On KIng Day and On Revolution
The "anti-war" movement is way too soft.
January 19, 2004
On the observed Martin Luther King, Jr. day, I can't help but feel that the "peace" movement has failed, and a more radical "anti-war" movement needs to take its place. One of the most famous anti-war marches in American history was the one which resulted in an act of civil disobedience, when thousands of Chicagoans poured onto Lake Shore Drive and disrupted the normality of apathetic Lexis drivers. If this march had not taken an unauthorized path, surely the protest would not have been aired on CNN as well as on Microsoft-NBC. The media in the 21st century cares only about the rich, and only when the lives of the rich are disrupted, will protests make the news. If protests do not make the news, they become virtually ineffective, as nobody except the protesters will even know about them (sort of like masturbating). Protests which do not dare to bridge over to a level of civil disobedience will be continually looked at as "focus groups." If Vietnam protesters were not brave enough to endure some water cannons, tear gas and dog bites, it's possible we might still have troops over there to this day. That today's "peace" activists believe that getting arrested is a good form of protest is a dishonor to the memory of King. Protesters would do better to disperse immediately following acts of civil disobedience such as the Lake Shore Drive march, so that they might be able to participate in future acts of civil disobedience. Getting arrested might seem like the King-thing to do, but what it really does is tie up anti-war funds with legal battles and creates criminal records, causing protesters to think twice about repeating their actions. Only when the lives of the rich cronies who support Bush get interrupted, and only when this happens enough to cause financial losses, and only if this form of civil disobedience sends a clear message that it will continue until Bush is out of office, will those rich cronies stop supporting Bush and begin supporting an administration which does not inspire the public to disrupt the normality of their lives. We must not forget that, however brave a man he was, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s fault was that he didn't watch his own back, and as a result he was shot to death. Imagine if King had anticipated the retribution of the system a little more, and had not stood on a balcony like a sitting duck; imagine if he were still alive today. We should all learn a lesson from King's death. We should watch our own backs. Sometimes fighting fire with fighting is the only way, especially when oil is involved. One of the main reasons Bush-One was not re-elected was because of the L.A. riots which took place during his time in the White House. It seemed to many that America was on fire, that chaos had emerged, and that Bush's lack of heart was to blame for what was happening to America. There is no sign in these days that Bush-Two is destroying this country, besides a lot of whining, moaning and groaning. The rich are getting richer, and with Bush's hundred-million he can buy the election again and brush the 60% of Americans who oppose him off as another "focus group." When, on a daily basis, the world sees that war is so important to Bush that he is willing to hose his own people, bomb them with tear gas, and beat them with sticks, the world might finally take the American "anti-war" movement seriously.