tuluum's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On Getting Along In Difficult Times (article) I have seen Ashton Kuchner in his undies and the view was divine. Thank you for the icing on a supremely divine day *blissful bliss* On Getting Along in Difficult Times By Howard Zinn You ask how I manage to stay involved and remain seemingly happy and adjusted to this awful world where the efforts of caring people pale in comparison to those who have power? It's easy. First: Don't let "those who have power" intimidate you. No matter how much power they have they cannot prevent you from living your life, speaking your mind, thinking independently, having relationships with people as you like. (Read Emma Goldman's autobiography "Living My Life". Harassed, even imprisoned by authority, she insisted on living her life, speaking out, however she felt.) Second: Find companions who have your values, your commitments, but who also have a sense of humor. That combination is a necessity! Third (notice how precise is my advice that I can confidently number it, the way scientists number things): Understand that the major media will not tell you of all the acts of resistance taking place every day, the strikes, protests, the individual acts of courage in the face of authority. Look (and you will certainly find it) for evidence of these unreported acts. And for the little you find, extrapolate from that and assume there must be a thousand times as much as what you've found. Fourth: Note that throughout history people have felt powerless before authority, but that at certain times these powerless people, by organizing, acting, risking, persisting, have created enough power to change the world around them, even if only a little or briefly. . . . Fifth: Remember, those who have power, and who seem invulnerable, are in fact quite vulnerable. Their power depends on the obedience of others, and when those others begin withholding that obedience, begin defying authority, that power at the top turns out to be very fragile. Generals become powerless when their soldiers refuse to fight, industrialists become powerless when their workers leave their jobs or occupy the factories. Sixth: When we forget the fragility of power imposed from above, we become astounded when it crumbles in the face of rebellion. We have had many such surprises in our time, both in the United States and in other countries. Seventh: Don't look for a moment of total triumph. See it as an ongoing struggle, with victories and defeats, but consciousness of people growing pover the long run. So you need patience, persistence, and you need to understand that even when you don't "win," there is fun and fulfillment in the fact that you have been involved with other good people in something worthwhile. Okay, seven pieces of profound advice should be enough. Howard Zinn **************************************************************************** Current Clix Ranking: 32 | Previous Clix Ranking: 15 3:01 a.m. - Sunday, May. 04, 2003 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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