Sunday, October 10, 2004

Repeat After Me: That Horse is Not Dead

By Mickey Z.

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  1. I think a few distinctions are in order. For now (after midnight in Los Gatos), I’ll dwell on just two.  For one, the Direct Action Crowd is not of one cloth in the sense that the ABB Crowd is.... There is a unifying principle around which the ABBers gather...whereas the same cannot be said of those involved in Direct Action; there are certainly more than three subsets. My second distinction will elaborate on that a bit. To wit, when you talk about those involved in Direct Action screaming about “imminent apocalypse” you’re excluding a “subset” that has zero to do w “what is about to happen.” I’m one person who does care about what seems to be imminent, but that concern does not characterize the ground of my being vis-a-vis Direct Action.  I am primarily moved by my disgust with/refusal to accept what is already happening; I get energized by feeling I can make a difference and/or that there are no options to attempting something.  I am not motivated by FEAR in the sense that you suggest others are.... I am sorry that you’re having such a hard time of it with regard to what you delineate here, Mick. You’ve certainly touched upon much that is noteworthy. However, I trust that all of the criticism that has come from my quarter has not contributed to The Down. I personally would never want you or anyone to be doing something that wasn’t following Your Bliss. Sometimes, however, what one feels blissful about calls for a review. More is available about “beating a dead horse,” upon request. In closing, I’d just like to add --for purposes of underscoring-- there’s a world of difference between the Direct Action proposed by, say, the RCP and the DA being practiced by certain members of the ALF.  Blessings in the solidarity that might improve someday, Richard

    Posted by Richard Oxman from  on  10/11  at  02:31 AM

  2. “Palestinian boy brainwashed into becoming a suicide bomber”

    Brainwashed by who? I’d say seeing a relative killed at point blank range is enough to spark rage in a Palestinian boy. I don’t see where the brainwashing comes in.

    Second, the reason many on the “hard Left” speak of an urgency (just short of apocalyptic) is because the situation is SO bleak in places like Palestine and Iraq. I am yet to see how avoiding meat will save lives in the middle east.

    Posted by Kap Fulton from San Diego, CA  on  10/11  at  04:13 AM

  3. “Bush and Kerry are sure they have THE answer.”

    To what?

    If you doubt that they have the answer, well ,then, you still have some waking up to do. They do have THE answer.

    The thing is… their problem is quite different than the one most of us see. As a matter of fact their problem is hardly a real problem, just a new set of opportunities—a whole lotta fun to kick around. An interesting little game they play. Almost like theater.

    If you doubt they have the answer. If you doubt that they are not thinking about an entirely different puzzler than the rest of us. If you doubt that they are not fully in control and that a revolution IS needed…

    Ask yourself why the anti-war posers are now going to vote breathlessly for the man who has promised to increase the military.

    They do indeed have the answer. It’s goes something like: convincing you (the “newly-awakened") that you have a chance, if only your boy Ralph could get a chance to tell us how to “restore democracy”.

    Try not to denigrate those calling for revolution because a revolution is needed. Try not to denigrate those calling for revolution. Because a revolution is needed. And, you, are likely to be, as all centerist throughout history, caught up in the middle of the road in a bad way. Like it or not.

    Or you might rouse yourself, quickly. Because you are still dreaming when you speak of their answer as if it has anything to do with the question at hand.

    Posted by Mukov Aegis from  on  10/11  at  05:06 AM

  4. We certainly don’t want to be manipulated by the manufactured fear that the global elite and conspirators create. But fear can also be a healthy motivator to get off our asses and do something positive. This is my banal observation. Most people I know in my booming metropolis are not activated in the least to improve the world. They are just going along with it (in some ways trying to improve their immediate circumstances, but in other ways being harmed by not practicing intellectual self defense). They lack a theoretical foundation in order to enact deep change. Even after many thousands (perhaps millions) of people saw a film exposing US government complicity in 911, this did not lead to any huge public surge of anger and activism. I’m sure it did some good but the fact that people can know that our system is a big LIE and simultaneously go along with it is disturbing. Supposedly, it is because people don’t know the truth about history is why they go along with the lies. I cannot offer a satisfying conclusion to these thoughts, a work in progress. Maybe there needs to be a much huger production of counterhegemonic propaganda for any real societal change in consciousness to occur, but of course, that won’t happen with the media the way it currently is structured. These are my banal observations.

