‘Our Generation, Our Choice,’ Say Young People as They Ready for Mass Civil Disobedience

[marmar]

‘Our Generation, Our Choice,’ Say Young People as They Ready for Mass Civil Disobedience

Posted on Nov 8, 2015
By Sarah Lazare / Common Dreams


Buoyed by President Barack Obama’s fresh rejection of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, thousands of young people from across the country are preparing to unleash on Monday what they say will be the “largest-ever civil disobedience for racial, climate, and immigrant justice.”

Under the banner of “Our Generation, Our Choice,” the mobilization will sweep Washington, D.C. one year ahead of the 2016 national elections “to demand REAL leadership and make candidates’ agendas work for our movements, and for our future,” according to a group statement.

But the real emphasis, say organizers, will be on grassroots movement-building.

“The choice is clear: politicians are failing to take our country to where it needs to go, so a movement of young people will lead us there,” wrote Yong Jung Cho of 350.org, Waleed Shahid of Working Families, Devontae Torriente of Million Hoodies, and Sara Blazevic of the Fossil Fuel Student Divestment Network in a recent statement.

“Politicians continue to throw away billions of dollars incarcerating people, deporting mothers and fathers, and polluting our people and our planet,” the organizers added. “They continue to saddle us with student debt. They aren’t helping create real jobs that can sustain us. They stand by as many of our friends live in daily fear of police and immigration enforcement. And they continue subsidizing polluting fossil fuel companies who destroy the land we live on and the air we breathe.”

“We take action to tell the American people: let’s get it done together,” the statement continued. ..............(more)

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/our_generation_our_choice_say_youth_readying_for_mass_civil_20151108

[Punkingal]

1. Awesome!

[rhett o rick]

71. Looking down I think it's fair to say that Clinton supporters don't agree with you.

You don't see them saying that we need to fix a corrupt system that favors their candidate. They might want to fix Citizens United but after Clinton uses it to her advantage.

[raouldukelives]

2. K&R We will get the most change we demand. nt

[jalan48]

3. Great to see. I hope it continues until meaninful change starts to happen.

[gregcrawford]

4. The most important issue in ANY group's crosshairs...

... should be killing the Trans-Pacific Partnership. If that festering malignancy is allowed to become law, no other protests will matter in the slightest, if they're allowed to occur at all.

[jwirr]

46. Totally agree. If more power is usurped by the rich and the

corporations before we can stop it we may never get the chance to get a say in this mess. The TPP has to be stopped.

Many of us cannot be there in person - I hope they ask us to take action - and name that actions - in support of their protests.

[dixiegrrrrl]

86. If those of us who cannot be there were to send even 5.00 to help with expenses.....

I am enthused about how many folks here who say they can see the serious dangers ahead and are ready to support meaningful change.

[fasttense]

5. So will Obama organize the mass pepper spraying and forced removal

of the protesters? It's kind of what he does when he has his base protesting. Unlike the RepubliCONS who embrace their base.

He was assigned to demoralize and crush the liberal base of the Democratic Party. He has done a very good job of it with the help of the 3rd way Democrats. Now for the cherry on top - to pass the trade agreement from hell- the TPP.

[SammyWinstonJack]

10. Occupy Wall Street come to mind.

[Enthusiast]

34. Yooj Plus One!

[arcane1]

57. Hopefully the protesters won't be wielding any scary Greg Palast books! n/t

[monicaangela]

6. I am so happy to hear

this is finally taking place. For me as someone who is not a part of this younger generation, but will support them because my children and grandchildren are, I say it is about time. We all need to participate in shaping the future, younger people more so than us older folk. I often wonder why younger people who have the most to lose are not out voting in greater numbers. I wonder why they haven't been protesting more the things that the wealthy and people of my generation have been causing them to suffer. This nation will soon belong to this group, and if they don't begin to take it from the hands of the Oligarchs and their offspring, it will be nothing but misery for them. I believe they will experience much worse times than we have if they don't wake up and take a stand.

