Posted by
Red on Friday, November 07, 2008 9:25:25 AM
If the despicable Democrats have control its because they are opportunists. Taking up the causes of miscellanious groups has given them a coalition and we should be using their own methods against them to break that coalition up. Why not try civil disobedience for a change. Neve having though about it I did a Google search and found ACT UP. African American web site with instructions on how to conduct nonviolent protests. I copies and pasted some selections for your review they follow at the end of my commentary.
This should provide any interested individual confidence then the courage to fight back. However, I think the main thing right now is to focus on a message as part of our problem as Republicans is that we are percived as the status quo. First is to coordinate a new message to fight for. The illusion of us as the establishment should be countered first in order to begin the breakup of the coalition. They have progressives (forget them but if necessary I am sure we can come up with a few prize examples), blacks, some hispanics, gays, some women, and the moderate block. Our room to move is with moderates and ethic groups. We should not appeal with new programs, we should not appeal with hope but with just the facts. Point out that the promises are empty promises, push the fact that most of the progressive democrats are the fithy rich and handing out tokens. Then there's the image of ignorance, we are not ignorant or stupid or even old fashioned. Keep repeating that. Whats wrong with family values, Whats wrong with the right to life? Whats wrong with christianity? Nothing! It's only that the opportunists push the idea that it is archaic for today. Counter with and what is so good about modern life? As for intelligence, anybody can be intelligent not just the university professor. Wisdom is a quality too. By the way anybody notice that they always pop up to render opinions. Ask them why we should believe them? Again challenge the beliefs first to start people questioning the story and push our answer. Maybe there is room in painting a picture of the future, Will we be living in pods, all wearing the same clothes? All have the same salary or no money so how are we to get food, share it. Will we be assigned our jobs. Don't thing we will all have that beach house. there will be no beach house. The instructions from the web site are next:
These direct action guidelines describe limits required for us to set a minimum level of safety for ACT UP demonstrators:
1. ACT UP cannot guarantee the safety of participants at our demonstrators.
2. Yet, we try to protect each other at demonstrations by setting up a support and advocacy structure that can react quickly if problems should arise or if arrests occur. We recommend that all people considering civil disobedience go to a direct action CD training and that they join an affinity group.
3. At the demonstration, we ask that participants act according to the love and caring that we have built or each other. Individual or group actions that endanger the physical well-being of other demonstrators should not be done. Generally actions that might endanger the safety of others at the demonstration include:
a) physical violence directed against others, including the police, spectators and other ACT UP members
b) actions that cause panic such as running and throwing rocks
c) bringing weapons or anything that can be construed as a weapon to the demonstration site; weapons include but are not limited to: guns, knives, nail files, mace, letter openers, scissors, etc.
d) bringing recreational drugs to the demonstration
4. We ask that anyone or any group considering acts of property alteration (i.e. graffiti) commit such acts openly, taking responsibility for these acts, and taking care that these acts endanger no one. If secrecy is necessary, the action should not be part of this demonstration.
Historically, nonviolence training was used extensively during the civil rights movement, in Gandhi's campaigns in India against the British, and in recent years in the struggles against nuclear technology, against U.S. policy in Central America and Southern Africa and for the rights of farm workers, women and people with AIDS, to name a few.
The purpose of training is for participants to form a common understanding of the use of nonviolence. It gives a forum to share ideas about nonviolence, oppression, fears and feelings. It allows people to meet and build solidarity with each other and provides an opportunity to form affinity groups. It is often used as preparation for action and gives people a chance to learn about an action, its tone, and legal ramifications. It helps people to decide whether or not they will participate in an action. Through role playing, people learn what to expect from police, officials, other people in the action and themselves.
Nonviolence training can range from several hours to several months. Most typical in the United States are sessions that run up to eight hours and have 10-25 people with two trainers leading the discussion and roleplays. Areas covered in a session include:
· History and philosophy of nonviolence, including role plays on the use of nonviolence and nonviolent responses to violence.
