Time for a U.S. Revolution – Fifteen Reasons
by Bill Quigley
The 1776 Declaration of Independence stated that when a long train of abuses by those in power evidence a design to reduce the rights of people to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, it is the peoples right, in fact their duty to engage in a revolution.
Martin Luther King, Jr., said forty three years ago next month that it was time for a radical revolution of values in the United States. He preached “a true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies.” It is clearer than ever that now is the time for radical change.
Look at what our current system has brought us and ask if it is time for a revolution?
Over 2.8 million people lost their homes in 2009 to foreclosure or bank repossessions – nearly 8000 each day – higher numbers than the last two years when millions of others also lost their homes.
At the same time, the government bailed out Bank of America, Citigroup, AIG, Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the auto industry and enacted the troubled asset (TARP) program with $1.7 trillion of our money.
Wall Street then awarded itself over $20 billion in bonuses in 2009 alone, an average bonus on top of pay of $123,000.
At the same time, over 17 million people are jobless right now. Millions more are working part-time when they want and need to be working full-time.
Yet the current system allows one single U.S. Senator to stop unemployment and Medicare benefits being paid to millions.
There are now 35 registered lobbyists in Washington DC for every single member of the Senate and House of Representatives, at last count 13,739 in 2009. There are eight lobbyists for every member of Congress working on the health care fiasco alone.
At the same time, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that corporations now have a constitutional right to interfere with elections by pouring money into races.
The Department of Justice gave a get out of jail free card to its own lawyers who authorized illegal torture.
At the same time another department of government, the Pentagon, is prosecuting Navy SEALS for punching an Iraqi suspect.
The US is not only involved in senseless wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, the U.S. now maintains 700 military bases world-wide and another 6000 in the US and our territories. Young men and women join the military to protect the U.S. and to get college tuition and healthcare coverage and killed and maimed in elective wars and being the world’s police. Wonder whose assets they are protecting and serving?
In fact, the U.S. spends $700 billion directly on military per year, half the military spending of the entire world – much more than Europe, China, Russia, Iran, Pakistan, North Korea, and Venezuela – combined.
The government and private companies have dramatically increased surveillance of people through cameras on public streets and private places, airport searches, phone intercepts, access to personal computers, and compilation of records from credit card purchases, computer views of sites, and travel.
The number of people in jails and prisons in the U.S. has risen sevenfold since 1970 to over 2.3 million. The US puts a higher percentage of our people in jail than any other country in the world.
The tea party people are mad at the Republicans, who they accuse of selling them out to big businesses.
Democrats are working their way past depression to anger because their party, despite majorities in the House and Senate, has not made significant advances for immigrants, or women, or unions, or African Americans, or environmentalists, or gays and lesbians, or civil libertarians, or people dedicated to health care, or human rights, or jobs or housing or economic justice. Democrats also think their party is selling out to big business.
Forty three years ago next month, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. preached in Riverside Church in New York City that “a time comes when silence is betrayal.” He went on to condemn the Vietnam War and the system which created it and the other injustices clearly apparent. “We as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a “thing oriented” society to a “person oriented” society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”
It is time.
I found this article very interesting and that is why I posted it here. I hope others will enjoy reading it.
I think people from all poltical views are moving from depression to anger. It isn’t just Republicans or Democrats who are angry. More and more people are leaving those two parties and joining a third party or becoming Independent.
The American people are starting to wake up and accept the truth. The shock is wearing off and I believe that we the people will fight. I hope we will fight so that the children can have a bright future. The way we are going now, with the irresponsible behavior is leading us to bankrupty and a future where they have so much debt that they will never be able to pay it off. They will be chained to this debt that we borrowed without a thought about how the next generation who will be left holding the bag is going to be able to pay it back.
We need real election campaign reform. I know I sound like a broken record, but until we have real reform things will not change. We need to have the candidates each receive the same amount of money for elections and ban private money. We need to have media give all candidates free and equal air time. We need to have real debates with all the candidates and not closed and fake debates and town halls like we have today. Do I think that we will get real election campaign reform? No, I think the odds are against that happening, but I think we need to at least try our best.
I would love to see in 2010 and 2012 that people vote for the third party candidate. If every single Progressive and even Conservatives who are angry with the Republican party voted third party; it would sound a large message to the powers that be. It would say we aren’t going to take this crap anymore. We won’t be fooled again into thinking that real change that is needed is going to come from either of the two big corporate parties.
Until we can get Progressives to stop voting for the lesser of two evils and make a stand; I don’t think there will be a revolution of taking this government back for the people.