“One of the penalties of refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” - Plato
Tonight's blog is a continuation of
the series "The Politics of Protest".
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.
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Day 12 - The Politics of Protest - Part Eight: The 99 plus 1 percent
Since Day 5 of this series we have
been having a look at the various dimensions of protest and we have been taking
a look from the perspective of the protestor as well as the government
institutions and the world system in general.
Tonight we will begin to bring it all
together - to see what is going on in the bigger picture and how the conflict
and struggle between the oppressed majority and the ruling elite is actually a
distraction that keeps both parties locked in conflict and separation, to the
benefit of the world system itself.
From the beginning of this series I
have said that protest and revolution are NOT effective means to generate
social, political, or economic change, and here I will clarify this statement
even further.
There is a difference between
protests and revolutions that happen as an expression of outrage and demanding
that things be set right for the people who have been wronged, and a political
movement that forces and directs a very specific change having understood the
problem, the consequences, and the solution.
There have been cases in our human
history where a unified people, under the leadership of those who fully stood
within a principle of what is best for all - who clearly saw the consequences
and the risks - who understood the nature of the system and the dangers that
they faced in standing in opposition to it - and yet were able to make a
political stand that could NOT be shaken, would NOT relent, and would NOT back
down - and oppressor suddenly found themselves without support from the world
system - and had to out of self-preservation abandon and relinquish their
control.
HOW do such instances happen? What is
it about those situations that are different from the thousands of riots and
protests and public demonstrations and outright civil wars that end up either
dissipating and collapsing from it's over exertion, or being completely shut
down by the authorities and peacekeepers by overwhelming force, or manipulated
and redirected by those who's profession is to cause chaos and confusion within
people so that their decision making processes are hijacked without their
awareness and refocused in ways that ensure no harm comes to the world system?
And is the world system or any of its
institutions and governments actually evil or malicious, or are there greater
consequences that must be taken into consideration when one stands in a position
of leadership in this world? Is it really the world system alone that is
oppressing us, or is the current system that is here a reflection of our own
inability and refusal to actually care for ourselves and each other, and thus
demand that a system be in place to see to such things so long as we are not
bothered by the work, the consequences, and all of the abuse that must happen
in order for us to continue abdicating our individual responsibility as the
rightful and REAL Politicians of this world?
How can two seemingly opposed enemies
ever hope to work together in unity? How can it be that the oppressed majority
of people who have been made to suffer horrendously under the rule of the
current system that has kept billions living below the poverty level and has
maintained a constant air of tension ,conflict, war, and FEAR amongst the
nations of the world, could EVER see it within themselves to FORGIVE what has
been done and all that has transpired, that they would be able to work
alongside with the very oppressors who acted as the agents of the world
system's control?
Here the task of the REAL Politician
becomes clear - we see that politics as we have known it must change to include
a new starting point and a new foundational principle - which is that politics
is NOT the tool of the privileged to deny privilege to others and nor is it a
means through which policies and social agreements be forced upon people for
their own good.
REAL Politics is the full
understanding and recognition of responsibility of ALL persons - that so long
as ONE person is not free and supported to have a dignified life, then NONE of
us are actually free and no life here can be said to be dignified when it
continues to allow suffering or indignity in any way.
In the posts to follow I will begin
to address the point of HOW political movements of the majority acting in
unison CAN work and CAN produce real and lasting change, as well as HOW the
world system is NOT the enemy and is not malicious by nature, but by
acceptance.
So for those who are ready to see and
consider "politics" in a way that has not been done before - where
the majority of the people DO determine the nature of the governments and the
order of the world, and the world system is one of support, of administration,
and of unconditional and unflinching stability - stay tuned and walk with us in
the Politician's Journey to Life which is the Journey of ALL people, and
understand that this Journey involves Psychologists, Economists, Lawyers,
Activists, Artists, and persons from ALL walks of life - walk with us
and see how lives can be changed when we understand our true responsibility,
and what can be done when we stand TOGETHER with that understanding.
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