- 20 Dec 2011 04:00
#13855844
“The white conservatives aren’t friends of the Negro either, but they at least don’t try to hide it. They are like wolves; they show their teeth in a snarl that keeps the Negro always aware of where he stands with them. But the white liberals are foxes, who also show their teeth to the Negro but pretend that they are smiling. The white liberals are more dangerous than the conservatives; they lure the Negro, and as the Negro runs from the growling wolf, he flees into the open jaws of the “smiling” fox.”
Malcolm X said this in 1963, two years before he was assassinated. Here he was attempting to convey to his audience the concept that the nature of the system above the heads of the average black person was the central cause of their exploitation. He suggested that by working within the system, or by voting for one of the two main political parties, there could be no substantial advancement for black people. I would like to modify this argument somewhat, because I believe it does not only apply to the oppressed black people of America, but it applies to every last victim of the long legacy of imperialism carried out abroad by the United States, and every last victim of our false democracy. Included in this latter group are the poor people of all races in our own society.
In 2011 it has become clear to a great number of people that social activism will be a requirement if we hope to pressure our government to genuinely represent our interests as American people. This perception of disenfranchisement has caused fledgling movements to pop up in every major city in the country and many towns. We have become trapped in the flawed nature of our political system, forced to vote for one or another candidate that both represent the interests of the business class. The train is plowing ahead, and we can only nudge it in one direction or another. This situation is unacceptable and needs to be changed, and the question always arises: to what end? What is the solution to the problems that face us, and to what end should we work as people interested in social reform? There are a thousand eloquent descriptions of those problems, and far fewer attempts to understand how we can resolve them.
My suggestion here is that we need to unite around central fundamental reforms that will upset the very source of power of the elite in this country and place that power into the hands of the people. First, we must upset the consolidation of control over media. Participants in recent social movements are aware of the extent to which mainstream media outlets intentionally downplay and disregard our protests. The very existence of FOX News, with their deceptive framing and obvious bias, is evidence of the existence of elements in this society that have a particular agenda. They are not playing to an audience, they are creating the beliefs of an audience, and they are engaging in the crime of deception. TV media and news media needs to be re-formatted and more public channels need to be established where a more neutral voice can have a permanent place.
Second, we need to significantly reduce our military budget, bring troops home from abroad, and close our military bases abroad. These conflicts are never and have never been in the interests of the vast majority of American people and they are, most of the time, the results of business ambitions. We should defend our own country and we should be very reluctant to move across its borders militarily. Americans have a duty to be vigilant about watching our government when it comes to foreign policy because these actions are carried out in our name.
Third, we must demand the establishment of universal systems of education and health care. If we can employ the population to man military bases and kill the people of Afghanistan and Iraq, we can employ them to provide health care and education to our own citizens as well. If we want to provide a basis on which people can fulfill themselves as human beings, this basic foundation of life is an absolute necessity. Perhaps, as well, if people are able to raise their gaze from their direct short-term self-interest, they will be better able to understand and contemplate their position in the world. The opportunity to have time to read and learn comes from a degree of affluence, however ideally it would be provided to every person in their most absorptive stages.
Fourth, we should demand the restructuring of our political system to make it more viable to choose a third party over the two central ones. We should adopt a system of proportional representation on a statewide and national level that would allow people to vote for the party they believe most represents their interests. This would create a multiplicity of voices, which is certainly preferable to the current circumstances. Many social activists and revolutionaries hold faith in the concept of revolution; I do not. I appreciate the spirit of revolt, but we must understand that a real revolution is chaotic thing that cannot be controlled. We have a democratic system that, though it is flawed, has a sound foundation in that there is a judicial process and a system designed to prevent tyrannical control from taking hold.
Fifth and finally, we must resoundingly demand the protection of our civil liberties and the rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. The Patriot Act and its most recent extension, the National Defense Authorization Act, are unwarranted extensions of executive power that threaten to undermine the separation of the three branches of government.
Many aspects of this society—consolidation of control over media, increasing concentration of wealth, the violation of our civil liberties—points toward one thing: tyranny. We cannot allow this concern to be shouted down by others who say that we are panicking, or engaging in conspiracy theory. We cannot take the violations of our civil liberties lightly and should work to protect them at every available opportunity, and we must work to correct other aspects of the way that we conduct ourselves if we want to create a more egalitarian, just, and productive society and world.
