STOP Participating In The SYSTEM

[JFN1]

--- RANT ALERT ---

I ran across a post on Kos the other day and shared it here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x729402

Ever since then, the words of that original piece have been thundering through my mind.

So based on what I've learned since I started to face the facts the original piece so brutally forced me to face, I can no longer sit by quietly while the self-pity hand-wrininging whine-fest that has become left learning politics continues it's decade long whine, I'm going to repeat again what I read the other day.

AMERICA is no more.

You still believe you can change a system that no longer responds to anyone expcept wealthy interests?

THE CONTRACT IS BROKEN. IT IS SMASHED. IT IS GONE.

As long as we continue to participate, as long as we STUPIDLY continue to uphold our end of the social contract that is our Constitution, while those who are charged with keeping the other end only pretend they are, WE ARE KILLING OURSELVES.

Obama continues to do the SAME THINGS Bush did, which drove us all fucking crazy for eight years.

Instead of holding to our values, we accept Obama's abuses and lies, and set the stage for the next President to continue the abuses.

OUR SHOUTS AT BUSH AND SILENCE TOWARDS OBAMA REVEALS A COWARDLY HYPOCRISY WE SCREAM ABOUT IN REPUBLICANS.

Our guy won, so his actions, no matter how vile, are okay? Tell that to PFC Manning, or the millions of jobless, or the millions of uninsured, or the little girl down the block who will go to bed hungry.

If you look in GD you'll see thread after thread announcing one fuck-over by the government after another. You'll see threads despairing over the state of our dead Union. You'll see pleas for answers to the maddness.

What you WON'T see is post after post with positive things Dems and our governments have been doing for the PEOPLE.

I have come to believe there is only ONE FUCKING ANSWER:

Stop participating in the system. Stop participating in the system. Stop participating in the system!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you truly think you can fix this mess we have from within the system - you are either delusional, a coward, or you are fucking asleep and have no clue what the actual reality for ALL OF US has become.

Do you continue to play a game where all the other players cheat, yet expect you to play by the rules?

Look around - our government is no longer OUR government - it is OWNED by people who don't give a shit about us, about the Constitution, about justice, or fairness, or LIFE.

What exactly do you think you can do to influence such people?????? All we've tried has done little more than feed them.

Obama says he's going to spend a fucking BILLION DOLLARS to win the Presidency. If you don't see the basic flaw in that promise, just go back to fucking sleep.

** edited for typos - sorry, my fingers don't work so good anymore **

[ixion]

1. k/r

:applause:

[femrap]

46. A HUGE K AND R

:kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

[OKDem08]

2. if you are employed, you have to pay

federal taxes...what precisely are you suggesting?

[JFN1]

6. Define what the system is, first

It is your job, bills, school, church, shopping, dealing at all on ANY LEVEL with the current batch of sell-out lying selfish shitbag politicians - this life we are all trying to live right now, that has become ALL about THEM, and not the PEOPLE.

Then, stop participating. I know it cannot be just one of us - it must be many.

If we continue to play by the rules they no longer respect, we're fucked.

We have to stop playing all of it, withdraw our consent (see Thomas Jefferson) and have a Constitutional convention for US - not for the money/power addicts who finally broke the contract.

I recommend reading the post that spawned this one at Kos - the link to it is in the thread I started the other day, which is linked at the beginning of this one.

[chervilant]

56. hmm...

May I suggest a wee bit of planning and organization?

I think we need a network of coordinators to work out the logistics. It would be good to have representatives of the various tribes currently extant in the US.

Furthermore, everyone who plans to participate will need to start stockpiling food, water, meds, candles, batteries, and gas for the duration of the paradigm shift (this may be a big challenge if the initiative takes more than two-three weeks). People may have to talk with their friends and family and arrange alternative support strategies.

If we have enough people willing to completely withdraw from the system--no going to work, no buying tchotchkes at Wally-World or The Dollar Tree, no purchases of ANY kind, no bill-paying of ANY kind, no television, and the internet strictly for communication--this would be a valid beginning. (Eventually, many of us will lose our electricity and our cell phones because of non-payment of bills, but we can work on alternative ways to communicate.)

I agree with the person who posted the original rant on KOS that got your juices flowing. We are no longer living in a Democracy, and unless we want to remain slaves to the uber wealthy, slaves to our various addictions, slaves to the ennui that threatens our very souls, we MUST ACT.

Fear cannot be your justification for doing nothing to stop the Corporate Megalomaniacs! If you cannot do this for yourself, then do it for our children.

[JDPriestly]

60. First step: Drop cable

Second step: Drop subscriptions to newspapers and magazines that have editorial policies with which you do not entirely agree.

Third step: Either get rid of credit cards or pay them off completely at the end of each month. Don't buy anything other than gas and food until all credit cards are paid off. Move toward a sustainable lifestyle -- local fruits and vegetables, solar or wind energy if you can afford it and look towards leaving a lighter and lighter footprint not only on the planet but in the records of the corporate world.

[Fiendish Thingy]

45. I'm suggesting leaving the country

I will be moving to BC as soon as I find a job up there. While you have to continue to file with the IRS, your first $80k of foreign earned income is exempt from US taxes. You can still vote, without having to support the war mongering, torturing, wire tapping, bankster controlled beast financially.

[Random Guy]

51. Leaving is the coward's way out

I intend to stay and fight.

[chervilant]

59. Me, too,

Random Guy. For a long time, I considered moving to Canada. I find I cannot bear the thought of leaving this once great country to be picked clean by the hedonistic vultures who've usurped our media, our corporations, and our government.

I am currently in limbo, contemplating how best to truly FIGHT. I know more and more of us are moving inexorably toward ACTION. I say, it's about damned time! I keep watching for our leaders to emerge. Maybe it's time to take that particular bit in our own teeth!

BTW, I got a promo piece-of-crap from Chase offering me $100 to open a 'direct-deposit' checking account. Wooooooo-hoooooooo--a hundred bucks would help immensely right now! BUT, you MUST read the fine print on ANYTHING you get from a BANK! To whit: unless you keep an average daily balance of $5000 or have at least $800 going into the account for any ONE direct deposit, you'll be paying $12/mo for the privilege of this account! I haven't seen an $800 paycheck in more the four years! If I could keep an average balance of $5000, that would mean the entire economy would have shifted into robust recovery!

So, when I support this OP's call to action, I should stress that an important part of our efforts will include withdrawing all of our money and lock box contents from every bank on the planet. We must find a more egalitarian way to behave economically.

[trud]

116. Chase

Chase has been sending me applications for "business" credit cards. You know, the ones exempt from the new credit card regulations. They must be sending these out to every one breathing.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

117. "I keep watching for our leaders to emerge"

Better look in the mirror. If the people lead, the "leaders" will follow. At some point they'll have no choice.

[Fiendish Thingy]

131. My way of fighting is to take my tax and consumer dollars and leave

That is my way of not contributing to the war crimes committed in my name, and the bailout of banksters who run the current administration. I guess I'm a coward for not being brave enough to go to jail for tax evasion, but I figure I can do more good out of jail than in it. Rather than be an expatriate, I will consider myself a patriot-in-exile.

