Tuesday, October 5, 2010
I Am Alarmed
Over a year ago, I posted the following essay on YourHub.com. I am reposting it here because we are actually talking about these things. To add to the following essay, I have the following questions: What is the solution to a depoliticized nation and what forms of activism work now (versus what has worked in the past, and if we explore what has worked in the past, which we should, why did they work)? I think it is extremely important that we all work with words and images here. If we are to make changes, we have to some degree use the same tactics that are being used against us. Another reason I am posting this here is because I want to become more educated so I can get out of the box I feel put in and thereby silenced by. If I write poetry, for example, how do I make my voice loud enough, and the words effective enough to break through to the other side of the box? I am asking the R.A.W. group because many of you have a larger breadth of knowledge than I do at present and the experience.
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Great question! I'll have to think more before answering your question, but for now I'm reminded of something Bill Ayers, leader of the Weather Underground said. He made a case for revolutionary activity that follows three steps: First, get informed (which can be really difficult, because it's so much less frightening and alienating to stay stupid). Second, act (and that requires even more courage than the first step). And finally, reflect (which may require the most courage of all, if done honestly). In Ayer's reflection he decided that his actions with the Weather Underground were a failure. But he suggested that the mainstream anti-war movement against Vietnam wasn't any better. What ultimately ended the Vietnamese war, he argued, was the dogged Vietnamese resistance.
ReplyDeleteI think your question is important because it encompasses all of those steps.
It's also important to consider all the variables. Just because something works in one historical period doesn't mean it will work today, etc. (i.e. gorilla warfare in the American revolution).