Editor’s note: this piece, found by Fe Bongolan, was originally published at Goldfish’s own blog and Daily Kos. It’s a personal account of an important current political event — perfect Aries Point illustration. – amanda
by Goldfish
Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son?
Oh, where have you been, my darling young one?
My body should ache right now.
I’m not yet thirty, but already I can feel my youth slipping away. I have muscle pains I never had before, and I can’t have more than a couple drinks without my head and stomach making me pay hell for it the next day, and the last time I tried to sleep on a hardwood floor of a friend’s apartment, I had a bruise on my hip that took a week to heal. So sleeping on a cold marble floor should be out of the question.
Yet on the night of Saturday, February 19th I slept on the floor of the Capital Building of the State of Wisconsin and suffered no ill effects. I didn’t get much sleep, it’s true, but later I felt no aches in my back or hips. No pinched neck or frozen shoulders. In fact, my body felt better than it had in months, maybe in years. I almost felt my age.
As anyone who reads my blogs knows, I have an extremely dark view of our contemporary society, which I have increasingly come to see as deranged and psychotic. And it was in fact the malignant manifestation of this psychopathy, that sickness in the Wisconsin state legislature, that lead me to make my bed on the floor of the Capital Rotunda. But that is why I now feel better about my country, my world, and indeed my species than I have in years. Because sleeping along side me were over four hundred Americans representing almost every walk of life who are just as Fucking Pissed about the Current Order of Things as I am. And after day broke over the Capital dome on Sunday morning our numbers would grow, until at noon that four hundred would number nearly one hundred thousand.
I’ve always been at odds with the activist left. Even though my politics are best described as Libertarian-Socialist (an ideology whose most famous intellectual is Noam Chomsky) me and other lefties out in the same area of the political spectrum just don’t quite see eye to eye. Too often I’ve felt their actions amount to some romanticized nostalgia trip; humping some glorious vision of the past with no regard for long term strategic political thinking, or the meat-hook realities that await anyone unable to supplant the Capitalist System. They put on Protest Theater instead of actual protest; all pre-scripted and predictable. If they hold non-violent protests then the Kingdom of Terror presents it as evidence that we are in fact not living in the criminal state we most clearly live in. If they resist with force they merely further justify the existence of the Security State and its elaborate pageants of Security Theater.
Well, not this time. This time the protests were real, the solidarity was real, nothing was preordained and the possibilities are endless as long as we have the determination to see them through.
I saw people from all walks of life join together in the capitol together to fight for each others Human rights and basic dignity; to stand up and resist the brutal class war (which more closely resembles economic genocide) of the American Middle Class. There was nothing corny or dowdy about referring to each other as Sister or Brother; everyone who had come out to demonstrate, many for days at a time, was my family. It feels very weird, savagely surreal, for me to even write a sentence like that. I’m a misanthrope with a weakness for assuming the worst about people, not because I’m vindictive or hateful, but because the sad reality of my life to date has more or less proved this to be the most grounded and realistic stance to take. But for the first time I can remember I honestly felt like there might be more people in the world who are genuinely good than those who are loathsomely self-interested or simply apathetic; that in fact there are thousands of decent human beings who are as fed up and angry as I’ve been at the deranged nature of our society.
I didn’t think anything could wake Americans up to what’s been going on in our country or force us to overcome our petty differences and unite for the Common Good. But I saw off-duty cops and prison guards stand shoulder to shoulder with anarchopunks and communists; I saw strangers treat each other with politeness and care, not out of any normative social expectation, but because it was what they genuinely felt for each other. And all I could think was: Hey, maybe Humans have a chance to survive after all. Maybe we even deserve to.
There’s no telling exactly where this is all headed. Scott Walker is a loathsome crony capitalist who isn’t qualified to manage a bodega let alone a state. If this bill, a piece of pure legislative fascism in the most literal sense, passes it will cause the sort of social unrest this country has not seen since the end of the Vietnam War. And what started in Madison is already spreading to other states across the Rust Belt as newly-elected Teabagger governments attempt to institute similarly regressive measures.
Will working people and the middle class finally set aside their internal differences and work together? Will the American Left be able to overcome its tendency to factionalize and get bogged down in minutia? It’s too soon to say. But the days of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays, is coming to an end. The battle for democracy and the economic survival of the American People is finally joined. The fate of the country and indeed the World rests on its outcome.
