Friday, December 26, 2008

To The Gnat: Isolation or Revolution

I am guessing, you think these CEOs deserve the money more than you. You must think they are smarter, more educated, and more deserving of welfare and bail outs. You respect them more than yourself, don't you?

You see them in suits, coming in on planes, and think, as they are surrounded by lawyers, that they must be more "qualified" to know what to do with their money. After all, they've had a lot of time to sit around, and consult with professionals, about investments.

You must think, the men on Wall Street, are somehow inherently better or smarter than you. Or do you think, it is possible, they were raised with more opportunities than you...that you are every bit as smart, and maybe moreso, but never had a chance, because no one ever had your back, that had resources. You were never given a chance to excel in school because your family struggled to put food on the table. You were looked down upon and overlooked and placed in middle or lower end classes, because teachers assumed you were not gifted or intelligent enough, because you didn't come from a family of doctors, lawyers, CEOs, or politicians.

You think there is nothing you can do. The government makes all of the decisions for you. Protesting would look crazy. Protesting might put your family at risk. Protesting takes time. So you watch as billions of dollars are given to corporations, in the name of saving the same economy THOSE people put at risk. You think they will distribute the money wisely, as you watch them throw lavish parties, and put their own names back onto the bankroll.

You haven't looked at your own hands. You refuse to look at your own hands, which remind you of how hard you've had to work, for everything, and yet it is never enough. Some of you began to rise, but you didn't keep your mouth shut, and they pushed you back down, with force. They will shut you up, and you decided to keep quiet. You folded your hands and looked over at them, at their hands, as they receive money from the government and throw a few pennies in your direction. You watch them put on a big show of how they are the saviors of this economy--a small group of bureaucrats, and you forget that YOU and those around you, with NOTHING, that you are the backbone of the country. You are the material in the flag, while they are just a highly reinforced border encircling the mass.

You complain and gripe, and say it's not fair. Some of you actually think these people are going to try to help you. You put more trust in them, than you do yourselves. Because almost all your life, you were made to feel as though you were not important enough. So you began to believe it.

Where is the newspaper and media coverage for those standing up against this? Is there a group fighting this? Or is it true there is no such group--that no one has assembled to protest what has been going on for decades. Perhaps there are some journalists who would like to cover your efforts, but where are you? You are hiding out in your houses, apartments, cars, and jobs, and your voices of complaint are lost. Oh, they see you, but you're a bunch of gnats, silently swarming. They swat at you and forget you and bring in the pesticide to kill you. You never gathered together to say the exact same words, at the same time, so it was loud enough that EVERYONE could hear you.

You are a gnat to them. I am a gnat. They laugh at you and take what they want. The fruit is rotting on the table, and you are allowed to hover above the garbage. But no one takes you seriously.

Why? Because they're not afraid of you. You have nothing. You can't challenge them. They will beat you down. One by one, they beat you down.

So when do you get mad enough, to stand up for yourself, and get everyone together to do something about it?

Are you waiting around for Obama to save you? Do you think one man is going to do all the work for you? You're waiting for someone in his administration to suddenly go out on some crazy limb and start giving YOU and YOUR family $300,000 loans so you can get one out of jail through a civil lawsuit, put food on the table, fix the car, pay off your mortgage...

You sit around and hope, just hope, someone is going to fix things for you. The news is, they won't.

No one, not even the "democrats" are going to fix this mess and give you and your children the opportunity they need to get ahead and start taking back the land.

You will either have to accept they are better than you, as they punish you and accuse you of thinking you're "special" if you dare challenge them, OR you start opening up to the idea of assembling a massive protest against the way this country is being run and what is being done with your money.

If you don't have enough money to fight them, are you too embarrassed to protest? Does it look too crazy to you? What else do you do then? Every single revolution for change has involved massive riots and massive peaceful assemblies. Throughout history, the poor have taken back the land, through a concerted effort and UPRISING, against the elite and those in control.

What are you willing to do for yourself, your family, and your children and future children?

