Arthur Silber writes of the gang-rape case in Richmond, California. You are unlikely to find such passion, eloquence and meaning in any other story about this case, and its implications. I won't excerpt Silber's essay here, because I think you should read the entire piece. I will only print his conclusion:

But, many people will say, this is monstrous. We must teach these children that such behavior is deeply wrong, and that they must change. To all such people, I reply: Then change yourselves. Change your values, and change the way you think and act. Children will see those changes, and their own behavior will alter accordingly in time.

Change yourselves. Start today. Start right now.

Again, I urge you to read the entire piece, and see the careful, powerful arguments that lead to this conclusion.
 

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michael jordan said:

the problem is ... ...that this is well within the teachings of Hispanic culture in California here in November of 2009. This is bull-baiting, dog-fighting Hispanic culture in its purest form. I am retired from teaching here (Richmond) and this is the way of the incursive culture and not the newly indigenous culture of the Native Americans. This is the horrid reality that I and others have not been able to stem. This is the culture of the violence along the Texas/Mexico border. This is the land of Cormac McCarthy. These are the "Cities of the Plains", this IS, "No Country for Old Men". This is Life and Literature and not as Arthur describes, --some sort of vague adjustment we European Westerners have not made. That is so gratuitous to be beyond comment. Let's for once look honestly at the world we live in and acknowledge who we really are. This is us: we raise milk cattle and women for babies and milk and we raise women to provide it. We raise men and bulls for war and sacrifice and pillage. We reflect our own true motives through this combination of nurture and exploitation. The boys are the bullfighters, and the girls are for breeding and nutriment. We are just primitive animals and we need to get a realistic handle on that...before preaching about values...

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November 02, 2009
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scottie pippen said:

.... I hope you didn't teach that last part in your classes. MJ. Were you liked by your students much? It's easy to get frustrated, but you're not being honest when you look at man that way...we have a transcendental nature, and we should be mindful of that aspect of Man more often, especially teachers. And What Silber is saying is very much on-point. I am much more concerned about the psychological immaturity of the common people than I am of the ruthlessness of tyrants. The solution is putting our own house in order, and treating our neighbors with equal respect, and not worry too much about the political field. And it begins now, as Silber says, not tomorrow.

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November 02, 2009 | url
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Magmak1 said:

... I agree; Silber is in good form. Hopefully that is some indication of an upswing in his health and situation. I do not regard arguments about us being naked apes or products of our thus-far-limited evolution or culture as being valid. Given what we know and continue to read abut in terms of war crimes, Abu Ghraib, Bagram, and POTUS-zapping-by-Predator, this doesn't have anything to do with Hispanics. Socially, culturally, we are better than this, or should soon hope to be; the tools for educating ourselves into being fully evolved sentient beings are present in our world, but are being drowned out by propaganda, militarization, Bernaysian consumerism, political corruption, journalistic dys-integrity, and social and financial elitism. It is difficult to climb Maslow's ladder when in debt, hungry, oppressed and distracted.

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Dave Trowbridge said:

A covenant with death Silber nails it, but it was all said long ago by the prophet Isaiah: Because you have said, "We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we have an agreement; when the overwhelming scourge passes through it will not come to us; for we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood we have taken shelter"; therefore thus says the Lord GOD... "...I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plummet; and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and waters will overwhelm the shelter." Then your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; when the overwhelming scourge passes through you will be beaten down by it. As often as it passes through it will take you; for morning by morning it will pass through, by day and by night; and it will be sheer terror to understand the message. For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on it, and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in it. It's already happening, the costs of empire are coming home, and we have no one to blame but ourselves. As Arthur says: "Change yourselves. Start today. Start right now."

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November 02, 2009 | url
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Jean-David Beyer said:

... It seems to me that Arthur Silber's essay points to the root of the collapse of what we call "Western Civilization," a crazy misuse of the term civilization. Sort of like out term "Civil War" that happened in this country about 150 years ago: there was nothing civil about it. And in most of our history books, what do we see: the glory of battle, the reverence for tyrants if they are on "our side." Even when they are not on our side, but only their own. As long as we glorify the worst in our governments, or the governments imposed upon us by tiny groups of plutocrats, we are doomed as a country and a civilization. And a good thing too. You might wish to read Chalmers Johnson's trilogy on the American Empire.