· Roleplays and exercises in consensus decision making, conflict resolution, and quick decision making.
· A presentation of legal ramification of civil disobedience and discussion on noncooperation and bail solidarity.
· Exercises and discussion of the role of oppression in our society and the progressive movement.
· What is an affinity group and what are the roles within the group.
· A sharing of fears and feelings related to nonviolence and nonviolent action.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote that the philosophy and practice of nonviolence has six basic elements.
First, nonviolence is resistance to evil and oppression. It is a human way to fight.
Second, it does not seek to defeat or humiliate the opponent, but to win his/ her friendship and understanding.
Third, the nonviolent method is an attack on the forces of evil rather than against persons doing the evil. It seeks to defeat the evil and not the persons doing the evil and injustice.
Fourth, it is the willingness to accept suffering without retaliation.
Fifth, a nonviolent resister avoids both external physical and internal spiritual violence- not only refuses to shoot, but also to hate, an opponent. The ethic of real love is at the center of nonviolence.
Sixth, the believer in nonviolence has a deep faith in the future and the forces in the universe are seen to be on the side of justice.
Legal Issues/Risking Arrest
The decisions that we make are political, not legal. The reaction of the government to what we are doing, to what we stand for, will also be political. We can have quite an impact on what happens to us in jail, in court and during processing, if we are prepared. It can be as important a part of our nonviolent opposition as anything that comes before the arrest.
In a large demonstration, the police may separate us from each other, breaking up affinity groups' and possibly isolating individuals. In order to maintain our spirits and effectiveness, we must develop an ability to deal with the legal system, while trusting in the solidarity of other demonstrators. Solidarity is, in reality, more a state of mind that unites us through a long struggle than a specific course of action that everyone follows. Solidarity does not demand that everyone make the same choice in every situation. It is an internal force within each of us and among us as a group. It is our commitment to one another and to our common cause; it is our dedication to support one another and to pursue our common goals at all times, in every situation, to the best of our ability. Solidarity cannot be broken by courts, jails or other external forces. If we hold fast to it, it is ours.
Our approach to the legal system is up to us. We retain as much power as we refuse to relinquish to the government -- city, state or federal.
The criminal "justice" system functions to alienate and isolate the accused individual, to destroy one's power and purposefulness and to weave a web of confusion and mystification around any legal proceedings. If we are well prepared for our contact with this system, we can limit the effect it has upon us, both personally and politically. It is extremely important that we be firmly rooted in our own spirit and purposes, our commitment to one another and history and tradition of social struggle of which we are a part. We should try to maintain our nonviolent attitude of honesty and directness while dealing with law enforcement officers and the courts.
Nonviolent action draws its strength from open confrontation and noncooperation, not from evasion or subterfuge. Bail solidarity, noncooperation and other forms of resistance can be used to reaffirm our position that we are not criminals and that we are taking positive steps towards fleeing the world from oppression.
Discuss the issues raised in this legal section with your affinity' group -- particularly noncooperation and your attitude toward trials. Think out various hypothetical situations and try to understand how you will respond to these situations.
Some demonstrators refuse to cooperate partially or wholly with court procedures; they refuse to enter a plea, to retain or accept a lawyer, to stand up in court, to speak to the judge as a symbol of court authority (but rather speak to him or her as a fellow human being), to take the stand or question witnesses. They mav make a speech to those assembled in the courtroom or simply lie or sit on the floor if they are carried in, or attempt to leave if not forcibly restrained. The penalties for such noncooperation can be severe, because many judges take such action to be a personal affront as well as an insult to the court. Some judges, on the other hand, overlook such conduct, or attempt to communicate with the demonstrators.
Physical noncooperation may be sustained through the booking process and through court appearances; it mav continue through the entire time of one's detention. This might involve a refusal to walk, to eat, to clean oneself and one's surroundings. It may even lead prison officials to force-feed and diaper the inmate.