Malcolm X said this in 1963, two years before he was assassinated. Here he was attempting to convey to his audience the concept that the nature of the system above the heads of the average black person was the central cause of their exploitation. He suggested that by working within the system, or by voting for one of the two main political parties, there could be no substantial advancement for black people. I would like to modify this argument somewhat, because I believe it does not only apply to the oppressed black people of America, but it applies to every last victim of the long legacy of imperialism carried out abroad by the United States, and every last victim of our false democracy. Included in this latter group are the poor people of all races in our own society.
In 2011 it has become clear to a great number of people that social activism will be a requirement if we hope to pressure our government to genuinely represent our interests as American people. This perception of disenfranchisement has caused fledgling movements to pop up in every major city in the country and many towns. We have become trapped in the flawed nature of our political system, forced to vote for one or another candidate that both represent the interests of the business class. The train is plowing ahead, and we can only nudge it in one direction or another. This situation is unacceptable and needs to be changed, and the question always arises: to what end? What is the solution to the problems that face us, and to what end should we work as people interested in social reform? There are a thousand eloquent descriptions of those problems, and far fewer attempts to understand how we can resolve them.
My suggestion here is that we need to unite around central fundamental reforms that will upset the very source of power of the elite in this country and place that power into the hands of the people. First, we must upset the consolidation of control over media. Participants in recent social movements are aware of the extent to which mainstream media outlets intentionally downplay and disregard our protests. The very existence of FOX News, with their deceptive framing and obvious bias, is evidence of the existence of elements in this society that have a particular agenda. They are not playing to an audience, they are creating the beliefs of an audience, and they are engaging in the crime of deception. TV media and news media needs to be re-formatted and more public channels need to be established where a more neutral voice can have a permanent place.
Second, we need to significantly reduce our military budget, bring troops home from abroad, and close our military bases abroad. These conflicts are never and have never been in the interests of the vast majority of American people and they are, most of the time, the results of business ambitions. We should defend our own country and we should be very reluctant to move across its borders militarily. Americans have a duty to be vigilant about watching our government when it comes to foreign policy because these actions are carried out in our name.
Third, we must demand the establishment of universal systems of education and health care. If we can employ the population to man military bases and kill the people of Afghanistan and Iraq, we can employ them to provide health care and education to our own citizens as well. If we want to provide a basis on which people can fulfill themselves as human beings, this basic foundation of life is an absolute necessity. Perhaps, as well, if people are able to raise their gaze from their direct short-term self-interest, they will be better able to understand and contemplate their position in the world. The opportunity to have time to read and learn comes from a degree of affluence, however ideally it would be provided to every person in their most absorptive stages.
Fourth, we should demand the restructuring of our political system to make it more viable to choose a third party over the two central ones. We should adopt a system of proportional representation on a statewide and national level that would allow people to vote for the party they believe most represents their interests. This would create a multiplicity of voices, which is certainly preferable to the current circumstances. Many social activists and revolutionaries hold faith in the concept of revolution; I do not. I appreciate the spirit of revolt, but we must understand that a real revolution is chaotic thing that cannot be controlled. We have a democratic system that, though it is flawed, has a sound foundation in that there is a judicial process and a system designed to prevent tyrannical control from taking hold.
Fifth and finally, we must resoundingly demand the protection of our civil liberties and the rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. The Patriot Act and its most recent extension, the National Defense Authorization Act, are unwarranted extensions of executive power that threaten to undermine the separation of the three branches of government.
Many aspects of this society—consolidation of control over media, increasing concentration of wealth, the violation of our civil liberties—points toward one thing: tyranny. We cannot allow this concern to be shouted down by others who say that we are panicking, or engaging in conspiracy theory. We cannot take the violations of our civil liberties lightly and should work to protect them at every available opportunity, and we must work to correct other aspects of the way that we conduct ourselves if we want to create a more egalitarian, just, and productive society and world.
) but we should still remain a powerful military force. We should bring home our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with becoming less active in war to some extent.
- By FiveofSwords
- By JohnRawls
- By Deutschmania
- By litwin