[alfredo]

91. You don't need to leave, the country has left us.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. --Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.


Add abuses by the present day oligarch below...

[NightWatcher]

3. Thank You! The Social Contract has been broken for years!

We're the only ones dumb enough to keep playing by the rules. The other side's been cheating for years and laughing at us for continuing to follow the rules.

No More!

[russspeakeasy]

54. Can we have an AMEN???

[pscot]

92. Amen

[rzemanfl]

4. Here's MY problem, I am quitting my job next week rather than

pee on command for Rick Scott and have my pay cut by 3%. When that happens I will have to rely on Social Security and pensions from two states with crazy Repuke Governors (Walker and Scott) for income. It is a little tough for me to get out of the system at this point.

[WhiteTara]

7. the upside is

that you will have the time to fight those crazy repukes! Good Luck! Your Future Awaits You! :applause:

[JFN1]

8. We have been conditioned to forget - it is time to remember

we are ALL in this TOGETHER.

Friends, neighbors, family, will all have to rely on each other for a time while WE THE PEOPLE get this mess sorted out.

The things you are currently depending on the system to provide are on the system's chopping block. You will not be able to stop this - it is already done, and I think we are all beginning to realize this. They are talking about cutting Veteran's benefits now - I'm like a lot of vets, totally disabled. When they put benefits for vets on the chopping block, there is NOTHING for the People that will not fall next.

I think we owe it to our children and their children to attempt to stop this thing before it becomes a world for the super wealthy and their serfs.

And I have come to believe there is no way to fix THIS system, and the only way out of it is to abandon the corrupt system and get chatting about the next one - because this one is only a ghost, a shell, a shattered thing we continue to dance around as if it were still whole...

[ooglymoogly]

67. ++++

[mntleo2]

111. Mike Malloy said it best for me ...

...he said when he was arrested in DC last weekend, he looked around and saw mostly old people. People who had been walking, speaking, voting and resisting for 40 + years. And still nothing has changed, indeed it has gotten worse. He said 40+ years SHOULD be enough time to wait before active resisting comes next.

And even Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Tutu supported the war-making Tutsi because he believed it was a "last resort", a man of the cloth whom many said "should" promote peaceful resistance. He said he supported them because when you resist a government with consciousness, you MIGHT embarrass them with your non-violent resistance and maybe promote change. But when you peacefully resist for decades a government like the South African government who were like the Nazis and had no conscience, then you just get mowed down ..."

While we old farts are mostly retired and can take the arresting and resisting, we couldn't when we were younger holding down jobs and raising families any more than the following generations can. Try laying down on some train tracks with a train bearing down on you that cannot stop because it is so full of explosive and toxic material, it would cause another 3 Chernobles should it try. You better hope that the police officers you notified before you decided to risk your life, will pull you off or other wise you die ~ and this was how one of my friends, a father, a professional, a husband, and a wonderful person, did die.

That is what a few in my generation were doing in the 1970s and 1980s as well as creating an Underground Railroad for El Salvadorians, Guatemalans, Chileans, and Nicaraguans fleeing our Ayn Rand economic experiments and nasty, brutal proxy wars there. Where some of our citizens were dying in South America for social justice. And they were not a bunch of hippies who had "nothing else" to protest. These were nuclear physicists, doctors, engineers, lawyers, nurses, nuns, priests, teachers, ministers, neighbors, you name it. They had families and they had jobs. But no one in the government heard a thing. Indeed they were mocked (the 2nd stage of resistance according to Gandhi). "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they hurt you, then you win."

But here we are a bunch of old farts getting arrested with Malloy. Still.

Really it is time for the next generations to step up with us. Like us, the newest wave of young adults are unemployed, with no future in sight, maligned as we older ones are in so many ways. They are the future, and more "dangerous" than we are because this government knows they are coming next into power. They can use our support and I can tell you as an old social justice activist, it is only going to get worse for them and their kids if they do not, because it has gotten WAY worse than when I began as an activist almost 40 years ago.

I think after 40 years we old farts can confidently say it won't end, it will keep going downhill until we stand up and resist enmass.

My 2 cents

Cat in Seattle

[brooklynite]

11. I'm sure you've taught HIM a lesson he'll never forget...

I've works in the Government for 20 years. Some Governors have been Republican and some Democratic. I do my job because I want to help my fellow citizens,not make a political statement.

[rzemanfl]

24. I could (and have) worked for Republicans, but not a teabagger.

The situation is: more work for less money and by the way, we will be wanting you to piss in a cup four times a year at times of our chosing. I have given my fellow citizens enough. I have been working since 1964 and have never been asked to take a pay cut-I am not about to start now.

[JDPriestly]

61. Social Security and two pensions? You are better off than many.

[pam4water]

113. Eap jobs too few and far between! Keep it and keep doing what you can for change. Inflation is

coming you can't tell how much prices are going to go up. You can always use any extra income to donate to food banks if you don't need it.

[handmade34]

5. rec

[Courtesy Flush]

9. What are you saying?

Don't work? Don't shop? Don't vote? All of the above?

What the fuck can we do?

[JFN1]

12. Not me - ALL of us are saying it, we just don't act, out of fear

From the piece on Kos:

What Do We Do? What Do We Do? What Do We Do?
Why, we revolt, of course. There is no way to fix our governments (national, state, local) – they are corrupted beyond saving. The current system must be completely broken down, and rebuilt upon the lessons we have learned from the successes of our Constitution, and its shortcomings.

No, the Constitution is not perfect – even the Founders knew this. But given their cultural worldview, they did a damn fine job giving us the basics of governing ourselves according to human values. And had we stayed a nation of farmers, things might have continued under the guidance of our Constitution for a very long time.

But, through no fault of their own, the Founders screwed us – and badly. They did not – and truly, could not – account for the Fourth Power of government as it exists today.

Money.

It is power, it is privilege, and it is a force used daily as a means to an end by our various governments, by corporations and businesses, and by ourselves individually and collectively. And it is completely and noticeably unaccounted for in our Constitution.

There is one obvious fix for this problem, but unfortunately it runs contrary to the collective American ego, and well, pretty effectively neuters predatory capitalism.

1. Have a maximum economic standard. I’m not going to fill this one in for you –think it through.
2. Have a minimum economic standard based upon human values. Again, the benefits are obvious.
3. Forget elections – instead of a complicated, expensive, always vulnerable system of electing people to serve - everybody serves. Like jury duty, we all serve a term as representatives of the People.

This is just one possible path we could take away from the mess we are in – and there are countless other paths out there, if we just look. But we must start somewhere, if we all even decide to start again.
---------------------------
I mentioned revolution earlier, and I bring it up again to remind you the first step on the path out, is not violent – but it is really, very simple.

Stop. Participating. In. The. System.

Just stop.

