The Moral Imperative to Change "The System"
Co-Editor, The Crisis Papers
Below are four suggestions for what ordinary citizens can do in our current and growing economic/political /social
crisis. But first let's place what follows in some historical context.
Back in the day -- for me the decade-and-a-half known as "The Sixties" -- we dissenters railed against the corrupt
"System." It seemed clear to all of us in "The Movement" that all the institutions that affected our lives --
government, academia, business, religion, the political parties, mass media, et al. -- were rotten to the core,
concerned mainly with money and power and not with the consequences of their policies and behaviors on ordinary people.
I know it seems crazy today, but we Movement-activist types really did believe back then that we were riding the wave of
history that would sweep away all the old rotten foundations and institutions of the decadent System all across the
globe. We radicals (going to "the root") felt we were laying the new foundations, creating the new counter-cultural
institutions that would lead to more peaceful, productive, happy societies.
Our job as young "revolutionaries," we believed, was to kick out the traces propping up the System's dry-rotted pillars
and posts, so we could start the immediate reconstruction processes.
In our naïveté, it hardly registered to many of us that maybe the System wasn't as weak as we supposed and might not
appreciate our efforts to get rid of those power-supports. We didn't fully anticipate that the ruling forces were likely
to strike back, successfully, with all the fearful, angry instruments at their command in order to hold onto their
preferred positions in the economic/social pecking order; these instruments included police brutality and even murder of
selected radical leaders, e.g. African-American hero Fred Hampton in Chicago.
THE GAINS OF "THE SIXTIES"
Even given the massive conservative backlash that did come and even aware of the self-righteous mistakes we had made,
many of us still feel good about the limited but very real successes in our amateurish attempt at cultural/political
revolution: helping stop the immoral war in Vietnam, provoking investigations into widespread governmental and corporate
and police corruption and brutality, creating alternative institutions including media sources for news and opinion,
providing avenues for minorities and women to create their own power movements, and helping bring down the despised
criminal in the White House, Richard Nixon.
Looking back on the scene now, it seems clear that the longest-lasting influence of the multi-splintered "Movement" was
the tone of idealism and outrage and spontaneity and fun that influenced an entire generation of young people, and
beyond.
So, other than nostalgia, why am I writing about an era that flourished decades ago? I think you know the answer: The
System today in many ways is similarly corrupt and decadent and in need of a major shakeup. And, as in "The Sixties,"
those who rule the System are not going to simply abandon their perqs and power; it is up to us ordinary citizens to
point out the corruption and malfeasance and to do something transformational with that power.
CHANGE WINDOW IS OPEN NOW
With the massive defeat of the conservative Republicans in the November election and the installation into the White
House of a liberal-leaning centrist President, there finally might be a window of opportunity when popular political
pressure could actually make a difference. We don't know how long this window will be open to fresh air, so it's
important that we get our act together ASAP and move with solidarity to effect as much vital social change as we can.
Sometimes, we might be able to do this in concert with President Obama and the Democratic majority in Congress, but
because the hyper-cautious (and at times complicit) Democrats are often part of the problem, we may have to raise a
mighty voice to get our point of view across in a Washington that is all too prone to wishy-washy compromise, a helleva
lot of "spin," and lack of genuine progress for ordinary middle-class and poor citizens.
You may question my assumption that the System now is reminiscent of the corrupt System that was facing me and my
contemporaries back in "The Sixties." Yes, our society has made great progress in some areas. But in others, it has
regressed mightily. So, before moving on to plans for implementation, let's take a look at a few of the various
parallels from the two eras:
1. MISADVENTURING ABROAD
The U.S., no matter whether under Democrats or Republicans, is still prone to imperialist adventurism abroad. The
Democrats tend to run a "soft imperialism" program, making sure the U.S. gets its way through firm diplomacy and
economics, with threats of something harsher always looming in the background. The Republicans, especially during the
CheneyBush reign of error, tended deliberately and openly to rush to the use of violence, warfare, torture and threats
as a club: Accept our way or prepare for some good old-fashioned shock
The CheneyBush method is derived out of a belief that America is exceptionally beloved by God and charged to bring
"democracy" and "free markets" to the populations of the world, whether they want it or not. The unexpected result of
this mode of operation has been to demonstrate that hi-tech superpowers are limited in effectively exercising their
strength against nationalistic, religiously-influenced, guerrilla-style opposition. Ignoring this fact and
staying-the-course of various invasions and occupations has brought the U.S. into worldwide disrepute, devoid of moral
authority (especially given its widespread use of torture), and stretching our military way too thin across the globe.