I hate to break it to you, but Obama is not going to do things for you. He is going to give out the bail outs, surrounded by red tape himself, and strapped in his position to compromise, and he is going to offer ideas for a "stimulus" which is money that will go to the states and more corporations, and is supposed to help you but which will be a drop in the bucket.

It is only allocating more money to the corrupt, who take for themselves and will pay off more attorneys to keep people like YOU, DOWN.

If you choose to fight, you must assemble yourselves. I think Obama would like to see this, but he is powerless to help you and speak for you, if you are unwilling to even speak for yourselves. You give HIM strength, when you strengthen yourselves and make your wishes clear and known. All Obama will do, is try to prevent police and others, from chasing you off. The pressure must be powerful enough, that it makes those at the top, Republican and Democrat, afraid. They are not afraid of you now, because you're a gnat.

How can the illegal immigrants help? You can help. We would figure out a way although you too, must be willing to risk something for the greater good. How can the international community help? There are many, many, people who would like to help us. Some of the greatest supporters will be found in the international community, who see what's happened, and who would like to see the weak, for once, surpass the strong, and then be in a position to influence policy that will benefit the world, and their countries, and not just the interests of the rich.

You will have support, if you are willing to stand up and stand together.

The CIA and this country, gives support to militias in other countries, to fight battles for them. They empower them with arms and weapons, and bribe them for information with Viagra and trinkets and money.

There are people in the international community, and who live here in the U.S., who will give you tools to fight with, who will strengthen you, if they believe in your cause and see that you're ready to be serious and move to action. Even the CIA should be supportive, but many would not be, because they work for those at the top. Others, however, look at the best interests of a country and the public and see that this is a plutocracy which will not be dismantled through corporate bail outs, but only by strengthening the people to take back what is theirs.

It is the right thing to do.

I have been tortured, and watched my son being tortured as people lie and say nothing ever happened. I have been falsely imprisoned, and I have been raped. I have been slandered and I have been disparaged and harassed. I've had my medical records tampered with, been denied medical care for me and my son. I've had my houses broken into and cars vandalized and mail tampered. I've been profiled by police. I've been threatened with the loss of my life. I've had my son taken away from me on illegal grounds. I don't have any regrets, whatsoever, in the way I've conducted my affairs and been willing to make complaints and reports. If this is the price I pay for doing the right thing, I was willing to pay the price. That doesn't mean I am resigned.

I am not going to give up.

If you are willing to believe in me, as I believe in you, and take up this same "cross", we are going to win.

I will not stand in the background, and I will go out in the front line, even knowing people have wanted to bury me alive. I need an army and you need someone who will motivate you. I am not rich, and I have no resources. I'm not as smart as some people think, but I'm also not as dumb as others may claim, or as ignorant. What I have to offer, is my voice, and my desire to encourage you, and a willingness to fight for what I want.

I have no guarantees for you, that someone would not try to punish you for standing up. You already know how they push you down, and they will fight harder if we stand together. They may try to pick you off, one by one, with a false arrest and profiling here and there, or go after your son or daughter, but it is only because they are that afraid of you. It is not a sign to give up. It is a sign that they know you might win.

You could win the war, even if every battle, so far, has been lost.

It is true, for me, that I know a certain group has been after me, to keep me down. But what is also true, is that I know regardless of what group it is, that tries to push you down, they do it by capitalizing on the fact they have money and resources and connections to the system that you DON'T have. You may have a different enemy or a different struggle, but if you are poor, our struggles, on the bottom line, are the same. It is a struggle for equality and be able to fight for and protect your family.

I believe, no matter who you are, that you should have an equal opportunity to get ahead, to ask for accountability from those who have wronged you, and an equal opportunity to defend yourselves.

I don't care who you are, and you shouldn't care who I am either. What matters is that everyone has a fighting chance. If we don't, there is only injustice and the rich, no matter who they are, are the ones who will prevail. I don't believe ANYONE, no matter WHO you are and what you believe, should be bullied.

This is an incredible live performance by Natasha Bedingfield, of "The Scientist". Sort of an anthem in its own right: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsUK4mlv9m0&feature=related

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