Reportback: One Nation Working Together

[ilaughatrightwingers]

http://indyreader.org/content/reportback-one-nation-working-together-by-julia-riber-pitt

On October 2, 2010, in an effort to rally for leftist and progressive causes, thousands of liberals, progressives, and radicals attended the One Nation Working Together Rally, in Washington, DC.

When my comrade Sarina and I first arrived at the rally, we joined a handful of union and labor activists. Together we walked down to the Lincoln Memorial.

As we advanced past the Socialist Contingent (made up mostly of various Fourth International groups) we heard them shouting, "Obama isn't a socialist! We are! We are!"

I laughed.

The gathering around the memorials was quite lively. Sarina and I spent most of our time at tables set-up by numerous socialist and grassroots organizations. We picked up a plethora of handouts, including a pamphlet on school de-militarization and several flyers about US military spending. We found these particularly important because our school (McDaniel College) has a huge military/ROTC presence and we're trying to take steps towards demilitarization.

While the mainstream media focused on the presence of the "evil socialists" at the rally (a nice little hangover from the days of McCarthyism), it was blatantly obvious that about half the people in attendance were only there to cheer on Obama and the elite political party he leads. Many times we saw signs in the vein of "PRESIDENT OBAMA: WE SUPPORT YOU FOREVER!!!"

This is a notion I personally consider to be very naive.

As we left, my comrade told me that most of these people seem to be focused on the wrong issue; thus promoting the wrong solution. To them, all we have to do to make conditions better is to vote out the "wrong" politicians and replace them with the "right" ones. They don't know of any alternative to relying on those on top of a power structure for guidance and help, nor do they have an understanding that the problem isn't who is on top of the power structure but just the mere fact that the power structure exists. This was coupled with the fact that nationalist-themed music and flags were everywhere, as if people were trying to connect the State to all these wonderful egalitarian ideas.

We left the rally with mixed feelings. As expected, the day after the rally, everything in Washington resumed as normal.

What did this rally accomplish? Very little in our view.

I would say the only thing I got out of it was the sentiment that all sorts of people were converging in order to spread ideas on how to make our society stronger.

It's time Americans took a note from their comrades in Europe and resorted to more direct and meaningful actions to show those in power that we've had enough.

[txlibdem]

1. Corporatistas have been here already

I tried to rec but it stayed at zero. Congratulations to all you Corporatistas, your destruction of America and destruction of Democracy is nearly complete!

Just beware the consequences. I once heard someone say: "As ye sow, so shall ye reap!" Think about it.

PS, go Socialism! Without a very large and growing Socialist movement in the USA in the 1930s there would have been NO new deal and none of the social justice improvements that lasted until Ronny Raygun brought in his wrecking crew.

Look at how things are going today. There is basically no Socialists in the country (no offense to the OP and myself, just being statistically accurate) and the major parties are not giving us a drop of Progressive legislation. See the difference?!?