Monday, January 15, 2007
Participatory Democracy – The lens of history:
Preface: Based upon a conversation I had recently, I was reminded that every entity and organization that has behaved a certain way will keep behaving in the same manner, and to expect a group or organization with a specific interest to change is unrealistic.
The beauty of my wonderful country is that, no matter how bad things get, the American people can always take back the power and stop those who seek to damage our country, because we live in a Participatory Democracy. This concept stopped the Vietnam War. It stopped Richard Nixon. It has the power to bring about seismic change in a very short period of time.
Our Participatory Democracy is used by the voices of individual Americans when we stand together as an overwhelming force for positive change. Our individual and collective voices have changed the world. So has how we spend or withhold our dollars. Americans have power when they speak with their wallets as well as their voices.
The following essays are ideas of how to engage our Participatory Democracy today:
Hindsight and Factual Sources like Documentaries:
I feel that it's amazing the perspective hindsight can give us when we focus on the right things. Even something you might have seen and thought you remembered might surprise you taking a second look in hindsight.
The American mass media can no longer use the "terrorism demon" to keep Americans afraid of something so vague the media itself becomes the terrorist. They can no longer make Iraq look good for anyone involved. Even Wal-Mart cannot make themselves look like anything other than the blight on our communities they are.
If an American started a group and invited people to watch a documentary once a week, one that has already been released like "Fahrenheit 9/11," take notes if they like, and then discuss it with the perspective of all that has happened since.
Remind us that "The Patriot Act" still stands as the law of the land; and the decades long chummy relationship with the Bin laden family, the Saudi Royal Family, The Taliban from Afghanistan, the Bush family, The Carlyle Group, James Baker, Enron, Halliburton, and even Saddam himself when he was America's golden boy and Iraq was a stabilizing force in the Middle East.
Now "the lipstick is off the pig," as they say down in Texas, we can see the duplicity and the anti-American behavior of these people. Hindsight can serve a purpose today. These facts can form the basis of the questions your average American wants to start asking.
"What is the relationship between 9/11, the Bush family, and the American oil industry?"
"Why haven't these things, as well as the behavior of our government in the prosecution of the Iraq war been investigated."
And most importantly statements like:
"I want these formal investigations to begin immediately with subpoenaed witnesses testifying under oath, Congressperson."
"I want the full restoration of federal, state and local oversight."
"I want the so-called "Patriot Act" repealed, along with all the other laws passed against American citizenry under the guise of the roundly abusive "War On Terror."
"I want the SEC to start doing its job again."
"I want the politicians out of the decision-making arm of the FDA, the CDC and other federal agencies, and the libraries for these vital federal institutions reopened and fully funded so our American civil servants can protect us from things like infectious diseases and ecological disasters."
Then watch another documentary the next week and form questions and letters for our newly elected representatives, the specific politicians we elected because they were not part of the Washington scene before last November. Even an email may be effective if it asks definitive questions or demands direct avenues of investigation.
Here's a list of documentaries I would personally recommend:
1. "Fahrenheit 9/11."
2. "Bowling For Columbine."
3. "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's Private War On Journalism."
4. "An Inconvenient Truth."
5. "Who Killed The Electric Car."
6. "Why We Fight."
7. "Is Wal-Mart Good For America?"
I highly recommend both current and archived presentations of the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) series; "Frontline." This is one of the finest news organizations in America and their archives can be viewed for free online. You can also purchase copies of a particular show on DVD if you wish to share it. "Frontline" has been reporting on important issues for over 20 years.
This is the first post in a series I'm going to write on our Participatory Democracy, reminders that we need to stand up and take back the power from those who have abused it, and the American people, so badly.
It's long past time for us to stand together and say "Enough!"
Preface: Based upon a conversation I had recently, I was reminded that every entity and organization that has behaved a certain way will keep behaving in the same manner, and to expect a group or organization with a specific interest to change is unrealistic.
The beauty of my wonderful country is that, no matter how bad things get, the American people can always take back the power and stop those who seek to damage our country, because we live in a Participatory Democracy. This concept stopped the Vietnam War. It stopped Richard Nixon. It has the power to bring about seismic change in a very short period of time.
Our Participatory Democracy is used by the voices of individual Americans when we stand together as an overwhelming force for positive change. Our individual and collective voices have changed the world. So has how we spend or withhold our dollars. Americans have power when they speak with their wallets as well as their voices.
The following essays are ideas of how to engage our Participatory Democracy today:
Hindsight and Factual Sources like Documentaries:
I feel that it's amazing the perspective hindsight can give us when we focus on the right things. Even something you might have seen and thought you remembered might surprise you taking a second look in hindsight.