Every action you take within the system (work, school, bills, church, shopping, etc.) all feed the system which is in total and complete control of this country – and you. The best revolution we could stage would not require violence – just the withdrawal of our consent, and the will to go cold -turkey on our addiction to an apathetic, self-centered, egotistical, arrogant, childish, wasteful, wasted lifestyle.

But…I’ll Miss American Idol! And Facebooking! And Cheeseburgers! And (Gulp!) Internet Porn!
Yup, you sure will. You’ll miss everything you are so comfortably addicted to – and you and yours will be at great risk from the uncertainty the overthrow of any political system entails. Food, basic services, water, security – the certainty of these will be compromised by any real revolution. Are you risking more than our Founders, who pledged and risked “their lives, their fortunes, their sacred honor” to show us the way forward? Perhaps, perhaps not. But the fact that you fear such, demonstrates the next point.

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[JFN1]

20. I'm a retired soldier

and a disabled vet injured in the Gulf War. I have zero use of my right hand, live in pain all day every day, and LOVE MY COUNTRY AND PEOPLE enough to give my life and my health.

Don't you DARE suggest I haven't sacrificed enough to have MY OWN FUCKING OPINION.

I'm trying to suggest ANY course of action that might lead us out of this mess.

So - I'll ask you again, and please give me a straight answer, not another than a childish insult:

Do you continue to play a game where all of the other players cheat while expecting - no, demanding - you play by the rules?

[Whisp]

39. lots of us have shit jobs.

[trud]

119. JFN1

I am asking, why you participated in the Gulf War?

[JFN1]

129. Enlisted after high school in the mid Eighties

I followed orders. Also, I believed we were liberating Kuwait. I was about 24 years old, thought I knew everything, and did what I considered to be my duty.

[chervilant]

69. Gosh...

I hope your soul is not as ugly as your snarky post suggests...

[girl gone mad]

28. The solutions will have to be local.

Families, friends and neighbors working together to fight the global oligarchs.

I'm moving back to Austin, TX soon. In part because it is a town that embraces local small business over corporate monoculture. Even my right-leaning friends in Austin will pick the corner coffee shop over Starbucks and will ask the waitress where that lettuce in their salad was sourced. They know that these choices matter because they don't want Austin to be a carbon copy of every other mid-sized city in the country.

[JDPriestly]

63. If you can get a job, work, but spend as little money on the services and products of

big corporations as you possibly can. Save your money. Don't feed the corporate monster.

[brooklynite]

10. And your solution is...

...hold your breath until you tune blue?

I will continue in the system, since it's the only reality-based way to change anything.

Unless you have a better suggesiton.

[LynneSin]

15. OMG I was just thinking the same thing

It's like DO NOT CROSS THE ROAD - WHATEVER YOU DO NOT CROSS IT

Ok, but I want to get to the other side so what do you suggest instead

[JFN1]

19. Egypt did it

and got the boot from their neck. Did they do it by participating in Mubarack's corrupt system? Or did they find they had to go OUTSIDE the system to change things?

And you suggest we continue working from within to change the system? Indefinitely?

Okay - tell me how this is going to work, please. Let's hear the grand plan that will stop the money and the fascists and the corporatists and the right wing crazies currently holding all the cards and give Democracy back to the People.

I'm all ears.

[adigal]

23. Stop buying their shit

Simple. Only buy what is absolutely necessary. If you and a few million other people do this, they will sit up and take note. It's like, "I am not participating in my own demise." And if you buy very little already, encourage friends and family to stop buying useless shit.

[porkrind]

101. Thank you for saying that

There have always been a lot of rants on DU like this one, accusing the rest of us of not seeing the truth, supporting the system, and taking no real action other than posting on a website.

I understand the frustration, but turning your anger on us and yelling in all caps that we are sheep and not as smart and wise as you will not help. You are not the only one who "gets" it, a lot of us understand the larger issues too. And where did this idea get started that sharing information on the internet is somehow not productive? Communicating and getting information is one of the most important things we can do. The oligarchs rightly see the internet as a real populist threat to their power. Besides, it's not like posting on DU is the only thing we do in life.

It's true that America has very serious problems, but as Chomsky says, the things that will work now are the same as what worked in the past: organizing and bringing populist pressure to effect real change. Look at what labor unions are doing in the Midwest right now for an example.

[MineralMan]

13. If you've truly given up, then I guess we won't see you posting

here any longer. This site is about activism, not abandonment. If you're giving up, then what can you possibly have to say to us?

[JFN1]

17. Activism? Is that what its called?

Hows that working out for us? Dems controlled both Houses and the White House for TWO YEARS. So why are we worse off now than we were then? Only because Repubs? Or because the system you are busy trying to activate DOES NOT EXIST ANYMORE as a system WE THE PEOPLE have the power to change - we ain't rich enough.

I understand being "afraid to leave the plantation" but don't play some passive aggressive bullshit game with me for doing what I BELIEVE IS RIGHT.

I'm all for activism, but I think it is time to try something different, instead of pouring money and energy into the same fucking hole and expecting to get sunshine out the other end.

[Courtesy Flush]

21. We're not disagreeing with you

But to live our lives as though we've already lost all our rights just seems to miss the point.

And no, I don't have a solution. Smarter people than I are grappling with this and coming up with no answers.

I have to work to keep food on the table and a roof over my head. I have to maintain health insurance, because I'm an amputee who needs prosthetics, and my wife has brain cancer. I can't just drop out.

I agree about not going to church, but only because I'm an atheist. I can stop buying material things, and I already spend only a fraction of my income on them already.

You're totally right about us getting screwed. Explain how this will really change it, and we might come to an agreement.

[JFN1]

27. Be happy to try

Thomas Jefferson pointed out the People are goverened by their consent, and the People can withdraw their consent at any time.

The system we are now living is based upon our consent.

Everything we do, is truly within the confines of our system, so the "normal" lives we are now living are lived within those confines.

Our government is no longer functioning for the benefit of the People - can we all agree upon that?

Working within the system, we elected a Congress and President and told them what we wanted to see change.

Instead of change, we got more of the same, at an accellerated pace. Pretty much all of the things we were promised have not come to pass, and the longer this goes on, the worse it gets for the People.

It seems to me that trying again in 2012 will result in nothing more than a strengthening of the system as it stands.

By not prosecuting war crimes, by bailing out the banksters and then not prosecuting them for the massive fraud they committed, by capitulating at e very trun to Republicans (who clearly have an agenda centered on the wealthy few), by continuing to be silent as our rights, compromised under Bush, get more of the same under the Presiden WE ELECTED, we continue to feed - and confirm - the system as it stands.

Call it a "general strike" if you want. But if we all stop - stop going to work, stop shopping/paying bills, playing the political game, etc. and basically shutting down commerce in this country, we effectively de-ball the system, which DEPENDS upon our PARTICIPATION for its own survival.

What is it we actually do in America?

We go to work, we send our kids to school, we go home watch tv, or go over to friends, or go out and party, and go to bed - and then start it again the next day.

All of that feeds and supports and legitimizes the system.

