Jesse has a point . . . . Maybe "satyagraha" is where we need to be . . . launched, ironically, on 9/11/06 by Mahatma Ghandi and implemented again by MLK, Jr in the 60's . . .

http://www.tvnewslies.org/tvnl/index.php/editorial/jesse-richards-commentary/19-jesses-thoughts/771-attention-activists-it...

Attention Activists: It’s Time to Grow Up
By Jesse Richard

Tuesday, 25 March 2008 23:26

This is a message to all the well meaning people out there who try their best to make this world a better place, but in fact have no impact on the world, whatsoever. It is time to take your activism seriously.

The time has come to stop your ineffective tantrums and get serious. There are two ways to effect change when it comes to government: passive resistance and revolution. Our republic is broken and we no longer have representatives in government. Constantly asking our elected representatives to legislate on our behalf is not only a waste of time, but also totally unnecessary being that we have a government that no longer represents us.

Actually it is a Catch-22. We live in a communication age. We have the Internet, e-mail, cell phones, land phones, faxes, postal mail and megaphones with which to contact anyone, anywhere, at any time of the day or night. Still, we are told to get on buses and trains so we can march in Washington DC to tell a handful of government officials who don’t even know we are there to do what they were elected to do.

The only legitimate purpose of such a trip at this point in time should be to remove those ineffective representatives and leaders and replace them with people who would honor their oaths of office and actually represent the people who put them there!

I keep getting e-mail and phone calls from organizations asking me to attend “vigils” to take back the nation. Let me tell you something...vigils are to activism what masturbation is to sex. It might make you feel good but nobody else benefits. At least call it what it is...a whining defeat celebration. Why not use your time effectively, like getting people together to plan real change rather than real noise.

The Vietnam conflict was ended by those who organized sit-ins and takeovers not vigils. The Johnson presidency was brought down by those who shut down schools and colleges all over the nation, not by those who lit candles in quiet little ceremonies.

Why do you think a vile criminal thug like Dick Cheney can get on TV and respond "so what" when asked about the overwhelming opposition to his little war for profit? Cheney knows that the people of this nation are too passive to stop his juggernaut of crime and destruction of this nation. In any country worth its salt Cheney would have been sent to the gallows by the justice department or would have ended up hanging from a tree at the hands of the citizens long ago for the crimes he has committed.

Does the name Gandhi mean anything to you? He defeated an empire, peaceably and permanently when he organized acts of civil disobedience that sparked similar action by millions of Indian activists. Are there any people in history who ever have affected change via a vigil of any sort?

Can you imagine what would have happened if the Founding Fathers had decided to hold a vigil rather than declare their independence from the tyranny of their British rulers? If you truly want change you have to understand that any significant change to the status quo in the US today requires both hard work and risk taking. It requires unity. It requires the participation of masses of people who are informed enough to understand the threats to their lives and their freedoms that are posed by those who would profess to lead them!

Continued . . .
http://www.tvnewslies.org/tvnl/index.php/editorial/jesse-richards-commentary/19-jesses-thoughts/771-attention-activists-it...