The American mass media can no longer use the "terrorism demon" to keep Americans afraid of something so vague the media itself becomes the terrorist. They can no longer make Iraq look good for anyone involved. Even Wal-Mart cannot make themselves look like anything other than the blight on our communities they are.
If an American started a group and invited people to watch a documentary once a week, one that has already been released like "Fahrenheit 9/11," take notes if they like, and then discuss it with the perspective of all that has happened since.
Remind us that "The Patriot Act" still stands as the law of the land; and the decades long chummy relationship with the Bin laden family, the Saudi Royal Family, The Taliban from Afghanistan, the Bush family, The Carlyle Group, James Baker, Enron, Halliburton, and even Saddam himself when he was America's golden boy and Iraq was a stabilizing force in the Middle East.
Now "the lipstick is off the pig," as they say down in Texas, we can see the duplicity and the anti-American behavior of these people. Hindsight can serve a purpose today. These facts can form the basis of the questions your average American wants to start asking.
"What is the relationship between 9/11, the Bush family, and the American oil industry?"
"Why haven't these things, as well as the behavior of our government in the prosecution of the Iraq war been investigated."
And most importantly statements like:
"I want these formal investigations to begin immediately with subpoenaed witnesses testifying under oath, Congressperson."
"I want the full restoration of federal, state and local oversight."
"I want the so-called "Patriot Act" repealed, along with all the other laws passed against American citizenry under the guise of the roundly abusive "War On Terror."
"I want the SEC to start doing its job again."
"I want the politicians out of the decision-making arm of the FDA, the CDC and other federal agencies, and the libraries for these vital federal institutions reopened and fully funded so our American civil servants can protect us from things like infectious diseases and ecological disasters."
Then watch another documentary the next week and form questions and letters for our newly elected representatives, the specific politicians we elected because they were not part of the Washington scene before last November. Even an email may be effective if it asks definitive questions or demands direct avenues of investigation.
Here's a list of documentaries I would personally recommend:
1. "Fahrenheit 9/11."
2. "Bowling For Columbine."
3. "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's Private War On Journalism."
4. "An Inconvenient Truth."
5. "Who Killed The Electric Car."
6. "Why We Fight."
7. "Is Wal-Mart Good For America?"
I highly recommend both current and archived presentations of the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) series; "Frontline." This is one of the finest news organizations in America and their archives can be viewed for free online. You can also purchase copies of a particular show on DVD if you wish to share it. "Frontline" has been reporting on important issues for over 20 years.
This is the first post in a series I'm going to write on our Participatory Democracy, reminders that we need to stand up and take back the power from those who have abused it, and the American people, so badly.
It's long past time for us to stand together and say "Enough!"
Monday, January 01, 2007
One Nation Under Fear:
Phillip T. Alden
Began: December 19, 2006. Posted: January 01, 2007
"[American mass media] is a campaign of consumption and fear."
(Marilyn Manson – Bowling For Columbine)
I was re-watching Michael Moore's amazing film, which although it's centered around the all-too predictable shootings in Colorado, is really about Fear in America. The most vulgar "F-word" in the English language is not Fuck – it's Fear.
After the shootings Marilyn Manson became a target for the Radical Religious Right (RRR) in Colorado because the shooters reportedly listened to his music. But Manson is a very intelligent, well-spoken and socially aware individual, which is probably why his music is known for its integrity and creativity. Here's another quote from the same interview:
"Television [is all about] a constant stream of fear, then buy the Acura, then buy the Colgate because that girl won't fuck you if you have bad breath, then more fear."
It's a bit of a loose translation but it's close and it gets the point across.
Since I stopped reading the news and listening to NPR I've been much happier, much more at peace. My mind is getting to a place where I can start to meditate again. I'm much more focused on my home, my partner, my community and my friends and family. Today I looked at the headlines on the SF Gate web site but I didn't read any of the articles. The reason I looked was because I wanted to see if it was the same deluge of fear and negativity, and I could tell it was just by looking at the headlines.
It never changes. It's just a constant pile of steaming fear and degradation for the White man. As Moore so aptly points out in his film, the media wants us to be afraid of the Black male in particular. If you were an average American living in a small town you would believe our cities are overrun by Black males causing all the violent crime. That's the picture – Fear the Black Male, Fear the Hispanic, Fear the Immigrant, Fear Each Other. Your children are in constant danger because there are violent predators waiting around every corner to grab them and do unspeakable things, (except there's no such thing as an unspeakable atrocity on TV news.)
It was yet another reinforcement that my decision to stop watching live TV, (which happened years ago,) and my more recent decision to ignore the news media – are very good decisions.
I care about what happens in the world. I care about the genocide in Darfur, (which we are doing nothing to stop.) I care about all the poor Iraqi people our military has killed so we can control their oil. I care about the homeless we totally ignore as a society.