Obama is much more willing to use diplomacy and to build up solid alliances, but he has indicated that he, too, has
adopted much of the neo-conservative militarist mindset about American exceptionalism and our supposed responsibility to
police the planet.
In short, not all that much has changed from the Vietnam War-era when the U.S. couldn't figure out how or whether to
disengage from trying to run other nations' business, and when it conducted an immoral war that wound up killing
millions abroad and fomenting a political/generational civil war at home over the wisdom and costs of that misadventure.
Our illegal, immoral attack on and occupation of Iraq is similarly the crucible for a generation opposed to this
unnecessary, self-defeating war, a war despised by two-thirds of the American people. Despite Obama's announced
16-months-and-out plan, it's not clear how, or when, he will remove the majority of the troops, and whether, even if
they go, many of those American troops will simply move one border over to the quagmire in Afghanistan and/or re-deploy
to other bases in the Greater Middle East. In fact, Obama has hinted that events on the ground in Iraq might prolong the
occupation in Iraq.
2. A RESTRICTED, CORRUPT MASS-MEDIA
The corporate mass-media in newspapers, TV networks and cable, radio talk shows, etc. are even more prone these days to
serve as little more than stenographers for governmental propaganda and spin; their tendency is to support conservative
values and politicians in their editorials and choices of stories to run and highlight. (Olbermann and Maddow are
exceptions to the mass-media rule.)
There are few mainstream investigative reporters and editors willing to take on the powers-that-be. Example: the New
York Times waited until after the 2004 elections to expose the Bush Administration's illegal domestic-spying operation,
a story they had ready to go for a full year before that. Those few mainstream reporters who do color outside the
acceptable lines run the risk of being fired or disciplined or being forced to resign. Most obvious examples: Dan Rather
forced out at "60 Minutes" for pushing a story about Dubya's questionable service at the Texas Air National Guard during
the Vietnam War, or war correspondent Chris Hedges having to leave the New York Times after speaking publicly about the
truth of U.S. policy abroad.
If citizens are to exercise proper oversight of their government, they need accurate information. These days, even more
than in "The Sixties," citizens have to consciously search out alternative sources beyond the corporate mass-media to
get a clearer fix on what's really going on: For reliable information, the curious must look to the foreign media, to
the handful of trustworthy investigative journalists in the mainstream U.S. press, to the satirists and comedians, and,
most importantly, to unencumbered political analysis on the internet.
3. DEMS' TIMIDITY & COMPLICITY
There are some definite exceptions, but by and large politicians in Washington, as always, seem devoted to watching out
for their own interests and covering each others' backs. Maybe that's why they seem tone-deaf to what's really agitating
their constituents outside the D.C. Beltway.
Lobbyists hired by the powerful interests whose money rules in the nation's capital have an inordinate influence on
legislation, much more than they had in the Vietnam era. One shouldn't expect this system to change much in the
foreseeable future. Politicians feel the need to suck on the lobbyists' teat because they need the money for their
permanent election cycles. Public financing of those political campaigns, which might reduce the influence of
special-interest money, appears to be dead in the water.
One would hope that now that the Democrats have increased their majorities in the House and Senate that they would be in
the forefront of major reform. But the Democrats haven't demonstrated much interest in any drastic alterations of how
campaigns are financed, in fixing our compromised and corrupted voting system, in punishing criminal acts and war crimes
of high officials by ordering impeachment hearings, in cutting off financing for the occupation of Iraq, in restoring
Constitutional protections decimated during the past eight years of Republican rule in the White House, etc. etc.