Oh, what’ll you do now, my blue-eyed son?
Oh, what’ll you do now, my darling young one?
I’m a-goin’ back out ’fore the rain starts a-fallin’
I’ll walk to the depths of the deepest black forest
Where the people are many and their hands are all empty
Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters
Where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prison
Where the executioner’s face is always well hidden
Where hunger is ugly, where souls are forgotten
Where black is the color, where none is the number
And I’ll tell it and think it and speak it and breathe it
And reflect it from the mountain so all souls can see it
Then I’ll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin’
But I’ll know my song well before I start singin’
And it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard
It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall
woo hoo, men in blue!
🙂
kyle, thank you for sharing that news about the WI professional police association. very cool.
http://www.dane101.com/current/2011/02/25/wisconsin_professional_police_association_calls_for_capitol_to_be_kept_open_annou
Wisconsin Professional Police Association calls for Capitol to be kept open; announces officer sleepover
Even though efforts are being made to close the Capitol this weekend, the Wisconsin Professional Police Association has different plans. This just in:
MADISON—Following action by lawmakers to approve a rule change that clears the way for closing down the State Capitol and ejecting the people protesting Governor Walker’s bill to curtail union activity, the head of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association called on the governor today to keep the capitol building open and allow the peaceful protesters to remain.
“The law enforcement officers from across the state that have been working at the Capitol and have been very impressed with how peaceful everyone has been,” said WPPA Executive Director Jim Palmer. “As has been reported in the media, the protesters are cleaning up after themselves and have not caused any problems. The fact of that matter is that Wisconsin’s law enforcement community opposes Governor Walker’s effort to eliminate most union activity in this state, and we implore him to not do anything to increase the risk to officers and the public. The costs of providing security can never outweigh those associated with a conflict.”
Palmer also announced that, beginning tonight, the WPPA is formally requesting its members from across the state to come to the Capitol to sleep amongst the throngs of other union supporters.
“Law enforcement officers know the difference between right and wrong, and Governor Walker’s attempt to eliminate the collective voice of Wisconsin’s devoted public employees is wrong,” continued Palmer. “That is why we have stood with our fellow employees each day and why we will be sleeping among them tonight.”
Brendan,
Your picasa album reminded me of a project a friend of mine did with fellow teachers, collecting border stories to share with their students;
http://vghsborders.wordpress.com/2009/04/
Your pictures highlight many of their stories, especially from the July posts, and these the beauty of the green you see as well; http://vghsborders.wordpress.com/2009/07/31/and-amongst-it-all-is-beauty/
♥☮♫ ~ s
Brendan, I so share that wish, hope, and make it an intention, that those souls not be lost. I too have friends in that part of the world, so a piece of my own heart is there with you. And it sounds like you yourself are a human locus of goodness within a situation so at risk, so I thank you for that, just as one human being to another. It’s a heck of a hard place to stand.
Sounds like your brother is doing some wonderful work too. Good to hear about.
All – as regards the bill, I was reading that only the Wisconsin Assembly (lower house) has passed the bill, but the Senate has to approve it as well, and that is where the on-the-lam Democrats come in: at least one of them has to be there for the Senate to pass the bill. The jury is still out, in other words, and the fight is still on!
Carrie – thank you for the kind invitation and I shall tuck your email away for future reference! I go up to Washington virtually every year (my home state) and going up there via Flag and Utah is a great alternative to the mess that is I-5.
Jere – The desert here truly is a wonderful place, and it really doesn’t deserve the title. There are far too many green things around, and far too much rain during the monsoon season. My brother is the permaculturist in the family: he has 20 acres out in the valley, and plans on a truck garden in the near future. He has actual, real soil on about 3 acres, with a separate well for irrigation (great water), and intends to turn his hand to vegetables. Not full-tilt organic, as in certified, but as organic as one guy can do. Me, I’m the family technogeek, the one who sets up anything and everything electronic. I weave webs of electrons, and sense the changes within…
For a photo essay of Cochise County, everyone can visit my Picasa album:
https://picasaweb.google.com/bjwahl59/TheBorderLaFronteraLaFrontiere#
I took these last winter, about 11 miles east of Bisbee, and the comments are pretty much stream of consciousness mutterings.
