Is The US Finally Ready For Revolution?

[paulbern77]

Is America Ready For Revolution?


I have always strongly believed that it's not possible to be a good Christian without standing up against social injustice and government corruption in all its forms. As I take a look around me today I find a lot of things wrong with our country. In fact, I have been a proponent for radical change for several years now, and I have written and published 2 books on this very topic. Where shall I begin? In God-blessed America, the land of the free where everyone is an economic slave, our founding fathers' sacred idea of a government "of the people, by the people, for the people" has become but a cruel joke. Former president George W. Bush has notoriously called our Constitution – our supreme law of the land – "that (expletive) piece of paper". The federal government is currently spending at least $60 billion per month on military excursions in Afghanistan, the Middle East, and northern and western Africa – including operating between 800 and 1,000 foreign military bases all over the world. Our country's over-used flying drone aircraft kills hundreds daily overseas, many of whom are only innocent bystanders.



Meanwhile here on the home front, one in seven people are on food stamps, and at any given time one in four American children are going hungry today. Our country spends more money incarcerating people than it does on education. What's up with that? Our political system is openly rigged against the best interests of the American people. A massive market mechanism is securely entrenched in our political system where political influence is openly bought and sold. Tens of thousands of highly-paid middlemen called "lobbyists" facilitate the legal transfer of billions between moneyed special interests and our so-called "representatives" in Congress. This very lucrative business of buying and selling political influence has become the driving engine of our government. Our so-called "representatives" in Congress vie for millions in legal bribes in return for delivering billions of our tax dollars to moneyed special interests. It's pure folly to think our current political system could possibly look out for the best interests of the American people.



Just ponder what our government has done to us (not for us) in the last ten years alone. It's utterly mind boggling. The best interests of the American people have been sacrificed to moneyed special interests time and time again. The banking industries paid millions in bribes for a legal license to steal billions from the American people. When greed got them in trouble, our so-called "representatives" gave them billions more of our money. After the health insurance industry paid its bribes, our so-called "representatives" refused to even consider single-payer coverage, despite its proven track record of providing cheaper, superior health care, and providing it to all citizens equally.



Instead, millions of Americans will continue to suffer (or go bankrupt or die) for lack of health insurance. I know this to be true because it has happened to me as well. If any policy would significantly reduce the profits of moneyed special interests, it's simply designated "off the table" by our so-called "representatives". In the last ten years, our so-called "representatives" shared nearly a billion dollars in bribes from the "defense" industry. In return, they doubled our defense budget to $700 billion (equal to all other countries combined!) and lied us into unnecessary, endless, expanding wars that will ultimately cost us trillions. This is aside from the extreme human costs of war with multiple consecutive deployments. For example, 1 in 5 returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan have permanent psychiatric disabilities so severe that they will never work again. Speaking as a minister and lifelong peace activist, I find this to be utterly reprehensible on the part of the US military (Be all you can be? Yeah, right.)



Our so-called "representatives" are cutting social spending just when the American people need it most. Yet they continue to spend hundreds of billions on weapons of mass destruction to "protect us" from our enemies. But most of our "enemies" are purposely created by our government's blatantly unjust foreign policies (that openly support regimes that oppress millions of human beings) and by our violent military occupations of their homelands. Without a perpetual supply of "enemies", "defense" industry profits would plummet. If that weren't enough, our so-called "representatives" have worked hard to keep America the number one weapons merchant on earth. Our so-called "representatives" continue to support the sale of billions in weapons to oppressive regimes around the world, which creates still more "enemies", which creates more special interests profits, etc.



Our current political system guarantees our so-called "representatives" will continue to pass and sustain legislation that transfers billions of our hard-earned tax dollars to moneyed special interests. That's because members of Congress who oppose moneyed special interests are promptly punished, ostracized, or replaced (if their offense is great enough). For example, dare to oppose the AIPAC and your days in Congress are numbered. Just ask any congressman, starting with your own. Furthermore, our current political system guarantees both moneyed special interests and our so-called "representatives" must participate in this influence-peddling scam against the American people, mainly because they'd be stupid not to. Big corporations would be at a competitive disadvantage (and would likely resort to cheating their shareholders to replace lost profits) if they refused to buy political influence. Likewise, our so-called "representatives" would be at a competitive disadvantage getting elected or staying in office if they refused to sell political influence.



The upcoming national elections this fall are merely melodrama for the masses. Our "choices" have all been pre-chosen for us by moneyed special interests pumping millions into the process. Besides, whoever wins will be forced to play by established political rules that guarantee moneyed special interests will always come ahead of the American people's best interests. For weeks before the elections, the lackey mainstream media (using colorful pundits) entertain us with political melodrama. They arouse us by pitting one segment of the American people against another. They make millions bombarding us with empty, emotional, 30-second TV ads that are little more than name-calling or patriotic platitudes. Congressional elections are sheep fighting among themselves for their favorite pre-chosen wolves. Congressional elections merely determine which segment of the America people gets screwed by which moneyed special interests group.



Trying to reform our current political system using that very same corrupt system is just futile folly. It's like trying to fix your broken arms using your broken arms. It's like trying to start a car that is out of gas. Our current political system is designed to be reform proof. It has well-established mechanisms to protect and maintain the status quo. That's why "campaign finance reform" and all other such efforts to "reform" our current political system from within are doomed to either fail outright or be so watered-down as to be useless. All these outrageous government actions are exactly what we should expect from a government openly for sale to the highest bidder. “We the people” are just government-controlled fodder for moneyed special interests. Moneyed special interests paid for these outrageous government actions, and they got what they paid for. We, the people, got screwed. I have the solution to this problem, and it can be found in any English dictionary.


rev-o-lu-tion (Dictionary.com) 1. an overthrow or repudiation and the thorough replacement of an established government or political system by the people governed.


