http://powerofnarrative.blogspot.com/2008/06/why-most-people-wont-fight-take-back.htmlOver the last couple of years, I have repeatedly asked myself: Why? Why won't most people fight? The answer is not readily apparent, not to me at any rate. I won't recite yet again all the horrifying consequences of an attack on Iran. I've been through that many times, and you almost certainly can recite them along with me. (See "Morality, Humanity and Civilization: 'Nothing remains...but memories'" if those consequences have momentarily escaped you.) The consequences will rapidly spread throughout the Middle East, and they will probably quickly spill over into other parts of the world (into Asia, almost certainly). They will also be felt here at home -- by you, and by everyone you know. They will affect your life and the lives of all those you love and care about. It's your life, and an attack on Iran could change it forever, in ways we can imagine, which are bad enough, and in ways we probably haven't even thought of, which might be terrible beyond description.
It's your life. Don't you care? Apparently, many of you don't.
As I have discussed, one of the reasons most people won't fight is that they are not willing to take the necessary risks. I should say: they are not willing to take what they believe the risks to be. In fact, raising funds for newspaper and television ads, writing and placing the ads, organizing and taking part in mass demonstrations and the like would hardly appear to be courting any significant kind of personal danger. Almost every political blogger today (even conservative bloggers) heralds the immense courage and bravery of the civil rights activists in the 1950s and 1960s, as we all should. For God's sake: a great many of those people went to jail, often a number of times. A not insignificant number of people got killed. Today, when most Americans are unable to distinguish between what's on the teevee and what transpires in our, you know, actual lives -- in a culture where what's on the teevee often seems to be more real than the life that you spend mindlessly slumped in front of it, or robotically reading your favorite blogs, which confirm everything you already believe and challenge you on absolutely nothing -- to get people off their lazy asses seems to be a test for the ages.
For many people -- certainly for most of the leading liberal and progressive bloggers -- the danger is of a very different kind. These people dare not challenge the shared "wisdom" of their political family of bloggers. They dare not say: "We aren't doing enough. We are failing in the most critical ways. If we actually give a damn about what we say we care about, we must do more, much more." Why, that might sound like criticism of The Mighty Atrios, or The Dark God Kos, or The Incomparable Digby. Those precious links might dry up. Why, a blogger could lose access -- not only to The Beatific Beltway Dems, but to the leading bloggers! 'Tis truly a fearsome fate that lies in that direction. Surely, we must all be content with electing Democrats. More and better ones, if only we can; in a pinch, any Democrats will do. In the meantime, let's read and write some more piercingly non-original blog posts. In how many different ways and how many times can we say that Matthews, Broder, Klein, et al. are wankers? An infinite number, clearly. Now there's some heavy duty political action for you, baby!
Such are the limits of today's political warriors. And the progressives dare to mock the conservative internet fighters. Jesus Fucking Christ. Honest to God, people. Words fail. I mean, words fail, sweetie, honey, babykins.
http://www.chris-floyd.com/
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