On Foxes & Wolves

[H2O Man]

Malcolm X used to speak of the politicians in Washington, DC, as members of the canine family. Republicans, he said, were wolves: they growled as they approached you, making their intentions clear. The democrats, on the other hand, were foxes: they smiled at you to make you think they were your friends – but then they bite you when you least expect it.

I believe that the current “crisis” in Washington illustrates that Malcolm was correct. And I say that as a loyal member of the Democratic Party. I say it as a grass roots member of the Democratic Party, who recognizes that the vast majority of the Democrats elected to represent us at the federal level do not have a sense of loyalty to you and I. They might say some fine words come election time, but fine words are just that; words alone do not create jobs, reduce suffering, or bring about social justice.

As I am watching the “news” this morning, I am convinced that the need to elect true advocates for social justice – in DC, and on all levels. I am convinced that, at least at the present time, this can only be accomplished by grass roots organizing from within the Democratic Party. But it requires changing our view of what options that involves. While I'm not advocating a “third party” in the usual sense, I think that by creating alliances at the grass roots level, with independents, Greens, socialists, etc, we will form something very different than the party that promotes the spineless corporate lap-dogs that are betraying us in Washington this weekend.

[annabanana]

1. k&r. . . . n/t

[H2O Man]

5. Thank you.

[Dennis Donovan]

2. A first step there would be media ownership and electoral reform

As long as media ownership lies in only a few hands, and until electoral reform is created to counter Citizens United, the slog will be nearly impossible.

Great post - recommended.:hi:

[H2O Man]

8. Thank you.

And I agree 100% -- of course -- with you. So long as the corporate media remains the primary news source, trusted by the majority of citizens who vote, there can be no true democracy.

[myrna minx]

3. K&R n/t

[H2O Man]

9. Thank you!

[alsame]

4. Stab me in the front or stab me in the back. k&r

[Wilms]

6. ^

[lame54]

7. How about Wolves In Wolves Clothing...

http://youtu.be/Hr8k8WHTzN0

[LWolf]

10. Your point is valid,

though I get tired of animal metaphors that make the animal the enemy.

I like wolves and foxes, and would rather have them for neighbors than many people.

[H2O Man]

13. Malcolm was a

student of history, and human nature -- among many other things. And his use of animal-people was based on a historic tradition of enslaved teachers in colonized lands and within empires.

The teacher he most favored was an Egyptian slave living in Greece in the 6th century bc. That slave's ame is lost to history. We know him by a variation of the description of "Egyptian" -- Aesop. It was unwise for a slave to openly attack the powers-that-be, and so they used fables -- which is merely a slightly less threatening term for what the four gospels all parables. But they are, of course, the same thing.

The idea in this is not to speak of foxes or wolves, or the snakes and other creatures in other parables/fables. It is because the vast majority of people in a given cultural context will know exactly what human attributes are being spoken of.

[LWolf]

15. All true.

There is a cultural bias against creatures our species has had to compete with, and with other tribes of humans we've had to compete with. While understandable, that's not a bias I'd like to see endure.

On the other hand, I love teaching stories from every culture I've had the honor of encountering. It's an interesting study, just to look at the metaphors they choose for those stories.

I'd like us to evolve beyond tribal warfare, empire building, and destruction of the rest of the species and tribes we share the planet with.

Part of that process is to, in the words of another, "be" the evolution I'd like to see.

We need some new metaphors for our parables.



What are some modern metaphors for fear, hate, greed, and the actions that result?

[northamericancitizen]

19. True. Well written. Thank you H2O Man. nt

[mmonk]

11. Yes we have to mobilize like minded people and not look to esblishment

structures as we have little influence in that arena.

[mmonk]

14. Excuse me....establishment structures.

[Me.]

12. As A Chompee I Am Fed Up

And what I think is most sad is the loss of trust and the sense of betrayal. I think back to the joy the night he was elected and the sense that change we could believe actually could happen. Now after being bitten we are being used as their door mats 'cause as they say, "where else are they going to go". They sure have gamed this right. Talk about chess masters.

[OneGrassRoot]

16. Agreed. K&R n/t

[amborin]

17. sounds like Pareto....

[H2O Man]

18. This OP

seems to fit my view of this evening's news reports.