[Peace-discuss] Bob Blum says it all…

[Morton K. Brussel]

I couldn't be more in tune with William Blum, so I can't help myself  
from relaying his words.
For more, his thoughts on anti-semitism, and and few words about Bush  
and Burma (Myanmar), see

http://members.aol.com/bblum6/aer50.htm

This article may also help relieve cynicism.



The Anti-Empire Report

                                           October 1, 2007
                                          by William Blum


If not now, when? If not here, where? If not you, who?

I used to give thought to what historical time and place I would like  
to have lived in. Europe in the 1930s was usually my first choice. As  
the war clouds darkened, I'd be surrounded by intrigue, spies  
omnipresent, matters of life and death pressing down, the opportunity  
to be courageous and principled. I pictured myself helping desperate  
people escape to America. It was real Hollywood stuff; think  
"Casablanca". And when the Spanish Republic fell to Franco and his  
fascist forces, aided by the German and Italian fascists (while the  
United States and Britain stood aside, when not actually aiding the  
fascists), everything in my imaginary scenario would have heightened  
-- the fate of Europe hung in the balance. Then the Nazis marched  
into Austria, then Czechoslovakia, then Poland ... one could have  
devoted one's life to working against all this, trying to hold back  
the fascist tide; what could be more thrilling, more noble?

Miracle of miracles, miracle of time machines, I'm actually living in  
this imagined period, watching as the Bush fascists march into  
Afghanistan, bombing it into a "failed state"; then Iraq: death,  
destruction, and utterly ruined lives for 24 million human beings;  
threatening more of the same endless night of hell for the people of  
Iran; overthrowing Jean-Bertrand Aristide in Haiti; bombing helpless  
refugees in Somalia; relentless attempts to destabilize and punish  
Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Gaza, and other non-believers in  
the empire's god-given mission. Sadly, my most common reaction to  
this real-life scenario, daily in fact, is less heroic and more  
feeling scared or depressed; not for myself personally but for our  
one and only world. The news every day, which I consume in large  
portions, slashes away at my joie de vivre; it's not just the horror  
stories of American military power run amok abroad and the injustices  
of the ever-expanding police state at home, but all the lies and  
stupidity which drive me up the wall. I'm constantly changing  
stations, turning the TV or radio off, turning the newspaper page, to  
escape the words of the King of Lies and the King of Stupidity --  
those two twisted creatures who happen to occupy the same humanoid  
body -- and a hundred minions.

Nonetheless, I must tell you, comrades, that at the same time, our  
contemporary period also brings out in me a measure of what I  
imagined for my 1930s life. Our present world is in just as great  
peril, even more so when one considers the impending environmental  
catastrophe (which the King of Capitalism refuses to confront lest it  
harm the profits of those who lavish him with royal bribes). The Bush  
fascist tide must be stopped.

Usually when I'm asked "But what can we do?", my reply is something  
along the lines of: Inasmuch as I can not see violent revolution  
succeeding in the United States (something deep inside tells me that  
we couldn't quite match the government's firepower, not to mention  
their viciousness), I can offer no solution to stopping the imperial  
beast other than: Educate yourself and as many others as you can,  
increasing the number of those in the opposition until it reaches a  
critical mass, at which point ... I can't predict the form the  
explosion will take.

I'm afraid that this advice, whatever historical correctness it may  
embody, is not terribly inspiring. However, I've assembled four wise  
men to add their thoughts, hopefully raising the inspiration level.  
Let's call them the "patron saints of lost causes".

I.F. Stone: "The only kinds of fights worth fighting are those you  
are going to lose because somebody has to fight them and lose and  
lose and lose until someday, somebody who believes as you do wins. In  
order for somebody to win an important, major fight 100 years hence,  
a lot of other people have got to be willing -- for the sheer fun and  
joy of it -- to go right ahead and fight, knowing you're going to  
lose. You mustn't feel like a martyr. You've got to enjoy it."

Howard Zinn: "People think there must be some magical tactic, beyond  
the traditional ones -- protests, demonstrations, vigils, civil  
disobedience -- but there is no magical panacea, only persistence."

Noam Chomsky: "There are no magic answers, no miraculous methods to  
overcome the problems we face, just the familiar ones: honest search  
for understanding, education, organization, action that raises the  
cost of state violence for its perpetrators or that lays the basis  
for institutional change -- and the kind of commitment that will  
persist despite the temptations of disillusionment, despite many  
failures and only limited successes, inspired by the hope of a  
brighter future."

Sam Smith: "Those who think history has left us helpless should  
recall the abolitionist of 1830, the feminist of 1870, the labor  
organizer of 1890, and the gay or lesbian writer of 1910. They, like  
us, did not get to choose their time in history but they, like us,  
did get to choose what they did with it. Knowing what we know now  
about how these things turned out, but also knowing how long it took,  
would we have been abolitionists in 1830, or feminists in 1870, and  
so on?"

…


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