Nothing in the New Year has made me quite as happy as the news from Wisconsin. For those of you unfamiliar with the situation, allow me to elucidate. The Republican Governor Scott Walker and his legislature have tried to pass a budget which would abolish the right of public employees to bargain collectively. The mob has taken to the streets over these new union busting regulations, and, to the relief of many, those Democrats left in Wisconsin responded. The Democrats in the State Senate walked out, leaving the chamber with one less than the required number of representatives, thus halting any progress on the budget. After the Governor called for there arrest, the Senators left the state. Win.
Now, on a more serious note - finally, people are starting to get smart to the eventual plan of the conservatives. Only a very small portion of the Republican party was ever actually concerned with a balanced budget. This is still, after all, the party that gave us the most expensive project of the newest century in the Iraq War, and the largest deficits the country has ever seen in peacetime under Reagan (who spent a whopping 28.7% of the National Income of the United States in the last years of his presidency). The goal of the Republican Party, and the conservatives that support them, has never been, and will never be, a balanced budget, nor 'small government'. The goal of the Republican Party, and all conservatives, as writ passed down from Taft and ever onwards, is a militantly pro-business policy, in economics, foreign affairs, and social issues.
So this most recent issue becomes much more clear, along with a host of other issues that the Republicans have pursued with religious zeal in the name of budget balancing. How we can balance the budget by letting the FBI continue to illegally tap wires, or by further alienating and discriminating against Gays, Lesbians, et. al., or by revoking the rights of employees to organize is beyond me, but the Republicans seem to have found a way to sell it to the nation. And the sad fact of the matter is, until Wisconsin, no one said a word.
With this most recent budget, Wisconsin Republicans have declared open class warfare. There are no ways in which we can couch this truth, or make it seem better than it is. Let the protests in Madison, then be just the beginning. To those who still fight in Madison, and throughout the nation, know that we are with you in solidarity, as you fight for the universal proletariat, and workers throughout the world. To those who wait in Illinois, avoiding the reach of Governor Walker's tyranny - know that you have our unyielding support, and undying gratitude. And to those throughout the world who fight in the name of equality, brotherhood, and freedom, know this - our spirits will always be with those who labor and love.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Blood in the Forum
A friend asked me a question today. "Can violence ever be good?" Can such a totally evil thing ever be used for something good and pure? My heart screams "NO!" My spirit rebels against any contemplation of the fact. Is violence ever good?
There were two brothers, oh so long ago. There names were Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus, and they had a goal. A master plan, that would liberate the common people from the oppression of the aristocracy. They each, in their turn, assumed the sacrosanct, the inviolate, office of the Tribune, protector of the Plebeians, the common people. Each of them had the same goal, in the long run. The redistribution of common land. This was not some radical scheme, as many would paint it. This was not even a step towards a new society. This was, in no manner at all, any change from past policy. All they were doing, was enforcing an old law. It was a law that not many people in the aristocracy, the senatorial class of Ancient Rome, lied at all, and it was a law that not many among the common people new about at all, any more. But it was a law nonetheless, and as Tribune, these brothers were among the most powerful people in Rome. As tribunes, they could veto any act or decree of the Consuls or the Senate, they could institute ordinances and prevent individuals from being brought to death. As such Tiberius and Gaius, in turn, tried to enforce this ancient law. They tried to ensure that public lands - lands technically owned by the government - would be available to the citizens of Rome and of Italy for a small charge. This, however, angered the Senators. Many of these fine citizens of the republic had a large stake in this public land. Indeed, many of them treated it as their own.
As you may have guessed by now, this conflict does not have a pleasant end for Tiberius and Gaius. Each brother met his bloody end in broad daylight, in the streets of Rome, torn apart by the supporters of the rich. The sacred office of Tribune, up until that point untouchable, became another simply disposable formality, and for the first time since the founding of the Roman Republic, politics and violence were joined in that most abhorrent of unions.
You can see why this event drew my attention. There will always be violence. There have always been those who will use force to achieve their end, whatever the cost. I would point out, though, that those who would use violence, such as the soldiers who broke the Pullman Strike, or the judge who murdered Sacco and Vanzetti, have generally been on the opposing side. It is too easy, for them, at least, to point to one bomb throwing radical, and damn the rest of the proverbial bunch of apples. It is their violence that upsets the world as it is, and it is their violence that prevents the world as it should be.
