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My Third Letter to Protestors

Mark A. Goldman                                                                 Dated: 10/29/2011

 

Who are you protesting against?  If you’re protesting against the bankers and/or the politicians, you’re wasting your time.  They don’t care if you protest.  It doesn’t cost them anything.  You really should be protesting against the apathy of your fellow citizens who seem not to have a clue what it’s really all about.  Well, chances are, you don’t really know what it’s all about either, not yet, not really.

Well, almost everyone knows now that we were all screwed by the bankers, and also other oligarchs, and the politicians who helped them do it, and get away with it.  In the announcement of my candidacy for president, I explain some of the insanity.  But it doesn't seem like insanity from their point of view.  They don’t need you or care about you.  They are in survival mode.  They intend to strip what they can from the economy, and you, and retire to some safe hiding place where they intend to rule over the world in anonymity.  The question is, who is going to rule.  Is it going to be the oligarchs or the People; the oil men and the bankers or We the People? 

There isn’t much time to get your head on straight because if they win, we will all lose.  And time is on their side not ours.  Every day you don’t have a job it will become more difficult for you to protest.  And every day as the economy continues to shrink, the ranks of the unemployed will grow.  And without inspired leadership there will be growing chaos… not in congressional offices or in the boardrooms of the oligarchs but in the living rooms and bedrooms all across America.  Protest is not enough… you need to act.

You can rail against corporations and their owners and managers, but it won’t be enough. Their public relations ploys will attempt to blunt your message, once they frame it.  Thanks to the Supreme Court, corporations are now "people" too, except that corporations don't have a life expectancy and you can't send them to prison when they engage in criminal acts.  How did that happen?  Well, we elected presidents and other government officials who were liars and cheats and they allowed the appointment of justices to the Supreme Court who are part of, and sympathize with, the ruling class.  And now we are getting ready to reelect these people again so that they can continue to do more of the same.  

If you vote for them or help them win, you are digging your own grave.  We need to dump them and start over.  We need to vote them out of office and replace them with people who have a different vision.   If we can’t do that, then we lose.  Surely if we try to do that, they will spend billions to placate us and/or try to talk us out of it. We and our fellow citizens can either buy into their deceptions and lies, or we can stay on track.  

Of course what I am suggesting will be hard work… a lot harder than camping out in a public square.  We can’t afford to lose.  If you don't want to live in a corrupt society you have to put some effort into turning things around.  Citizens have responsibilities.  "You can't be a traitor to life and then expect to live in a free and just society."

You know what’s funny.  The crimes and the treason that has taken place apparently don’t bother most citizens at all.  Well, maybe it’s not so funny.  In fact it’s a problem that’s even more serious than the fact that the bankers and politicians committed fraud and got away with it.  The US has undergone a coup and the government that was based on the Constitution has been overthrown.  Our elected officials have transferred their loyalty from We the People, to the wealthy elite who fund their election campaigns.  The country has been lost and most people remain unconscious about that, or too afraid to admit it... too afraid to even consider it a possibility.  They are even too afraid to stop pretending they don’t really care, fearing that if they were to speak out they might lose their job, their standing in the community, or some yet unidentified future opportunity.  They’re hanging onto the false hope that it’s your problem and not their problem because they still have a job or believe they will be able to safely afford their lifestyles well into the future.  They don’t realize yet that their financial future is as much in jeopardy as yours is.

Our ignorance and negligence as a People is the real crime… and it’s a crime we perpetrated against ourselves and our own posterity.  If it weren’t for us and our lack of integrity, our politicians would not have been able to stay in power long enough to destroy what we once had.  I remember Watergate.  Publication of that small crime (relative to the crimes now being perpetrated) was enough to bring public opinion down upon the perpetrators and cause an administration to go away.  The media then was on the side of the People.  Now it isn’t.  Now we’re on our own.  And the public seems to have forgotten how to think for themselves.  You need to help them see again.  Of course you can't help anyone else see until you first open your own eyes.

So the American government that once defended the Constitution has fallen; the Constitution is on its death bed; criminals are running the country and the results are being felt not only in America, but all over the world…  so much so that protests are happening in other parts of the world… even as many more impoverished people already face starvation.  

The same people running our country are also running, or trying to run, the rest of the world.  Students are being defrauded, home owners are being defrauded, teachers are being defrauded, the elderly are being defrauded, and you are being defrauded.  If you don’t realize it yet, one day in the not too distant future, you will. 

While protestors have taken up locations in various cities they don’t seem to know what’s really happening to them or what to do about it.  If their protests do not energize the rest of the population to rise up in solidarity with them, we will all lose?  If the People do not stand with them and take back our power so that the criminals can be taken into custody and tried for their crimes, allowing others to take their place to form a more perfect union and restore the Constitution to its rightful place, then it’s all for nothing.  But how do you inspire people who are afraid to be inspired?

In any event you had better understand what I'm about to tell you:  Restoring the Constitution will not, by itself, restore the economy.  The economy is shrinking and without very major reform, it's headed for collapse.  Until we successfully get ourselves off of fossil fuels the economy will continue to shrink until most of humanity ends up dirt poor and in debt peonage.  The economy will not be what it once was anytime soon and maybe it never will again.  The question is, can we recreate an economy that will sustain us all, or is it going to be an economy where when the oligarchs no longer need or want you, you will simply be discarded?  Are we going to be one People, with liberty and justice for all, or is it going to be liberty and justice, but only for some?  If you decide to live for yourself and the hell with everyone else, I guess you won't be voting for me or anyone like me any time soon.   

Now I’m a Candidate for President of the United States. But it's not important that I get elected.  It's only important that you have enough integrity to vote for me, or someone like me... and others too who have a vision for a more perfect union... one in which the family of humanity behaves more like a family that loves one another than one that’s at war with itself.  If you don't think my vision is possible, it won't be, and our fate will be sealed.  And I guess that's the bottom line.  Don't just support and vote for people who can mouth the words; vote for people who actually believe and live them.  Review their track records before you vote.  If you don't think voting matters, I surely hope you have a better idea... one that you can execute before it's too late.  

Meanwhile, I suggest you read this:  On Citizenship.  And this:  The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  And this:  I rest my case.  Do your job.  Spend an hour in Professor Bartlett’s class.  Do your homework.  Give it all you’ve got… that is, if you hope to retain your dignity, have a decent life, and have something of value to pass on to your posterity.  The most important tools you have if you are willing to take up this challenge, are your integrity, your heart, your courage, your love of freedom, your willingness and ability to think for yourself, and your faith that with God’s help, we will see each other though.  I'll stand with you if you'll stand with me.  No violence, just citizenship.

 


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