And the media and our government wishes to prey upon people like me. They want to use the tools at their disposal to keep me in a constant state of Fear and agitation.
Except I've stopped playing their game. I've stopped doing the one thing they want me to do. I am no longer cooperating with their agenda.
And I'm not unique or alone. There are millions of Americans who, like me, have stopped playing their game. We have decided our families and our communities and our art are more important than the "consumption and fear" they wish to sell us. All their billions of dollars in advertisements and broadcasting are no longer reaching us. We have made ourselves immune to their fear-mongering as long as we refuse to watch, to listen, to pay attention.
Many times before I have said I was through with mass media in this country only to find myself sucked back in. I have broken that cycle and it will never suck me in again.
Then I go out in the world to run my errands, do lunch and a movie with a friend, grab my morning smoothie – and what do I see? I see a bunch of visibly angry people. My dear friend and spiritual mentor, Rudy Driscoll, taught me that every time I see or feel anger there is always Fear behind it. 100% of the time.
Anger = Fear
So what I'm seeing are a bunch of scared animals, (remembering that humans are a species of animal.) Except these animals have opposable thumbs and drive cars, which makes them much more dangerous than any other species of scared animal. And I see it all the time. The Bush Administration (and nearly every administration before it) and the media have become expert at feeding us Fear until that is all we know. Our "society," (and I use that term loosely,) has perfected the art of selling Fear.
And you have to give them credit. Were it not so abhorrent it might be admirable. The media has sold the American people on the idea that a vote for a Democrat is a vote for terrorism. The politicians who call themselves Democrats have become willing sheep, perfectly happy to be fleeced and even slaughtered on the alter of Fox News. ("Fox News" is an oxymoron if ever I heard one.) Nobody has the balls to stand up to the fear-mongers, to even stand up for themselves. They willingly let their political opponents slander and malign them with only token resistance. If it weren't so pathetic it would almost be funny.
What's even more amazing are the outright lies and fabrications the average American is willing to swallow wholesale. Those of us here in the blogosphere have to ferret out the truth because we know the mass media is feeding us nothing but bullshit.
But the Fear is getting through, it's getting to all of us, and it's destroying our sense of commonality. Fear is turning us against each other for no reason whatsoever.
Divide and Conquer:
It's the oldest military and political strategy in the history of mankind. Those of us who are intelligent and self-aware know better than to fall for this one. The problem is all the people out there who aren't as bright as we are are falling for it, and their fear causes us undue stress no matter how hard we work to avoid it.
Due to self-selection and like-mindedness, we know we're "preaching to the choir" here. But all those average Americans who aren't as smart are affecting us in many negative ways and they are dragging our country down. We are not immune to our fellow man. Their blind idiocy stresses us out and gives us unwanted and unnecessary grief.
Yet all I can do is pull away from the mass media as an individual action. I have no idea how to overcome the incredible wall our mass media has produced. I can divorce myself from the media but I cannot divorce myself from my fellow man even if I wanted to. We can be kind to each other, and we can try to be kind to all the scared people out there, but it feels like an enormous and uphill battle. It feels hopeless.
It's like we're waiting for things to get so bad everyone wakes up. Yet things keep getting worse and they are not waking. The last election was a glimmer of hope, but it's not the kind of change that is needed to overcome all the bad things that have been done. I'm at a loss here. I feel more at peace for the reasons I mentioned above, but it nearly breaks my heart to see my fellow Americans suffering under the weight of so much negativity.
I have faith and I have hope, but they are harder to hang onto than ever before. I've become more cynical. I used to be an optimist but I've forgotten what that feels like. I maintain my rationality through my community of family and friends. You give me hope and strength. I just wonder what terrible thing will have to happen to wake the rest.
And I pray our country and our world survives it.
Phillip T. Alden
Began: December 19, 2006. Posted: January 01, 2007
"[American mass media] is a campaign of consumption and fear."
(Marilyn Manson – Bowling For Columbine)
I was re-watching Michael Moore's amazing film, which although it's centered around the all-too predictable shootings in Colorado, is really about Fear in America. The most vulgar "F-word" in the English language is not Fuck – it's Fear.
After the shootings Marilyn Manson became a target for the Radical Religious Right (RRR) in Colorado because the shooters reportedly listened to his music. But Manson is a very intelligent, well-spoken and socially aware individual, which is probably why his music is known for its integrity and creativity. Here's another quote from the same interview:
"Television [is all about] a constant stream of fear, then buy the Acura, then buy the Colgate because that girl won't fuck you if you have bad breath, then more fear."
It's a bit of a loose translation but it's close and it gets the point across.
Since I stopped reading the news and listening to NPR I've been much happier, much more at peace. My mind is getting to a place where I can start to meditate again. I'm much more focused on my home, my partner, my community and my friends and family. Today I looked at the headlines on the SF Gate web site but I didn't read any of the articles. The reason I looked was because I wanted to see if it was the same deluge of fear and negativity, and I could tell it was just by looking at the headlines.
