Political Unrest in the US
Note: If I post something, I sometimes neither agree, or disagree with the author or the POV of the shooter of the video, or with what is being said, I just find it interesting.
(May 2007 upload)Breaking The Spell: Modern Revolutionary Theory
Text with video:
In representative democracy people abdicate their power to elected officials. The candidates' stated policies are limited to a few vague generalities, and once they are elected there is little control over their actual decisions on hundreds of issues - apart from the feeble threat of changing one's vote, a few years later, to some equally uncontrollable rival politician. Representatives are dependent on the wealthy for bribes and campaign contributions; they are subordinate to the owners of the mass media, who decide which issues get the publicity; and they are almost as ignorant and powerless as the general public regarding many important matters that are determined by unelected bureaucrats and independent agencies. Overt dictators may sometimes be overthrown, but the real rulers in "democratic" regimes, the tiny minority who own or control virtually everything, are never voted in and never voted out. Most people don't even know who they are.
In the name of realism, reformists limit themselves to pursuing "winnable" objectives, yet even when they win some little adjustment in the system it is usually offset by some other development at another level. This doesn't mean that reforms are irrelevant, merely that they are insufficient. We have to keep resisting particular evils, but we also have to recognize that the system will keep generating new ones until we put an end to it. To suppose that a series of reforms will eventually add up to a qualitative change is like thinking we can get across a ten-foot chasm by a series of one-foot hops.
We know that antiquated styles of protest-marches, hand held signs, and gatherings are now powerless to effect real change because they have become such a predictable part of the status quo. We know that post-Marxist jargon is off-putting because it really is a language of mere academic dispute, not a weapon capable of undermining systems of control. We know that all the infighting, splinter groups and endless quarrels over ephemeral theories can never effect any real change in the world we experience from day to day. We know that no matter who is in office, what laws are on the books, what "ism"s the intellectuals march under, the content of our lives will remain the same. And our boredom is proof that these "politics" are not the key to any real transformation of life.
However, in truth there is nothing more important than politics. NOT the politics of American "democracy" and law, of who is elected state legislator to sign the same bills and perpetuate the same system. Not the politics of the "I got involved with the radical left because I enjoy quibbling over trivial details and writing rhetorically about an unreachable utopia" anarchists. Not the politics of any leader or ideology that demands that we make sacrifices for "the cause." But the politics of our everyday lives. When we separate politics from the immediate, everyday experiences of individual men and women, it becomes completely irrelevant. Indeed, it becomes the private domain of wealthy, comfortable intellectuals, who can trouble themselves with such dreary, theoretical things. When we involve ourselves in politics out of a sense of obligation, and make political action into a dull responsibility rather than an exciting game that is worthwhile for its own sake, we scare away people whose lives are already far too dull for any more tedium. When we make politics into a lifeless thing, a joyless thing, a dreadful responsibility, it becomes just another weight upon people, rather than a means to lift weight from people. And thus we ruin the idea of politics for the people to whom it should be most important. For everyone has a stake in considering their lives, in asking themselves what they want out of life and how they can get it. But politics often look to us like a miserable, self-referential, pointless middle class/bohemian game, a game with no relevance to the real lives we are living out.
What should be political? Whether we enjoy what we do to get food and shelter. Whether we feel like our daily interactions with our friends, neighbors, and coworkers are fulfilling. Whether we have the opportunity to live each day the way we desire to. And "politics" should consist not of merely discussing these questions, but of acting directly to improve our lives in the immediate present. Acting in a way that is itself entertaining, exciting, joyous - because political action that is tedious, tiresome, and oppressive can only perpetuate tedium, fatigue, and oppression in our lives. No more time should be wasted debating over issues that will be irrelevant when we must go to work again the next day. No more predictable ritual protests that the authorities know all too well how to deal with; clearly, those won't get us anywhere. Never again shall we "sacrifice ourselves for the cause." For happiness in our own lives and the lives of our fellows, must be our cause!
POLICE STATE II: THE TAKEOVER - Seattle WTO Protest - Pt. 1/3
Text with video:
"POLICE STATE II: THE TAKEOVER"
Delta Force sponsors black bloc anarchists at the WTO protests in Seattle, Washington; Nov. 30, 1999.
Canadian Police Caught Attempting To Stage Riots
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/...
Provocateurs At End The Fed Rally?
http://www.prisonplanet.com/provocate...
Police State - The Militarization of the Police Force in USA
Text with video:
Police State - The Militarization of the Police Force in USA
I was not the one who made this excellent video, just uploaded it.
Credits go to PuppetGov w/ Billy Vegas.
You can visit their sites at:
- http://blog.puppetgov.com/
- http://www.youtube.com/user/puppetgovcom
NEWS:
- Brigade homeland tours start Oct. 1/2008:
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09...