This Post brings joy to my heart, I have hoped and prayed that the different organizations/movements would finally wake up and consolidate. I really wish these groups would organize under one umbrella as the Oligarchs and Corporatist do and fight back...boycott, that has always been a way to get those that are lovers of money to stand up and take notice. It is the younger generation that enables the older generation. I hope this is a sign of a change in that attitude. Time for real change, and a movement such as this just might be the change we have been waiting for.

Thanks for posting this Marmar, I hope you continue to follow this movement and keep the rest of us informed.

[MineralMan]

7. I hope someone posts photos of this "mass gathering."

It should have already started, since it was scheduled for 9 AM EST.

I'll keep my eyes open for them.

[leftofcool]

14. Not exactly a "mass" gathering but here are a few photos from their live update.

http://ourgenerationourchoice.org/live-updates/

[MineralMan]

18. Thanks for the link.

Looks like a few hundred participants. Not bad for one of these types of protests, really.

[dixiegrrrrl]

27. Also..photos here.

https://twitter.com/search?q=Our%20Generation%2C%20Our%20Choice&src=typd

[daybranch]

78. Where is the League of Conservation voters?

Oh wait , I forgot they plan to endorse Hillary, so this march may be a big problem if they participate.

[yeoman6987]

59. Wow. You are right. Not much. I was hoping national coverage but probably not

Good effort though.

[retrowire]

8. civil disobedience??? uhhh n/t

[demwing]

22. What, are you stunned?

care to elaborate?

[retrowire]

31. what kind of civil disobedience? n/t

[merrily]

51. Hopefully, the kind that Thoreau, Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Jr. advocated.

King modeled on Ghandi, who modeled on Thoreau.

[Le Taz Hot]

87. I'm hearing buzz about strikes.

There are a lot of different issues right now that are firing people up. The strike talk I've seen has been about the $15.00 minimum wage but other issues include the TPP and social/racial justice movements. I'm seeing clouds gather here and I believe there's a backlash coming.

[retrowire]

88. that's cool. n/t

[Eleanors38]

50. I have no problem with that change method; in fact, it's essential.

[merrily]

52. And then some!

[w0nderer]

9. K & R N/T

[tiredtoo]

11. Did not see a date for this action

please show me where it is posted.

[marmar]

13. It's today.

[leftofcool]

15. Try their official site

8 am November 9 Franklin Square Washington DC

[SHRED]

12. Organize young people to vote

Demonstrations will do nothing if this age group continues to not vote.

[marmar]

16. Sorry, but real change happens from the bottom.

Until movements push from below, politicians aren't going to advocate for the massive changes needed. FDR was pushed by the socialists and communists. JFK and Johnson by the Civil Rights Movement. And on and on......

[mountain grammy]

19. So true!

[AOR]

40. +1

[raccoon]

43. You ought to start a thread on this. It is so true.

"Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has, and it never will." -- Frederick Douglass

[Eleanors38]

56. I agree, marmar.

[dixiegrrrrl]

28. If voting changed anything, we would not need demonstrations.

Not now, not in the 60'--70's, not anytime in history..

[SHRED]

92. Young people don't vote so Sanders is doomed I'm afraid.

[dixiegrrrrl]

94. I think young people understand the need to vote this time around.

Social media indicates a lot of understanding.

[Le Taz Hot]

91. Vote for what?

Vote for whom? The goes beyond people voting -- the corporations have taken over every aspect of the voting apparatus. As other posters have said, change is going to have to be from the ground up. And your "demonstrations will do nothing" claim is 100% false. Activism is the ONLY thing that has ever changed anything.

[allan01]

17. good luck

things like this are marred by police outsiders . i will join you in spirit.

[maxrandb]

20. Fugg that

want to do something? GET OUT AND VOTE...EVEN WHEN IT'S NOT A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Run for School Board. Get on city council. Volunteer with your local Democratic Party.

