Our Revolution

[Skip_In_Boulder]

The largely peaceful revolution in Cairo and Americans’ celebration of it raises the question:

What would it take to mount a peaceful revolution in America against the Wall Street and corporate powerhouses that have turned the government against the best interests of our people?

In America, the corporation is king and the abuses of corporate power are the subject of our people’s greatest grievances.

The 2008 election was supposed to settle the score with Wall Street and the corporate elite that have ransomed, ransacked and run over the average American. The change never came, and it’s even less likely in 2012.

At Consumer Watchdog we build populist revolutions one spark at a time where the public has spoken but the rich and powerful won't listen. While our work cannot compare to the heroism of the Egyptian people, we are inspired by their example.

The revolution in Cairo showed the power of online platforms like Twitter and Facebook to authentically air outrage and connect change makers. In Washington, DC, we are fighting to protect your freedom online, which is being threatened in the name of greater profit, by some of the very corporate innovators that created these platforms.

http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/blog/our-revolution

[LiberalEsto]

1. Our revolution mayl need to take place on the internet

in the form of hacking, I suspect. Even though we supposedly have freedom of assembly in the U.S., I'm concerned that the National Guard and the military will be called in if we tried anything like what was done in Egypt. And we'll also face corporate hired thugs like the Pinkertons and XE (formerly Blackwater).

[Skip_In_Boulder]

3. That's certainly what the Gov of Wisconsin is threating

[KharmaTrain]

2. Also Shows How Inept Our Unions Have Become...

Americans did have an answer to the abuses of the corporate power...it was called labor unions. They were the ones who took to the streets and forced the hands of the corporates through massive work stoppages that forced them to treat employees as humans. Today there is no such support. Unions have been coward into just hanging on...if they haven't been busted out of the industry and rarely work together.

In unity there's strength but today we live in a very divided country. While we may share common values the priorities don't always jive and when that happens noses get out of joint.

If there was ever a time for a rejuvenated union movement, it's now. They're the ones who can bring the economy to a halt and force change...but when's the last time you can remember a strike that had such an effect? The gains the unions made weren't just given to them...they were fought for and it's high time to fight for them again.

[LiberalEsto]

4. A group of really good computer experts

could bring the U.S. to a standstill.

[KharmaTrain]

5. Science Fiction...

Sure...if you believe that terrorism is the answer...and that's what hacking is. I'm talking about real people power...similar to what we saw on display in Egypt. It's getting people off their asses and working together...out from the basements and into some real activism.

Cheers...

[LiberalEsto]

7. It can be the equivalent of a work stoppage

if IT people simply stop what they're doing. That hardly qualifies as terrorism.

I did plenty of "real people power" demonstrating back in the Vietnam Way era, and many many times since then. I don't think it accomplishes anything. When people tried to demonstrate against Resident Bush, they were cordoned off by tractor trailers and herded into areas where they were surrounded by law enforcement.

At the last demo we attended in DC a few years ago, the DC cops herded crowds of people into dead-end streets and kept them penned up for hours. That happened to us. People were genuinely afraid that the cops were going to close in on about 100 of us and start beating and arresting us, but the media got wind of it and came there and the cops eventually backed off after the police chief showed up. The cops and the military are the tools of the corporate powers-that-be, and they are not going to turn around and support "the people" like they did in Egypt. Please get real.

[Skip_In_Boulder]

10. You're right, we need to "Get Real" about that.

On Edit.

You're right in that when we are being forced into so called Free Speech" zones when we assemble to redress our grievances to the government, we need to "Get Real" about that.

When we are having our jobs being shipped out of the country and being forced out of our homes and onto the streets, we need to "Get Real" about that.

When we are being denied basic medical care and watching a culling process being implemented, we need to "Get Real" about that.

When the government is threating to destroy our public workers unions and cutting the military loose on us if we protest, we need to "Get Real" about that.

I spent over a year on the street being homeless in this economic collapse so I have already "Gotten Real" about what is happening to our country.

[KharmaTrain]

11. How About One Million People Walking Off Their Jobs...

Firstly...when someone intrudes into a computer system it is vandalism and terrorism. Just as much as I don't condone the government or anyone going into your machine or mine to mine data, I also don't shine on those who try to do that to a corporation no matter how evil it is. What will prevent them from grabbing personell records or credit card numbers and inflicting damage upon innocent people.

I'm referring to a massive work stoppage...where an entire industry is shut down. Not for a couple hours or days but for weeks or months on end. Not just from those working inside but on the outside as well...other unions joining in and bringing real long-term economic implications to a corporation. Shutting down a bunch of computers will not shut down the corporates...but people not showing up for work and buying being able to buy their products sure will.

In many ways you are right about the 60's. I was there...and yes, the many protests went ignored, but the movements that worked together also brought sexual equality and environmental issues into public awareness. This is people power that can and should be used. The corporate media can't ignore it and if the military is brought in it would energize the labor movement (look at the Homestead and Inland Steel strikes).

Bottom line is if Progressives and Liberals want a greater voice they have to work for it...and so do the unions. That means real organizing, cooperating and solidarity. If that's not real or can't be, we're screwed.

Cheers...

[sufrommich]

9. I'm sure "the people" would be thrilled with that.

:eyes:

[Bonhomme Richard]

6. Just as government workers were not quick to attack Mubarek because

their work depended on him so to are our workers dependent on the rulers. The difference is that our rulers are the corporations so it's the other companies that are the culprit not the company that provides their paycheck. The problem is that just as there are a wealthy few that call the shots on Wall Street so to are there a wealthy few that call the shots from the Corporate side. At the end of the day the government workers in Egypt and the corporate workers here are looking out for their own without seeing the big picture.

[blindpig]

8. The Egyptian Revolution has barely begun.

What we have seen is just scene one, act one. Sueliman is as big a shit as Mubarak is and there's a bunch more behind him. Then there's the bourgiose, the hustlers, fixers and opportunists.

We face the same forces though not in the same mix, not so much 'strong men' as strong capitalists and their various lackeys.

Don't put to much trust in the 'technical fix', this can always be trumped, and though it was certainly useful it was the people who made this happen, their willingness to stay in the street for 2 weeks, and not so much the 'social media'. The tail does not wag the dog.