The title quote comes from the movie The Shift, not yet released. My niece is involved with it and sent me the following preview. It was just the kick in the ass I needed to shift my doom and gloom, so I offer it here. I considered placing it as a comment in dharmasyd’s terrific essay, but decided this is a bit too off the point of the important substance there.
I’m trying to get my feet back under me. I’m not going to have my hope buried by the dense, unconscionable acts of the fatally fearful and greedy. I’m going to join with the spirit dharmasyd’s essay offers.
Maybe this movie is too easy, maybe it’s as shallow as recycling, but it renewed my sense of hope. Maybe most of our hope comes from NGO’s non-profits, informal groups, brave individuals acting alone. Here’s what Derrick Ashong says:
Making the world a better place is not only your responsibility. It’s your choice, it is your blessing, it’s a gift, it’s your opportunity to make your life mean something. So take it.
If you are familiar with OpenLeft, you are familiar with Chris Bowers, Mike Lux, Matt Stoller, Paul Rosenberg and adamterando. You know that it is a great blog to read, and that it provides many ways for people to help change the way politics are played.
Whether you want to help Obama and the Democrats win or you are just plain sick and tired of the way politics are played, I would like to tell you why I think you need to go over there and check this out.
OpenLeft has a new project starting. If you don’t have money to donate but want to help, here is how. If you don’t have a lot of time but want to help, here is how. It won’t cost you a dime, you don’t have to solicit, and you don’t even have to leave your computer.
This diary is a tribute to the power of the individual and is dedicated to two particular individuals who, as they say, require no introduction, kid oakland and Land of Enchantment. I would never have had the pleasure of meeting my dear friend Land of Enchantment at YKOS last year had it not been for the scholarship program started by Kid Oakland. This diary is in support of that program.
In this age of great and persistent evil it is easy to become overwhelmed by the never-ending cascade of horror and madness that the daily news has become. How does one stand against the tide of violent hatred, willful ignorance and blind running greed when its onrush is so powerful, its influence so ubiquitous, its effects so devastating? What in the world can one person do?
Sure, it’s a bit to the libertarian side for me (libertarians being anarchists whithout conviction (!)), but on the other side of things, Justin Raimondo is somewhat of an Obama fan.
Recently I was a social gathering of trendy young people. A disagreement over a particular issue came up. It was about a proposed private restaurant in Union Square Park in Manhattan.
It seems that a private “donor” has “donated” seven million dollars to the Park’s restoration fund on the condition that the private restaurant be included in the project.
I suggested to some of these activists that it would be a good idea to focus on the name of the public official who accepted this “donation” on behalf of the park’s restoration fund.
I suggested that it was probably illegal for this public official to put their name on the transaction in acceptance of the funds on behalf of the public. The reason is that this is not a donation at all, but an investment. The seven million dollars has strings attached which stipulate that there must be a private restaurant developed in Union Square Park.
In an attempt to reenergize the U.S. antiwar movement, activists from the American Friends Service Committee, U.S. Labor Against the War, and veterans against the war have formed a steering committee, the National Assembly. The Assembly’s first act is to call for a national meeting of antiwar activists, to be held on June 27-28, 2008, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Cleveland, Ohio. All antiwar coalitions, organizations, and activists are welcome to attend.
Endorsers of the National Assembly include the Iraq Moratorium, Veterans for Peace, A.N.S.W.E.R., UFPJ, the National Lawyers Guild, Progressive Democrats of America, AfterDowningStreet, Cindy Sheehan, Howard Zinn, Ramsey Clark, Scott Ritter, and many others.
The position of the assembly is that there must be an immediate and unconditional withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. Since there is no mechanism such as a national referendum to force a withdrawal, the American people are left with mass action in the streets. It is believed by the organizers that the best way to prepare such mass mobilizations is through “democratic and open conferences that function transparently, with all who attend having the right to vote.”
You can endorse the National Assembly, and details of the conference and their positions can be found at their website.
This is a book review of Benson, Harkavy, and Puckett’s book of last year,
Dewey’s Dream (Philadelphia: Temple UP, 2007), which picks out a moment in John Dewey’s opus in which he is recommending a rather activist model of schooling. The authors of Dewey’s Dream then criticize Dewey for deserting this vision, largely to be found in Dewey’s (1899) text The School and Society, and suggest that Dewey’s leaving Chicago (and his experimental school) was a disaster. I agree, and further suggest that there are insights to be found in Dewey that go beyond those to be found in Dewey’s Dream.
Or the Crazed Rabbit that attacked Jimmy Carter’s fishing boat in the 70’s?
