Understanding the U in DU - Democratic Underground

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Fri Apr-18-08 10:38 PM
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Understanding the U in DU

I was not even 4 and I can recall us walking on the moon. I don't recall much of that newscast, just an image and how excited mom was and her friend.

I remember Nixon leaving office, but only because there were 3 channels on TV and nothing else to watch and that was all that was on. Not like we had the cartoon network back in the day.

As I got older I spent a little more time thinking about things, partially because of church (my parents weren't going at the time, so I went to the church I wanted to).

Those early and then later teen years I came to see things in a different light.

One that I see others here seeing now and saying the same things I was back in the day.

I didn't care if it was an R or a D in office so much, it all was bound to have the same affect: slowly but surely those in power would consolidate their power across the globe and more and more we would lose freedoms. Some called it the anti-christ rising to power, some had other terms for it. But overall there was this sense among some that the avg person was becoming less and less important and being misled.

In the 60's to early 70's we called em hippies. Then it was those wacky fundies who were sure the world was gonna end due to the corruption of govt and satan. In the 80's it was all a mess while being cool at the same time (computers, mtv, political videos - we saw Reagan as the end of it all).

In the 90's it was the militias who were the ones to be feared. Surely they wanted to end the government and attack us like they did in Okie city. I mean, McVeigh was in a militia so all people in militias had to be bad right?

Now it's the muslims. Not the commies and domino theory, not the fundies, not the militias, not the....well you get the idea.

Every so often we get a new group that we focus on that we see as bad.

But I think maybe we are all right over the years. The ones to truly fear are not these various groups, but the ones in power who make the rules.

Our own government.

The U in du means to me that while we hold some values very dear to us from the democratic party, we realize that we are not part of some of it's mainstream ideals/practices.

We want something so simple that it is considered odd to others. A government by the people and FOR the people. No matter what they say in public or what party they are in, we want something greater for us all. Something real and true.

All those people we saw as wackos before us were actually right - they are out to get us and control us. And they are using what they always have - fear of each other.

whether it be fear of christians, muslims, militia members, atheists, etc and so on - the ones who have done us the most harm (and others in the world) are the ones we have elected to power who cared more about themselves and their corporate interests than anything else.

The real threat we face is not each other, it is 'them' - the people in power who keep enabling these wars and funding things we are against.

I am an American first - someone who believes in freedom for myself and others, and a dem second.

The Nancy Pelosi's and such are not part of this group.

Which is why we are the U in DU.

We want a better America and world first. We want what we once had.

Not to be seen as the enemy, but to be seen as a good people.