Another form of noncooperation is fasting -- taking no food and no liquid except water, or perhaps fruit juice. While abstaining from food can be uncomfortable and eventually risky, abstaining from all food and liquid can be extremely dangerous almost immediately. Five or six days is probably the longest a human can go without liquid before incurring brain damage and serious dehydration. Usually authorities watch persons who are "water fasting" closely and take steps to hospitalize them before serious consequences occur, but no demonstrator can ever count on such attention and should therefore be prepared to give up the fast or perhaps be allowed to die, as did several Irish freedom fighters during the H-Block hunger strike in 1981.
There are other forms noncooperation mav take and other reasons for it to occur. The refusal to give one's name undoubtedly springs from a desire to resist and confound a system that assigns criminal records to people, that categorizes and spies upon them and that punishes organizers and repeat offenders more strenuously. It relays a message that none of us should be singled out: we'll be doing this again and again.
Many nonviolent activists, however, acting with the openness and confidence that characterizes and strengthens nonviolent action, do not choose to hide their identifies. They may still noncooperate, however, by refusing to reveal an address, or by refusing to promise to return for trial, increasing the burden on the courts to quickly' deal with the demonstrators and enhancing their solidarity and strength as people working together, filling the jails.
Steps to making a Campaign
Most movement programs revolve around organizing single, unrelated events-demonstrations, forums, whatever. Were these activities strung together in an integrated fashion- building on one another -- the impact and potential for success would be magnified dramatically. Such is the advantage of campaign organizing.
The campaign provides an escalating series of actions over a period of time focused on a target in order to achieve specific goals. Persistence and a systematic approach are key ingredients of a campaign.
All this is not to say demonstrations should not be organized on individual dates like Hiroshima Day (August 6), International Women's Day (March 8), Martin Luther King Day, and so forth. But, when possible, actions which are part of campaigns can make a stronger statement.
Planning a Campaign
While a demonstration takes a good deal of careful planning, a campaign requires considerably more attention.
The first step is to do the basic groundwork of self-education on the issues and problems to be combated. This can be accomplished through research, study groups, workshops, and conferences.
The next step is to decide where to focus our initial efforts. What you need to find are weak points in the opponent's "armour," which will provide levers or handles to focus criticism and action.
During one phase of the Indian campaign for independence from Britain, Gandhi selected the British monopoly on salt as the focus for a campaign. At first this appeared to be an insignificant issue to worry about, compared with independence itself. But because salt affected everyone on this rather hot subcontinent, because its cost was a hardship on the masses, and because it was relatively easy to manufacture (and thereby violated the salt laws), it became an ideal symbol of why independence was being sought. The British viewed the Salt Campaign as "nothing less than to cause a complete paralysis of the administrative machinery." In retrospect, the year-long campaign was the most spectacular effort in the 28-year struggle for independence.
The United Farm Workers grape boycott is another example of a well chosen campaign in the struggle to win union recognition and better conditions for farm workers.
One of the most important steps in a campaign, after determining the target or focus, is to choose the short range goals. Long range goals are easy, e.g., world peace or an end to sexism. But sometimes if short range goals are not clearly defined, then the campaign could be stalled. Short range goals should be winnable within the near future (providing a boost and the encouragement needed to keep your group moving toward the longer range goals), measurable (you ought to be able to tell when you have accomplished them), set on a timetable to allow for periods of evaluation, be a significant step towards the long range goal(s).
For example, in opposing the establishment of a Junior ROTC unit in a local high school, your medium (or short) range goal might be to prevent the unit from setting up. A short range goal could be getting the local paper (or student body) to come out against the unit. An example of something which is not a short range goal would be the holding of a forum or having a picket. These represent vehicles toward your goals, rather than goals themselves. Saying that a short range goal is "to educate the student body" has little value as a goal unless it is measurable (e.g., a poll or vote).
In setting goals, you might consider establishing a bottom line on what is acceptable, to guard against being coopted into ending the campaign without making any fundamental change.