Junious Ricardo Stanton
in our last commentary I questioned what I could do to remedy an environment where I don’t feel safe within an immoral hierarchical society. Henry David Thoreau also wrestled with the same conundrum. The nineteenth century naturalist, philosopher, pacifist and essayist wrote an essay originally entitled Resistance to Civil Government but was subsequently reprinted as On The Duty of Civil Disobedience. In it Thoreau called for the withdrawal of support for the US government by those who opposed slavery and war by not paying taxes and being willing to go to prison for one’s moral and ethical beliefs.
Not merely content to write about it Thoreau did indeed go to jail for a brief period, overnight, for not paying his poll taxes because he opposed slavery, the Indian Removal Act and the war with Mexico. At that time Thoreau was twenty-nine years old, slightly older than the college students being arrested because they oppose Israeli genocide and ethnic cleansing today.
By his actions and writings Thoreau has impacted subsequent generations of thinkers, activists and reformers such as Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. who adopted, adapted and expanded his tactics of intentional nonviolent disobedience and non-compliance to challenge and overcome existing oppressive racist and dehumanizing social orders.
Thoreau’s action brought attention to the causes he espoused even though he was all by himself acting on his own. Thoreau showed one man acting with intention purpose and conviction can make an impact. Thoreau was willing to accept the consequences of his beliefs and actions. Thoreau was livid when his great aunt paid his poll tax to bail him out and he was released from jail.
In many ways the students protesting the vicious Israeli onslaught against Palestinians are reviving and carrying on Thoreau’s tradition to standing up to and resisting war, human suffering profiteering and settler genocide against indigenous people. I applaud them for their idealism and for their willingness to take a stand for right, justice and the sacredness of life especially in the face of ubiquitous pro-Israeli propaganda, warmongering and attempts to demonize them. Similarly Thoreau, Gandhi and King were castigated and demonized for their pacifism.
We are witnessing a classic appeal for heroic moral action despite the odds, in spite of the power and influence of the misanthropes waging wars for territorial expansion and racist ideologies. We all have a moral obligation to take a side! There can be no neutrality on this issue. It is cut and dry. King forthrightly called his active opposition to the Vietnam War, a deeper calling to save the soul of America!
We find ourselves at a similar predicament today. Will we passively stand by and allow psychopaths, war profiteers, liars and murderers to continue their slaughter of innocent men women and children? This is an opportunity to restore spiritual, moral and ethical prominence and balance in the face of escalating moral depravity, genocide, apathy and insanity. Will we stiffen up, stand up, transform our minds and energize our spirits to challenge the atrocities we are witnessing, or will we remain silent and allow psychopaths to hurl us into the abyss?! We have to make a decision, a conscious deliberate, intentional choice.
The overlords cannot arrest and jail all of us. We outnumber them at least ten to one if not more. We don’t even have to physically confront the powers that shouldn’t be, we can effectively act with impact by using our pocketbooks and wallets! We can decide not to support anyone, any elected official, any company, any corporation or conglomerate who supports Israel, supplies them with aid comfort and sustenance. This includes not supporting or consuming media in the employ or ideological camp of the Zionists which in this case is virtually every major media outlet.
This is not about Israel’s right to exist they already exist and they are not going anywhere. In fact their existence poses a threat to world peace and security of the whole planet! Israel exists because the US and other powerful actors support their territorial expansion, their racist ideology and their genocide.
As I said on our last episode I do not feel safe in this type of social milieu, because the power imbalance and resources of the corporate and special interest state can easily be focused on and target anyone who stands up against evil. I am not a punk or a coward I just don’t feel safe in a system where some lives are deemed far more valuable and important than others, where genocide is condoned, tolerated, justified and promoted! Unlike other global conflicts like South Sudan, the Israeli aggression is on our faces.
We are emerging from four years of constant, acute propagandizing, intimidation and governmental overreach regarding a spurious pandemic one supposedly caused by a novel virus that actually has a 98.9% recovery and survival rate in healthy people, where the mitigation strategies caused far more harm than the disease. All criticism and contrary narratives to this virus mitigation campaign were vigorously censored and suppressed by the government and corporate infrastructure working in tandem and cahoots. All dissident was demonized, intimidated and marginalized.
We are witnessing this same thing with the Israeli assault on Gaza. The US Congress just passed a bill defining antisemitism. It will be a short jump to passing laws criminalizing anyone uttering any criticism of Israel, especially considering the influence Zionists weld in the US. Such a law was passed in France and Germany years ago. This will mean the loss of funding for any non-profit, collage or university and poses a direct threat to any individual who dares criticize the Zionists. At UCLA, protesters were actually threatened with being career white-balled by the Zionists! This is where we are headed.
What can we do? Transform your mind, living with intention like Thoreau, Gandhi and King is our best strategy. Make your life count for something, make being alive a conscious mission. Refuse to be brainwashed, do not accept, conform or comply with directives or internalize immorality. It takes courage to change the world; we can do it. We have to have the courage of our convictions but first we have to create a powerful desire for peace, value the sacredness of all life, what Martin Luther King Jr. called a revolution of values. You/we can make a difference. Let’s make it happen.
-30-
jrswriter 