[Peace-discuss] Incremental change

[Karen Medina]

Bob Illyes wrote:
 > progress so slow, so incremental.

Alas, the only change that lasts is incremental change.

Power is very much like the "precious" of Gollum; those with a monopoloy 
on power spend their time and energy defending it from real or imagined 
others.

When the powerless are given rights, it sometimes takes a bit of time 
before we learn how to use it. In the Dominican Republic, after the 
dictatorship of Trujillo ended, it was months before the people really 
believed he was dead and was not coming back. There is still a whole 
generation of people who are afraid to speak out against the government 
because Trujillo's spies used to be everywhere and the punishment for 
criticism of his government was often death. Fear is hard to overcome.

Bob is correct: we must make sure that the hard-earned rights do not 
slip away while the empowered learn how to use them.

-karen medina



Bob Illyes wrote:
> By "we" I meant the people of the United States.
> 
> I do see gradual progress on human rights in this country (getting
> the vote for women is an obvious example), and believe that the
> paper is important, but that it will do nothing if the people
> themselves do not demand what the documents spell out. Our first
> job is to get the laws, our second is to demand that they be
> enforced. The powerful rarely give away any power unless they see
> that they have no other options, and then they give away as little
> as they can get away with. This is what makes progress so slow, so
> incremental. Have a look at Howard Zinn's "A People's History of
> the United States" if you haven't read it already. I think you'll
> find it interesting and useful.
> 
> Bob