- Scouts Train to Fight Terrorists:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/14/us/...
(May 2007 upload)Breaking The Spell: Modern Revolutionary Theory
Text with video:
In representative democracy people abdicate their power to elected officials. The candidates' stated policies are limited to a few vague generalities, and once they are elected there is little control over their actual decisions on hundreds of issues - apart from the feeble threat of changing one's vote, a few years later, to some equally uncontrollable rival politician. Representatives are dependent on the wealthy for bribes and campaign contributions; they are subordinate to the owners of the mass media, who decide which issues get the publicity; and they are almost as ignorant and powerless as the general public regarding many important matters that are determined by unelected bureaucrats and independent agencies. Overt dictators may sometimes be overthrown, but the real rulers in "democratic" regimes, the tiny minority who own or control virtually everything, are never voted in and never voted out. Most people don't even know who they are.
In the name of realism, reformists limit themselves to pursuing "winnable" objectives, yet even when they win some little adjustment in the system it is usually offset by some other development at another level. This doesn't mean that reforms are irrelevant, merely that they are insufficient. We have to keep resisting particular evils, but we also have to recognize that the system will keep generating new ones until we put an end to it. To suppose that a series of reforms will eventually add up to a qualitative change is like thinking we can get across a ten-foot chasm by a series of one-foot hops.
We know that antiquated styles of protest-marches, hand held signs, and gatherings are now powerless to effect real change because they have become such a predictable part of the status quo. We know that post-Marxist jargon is off-putting because it really is a language of mere academic dispute, not a weapon capable of undermining systems of control. We know that all the infighting, splinter groups and endless quarrels over ephemeral theories can never effect any real change in the world we experience from day to day. We know that no matter who is in office, what laws are on the books, what "ism"s the intellectuals march under, the content of our lives will remain the same. And our boredom is proof that these "politics" are not the key to any real transformation of life.
However, in truth there is nothing more important than politics. NOT the politics of American "democracy" and law, of who is elected state legislator to sign the same bills and perpetuate the same system. Not the politics of the "I got involved with the radical left because I enjoy quibbling over trivial details and writing rhetorically about an unreachable utopia" anarchists. Not the politics of any leader or ideology that demands that we make sacrifices for "the cause." But the politics of our everyday lives. When we separate politics from the immediate, everyday experiences of individual men and women, it becomes completely irrelevant. Indeed, it becomes the private domain of wealthy, comfortable intellectuals, who can trouble themselves with such dreary, theoretical things. When we involve ourselves in politics out of a sense of obligation, and make political action into a dull responsibility rather than an exciting game that is worthwhile for its own sake, we scare away people whose lives are already far too dull for any more tedium. When we make politics into a lifeless thing, a joyless thing, a dreadful responsibility, it becomes just another weight upon people, rather than a means to lift weight from people. And thus we ruin the idea of politics for the people to whom it should be most important. For everyone has a stake in considering their lives, in asking themselves what they want out of life and how they can get it. But politics often look to us like a miserable, self-referential, pointless middle class/bohemian game, a game with no relevance to the real lives we are living out.
What should be political? Whether we enjoy what we do to get food and shelter. Whether we feel like our daily interactions with our friends, neighbors, and coworkers are fulfilling. Whether we have the opportunity to live each day the way we desire to. And "politics" should consist not of merely discussing these questions, but of acting directly to improve our lives in the immediate present. Acting in a way that is itself entertaining, exciting, joyous - because political action that is tedious, tiresome, and oppressive can only perpetuate tedium, fatigue, and oppression in our lives. No more time should be wasted debating over issues that will be irrelevant when we must go to work again the next day. No more predictable ritual protests that the authorities know all too well how to deal with; clearly, those won't get us anywhere. Never again shall we "sacrifice ourselves for the cause." For happiness in our own lives and the lives of our fellows, must be our cause!
POLICE STATE II: THE TAKEOVER - Seattle WTO Protest - Pt. 1/3
Text with video:
"POLICE STATE II: THE TAKEOVER"
Delta Force sponsors black bloc anarchists at the WTO protests in Seattle, Washington; Nov. 30, 1999.
Canadian Police Caught Attempting To Stage Riots
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/...
Provocateurs At End The Fed Rally?
http://www.prisonplanet.com/provocate...
Police State - The Militarization of the Police Force in USA
Text with video:
Police State - The Militarization of the Police Force in USA
I was not the one who made this excellent video, just uploaded it.
Credits go to PuppetGov w/ Billy Vegas.
You can visit their sites at:
- http://blog.puppetgov.com/
- http://www.youtube.com/user/puppetgovcom
NEWS:
- Brigade homeland tours start Oct. 1/2008:
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09...
- Scouts Train to Fight Terrorists:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/14/us/...
posted by The_SRV at 2:10 AM
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