Civil disobedience is all well and good, but getting the crazy nut-bag hate radio listening ass-pickles out of your local and national government leadership will do 1000 times more than marching in the streets.

[MillennialDem]

24. It's easier to get people to engage in civil disobedience and then drive (metaphorically) them to

the polls.

[rhett o rick]

72. With big money controlling elections down to the school board level, some are become totally

disillusioned with the corrupt voting system of the oligarchy. Why vote if it's Corp Thing 1 vs. Corp Thing 2??

[marmar]

25. to elect people who'll spout platitudes to them and do pretty much nothing for them when in office?

..... again, the dramatic changes needed aren't going to take place until there is a massive push from below. FDR wouldn't have ushered in the New Deal without the massive push from socialists and other leftist groups, and the Civil Rights Act wouldn't have come about without the civil rights movement. Our current crop of politicians, right-wing crazies and sadly Democrats too, have demonstrated that they don't give a frog's fat a** what the public thinks, whether it be bank bailouts or wars or warped trade agreements. Replacing A with B will not matter until the people demonstrate that they have had enough.

[dixiegrrrrl]

29. "those who forget history are doomed to repeat it"

As you say, Marmar, we have not forgotten history, nor what worked.

[maxrandb]

33. That is the most rediculous argument for surrendering our country to the crazies

I've ever heard...and you hear it about 1000 times a day on DU.

Sorry, but the US Government is like a World War II era Battleship. It take quite a bit of time to change course.

We've been on a steady rightward tilt for the past 40 years, but there is NO DOUBT what-so-ever that Hillary Clinton will take this country in a far different direction than Ted Cruz or Ben Carson, or any of the nut-bags running on the Republican side.

I'm sorry if you want a 180 degree turn, but right now, we may only be able to execute a 45 degree turn, but make no mistake...that's turn in the right direction

I've said this before and I'll say it again. FDR would be smeared on DU as too Conservative today, just as would JFK or Jimmy Carter, and don't even mention Harry Truman. Hell, you'd think from some of the posts on DU that Barack Obama has been just as "bad" as either McCain or Romney would have been, or even worse! BULLSHIT!!!!

I'll support Democrats and will work from within our Democracy to move this country progressively forward, and understand that I'm not going to get 100% of what I want.

That's a hell of a lot better than turning this country over to evil right-wingers that want to destroy our society.

[marmar]

36. You honestly think you'll get a 45-degree turn with Hillary?

Good luck with that.

[merrily]

55. Civil disobediences does not = turning the country over to right wingers.

[Rex]

66. It does to the uneducated and those that lack vital understanding of history.

They live in a tiny world. Pity them.

[merrily]

67. Always good to see you, Rex. You always have a good word to give me.

The stolid defense of the status quo, no matter what it is, baffles and gobstops me.

[Rex]

68. The status quo is unsubstanable. The longer it goes on the more suffer and go without food.

Shelter, water etc.. Our current model of predatory capitalism is unviable but for a tiny handful of uber wealthy families.

[merrily]

69. Too many are still comfortable. First, they came for the welfare recipients, then they came for the

elderly and disabled...

[AOR]

41. +2

[jeff47]

38. And you know what happens when you actually do that?

You discover just how corrupt our party is. They'd prefer a blank on the ballot to the "wrong" kind of Democrat, and will work very hard to accomplish that.

[newfie11]

45. Getting out and voting is necessary, goes without saying

BUT consider voter suppression, gerrymandering, and voting machine tampering needs to be taken into account.

Of course nothing gets changed, more Repugs get elected and it continues.

Oh well is the attitude!

[Eleanors38]

48. Demonstrations, CD, and protests. ARE part of political change in the U.S.A....

And are used when the Official System has broken down.

Which is often.

Which is now.

