"...men who want crops without plowing up the ground."

[apacherose]

I was struck by this quote today while reading A People's History of the U.S. by Howard Zinn.


"Let me give you a word of the philosophy of reforms. The whole history of human liberty shows that
all concessions yet made to her august claims have been born of struggle...If there is no struggle
there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want
crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean
without the awful roar of its many waters. The struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one;
or it may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand.
It never did and it never will..."

- Frederick Douglass, 1857


I think it speaks to much of the sentiment here at DU regarding Obama and the way he is running the country.
While he may be a progressive, Obama doesn't have the power that millions of angry citizens have.
He doesn't feel the effects of a weak economy on a daily basis the way that working people do.
His actions are governed by his vision for the country, not by necessity.
He is an elite member of society; we are not.
Don't forget that.

[Desertrose]

1. It is something we need to remember.....

We have the power that millions of angry citizens...now if we can just channel it somehow.

Great quote. :)

[ddeclue]

2. Obama has PLENTY of power - he's just failed to exercise it until recently.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

3. Politics, and politicians, are highly overrated as an agent of change.

They are essentially reactionary and act in their own interests. They only act to benefit the common people when the people demand it and they become fearful of losing whatever power they have accrued.

The Labor, Women's, Civil Rights, movements weren't initiated by politicians, and weren't fruitful until the politicians finally acted out of fear of the citizenry and the likely results of inaction.

Obama is, first and foremost, a politician trying to win a second term and playing the political game of attracting the most votes. "Change" is a handy slogan to that end but meaningless in practice in a corrupt system of money controlled "democracy".

[apacherose]

4. very true

"Obama is, first and foremost, a politician trying to win a second term and playing the political game of attracting the most votes. "Change" is a handy slogan to that end but meaningless in practice in a corrupt system of money controlled "democracy"."

This is so true but I wonder how much extra ambition he has that usual politicians do not? So many Americans routinely see the truth behind the political magic show, and then forget about it almost immediately

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. I'm not sure I agree. Millions of Americans have dropped out of the political process.

They have come to the realization that in our "democracy" where candidates are chosen because they have garnered the most money, that their votes/desires/aspirations are meaningless when the choice is between millionaire A, and millionaire B.

The "not as bad" rationalization works on other citizens who dutifully hold their noses and hope for the best..or, at least, "not as bad".

Many see the process as a similar choice to swallowing a tablespoon vs a teaspoon of arsenic.