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November 02, 2009
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Marsha said:

Why I read the comments posted here While I am an educated person I often find the depth of the comments here to be "learning" for me, as I have never ventured to think about some of the things that are discussed, nor the perspective from which they are derived. Thank you, all, for that. I also read Arthur all of the time - happy to see whatever new posting he provides. All I can say about his latest is that I went to the link he provided about the kid being tazered - and was horrified, once again, by the intensity of his screams...and the fact that my "fellow man/woman kind" did not lend a hand. That's the lesson I learned - again. And I agree with Arthur: we must change ourselves....because of ALL of the reasons you have given here.

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November 02, 2009
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Sean O'Neil said:

... I would hope most readers can see that Silber is not talking about putting a bumpersticker on your car and being done with it. Lately in my town there's a bunch of NPR-esque yuppies who have taken to pasting their SUVs, Subarus, Volvos with a "cute" little sticker that says WAG MORE bark less To these fools I say -- Look you morons, instead of bragging about your new perspective, how about you try living what you preach? Not surprisingly, I see a lot of aggressive driving and/or distracted driving (merrily chatting on the cell phone) from these people whose fancy vehicles sport the sticker saying WAG MORE bark less I'd prefer to see the behavior, rather than the sticker proclaiming adherent belief in the saying's truth.

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November 02, 2009
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Jeremy said:

For a different perspective I'm in a 'community' (in the sense that a concentration camp is a community) of gang-stalked people who are harassed by Stasi-esque community watch groups and networks of informants. It's very like much East Germany, and it's just starting to take off in the United States. Anyway, we have a somewhat different perspective on crimes like this. The onlookers weren't being any different from the outraged citizens who claim to be their moral superiors. We gang-stalking victims endure years of abuse, torture, sometimes even rape, at the hands of allegedly law abiding citizens who feel empowered by their participation in neighborhood watch groups, or by their roles as informants. And it's worse, because we also are on the receiving end of 21st century surveillance and energy weapon technology - like for instance, most of us knew about the Active Denial System years before it was released because they tested it on us! So, here's one gang stalking victim's essay on it: http://gangstalking.wordpress.com/2009/10/31/girl-gets-gang-raped-hypocrites-cry/

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Frustrated Radical said:

... "Change yourselves. Start today. Start right now." Okay. But....WHAT DOES THAT MEAN??? Stop shopping at Wal-Mart? Buy a Prius? Continue to read Silber's blogs and Floyd's blog? We have a ridiculous number of pundits, prophets, and thoroughly useless "movements" dedicated to exposing the problem(s). But there is nobody out there solving the problems. When pressed, all these critics have to offer us is "you have to do it yourself." Okay, maybe. But when you're struggling to just make rent and pay the bills in this crumbling economy, it's a little hard to see exactly what you can do to take a stand against the madness of an entire society. Yes, yes, I know, every little action makes a difference --- but it's too little too late. We need something better than exceptionally erudite and well-founded criticism --- we need that coalesce into action. Trouble is, we, the "enlightened" ones who actually read and see the horror of what's going on in the world, are just as bad as the average American sheep. We are both caught up in our little head games --- the former in blissful ignorance and absorption in the minutae of pop culture, ourselves in analysis and impotent anger. Maybe that makes us feel better about ourselves, but it doesn't change anything. Rather than more airy theoretical criticism, why don't we come up with a plan of action, one that is concrete, specific, and can be taken up by everyone?

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November 03, 2009
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Michael A said:

Silber's advice is really a profound misunderstanding of the systemic nature of the problems and in fact a perpetuation of the mantra that the ruling class has woven into our minds. Surprised that some here would swallow this "values" and "individualized" quasi self-help stuff thrown out there by an otherwise insightful pundit. Fuck people this "change yourselves" garbage has been around since the Dale "pep" Carnegie days. You still buyin' it?

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Magmak1 said:

interesting conversation I shared "frustrated radical"'s frustration. I've been trying to coalesce something -- even a starter conversation -- for a long time, unsuccessfully. I have no answers. I agree that "change yourself first" can be an old and tired trap and, yet, there it is inside the teachings of leaders and avatars of all types. Is it spiritual rather than political? Can there be a link or crossover between the two? Maybe. I've been looking and reading for over 15 years now... Lots of places and themes have some energy, like the collective wisdom initiative, or the institute for noetic sciences, et al. These places, some fear, are the traps that have been lain by the ruling class. And, yet... there is buddhism (capitalized or not), and meditation, emotional intelligence and emotional alchemy, and binaurual beats, and aikido and the art of peace, and at least one or two really good books. Personally, I had a severe health crisis from which I have recovered thst gave me some light. Baker's book "Sacred Demise" has something to be said for it, as do Derrick Jensen's books and Becker's "The Denial of Death". Finding and staying within your tribe, community or self is increasingly necessary and functional. Prepare to die so that you can live fully, and then show the children how. Can we bring the madness to a halt, or should we teach the survivors how to prevent pathology when they rebuild? My answer: Keep working on the first, but insure the second.

