Election Madness-By Howard Zinn

[kpete]

We should be taking direct action against the obstacles to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Election Madness
By Howard Zinn, March 2008 Issue

................

This seizes the country every four years because we have all been brought up to believe that voting is crucial in determining our destiny, that the most important act a citizen can engage in is to go to the polls and choose one of the two mediocrities who have already been chosen for us. It is a multiple choice test so narrow, so specious, that no self-respecting teacher would give it to students.

And sad to say, the Presidential contest has mesmerized liberals and radicals alike. We are all vulnerable.


............................

Historically, government, whether in the hands of Republicans or Democrats, conservatives or liberals, has failed its responsibilities, until forced to by direct action: sit-ins and Freedom Rides for the rights of black people, strikes and boycotts for the rights of workers, mutinies and desertions of soldiers in order to stop a war.

Voting is easy and marginally useful, but it is a poor substitute for democracy, which requires direct action by concerned citizens.

more at:
http://www.progressive.org/mag_zinn0308

[9119495]

1. interesting.

[lefty2000]

2. Howard Zinn Opened My Eyes

After reading "A People's History of the United States," by Howard Zinn, I saw our country and its history in a new light. There has been a lot more direct action by citizens in the past than most of us are aware of, and although those who rebelled against the system have often paid a high price, such action has been the engine that drives progress.

When the people push back, the establishment gives just enough to placate the masses and restore the flow of commerce. Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama are dedicated to working within the system for progress, but without pressure from below, they will fail.

Howard Zinn is right. Voting is not enough.