[Peace-discuss] How to think about dealing with the government

[n.dahlheim at mchsi.com]

I will return to 911 later because of th issue of time...  But, I cannot help but disagree with your 
assessment of how to approach the federal government.  I do not advocate voting or participating 
directly in the political process since the framing of the political issues as a "War on Terorrism" is itself 
wrong.  The "War on Terrorism" paradigm is justification for accpeting te reduction of our civil liberties 
and our ability to seek redress for damage the government inflicts upon us as citizens.  Considering the 
absolute corporate dominance (with very few exceptions of significance) of the Congress, I do not see 
how lobbying them with arguments appealing to the Constitution, the common good, or traditional 
progressivism will do any good.  The politicians in Washington quickly become inebriated with power 
and the constituents do not matter in their decision-making calculus.  People in Congress only think of 
the constituents as the serf class to whom they should throw bones and people to whom they should 
direct their public relations efforts.  I agree that we cannot ignore them, after all peaceful citizens at 
Wounded Knee, MOVE, Waco, the Seattle WTO protests, and other places witnessed and experienced the 
full wrath of the Leviathan in recent years.  But, pretending that we can influence them to make a 
difference in protecting the Constitution and building a society more in line with progressive ideals is 
foolhardy and devoting that energy into the local community is a far more efficacious choice.  The civil 
rights movements of the 1960s did not have success because of Congress, rather Congress reacted to a 
groundswell of public support for civil rights to disadvantaged groups by passing the most minimal of 
laws promoting equality.  The alternatives must come from the concerted public activities of the 
citizenry informing each other and acting in concert.