I read a comment a bit ago from a guy in Frnace, who was commenting on the Wisconson situation. He said something like, if this were happening in france, we'd have shut the country down and been in the streets overturning cars until they withdrew the anti-union law.

What do we do, Pinkie?

The same thing we do every night, Brain...and thus things continue and continue and continue.

If we don't do something radically different, well, it makes me think of the definition of insanity.

If you believe you can trust ANY politician in 2012, I think you might be a bit crazy.

And if we cannot trust them, then how can we continue to participate in the system and expect things to improve for the People?

[hfojvt]

78. that sounds like a really dumb idea

First - stop going to work.

What happens then? I lose my job and somebody else takes it. The system keeps right on going and I am just a frog who jumped out on the interstate trying to stop a semi.

Second - stop shopping. Oh boy. Then what happens when the food in my cupboards is gone? Do I start shop-lifting? Try breaking into the store at night? Or a neighbor's house? Or do I get a rock and try to kill the raccoon which lives around here?

Third - stop paying bills. Okay, now my power has been shut off because I didn't pay the electric bill. I guess now I have to cook my raccoon in the dark over an open flame. Plus it is still kinda cold to be living without power or heat - even as far south as Kansas, to say nothing of Madison and Twintown and Fargo and Boise and Buffalo and Augusta.

I guess at some point I should douse myself with gasoline and light a match. At least I will be able to keep warm.

It's really sad to me that this childish dreck is at +70.

In the real world, most people are fairly satisfied in America. They spent yesterday watching Butler win in overtime and watching UConn dodge a bullet against Florida. What they did not do is spend yesterday tearing their hair out over Bradley Manning. Maybe you wanna rage against some 'system' but for most people it works reasonably well. They get nice warm houses, they get cars, they get TVs and computers and cell phones. They want those things - I want many of those things, at least as much as I/we want peace in Iraq or for Obama to snap his fingers and create ten million meaningful and good-paying jobs.

[blunderbuss]

88. obama could snap his fingers and create jobs by.....

ending tax credits for off-shoring,imposing tariffs, lowering the retirement age stuff like that.
the banks got 9 trillion dollars to recoup THEIR loses over the housing bubble, obama could have use 1.5 trillion and paid off the troubled mortgages.

[2banon]

128. busting out of the fear trap is the big challenge in moving forward with at least a general strike

we are so conditioned/brainwashed - hypnotised AND ADDICTED to all the shiny toys and raz-ma-taz that creates the trap of consummerism which feeds and enriches the robber barons and the very system that makes them rich and makes us slaves.

In addition to a very significant psychological barrier, and that's the fear trap. People will not stand up for their rights or basic socio-economic and political justice until the moment we/they realize there's nothing left to lose but their fear. And that's what happened in Madison. People finally understood that there was anything else to lose but their fear and finally were driven to the capital steps in bitter cold for weeks. That struggle isn't over, and it's just the tip of the iceberg. or should be treated as such by workers all over the country.
Calling for a National General Strike is the easiest, most painless way of making significant impact. Yet, I think this is the only Western country where most people don't even know what that is much less participate in it.

We need to move ahead with the first one and I suggest we call it for May 1st.

[lafayettelonewolf]

34. The truth at the time was...

the fact that conservatives on both sides of the aisle were still in control of the whole game. There were at least 12 conservative democrats that were screwing up the works and keeping Obama from getting most of his agenda through. That's why we do not have single-payer health insurance, for example.

[Enthusiast]

52. Obama took single payer "off the table"

right from the start. He did it. He appointed those very 'conservative' Democrats to positions of authority on the health care reform commission.

Anyone that still believes Obama is on OUR side is seriously delusional. The 'powers' want you to continue to believe in the bullshit ruse they are foisting off on us. Either Obama is one of them or he is their employee. He is certainly not the guy we thought he was. That much is perfectly clear.

[AtheistCrusader]

73. States can build their own.

VA is doing it now. They can opt out of the national care system, with their 'better' single payer system, if it passes.

[deutsey]

121. I've been at DU a long time

Activism has never been one of the strengths of this site, imo. Exchanging information, yes. DU is great for that (much of it useful, some of it not so much). While there are instances of efforts that result in direct activism here, I haven't seen a lot of consistent examples of it here.

[formercia]

16. Money is Power

Spend your Money wisely. Try not to buy goods that feed profit to the very entities that are engaged in Class Warfare against the poor and working people. They understand the power of Money. When it starts affecting their bottom line, they will pay attention.
The Oligarchs cannot survive without the workers. Your sweat is their profit. What you consume profits them, unless you choose otherwise.

[eomer]

18. That is what I've started working on.

Instead of driving a car for a 100 mile roundtrip commute I've been taking the train. Been doing this about six months now. I live in South Florida and am lucky that my job is walking distance from a train station.

I've switched from Diet Coke to tea that I brew myself. I'm using up some Lipton that I already had and then I will be buying fair trade tea.

I just bought a coffee grinder and fair trade whole beans from a company that is an employee cooperative (Equal Exchange) and specializes in fair trade.

Today my first fair trade clothing arrived in the mail.

I know I won't manage a 100% conversion, because I will have a cell phone, computers, etc., but I will manage a good percentage nonetheless.

Less of my money will be going to people who use it against me.

Edit to add: there is a produce store nearby where most of the workers are owners and they always stock locally grown produce, whatever is available. I've started buying my fruits and vegetables there. I discovered King Arthur flours by Google. They are employee-owned. For the first time in my life (I'm 58) I baked a loaf of bread -- french bread -- and it was not bad for a first try. Ate that over the last week. I continue to look for things like this I can do so any ideas anyone has would be welcome.

[adigal]

22. I agree - some changes I have made

so as to not spend money to help the greedy bastards at corporations that hate us:

- I, too, bake my own bread now
- Only buy organic from local farms
- Only buy meat from local farms
- Haven't shopped for clothes, went to the local Outreach/Goodwill and got some sweaters. I dropped off my kids' outgrown clothes there, too
- Haven't upgraded my i-phone in two years; went to bare minimum plan
- Have one TV in the house, which we rarely use
- Bought the reusable bags for grocery
- Compost much of our waste
- Planning a big garden, to avoid buying any GMO vegetables and fruits

If we all would not have to have the latest thing, we would be opting out of the "system" the media tells us we need to be in. We have a great consignment shop around here, my daughter and all her friends bought their prom gowns there. They are gorgeous!

[xiamiam]

26. i've made changes as well

cable is off for 2 years now..never to be renewed
very conscious about gas and try to plan my outings more than before
sell stuff on ebay, give stuff away and always have a free box in my front yard
i always have lots of fruit from trees but this year, the garden will be bigger and better and i'll trade some of that
i use the house phone line for dsl and fax..everything else is my cell

i know there are plenty more ways for me to unplug but im learning and determined

i no longer have health insurance which saves about 900 dollars a month..not a choice, a necessity..so i cant be ill for even a day

[xiamiam]

25. good for you and great start..i think this is the way we start..sharing with each other

and i think you are correct...i spend little these days because i dont have the money as before..this could be a post on its own which could get pinned to the front page..i just think its a good idea

[girl gone mad]

29. Maybe you can start a thread based on these ideas.

Let me know if you do, I'll rec it.

