(Cross posted at My Left Wing.)
So my new friend Lorraine gets back to her home in the beautiful Finger Lakes region of New York State fresh from her My Left Wing fun in NYC (We had a small meetup Sunday after the peace march.) and what does she see? (From Tuesday’s My Left Wing Open Thread. 5/2/06)
Yesterday, I got home from work and grabbed stuff before heading off to Saoirse’s softball game over in Ithaca. I had to drop something off at the Groton post office. Groton is a town of maybe 1000 people–fewer than one percent of whom are anything other than some mongrel mix of Anglo-Saxon.
Outside the post office, standing on the corner of Rtes 38 and 222, were four people. Three teens and an adult. Three young men, and one blonde teenaged woman. They were holding signs and American flags. The signs said, “Honk if you’re legal.”
I live in a small, small town in the middle of fucking nowhere. A few dairy farms. A few corn farms. A few retail businesses. No industry. NO industry.
I was at the stop sign, waiting to turn on to Rte 38. I couldn’t stop myself. I wanted to get out of the car, discuss with them what on earth would motivate them to stand there with their little hate-filled signs, waving that goddamned American flag like a weapon. WHY?
She gets the Finger Lakes Finger. One of any NUMBER of fingers that can be experienced all over this great land of ours.
Among the many replies engendered by this post was one from slick riddles.
When I studied Russian years ago I discovered that, because there was such a large rural population the language had loads of words to describe backward rural people and backward rural areas. I think I need to look some up.
Which got me to thinking. (Doesn’t take much, these days…we are in big, BIG trouble, and I think about how to get out of it incessantly.)
Read on. My reply got kinda…deep.
Slick…
Appalachia starts about 1 1/2 hours’ drive in any direction from every large and small city in America.
Bet on it.
And understand it.
They say “Nature, red in tooth and claw?”
Well…America, red in tooth, claw and ballot box.
Nothing on earth is going to change this. Not overnight, for SURE.
There are those who believe that without at least SOME percentage of this level of human being a nation is doomed.
Could be…
But whatever the truth of the matter may be, when these people RULE…you’ve got trouble, right here in River City, U.S.A. And both political parties are now making the same error. Trying to cater TO them rather than oppose them. They are NOT the majority in this country. Not anymore they’re not. They just vote a lot.
They are short-termers. Of limited intelligence and attributes. Most of the good ones done left the farm generations ago. The Grapes of Wrath now speak Spanish. Las Uvas de la Cólera. Los <u>Ojos</u> de la Cólera. These people who so outraged Lorraine can make it to the ballot box and do their Fox News-powered clomp clomp clomp for BushCo, but do anything real? Like good work? Like show up for a march as did the REAL soon-to-be-majority on Monday? Not on your LIFE. Beered out in front of the TV set. Bet on it. They don’t even have the sense not to take souvenir snapshots of themselves torturing them evil ragheads.
So…just fuggedaboud ’em. Help those who can be helped if you are in the position to do so…my mother spent 40 years pulling them out of the dirt, one emotionally disturbed semi-rural Down East 2nd grader at a time…and organize a party that will literally dominate them.
Not be dominated BY them.
They are the dregs of a once-full cup.
Fuggedaboud ’em.
Sorry to be so hard, but there it is.
Maybe…just maybe…if some sort of miracle were to occur and the left were to actually take over the reins of this country for a few decades we could reform the media and educational system to the point where this level of humanity might be benefited. But for now, about the only thing that can be done is to put the people who use them out of power.
By any means necessary.
For those with the eyes to see, the impact of the May 1st marches and boycott shows the way. The ONLY power the people in a consumer-driven society REALLY have is economic. Literally the poorest among us sent a message to the powers-that-be this Sunday. A message that I am sure scared those holders of power <u>much</u> more than did Stephen Colbert’s snark. They can non-event Colbert. They CANNOT cook the books enough to hide a real boycott. Imagine the power of the MIDDLE class if it could be harnessed. The economic power.
Imagine a day (July 4th would be ideal) where the vanguard of the middle class (Bet you didn’t think you would ever see THOSE two terms linked together, eh?)…us, the people on the left blogs (including dKos, God help us all), the people who DID show up to for the NYC peace march and others like them across the country….declared as The Independence Day Boycott. Think of THAT economic muscle!!!
A day where millions of people did NOT buy hot dogs and beer.
Did NOT sit on the grass and watch the fireworks.
Did NOT turn on their tubes and watch that DC farce on the mall.
Independence Day Marches!!!
Independence from Corporate America.
Independence from the NEW King George and his court of controllers.
A NEW Boston Tea Party.
Right across the country.
Think about what THAT would do.
Am I dreaming?
Probably.
But…maybe not.
All it takes is one match dropped into a pile of dry hay to start a damned good fire.
Anybody with me?
We have two months.
Anybody good at organizing around here? I have no experience in it at all. No chops. Nada.
Later…but not TOO much later…
AG
