Dave Berman . . .

1 comments:
Dave Berman said...

Hey Joe, thanks for the critique. I haven't been writing much lately, but I think like most people, when I find out someone's talking about me I like to know what's being said. And I appreciate your thoughtful comments so I'd like to respond in kind here.

You cite textbook definitions of revolution, but do not quote the definition of revolution that I have used, borrowing from Rebecca Solnit's "Hope In the Dark": revolution is a change in the relationship of power between the people and the government.

I have given many examples of how this can occur peacefully, though the one I focus on most often is establishing the legitimacy of elections. It would be a revolutionary shift in the relationship between citizens and government if we go from having no say in choosing leaders, as is the case now with phony unverifiable "elections," to transparent and verifiable actual elections where citizens count the votes in public with the media documenting the counting process to establish the credibility of the results reported. Currently, media report election results as fact, even though the unverifiable results are inherently uncertain.

I have also advocated rejecting the results of the current faux "elections," hoping to see citizens refusing to consent to the transfer of power to candidates claiming victory when no such proof of entitlement to power exists. In saying this I want to make clear that, as you suggest, we should treat an illegitimate government as such. It is not We The People who have decimated the rule of law, though we have mostly passively accepted the consequences of this manifest injustice perpetrated upon the world by "those currently claiming to be the legitimate U.S. government."

Given that my "Blueprint" was written more than two and a half years ago, I have grown more pessimistic that we will see the reclamation of the voting process as the path to peaceful revolution. Alternatives toward this same end will be elusive until we see what we accept as our local government stand with the citizens against the higher levels of so-called government. Without support for our cause at the local level, we are left with no representation whatsoever. Before we can deal with revolution, peaceful or otherwise, our society is going to have to come to terms with being subjugated subjects of a fascist empire rather than free people.

Finally, you say it should be "clearly understood that any interaction with the police is inherently violent." What a sad statement of our current condition as a society. Your assertion may be true more often than not, but it is not universally true. I'm not one to be defending the job done by our local police of late, but I would encourage you to be more precise by avoiding such generalizations.

Welcome to the blogosphere. Peace.

Dave