From: pharvey@mipos3.intel.com (Paul Harvey)
Newsgroups: alt.pagan
Subject: Re: Overthrow "THE MAN" symbolically, was (Who cares)
Date: 27 Jul 92 19:39:55 GMT

In article <712232284.F00004@therose.pdx.com> 
Frank.Perricone@f814.n355.z1.therose.pdx.com (Frank Perricone) writes:
>Why do people have to find someone to blame?  You never said "You did this to
>me, to us", but some people seem to insist on hearing this.  What could it be
>other than INSECURITY?

I think it has to do with the fact that in this case the truth turns out to be
a very hard pill to swallow. Why don't we teach what really happened in our
schools? Why don't we teach about how the Africans came to the new world, about
what happened to the natives, about Spanish and French influence? I think I
know why. The main purpose of history is to justify the current status quo and
to make the people feel good about the glorious past. How can you do that and
still teach the truth, what really happened? How can you teach the truth and
not make certain people look bad? History is bad news and the mainstream doesn't
want to hear bad news. The ghetto is bad news and the mainstream doesn't want
to see bad news. Think only positive and good news and maybe the bad news
will go away, maybe the people will forget, maybe the propaganda will work.
Chase the blues away, keep your mind and hands off reality.

>Now let's stop (pardon the phrase) looking for a witch to burn, and start 
>working on fixing the problems!

I still think you have to come to terms with the past, not for the purpose of
placing blame or ordering different cultures. The purpose of the past is to
learn how not to do things again. We are not good at this though. The most
obvious example of a big mistake would have to be just about any war, let's
take Vietnam for example. Did we learn how not to do Vietnam again? Or did we
apply the leasons we learned in Vietnam against Iraq? Did we value the
contribution of the press in Vietnam, or did we learn how to manipulate the
press for purposes of propaganda?

>OK, that being established, what's a person to do?  Here are some ideas, but
>they're all pretty lame:

I don't think they're all that lame.

>* Fix myself.  Well, I don't think I'm prejudiced.  Sometimes I find myself
>guilty of assuming differences between men and women that aren't really there
>except that our society PUTS them there, but if I feel myself leaning at all,
>it's to think women have the better half.  But how am I SUBCONSCIOUSLY
>furthering oppressive behavior and not even knowing it?  How can I ever know all
>this stuff?

I think the key is little steps, lots of litle steps. Make small changes
because you are more likely to keep small changes. Big changes are probably
just temporary. What's important is progress. Listen more. Try to see how
others see. Encourage women to speak their minds and value them for that even
if you do not agree with their opinions. Think about how your ethnicity and
sex effects conversations and other people. Think less about winning arguements
and preaching and more about learning something from what is said. Try to
see how the war mentality pervades our existance and try your best to undue
it. Subvert where you can, but don't preach, don't alienate, don't try to
convert those already converted, don't try to convert. Be an example. Make it
your life's purpose to discover by what rules you run your life, by what
myths do you select your path. Where did I come from, who am I and where am
I going?

>* Political activity.  What am I going to do, vote for Clinton because Bush is
>even more of a jerk?  Or am I going to march on the steps of the Capitol here in
>Juneau and demand Uncle Wally (our governor) do something about it?  The
>patterns of sex discrimination are far too deep for political solutions, I
>think, and just how much effort am I supposed to put in, in an attempt to
>struggle against interminable odds, on a system that won't change, doesn't want
>to change, isn't ready to change?  Should I vote, demonstrate, write to my
>Congressbeing, run for office, shoot the governor?

I shot the sheriff, but I did not shoot the deputy. Ah, in all seriousness, I'm
not a big fan of the political system. I think it's shot, the two party system
is a joke and it's time for another constitutional convention. However, in the
meantime, writing and faxing does in fact work, voting out incumbents can't
make things worse and you could vote Libertarian.

>* Make a dent.  That is, try to convince other people to (1) fix themselves, (2)
>be ready for political action when the time is ready, (3) try to make a dent
>themselves... in hopes they'll do it to someone else, and so on, like that
>shampoo commercial.  The problem: perhaps you can change people, but if so, *I*
>can't.  I can come along to a person ready to change and MAYBE help, but I can't
>instigate OR direct the change.  So do I find the choir so I can preach to it? 
>Or find a few walls to bash my head into?

Make a dent in yourself, be an example. Don't bother with preaching or
conversion, the people are getting tired of that same old same old. Do you
know the saying, "Follow me and be free"? Can't work, can it?

>* Radical action.  Train in martial arts and start escorting women home.  Create
>a commune.  Shoot a rapist.  Arrange Hitchcock-style mind-game situations to
>forcibly teach men the "truth."  Buy airtime with subliminal advertisting saying
>"Respect all your neighbors without regard to race, creed, color, sex, shoe
>size, religion, favorite flavor of ice cream, etc."  Et. al.  What's worth the
>effort and what isn't?  Ideas?

Hmm, I don't know about radical. Maybe someone has to do this. Just don't
lose yourself. It is good to have a cause, but remember that people do get
burned for their causes, even today. Remember the monks from the Vietnam war
who would light themselves with gasoline? That's a path to enlightenment, if
one is prepared. A tough path though, don't you think?

>* Be ready for the chance.  Doesn't seem very useful and is no substitute for
>DOING something NOW.

I think being ready is good. And maybe getting prepared, getting one's own
house in order?

>In short: I'm ready, how can I help?

That's probably the question to ask, but not so easy to answer. And you will
have to grade the anwers you recieve for validity for yourself. You will find
lots of answers, some good and some bad. You will have to judge. As for me, I
say the same, "I'm ready, how can I help?". I'm ready to ride the freedom
train, it is just a matter of gaining the skills required.

Newsgroups: alt.pagan