[Peace-discuss] Zinn, Election Madness

[Laurie at advancenet.net]

Mort, I must have missed a post with the list being down;  I do not have the
slightest idea what this was posted in reference to - if it is indeed in
reference to a previous post.

 

 I have not read the full article; but I do agree with Zinn.  I am not as
optimistic as he seems to be in expecting either a rebellion from below or
that any such rebellion will have any significant substantive effect on the
positions and policies of either political party or any of the members of
the establishment in the country no matter what their political affiliation.

 

From: peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net
[mailto:peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net] On Behalf Of Morton K.
Brussel
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2008 10:12 AM
To: Peace-discuss
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Zinn, Election Madness

 

Zinn reiterates that that is needed for change is activism from below.

 

.Today, we can be sure that the Democratic Party, unless it faces a popular
upsurge, will not move off center. The two leading Presidential candidates
have made it clear that if elected, they will not bring an immediate end to
the Iraq War, or institute a system of free health care for all.

 

They offer no radical change from the status quo.

 

They do not propose what the present desperation of people cries out for: a
government guarantee of jobs to everyone who needs one, a minimum income for
every household, housing relief to everyone who faces eviction or
foreclosure.

 

They do not suggest the deep cuts in the military budget or the radical
changes in the tax system that would free billions, even trillions, for
social programs to transform the way we live.

 

None of this should surprise us. The Democratic Party has broken with its
historic conservatism, its pandering to the rich, its predilection for war,
only when it has encountered rebellion from below, as in the Thirties and
the Sixties. We should not expect that a victory at the ballot box in
November will even begin to budge the nation from its twin fundamental
illnesses: capitalist greed and militarism.

 

So we need to free ourselves from the election madness engulfing the entire
society, including the left.

 

Yes, two minutes [.the time it takes to complete your ballot]. Before that,
and after that, we should be taking direct action against the obstacles to
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness..

 

The full article, from The Progressive magazine,  is at 

http://www.progressive.org/mag_zinn0308

 

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