As it went with Tiberius and Gaius, so it has been throughout history. We are never free. Not until the last soul in prison will see the light of day again. We are never free, not until the last repressed man, woman, or child on this earth will join us on our search for a new tomorrow. We are never free.
And to all of those who would repress these freedoms, for all of the senators and governments who would kill Wikileaks and the Gracchi and all of the fallen martyrs of our cause where they stand, I say this: There is blood in the forum, and it is on your hands.
Do I condone violence? No. Do they? It would appear so.
/D
There were two brothers, oh so long ago. There names were Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus, and they had a goal. A master plan, that would liberate the common people from the oppression of the aristocracy. They each, in their turn, assumed the sacrosanct, the inviolate, office of the Tribune, protector of the Plebeians, the common people. Each of them had the same goal, in the long run. The redistribution of common land. This was not some radical scheme, as many would paint it. This was not even a step towards a new society. This was, in no manner at all, any change from past policy. All they were doing, was enforcing an old law. It was a law that not many people in the aristocracy, the senatorial class of Ancient Rome, lied at all, and it was a law that not many among the common people new about at all, any more. But it was a law nonetheless, and as Tribune, these brothers were among the most powerful people in Rome. As tribunes, they could veto any act or decree of the Consuls or the Senate, they could institute ordinances and prevent individuals from being brought to death. As such Tiberius and Gaius, in turn, tried to enforce this ancient law. They tried to ensure that public lands - lands technically owned by the government - would be available to the citizens of Rome and of Italy for a small charge. This, however, angered the Senators. Many of these fine citizens of the republic had a large stake in this public land. Indeed, many of them treated it as their own.
As you may have guessed by now, this conflict does not have a pleasant end for Tiberius and Gaius. Each brother met his bloody end in broad daylight, in the streets of Rome, torn apart by the supporters of the rich. The sacred office of Tribune, up until that point untouchable, became another simply disposable formality, and for the first time since the founding of the Roman Republic, politics and violence were joined in that most abhorrent of unions.
You can see why this event drew my attention. There will always be violence. There have always been those who will use force to achieve their end, whatever the cost. I would point out, though, that those who would use violence, such as the soldiers who broke the Pullman Strike, or the judge who murdered Sacco and Vanzetti, have generally been on the opposing side. It is too easy, for them, at least, to point to one bomb throwing radical, and damn the rest of the proverbial bunch of apples. It is their violence that upsets the world as it is, and it is their violence that prevents the world as it should be.
As it went with Tiberius and Gaius, so it has been throughout history. We are never free. Not until the last soul in prison will see the light of day again. We are never free, not until the last repressed man, woman, or child on this earth will join us on our search for a new tomorrow. We are never free.
And to all of those who would repress these freedoms, for all of the senators and governments who would kill Wikileaks and the Gracchi and all of the fallen martyrs of our cause where they stand, I say this: There is blood in the forum, and it is on your hands.
Do I condone violence? No. Do they? It would appear so.
/D
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Greetings
Hello.
This is a trial run. Mainly to see if I could possibly articulate my own ideas, as I so often think that I can. But also to try and gain some own insight into my own personal views and values. These things, given, I hope that some of you (just one?) will be content to sit and read my own personal thoughts on Life, Liberty, and the radical left.
To begin - this is a political endeavor, mixed with social commentary and economic analysis. But above all, this will be about politics and the world. As such, this blog will contain only my ideas. Nothing more, nothing less. My political views, as of now, are a personal mix and match of anarcho-syndicalism and old fashioned democratic socialism. If you disagree with my specific point of view on an issue, feel free to comment, or make a constructive or logical argument. I probably won't agree with you. So it goes.
That is all.
/D
This is a trial run. Mainly to see if I could possibly articulate my own ideas, as I so often think that I can. But also to try and gain some own insight into my own personal views and values. These things, given, I hope that some of you (just one?) will be content to sit and read my own personal thoughts on Life, Liberty, and the radical left.
To begin - this is a political endeavor, mixed with social commentary and economic analysis. But above all, this will be about politics and the world. As such, this blog will contain only my ideas. Nothing more, nothing less. My political views, as of now, are a personal mix and match of anarcho-syndicalism and old fashioned democratic socialism. If you disagree with my specific point of view on an issue, feel free to comment, or make a constructive or logical argument. I probably won't agree with you. So it goes.
That is all.
/D
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