Tonight's blog is a continuation of
the series "The Politics of Protest".
Day 9 - The Politics of Protest - Part Five: Explosions of
the People
Day 10 - The Politics of Protest - Part Six: Damage Control
Day 10 - The Politics of Protest - Part Six: Damage Control
In the blogs to follow I
will introduce the "Anatomy of Protest" from the perspectives of
both the protestor as well as the governmental or financial institutions, to
give a multidimensional view of protest so that we can see how/why protest is
NOT an effective means for permanent change - and while there have indeed been
relevant changes to social, economic, and political policy - it has only
achieved isolated instances of change that have been short lived, or have only
yielded relief from a symptom and have not addressed the core issues.
===============================================================
Day 11 - The
Politics of Protest - Part Seven: Never Waste a Good Crisis
So up to
this point in the series we have looked at the buildup of discontent within the
majority against the current system, and we also looked at the perspectives of
both the protestor as well as the government official and the institutions
within the context of our series.
Tonight I
will discuss the "fallout" - and what happens AFTER the explosion,
when the protests and the revolutions and the revolts die down as well as what
goes on "behind the scenes" with many of these explosions of public
outcry.
Here is a
recap of "Defusing" -
"Defusing – Here is where the situation has been “contained” – where the explosion is controlled and steered away from becoming a full threat. This is the aftermath where the protest is no longer violent and there has either been a “change” in the system or the protest/explosion has died down. This is when the system now prepares itself and sets up protections against future protests/sparks – but the underlying problems are never addressed. " - Day 5 - The Politics of Protest – Part One: Introducing The Anatomy of Protest
Many people
are not aware of the tactics of the system that are used to ensure that no
violent uprising ever "goes to waste" and there is substantial
evidence to show that in a majority of violent revolutions and public protests
that threaten a particular government or institution, there has been outsider influence
or funding by those who have had a vested interest in having a certain outcome
from the protest or the revolution.
"Violence"
against authorities is NOT a natural outflow of protest - those who are really
motivated by an urgent and oppressive need that has not been addressed
generally have no interest in, and nothing to gain from enacting violence
against authority - but if a case can be made that the authority has been
threatened or attacked in some way, then all manner of control become justified
- because now it is no longer an issue of an isolated protest of dissatisfied
people - now it has become a matter of "National Security" in the
name of protecting the infrastructure of the world system, and any political
protest or revolution is then re-classified as acts of domestic terror or
upheaval and any means of stopping such demonstrations becomes authorized in
the name of the "greater good".
When people
have gone past the point of what they can bear, and they become possessed by
their anger and frustration - it becomes VERY easy to misdirect their energy and
also VERY easy to justify further marginalizing them and ignoring their demands
because they were apparently being "belligerent" and
"unreasonable" and thus no attempts to reason with them shall be
made.
Therefore a
very effective way to shut down any protest or public demonstration of unrest
is to portray the protestors as "dangerous" and to use that label
against them and at the same time smear the entire agenda and starting point of
the protest - because if it can be shown that these people are violent and
irrational and cannot be reasoned with, then whatever it is that they are upset
about and protesting about must be equally as absurd.
It is not
beyond the world system and the various people who stand in positions of power
to deliberately incite such public demonstrations, deliberately push people
over the edge of reason, and then use the violent and destructive reaction (even
if it manufactures one artificially) as an excuse to use overwhelming force to
quell the uprising.
Here an
example would be military police posing as protestors during a demonstration
and giving an excuse for military police intervention to "keep the
peace" - the very peace broken by the "peacekeepers" themselves.
 | ||
| Notice the boots of the "violent protestors" and the "peacekeepers" are exactly the same | . | Source :http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2007/08/23/police-montebello.html?ref=rss |
What must be
understood here by the REAL politician is that such acts of public
demonstration are not only very easy to misdirect and control, but actually end
up strengthening the world system's control and the ability to further dispel
public protests, and that such techniques may seem outlandish to a person who
still believes that the government is responsive to the will of the people, but
in fact such techniques for public control are well established and are a
COMMON PRACTICE.
Notice how
after major political protests there is always added security in the vicinity and
each time a protest or public demonstration becomes violent, there is an
overwhelming presence of police and military power as well as added measures of
containment such as barrier fences and security cameras and additional
peacekeeping units that STAY after the event has long subsided.