Personally, I've started doing things I never would have imagined a few years ago.

I make most of my own detergents.

I buy all of my books used, even if I have to wait.

I gave up satellite television.

I bought a used espresso machine.

I planted a small garden and traded with some of the neighbors last year.

I haven't set foot in WalMart or Target in ages.

I bought all of my Christmas gifts at local artist fairs.

[xxqqqzme]

126. Good for you - I think

baking bread is one of the most worthwhile experiences a person can have. I can cover a lot of ground, mentally, while kneading, punching and shaping.

Our community garden had its ribbon cutting yesterday. I have a 15' X 20' plot that will grow a bunch of veggies for me and my family. My last back yard garden was only 10' X 10' and I gave away eggplant, tomatoes, peppers and artichokes. We have lime, orange and an avocado tree in the back yard.

Grow something - anything. Even if it is a tomato in a laundry basket lined w/ a garbage bag. It is going to be better than anything moved 500 miles in a refrigerated truck.

[Godhumor]

30. I was just thinking that caps and multiple punctuation points need to come back en vogue

Helps with not needing actual facts to make arguments.

[readmoreoften]

31. No. Fight to REVOLUTIONIZE the system. One cannot abstain from the system they exist in.

Only the most privileged can refuse to participate in the system. Anyone who works for a living must participate or starve. Are we supposed to quit eating? Quit fixing our broken water heaters made in China? Quit our jobs when we have kids? Take our kids out of school? Stop driving or taking the subway or the bus? Stop riding bicycles because the steel is manufactured in Mexico and the tin is mined in Bolivia?

We are part of a system. We need to fight to take it over and transform it. We can't "opt out."

ALL INTO THE SYSTEM!

[JFN1]

32. We have been co-opted out of things already.

How many lobbyists do you have? Cause they are the only ones getting anything done.

Gotten to sit down with your Congressman lately - or ever? too bad you're not a billionaire, huh?

Had any luck getting those things you were promised in 2008? Because there are a whole lot of happy bankers and war criminals and CEOs and rich guys who are getting everything THEY were promised.

So you think it is a good idea to rebuild the engine of a car going 75 miles an hour the wrong direction on a one way street at rush hour?

How are we going to fix things from within the system if EVERYTHING WE DO RIGHT NOW STRENGTHENS AND FURTHER LEGITIMIZES THE EXISTING SYSTEM?

Who is going to lead us? Who can we trust to do what needs to be done within the system to fix the system?

You want to uncorrupt the totally corrupted. Okay, I'll bite. How exactly do we do that? And btw, isn't that what we were voting to do in 2008?

[DeSwiss]

33. Well said. - K&R n/t

[tcaudilllg]

35. I rec'd this just so people would hear my explanation of why you're wrong.

And that is because fewer left wing people actually vote than do right wing people.

Right wing extremists are easily mislead -- Republican politicians pay lip service to their demands, then give it a lukewarm heave-ho in the Senate, say they tried, and give it a rest until the next election season. And the dummies buy it every time. Why wouldn't they? So many negative situations around them already... why would they care to actually look for the existence of more? They are blind to the character flaws in their leaders -- the Moral Majority is always primed to elect the next Nixon.

Your problem, JFNI, -- OUR PROBLEM -- is that you are too smart for your own good. Take your medicine, and we will win, and you'll see the Dems actually standing up for their ideals because they'll no longer have to pander to the Center-Right.

[paparush]

107. Did you forget the sarcasm tag?

Our Dems had a historic moment, a truly once in a lifetime moment. We survived 8 years of Bush and had just elected our first black President. People were literally weeping in the streets. We had momentum. We had a mandate. The world had our back.

And drip by drip by drip...I feel like it's gone. I feel like we've past a turning point as a country, as a society, maybe even as a world. The Wall Street bailout and the subsequent neglect shown to the common, working class, has utterly jaded me. The scales have fallen away from my eyes and I now truly believe that the progressive era in America is over. We are in for a long dark period of corporate domination and there is nothing that will change that reality.

Americans could lay in the street of DC by the millions and GE, Lockheed Martin, BP, Goldman Sachs, et al, would roll over us in their armored limos so's not to miss their lobbying appointments. WE would be the ones locked up. Not BP for poisoning the Gulf. Not Goldman Sachs for destroying the financial markets. Not GE for making record profits and paying 0 taxes.

This country is done. The only thing we MAKE are weapons, which we sell to help perpetuate the only thing we're still good at..war.

[NYC Liberal]

36. A lot of caps and exclamation points, wailing and gnashing of teeth...

and yet no solutions to what you see as the problem.

So, let's hear it. What are your solutions?

[MilesColtrane]

65. I think it boils down to:

1) Drop out

2) ???

3) Enjoy the fruits of a transformed political/economic system

[Whisp]

37. the system gives you electricity and heat

and all kinds of things we really can't do well without.

I just don't buy junkshit anymore. I shop at second hand stores for clothes (which is WAY more enjoyable than going to a mall, malls give me hives), I do not participate in junk buying at all - all those do-dads and trinkets and JUNK. Meat, potatoes, beer, internet access and a few smokes here and there is all I want and need. And laughs.

I know too many people than yard in truckloads of shit in their doors like it's a proof that they are alive or something. Stuff that means Nothing but filling up some kind of emptiness that consumerland has trained so many so well (remember when we were called 'citisens'?. I have an empty as well, but I fill it with laughing and beer and chortling at the conspicuous consumers that think that buying useless or unused crap makes them a better person.

[chervilant]

81. Wow...

"...chortling at the conspicuous consumers that think that buying useless or unused crap makes them a better person" will NOT make YOU a better person. Joining in the dialogue now evolving to explore ways to stop the corporate megalomaniacs is a much more productive use of your time and energy.

Just because those of us who've undertaken this activism don't yet have all the 'answers' is no justification for snarking our efforts.

[USBlues]

38. How the CorpoRats have enslaved us...

First they stopped public transportation works in the 30's so Ford could sell cars which also got us enslaved to the oil companies for gas to run them. Then they take control of our access to medical care so that it is solely up to the Corps how much access we get and if we get any at all. Once television came along we were bombarded with corporate ads and propaganda culminating in the sick, corporate controlled wasteland that tv has become today.

Then in the 80's Reagan began the attack on unions while giving huge tax breaks to the corps and the wealthy. Meanwhile the banks have managed to get americans loving their credit cards and begin to attach all kinds of fees and penalties to increase their profits. No government oversight...just a wild west mentality...if its good for the CorpoRats it must be good for America.

Then we are presented with 401k plans...CorpoRats got out of having to provide pensions while promising great and good things since we are now part of the investment class! We can just invest in stocks and we are on our way to a safe and happy retirement. Around this time states start making auto insurance mandatory...you must buy the corporate product however shitty it might be. Oh and one misstep and your rates will double. Or you will just be dropped.

