Reply #25: Glad to hear it named, but don't loose heart! [View All]

[intheflow]

Four years ago I sold all my possessions and my house on an acre of land to move 1/2 way across the country to get a masters in Peace & Justice Studies. Four days after I arrived in my new hometown was Sept. 11, 2001.

Talk about despondent! What a crappy time to go into peace studies! What a crappy time to move from a blue state to a red state! But I knew what the country was in for immediately, having experienced marshal law at Dubya's inauguration earlier that year.

I keep from sinking too far into cynicism and despair by trying to keep it all in historical perspective. Every turn of the century in US history has been a time of conservatism and conquest. For instance: around 1800: we displaced/killed millions of American Indians by taking their lands and forcing their conversions to Christianity. Around 1900 the robber barons ruled industry and Teddy Roosevelt had us annex part of Mexico for his "splendid little war." And of course, we all know what happened in 2000 as Dubya swept conservatism into the White House, and then in 2003 when we "annexed" Iraq for its oil.

The point is, throughout all these attempts by the right to squash the rights of the people (and peoples), resistance has always been right beneath the surface--and in fact, muffled by the media.

In the 1800's, Native Americans fought back, and kept practicing their spiritual traditions in secret, and in spite of the Christianity that was being forced down their throats.

At the turn of the last century, labor, health, racial, and women's movements fought for fair working conditions, public health, public education, and equal voting access across race and gender lines.

And now, there's DU and Code Pink and United For Peace And Justice, Not In Our Name, Democracy Now! and everyone else working for a better world during these trying times. So take heart--you are not alone and the movement left is gaining acceptance and strength. I believe history will bear this out.