The
protestors eventually burn out on their own energy if they get swept into the
frenzy of violence or social disruption, and the ones who want no part in
violence will themselves turn away. For those who linger on, many are arrested
and/or forced to vacate - and the system does not change - but only becomes
more aggressive in "dealing with" the "troublemakers".
So HOW then
can a people make clear their discontent and be able to affect the actual
government and the world systems without it backfiring? There is such a
monstrous apparatus in place that it often seems as though the only option is
to do whatever is necessary at whatever the risk even if it means engaging in violence
against the oppressor - and when things get desperate enough - when enough
grief and suffering has been forced upon a people - they WILL risk everything,
because they have nothing left to lose.
From a
system perspective, it must be understood that violent protests if left
unchecked can lead to changes within the social and economic structures of the
world system that can actually cause MORE negative consequences if not balanced
out. Therefore establishing direct control even at the expense of waging war
against the people directly becomes a justified and "necessary evil"
in order to ensure the basic support structure of the world system remains
intact to prevent catastrophic failure or collapse which no agency in the world
can in any way handle.
This is how
and why the great majority of protests and demonstrations and political
movements either dissolve over time or become completely shut down by
overwhelming force, or are made trivial and marginalized through the control
and manipulation of public media - and in the cases where a revolution or some
social change seems to have succeeded, it only does so within furthering the
sophistication of the control of the world system and ensures that no crisis -
no event of public outcry - will ever "go to waste".
But here the
REAL politician must be clear - and to NOT take sides on an issue based on
morality that does not take the FULL system into account. The REAL politician
must be able to see and understand the real HEART of the issue that drives so
many people into the very conditions of poverty and dissatisfaction - and must
without judgment or condemnation confront and direct the persons and systems
and institutions responsible not out of
protest or anger or fury, but with an understanding that those persons and
institutions responsible are just as trapped, just as controlled, and just as
lost because it must operate within a WORLD system that has become highly
volatile and great care and consideration must be taken to make sure that
decisions are not made as a knee-jerk reaction to violence or protest, but to
FULLY consider the consequences for all involved so that a solution can be put
into place that benefits EVERYONE - this includes the system itself, the
institutions, the political leaders, the majority of people.
The ONLY WAY
to do this, requires a dramatically different way of seeing politics and a
redefinition of political activity and political change - which is the purpose
of this blog and our journey to becoming the REAL politicians. Unless we have
an equal understanding about the world and its systems and can fully take into
consideration what is at stake not only for our community or our nation, but
for ALL LIFE - and be able to engage the problems without fear or judgment or a
need for vengeance for the wrongs that have been done, we will always remain
trapped in trying to fight an ever oppressive system or trying to quell an ever
uncontrollable majority of dissatisfied people who cannot and will not consider
anything other than the immediate resolution of their problems.
We, the REAL
politicians who are here in this world, MUST educate ourselves in the method of
standing in the shoes of all people, and taking into consideration all things,
and weighing out the full consequences of our actions, our policies, and our
ways of social organization to ensure that we are NOT swayed by anger or
frustration or vengeance against the system - nor are we fearful or beholden to
the system itself.
We must SHOW
the majority that they are not the ones who need to protest and fear the
policies and the oppression of their government or of the world systems or of
the money systems - that it is because the majority have ABDICATED their
political power and awareness that those in positions of power and influence
now must contend with an impossible responsibility to rule and govern the
entire world within a system that demands constant suppression and abuse.
Therefore I
walk and humbly ask that all who are willing and ready, walk the Politician's Journey to Life. This is not about me personally, or you personally. This is not about reading and following this blog. The actual journey of the REAL Politician is in the very living actions of each and every person on earth.
This is about
realizing that as long as the majority of people fear government and fear
taking responsibility for our world and refrain for becoming politically,
socially, and economically aware of our responsibilities - we will always
resort to fighting or protesting or asking for the system to change for us, and
we will NOT realize that the system does not respond to requests, does not
respond to emotions, does not respond to any who do not equalize themselves to
the system and speak the system's language and SHOW that we can direct this
world in a responsible way and that the system is able to TRUST that we will
not destroy ourselves in the process due to not understanding how deeply
interconnected our world actually is, and to understand how and why the current
system has had to do such "evil" in order to keep it all in place.
Brilliant! Congratulations for this blog!
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