Open Left

Why no people in the street (4.00 / 2)

Of course there's more than one answer to this, and people here have already mentioned some of them. But here are two that I believe don't receive nearly enough attention from armchair radicals wondering why nobody's out in the streets.

1. Lack of unions, job security, and a social safety net: People see successful general strikes in Europe and wonder why not here? Well, compared to the U.S., most places in Europe where we see those massive general strikes have excellent social safety nets. The workers there aren't risking losing health care for themselves and their families if they get fired. And if they do lose their jobs, they have far superior unemployment benefits. It's a level of security most U.S. workers can't even imagine. Having that kind of "quality of life" security makes a huge difference in peoples' ability and willingness to be politically engaged and active. I agree with Thom Hartmann when he says the War on the Middle Class was/is about keeping working people so insecure that they don't have the time or will to be politically active.

2. Fear: Even though it's rarely talked about openly, especially since 9/11 people are very, very afraid of our police and government, and rightly so. Hardly anyone wants to admit it let alone talk about it, but it's true. And the more we resist talking about it openly, the greater the fear factor becomes.

---

by: Oaktown Girl @ Sun Jul 05, 2009 at 23:35:07 PM CDT

[ Parent | ]

i'm terrified! (0.00 / 0)

when you have to think about what you think or what you say out loud on a space like facebook or on IM, then you can legitimately call that fear and political censorship.

However, I don't think it's since 9-11 - you can start with the Alien and Sedition acts in 1798 or earlier and go from there.  For people who don't fit in the (narrow) confines of acceptable political opinion in the U.S., they have to come to terms with perhaps having a certain level of fear but dealing with it emotionally.  So maybe what we need is more social support from each other :)

At least for those of us with anxiety disorders :)

---

by: dr anonymous @ Tue Jul 07, 2009 at 04:52:24 AM CDT

[ Parent | ]

"I don't think it's since 9-11" (0.00 / 0)

I agree. That's why I said especially since 9/11. I believe that date marks a definite demarkation in the amping up of intimidation and scare tactics in the modern era.

I also agree we need more social support from each other. A good first step would be an open acknowledgment of what everyone seems to not want to openly acknowledge: that we are very afraid of our govt. and our growing police state.

---

by: Oaktown Girl @ Tue Jul 07, 2009 at 13:27:31 PM CDT

[ Parent | ]