[merrily]

53. Many would thank heaven Ghandi did not agree.

[rhett o rick]

70. Some people think that voting is the end-all. But other people have come to the conclusion

that voting in a system that include gerrymandering, disenfranchisement and out right election fraud, isn't the end-all. It's playing along with the same old bullcrap. Also, people are getting sick of the oligarchy controlled system that determines who runs for office. The Oligarchy want to buy a spot in the general for Clinton. Goldman-Sachs said "Clinton-Bush or Bush- Clinton" the oligarchy doesn't care.

It's time to peacefully disrupt the existing corrupt system. Time to get those like Clinton that are beholden to big money, out of politics.

[1939]

76. Gerrymandering, disenfranchisement, and voting fraud

Didn't suddenly leap into being in 2000. They have been a part of this nation from the beginning and were inherited from the English system of government. There was a lot more of all three when FDR was elected.

[rhett o rick]

82. Ok, but what's your point? Continue telling people that the system works?

Millions of people are now enthused about voting because Sen Sanders is an honest politician and may be able to work to change the corrupt system that is run by the oligarchy.

[1939]

84. Those three things aren't run by the oligarchy, they are run by the political class.

Money in politics donated by the oligarchy has often corrupted the political class.

The oligarchs stay out of the gerrymandering business.

[rhett o rick]

85. Sorry, but I still don't understand your point. The Oligarchs fund the corruption.

We need to break their hold on our political process.

[djean111]

83. Yes. And get high enough, and Wasserman-DINO will push you right back down.

That's how the DNC rolls. She would much rather support a Republican buddy than a liberal Democrat.

[MillennialDem]

21. Honestly by far the best civil disobedience us millennials could engage in is walking off the

job for a week and watching the country grind to a halt. Imagine if every (or even 50%) 18-35 year old went on strike for a week.

[AOR]

39. +1

You get the picture crystal clear. Workers crossing their arms in mass, in the streets, is a far more powerful message to the capitalists than groveling for change that will NEVER happen by merely voting for "a savior" and going back to sleep. Shaking the working class from our slumber and realizing the power we have in mass struggle - rather than gutless individual "solutions" like merely "voting and hoping" - is the leftist task at hand.

"Too long have the workers waited for some Moses to lead them out of bondage. I would not lead you out if I could; for if you could be led out, you could be led back again. I would have you make up your minds there is nothing that you cannot do for yourselves."

--Eugene V. Debs

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Class Struggle and the American Working Class

--Written by John Peterson

"For millions of people around the world, the United States represents the ultimate citadel of reaction: Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, Hillary Clinton, the CIA, imperialism, sanctions, war, drones, anti-communism, discrimination, and exploitation. The American people are alleged to be a homogeneous bloc of ignorant, indifferent racists who blindly and enthusiastically back the reactionary economic and military policies of their government. Many people—even on the left— imagine that the US is immune from class conflict, and that life for the majority in the “belly of the beast” is prosperous and peaceful. However, while there may be an element of truth in some of this, the reality is far more complex. The United States is in fact a society riven with deep class contradictions. It has an enormous and powerful working class and an inspiring revolutionary past—and future."

(Snip)

Class struggle

"So just what is the class struggle? Simply defined, the class struggle is the struggle over the surplus wealth created by the producing classes. Will that surplus go towards further enriching the minority that controls society? Or will it go towards improving the quality of life of the working majority who actually produce the wealth? Or perhaps we can live in a world without exploiters, where society democratically determines what is to be done with the wealth we collectively produce?

The ruling class is that class which controls the state and owns the means of production of society—the land and natural resources, the workshops and factories, the banks. The actual producers of wealth are those who own nothing but their ability to work, and are therefore either owned outright as slaves, tied to the land as feudal serfs, perhaps own a tiny plot of land on which they scrape out an existence while still having to work and pay debts to others, or sell their labor power for a wage to a capitalist. That is the simplified essence of the class struggle. In the modern era, that struggle is above all between the working class and the capitalist class."

