(no subject)
so I got the urge to write today, and quickly strung a couple sentances together. Maybe I'll try and make it half-way decent so it can go in Last Resort #4
A couple months back I was having a discussion with an uncle of mine about Umoja*, As a rich white affluent male his view on the village and on what it meant as far as a precedent in actions and tactics were not surprising but as someone who had lived through the sixties and had seen the mass upheaval of those times it was disconcerting. I don't know if it is disillusionment hidden behind a facade of State empowerment or if those who came of age at that time truly decided that the lesson learned was that change through the state is the only acceptable change. That people's power is unacceptable, the only legitamate power being that of the State.
As the discussion progressed I fought to try and find someone to get across to him why I and many like me see State solutions as ineffectual, as non-answers to greater problems of oppression, exploitation, and alienation. Tried in vain to get across that racism hadn't ended with the civil rights movement, that sexism hadn't done the same after the suffragists. That maybe just maybe the reason he could get so upset about what he saw in Gore's little documentary was because the State was capable of effecting real change, and the petitions and politics weren't the answer after all.
The metaphor that comes to mind time and time again is that of a band-aid and a wound. When a wound is new you can just slap on a band-aid and everything is right again in a few days. But when you leave the wound open to the air and let it fester that band-aid when no longer do the job, while it is on you might think that everything is alright, but when you peak underneath you notice that the problem is still there; it might even be growing. It's infected, and no amount of band-aids and neosporin can save you now, You need a new solution; a new fix to the problem. Hell you might just have to cut of whatever appendage is infected and hope to god you can do without(or find a suitable alternative).
Amendments and Laws, Petitions and Politicians are our band-aids, they hide our problems behind ineffective "solutions" let us get on with our everyday lives(often the actual problem in the first place), until that is the infection spreads, when whatever ism we the nation are outraged about this week finds a way past the band-aid. Never fear says the State we just need a stronger antibiotic, stronger State control, to fix the problem.
We don't need the State and we don't need their patches and salves, what we need are real solutions to the many isms which afflict our societies and cultures. There are roots, foundations, to all forms of oppression, reasons why we think and act in the manner that we do. To truly cure our wounds dialogue and action on the core of the issue are necessary. Sexism isn't done away with when there is equal pay, not if the societal structure is still Patriarchal, radical shifts in societal structure are necessary for the end to all forms of oppression, and only with community and people power and the eradication of state power can the necessary changes occur.
Umoja village being a vacant lot taken over by activists and homeless individuals and turned into a shantytown to help shed light on the housing crisis in miami-dace county. www.takebacktheland.blogspot.com
tell me what ya'll think and what suggestions you have for revisions
A couple months back I was having a discussion with an uncle of mine about Umoja*, As a rich white affluent male his view on the village and on what it meant as far as a precedent in actions and tactics were not surprising but as someone who had lived through the sixties and had seen the mass upheaval of those times it was disconcerting. I don't know if it is disillusionment hidden behind a facade of State empowerment or if those who came of age at that time truly decided that the lesson learned was that change through the state is the only acceptable change. That people's power is unacceptable, the only legitamate power being that of the State.
As the discussion progressed I fought to try and find someone to get across to him why I and many like me see State solutions as ineffectual, as non-answers to greater problems of oppression, exploitation, and alienation. Tried in vain to get across that racism hadn't ended with the civil rights movement, that sexism hadn't done the same after the suffragists. That maybe just maybe the reason he could get so upset about what he saw in Gore's little documentary was because the State was capable of effecting real change, and the petitions and politics weren't the answer after all.
The metaphor that comes to mind time and time again is that of a band-aid and a wound. When a wound is new you can just slap on a band-aid and everything is right again in a few days. But when you leave the wound open to the air and let it fester that band-aid when no longer do the job, while it is on you might think that everything is alright, but when you peak underneath you notice that the problem is still there; it might even be growing. It's infected, and no amount of band-aids and neosporin can save you now, You need a new solution; a new fix to the problem. Hell you might just have to cut of whatever appendage is infected and hope to god you can do without(or find a suitable alternative).
Amendments and Laws, Petitions and Politicians are our band-aids, they hide our problems behind ineffective "solutions" let us get on with our everyday lives(often the actual problem in the first place), until that is the infection spreads, when whatever ism we the nation are outraged about this week finds a way past the band-aid. Never fear says the State we just need a stronger antibiotic, stronger State control, to fix the problem.
We don't need the State and we don't need their patches and salves, what we need are real solutions to the many isms which afflict our societies and cultures. There are roots, foundations, to all forms of oppression, reasons why we think and act in the manner that we do. To truly cure our wounds dialogue and action on the core of the issue are necessary. Sexism isn't done away with when there is equal pay, not if the societal structure is still Patriarchal, radical shifts in societal structure are necessary for the end to all forms of oppression, and only with community and people power and the eradication of state power can the necessary changes occur.
Umoja village being a vacant lot taken over by activists and homeless individuals and turned into a shantytown to help shed light on the housing crisis in miami-dace county. www.takebacktheland.blogspot.com
tell me what ya'll think and what suggestions you have for revisions