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Sally said:

The human heirachial system The human heirachial system is grossly overdeveloped and we are all subservient to it. Survival is dependant on money and other more powerful people. There is no standing up to starvation and homelessness, things we all face if we don't have jobs. Its the system not people. We need new systems that enable personal freedom from dependence on wages. Machines can do most things now so why are we not all sitting back enjoying them do our work and collecting our share of the procedes. The new poor are trapped in endless hours etc. I stand up a little but not near as much as I would like for reasons of my health, finances and fear of violent retaliation. Its hard to take the viciousness you get for doing it. Worker cooperatives could emerge as companies collapse and eventually begin a worker cooperative led mechanised economy where the average person has more time to help others and to have an actual life. With growning numbers of these worker coops could be peoples media and organisation of that media into political action. Theres another pipe dream for ya.

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Chris Floyd said:

... Michael A, I doubt very, very seriously that you actually read Silber's article. If you did, there is no way you could make such an embarrassingly ignorant comparison to Dale Carnegie. I also doubt if "Frustrated Radical" is acquainted with Silber's work, which is actually filled with any number of specific actions that could be taken to change things. And as you may or may not know, Silber himself is "struggling to just make rent and pay the bills in this crumbling economy," while suffering from very serious, chronic health problems, with no insurance. In any case, if you want a concrete, specific plan of action, why not come up with one yourself?

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November 03, 2009
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Michael A said:

Chris you are wrong I did read the article. Again Silber's conclusion as to what he deems a solution is exactly the wrong prescription and exactly what people in the self-help movement as well as the liberal class like to suggest should be done to mitigate the ills of our society/culture. Maybe it is you Chris who didn't parse the article very well. Nothing personal Chris but Silber and any who suggest such foolishness as "change yourselves", "start today" and so forth are disguising the systemic nature of the problem instead assuming it is a problem of "choice" or "poor values." I could in fact bring many direct quotes from self-help literature or Chamber of Commerce motivational brochures which parrot Silber's conclusion. So not only is your reactionary doubt and insult off base here Chris but in fact I do have a few "solutions" up my sleeve and quite naturally they involve mass direct action and collective responsibilities. Take care man. You're an awesome writer but you got this one wrong.

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Sally said:

Motivating Others To Action! !!!!! ???? Chris I do as mush as is possible for me to do or almost. Am feeling discouraged because of the apathy of those I try to motivate. Im not getting a whole lot of cooperation but I do keep trying. I understand your frustration with those who are OK and doing squat. You are right we can change things. You've done more than most and must get quite desperate about the situation as I certainly am right now. Take a look at my blog if you like. Its videos and getting people to look at them is not that easy. www.true-tv.blogspot.com Why a video site? Because Im no great writer you know and these movies made a huge difference to my understanding very quickly. They changed my thinking much faster than most of the blogs I've read etc. But they aint getting on TV and a woman here in NZ was sectioned as delusional for distributing 911 videos here. The thing is if enough of us stood together we could defeat these creeps easily and time is running very very short. If we could get enough people to watch the right videos we would have their support I think. There are good writers out there but the videos were a big part of my limited education and transformation. But other bloggers wont even link to my site. Yes these video's are all on youtube but most people might see one or two and not get a big enough picture of whats going on so do not realise just how serious the situation has become. I see a video that everyone needs to see on youtube and there are say 50000 hits and thats just not enough to compete with the blanket coverage of the MSM.

