Re: [pf] Yes, but What?

· I agree with Betsy's description of the situation (in the USA and Britain
certainly, but also to varying degrees in other "democratic" countries),
but I agree with Jill about what to do about it.

· I speak as someone who has done all that's humanly possible to take back
from big corporations any power they might have got from my contribution to
their lifeblood - the money they get by selling goods and services. And if
I was in the USA I'd be joining demonstrations (wherever I could get to
them at minimal cost) against the sorts of government actions (or likely
government actions) that I consider I have some chance of influencing,
however slight. I very much admire what Jill's been doing, both in her own
area and in Wash.DC.

· Mike Weber wrote: ... “To what extent is it "our" responsibility that we
tolerate a "democratic facade" in "our" homeland?” Then quoted Frederick
Douglass: "Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it
never will."

· I used to think, when more depressed than now, that the politicians and
the rest of the country can go to hell as far as I'm concerned - none of it
matters.

· But when I find 1-in-14 to 1-in-10 people looking up to The Greens with
hope of conserving what we've ("we"=New-Zealanders) got that's good, and
hope for changing what's been done that's bad, and being generally
supportive of our demonstrations, I realise I have a wider influence. Even
when I don't see it at the moment.

· Yesterday (Saturday) afternoon, my wife and I took our big banner to a
"keep GE out of NZ's environment & food" demonstration at Auckland's Town
Hall (organised by a coalition including NZ Greens, Soil and Health
magazine, Greenpeace-NZ, GE-Free-Auckland movement, and the
{Maori-organised} Hikoi for a GE-Free-NZ: walking from the top of the North
Island to the capital city Wellington at the bottom).

· It was showering during the main event, moderately-well media-covered (TV
is a mix of Govt-controlled and private - it still attempts to be
impartial), then it started into the main spring storm as we (Bera and I)
joined the Hikoi singing and shouting on the way to the church hall which
was hosting them on their way through Auckland.
  She and I were two of only a handful in the 1-2000 rain-dampened demo who
travelled there and back by bus - even Greens seem to find this surprising
and really admirable, though they're unlikely to change their habits any
time soon.

· So I'm saying I strongly believe in the value of _showing_ a commitment
to my values, _particularly_ when these differ markedly from those shown
and promoted in the mainstream media. I even regard it as in the category
of "_any_ coverage is valuable, even when somewhat negative", when the
video cameras focus on my long hair, long grey beard, bare legs, and bare
feet (& yellow raincoat).

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
At 20:53 5/10/2001 -0500, Betsy Barnum wrote {at:
http://csf.colorado.edu/mail/pfvs/2001IV/msg00103.html } :-
> The behavior we are responsible for is our own, not that of our
government. We do not decide that our government will allow the US to be
the biggest arms merchant to the world. We do not validate our government's
military adventurism here and there, nor do we approve of or influence its
decisions to favor corporate access to resources and markets. \At least,
*I* don't, and I do not wish to be included in statements like "we have an
inordinate amount of power", or "we have been scoffing at" an international
legal structure.
>
>I think it is crucial that "we" use the terms "we" and "our" in a very
deliberate way, a way that clearly acknowledges what is and what is not our
personal and societal responsibility.
>

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
At 21:57 5/10/2001 -0500, Jill wrote {at:
http://csf.colorado.edu/mail/pfvs/2001IV/msg00104.html } :-
> I have already in many ways made it clear that what is being done is not
in my name - by phone calls, letters, and by marching. I have made it clear
what things are being done without my consent. 
>It is my country that I have the most influence over, and my country that
I am a citizen of.  If I felt no responsibility for what my country does,
then perhaps I would not feel a responsibility to work toward a vision in
which my country is something I can be proud of.
>
> ... still, this is my country, this is where I am a citizen, and this is
where I feel most responsible. 
>

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
At 06:40 6/10/2001 -0700, Mike Weber wrote {at:
http://csf.colorado.edu/mail/pfvs/2001IV/msg00107.html } :-
> ... the _only_ choice we have is between two pre-picked candidates for
(any) office. Most of us know this, on some level; that's basically why
only half or less of the eligible electorate even bother to cast a vote.
>
> ... To what extent is it "our" responsibility that we have - and tolerate
- a "democratic facade" in "our" homeland?
>As Tom pointed out in another thread, it doesn't _have_ to be this way;
all "we" have to do is decide to change it, then do what's necessary.
>
>"Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will."
- Frederick Douglass
>

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
David.
David MacClement [davd @ ihug.co.nz] (remove spaces)
http://davd.tripod.com/GrRR-011005_titles.html#top
http://www.geocities.com/davd.geo/index.html#top
***********************************************

==^================================================================
EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://igc.topica.com/u/?aVxifP.aVEN4x
Or send an email To: positive-futures-unsubscribe@igc.topica.com
This email was sent to: csf@moscow.com

T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail!
http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register
==^================================================================