Tuesday, February 01, 2011

Quote for the Day

"Why are Americans such wusses? Threaten the Greeks with job losses and benefit cuts and they tie up Athens; but take away Americans' jobs, 4o1K's, even their houses, and they pretty much roll over. Tell British students that their tuition is about to go up and they take to the streets; American students just amp up their doses of Prozac... . "During the Depression of 1892 to 1896, unemployed workers marched to Washington by the thousands in what was then the largest mass protest this country had seen. In 1932, even more jobless people - 25,000 - staged what was, at that time, the largest march on Washington, demanding public works jobs and a hike in the inheritance tax. From the 60's to the 80's, Americans marched again and again - peacefully, nonviolently and by the hundreds of thousands - for civil rights, women's rights, gay rights, economic justice and against wars." (Barbara Ehrenreich) . Having marched in the streets of Tempe and "liberated" one of the fountains at ASU (in the name of the Viet Cong) in my salad days, I have to ask the same question. We're being cowed by the gun-rights crazies, buggered by the banks, and raped by the racist Right. . Since when do we need a permit to demonstrate? Since when do the authorities tell us where we can march? . Take a lesson from the Egyptians. We have the right to protest, and if we unite in a cause, we will prevail. So get out there and demonstrate against something. Racism. Bank foreclosures. Wall Street greed. Lousy Phoenix sports teams. Power to the People!

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