by Mikal Hutto
Over the past three months I have received an enormous amount of emails from activists, various people and organizations claiming that everything we are doing and have done has been ineffective. I”ve received many emails that even claim protesting is only a “feel good” exercise in futility.
I wonder where this is coming from, and I wonder if the population, and activists actually thought we were going to turn this entire country around in a couple of years after decades of ignoring their government’s antics and crimes. If this is what activists thought, or think, they certainly aren’t realistic. Most of the time, the effects of dissent aren’t immediately apparent. Those in power would love for the world to think they are totally unaffected by the disapproval of the people. Does this make it so? History has proven many times it is years later when we find out important decisions were greatly influenced by the population’s dissent and disapproval, and was unbeknown to them at the time.
Did Americans and activists think the Fascists that have a stranglehold on our government would immediately react and let go? Do they think that a few thousand people in the streets and one election is going to change everything? It is apparent that America is a population that requires immediate gratification. We aren’t going to get it in this case. It is going to take patience, dedication and determination to accomplish this huge task.
We have yet to even properly educate the population. Activists keep assuming that everyone knows what is going on. They speak from the depths of their own knowledge. After awhile it is impossible to gauge the degree of knowledge and awareness of those that are NOT actively involved in politics and activism. I recently went to a local college campus with a Quiz devised by The World Can’t Wait, Drive Out the Bush Regime. It is a simple little quiz with only four questions, which I will list below. Not only did most of these young adults miss most of the questions, most were even shocked that someone would care what their opinions of their own government’s foreign policy, and world politics were. I especially noticed this in the females I spoke to.
What this told me was that we aren’t reaching the population, and women are steadily losing ground in terms of self-esteem. I asked these students if they watched the news. They all replied they did. I asked them if they watched CNN, they all said they did. I asked them if they realized our government was building up to a war with Iran, just like they did with Iraq. They had NOT made the connection. Out of about fifty people we talked with, there were about six students that realized the U.S. was actually threatening Iran with nuclear attack, and most of those did not take these threats seriously, or understand how the U.S. would be adversely affected if this happened.
I think it is time for activists and organizers to stop second guessing each other, and expecting unrealistic goals. It is certainly time for them to stop claiming that everything we are doing is ineffective. It is time for us to get tougher, work harder, and realize that we have a LOT of work to do. Just because we have worked hard for a few years doesn’t necessarily give us the true picture of what we”ve accomplished and what we still have left to accomplish. We”ve hardly begun the real fight. The real fight will be when we really HAVE educated the population and fired them up. The hard work of educating and motivating can be draining, and it is easy to get discouraged, but publicly condemning the entire Movement, individuals, and organizations that seem to have failed in one area or another is only going to make the fight harder. We have enough people who are threatened by us, criticizing us, and calling us ineffective. Should we join them?
We have to hang tough, continue to do everything we can, and be supportive of all those who are working for change. It is going to be a long, hard fight. The old cliché, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going,” comes to mind. Maybe it is trite, but it still rings true.
Iran Quiz:
1. What country in the Middle East refuses to confirm or deny that it has nuclear a nuclear weapons program and refuses to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty? (Israel)
2. What country agreed to be monitored by the International Energy Agency (IAEA), and opened up it’s country to IAEA inspectors? (Iran)
3. What country has been severely criticized by the IAEA for falsifying information on Iran’s nuclear program? (USA)
4. What country has/have ever used nuclear weapons on civilians? (USA)
Mikal Hutto
Human Being
Citizen of the USA
Activist