methods.

I dont think writing a letter will do anything but to be honest i dont think protesting helps either. The politicians just dont care either way..

Only way to get their attention is to do something radical like fighting etc and thats just stupid to do.. so imo nothing helps.. i know this is a awful attitude but i just dont see a solution.


I really hope im wrong though

fighting for change as our only chance to save the world to do?

Letter writing reaffirms public sentiment. Getting letters published it the BEST way to bring like minded people in your community out of the woodworks..They will write too....

Protesting and boycotting DO work if the target is carefully selected...never assume there is NO RIPPLE effect.

vain. A well written letter by a well respected member of the community does serve a good purpose and probably reflects thoughts of many others.

If all anybody did was sit around, bitching and moaning, but never doing anything, then we might as well phone it now.

I might lose, but I'm going to go down fighting - I'm NEVER giving in!

me. Surely something will make a difference and if not then I don't think I really want to around to see the nondifference. I feel like that about all things, but especially politics.

I didnt get cynical over night you know.. Trust me when i say i used to be pretty active.

Now whenever i meet a freeper or whatever i just sigh and walk away. A year ago id debate with him right on the street

It gets really depressing, doesn't it, but we desperatly need folks like you so please don't give up.

It's difficult *not* to get discouraged, but a forum like DU to remind me that I'm not merely screaming in the wilderness makes it easier to keep on keepin' on.

In othe words...I'll go down fighting too, baby! :yourock:

after the elections in 2002 that I started looking for a place to blast bush. I was nervous about being "accepted" but soon found I was sort of calm (believe me this is not what most think of me) in comparison to many other.

will make the uproar that is needed and necessary for change. Don't you think that the activists for women, gays and against the Vietman war made a big difference in our country? Granted it took time (for me, as a woman, way TOO much time) but it finally happened.

But for some reason it feels like they dont care..

I mean the whole world protested against the iraq war and the politicians just laughed it off.. What else is there.


Ill support my candidate and vote for whomever we nominate, i usually try to debate (altough lord knows theres no debating with freepers).

But it feels like i cant do more.

;(

ohwell i hate self pity. I reallllly hope im wrong !!

spoke out at a local Dem meeting (where we had less people than we had candidates at the last election) and was very surprised at the people who responded to my comments and who now are also speaking out. Find a group (not just internet) that you can go to for like thoughts and it will certainly help you and THEM.

“Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night”

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

inclusion of the work in its entirety. It really says what we need to hear, if you are willing to listen.

is about death, I thought it was appropriate here because you are talking about the death of spirit. I'm glad you appreciated it.

Here are some of my other favorites:

The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.
— Albert Einstein

All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing.
— Edmund Burke

Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are people who want crops without ploughing the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning; they want the ocean without the roar of its many waters. The struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, or it may be both. But it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand; it never has and it never will.
— Frederick Douglass

Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
— Margaret Mead

We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.

A lot of people are waiting for Martin Luther King or Mahatma Gandhi to come back -- but they are gone. We are it. It is up to us. It is up to you.

— Marian Wright Edelman

When good people in any country cease their vigilance and struggle, then evil men prevail.
— Pearl S. Buck

Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.
— Robert F. Kennedy

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
— Martin Luther King, Jr.

been the way of the world, whether it is about freedom for slaves, votes for women, acceptance of and rights for gays, fighting against war, and all of the other policies that go against the human spirit. It means raging and writing and talking and living our lives in a way that shows we are made great and better by lending a hand of acceptance and support to all those who travel with us on this globe. (P.S. I am off my soapbox now.)

ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE
ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE

ORGANIZE!!!

The great thing about Texans is THEY DON'T TAKE ANY SHIT!!! And for the ones on my side...ALL THE BETTER....RAISE HELL AND DON'T SHUT UP!!!!

Looks at the Repubs...they are an embarrassment to themselves but they harnessed it to their advantage.....

SHUT THE DAMN STATE DOWN IF YOU HAVE TO!!!!

and many other DUs and other Texans were here long before those greedy, carpetbaggers got here. We know who and what the character and demeanor of real, honest, kindhearted people is about. We might not have agreed with one anothers' viewpoint but we were polite and respectful and tried, really tried, to listen. Now things are totally and only about power and about lording it over others, especially those who are poorer and less powerful than the ones who rule. This fact sends me to the street to call out for fairness and for an ear, not just for my way, but to hear all of us, not just the right wing.

with only a little backslide. Thanks for reaffirming my position.

HELL YES! FIGHT THE FIGHT!

:yourock:

SHUT THE FUCKER DOWN IF YOU HAVE TO!!:thumbsup:

But I guess that is when the tough get going.

but I'm convinced the work people like you do DOES make a difference, if not right away then it only builds momentum for the next time, and so on and so on.

On the other hand, doing nothing has NO chance of changing anything.:shrug:

But, the redistricting issue in Texas IS gaining momentum for the Dems, isn't it? From where I sit it seems to be. Some set backs for sure, (a recent decision placing a majority of Repukes to decide an issue pertaining to it - bummer) but it seems to me there is a lot of support for the Democrats down there fighting the special sessions being called for nothing less than a naked power grab.

the folks in power are not listening.I have no idea what is going to happen next. We can only keep working and hope for the best. Thanks for the good vibes,

vibes" Democrats. I am pretty sure DU is the closest I am going to get to that.