(Snip)

Class society

"All of this applies to the US just as much as any other country dominated by capitalism—you cannot have an exploiting capitalist class without a working class that is being exploited. Long before US capitalism entered its predatory, imperialist phase, the ruling class enriched itself on the vast natural resources and labor of millions of people right here on the American continent.

In fact, America’s more than 155 million workers are among the most exploited on the planet. Based on an extremely high level of labor productivity, American workers create vast amounts of wealth for the capitalists, but receive only a small ratio of that back in the form of wages. The effects of a strike of even a small portion of the American workers would be devastating to the profits of the capitalists. For example, just 36,000 unionized dock workers load and unload every ship on the West coast of the United States. This means that every single container imported to the US Pacific coast from Asia and beyond must first pass through the hands of a relative handful of union workers. Even a one-day strike of these dockers would result in billions of dollars in losses to the capitalists. This is a clear indication of the colossal power of the US working class.

The working class is the overwhelming majority of the USA; the wonders of its cities, railroads, highways, mines, industry, and vast tracts of farmland are the result of the workers’ sweat, tears, blood, and brains. And yet, Americans themselves are rarely taught the truth about their own history. There is a very simple reason for this. If American workers were to understand their true power and their class’s repeated attempts to change society, they might be tempted to engage in open class struggle again and again—and this represents a mortal threat to the continuation of the capitalist system."


Full article at link...

http://www.marxist.com/the-class-struggle-and-the-american-working-class.htm

[MillennialDem]

65. "though they offer us concessions, change will not come from above"

[merrily]

54. Yes, but so much harder to accomplish in the US than in Europe.

[newfie11]

23. We did it in the 60's

More power to them!!!!
Wish I was able to get out there too.

[maxrandb]

35. Right

did that in the 60's and the United States have never since gotten embroiled in a terrible war, our Social Safety net is stronger than ever, women's rights are protected and advanced, minority rights are protected and advanced, wages have flourished for the Middle Class and Coal Plants emit rainbow colored vapor that smells like Unicorn Farts.

What's that? None of that happened? Oh well, I guess no one told us we had to vote too!

[newfie11]

44. Ok then everyone just sit in their fat ass

And welcome the world of 1984! At least we tried unlike apparently you!
If one doesn't try nothing changes! Here you go, enjoy what you've got.
Apparently that's your choice, go for it.
I will be leaving the country.

[maxrandb]

60. You have no idea what I have done

I wasn't old enough to march in the 60's, but I have volunteered and worked for progressive causes locally. Let's not forget that none of the changes, Social Security, Medicare, Civil Rights Act, Health Care Reform happened until they were enacted into law

That means we elected people to office that supported those ideas, or we made it so politically unviable to oppose those ideas that they passed.

And did we get everything we wanted at the time? Hell No! But we made progress. We compromised with those that were a little to the right, so that we could GOVERN.

Hell, we had better hope that the Republicans don't ever get their shit together, because if they do, those progressive changes that people fought and died for will be obliterated.

Don't you get it? The folks on the right have been fighting against and trying to dump Social Security since the day it was signed into law.

Civil Disobedience is all well and good, and can play an major role in moving us forward, but only if that passion is carried all the way to the ballot box.

I don't give a shit if you have 10,000,000 people marching in the street, if all we end up doing is electing President Cruz and flipping even more states Red.

We are one election away from the bastards getting everything they want. I don't give a flip if Senator Warner from Virginia supports a strong military and is a "Moderate" Dem. Give me him 1,000,000 times as the Chair of the Armed Service Committee over John McCain.

Keep pushing that BS that there is no difference between the parties, and you're going to wake up one day and find out just how fucking different the parties truly are.

I hope I don't live to see it, and I can't afford to "leave the country". We better wake up and quit fighting the people that are trying to make steady liberal progress in this country, or we are screwed.

Good luck strengthening the Social Safety Net with complete Repuke control.

