Wednesday, Mar. 31, 2004 - 6:15 p.m.

Sympathy for the Germans

Back in the 20th Century, I imagined the non-Nazi Germans who allowed Hitler to rise to power to be faulty in some way: too credulous, too timid, too lazy. But now that I am the equivalent of a German in the 1930’s (i.e. the gang which claims me to be one of its citizen-subjects is hell-bent on conquering other countries militarily), it all looks so much more complex.

As the cliché goes, the Germans didn’t speak up for anybody until there was no one left to speak up for them. But that presumes that speaking up is effective. I spoke up before Bush usurped the presidency, protesting at the Republican National Convention where he was nominated in August, 2000, and again when I showed up to protest his inauguration in January, 2001. I spoke up when I showed up to protest the pending invasion of Afghanistan in late September, 2001. None of this seemed to have any particular effect. I didn’t bother to protest the invasion of Iraq last year, but at least that time there were millions of new protesters to take my place. Still, no visible change, other than the Left feeling very proud of themselves. I’m not claiming that speaking up has no effect, I just think that it’s not making a crucial difference quickly enough to stop the atrocities.

One might argue that change takes time, but how can one discern between prudent patience and wishful thinking? For the one-year anniversary of last year’s intensification of the 12-year long war on Iraq, Eugene’s activist crowd decided to organize a voter registration drive instead of having a march or rally. I guess they felt like they were doing something. I wonder if they’ll still feel effective when Kerry loses because the election was rigged by electronic voting machines. Should Kerry somehow win, and continues the brutal occupation of Iraq, and perhaps aggresses against a few more countries (as did Clinton), will they regret their, “anyone but Bush,” mantra? If the anti-Nazi Germans had put all their effort into defeating Hitler in an election (by campaigning for a slightly less extreme nationalist), and then upon losing, vowed to beat him in the next election 4 years later, would history have forgiven them?

In some ways, Bush seems to face greater difficulties than Hitler did: a large and vocal opposition pretty early on, exposed and embarrassed for his lies after just a few years. This opposition also got rolling far earlier than it did with the Vietnam war. It would have been neat if protesters had shut down San Francisco right after Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. But would it have been enough?

I get so frustrated when well-meaning people express that changing the president will solve the problem. I’ve even heard one woman I know say, “things were okay under Clinton,” and hoped that John Kerry would restore Clintonian normality. What I refuse to stop speaking up about is that the president is not the problem. The United States of America is the problem. America fit the definition of fascism under Clinton, and has been for at least the last 60 years. America got its land and wealth through genocide and slavery, conquest and exploitation, and the government that presided over all that is still in place, basically unchanged. There has never been a systematic uprooting of the interests that reaped power by sowing misery. I’m nauseated when liberals whitewash their participation in this system as, “the unfolding of the promise of democracy.”

I have sympathy for the Israelis who are opposed to the Palestinian genocide too. But were I an Israeli right now, I’d have at least one clear course of action I could take: I could go lie down in front of a bulldozer that’s about to demolish a Palestinian home or in front of a bulldozer that’s clearing ground to build the Apartheid Wall. And probably get shot for my civil disobedience.

Protesters have marches and rallies, petitions and elections because that’s what’s constructed for them to do. Well-meaning people keep lining up to use the same old tired, ineffective tactics. Direct action could be faster. You want to stop the war, then just stop the war, directly. Or directly prevent the occupation from getting something they need to continue. But direct action would only effectively stop the war if used on a mass scale. Still, even short of effecting a complete cessation, small actions could save some lives. The trouble is, I have no faith in the power of leading by example. A handful of wingnuts taking direct action to stop the war will not necessarily inspire the masses to rise up. Is direct action, in the full context of things, perhaps nearly as much of an ineffective dead end as protest marches? The Plowshares movement has failed to ignite a firestorm of dissent. Never heard of Plowshares? My point exactly.

Lest I continue channeling Hamlet, there are two ways I can think of to help stop U.S. aggression. These tactics could be used by liberals (and anti-Bush conservatives) and yet be compatible with an anarchist strategy. These would be 1) to encourage widespread refusal to pay Federal income taxes in order to deprive D.C of the funds to conduct war, and 2) to foil military recruitment efforts in order to deprive the war effort of warriors. These are likely to work, because they go with the flow of human desire: people would rather not pay taxes if they could get away with it, and people will prefer not to get their ass blown off in the military, all things being equal. Augmenting these efforts are facts about mistreatment of soldiers by the military (including the high rate of rapes of female recruits), cuts to veterans’ benefits, and the rarity of prosecution for war tax resistance.

What can I do? I dunno. I wrote this diary entry. I go on public access TV. Maybe I could write an article for AWOL magazine. I could make some agitational cartoons. What have I done up to this point? I’ve spent most of my time trying to find enough money to live on. That’s why I have a newfound sympathy for the anti-Nazi Germans during Hitler’s reign. It’s easy to condemn others when history paints the situation in broad abstractions. But when you’re in the thick of it, you can drown in the details.

Excuses, excuses. The Empire must be stopped.

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