This was posted as an e-mail by Adam Sacks, director of the Boston College Democracy School.
- Nina
Hi Everyone --
I actually see this somewhat differently for a number of reasons.
First of all, we never had a democracy to begin with (although there
have been hints of such in people's movements, e.g., Populists,
Abolitionists and Suffragists -- and in some local communities and
utopian experiments). All of this is terribly distressing for sure,
but what's to mourn? The expiration of the *fantasy* of democracy?
Seeing our reality might actually be cause for celebration -- as awful
as the reality is, seeing is a blessing, because without seeing there
is no fixing.
Second, the voting fiasco, with all its cheating and manipulation and
election theft, is not the problem, it is a symptom. That anyone can
even say to us without collapsing under the weight public ridicule that the person who oversees the voting is allowed to be the chair of the state committee of one of the candidates is testament to how well
controlled we are (two elections in a row, no less). That most of the
people speaking out against the Ohio fraud -- even ardent "progressives" with some very notable exceptions such as Jesse Jackson -- preface their statements by the politically correct "It's about voting, not about the outcome, revealing the fraud won't change the results" gives witness to how terrified we are of speaking the truth.
Third, the Ohio vote debate in Congress only happened because two
third-party candidates forced the issue. I'm not so optimistic to
think, at this point, that it will mean the demise of the two
living-dead major parties, but it does give some momentum, especially
to the Greens.
The disease we are suffering is not a trick vote (we've had those ever
since the beginning -- even when only propertied white males could vote they cheated each other). The disease is that a tiny minority of
people rules the rest of us and we let them. This is not inevitable,
and it is still possible to change it, since the oligarchy is woefully
outnumbered. But the power of culture far exceeds the power of
weaponry, and we are shackled and imprisoned in myth and preconception
far better than prison bars can ever do (but make no mistake, they use
prison bars too, just ask young black men).
The history of progressivism is rife with compromise and sell-out to
avoid confronting the underlying power structure and "civilization's"
genetic compulsion for exploitation, expropriation and aggregation of
wealth. This vote episode is heir to that heritage, and should be no
cause for surprise.
This is in no way meant to disrespect the incredible work and
dedication and courage that thousands of people contributed in the
attempt to find and create democracy in Ohio and the United States
(most notably and revealingly, John Kerry was not one of them, just
like Al Gore in 2000). But until we use an analysis that takes us
(non-violently) out of the prescribed and permitted ways of confronting power, we will lose (because that's all we're *permitted* to do -- it is deeply embedded in the rules we follow).
The "good" news is that the ruling elite has embarked on a blind,
stupid, unsustainable and lethal course, so all of this will end --
with bangs and whimpers -- unless we the people get our act together.
To get our act together we have to strip away the veil. (That's what
Democracy School is about, BTW -- another one coming up soon in Boston
-- February is filled but we've set one up for March 11-13. Check it
out at
http://www.constitution411.org/dem_schl.php)
I do agree that we have to be out on the streets in massive numbers.
But to do that effectively, I think we need a better understanding of
some root causes. Apparently it's not quite time yet . . .
Best to all,
Adam
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