[Eleanors38]

49. Labor rights & unions didn't spring forth from a 10th grade civics lecture on voting...

And the Voting Rights Acts and Public Accomodations Acts saw quite a few folks in the streets in the 60s, you know? Roe v. Wade, Medicare & Medicaid were helped by a liberal/left movement throughout the 60s & 70s which legitimized many causes. That legitimacy came from disruption, shake-ups, and material challenge to corporate power.

Were this to have caused the elimination of elective wars, would have been even better. But remember: Reagan and his Far Right power structure virtually invented the term "Vietnam Syndrome" in their campaign to re-legitimize war at earliest opportunity, and did their Panamas and Granadas in an effort to neutralize the impact of the 60s demonstrations.

Please don't avoid street actions, boycotts, strikes, etc. They are essential to change in this society. In fact they are part of the real System.

[dixiegrrrrl]

89. Ever heard the story of the crab pot?

Where I come from, catching crabs off long docks is popular.
and when you catch one, you toss it into a 2 foot high basket.
Then you fish for another one.
The crabs in the basket could climb out
but
every time one tries to reach up and scramble out of the basket, the other grab hold of it and it falls down.

Sorta like anti-change people here.

[Eleanors38]

95. Heh. I hadn't heard that one. Metaphorically, a distant relative to boiling frogs.

That's the trouble with the 60s. It was too long ago for most, and you have only the frayed edges of legend to judge the effectiveness of street action.

[Thirties Child]

26. I'm a member of the Silent Generation

and I applaud these young people. I'd love to join them. If, of course, I could bring my walker!

[dixiegrrrrl]

32. Those of us who marched 50 years ago can support those who can march today

by even small donations.

[Omaha Steve]

30. Good for them

K&R!

OS

[Enthusiast]

37. Kicked and recommended!

Right on!

[Lifelong Protester]

42. Do it!

[ryan_cats]

47. Yes!

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x18g3e_the-who-won-t-get-fooled-again_music

[G_j]

58. any news

on today's activities?

[tblue37]

61. The kids are all right! nt

[maxrandb]

62. March in the streets? Civil Disobedience?

Tell me again what the "youth" vote turn out in the recent Kentucky Governor election was?

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

64. Looking in vain for a candidate for whom it was worth voting, maybe? nt

[marmar]

74. Sounds like you're missing the forest for the trees

[wildbilln864]

63. awesome...where do I sign up to help support them?

[MuseRider]

73. This brought tears to my eyes.

I have been telling my husband this was coming. Listening to my children and their friends who are in their 30's trying to survive under crushing debt already and looking around finally and seeing what has been going on while they tried to make a life. This was coming, it had to happen and I am so happy it is happening now. The best part of all of it is that they know they have to come from many groups and they are going to skip the fighting and start out as a strong, force together.

This old hippie is so very very happy to see this. I will stand with or behind, where ever you want us but I bet you will have a lot of support from us older people. We have been waiting for you.

[Paka]

77. K&R

This is so great to hear. I was out there in the streets fifty years ago and it did make a difference. I'm thousands of miles away living outside the US because in retirement I can no longer afford to live in my country. If I were closer I would be with them in body; now only in spirit.

GO BERNIE!

[LiberalElite]

79. Glad to read this but

This article is dated Nov. 8 and refers to "Monday" Was this to happen on Monday, Nov. 9? Does anyone know what happened? I just looked at Google News and of course, no mention.

[upaloopa]

80. Probably happened on forums like this and on facebook and twitter.

That's where most of the Bernie momentum is.

[LiberalElite]

81. Really? Thousands of people show up to hear Bernie

you should really get your head out of the corporate sponsored sand.

Thanks for the non-answer to my serious question though. It just confirms a lot.

[X_Digger]

93. "Butbutbut.. Fallout 4.. can we do this, like, next weekend?"

Sorry, I've seen too many 'youth movements' crash because of the gnat's ass-sized attention spans of today's youth.