Chris Hedges wrote an excellent article this week on the lessons learned from the Tiananmen Square massacre that occurred 25 years ago. These lessons are salient today, particularly as we watch the violent repression of protests happening around the World Cup in Brazil.
Hedges emphasizes the importance of creating a broad movement grounded in nonviolence that draws in groups supporting the power structure. In Brazil, there is broad support for the protesters including the police and multiple unions that have gone on strike. In response, Brazil mobilized its military against the people injuring both protesters and tourists on opening day.
There is evidence that a similar response can occur in the Americas. Nafeez Ahmed writes that the US Department of Defense is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to study social movements in order to develop ‘operational tools.’ In Canada, this week there was a discussion in the House of Commons about surveillance of peaceful protesters. PM Harper’s spokesperson revealed a rationale that makes all people suspect, saying “Peaceful protests can suddenly turn violent, just as law-abiding citizens can suddenly create a crime.”
Of course, such sentiments are ridiculous and are used to justify further clamp downs on our civil liberties. And that is why the people need tools to know what is going on and to resist injustice.
New Tools
Last week Internet freedom groups launched the Reset the Net campaign to provide tools for everyone to make it more difficult for the NSA to spy on us. This is an ongoing campaign, so if you haven’t done so already, you can still download these tools. Click here to learn more. And check out and share Shahid Buttar’s (of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee) new music video about the NSA.
There are also new groups and tools for blowing the whistle. Last week, ExposeFacts.org was launched to “shed light on concealed activities that are relevant to human rights, corporate malfeasance, the environment, civil liberties and war.” They provide access to Secure Drop, as does The Guardian and other media, so that whistleblowers can transmit information. And this week, the Courage Foundation, an international whistleblower support group, was also announced. Their mission is to defend the people’s ‘Right to know.’
Given the corporate influence over our government agencies and the actions that Big Business will take to suppress information, we need whistleblowers and the public needs to support them. Kamil Ahsan writes about scientist Tyrone Hayes who was targeted by Syngenta when he exposed the toxicity of one of their products.
We know that Monsanto heavily influences the FDA and USDA to keep toxic pesticides like RoundUp and genetically engineered foods on the market. In response, people are pushing at the state level to ban and label GMO foods. Vermont was the most recent to pass a GMO labeling law. To stop them, the Grocery Manufacturer’s Association (GMA) filed a lawsuit. You can boycott and urge these members of the GMA to drop their membership. The best way to avoid GMOs is to buy organic. Here is a tool that helps you to understand food labeling. You can also buy more responsibly by being aware of where your food comes from. Al Jazeera published an in-depth piece this week on the slave labor used to supply shrimp to stores in the US and UK.
The Post-extraction World
We are coming to the end of easy extraction of a number of different fuels and minerals which is begging for us to find new ways of doing things. This is documented in a new report. The authors warn that the window is closing for the adoption of new policies in time to avert significant harm to our economy.
There is a new way forward in the post-extraction world. Jeremy Rifkin envisions a commons-based economy that uses technology and decentralized renewable energy production to create a Third Industrial Revolution that is sustainable. And as we end the post-fossil fuel era, young farmers are already adopting more organic practices.
In addition to creating alternatives, we must stop out-of-control Big Energy from further harmful extraction. Numerous tools are being used to accomplish this and are succeeding. The Great Climate March is bringing awareness to communities that have not been discussing the reality of climate change. Blockades recently succeeded in stopping an $11 billion expansion of the Alberta Tar Sands. Long-term opposition in Chile caused the rejection of a large hydro-electric dam project in Patagonia. And court cases were filed to stop fracking in Colorado and a liquefied methane project in Maryland.
Ending wealth extraction
Big Business is also extracting wealth from our communities in a number of ways. This survey documents that wage theft is rampant in the US. In the EU, austerity measures are causing a rise in poverty. In a related move, a wealthy Silicon Valley man created a front group called Students Matter and ended tenure for teachers in California (the decision is being appealed). Keeping teachers insecure in their jobs is one tool for preventing academics from speaking out and for dumbing down education.
People are fighting back though. We’ve covered the struggles for higher wages previously. In addition, the movement for postal banks that can provide financial services to the un- and under-banked is growing nationally. In the EU, France was the first country to audit its debt. They found that 60% of the national debt is illegitimate and that excuses for debt and austerity were unsubstantiated. Imagine if the same were done in the US. An audit could also be done at the local level.
To protect public education,a tri-national North American coalition of students, teachers and unions is growing. Here is a report from their conference last month in Chicago.
Even the struggle to protect Internet equality is connected to wealth extraction. The Internet was developed using public dollars and was initially regulated as a Common Carrier like a public utility. Now, giant telecoms are trying to wrest greater control over it in order to monetize it.
The giant telecoms are going to great lengths to confuse the public. They even created a front group and signed organizations on as members without their consent. Comcast has been promoting its program to provide low cost Internet to the poor despite its failure.
Internet neutrality is confusing. If you want to understand this important issue more, you can participate in an online discussion on June 14. Click here for more information. If you want to file a public comment with the FCC, you will find information about that by clicking here.
And check out the Rolling Rebellion for Real Democracy. Actions are being planned across the US the week after July 4 to raise awareness of the illegitimacy of our government.
Countering the lies
Hedges writes that following violent repression, “the state invests tremendous energy to foster historical amnesia.” In fact, such amnesia and distraction are tools the state often uses to maintain the status quo.
The recent vilification of Bowe Bergdahl is an example of an attempt to bolster the War Culture in the US by avoiding the harder questions raised by his return. In response, CODEPINK, Veterans for Peace and other groups held a press conference and rally in DC to speak about the Afghanistan War and the prison at Guantanamo Bay. Medea Benjamin and Alli McCracken also wrote that Obama no longer has excuses to keep Guantanamo open.
This is why whistleblowing and a truly open Internet are fundamental in the struggle for justice. And it’s why we mustn’t allow ourselves to be fooled or taken off track. In addition to tools for justice, we need creative ways to reach people such as these powerful one word ads in Boston exposing Israeli apartheid. For other creative ideas, check out CreativeResistance.org.
In the face of corruption, let’s show courage and create tools for justice. People power is showing every week that by working together we can prevail.