[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. |