After the conversation with Kim, I was very interested to see what was happening with these people, and this issue.
I do not generally get involved with organizations, or even take an interest in them. In early 2006, I decided to take a closer look at the Colorado Libertarian Party, and went to a few of their state- level meetings in Denver. It was pathetic. The meetings were full of high- minded talk, and not much else. They liked to complain about the fact that the media ignores them, and sing the “Woe- is- Me Song,” yet are not willing to do anything to garner coverage. They seemed to think that cameras and newspaper stories should magically flock to them just because of their ‘ideas’. It was maddening.
I asked them why, if they believe in what they are doing, they were not on every street corner shouting their message, or trying to plan an event or demonstration that would demand media coverage. They said that they were afraid to ‘piss people off’ or, to ‘project a negative image’. A fringe, third POLITICAL party! Astounding.
It seems that the worst ‘image’ you could project, in their case, is that of irrelevance. If they believe in what they were doing, beyond sitting in a conference room and practicing group- mental masturbation, it seems that they would be spreading their message by any means. It seems they would be confident it would catch on.
“The Party of Principle” was more concerned with accommodating the very people that keep them compartmentalized and locked up, out on the fringes. They remain there today, with very few exceptions. As long as they remain inside the accepted framework of discussion and action, within the system, the system leaves them alone to die of apathy and obsolescence. Political starvation. What they do not realize, or choose to ignore, is that the two factions of The Political Party have already monopolized and booby-trapped the accepted ‘left- right’ spectrum. Trying to interject REAL change, within that structure, is political suicide.
Ultimately, “The Party of Principle” was more concerned about what people said about them than what they believed. Principle, eh? I did not last with them long due to that, and the realization that they are the Predatory Capitalist’s wet dream. No Ronald Reagans’; just Milton Freidman minus the IMF/ World Bank.
I mention all of this because this is what I expected of this organization here in Nashville. Kim was more optimistic than I was, and she had been in contact with them, so I gave the benefit of the doubt. It is also something that is critically important to her, so I wanted to at least try to put my disdain for those trying to change things ‘within the system’ on the shelf.
The people at the meeting were good people. Most of the items on the agenda, and the discussions that followed, surrounded what they are doing, on a state level. The Tennessee Health Care Campaign has no party- affiliation, and remarkably, I heard no indications of political bias. I expected them to be performing verbal- fellatio on Obama, but heard none of that. Nor did I hear any unkind words directed toward McCain. That was a good sign. Not a democratic front- group posing as advocates, like the “Work for Change!” ads you sees in newspapers and on Craigslist.
Their ideas and goals are admirable, and they are working with what they have to provide some coverage to many of those that have none, or not enough. However, it struck me that they are operating on a state- level when the situation demands federal money. Most of the discussion revolved around funding. For example, one of the programs recently started in Tennessee is ALREADY broke. I could not help remembering the rant I published in Denver about Iraq and Corporate Socialism. Funding for every state IS there… it is feeding the War Pig and providing corporate bailouts to banks and airlines.
There is also a Presidential debate, one of three, scheduled for Nashville in October. They are planning a ‘rally’ to try to gain attention the night before, are hoping for 1,000 people, and have arranged speakers and ‘entertainment’. One of the members was very quick to point out that this was NOT a protest or demonstration. That immediately sent up the red flags, mainly due to my experience with the Libertarians. Afraid to step on toes?
Why not invite everyone in the region; Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia; who are WITHOUT insurance or accumulating medical debt to come to Nashville to be seen and heard? Why not encourage the people who normally have NO voice to show up, participate, and DEMAND it? Why be content to sit passively and politely ask for something that OUR FEDERAL TAXES should rightfully provide? Why sit idly by and hope that a Tea & Cookie party attracts the cameras? Why not force the issue? Ah, yes, “within the system.” Let the backroom deals and special- interest influence continue out of fear that you may ‘piss them off’’. I get it.
