I’m very often reminded of an observation made by Henry David Thoreau…
“All machines have their friction; and possibly this does enough to counter-balance the evil. At any rate, it is a great evil to make a stir about it. But when the friction comes to have its machine, and oppression and robbery are organized, I say, let us not have such a machine any longer. In other words, when a sixth of the population of a nation which has undertaken to be the refuge of liberty are slaves, and a whole country is unjustly overrun and conquered by a foreign army, and subjected to military law, I think that it is not too soon for honest men to rebel and revolutionize. What makes the duty more urgent is the fact that the country so overrun is not our own, but ours is the invading army.”
Henry David Thoreau – Civil Disobedience
Delivered in 1849, Civil Disobedience is long iconic. The form of slavery referred to here has obviously changed. If, however, poverty were to replace slavery in contemporary terms of consideration it should be noted that just under one sixth of the United States population is in poverty. The evidence is sure that the social agreement between the citizenry and the government is broken, and it has been for a long time. In other words, the vast majority of ordinary people are not represented by their government. The progressive descent of cultural/societal conditions has been proceeding through the generations. Seen clearly, the need for revolution feels urgent, and the requirement of non violence is imperative (if any civility may be expected). Making matters more intense is the unholy belief that the societal structure machine is a government in name only. With adroit prescient accuracy Thoreau identifies the threat of progressive corruption. We’ve reached the point where it’s not the resistance (or friction) to a principled governing system that is interfering with government function for the common welfare; its the remnants of organized principled decency, and that part of the populace still awake, that’s slowing the inertia of dysfunction and malevolence organized against the citizenry.
The terms of civil revolution is worthy of serious consideration for sure. There is, however, a prime prerequisite… Awareness. Accurate awareness of our current state, and the ability to wake up to it is a necessity. It seems that by in large most people are wildly unaware of the current state of world affairs, and have a double jeopardy component of not caring. A real oblivious consent consumes demographic after demographic that are blitzed into states of mental mania and fatigue about issues which are rooted in prediction. The media bell of Pavlovian response is sounded, and collective confusion distraction is perpetuated. Systematically we’re led astray and pit versus our fellows while the string pullers operate with impunity. Stating this reality clearly, and then repeating it, seems of paramount importance. Counter balancing corruption confusion narration is an obligation. God bless all those who have abandoned trying to convince us that we are under attack, and rather simply refer to it as fact.