Our country's elections amount to rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. We can't vote our government back to us. A peaceful, people's revolution is the only way we can take back our government. The multi-billion dollar business of buying and selling political influence (currently the driving engine of our government) must be overthrown, repudiated and thoroughly replaced if democracy is to survive in America. This massive influence-peddling scam must become our number one political issue because it underlies and thus greatly affects all other issues. If we don't get big money out of our politics, our democracy and our standard of living will continue to decline and surely we'll take the rest of the world down with us.



We can't afford to sit by like sheep meekly waiting for slaughter. We must find ways to hinder and harass the corporate state at every turn. Nothing will change unless we, the people, begin to organize radical acts of civil disobedience to disrupt our current political system, upping the ante until this massive influence-peddling scam is thoroughly exposed and eliminated. For example, in Iceland they arrested over 100 bankers recently after throwing the old government out of office peacefully but effectively. The citizens stood in the streets and banged on pots and pans, and they didn't stop until they got what they wanted. Then they wrote a new constitution and passed it into law. It's been reported all over the European press but largely censored here in the US. Is it any wonder? If there were enough people inspired by what happened in Iceland, it could happen here next. Well, what does the elite capitalists want? They can either allow what happened over there to happen here, or America will turn into another Greece, Spain, Ireland or Portugal. Or maybe even another Egypt or Syria. The only way to prevent this from occurring here is that “we the people” must take back our government by peaceful revolution because it will never be given back voluntarily. Remember what President John F. Kennedy said: "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."

[cantbeserious]

1. It Will Have To Become Much Worse Before People Stop Watching Idol And Lift A Finger To Revolt

eom

[Ilsa]

2. I know people who want a revolution,

but the have a mostly-different definition of what the problem is.

They see government over-reach on privacy issues, the security state problems that we see. But they largely ignore the fact that our govt is for sale to the highest bidder. They still think pure capitalism is a goal, not a hindrance to a thriving economy.

They blame the poor and the weak, and blame "bleeding heart liberals" for creating the monstrous level of debt.

Honestly, I don't know how they neglect to see the truth when billionaires are buying elections along with controlling the media.

[Drale]

3. Something for everyone to remember

Revolutions rarely turn out the way you want them to. In fact 99% of the time things turn out worst then when the revolution began.

[TBF]

4. That is a useless statement at best.

Maybe they don't turn out the way the ruling class wants them to. Whose side are you on?

[sabrina 1]

5. Nicely written OP. To answer your question though, no, I do not think America is

ready for a revolution, even a peaceful one as you suggest. The reason is propaganda which has been very successful, even on boards like this, any attempt to address real issues is met with cries of 'hide it'.

However, I do think that there are a growing number of people, especially the young, who are not as comfortable with the way things are as they used to be.

For example, in Iceland they arrested over 100 bankers recently after throwing the old government out of office peacefully but effectively. The citizens stood in the streets and banged on pots and pans, and they didn't stop until they got what they wanted. Then they wrote a new constitution and passed it into law. It's been reported all over the European press but largely censored here in the US. Is it any wonder?

Just this week I read that Iceland rebound was continuing, the only country in Europe which is succeeding, despite all the threats they received for refusing to go along with the Predatory Capitalist Austerity Programs.

What made them different? The Irish, angry as the are at their situation, still voted to go along with being bullied into even more Austerity. Greece, which came close to just saying 'no', and closer with each election, in the end were too scared to do what Iceland did.

Spain is next, then Italy and Portugal. The system has failed, yet people cling to it.

What is needed and what is missing are LEADERS. That may be because when they emerge, they are attacked and silenced. Like Julian Assange. Wikileaks eg exposed the corruption in Iceland's main bank. They also announced that much of their material was not about wars, but about the 'Private Sector'. THIS is the real reason for the silencing of Wikileaks.

For a revolution to take place, more people will have to be willing to educate themselves, to turn off the Corporate Media which is nothing more than the propaganda arm of Corporate America.

Otoh, there really is no telling when things will reach critical mass, as history shows. People put up with an awful lot before they are prepared to stand up and be counted. But the emergence of OWS and its success, and the rabid response to it from the PTBs shows that maybe we are approaching that period. Wall Street certainly was very frightened of OWS. Because THEY know there is a justification for such a movement and it is their nightmare and they were ready for it.

The good news is that information is available now despite the efforts of the Corporate Media and the shills for the Predatory Capitalists who ever present among us and I think sooner or later the US will do what Iceland did, but it will be a lot more difficult here than it was there. They were a free people with access to the truth, while we really are not.

[Chathamization]

6. Revolutions tend to feed the ego

The system is a mess because people let it be a mess. If even 1% of the population were active and organized in this system we would see huge changes. The fact is, people already have a lot of power in this system, should they choose to use it. They often don't. Revolutionary change (and into what, one might ask) isn't going to suddenly make people less lazy or more engaged, though it could easily lead to a system that dramatically more difficult for the common person to make a difference.

People salivate at the idea of revolution because, like war in our culture, it's glamorized and exciting. Standing on the corner and collecting signatures or educating people, on the other hand, is hard work. Yet the latter has had a much great positive effect on people's lives here than the former.

People that say the only option is revolution cause one to recall the phrase, "we've tried nothing and we're all out of ideas!" There simply hasn't been much effective leadership in the US in decades. That's the problem. A revolution would do nothing to solve that. Rather, having a revolution without effective leadership would simply be a mess.