Scarabus

The entry following this features a brand new song by David Rovics. As I was listening to his performance, a passage stuck in my mind and got me to thinking:

But the system’s broke and what I glean
Is change must come by other means
Can you hear the whispers in the air
What we need is Tahrir Square
Until then in Washington
I’ll be waiting for the change to come
Still waiting for the change to come

The chain of thought led me first to the famous and prophetic Langston Hughes poem A Dream Deferred.

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

The promised change was actually the promised fulfillment of a dream, wasn’t it? And that dream has been deferred. Yes, in some notable ways the change has been realized, but too often that realization has been highly unsatisfactory. And in many cases the change seems simply to have been abandoned in favor of Wall Street business as usual.

Alas, in other ways we’ve been given change, all right, but change of a destructive type. The war in the Middle East has been dramatically expanded. Drone aircraft piloted from Kansas, half a world away, are killing civilians in Pakistan, Yemen, and elsewhere. Government spying on American citizens has been expanded, and the President has insisted he has the right to order the “sanctioned” murder of any American citizen in any foreign country.

But while top-down constructive change hasn’t materialized from the White House, we shouldn’t overlook the positive change that’s working its way up from the people, without help or encouragement from Washington. In that regard I’m reminded of a phrase from my years in college and graduate school: “Suppose they gave a war and nobody came?”

Again, still following the thoughts set in motion by that passage from David’s song, I reformulated the phrase: “Suppose they gave a revolution and nobody noticed?” (At least nobody within the Washington Beltway!)

Look at Wisconsin. Wisconsin isn’t “over,” by any means, even if it’s no longer deemed newsworthy by the major media. The signatures required to force a recall election have been submitted for all six of the targeted Republicans … and none of the targeted Democrats, I might add. Look what’s happening in Benton Harbor, Michigan. And watch the video of the way those who voted in favor of Ryan’s cruelly radical budget (along with Ryan himself) are being challenged at their “town hall” meetings.

The embers that might be a catalyst for a progressive revolution to send the Teabaggers packing are already smoldering. What’s needed is a coordinated effort to counter what the Koch brothers and Fox News accomplished. Put the various groups in touch with one another. Establish a consistent way of getting the message out. Help them to subordinate their differences and focus on the common good. Help them to make the majority of Americans aware that we really do want many of the same things, and very few of those things correspond to what Big Finance, international corporations, Big Insurance, Big Pharma, Grover Norquist, et al. want. Give them songs the equivalent of La Marseillaise!