A big thank you to all who responded to me. I guess my main wish is that in all the change that is to come, and the changes that are, that we don’t forget the rural folk of this country of ours. At times the sense of isolation from the rest of the country is overwhelming, that the rest of the planet is moving off at a high speed, and we’re stuck, just making ends meet, and watching what is left around us crumble.
Peace, everyone. Peace, with an edge of righteousness, and some snark for the hypocrites out there. {I’m just following Fe’s lead here…}
Fe, I couldn’t agree more that hope is not lost — that was my point. I’m glad also that hope in terms of this particular legislation is not lost either….. but I really meant it when I claimed a victory. This was a victory upon which further victories will build. I have zero doubt of that.
Jere and Brendan,
I live up in Flagstaff Arizona, a progressive town. It is beautiful here and a lot of people are active in progressive work. If either of you ever swing into this town, e-mail me before you arrive. My e-mail is carecare7@msn.com.
Things will get better. They will.
kyla:
Hope is not lost. There are plans for a nationwide rally across state capitols tomorrow in solidarity with the workers of Wisconsin.
Wisconsin’s democratic senators have not returned from their prolonged absence, and they still need a full quorum to pass the legislation.
Let’s wait and see.
Brendan (if you catch this), I wanted to volley a couple of thoughts with ya. One is: I know exactly where you’re talking about, I spent about three weeks in that area back in ’94: van broke down in the middle of the twighlight zone. Spent some days in the mission on the main highway running through Bisbee. Got to stare in amazement at this MASSIVE FREAKING HOLE (that mine is Seriously BIG). Slept on the roof of McDonalds in Sierra Vista, (damn straight that’s a military town, and homeless hippies stick out like a sore thumb: homelessness existed only in Cochise County Jail, which happened to be accommodating one of my fellow travelers who didn’t realize culinary fungi were a class 4 FELONY.) ..but the desert. I love southern Arizona geography, it’s beautiful out there. Which brings my next thought over the net: that area would be really fun to permaculture. Its environment would take a skilled artist (which you are) to alchemize the personal achievement with collective cooperation. The ‘natural resources’ in that area are vast.
..I also spent a few days with a family in Tuscon, the Walkinghorse’s (we bought their car, helped them move, and had a good time for a few days: very cool trip!)
..anyway, it’s nice to chat with you. I always enjoy reading your input.
Peace
Jere
So, this morning Wisconsin legislature did pass the bill limiting union and workers rights. I have not read the details of how this was done, but I do know one thing: Even though this is on the surface a defeat for the rights of the populace, there are victories embedded in that “defeat”. Too many people got activated. Too many people got activated, motivated to read the wording of the proposed legislation, and observe the machinations of the controllers. Too many people decided mutually to stand forth together in public over nine days. Too many people learned how much they actually have in common with those often seen as “other” interest groups. Too many people joined forces peaceably across too many artificial divides. Too many people harmoniously took care of the logistics of a large gathering, including keeping the Capitol building clean and functional during the occupation.
These people all will have learned a lot about what is real, where their interests lie, who their allies are, and what they value and cherish.
I claim this as a victory for human liberation.
THANK YOU, Fe, and Amanda (and Eric for having the space to post it), for giving Goldfish a place to be heard. Finally! Someone else who is Fucking Pissed and who has been given the venue to say so. In these past few years (in the run up to 2012), I have frequented many blogs and message boards and talks in real life and they all seem to be about “spreading the love” and “being the light.” Yet a screaming voice inside me kept saying “Ok, I KNOW it should be about love and all that but right now it is about being Fucking Pissed first!” There is something to the ideology of positivity; it is a good thing but there is also an equally valid point of view of the Pissed Off people who are pissed off because they see the bullshit and they want to TELL people about it. They are the balloon poppers, the reality people, the seers who say things no one wants to hear but that MUST be said.
I was feeling that scream well up and every time I even let out a teeny squeak of it, people on those blogs and message boards and in real life would shush me and say I must spread positivity, not negativity. Yet for this Virgo Rising, you cannot fix or change something unless you KNOW what the fuck you are dealing with. (Does the language and vehemence with which I use it sound like Mars or what?)