From that moment on, I was biting my tongue out of respect for Kim.
We left the meeting after an hour and went off for pizza near Vanderbilt
University. The discussions mostly revolved around what more the organization could be doing, the philosophy of Civil Disobedience, the term Predatory Capitalism, and how to exist without lending it support.
I tried to explain my views that PEOPLE hold the ultimate power, not the economic or political elite. All they have to do is REALIZE it. We hold the gold. All of us. Imagine what would happen if we all decided not to shop for a week. Imagine if we all just called in sick to work. What would happen if the ‘cogs in the machine’ suddenly stopped spinning? Do you think that we would get universal health care then? Would that get their attention? Of course, it would. Why do you suppose that corporate America and the media have worked so hard, for decades, to neuter the unions (literally and figuratively), and perpetuate fear of one another? Because an organized people, united against a common, and LEGITIMATE threat (economic power, corruption & exploitation) is dangerous to the elite power structure. In fact, it is ultimately lethal.
I told Kim & Rich the same thing I had suggested to Ken. If we could ever figure out a way to create some sense of unity, across racial lines, among the poor and underprivileged, in this and every other country, the injustice could almost certainly cease. THAT is where ultimate power lies. In your hands. (Not yours Skippy… head back to the Hill, and I will get to you in a few minutes!)
Can you imagine a coalition of “Poor X”? Poor Blacks, Whites, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans… Eskimos… Venusians, Martians & Atlanteans! Where the “X” would not
matter? What would happen then? The elite, by killing the middle- class, are sealing their fate when that happens. When that 1% controls 99% of the wealth, that 1% is doomed. They had BETTER hope that the 99% continue to fight amongst ourselves for as long as possible. If we ever stop, gaze upon the Palatine, and realize that it is not “Whitey” (or any other euphemism) “keeping us down”, that the 99% consists a vast collage of races, religions, and beliefs who are standing right there next to us, scrambling for the same scraps thrown from the ‘hill’ we are? If that realization ever comes? Well, the Palatine is easy to find, and I like 99:1 odds.
I have become convinced that the answer lies in that Pollyanna Unity.
The powerful and the wealthy are NEVER going to redistribute what they have already stolen. I have no interest in the “nuance of law.” When the government taxes me, without my consent, to fund a war I vehemently disagree with, war waged based on a corrupt foundation of blatant LIES, and I have no recourse to recover that money, money I generated with MY OWN labor? That is theft. I see no distinction between this fraud and Enron. When my government takes my money, without my consent, and while refusing to provide basic medical care to its own citizens, then freely provided CORPORATE Socialism to mortgage companies and airlines to keep THEM afloat? Theft. I don’t give a frog’s fat- ass about "legalese and terminological ambiguity." I am not blind; I can see the thief in my kitchen with my own eyes. The one who repeatedly pillages my cupboards claiming it’s “for my own good.”
“Unjust laws exist.” It IS theft.
Just my kind of chit- chat! I was quite surprised at how interested Rich suddenly seemed to be, and amused at the fact that the yuppies at the next table quickly went silent when they heard our conversation.
The chatting continued on the way to Blockbuster to rent ‘Motorcycle Diaries’, then it was back to Rich’s to watch the movie and kid around the rest of the night.
I had decided to leave the next day, and they offered to take me somewhere. I had told them that I might as well just let THEM decide, not tell me where it was, and just drop me off there! Indecisiveness blows! Rich offered, to my astonishment, to take me to Knoxville, near the N. Carolina border if I wanted. That is 160 miles east, and it would put me close to either Asheville, NC or Virginia. I began to look at the map and realized that if I chose to, I could actually go northeast thru W. Virginia and Maryland into Delaware. A bridge connects the southern tip of Delaware with Virginia Beach. It crosses Chesapeake Bay and I could then walk or hitch all the way to the Outer Banks.
Decisions! Decisions!! Where are the fucking dice?