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Jimmy Montague said:

Fish or Cut Bait -- or Else I confess I haven't read Silber's article. But if that article says, as Michael A. claims, "Change the world by changing yourself," then I gotta take that side of the argument here. I don't like Michael's tone, but if he is correct in his claim, then I agree with his feelings about Silber's thesis. I've argued for years that there will be no peaceful reform in fascist America. Fascism has got the country by the throat and -- short of revolution from within or aggression from without -- fascism will keep its choke-hold. Having got hold of the power, fascists will never let go without a fight. Obama's Democrats will do what Obama's Democrats are bound to do. The fascist machine was engineered to make money. It was built to make money. It makes money. It cannot stop of its own volition nor can anyone alter its purpose. Sarah Palin is waiting in the wings and Sarah Palin will be what happens if patriots fail to act now. Americans will rise up and tear the fascist machine to pieces or Americans will serve the machine as cannon fodder and as slaves. There it is. I myself am too old, too sick, and too poor to do more than talk about what needs to be done. But if you're young enough to fight, and you're not thinking 'revolution,' and you're not trying to organize, then you are part of the problem. If you sit back and do nothing (i.e.: change yourselves), Sara and the Teabaggers will take the problem out of your hands and manage it for you. The biggest load of bullshit I ever heard was that line about "Free your mind and your ass will follow." It should have been "Free your mind but don't let anybody know you've done it or they'll send your silly ass to the ovens." Those who don't believe it should be ready with an explanation of what it REALLY means when government throws the rule of law out the window. The future belongs to those who can and will fight for it. There it is again! Good night and good luck.

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Sean O'Neil said:

	... A frustrated e-radical posts -- "Rather than more airy theoretical criticism, why don't we come up with a plan of action, one that is concrete, specific, and can be taken up by everyone?" I have an idea for you. Why don't you try doing something besides airy criticism?
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Sean O'Neil said:

to Jimmy -- It matters little whether who waits in the wings is Sarah Palin or Dennis Kucinich. The problem isn't Palin herself, and you know this Jimmy. I don't know why you are limiting your critical observations to "teabaggers" when the problem isn't partisan -- it's bipartisan. The problem is that a lot of people are sitting around waiting for a Hero to tell them what to do, even though they know that they could do something RIGHT NOW to start changing things. Yet they wait to be told what to do. That's not a "teabagger" thing. It is bipartisan, it transcends all of the classic American Political divisions.

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Truth Excavator said:

uncritical progressivers are worse than mindless republicans As I said under the 'scottie pippen' name - tyrants grow comfortable because they realize the psychological immaturity of the people, who follow authority way too often and buy the hype way too much. All the progressives slashed their own throats by electing Obama. They should have learned their lesson from 1994 when Clinton used the same slogans to get into power and did nothing to keep those promises. So I don't give a damn - it is not the political system that is impotent but the people who vote stupidly and get away with it because they just say "well, we were duped." NO. You duped yourself. You lacked the intelligence and courage to vote in a Nader, or a Paul on the other side, and you not only ignored these smart and brave men but you belittled them. So all the progressives complaining that Palin will get into power need to realize that it is in a lot of ways their own fault. But a point that Silber makes and I don't necessarily agree with is that ordinary life choices matter more than political choices. There is some truth to that, but as Jimmy said, we must engage and fight our arrogant tyrants, we must get our hands dirty.

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Chris Floyd said:

... Er, I think Silber's point was that if one changed one's self, one's attitudes toward the hideous realities we see, then one WOULD take action – individual action, collective action, political action, personal action – against them. That's the whole point of "changing yourself" – change yourself into someone who will not tolerate such things. Is this really such a difficult point to grasp?

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November 03, 2009
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Jimmy Montague said:

I've been voting third-party since 1998. I voted Nader for president last three elections and third-party in every other race on the slate. I voted for people I didn't like or hadn't heard of just because they WEREN'T Democrats or Republicans. So much for the idea that I deluded myself. Of course, one way you could say I did delude myself is the fact that I chose to vote at all. We've all talked here about rigged elections in Y2K and in 2004, and it was said that Democratic margins would have been even larger in 2008 had Republicans not padded results from electronic voting machines. So it just makes sense that people who refuse to be deceived should boycott the elections. Accordingly, if the choice in 2012 comes down to Sarah Palin vs. Obama, I just ain't a gonna vote at all. No, Chris. It's not too difficult to grasp. I just choose to cut to the chase. Because I believe that nothing but violence will effect change in fascist America, I say non-violence and disorganized resistance by whatever means are an utter waste of time. So I think we're on the same page -- except I'm a paragraph or two ahead of you. If things go as you would have them, you and your friends will find yourselves quick enough in the place I'm already at. Remember where non-violence took the movement in Chicago ('68) and Kent State University ('69). I read there were 12,000 heavily armed cops on the streets in Pittsburgh a few weeks ago, and you can bet at least 11,999 of 'em were slavering for an excuse to use their weapons. If things go as I would have them, six months or a year from now at least 3 million people armed with gas masks and baseball bats are going to walk into the Capitol Mall and straighten things out in very short order. If it sounds outrageous, it is outrageous, but American fascism won't respond to anything short of something like that. Fascism had to be physically destroyed in Germany and Italy and Japan. In Spain the process has been peaceful and orderly only because Franco -- the man who held all the power in his two hands -- finally died and no one had the political wherewithal to take his place. The American system is the worse because -- as we here have often observed -- the power isn't held in any one person's hands. Whoever works in the Oval Office does what he or she is told by persons unkown to us. The political wherewithal to govern America (the power to control news media) lives in corporate boardrooms and banking houses where it does the bidding of men who could give a shit less what the President of the United States thinks about anything. Until that changes, nothing else will be allowed to change for any reason whatever. That's my contention. Over to you.