It is time for the warriors of us, all those people who see the current political and economic and social bullshit for what it is and have righteous anger about it, to be heard. It is time to stop shushing us. There’s nothing bad about righteous anger because it is anger based on what you KNOW is a wrong that needs redressing. Slavery (of any kind) was wrong, IS wrong, and will ALWAYS be wrong so anger about it is righteous. Mistreatment of human beings for profit was wrong, IS wrong, and will always be wrong so anger about it is righteous. Big Business wants to be able to misuse human beings even more than they already do; that is wrong and the people of Wisconsin and the Middle East are Fucking Pissed about that are are taking a stand and being angry with righteous anger about it. The time for love will come but first, anger comes to point the way, to take a stand, to clear the way for that positive love to happen. Anger comes like a peace-tsunami, washing away the filth, dirt, psychosis, and craziness that our society has been dealing with for too long; leaving the world clean and ready for a new way of being, a positive and loving way.
Hear-hear for the people who are Fucking Pissed off enough to stand up and be HEARD; to stand up PEACEFULLY for what they KNOW is right and fair and just for all people.
Fe, you have been able to see deep inside me, and yes, I was feeling rather reflective when I wrote that. I am feeling truly impatient right now, and am very tired of the pussy-footing that so many engage in to avoid truly dealing with the situation(s) at hand.
I don’t doubt those undercurrents of change at all. Here it seems as if everyone will rise, Anglo and Hispanic alike, when the time comes. Many people of all colors are truly upset at what the state legislature is doing, and the backlash is slowly gaining power. The “Neros” of Phoenix are definitely fiddling while Rome burns…
Economics here is the deciding factor, and if you’re normal, you’re not doing well. There is little opportunity for youth, and the military takes many. The sad part is that there are no real prospects for a positive change in the jobs area: in some ways we are the back of beyond, and investment just doesn’t happen here.
Ah well, I must get ready for work: at least I have that!
Brendan:
I note an almost wistfully sad quality to your comment, and reading your situation, deservedly so.
I actually think of all of now at what appears to be the “quiet” corners of the planet as actually inside the eye of the storm.
Its a powerful thing to witness both the change and the stillness or lack of (apparent) movement. Peek underneath the communities of color in your state and I think you’ll find more activity and activism than dreamed.
Around here, Cochise County AZ., there are definite gaps and not so visible similarities. The largest city, Sierra Vista, only exists because of Fort Huachuca, where quite a few thousand Army personnel live. It forms this strange bubble of what some on the right would call “real America” but in fact has little to no resemblance of the rest of the county.
Poverty is all around me, and I am barely above being homeless myself actually, with almost no safety net whatsoever. Many of the students at the schools here, something like 65-70%, get free or reduced price meals twice a day. Agriculture, once the economic mainstay of the county, fled over water issues 35 years ago and never came back. Bisbee, once one of the largest copper mines in the country, is most noted for a giant hole in the ground and an arts community. The biggest employer is the county itself. That, and the federales: fortifying the border takes a lot of people, and often times the Border Patrol can seem like an occupying army.
The border actually brings a certain prosperity to the nearby towns. Mexican shoppers fill the stores at times, and to keep the flow of drugs moving takes people too, many of them locals (someone has to get it past La Migra). Other. legal, jobs are rare and hard to come by. Many people have several occupations, all part-time, that when combined, manage to be enough to keep themselves in food and shelter.
No one outside of the strange reality that is Sierra Vista and the drug trade seems to be doing better these days.
What is bad is that I fear that there will be no uprising here, no mass movement striving to make life better for all, no revolt against poverty. Instead, the right coasts along on the backs of everyone else, and continues to make life harder for those who have not. Apathy is king: the struggle to get by bleeds it out of most here, and politics is something far away and of no purpose.
That sense of apathetic loss is the worst enemy there is, for if one is so inflicted, one will not know enough to rid one’s self of it.
A few words on a windy night from semi-rural America.
This is the ‘graph that got me. That says, more than anything, the new being in our country aching to be born and pushing its way through.
Thanks Fe and Amanda, this is really good. Increasingly more voices like Goldfish are speaking out daily, showing some light on the loathsome future that others seek to impose, and it seems to be coming from everywhere…