Then the war on drugs...which was really just a war on the people. Drug testing became just another tool for the CorpoRats to control us and our access to jobs and health care. Now they use drug testing as a convenient way to enslave any strata of society they deem necessary to abuse. Simple and effective.

Soon our credit rating...yes that 3 digit number that was put there to judge our worth as good consumers...was being used as a way to screen job applicants. Bad credit rating? Your not working. Good luck...you should have paid those bills on time. All the while our public schools are purposely being made ineffective and useless so the CorpoRats can push us into private corporate ownership. College tuition skyrockets as the banks and CorpoRats find ways to make sure college students (and their parents) are smothered in debt before they even enter the work force.

And now the final assault has begun...the final push for the full monty. They want it all folks. They wont stop. we found out the hard way that elections are meaningless...they may make us feel good but the truth is clear. The CorpoRats own the system and there aint a damn thing we can do about it. that was the clear message from the 2008 elections and the ensuing cluster f&%k known as the Obama administration.

Enslaved to the energy giants and the automotive companies...to the telecoms...to insurance scams and health care denials. Drug tests and credit ratings. No unions and no recourse if you get screwed over by the CorpoRats. Destruction of our public education system. And soon they will control the internet and our access to information.

If that isnt enough to get the average American to rise and begin the BIG PUSHBACK against this sick and corrpupt system...well then I guess we get what we deserve.

[ncpmd]

53. Bravo, USBlues

So very well said. Thanks for taking the time to articulate this. I think the final nail in the coffin was winning the Citizens United court case. The mask/veil was completely removed and now they will stop at nothing.

[TBF]

40. I understand your post and agree with you -

it's a farce and our only solution is to band together and fight back. Solidarity.

[L. Coyote]

41. ORGANIZE or perish, that's the system. Embrace the system, adapt, and change it.

Just one example, start a National Minimum Wage Union. Organize the masses, and take control.

Or, go crawl into a corner and curl up, FCS! :rofl:

The "system" is YOU and you cannot take the you out of the system. It is the sum of all our actions.

[UrbScotty]

108. +1,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000!

[Fuddnik]

42. The system is corrupted beyond redemption.

Throw it out!

[JoePhilly]

43. When does the revolution start ... I want to put it on my calendar.

[Shagbark Hickory]

44. There's one teency weency problem with the "world's gone to hell" argument.

Nearly half (or maybe even more) of the people in the US would still vote for a republican vowing to do the same things the person who wrote the above rant feels the system is beyond repair.

When you come right out and tell people. We're taking away workers rights and we won't have a "government-run" health plan and people still support you then it seems like the system is still very much functioning as a democracy.

PErsonally I believe the corporations have way to much influence on laws and regulation. But there's still people that vote for republicans that we feel have destroyed the country. You're essentially telling us not to participate. OK then.

[ncpmd]

62. Hi Shagbark Hickory, I live in a rural Southern area and....

it is hard core "red" to the bone here. I think people in my community vote Republican because they are one issue voters (which is now basically three issues - gay rights, abortion, and they literally HATE the Government). They do not vote their pocketbooks or economic issues at all. They hate paying taxes which they 100% believe the government either wastes or gives to the no-gooders and welfare moms. They literally do cling to their guns and their bibles. I mean these feelings run deep to the core. I think some of them did vote for Obama because he promised to change the way Washington worked which sounded very good to them. Now they know that did not happen. They obsess over welfare abuse and I think there is still some racism at the core of that, perhaps not consciously.

[ooglymoogly]

79. Polls and the black box would certainly lead one to believe that. nt

[Enthusiast]

47. I do not accept Obama's abuses and lies.

I will say it here and now. We, the people of America that still value representative democracy, have NO future with Obama. He is done. He has betrayed us.

Now, what are we going to do about it?

[RegieRocker]

48. I have tried to propose such an idea. Good luck!

[TheKentuckian]

49. Walking away doesn't stop it. It must be destroyed.

[leveymg]

50. When any group acts as if it's unaccountable, it has to be persuaded otherwise.

When the rulers of the system fail to police themselves, and unaccountable elites threaten the lives and safety and freedoms of the rest of society, it's time to impose accountability.

That's not a contract model, it's more a deterrence model of politics - and, it describes the present situation more accurately. The contract got torn to shreds long ago. We no longer have a social contract, just a civil Cold War.

[azul]

57. The war is waged with debt.

The financial system that distributes the wealth is based on bets and speculation of this debt.

The battle is to spend your damn dollars where they will promote a stable population and clean world, and to stay out of debt. The enemy will say the economy needs to grow for prosperity and jobs. Unchecked business growth out of touch with the value of life is cancer, the world's destruction.

Your money is your weapon and your vote. Don't give it up to casino bankers or destructive businesses, without a fight.

[neoralme]

55. That's what needs to be done. Just buy the basics, what is

needed--nothing else. Let the rich get by on what the other rich buy, and see how that works for them.

[MilesColtrane]

58. "you are either delusional, a coward, or you are fucking asleep and have no clue"

Unrec, for name calling.

[davidthegnome]

64. How?

Lots of people are asking that question. I'll ask it too.

Living without the system means no electricity, no indoor plumbing, no job. No access to pretty much all food and water for most of us. No health care, no medications. The list is... extraordinarily long. That's what it would take to really stop participating in the system. How do you feed your children then? You can grow your own food - but only if you have the land and resources to do so. You can get your own water, perhaps, if you have a spring or a well with clean water....

What you're suggesting isn't wrong - it's just not going to happen. Even as I'm unemployed, uninsured and reliant on my parents at almost 27... I have the basic necessities of life and then some, so I can't complain too much. To abandon what little security I have would risk what little sanity I have left. Yes, that's selfish - there are a million things I wish I could do that I can't. I know how screwed we are - I read about it every day. I know Obama isn't the man he pretended to be as a candidate - I know he's as corporately owned as the rest.

So what I am expecting, ultimately, is an eventual breaking point. There is nothing I can do to hasten the utter demise of this broken system - and I'm not sure I would want to. Too many people are dependent on it and could not survive without it.

As another poster said - walking away won't work. The system has to be destroyed before it can be rebuilt. I'm convinced beyond a doubt that it is succeeding in destroying itself. I just can't say for sure how much longer we have to wait until it's finished.

I could always go out in the woods and live like a hermit - but I wouldn't last long. I haven't got the skills for one thing - for another, I'd lose my precious little sanity if I lost what precious little social contact I have.

[democrank]

66. Try this....

No change....no contribution, no vote.

[TBF]

68. I may be wrong

but I think that is part of what the OP is saying.

[guruoo]

70. It's war. One in which, to win, we will have to first learn to become as ruthless as the enemy

At all levels. The political arena. The workplace. The street.

