The New American Revolution Has Begun! (Sort of) Care to Join Me?

Posted on 02. Aug, 2011 by Gus Bridi in Politics

No, I didn’t burn myself alive in the middle of my town square or fire a shot that was heard around the world, but this July 4^th I did do something.
I had it up to my ears sitting around watching this country imploding around me and doing nothing about it but complaining. (Insert Howard Beale “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore” rant here.)

I was tired of feeling helpless and powerless.  I was tired of waiting for someone else to do something.  I was tired of battling the establishment with my one lousy vote that meant nothing in a two-party system beholden exclusively to the very establishment that was screwing me.  I was tired of observing politicians from both sides of the aisle routinely abandoning their constituents and selling their souls to political action committees and lobbyists.

I had long come to the realization Republicans and Democrats were nothing but two sides of the same establishment coin with their sole function being the creation of an illusion of choice where none existed.  They had stopped listening to you and me.
I wanted to us be heard.

If you’ve been following my blog, you know I drafted a revised Declaration of Independence which called for six action items designed to break our chains from the corporate oligarchy which now runs and owns this country.  I called for the People of the United States to:

1. withdraw all their deposits from the Oligarchy’s banks,
   
2. divest all their stock holdings in the Oligarchy’s corporations (particularly corporations in the so-called “defense” industry, financial industry, and any company that has not paid corporate income tax over the past year who has declared profits),
   
3. refuse to vote for any Oligarchic candidate identifying him or herself as a Democrat or Republican on any  ballot for any political office,
   
4. refuse in the future to enlist in any of the Oligarchy’s military forces,
   
5. conscientiously object to any foreign deployment for those of the People who are presently enlisted in the Oligarchy’s military while continuing to defend the borders of the United States from all enemies foreign and domestic, and
   
6. recognizing that the Oligarchic “justice” system refuses to prosecute its own racketeers who prolifically operate financial criminal enterprises, the People, when summoned to sit as jurors in federal or state criminal courts of the Oligarchy, refuse to convict any of their fellow People accused of acts deemed as “crimes” by the Oligarchy other than those involving violence or theft against the People.

I vowed to not only follow through on each of those action items, but to post my new Declaration of Independence at my local federal building on Independence Day, and send copies to my various elected officials.

This July 4^th I did just that.

I rolled out of bed, put on a pair of old sweats and a t-shirt that didn’t quite match, and before the barbecue and pool party started, I drove down to my local federal building with some classic-rock station blasting on the radio, and midway through ‘Pinball Wizard’ I parked my car, got out, marched over to that stupid, stoic building, and posted this Declaration to it with duct-tape (that’s me and my bed-head in the picture below, which my “army of one”, also known as my wife, took).  I also faxed a copy of the Declaration to my Representative, Senators, and various media outlets.

It wasn’t difficult to do, and it took all of one hour out of my day.

Will it make a difference?  I have no idea.

This is the age of the internet.  Things like kittens playing with strings and college girls on racist rants can go “viral.”  Perhaps this can too with your help.

You can easily follow suit and print out the Declaration and do the same thing I did.  If “We the People” make enough noise and vow to follow through on those action items, who knows where this could lead?

I realize Che Guevara is not exactly an American icon and the Cuban Revolution is not exactly an event that is celebrated in this country, but nearly a half century ago Guevara, along with 80 or so men, set sail from Guatemala to Cuba to start a revolution.   Those men defeated Batista’s army and won.  My purpose in mentioning this is not to glorify Guevara nor to advocate for a violent American revolt, but to emphasize that far reaching change can happen when the dedicated will of a few kindle a fire in the masses.

Guevara famously said, “The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall.” I’m trying my damnedest to make that apple fall, but I can’t do it alone.

Perhaps you could lend me a hand and simply do what I did?  Again, this is the link to the revised Declaration of Independence:   Print it.  Go to your stupid, stoic federal building and post it there (posting it with duct-tape is a nice touch, but feel free to use the adhesive of your choosing–this is a democracy after all).  You can click this link to ContactingTheCongress.org to get the contact information for your district’s Representative and your state’s Senators.  You can also fax the Declaration to any number of media outlets.  Below are the entities with the fax numbers I sent the Declaration to:

For California’s 27th Congressional District, Rep. Brad Sherman’s fax is: (202) 225-5879. Sen. Barbara Boxer: (202) 224-0454. Sen. Dianne Feinstein: (202) 228-3954. NBC/MSNBC News: (212) 664-4085. CBS News: (323) 575-4536. CNN: (404) 827-1784. Fox News: (212) 301-4229. ABC News (323) 671-4261.

Follow through on the six action items I identified above.  Periodically, I will be writing articles elaborating on each one.  Here is a link to an article I wrote regarding the first action item entitled ‘The New American Revolution Must Begin in Your Mind’.

We’re not exactly storming the beaches at Normandy here.  You’re not going to be risking life and limb.  It will take one whopping hour out of your life to make a difference by non-violently and legally bucking the establishment enough to possibly substantively change things.
Help me shake this tree and make the apple fall (as you can tell from the picture, I don’t exactly have the muscle to pull this off on my own).

Source: ZPP

Tags: corporate bribery, Corporatism, Revolution, The New Revolution Must Begin In Your Mind, Zero Party Politics