Friday, June 02, 2006
The Alternative
Representing those on the bitter end of the North American Free Trade Agreement, the organizers of the Other Campaign in Mexico have shown what can be done when a united people decide to resist rather than retreat from fundamental conflict with those who insist on the privilege of controlling their lives. Now apparently on the verge of widespread action, the community organizing there is progressing to regional levels, spurred on by the painstaking two decades of preparation through unmediated dialogue, discussion, and self-constructed education.
As fellow North Americans, we in the US are considerably far behind both Mexicans and Canadians in our humanitarian educational development, but we at least have the technological capacity and financial ability to move quickly as greater numbers see through the facade of our social system. After watching Gore, Kerry, and the Democratic Party take a dive on democracy, some are even suggesting our Constitution is little more than the framework of a rigged game to keep power concentrated in the hands of a few wealthy people.
In Mexico, the Zapatistas just today recommended that the energized people get together to look at their collective problems and demands in order to analyze, discuss, and reach agreements on their coordinations, actions, and support. Meanwhile, here in the US, the discussions through venues like weblogs and conferences are just beginning to broach the systemic problems with representative democracy.
Perhaps a starting point is to consider a recent remark by Delegate Zero:
"The alternative isn't to vote or not vote; the alternative is to organize or not. This is to say that we are not within the electoral logic, but instead the construction of a movement that truly opposes the capitalist system."
As fellow North Americans, we in the US are considerably far behind both Mexicans and Canadians in our humanitarian educational development, but we at least have the technological capacity and financial ability to move quickly as greater numbers see through the facade of our social system. After watching Gore, Kerry, and the Democratic Party take a dive on democracy, some are even suggesting our Constitution is little more than the framework of a rigged game to keep power concentrated in the hands of a few wealthy people.
In Mexico, the Zapatistas just today recommended that the energized people get together to look at their collective problems and demands in order to analyze, discuss, and reach agreements on their coordinations, actions, and support. Meanwhile, here in the US, the discussions through venues like weblogs and conferences are just beginning to broach the systemic problems with representative democracy.
Perhaps a starting point is to consider a recent remark by Delegate Zero:
"The alternative isn't to vote or not vote; the alternative is to organize or not. This is to say that we are not within the electoral logic, but instead the construction of a movement that truly opposes the capitalist system."