It never changes. It's just a constant pile of steaming fear and degradation for the White man. As Moore so aptly points out in his film, the media wants us to be afraid of the Black male in particular. If you were an average American living in a small town you would believe our cities are overrun by Black males causing all the violent crime. That's the picture – Fear the Black Male, Fear the Hispanic, Fear the Immigrant, Fear Each Other. Your children are in constant danger because there are violent predators waiting around every corner to grab them and do unspeakable things, (except there's no such thing as an unspeakable atrocity on TV news.)
It was yet another reinforcement that my decision to stop watching live TV, (which happened years ago,) and my more recent decision to ignore the news media – are very good decisions.
I care about what happens in the world. I care about the genocide in Darfur, (which we are doing nothing to stop.) I care about all the poor Iraqi people our military has killed so we can control their oil. I care about the homeless we totally ignore as a society.
And the media and our government wishes to prey upon people like me. They want to use the tools at their disposal to keep me in a constant state of Fear and agitation.
Except I've stopped playing their game. I've stopped doing the one thing they want me to do. I am no longer cooperating with their agenda.
And I'm not unique or alone. There are millions of Americans who, like me, have stopped playing their game. We have decided our families and our communities and our art are more important than the "consumption and fear" they wish to sell us. All their billions of dollars in advertisements and broadcasting are no longer reaching us. We have made ourselves immune to their fear-mongering as long as we refuse to watch, to listen, to pay attention.
Many times before I have said I was through with mass media in this country only to find myself sucked back in. I have broken that cycle and it will never suck me in again.
Then I go out in the world to run my errands, do lunch and a movie with a friend, grab my morning smoothie – and what do I see? I see a bunch of visibly angry people. My dear friend and spiritual mentor, Rudy Driscoll, taught me that every time I see or feel anger there is always Fear behind it. 100% of the time.
Anger = Fear
So what I'm seeing are a bunch of scared animals, (remembering that humans are a species of animal.) Except these animals have opposable thumbs and drive cars, which makes them much more dangerous than any other species of scared animal. And I see it all the time. The Bush Administration (and nearly every administration before it) and the media have become expert at feeding us Fear until that is all we know. Our "society," (and I use that term loosely,) has perfected the art of selling Fear.
And you have to give them credit. Were it not so abhorrent it might be admirable. The media has sold the American people on the idea that a vote for a Democrat is a vote for terrorism. The politicians who call themselves Democrats have become willing sheep, perfectly happy to be fleeced and even slaughtered on the alter of Fox News. ("Fox News" is an oxymoron if ever I heard one.) Nobody has the balls to stand up to the fear-mongers, to even stand up for themselves. They willingly let their political opponents slander and malign them with only token resistance. If it weren't so pathetic it would almost be funny.
What's even more amazing are the outright lies and fabrications the average American is willing to swallow wholesale. Those of us here in the blogosphere have to ferret out the truth because we know the mass media is feeding us nothing but bullshit.
But the Fear is getting through, it's getting to all of us, and it's destroying our sense of commonality. Fear is turning us against each other for no reason whatsoever.
Divide and Conquer:
It's the oldest military and political strategy in the history of mankind. Those of us who are intelligent and self-aware know better than to fall for this one. The problem is all the people out there who aren't as bright as we are are falling for it, and their fear causes us undue stress no matter how hard we work to avoid it.
Due to self-selection and like-mindedness, we know we're "preaching to the choir" here. But all those average Americans who aren't as smart are affecting us in many negative ways and they are dragging our country down. We are not immune to our fellow man. Their blind idiocy stresses us out and gives us unwanted and unnecessary grief.
Yet all I can do is pull away from the mass media as an individual action. I have no idea how to overcome the incredible wall our mass media has produced. I can divorce myself from the media but I cannot divorce myself from my fellow man even if I wanted to. We can be kind to each other, and we can try to be kind to all the scared people out there, but it feels like an enormous and uphill battle. It feels hopeless.
It's like we're waiting for things to get so bad everyone wakes up. Yet things keep getting worse and they are not waking. The last election was a glimmer of hope, but it's not the kind of change that is needed to overcome all the bad things that have been done. I'm at a loss here. I feel more at peace for the reasons I mentioned above, but it nearly breaks my heart to see my fellow Americans suffering under the weight of so much negativity.
I have faith and I have hope, but they are harder to hang onto than ever before. I've become more cynical. I used to be an optimist but I've forgotten what that feels like. I maintain my rationality through my community of family and friends. You give me hope and strength. I just wonder what terrible thing will have to happen to wake the rest.
And I pray our country and our world survives it.