[Bryn]

71. A Huge Kick!!

I am so sick of the system. It's AWFUL. No "Law & Order". It's OUT OF CONTROL. Our own government has no moral compass, no moral obligation for *The People*, and in fact they're CRIMINALS who should be taken out. Seriously!

:kick: :kick: :kick:

[briteleaf]

72. Class warfare

Class warfare has been waged and won by the wealthy and their corporate interests. Their lobbyists control legislators with campaign donations. They're taking away working people's right to organize. They seek to balance our budget by cutting benefit programs for the working and the working poor at the same time that 3/4 of all corporations pay NO TAXES and billionaires pay less taxes than their secretaries. America has become a plutocracy - a government of the corporation, by the corporation and for the corporation. ABC, NBC and CBS (media owned and controlled by the wealthy) covered inane topics on the 6 o'clock news while ignoring record numbers in the tens of thousands protesting union busting in Wisconsin. Americans will become educated and get smart. It's just a matter of time.

[bvar22]

74. My wife & I went ON STRIKE in 2006.

We sold everything, bought cheap land, moved to The Woods, and started growing our own food.
Wall Street can Live or Die without our money or concern.
Our "taxable income" is LOW.
We buy almost nothing NEW.
What we can't make ourselves, we buy or Barter 2nd Hand or salvage, and make it work,
or do without.

Our focus has become local Humanitarian Issues, and finding NEW ways of denying funding to the MIC and their bought politicians.
Our latest effort is to combine our purchasing power with several like minded neighbors, and bulk purchase some of the things we can't produce (grain, coffee, etc).

Its not for everybody.
My wife & I are lucky to be strong & healthy, without dependents,
and have a compatible Skill Set to make this FUN (most of the time).


Living Well on stuff we learned in the '60s :hippie:

[ooglymoogly]

75. There is one thing easy for all of us to do; Boycott, boycott, boycott.

We all know who the bastards are. Though every time someone proposes this even on this site, out come the trolls and the pug talking points..."Boycotts don't work". That is bull shit. They work. Google 'successful boycotts' and see just how well they work.

http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/Boycotts/successfulboycotts.aspx

[mochajava666]

76. Rec.

Good rant. I agree.

[wildbilln864]

77. k&r! nt

[felix_numinous]

80. Great post to share ideas on not contributing to the corrupt system.

People's ability to unplug from the system will vary according to their circumstances, so it's good to come up with as many ideas as possible for people to choose from to make a difference. Movements happen when everyone decides to move-- in their own way--away from one direction and toward another.

Some people may be able to boycott goods, or change their power company, others will bike instead of ride, while we stay current on how to vote and where and how to make ourselves heard. Not everyone can do the same things, we have to PICK OUR BATTLES in order to 'win the war' (although I am not a fan of the 'war' rhetoric).

Let us share all of our good ideas. Let us imagine what it would look like to starve this corrupt system while supporting what DOES work.

There are many kinds of people. some people will obstruct progress (RW), and others will smack down ideas without providing ideas of their own, and then there is CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM--and that is what we need, with respect if at all possible.

I think it is time for a movement--and while on one hand everyone is doing their own thing and fighting their own battle, on the other hand we need to have coherency as a group.

To start there are some crucial conversations we need to have about the next 'election' with the hackable machines, and the next election. What does this mean to our party? This is a very hard time because everyone has their own ideas about that. Some people are about to bail, and others feel strongly that this would be counter productive. I think that DU is a very good place to start talking about these issues openly.

Thank you JFN1 for your rant, it needed to be said (typed) :)

[leeroysphitz]

82. 136% of the liberalest democrats evar support obama.

And don't you remember that one time when he didn't fuck us over as bad as he could have?

Talk about ungrateful.

[mikeburetta]

83. participatory democracy

ok i read this and let me see what were talking about..the system is broken so ill fix the system by not fixing the system?...Paricipatory democracy is simple lets get people out to vote!...Every election cycle we end up getting less than half the elagable voters to bother voting ..so how do we fix this?....How about working during primary and caucuse seasons to nominate individuals we "CAN BELEIVE IN"....waiting till the general election and complaining that theres no real choice is a choice to do nothing and we wonder why things stink?

[Catherina]

84. Drop out. Tune Out. Fight back. Rec'd when you first posted this n/t

[mstinamotorcity]

85. You can blame everyone

who participates and commerces with the enemy. would that be you also???? Do you bank with big banks? Do you buy products that you know are funding the right wing meme? Do you look at faux news? You have a disdain for the President but what mirror image do you see when you look yourself? When pointing out the Presidents fault have you examined yours? Your friends? Are they informed on the current events?Are they aware of boycotted products??Are you allowing the enemy to infiltrate your way of thinking???

[felix_numinous]

86. Here are some of my ideas

if I may post again :eyes:

I believe art and music make the world turn, creative efforts are very powerful. Work empowering messages into art and put them EVERYWHERE. Make ourselves seen and heard through fliers, adds in newspapers and bulletin boards. Find ways to empower young girls to feel good about themselves, be totally inclusive of the gay community and share music from other cultures. Messages on saying no to violence, and fighting for the corporations, and their divide and conquer techniques. This may seem to some people here to be an obvious idea, but this sort of art is not available everywhere--there are deserts of colorless artless communities that completely lack in imagination or this sort of art. Help people think outside the box. Art communicates with the right brain--people who may not be educated in the linear logical left brain most often can get symbolic or pictorial messages--art and music are POWERFUL communication tools.

A Ban Foxnews campaign is a no brainer--those signs should be everywhere. Turn off the corporate propaganda, and make ourselves heard outside Fox studios.

Embody the exact opposite of exclusivity and repressiveness, use language of inclusiveness and INVITE everyone to join up--people who have lived with hate and abuse need to experience acceptance. This does not mean to accept verbal abuse or condone bad behavior but it is a part of compassion and is a path to solidarity. Finding common ground is easier sometimes, other times it is impossible. But keep the door open for people who, underneath it all, have not made up their minds.

We need to MAKE ourselves more visible, no more silent majority.

Peace to all.

[alfredo]

87. It's time for us to go "John Galt."

[MilesColtrane]

103. Now that's an idea Ron Raul can get behind.

[alfredo]

106. Not if it is the workers going up against the oligarch.

[moondust]

89. Minimalism.

I like it. :)

[elocs]

90. Here's a bit from the original that didn't make the OP quote:

We. Must. Act.

But, of course, we won’t.

It's pretty easy to call people delusional and cowards if they don't agree with you, especially when no ideas are given for how not to participate in the system.

Yet the above quote is exactly right and anyone who believes any great number of people are going to quit participating in the system is certainly the delusional one. People are trapped in the system because most are living lives of quiet desperation, just trying to get by. There are families who just cannot quit participating in the system and they are neither delusional or cowards.

But it is a coward who calls others that if they do not agree with him.

[bertman]

93. Your post and the kos post are both excellent, JFN1. I agree that we need

to get off our asses and do something. However, I'm confused about how we Stop Particpating In The System. Some specific guidance would be helpful. Not theoretical stuff, but real life actions we can take.

