A New Fight for Independence

As we sit and revel in the independence we won from the Brittish 229 years ago, we need to also think about the new movements for independence. The movements are many and varied, ranging from the movements to stop the neo-colonialism of the industrialized north against the global south, on to the movements to free ourselves from the global tyranny of multi-national corporations. There is a growing and lively movement to free our media from the shackles of concentrated corporate power and give us all acess to timely and relevant information so that we can make better decisions. And, of course, there is the on-going struggle to unionize workers in this country and around the world so that we may better fight the exploitative aspects of capitalism.

My point? The fight is not over. And yet these new fights are unlike anything we have ever seen before. Can we be patriots without dogmatically holding to the views of nationalism? These questions, and many more, need to be answered as we continue to push for social justice here and around the world.

There are no easy solutions here. We must all join in the resistance. We need you. We need all of you. Find a movement that grabs your passions, something you can put your heart and soul into. Maybe you don't have 40 hours a week to devote to activism. That's ok. An hour a week? Ten minutes a day? We need you and your friends at any level of participation.

I'm optimistic about the future. I see signs around the world of regular people like you and me joining in the fight against injustice and tyranny. More and more people are engaging their imaginations to confront the social problems we face in new and different ways. As always, it seems we face insurmountable odds. Surely the abolitionists must have felt the same way. Surely our labor leaders a hundred years ago felt the similar overwhelming pangs of despair as they took on the tyranny of capitalism. No movement has ever been easy. And yet real change is always possible.

Don't give up hope. If anything recall the fearless struggles of our comrades 229 years ago as they fought the most powerful military machine on the planet and won! Recall countless struggles across the spectrum of history and how again and again David has defeated Goliath. We can win, but we can only do it through mass struggle. We need you. Can you help?

| +Save/Share | |