Certainly the Congressional Democrats, and President Obama, will serve average Americans better than when CheneyBush
ruled the Executive Branch. But the Democratic leaders, Pelosi and Reid, on key issues tend to be overly-cautious
accommodationists rather than true fighters for significant change.
I'm prepared to be delighted by being proven wrong, but it appears that the "change" promised by Obama and the Democrats
may be measured in small, incremental doses in the next four years, thus protecting the ongoing System, when what is
required is a massive overhaul and reform.
Just look at the humongous bailout of the financial system by the federal government. We're heading fast toward a major
'30s-like Great Depression, with a half-million job-holders losing their positions each month, and an economy that could
well grind to a disastrous near-halt as more businesses go belly-up. Billions of dollars are passed out here and there
to financial institutions to stabilize the capitalist System, but there is no effective oversight in place to verify
where all that largesse is going. We know that precious little of it is filtering down to ordinary American homeowners
trying to pay their mortgages, workers laid off, small-business owners forced into bankruptcy, etc.
4. ACCOUNTABILITY "OFF THE TABLE"
And, most galling of all for hard-pressed American citizens watching their stock portfolios and IRAs and pensions shrink
daily, there is rarely any accountability for those who got us into the various disasters:
Congress' obscene deregulation of the financial institutions with no oversight provided. The war-of-choice and
occupation in Iraq. The authorization and sanctioning of torture as official United States policy by the highest
officials at the White House and Pentagon. The turning of our beloved Constitution into little more than a "quaint"
scrap of paper. The saddling of the middle-class and poor (and their children and grandchildren) with massive debt by
financially bailing-out Wall Street but giving ordinary citizens, including auto workers and other blue-collar working
stiffs, little more than crumbs of social services and tax relief in return.
It appears to be the same ol' same 'ol: rescue the rich and powerful -- those "too big to fail," those "too important to
fail." One would think that the Democrats, the party of the middle-class, would use their rare opportunity to alter the
priorities, to enact major reform, to break from the corrupt politics of the past, to bring criminal charges against the
malefactors to keep future officeholders and CEOs from feeling they can get away with anything.
But there is no real movement for impeachment, for war-crimes prosecutions, for CEO demotions or firings, etc. Instead,
those who created the messes are left in place or are given enormous "golden parachutes," pardons are granted, laws are
changed to cover the asses of the miscreants in charge. The lesson to the unscrupulous movers-and-shakers seems to be:
Just keep doing what's always been done; you won't suffer any major consequences, and the taxpayers will meekly bear the
burden of the massive bailouts of your companies.
WAITING FOR OBAMA
It's possible that I'm being much too hasty here. Obama isn't even sworn in yet. In spite of his political career as a
centrist pragmatist with generally liberal leanings, maybe circumstances will force him in another, more progressive
direction. (Good sign: Obama is forcefully supporting the workers occupying their Chicago factory because their pensions
and benefits disappeared when the owners suddenly closed the plant. Obama wants to find a way to make them whole.)
Maybe, like FDR, Obama will seize the day in this crisis-filled time to lead the Democrats, and the country as a whole,
in truly significant, sweeping social/political/economic change. But I'm not holding my breath waiting for it to happen.
We need a social/political revolution in this country -- and we progressives must work ceaselessly to make this happen
-- but we may have to get used to incremental change, at least in the first few years of the new administration. At the
very least, after eight years of regressive, disastrous rule, Obama's America will be moving in the correct direction.
*************
Copyright 2008, by Bernard Weiner
Bernard Weiner, Ph.D. in government & international relations, has taught at universities in California and Washington, worked as a writer/editor with the
San Francisco Chronicle for two decades, and currently serves as co-editor of The Crisis Papers (www.crisispapers.org). To comment: crisispapers@hotmail.com .