Wishing

[go_team]

Ok, so earlier today omega697 wrote somewhat sarcastically in his LiveJournal that he was going to wish for war, in the hopes that it would cause the people of the U.S. to "awaken" politically and in particular get out and vote. The entry is here, and it's clearly a reaction to the I wish for peace meme that started making the LiveJournal rounds yesterday. (The "add 'I wish for peace' to your LJ user interests" meme hasn't spread quite as quickly, but I digress.) He has since disallowed comments on the entry in question, but since I spent a long time this morning thinking about it in my (paper) journal, and later trying to edit the resultant five pages of not entirely related ramble into a well thought-out piece that fit in LJ's comment character limit, I'm going to post what I came up with here.

Bad news (disagreement) first: there's just no need to wish for war in our current political climate; we're going to get one. I express a desire for peaceful solutions not so much because I think anyone in power is going to listen, but because I want as many people as possible to know that not everyone in the U.S. agrees with the current administration's views and apparent desire to flip off the international community. At a time like this, silent acceptance of or refusal to challenge the official U.S. "let's go to war no matter what anybody says about it!" policy, let alone wishing for war, sends a really hateful message to the rest of the world, and that's not cool. I'm trying to raise awareness with my little messages of peace and hope. Which is a nice segue into the idea of waking people up.

During the 2000 U.S. presidential election, I voted for Ralph Nader. One of my thoughts about doing so was that, worst case scenario, if George W. Bush was elected, maybe things would get so bad that it would wake people up a bit, socially and politically. Maybe the progressive community (communities, really) would get their act together and demand representation. Maybe the Democratic party would stop trying to crowd the Republicans out of a political center that's far right by European standards. (I wish that last sentence didn't sound so judgemental, but I haven't been able to come up with a better way of phrasing it. Fact is, I do think the U.S. political spectrum is way too narrow, but any more analysis would only get me further off-topic, and I really did just mean it as food for thought.) Anyway, the outcome of that election was worse than my worst-case scenario. We got a judicial coup in which both sides proved themselves petty, opportunistic, and cynical, and voters were cut entirely out of the loop (as opposed to partly out of the loop thanks to the electoral college system, butterfly ballots, hanging chads, redistricting, manipulation of voter registries, and any of a number of other flaws in a voting system that pretty clearly needs some serious reform). There was hardly any protest at all, and by and large the media congratulated the U.S. population for standing by and not making any ruckus. That pretty much set the tone for the second Bush administration, and I haven't seen the mass awakening I'd hoped for. At my most cynical, I feel like people only "wake up" politically when they are personally adversely affected by a problem. There's more to it than that, but being personally involved or knowing someone who's personally involved (or at least cares enough to march in the street or wear a sign or sticker about it) does literally bring an issue home, put it in more real and human terms. That's what's so cool and inspiring about protest marches and rallies: everyone who participates in them knows dozens if not hundreds of other people who didn't go, people who could potentially be learning from their protesting friends and acquaintances, becoming more awake and aware (as I like to say, conscious). I know I probably wouldn't have gone to the march in Portland last weekend if I hadn't known other people who were doing so as well, who brought the issue home to me. So I guess my conclusion is that social and political consciousness is "awakened" by what we're doing right now --- sharing opinions and experiences, bringing ideas and issues home to each other on a personal level. Which is good news. Yay for consciousness-raising! [Writer/editor's note: the comment about "what we're doing right now" is a bit ironic since I can't post this as a comment anymore.]

And now for the really good news: I totally agree with you about the importance of voting. At the Checkpoint Charlie Museum in Berlin, there's an awesome series of exhibits about the history of nonviolent social change, but I was particularly struck by a Mahatma Gandhi quote saying that civil disobedience should be a last resort, after all other legal options have been exhausted (i.e. voting, letter writing, political campaigns, etc.) I wrote down the exact quote, but then I lost that notebook when my purse was stolen in Rome. Dammit. But I digress. I think there are some protesters who should get better acquainted with the idea of civil disobedience as a last resort, although I don't think it really counts as civil disobedience if you've got a permit for your rally and march, police clearing the streets and directing traffic and whatnot, like we had in Portland last weekend. Legal marches like that really go along with voting as a means of political expression, and they have the added benefit of getting the general public's attention and hopefully raising a little awareness. But back to voting: I know it may not be as cool or countercultural as marching in the street, but NOT doing it renders it even more ineffectual. Some people argue that their vote can't possibly count in an electorage of millions, but I think that kind of apathetic attitude is defeatist, not to mention it effectively hands over control of a supposedly populist, democratic system to the minority of eligible voters who actually bother to exercise their right. Grumble grumble. On the other hand, elections only come once a year, and there's injustice and wrongdoing that needs to be addressed now. So activism has to include both voting and raising public awareness through protests and other methods. And I think I'm finally done now.

Ok, wow, that was huge (so huge, I learned to use cut tags on it!) But I did manage to make it considerably more coherent than this morning's paper journal entries, which is good. Looking at it now, I'm definitely glad I gave this piece its own entry, instead of trying to shoehorn it into omega697's journal. Thanks for a thought-provoking post, Kurt!

Comments

[pants-of-doom.livejournal.com]

I agree. Especially about the democrats; I'm getting a lot of shit for being Green now, and I didn't even vote in that election, and if I had, my two state options were MN or CA. Blah.

My belly loves your belly.

[goteam.livejournal.com]

Stupid, stupid electoral college. I tried really hard to keep my rant about how fucked-up the voting system is to a minimum, as well as the "we need more goddamn political party and independent options now, mmmkay?" and "the media keeps us all stupid and apathetic" rants.

Yay belly love!

[omega697.livejournal.com]

there's just no need to wish for war in our current political climate; we're going to get one.

I guess that's what I thought I was saying - that I figured it'd have about the same effect. We're getting a war. *Sigh*

Following the Rules

[j3h.livejournal.com]

Just minutes ago, chocolatesmudge and I were discussing our discontent with the protests that are threatening to happen today in Portland. It's not the message[1] (#mcluhan) that we disagree with, but the way it's being conveyed. They are trying to shut down (http://portland.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=49280&group=webcast) [2] (#imedia) the city. While it may be an effective way of getting noticed, it's also a great way of pissing people off. If there is no other way of getting people's attention, then it's necessary. There is nothing to lose. If there is another way, then being disruptive squanders the good will of many who would perhaps be awakened to join the cause. It's pretty short-sighted to start breaking rules until you've exhausted the options that you have within the rules. In short, I agree with Ghandi. And goteam.

1. although the medium is the message (http://www.marshallmcluhan.com/main.html), as we all know

2. thankfully, it seems like many of the readers of that site have similar feelings. But restraint and thought is definitely in short supply over there. () ()

Re: Following the Rules

[j3h.livejournal.com]

It's funny. I was thinking about this more today, and it's almost the same issue that I have with the way the administration is handling the whole Saddam Hussein issue. I think that unless they're me, dictators are a bad idea. In principle, I'm in favor of replacing the government of Iraq. But I'm way against the war. The means in no way justify the ends.

[j3h.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I'm way impressed with the use of <cut> tags. You are officially way geeky. I guess the LaTeX should have tipped me off.