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November 03, 2009
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Michael A said:

No, Chris the point's easy to grasp and it's completely backwards. It's the culture that shapes the individual and in no way is there a single shard of historical evidence that suggests that by people changing "attitudes" (or tone or whatever any of this means) there can or has been any sort of cultural shift towards social justice. In fact this type of thinking helps to disguise the deeper systemic issues that are forced upon us by the ruling class. We are trained against solidarity our whole lives. Maybe not in our families or certain personal influences, but on a societal/cultural level we are never taught that one person's suffering belongs to everyone, and that we are all responsible for alleviating anyone's suffering in our society. Even further, we are taught that other struggling people are our competition, our enemy. So we have a tendency to compartmentalize our political picture, as if all of these 'issues' are separate - war, immigrants' rights, environment, corporate welfare, unemployment, globalism, outsourcing, healthcare... But in reality, these are all part of the same overarching problem. The biggest fear of the ruling class is that all the people will figure that out and turn against their true enemy. For any movement to become successful we need to learn how to overcome those obstacles, we need to learn why/how we are alienating potential allies. I think it is all or nothing right now, and 'nothing' is winning...How do we harness the 'all'? "It is not the consciousness of men that determines their existence, but their social existence that determines their consciousness." -Karl Marx's 1859 Preface to the Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy

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yankee 30 said:

... "If things go as I would have them, six months or a year from now at least 3 million people armed with gas masks and baseball bats are going to walk into the Capitol Mall and straighten things out in very short order." The imagery is striking, but you know as well as I do that this couldn't, nor will, ever happen. Find me an organized group of 3 million Americans that even knows what it wants. (well, maybe the legalization folks) Silber's penultimate paragraph: "In the most crucial sense, this is not a culture that deserves to survive. In all those ways that are conducive to fulfillment and joy, those ways that concern the sanctity of life and the possibility of happiness, such a culture is already dead." Amen. What's that Cream lyric of yore? 'Will you, won't you, do you, don't you know when a head's dead?' What holds goodness and real meaning in American culture, I believe, will survive and endure.

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Jimmy Montague said:

Those 3 million people -- Probably wouldn't accomplish anything except beating a few politicians and lobbyists and bureaucrats to death. They would be, as you say, completely unmanageable. But they WOULD scare the DOG SHIT out of every politician and lobbyist and journalist in America and NOBODY would argue any more about the fact that fundamental systemic reform is what people want. It would spell the end of the present system -- a meritorious achievement of itself. Don't think for a minute it's impossible -- what was it brought down the Soviet Union? What was it broke the back of the dictatorship in Romania? We can do it here, too, or I'm a jackass with four ears and a cardboard butt.

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November 03, 2009
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Magmak1 said:

... Michael A. argues as if the "change yourself" mantra is the conclusion of the journey or process involved in "changing the system". I agree that it is not the conclusion, or "the answer". It is, however, the only place one can begin. It is necessary in order to "see clearly", in order to be in a more functional and effective place from which to "effect" change. Furthermore, starting down that specific path is likely to bring one to a place where one can learn even greater ways to change the system. Conversely, failure to do this is quite likely to leave one's self in a place where it is unconsciously affected by the "surround" or the influences of the system and therefore weakened in one's ability to see the problem and change it. Jimmy Montague's point is well-taken. If you assume or see only that "changing yourself" is soft and pacifist, then you may have not gotten the whole point. I very much agree with Jimmy M's contention about fascism in America. The thing that I share with Derrick Jensen and some of the subjects of Silber's background research (Alice Miller) is that I too was heavily abused by my parents on a physical, psychological and pseudo-sexual basis which ended only the very memorable day I stood up on my own feet with my fists raised and said, in essence, "If you want to bring it, I'll dish some out too". Part of my own changing of my self was to take responsibility for my own protection, for learning how to use my mind more effectively (a very neglected subject) [see http://tiny.cc/magicbiblio ], and to explore the sources of our global collective psychopathology (work still underway, and one of the reasons I read Silber). As a student of aikido, I appreciate that one does not have to "take it" anymore. There may be more of them, and they are better equipped in weaponry, but they cannot have my mind and my spirit. Sean O'Neil has part of it correct in that we have to turn our heads on their sides and look not at the old paradigm but to understand something of what is behind Silber's perspective and research: understanding the engine and nature of power and pathology. It is not a political problem; it is a class problem. Jimmy's further point is also amplified and illuminated in Ray Raphael's book "The First American Revolution" which described the efforts in Worcester county "before Lexington and Concord" in which locals used "staves and musick" to stand down tyranny. Fascism will respect only the massed willingness to use violence. I suspect that, today, they will not respect willingness alone but must face some demonstration of that willingness. If what is being said is that most Americans are passive, unprepared, distracted wussies, then I'd agree. Michael says "we are trained against solidarity" but by changing ourselves, perhaps we excite our own molecules in a way that is similar to using warm water in the ice cube tray before you attempt to freeze it: the molecules align better. It is similar to the concept of "phase transition" discussed in Collins' "From Good to Great". We need to turn up the heat under the pot of water in order to change the water to steam, or add more sunshine to the field of wildflowers. And we cannot be leaders until we are better prepared in that art. If we are, in fact, to act in a way that effects radical change and the replacement of a current and oppressive regime, then we must be prepared to build something to replace it.

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November 04, 2009 | url
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Sean O'Neil said:

... Truth Excavator, apparently mistaking his own imagination for the "truth" he thinks he's "excavating," argues -- "But a point that Silber makes and I don't necessarily agree with is that ordinary life choices matter more than political choices." This is not a point that Arthur Silber has argued, as far as I can tell, and I have read a lot of his essays and exchanged email with him quite a few times. You're using a straw-man tactic here, methinks. Maybe you should just make your own argument about personal vs political, and stop pretending it has something to do with Silber's position. I find it interesting you'd call yourself a "truth excavator" when you're offering your own fantasies as "truths."

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Sean O'Neil said:

as a larger point Silber is not saying that all you have to do is imagine a changed self, and all else has been changed. He is saying that the ability to create changes will not last if you are being a hypocrite, and talking about the changes while making none in your own life. He is saying that if you are sincere, and you intend to work to make changes, your perspective must reflect the changes you want to implement, otherwise you are divided and perhaps hypocritical. EXAMPLE: I say that I want the US Govt to change its ways. The efforts I undertake are limited to supporting Obama and arguing that we will see changes by (1) supporting Democrats and (2) changing them from within. This is a perfect example of what Silber is NOT arguing. He would say that I am not going to effect any real changes here, because what I say I want -- changes from the present course -- is not going to be realized by continuing the present course. Supporting Democrats is not a change -- it is a "change", a euphemism... that's why I use the quotation marks, as it's being called a change but it's nothing of the sort when examined closely and deeply. If you want to create changes, don't imagine you've made strides by putting an Obama sticker on your newly bought Prius, and don't let those baby-step pseudo-strides cause you to imagine you've finished in your work. You haven't even begun.

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November 04, 2009
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Sean O'Neil said:

magmak1 makes excellent points I think magmak1 sums up his points well, and accurately understands both what I'm saying and what Jimmy Montague is saying. As I see things, Jimmy has long posted a perspective that also agrees with regular poster Grandma Jefferson, and which says the present situation cannot be stopped without people actually standing up for themselves. It's not enough to pretend you'll do it, or threaten that you will, or post a bumpersticker which claims you're ready for it. You actually have to do it. You have to be standing against authority, you have to be willing to be arrested, etc., before anyone will believe you are going to use the amount of personal power you have. Merely saying you'll do it... that's nothing in the way of a threat to those holding power. They've heard threats before. They've heard them and watched the absence of follow-through. Why is playing poker such a thrill for many people? I submit it's the point of lying for personal gain, and trying to ferret out how big and brash are another person's lies. I don't like poker myself, because I don't like to engage in creative lying. I think it's a bad habit to get into, and a hard one to break. Once reality becomes fluid and facts become fully subjective, a destructive form of misanthropy is right around the corner.

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