valuable resources for any movement seeking systems change, e.g., us > 3 Things That Must Happen for Us To Rise Up and Defeat the Corporatocracy > > By Bruce E. Levine, AlterNet > Posted on August 25, 2011, Printed on August 26, 2011 > http://www.alternet.org/story/152158/3_things_that_must_happen_for_us_to_rise_up_and_defeat_the_corporatocrac > > > Transforming the United States into something closer to a democracy requires: > 1) knowledge of how we are getting screwed; 2) pragmatic tactics, strategies, > and solutions; and 3) the “energy to do battle.” > > The majority of Americans oppose the corporatocracy (rule by giant > corporations, the extremely wealthy elite, and corporate-collaborator > government officials); however, many of us have given up hope that this > tyranny can be defeated. Among those of us who continue to be politically > engaged, many focus on only one of the requirementsknowledge of how we are > getting screwed. And this singular focus can result in helplessness. It is > the two other requirements that can empower, energize, and activate Team > Democracy a team that is currently at the bottom of the standings in the > American Political League. > > 1. Knowledge of How We are Getting Screwed > > Harriet Tubman conducted multiple missions as an Underground Railroad > conductor, and she also participated in the Union Army’s Combahee River raid > that freed more than 700 slaves. Looking back on her career as a freedom > fighter, Tubman noted, “I freed a thousand slaves. I could have freed a > thousand more if only they knew they were slaves.” While awareness of the > truth of corporatocracy oppression is by itself not sufficient to win freedom > and justice, it is absolutely necessary. > > We are ruled by so many “industrial complexes”military, financial, energy, > food, pharmaceutical, prison, and so onthat it is almost impossible to stay > on top of every way we are getting screwed. The good news is thateither > through independent media or our basic common sensepolls show that the > majority of Americans know enough about the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, Wall > Street bailouts, and other corporate welfare to oppose these corporatocracy > policies. In the case of the military-industrial complex, most Iraq War polls > and Afghanistan War polls show that the majority of Americans know enough to > oppose these wars. And when Americans were asked in a CBS New /New York Times > survey in January 2011 which of three programsthe military, Medicare or > Social Securityto cut so as to deal with the deficit, fully 55 percent chose > the military, while only 21 percent chose Medicare and 13 percent chose > Social Security. > > In the words of Leonard Cohen, “Everybody knows that the deal is rotten.” > Well, maybe not everybody, but damn near everybody. > > But what doesn’t everybody know? > > 2. Pragmatic Tactics, Strategies and Solutions > > In addition to awareness of economic and social injustices created by > corporatocracy rule, it is also necessary to have knowledge of strategies and > tactics that oppressed people have historically used to overcome tyranny and > to gain their fair share of power. > > Even before the Democratic-Republican bipartisan educational policies (such > as “no child left behind” and “race to the top”) that cut back on civics > being taught in schools, few Americans were exposed in their schooling to > “street-smart civics”tactics and strategies that oppressed peoples have > historically utilized to gain power. > > For a comprehensive guide of tactics and strategies that have been effective > transforming regimes more oppressive than the current U.S. one, read > political theorist and sociologist Gene Sharp’s From Dictatorship to > Democracy, which includes nearly 200 “Methods of Nonviolent Actions.” Among > Sharp’s 49 “Methods of Economic Noncooperation,” he lists over 20 different > kinds of strikes. And among his 38 “Methods of Political Noncooperation,” he > lists 10 tactics of “citizens’ noncooperation with government,” nine > “citizens’ alternatives to obedience,” and seven “actions by government > personnel.” Yes, nothing was more powerful in ending the Vietnam War and > saving American and Vietnamese lives than the brave actions by critically > thinking U.S. soldiers who refused to cooperate with the U.S. military > establishment. Check out David Zeigler’s documentary Sir! No Sir! for details. > > For a quick history lesson on “the nature of disruptive power” in the United > States and the use of disruptive tactics in fomenting the American > Revolution, the abolitionist movement, the labor movement, and other > democratic movements, check out sociologist Frances Fox Piven’s Challenging > Authority: How Ordinary People Change America. Piven describes how “ordinary > people exercise power in American politics mainly at those extraordinary > moments when they rise up in anger and hope, defy the rules that ordinarily > govern their daily lives, and, by doing so, disrupt the workings of the > institutions in which they are enmeshed.” In the midst of the Great > Depression when U.S unemployment was over 25 percent, working people > conducted an exceptional number of large labor strikes, including the Flint, > Michigan sit-down strike, which began at the end of 1936 when auto workers > occupied a General Motors factory so as to earn recognition for the United > Auto Workers union as a bargaining agent. That famous victory was preceded > and inspired by other less well-known major battles fought and won by working > people. Check out the intelligent tactics (and guts and solidarity) in the > 1934 Minneapolis Truckers Strike. > > For an example of “the nature of creative power” that scared the hell out > ofand almost triumphedover the moneyed elite, read The Populist Moment by > historian Lawrence Goodwyn. The Populist movement, the late-19th-century > farmers’ insurgency, according to Goodwyn, was the largest democratic > movement in American history. These Populists and their major organization, > commonly called the “Alliance,” created worker cooperatives that resulted in > empowering economic self-sufficiency. They came close to successfully > transforming a good part of the United States into something a lot closer to > a democracy. As Goodwyn notes, “Their efforts, halting and disjointed at > first, gathered form and force until they grew into a coordinated mass > movement that stretched across the American continent ... Millions of people > came to believe fervently that the wholesale overhauling of their society was > going to happen in their lifetimes.” > > In Get Up, Stand Up, I include the section “Winning the Battle: Solutions, > Strategies, and Tactics.” However, a major point of the book is that, > currently in the United States, even more ignored than street-smart > strategies and tactics is the issue of morale, which is necessary for > implementing these strategies and tactics. So, I also have a section “Energy > to Do Battle: Liberation Psychology, Individual Self-Respect, and Collective > Self-Confidence.” > > 3. The Energy to Do Battle > > The elite’s moneyand the influence it buysis an extremely powerful weapon. > So it is understandable that so many people who are defeated and demoralized > focus on their lack of money rather than on their lack of morale. However, we > must keep in mind that in war, especially in a class war when one’s side > lacks financial resources, morale becomes even more crucial. > > Activists routinely become frustrated when truths about lies, victimization > and oppression don’t set people free to take action. But having worked with > abused people for more than 25 years, it doesn’t surprise me to see that when > we as individuals or a society eat crap for too long, we become > psychologically too weak to take action. There are a great many Americans who > have been so worn down by decades of personal and political defeats, > financial struggles, social isolation and daily interaction with impersonal > and inhuman institutions that they no longer have the energy for political > actions. > > Other observers of subjugated societies have recognized this phenomenon of > subjugation resulting in demoralization and fatalism. Paulo Freire, the > Brazilian educator and author of Pedagogy of the Oppressed, and Ignacio > Martin-Baró, the El Salvadoran social psychologist and popularizer of > “liberation psychology,” understood this psychological phenomenon. So did Bob > Marley, the poet laureate of oppressed people around the world. Many > Americans are embarrassed to accept that we, too, after years of domestic > corporatocracy subjugation, have developed what Marley called “mental > slavery.” Unless we acknowledge that reality, we won’t begin to heal from > what I call “battered people’s syndrome” and “corporatocracy abuse” and to, > as Marley urges, “emancipate yourself from mental slavery.” > > Whether one’s abuser is a spouse or the corporatocracy, there are parallels > when it comes to how one can maintain enough strength to be able to free > oneself when the opportunity presents itselfand then heal and attain even > greater strength. This difficult process requires honesty that one is in an > abusive relationship. One should not be ashamed of having previously believed > in corporatocracy lies; and it also helps to forgive and have compassion for > those who continue to believe them. The liars we face are often quite good at > lying. It helps to have a sense of humor about one’s predicament, to nurture > respectful relationships, and to take advantage of a lucky opportunityoften > created by the abuser’s arrogance when it presents itself. > > For democratic movements to have enough energy to get off the ground, certain > psychological and cultural building blocks are required. Goodwyn, from his > study of the Populists in the United States, Solidarity in Poland, and other > democratic movements, concluded that “individual self-respect” and > “collective self-confidence” constitute the cultural building blocks of mass > democratic politics. Without individual self-respect, people do not believe > that they are worthy of power or capable of utilizing power wisely, and they > accept as their role being a subject of power. Without collective > self-confidence, people do not believe they can succeed in wresting power > away from their rulers. There are “democracy battlefields” in our schools, > workplace and elsewherewhere such respect and confidence can be regained > every day. > > No democratic movement succeeds without determination, courage, and > solidarity, but modern social scientists routinely ignore such > nonquantifiable important variables, and so those trained only in > universities and not on the streets can, as Martin-Baró pointed out, “become > blind to the most important meanings of human existence.” Great scientists > recognize just how important nonquantifable variables are in certain areas of > life. A sign hanging in Albert Einstein’s office at Princeton stated: not > everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be > counted. > > The battle against the corporatocracy needs critical thinking, which results > in seeing some ugly truths about reality. This critical thinking is > absolutely necessary. Without it, one is more likely to engage in tactics > that can make matters worse. But critical thinking also means the ability to > think critically about one’s pessimismrealizing that pessimism can cripple > the will and destroy motivation. A critical thinker recognizes how negativism > can cause inaction, which results in maintaining the status quo. Antonio > Gramsci (1891–1937), an Italian political theorist and Marxist activist who > was imprisoned by Mussolini, talked about “pessimism of the intellect, > optimism of the will” a phrase that has inspired many critical thinkers, > including Noam Chomsky. > > Can one have hope without being an insipid Pollyanna? Until shortly before it > occurred, the collapse of the Soviet empire seemed an impossibility to most > Americans, who saw only mass resignation within the Soviet Union and its > sphere of control. But the shipyard workers in Gdansk, Poland, did not see > their Soviet and Communist Party rulers as the all-powerful forces that > Americans did. And so Polish workers’ Solidarity, by simply refusing to go > away, provided a strong dose of morale across Eastern Europe at the same time > other historical events weakened the Soviet empire. > > Today in Iceland, citizens have refused to acquiesce to the demands of global > financial institutions, simply refusing to be taxed for the mistakes of the > financial elite that caused their nation’s recent financial meltdown. In a > March 2010 referendum in Iceland, 93 percent voted against repayment of the > debt, and Icelandic citizens have been drafting a new constitution that would > free their country from the power of international finance (this constitution > will be submitted to parliament for approval after the next elections). Yes, > participatory democracy is still possible. > > The lesson from the 2011 Arab spring and other periods of history is that > tyrannical and dehumanizing institutions are often more fragile than they > appear, and with time, luck, morale, and our ability to seize the moment, > damn near anything is possible. We never really know until it happens whether > or not we are living in that time when historical variables are creating > opportunities for seemingly impossible change. Thus, we must prepare > ourselves by battling each day in all our activities to regain individual > self-respect, collective self-confidence, determination, courage, and > solidarity. > > Bruce E. Levine is a clinical psychologist and author of Get Up, Stand Up: > Uniting Populists, Energizing the Defeated, and Battling the Corporate > Elite(Chelsea Green, 2011). His Web site is www.brucelevine.net. > > © 2011 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved. > > View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/152158/ > > >
For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ If you have questions about this list please contact the list manager, Tom Shelley, at [email protected].
