OpEdNews Original Content HERE
November 3, 2008
An Open Letter to Naomi Wolf
By: chris rice
"There are 10 steps to close down a democratically functioning society -a blueprint that ALL 'would-be dictators' have followed." ~ Naomi Wolf.
Such a blueprint exists for Revolution as well.
We don't usually think of it this way, but the Founding Fathers used many non-violent protests before engaging the British in battle: The Boston Tea Party, petitions to parliament, stamp tax protests and demonstrations.
Another part of the 'blueprint' is information. The Founding Fathers wrote books, ("Common Sense", "The Rights of Man", etc), newspaper articles, and published, published, published, letters to statesmen and diplomats, leaflets, etc.
Starting with these two points, VoteStrike.com is calling upon citizens to stop funding their own destruction:
Seventeen Simple Non-Violent Resistance steps to stop fueling the money changers and corporate controllers of our great country.
1. Stop using credit cards - every transaction generates an automatic 1-2% fee to the banks from the store you're buying from. Also, stop using bank ATM's which generate extra fees to your account.
2. BOYCOTT Mobil/Exxon, Shell, Texaco, Chevron, BP - use small independent stations. Also, REDUCE GAS CONSUMPTION. We MUST stop fueling the original BIG MONEY MONOPOLIZERS! Learn to be a http://www.hypermiling.com/.
3. Do your very best to stop using and throwing away PLASTIC! - It's a petroleum derivative. Buy milk in cartons. Recycle every bit of plastic you must use and return all plastic bags to the grocery store, including plastic bread bags and what your newspapers are wrapped with.
4. CANCEL cable television. (WE ARE TOTALLY ADDICTED TO 350 CHANNELS of SPORTS, MOVIES, PORN, NEWS. And as long as they can entertain us, we have no need to think.)
5. MOVE MONEY OUT OF BIG INTERNATIONAL FRANCHISED BANKS: Bank of America; HSBC (Bank of China); CITIBANK/CHASE, etc. Move to local credit unions or smaller local banks. Keep cash at home, at least to cover immediate expenses for a few months, in a safe deposit box.
6. STOP DONATING MONEY TO MOVEON, ACLU, politicians, mega- churches - Instead, donate food directly to pantries or money directly to people you know that need it. Cut out the middlemen that are taking millions and using it to gain power, not to 'do good'! Help a poor person or relative weatherproof their home or give them energy efficient light bulbs.
7. CUT ENERGY USE AT HOME AND AT WORK. Best thing people can do against big oil and dirty coal is also good for your own monthly costs. Help cut energy expenses also for local businesses, schools, and public buildings by turning lights off in empty rooms and bathrooms- instead of having that money go to the corps that are polluting and earning billions off of us and our community members.
8. BUY LOCAL! Support your community businesses, owned and operated by your neighbors. And look for product labels. When it's possible, only buy MADE IN USA!
9. START PAYING OFF ALL YOUR DEBT. Don't fall prey to ultra-consumerism. We are CONSTANTLY bombarded with advertising to BUY BUY BUY! We don't need all that STUFF! Put your money to good use: if you have a mortgage, secure your home first. Pay down the principle by adding any extra money each month- this saves thousands over time! Once it's paid off, no matter how deep recession/depression gets, your home is pure CAPITAL.
10. MAXIMIZE YOUR 401K to only what your company matches. Choose a treasurey money market fund, not a stock fund that you may not understand. 401K's have big penalty fees if you need to withdraw it early, so keep this in mind. Paying off a mortgage has equal value protecting you in retirement.
11. GROW some of your own food when possible. Plant an apple or pear or cherry tree (or all three). These mentioned grow even in colder climates. If you have the blessing of a large garden, learn to plant vegetables. Once grown, this produce is CAPITAL. Trade and/or sell it locally.
12. BUY SMALL CARS! (or used) Unless you have 6 children, you have no need for a gas-guzzling SUV.
13. SHOP GARAGE SALES for things you need, and exchange goods/services on "http://www.craigslist.org.
14. IF YOU HAVE EMPLOYER PRIVATE INSURANCE- LIKE BLUE CROSS- USE IT- GO GET YOUR MAMMOGRAM OR COLONOSCOPY, ANNUAL CHECK UPS AND PAPS.-GET YOUR FLU SHOT THAT IS FREE !!! **IF YOU HAVE MEDICARE OR MEDICAID OR STATE JOB INSURANCE- KEEP UP ON PREVENTIVE CARE BUT DON'T ABUSE IT!**
15. BUY NECESSITIES and GAS in the lower income areas near you, so the tax revenue goes to that area, not the higher income regions where it's not needed.
16. RECYCLE and make your own COMPOST. Make efforts to reduce trash and weight of trash- which not only helps the environment, but cuts expense for trash in your town. The more trash weighs the more taxpayers pay. Demand your public works enforce recycling and composting of yard waste.
17. REDUCE MEAT CONSUMPTION- which is a huge corporate factory lobby for DC (unless locally raised beef).
STEP TWO - PUBLISHING INFORMATION:
We all owe a great debt of gratitude to people like Naomi Wolf, Alex Jones, Lou Dobbs, Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul for getting this info out to us, and their only reward will be an FBI file. And to great website like OpEdNews for publishing and interviewing Naomi Klein, Naomi Wolf, and many others. We also owe the Youtubers and Diggers who blast this info out everyday.
But now, We have enough information. Our government systems are so corrupt that both leading presidential candidates from both leading parties must campaign on the promise of 'change', and to clean up or fix Washington DC. So the facts are no longer secret, the truth is out.
AND, THE TIME FOR ACTION IS HERE.
It is now time to act upon the facts given us and organize a resistance. We don't have to re-invent the wheel -just follow the blueprint. Organizing requires a journal as Ghandi mentioned. OpEdNews.com is just such a journal. Please donate articles, protest news, action alerts, and when possible, even money, to OpEdNews.com and consider it to be our publishing arm. (Power to the A.R.M.)
Publishing actions / strikes to ourselves though would be fruitless. The only way to create a broad movement is to control the media, and with a small group of dedicated activists, that's a definite possibility. If as few as one thousand people committed to writing / posting articles and Youtube videos, and those same thousand people were to rate, comment, Digg, StumbleUpon, etc., each others work the same day they were published, we would hit the front pages of every social network out there, reaching a large enough audience to have direct actions, strikes and shut downs. (To participate in this project contact the author at realchange@votestrike.com)
Next step in the 'blueprint' is organizing locally to demand national action. The easiest way for you to find a local group is simply to go to http://votestrike.ning.com and fill out a profile with your zip code. We'll contact you with the necessary information for local activists and activities. Or, help organize a Strike group in your town. Please contact the author for details.
As these local groups grow and develop, we will be able to move to the next steps of the blueprint.
LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!
Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember: TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
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