InquiryLabs
Politics, Programming and Possibilities
We Must Resist
Author: Duane Johnson30 Aug
I like this line in a recent letter from Ron Paul regarding the Rally for the Republic:
The Rally for the Republic is the first step in alerting our countrymen to these dangers, and holding out the message of freedom as the only remedy. We must resist the false choices the two major parties are giving us. Help me spread our great ideas far and wide. Join me in Minneapolis, and let’s shake the rafters.
He points out:
At their convention the Democrats uttered barely a peep about the surveillance state, the police state, and the Bush administration’s disastrous foreign policy. Needless to say, there was not a word about the Fed and what it’s done to our economy. We can only imagine what the GOP Convention will have in store for us.
It’s so true. I feel stuck between the party of economic disaster and the party of global warfare, with no intelligent, stable, forward-thinking and accountable governing body in sight.
I like the step that McCain has taken in picking Sarah Palin for Vice President. She seems to be accountable. But she will not have the power to derail Republican vengeance on “anti-Americanism” and she cannot redeem McCain’s instability and military-mindedness. Nor does she seem to have a background in economics or business that we so desperately need. Under a McCain-Palin ticket, the wars will continue (and new ones will likely start) and the economy will suffer until some future breaking point.
Obama, on the other hand, has sorely disappointed me with his new platform of “change we can’t see”. Whatever the slogan means to him (”change we can believe in”) I stopped believing when he stopped fighting against retroactive Telecom immunity. He did the politically prudent thing and stepped on us to raise himself into the upper echelons of political power. What’s more, he has picked Biden as Vice President, someone who has proven time and again that war and interventionism is quite OK with him. Under an Obama-Biden ticket, the wars will continue and the economy will suffer until some future breaking point.
What are we to do?
7 Responses for "We Must Resist"
Great post, Duane. I’m so sick of the “lesser of two evils” argument, I could scream. Evil is evil.
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you down the road!
“What are we to do?”
Give it up. I’ve removed myself from politics completely for the last month. They don’t care about us, and short of a revolution they never will. They have all the guns, and money to buy more, and we have our dignity. We might as well save that and not give them theirs. The only way they can assume dignity is by our participation.
This is the first time in over a month that I’ve read or posted on anything political. I’m only doing so now because I like your blog and have been following it even before you made the design change.
This coming from a Ron Paul Precinct Leader in Michigan. Worse yet I used to be one of the guys on the street pounding the pavement to get people to vote. It’s not possible to win against such insurmountable odds; and even if you win just throw a few decades out there and see how hard you’ll have to fight again.
Let politics go and focus on the things in your control. Coding, your Green Projects, and your career. Don’t dignify them and steal from your life by involving yourself anymore. Drink some rum, grab your laptop or iPhone, and enjoy what you have: while you still can. You’re already prepared for the future anyways right?
Cheers!
@Michael: Thanks for your thoughts. I can tell you have indeed thought about this, and it sounds like you’ve found a way to let it go for now. My problem is that I really do care, and while I don’t see a solution right now, I think the answer can be somewhere in between revolution and what you suggest. My “best answer” at the moment is to become involved in local politics. There is still power to be had there, and with the right positioning, and the internet to circumvent old-school media, I see a window of opportunity.
Anyway, thanks again for your thoughts. Perhaps after a few months or a year away from the intensity you might feel ready to take another stab at influencing things
Michael, I think the summary of your thought is “focus on what you can control.” There is a time and a season for everything. Duane you are brilliant and very passionate. Use that passion, leverage it, focus it on the things that are of greatest importance. You are young, build your influence. Let it grow exponentially over time. Build your family, build your knowledge and wisdom, build your financial assets… Then, when your family is set, when your children are well taught, when your time is more free, focus on those thing over which you will, at that time, have greater influence over. You are too young to waist your life on politics. If you want to give yourself to a cause find one over which you can make the greatest difference. Your family.
@Thoughtfully: Thank-you for that comment. I think you are right, that I should focus on what I can control. And the family is definitely an important area wherein my influence is large. There is one small caveat that I would like to add to your line of thought, and that is we also need to be involved, no matter how small, in things we care about, or else that part in us will atrophy over time.
For example, if we tell ourselves that we will “give to charity” someday but not right now because we don’t have very much to give, then it is less likely that we will become the kind of person (when we become “rich”, whenever that is) that actually gives generously. Giving takes sacrifice—it doesn’t matter if you have a lot to give or a little to give, it’s the attitude of giving that counts.
Likewise, I believe that politics is something that needs to be touched lightly while we have small influence, but touched nevertheless. I take your point, however, and agree that I may be over-anxious in this aspect since it is largely something I can’t control.
Thanks again.
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