Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/02/16
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]To say noting of bringing an end to the Vietnam War... - -----Original Message----- From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us [mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us] On Behalf Of Matthew Powell Sent: Saturday, February 15, 2003 5:47 PM To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us Subject: Re: [Leica] Covering Anti-War protest in Philly On Saturday, February 15, 2003, at 01:43 PM, Marc James Small wrote: > And, of course, the proper way to change US policy is to contact your > Congresspeople and pressure them. If you don't like their policies, > well, there will be another election in 21 months. Read the > Constitution, BD: it's all there, including the right of the people to > peaceably assemble and > so forth. But the preferred method historically of changing US policy > is > through political campaigns and not through protests, which have > generally > proven quite ineffective in accomplishing anything at all. Not quite. Civil rights, women's rights, women's suffrage, the labor movement - each of these succeeded by working outside of the government, and quite often in direct opposition to the government. They forced the state to change, it didn't change itself. The truth is that there has never been a real progressive movement (in the US) that was successful by solely or even mostly working within the system. " It's a bad move for progressive organizations to tie themselves to the electoral system because the electoral system is a great grave into which we are invited to get lost. For progressive movements, the future does not lie with electoral politics. It lies in street warfare -- protest movements and demonstrations, civil disobedience, strikes and boycotts -- using all of the power consumers and workers have in direct action against the government and corporations" - Howard Zinn (perhaps one of those "screaming, ugly" people you so cherish as citizens). > Marc - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html