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2110: The Year of the Serf Rebellion - The Premise for a Call to Action - Leftward Ho! By Peter Gamble, BlackCommentator.com Publisher

 
 

[This is the first column by the BC Publisher. It is his best intention to write on a regular basis. This column is the beginning of the development of a plan of action to advance economic justice, social justice and peace.]

Malcolm X believed it is important to remain angry, militant and impatient. It�s from this emotional and intellectual base that people like me who think of themselves as revolutionaries, radicals or leftists get the energy to remain positive about the struggle for economic justice, social justice and peace.

It becomes more difficult to fight off the urge to just give up at this end of the year time when we tend to look back and look ahead. This first column is my effort to give us both a lift with the premise of an action plan.

We are not the kind of people who simply give up, throw in the towel and get in line with the happy throng of individuals who are verging on an orgasm over the next exciting thing they are going to add to the pile of stuff that is the true measure of their value as human beings.

For many, many people, the bourgeois consumer democracy is the place to be this time of year.� Those who view their happiness by the amount of material things they have acquired find it is so much easier to make a �joyful noise�.�

We are constantly told by the corporate media that one major way to gauge where the economy is heading is to simply look at the level of consumer confidence. Therefore, it is not surprising that the corporate media finds few events more exciting and positive than witnessing a crowd of eager shoppers pushing their way into some store filled with items marked with the second most important American phrase � REDUCED!� The first most important being � ALL YOU CAN EAT! Now there�s an ironic combination.

We are a �fat and happy� nation of excess in which a growing percentage of children require the use of food stamps to get enough to eat.

We are the land of the free and the home of the brave with five percent of the world�s population and 25 percent of the prison population.

I squirm a little whenever I hear the phrase �homeland security� used in the context of discussing how to handle those who may disturb the status quo.� The status quo needs disturbing.� It�s time for those who are part of the �struggle� to get up and get organized.� The unrest that concerns me is the growth of the amount of chaos forced into the lives of working people by the pigs of the power structure.� Please pardon my use of an expression from the 1960�s.� But I like it because it best describes the greedy wealthy individuals and corporations who keep the middle and lower classes in line.� The major component in maintaining the status quo and keeping workers and the poor from getting too uppity is putting on the squeeze.

And the biggest squeeze always comes in the form of money. People at the bottom struggle to buy essentials and don�t see a doctor on a regular basis because they either do not have health insurance, or the insurance they do have has a co-pay they can�t afford. The squeeze is on, anxiety grows and for them, chaos is the status quo. Chaos makes it difficult to organize.

There is a growing level of anger among those who are being squeezed by the pigs of power structure.� This anger must be organized and directed towards changing the system. There are more angry poor people and working people than there are angry right-wing warmongering, white racist nut jobs. If the chaos gets out of control the old homeland security system is ready to clamp down and start throwing everyone who can�t behave in jail.� We�ve got a prison industrial complex that makes a lot of money.� I am concerned when individuals who are not satisfied with the way things are can so easily be labeled terrorists.� The POPS (shorthand for pigs of the power structure) are ready to encourage or allow an outburst to happen in order to justify a crackdown.� 9/11 could have been prevented, but that was not in the best interest of the POPS.�

2010 is almost here. It�s a very important year for us to let our voices be heard. We must shout out to every lawmaker running for office that we have had enough of working to support a system that benefits only a few.

We must support members of the House and Senate who deserve it, push those who are passive and oppose those who do not deserve the support of voters who struggle for peace and economic and social justice. Each of us must become active by phoning, emailing or writing members of congress.

Additionally, we must support candidates (regardless of party affiliation) and organizations in our communities that are backing candidates who are for liberty, peace and justice for all. It is also necessary to financially support those who are doing the right thing.

The links below will take you to Websites providing telephone numbers, snail mail addresses and email contact info of all members of congress.

2010 is an important election year for us.� The corporate political analysts would have us think it is only an important year for Barack Obama.� Obama�s �leadership� has been - pick the word of your choice: passive, disappointing, revolting. Obama needs a congress elected and influenced by us to tell him what to do.� A leftist third party is going to have to develop in order to have some successes on the local level.� The congress must be changed into a legislative body that represents us from the standpoint of our values, race, gender and class.� We can change it by replacing some and pushing others.

There�s going to be a lot more in the form of specific action items in the future in this column and in BlackCommentator.com.

There�s a long way to go, but here�s a starting point for the 2010 elections.

Click here for a list of all 36 Senators up for election in 2010. You may also get contact info for any member of the Senate on this page.

All 435 house seats are up for election. In he upper left hand corner of the House Web page you can enter your zip code to locate your representative. Click here for the House of Representatives.

I�m reading a historically accurate novel right now set in the 12th century.� Although, the upper class of today does not have outright permission to murder people at the bottom, the similarities between the POPs of today and the Lords of days gone by and the Workers of today and the Serfs of the past, are clear.� When the lack of health care, poor nutrition and too much stress results in death it is as callous as a jeweled sword piercing the heart.

The serfs of today must get organized and join forces in the struggle and rise up.� Let�s make 2010 the year of the serf rebellion - Serfs Up!

This plan for action will expand with detailed contributions from you and me and all those who write for BlackCommentator.com.

Please speak out here on BC.� Give us your ideas and suggestions.� The POPs are listening.�

BlackCommentator.com Publisher and Chief Technical Officer Peter Gamble is the recipient of a national Sigma Delta Chi award for public service in journalism and numerous other honors for excellence in reporting and investigative reporting. The �beats� he covered as a broadcast journalist ranged from activism in the streets to the State Department and White House. The lure of a personal computer on his desk inspired a career change in 1985 and an immersion into what he saw as the future of communications. The acquisition of computer programming skills made it possible for Peter to achieve an important level of self-reliance in the technology of the 21st century and to develop BlackCommentator.com. Click here to contact Peter.

 

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December 17 , 2009
Issue 355
is published every Thursday
Executive Editor:
Bill Fletcher, Jr.
Managing Editor:
Nancy Littlefield
Publisher:
Peter Gamble
Est. April 5, 2002
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