I have no choice but to be a part of the system in my work life, just like most of us. We depend upon a job to keep our families and our selves functioning. Most jobs are tied directly into The System.

I apologize for not having a more creative and inspired approach to following the advice both OP's put forth. I'm ready and willing. Just give me some help on this.

Thanks.

[The Hitman]

94. Let's just not vote

We really proved our point by staying home in 2010. Man... the country has been going so much better now that the GOP has the house!

:sarcasm:

Seriously dude. Think about what your are proposing.

[sulphurdunn]

95. Whether the GOP controls

all three branches of government or controls none, the GOP still runs the government.

[Little Star]

110. bingo

[glinda]

120. I don't think they would if there were Libs and Progressives in huge amounts though.

[Marblehead]

96. Buy used

[Initech]

97. The corporate coup started in the 80's and ended with Citizen's United.

Greed is an addiction. These people are addicted to their money, and they wont stop until they can squeeze every last cent from us. Companies have officially become financial terrorists - they're committing terrorist acts against working folks who are just doing our jobs. It's true that we don't matter. It's true that the government wont listen to us anymore and refuses to tax these fucking assholes. It's not a mere depression. It's the end. Fuck. If they want a revolution, I say bring it. I'm ready.

[kestrel91316]

98. Are you suggesting we stop voting? Or stop using money? Or both?

[jefferson_dem]

99. Meh.

I appreciate your passion but all the screamy outrage is a bit over the top and definitely misdirected.

[Joyful74]

100. It is what many of us are thinking.

The writer just states what I have been thinking for quite
some time in regards to us being cowards. I say that mainly
speaking for myself. I am so outraged at what is happening in
this country, I post and reply and blog but it is not real
action. I think the government and media have done a great job
of spoon feeding the message that protesting, boycotts,
strikes and so forth are "radical" measures, write
your congressman instead. This is especially true of the right
leaning media outlets. God forbid someone mention revolution,
in this country that is. But we all have to know that it will
happen eventually. Maybe next month, maybe next year or 10
years from now. The sooner the better for many reasons but
personally I think if it is the latter it will be violent. It
is almost as everyone is waiting for someone to go first. It
is either that or most Americans truly are that blind or just
don't care as long as they have their NON-Reality TV show to
watch. We have to quit burying our heads in the sand.  

[emsimon33]

102. K&R We are NOT powerless...you are right!

If we just stop participating then the money machine to the greedy, soulless bastards will just dry up!

[Rex]

104. I am not part of the system and refuse to be.

Fuck banks, put your money into credit unions!

[MilesColtrane]

105. Just to be clear, is your idea to destroy the political system in place, or the economic system, or

both?

[Kurovski]

109. Get money out of politics, maybe that's the only truly transformative struggle left?

[MilesColtrane]

118. On the nose.

A nice Constitutional amendment outlawing private funding for anyone campaigning for a federal office would be a start.

Nothing but publicly funded campaigns...

Another amendment outlawing/severely restricting Congressional lobbying would help.

Congressional term limits would be a good thing to toss in the mix.

Decoupling the corporate teat from Congress' mouth would hopefully lead to elected officials who don't pee themselves when they think about actually enforcing the anti-trust laws.

And, eventually that untainted influence would spread to the Judiciary via new appointments. This could lead the way to the repeal of all kinds of evils. (corporate person hood being one that immediately comes to mind)

It certainly won't happen overnight, but the strategy seems sound. The GOP thinks long-term. We are where we are at because they had a plan going back to before Reagan stunk up the Oval Office.

[freshwest]

112. Rec'd for a kick ass thread and posts.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

114. Every dollar you spend is a vote, spend it thoughtfully.

And yes, that's just the start.
Learn to say no.
Become enlightened to whats happening all around you and react in response to that.
Yes its hard work but each of us is only in control of ourselves first and we add up to millions.

[Quantess]

115. Even if we move to another country, how do we "stop participating"?

Even if we move into a grass hut on a deserted island near the equator, nobody can 100% escape.

[MissDeeds]

122. Un freaking believable

Imagine the good the price of reelection would do! One power hungry politician wants to spend it to get elected - and for what?!
To end wars? End torture? End the pain and suffering of the poor and disenfranchised? Bring the Bush cabal to justice? Help the union workers who helped him get elected? Improve the educational system? Enough!!! The emperor has no clothes! We've been had, and it's time to wake up.

[DearAbby]

123. Ahhhhhhh common sense

Refreshing

[indimuse]

124. I can't rec this enough!

Thank you!

An illusion it will be, so large, so vast it will escape their perception.

Those who will see it will be thought of as insane.

We will create separate fronts to prevent them from seeing the connection between us. ~?

[PBass]

125. Utter Bullsh*t in OP

First of all, a hellish pox on threads that DISCOURAGE participation in politics. Screw that!!! Cynicism, despair and disengagement are what we are fighting against!!!

Second of all, a hellish pox on people who say things like Obama = Bush. Would Bush have appointed TWO LIBERAL WOMEN to the Supreme Court (which will have an impact for the next 30 years?) It's complete nonsense to claim that Bush and Obama are the same, and it totally negates any real rational discussion of Obama's shortcomings, when your opening statement is so totally over the top.

Spend some time here:
http://whatthefuckhasobamadonesofar.com/

I'm not totally happy with Obama, but I've never been totally happy with ANY president. We have never had a perfect president, and we never will, because there are no perfect people. Obama's just not that liberal... we already knew that, years ago. America could have nominated Dennis Kucinich, but we didn't. Now we have to play the hand we were dealt.

Are we better off now than we were 4 years ago? OH HELL YES. Is it a slow and painful process, to move America in the right direction? YES. Does that mean we should all get frustrated and disengage? NO.

Politics isn't for the impatient and easily frustrated. It takes a LIFETIME to reach some goals. STICK TO IT!!!! We can still make a difference, and we will!

[tinwi]

130. Why can't we have another choice in 2012

Why cant Kucinich primary Obama? I agree Obama has done some good things, but the whole private Manning thing, the tax breaks for the wealthy, the ignoring Wisconsin, the Libya war, and now helping GOP cut Social Security.
Honestly, he started out as a democrat but looking more like a Repulican these days. And the Republicans are looking scary Fascist. I wake up in the horror of FitzWalkerStan (used to be Wisconsin) everyday.

I do not believe in sitting out elections. I was so discouraged in the Democratic party until those 14 Democratic senators in my state showed me what true representatives of the people look and act like. I know there is a lot of corruption, and yes, someone got to Obama but there still are some good players out there.

Sorry for the ramble, half asleep and still shell shocked over the Walker attacks

[brooklynite]

132. Actually, I'd love to see Kucinich run...

...his marginal performance in previous campaigns means Obama could continue to run as a middle of the road Democrat, appealing to the Independents he'll need to win in November, and still contrasting nicely with the Tea-Party Republicans.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

127. K&R

[QC]

133. Kick!

[Le Taz Hot]

134. Good rant!

:applause: