Well you know, I say bullshit. Not that there hasn’t been a bunch of young people new to the game who have joined the neverending quest to fight the power. The problem is there are always a bunch of young people that become active or involved in politics and other sorts of activism. Now isn’t any different. It’s no different than the 60’s when a bunch of young people protested the Vietnam war and the draft. It's no different than when young people staged anti-nuclear protests in the 70's and 80's. It’s no different than in 1999 when a bunch of young people protested the World Trade Organization. It’s no different than 2003 when a bunch of young people protested the Iraq war. It’s no different than 2011 when a bunch of young people joined the Occupy movement.
Then they get older, have families or not and become older people hoping the young people will fucking do something! Do something young people dammit!! We did! Sort of. Except here we are in the year 2016 and things are basically FUBAR with no end in sight to the madness. Whatever was done certainly wasn't enough.
People say more and more are awakening to the situation at hand, the rigged and corrupt political system, the incredible growing wealth inequality, the rigged and unbalanced economy and financial system, capitalism itself. Maybe so, but I don't see that translating into a revolution and I still see the lemmings stand at attention and screaming with delight when the national anthem is played while the jets roar overhead off to kill someone, anyone, so the American Dream can remain a dream.
That’s sound cynical I know, but is it true? Is what is happening SSDD (same shit different day)? I think so. I don’t see anything that’s any different and I see the serfs accepting their fate in the end just like always. I see either Clinton or Trump in the White House with a Republican majority Congress, no end in sight to the endless political bullshit that has Americans approving of Congress at absurd levels below ten percent. Even if Sanders ends up winning I don't see any change worth talking about, not relative to the change we need. I see continuation of the endless wars, U.S. imperialism, austerity for the masses, wealth inequality, and the ruling elite gaining more and more power and control. And I see the next election when we do it all over again.
I don’t see anything different, I don’t feel it. That's not against those feeling the "Bern". I just don't see anyone doing anything that hasn't been done countless times before while the noose continues to tighten. While the crimes go on. That's the thing, people are being hurt as we speak. Its more than with drones and proxy terrorists, look at what's happened to Brazil and Venezuela. Far from the Middle East, U.S. imperialism is waging war on those countries and the governments the ruling class doesn't want. This hurts real people. It causes poverty, anguish and despair among the serfs. The western ruling class is a ruthless mafia that will take down anyone that doesn't cooperate and hurt anyone in their way. These are crimes of immense magnitude and yet we seem powerless to stop them.
There’s talk about this “People’s Summit” in Chicago, a far cry from the 2011 Occupy happening. The same old people affiliated with the democratic party and the establishment talking about the same old things, campaign finance reform, a higher minimum wage, stopping the TPP, saving the Whales. Not a thing about ending the power of the super rich and powerful, ending imperialism, ending capitalism, seeking freedom and real democracy. More speeches, more books, more conferences, while the Beat Goes On.
How about Bernie’s “Revolution”? What’s to become of that after he tells his supporters they need to get behind Clinton so she can beat Trump? Many are hopeful it will morph into some kind of independent people’s movement or a valid third party effort.
SSDD.
Many Sanders supporters won’t like this level of cynicism. They truly believe “there’s something happening here", even if "what it is ain’t exactly clear”. I don’t, not now. Not when Sanders is going to endorse Clinton and the Democratic Party. Not when the only people organizing anything
significant are the astroturfs and democratic party affiliated liberals and progressives who enable the war crimes and backstabbing of the people by the Democratic party. The cooptation of any type of independent movement from the left has already happened and it’s working, again.
So why am I saying this? I’m saying it because I believe we can’t accept the same old thing, we have got to look at things differently. The power those that rule over us have is astounding. Look at what they can do to an elected government of a sovereign country, like Venezuela or Brazil. They can tear countries apart without a single shot from the tanks or jets because their war machine is much larger and broader than an enormous military. They can stage fake protests, color revolutions, murders, anything they want to overcome any real people’s movement.
It’s no different here. If Bernie did become President and tried to do anything the ruling elite didn't want, they'd simply take the same measures in this country they did in Brazil or Venezuela or Ukraine. They have the power, not some measly President. They can take down Presidents any fucking time they want.
Regardless of how some feel about the Occupy movement, it was coopted and crushed by the ruling class. As I said earlier, it’s already happening now with the efforts to riff off Sanders' Democratic party campaign. I see the same thing with the upcoming “People’s Summit” and whatever else is on the horizon this year. Efforts will revolve around working within the system because that’s how the cooptation works. They will guide and steer participants and activists into the veal pen until the next election campaigning starts, then we’ll start over again. Here's what the People's Summit is about, beside heavy democratic party flavor:
"The Summit itself will include plenary and workshop sessions devoted to key issues such as the Fight for 15, mass incarceration and criminal justice reform, voting rights and expanding democratic participation, a tax on Wall Street speculation to fund human needs and jobs, climate justice toward a sustainable economy, improved Medicare for All, the fight for free and debt-free higher education, secure retirement through expanding social security, ending HIV/AIDS, achieving Constitutional pay equity for women, and ending deportations and support for DREAMers, among others."
We need radical, we don’t need the same old shit. We need to take away the power the ruling elite have and give it to We the People. We need real Democracy. I don’t see any effort like that happening or even being talked about. Radical discussions to overturn the power, really overturn the power, i.e., revolucion!, are dismissed, discounted, and even ridiculed so the course can stay on the straight and narrow. "We just have to elect better progressives at all levels", "we need to get money out of politics", "we need campaign finance reform" "We need fifteen bucks an hour!". I've heard that shit for years and years while the treachery of the ruling elite gets ever more sinister and brazen. While hedge fund managers make over ONE BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR. That's not what we need, we need to throw the criminals in jail, overturn the power and implement real democracy. We have to try to end the madness for the sake of the human race and the planet. We can't settle for peanuts here, this is a fight for humanity, not Medicare for all or free college.
I have hope. I do agree more and more have awakened to what we're facing, they know the evil that permeates the earth must be exorcised. There's a real revolution waiting to happen and people waiting to join. But it won't happen with elections or campaign finance reform or rescission of Citizen's United. It won't happen with more conferences held by the astroturfers and Democratic party activists. That's why I'm saying this, to try to head off another failed opportunity. We have Trump vs. Clinton. Some people call that a travesty, which is true. But its also an opportunity because there could be no better matchup to expose the false illusions of this country.
Others have to step forward. We don't need a People's Summit with more Pete Seeger songs, lectures from Naomi Klein and Juan Cole and appearances by Cornel West and Code Pink. We need the people who are angry and will not compromise and want nothing less than freedom from tyranny. It will happen, but I don't see it happening anytime soon.
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