    Posted by Rhino Rick from  on  10/11  at  07:36 AM

  5. Kap...Palestinian suicide bombers are brainwashed...that their act seems justified against occupation should not negate the fact that most Palestinians I know are afraid for their children, both of Islamist groups that indeed brainwash them, and of course the occupation.

    Posted by j cummings from  on  10/11  at  08:50 AM

  6. Thought-provoking commentary. Don’t want things to get out of hand, however, vis-a-vis The Z. Personally, I can say that Mickey has been instrumental in the evolution of my own consciousness.  Nevertheless, there has been a great need, in my view, for people to address the rut that the strutting leftists doin’ virtually nothin’ by way of moving things along significantly...have been stuck in.  The fact that abominations have been going on for quite some time is neither here nor there in terms of my comments above. Needs still exist, and needs are still not being addressed. That doesn’t mean that every Michael Albert, Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn out there has to burn down some edifice literally. BUT...people should be applauded and encouraged when they are forcing issues onto the table that Heads of the Dining Hall do not want served up. THAT has been a great part of my complaint, that people involved in Direct Action are not getting the support they deserve/require to push the envelope; writers et. al. not moving in that realm have a question to answer. In Mickey’s defense, I must say that I turned Vegan, in great part, because of his inspiration.  AND...although it’s easy to point out that that simple change will not do this or that out there, it would be reassuring --in terms of feeling the potential for solidarity-- if critics of The Mick on that count would step up and acknowledge how monumentally crucial embracing Vegan principles are...as we are not going to get very far on The Left...if we think that we can advance without doing so.  Let’s find common ground, and not beat the dead horse that’s spread before us...in this dark alley we’ve entered.  I’m sure everyone writing in this quarter has experienced the understandable frustration that Mickey’s expressing, and it finding their own way of getting through it...hopefully moving toward solidarity. I am comforted in the thought that Mickey does have Michele in his corner, something that at least 95% more of the population could use. Hugs, Ox

    Posted by Richard Oxman from  on  10/11  at  11:45 AM

  7. At some point progressives (or whatever label people prefer) must come together and continue the struggle. Chomsky acknowledges the need for action now. He said that there are “crimes for which you and I and the critics bear direct responsibility, and can therefore do something about, as we could then, and we can now.”

    Posted by kim from  on  10/11  at  01:20 PM

  8. Jordy,

    This notion that religion is the main factor of suicide bombers is simply wrong. Suicide bombing has been around a lot longer than the Palestinians use of it. For example, if an anarchist (see A. Cockburn’s most recent article) blows himself up then he’s a martyr or a revolutionary. If an Arab becomes a suicide bomber then he is a brainwashed? Or more often simply labeled ‘CRAZY’...

    Secondly, regarding veganism: we should definitely begin to separate the act of eating meat versus the actions in a slaughterhouse.

    Posted by Kap Fulton from San Diego, CA  on  10/11  at  07:50 PM

  9. Kap, nothing in this thread that I can see is attempting to ‘judge’ the palestine resistance or put a limit on what is essentially ‘acceptable’ resistance. Big I think
    It’s a severe mistake to regaurd all Palestinian resistance elements as belonging to a homegenous group (who all necessarily regaurd being a suicide bomber as the ‘pinnacle’ of human existance), just as it is a mistake to regaurd the Iraqi resistance as homogenious group comprised solely of kidnappers of beheaders. One has to admitt there is distriction to be made between a autonomous adult straping his/herself up with explosives as the ultimate expression of political desperation and rage, and a 8 or 9 year old child who is essentially recruited, and unshered through this process via promises of everylasting glory and martrydom by certain elements that view children simply as disposable fodder in the conflict. This has ZERO to do with arguing that Mulims are brainwashed, etc..

    That the Isreali occupation has engendered and set up this situation is obvious but I believe Mickey and Jordy are absolutely correct with thier use of the term on these accounts…

    Posted by CK from  on  10/11  at  08:52 PM

  10. Quite an experience to live in fear isn’t it? That’s what it is to be a slave.

    -- the replicant played by Rutger Hauer in Blade Runner

    Posted by Rhino Rick from  on  10/12  at  02:55 AM

  11. I wonder if Kap could clarify this comment:

    “Secondly, regarding veganism: we should definitely begin to separate the act of eating meat versus the actions in a slaughterhouse.”

    Are you saying we can separate the steak on our plate from what occurs in a slaughterhouse?

    Posted by Tracy McLellan from  on  10/12  at  09:26 AM

    12. Next entry: The Worst Writers in the World, or the Worst Readers?

    Previous entry: Science, Surveillance and the Culture of Control

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