This is the tale of the tragic flooding of the Valley of the Little Tennessee River, the heroic folks who fought the TVA action, the creative lawyers and law students who won the precedent setting supreme court decision, the brave settlers whose farms were taken and the stoic Native Americans whose homeland it was before – and the roles of the snail darter and the crazed rabbit. And how it all comes down to – you guessed it – politics.
I meant to write this a couple weeks ago, but got distracted by my own environmental activism, Sierra Club monthly and quarterly meetings, showing William McDonough’s great film the Next Industrial Revolution, Earth Day events, lobbying in the state legislature for an increase in the coal severance tax, and an on-site with some other activists and OSM of a mountaintop removal site.
I originally thought I might tie this up with a message about activism to effect change. Don’t know that I’ll make it to that point, as I am certainly demoralized recently about my own local efforts. And am ready to take a break in my garden for the summer. Maybe that’s change enough . . .
But the story of the snail darter case is a great one . . .
I can’t prove the assertion in the title. I’m not connected to any “inside” track. And anything a lowly wage-earner like me could possibly know about conspiracies is almost certainly disinformation.
But the assertion is true, and I bet you know that. And so we must ask some questions.
It might possibly be illegal, and it’s certainly anti-consumerist, to entertain the mental state they used to call “remembering.” It’s a superstition of mine that remembering is indispensable to being prepared for the future. It seems if you notice something happens again and again and again, over a period of years, that you might expect it to happen again in the future. Now, if you find that notion a little whacky, it’s best we part company here. Otherwise, here’s what I remember about our Media, our Democratic politicians, and our elections:
Embedding–great for videoclips, not so much for journalists or critical thinkers.
Unembed yourself.
Don’t completely identify with the representations that you most prefer.
Keep one foot out.
One of the difficulties with this critical distancing, or ironic stance, necessary, imho, for critical thinking, is that it is in tension with the activist need to present unalloyed support for whatever candidate or cause.
While I do believe that any Democratic president would be exponentially better than John McCain, and I am a Barack Obama supporter, I harbor only slim hope that a Dem president and a Dem congress will really accomplish our progressive goals. What will you do in 2012 if/when the Dems have once again disappointed us?
It is still important, imho, to try and progressivize electoral politics, but it is also necessary to keep a critical distance from the entire enterprise itself, indeed from the dominant values of “our” culture itself.
In this video, Molly Ivins speaks about Americans who are slackers, failing to defend the most magnificent political document anyone on this planet has been heir to.
This address was recorded over two years ago. The stakes are higher now: It is the eleventh hour for America.
Here’s a recording of a “Raise Hell for Molly Ivins” memorial service for Molly held in January.
What are YOU doing to help America and save the Constitution? What would Molly do?
Stop waiting. Get out the pots and pans. Raise Hell for Molly Ivins.
Help organize an action in you home town! We are just regular folks with jobs and all of life’s pressures, but we feel a need to speak out and do what we can. Please join our Raise Hell campaign by banging pots and pans for peace, and using every peaceful means including the Internet, phone and fax to let the LOCAL office of your Congressional Representative know – on the 3rd Friday of every month – that the war must end NOW and no attacks on Iran!
If you cannot attend a physical protest, please WRITE, TELEPHONE, FAX and EMAIL your LOCAL Congressional Representative’s office on that day!
Network
Network with local organizations and individuals is your area. Let us know about your efforts, and send us your pictures to help inspire others; we will post on the website. We will also help you network with others in your area as well as statewide and nationally. Contact us at: [email protected]
Download Flyers and Signs
Go to our section of print-ready materials for flyers and signs that you can use as is, or modify for your locality,
Send Letters and Emails to Congress
See our Congressional contacts and Sample Letters for complete info.
Volunteer!
We need BLOG and Internet enthusiasts to get the word out; researchers to gather congressional info and more; website content development and programming support; and other assistance to build the campaign.
Donate!
We’re making a difference, with a simple, low-cost approach, but it does take hard cash to make the most of our collective efforts!
8 weeks ago today in a blog on DailyKos and many other sites I posted a proposal for a Obamathon fundraising drive to help Barack Obama win in the first Super Tuesday (February 5th). Since then 896 people have donated $48,771 dollars via that page and Obama has gone from a underdog to a clear front runner within reach of the nomination.
But there is still work to do to get there. Obama has to run two campaigns at once. He still has to win the Democratic nomination and also he has to run against Senator McCain. He is facing a two front battle. It is still a uphill fight but it can be won.
So I’m relaunching the Obamathon as the Obamathon 2.0 (real original name I know) and setting a new goal of $100,000 by April 22, the day of the next primary.
