CRASS: There Is No Authority But Yourself...

... punk is not my thing, nor is heavy metal, nor is rap....

AND... when I listen to the lyrics and the thoughts/ideas underpinning them, then punk, heavy metal and rap definitely speak the same truths I have come to understand via other paths...

LYRICS:

You talk about your revolution, well, that's fine
But what are you going to be doing come the time?
Are you going to be the big man with the tommy-gun?
Will you talk of freedom when the blood begins to run?
Well, freedom has no value if violence is the price
Don't want your revolution, I want anarchy and peace

You talk of overthrowing power with violence as your tool
You speak of liberation and when the people rule
Well ain't it people rule right now, what difference would there be?
Just another set of bigots with their rifle-sights on me

But what about those people who don't want your new restrictions?
Those that disagree with you and have their own convictions?
You say they've got it wrong because they don't agree with you
So when the revolution comes you'll have to run them through
You say that revolution will bring freedom for us all
Well freedom just ain't freedom when your back's against the wall

You talk of overthrowing power with violence as your tool
You speak of liberation and when the people rule
Well ain't it people rule right now, what difference would there be?
Just another set of bigots with their rifle-sights on me

Will you indoctrinate the masses to serve your new regime?
And simply do away with those whose views are too extreme?
Transportation details could be left to British rail
Where Zyklon B succeeded, North Sea Gas will fail
It's just the same old story of man destroying man
We've got to look for other answers to the problems of this land

You talk of overthrowing power with violence as your tool
You speak of liberation and when the people rule
Well ain't it people rule right now, what difference would there be?
Just another set of bigots with their rifle-sights on me

Vive la revolution, people of the world unite
Stand up men of courage, it's your job to fight

It all seems very easy, this revolution game
But when you start to really play things won't be quite the same
Your intellectual theories on how it's going to be
Don't seem to take into account the true reality
Cos the truth of what you're saying, as you sit there sipping beer
Is pain and death and suffering, but of course you wouldn't care

You're far too much of a man for that, if Mao did it so can you
What's the freedom of us all against the suffering of the few?
That's the kind of self-deception that killed ten million jews
Just the same false logic that all power-mongers use
So don't think you can fool me with your political tricks
Political right, political left, you can keep your politics
Government is government and all government is force
Left or right, right or left, it takes the same old course
Oppression and restriction, regulation, rule and law
The seizure of that power is all your revolution's for
You romanticise your heroes, quote from Marx and Mao
Well their ideas of freedom are just oppression now

Nothing changed for all the death, that their ideas created
It's just the same fascistic games, but the rules aren't clearly stated
Nothing's really different cos all government's the same
They can call it freedom, but slavery is the game

Nothing changed for all the death, that their ideas created
It's just the same fascistic games, but the rules aren't clearly stated
Nothing's really different cos all government's the same
They can call it freedom, but slavery is the game
There's nothing that you offer but a dream of last years hero
The truth of revolution, brother................... is year zero.

Yes... I Know, I Know...

... the last post was a whiney 'poor me' sulk from a privileged, middle class, middle-aged white woman who really doesn't have anything to bitch about...

In all our travails, my son and I have always still had:

• a warm and dry roof over our heads
• running water, sewer and heating
• clothes on our backs and shoes on our feet
• food for the next meal and some left over
• a vehicle to get us around and petrol in the tank
• books, music, toys and other things with which to entertain ourselves
• medical and dental care when we've needed it
• caring people in our lives
• the ability to access resources to help us

and we still have that... and there is only the NOW... so what am I complaining about?

Is it my sense of entitlement that's driving this dis-satisfaction?

I remember feeling guilty when I was driving us to legal appointments at the Refugee Women's Alliance, when I was dealing with the domestic violence and immigration issues, passing by other women (mostly non-white) waiting with their children, in the rain, at bus stops ...

I remember feeling guilty when I accessed and accepted the help of various agencies in dealing with our issues and needs... there was I, white, middle-class, educated, english-speaking, knowing how and where to look for help, taking/using resources women less equipped than I also needed ...

But then I also had a young child to care for, no money, was an (unintentional) illegal immigrant, had cancer, no family here, no support network - wasn't I just as entitled?

Why shouldn't we all feel entitled?   

Don't we all deserve the basic necessities of life, and a little more to satisfy the yearnings of the soul?

And there is enough to go around in this world... the issue is one not one of lack but rather one of control and distribution of resources...

Some of my hard-core socialist colleagues argue that the middle class is the enemy because it doesn't act in solidarity with the working class and the poor against the tyranny of the rich...

But I don't see why anyone should be expected to feel guilty for an accident of birth that placed them in the ranks of the 'haves', rather than the 'have nots'...

And I don't think the solution is to reduce everyone to the level of the 'have nots' just to satisfy the definitions of balance, equality and equity...

What needs to happen is a redistribution of wealth, power, control, resources so that we all have what the English call "elegant sufficiency"... enough to eat to be satisfied and not so much that we're so stuffed we can't move comfortably...

How to make that happen?

What makes people so insecure that they think a bigger house, bigger car, more 'stuff' will give them a safe place in the world, will prove/advertise their value, will give them power and control over their lives?

How many toilets does a family of four really need in one house?   How many square feet of space, how many rooms do they need to spread out in?

How to make them aware that when they have/take more than they need, someone, something else, somewhere else has to make do with less than they need, because this is a closed system we're living in?

How to make the uber rich give up 99% of what they have and share that with the 99% of other humans on the planet?

Nine Pictures of the Extreme Income Wealth Gap

Does an uber rich man like Bill Gates, for example, think about the billions of children starving around the world, as he feeds, clothes and educates his own kids?   

Yes, he's doing the philanthropic bit through his Gates Foundation (about which I have some serious questions to ask, on another post), but he is still living a life of excess... 

And to make that excess possible, others have to give up necessities...

Which brings me back to my own situation...

Much of where I'm at is a result of CHOICE... 

I'm choosing not to rejoin the corporate world;  I'm choosing not to do lucrative work that's been offered because I don't want to continue/add to what, in my view, is a severely dysfunctional paradigm...

But where to take that choice next, to build a sustainable life?

How would I live in a more "aware" manner, taking less so that those who "have not" can have more?

I'm living in a large city where communities are not well resourced...

One has to either do without or travel large distances to get what one needs...

I'm driving an older van that's not wonderfully fuel efficient but is very useful for moving 'stuff' from one living space to another!

I'm driving 20 miles each day (2 trips of 10 miles each, there and back) to take my son to school, using gas, time and energy... it seems better to keep him in the same school community to give him some sense of stability and security, than to move him around from school to school as our life circumstances change...

I'm driving 40 miles several times per month to take my son to the dentist to have his retainers adjusted (he doesn't have enough room in his jaws for his adult teeth and the retainers are making that space)...

Why on earth would I drive 40 miles for that?   Because I couldn't find another dentist nearby who treats children, who doesn't use flouride and mercury and other toxins to clean, maintain and repair teeth...

I don't buy and hoard large quantities of food/household supplies... I don't buy in bulk... I try to buy organic, locally produced food that's in season...

We don't have all the latest gadgets, electronic toys, fads...

We don't do sports, alcohol, 'fine dining' and 'entertainment'...

I have few wants and desires; I try to live simply - and I know and acknowledge that my version of "living simply" would make other less fortunate people gasp...

Is this attitude one of 'entitlement'?

Am I merely 'justifying' my 'right' to my relative 'wealth'?

What else is it my responsibility to do, to even the scales a little on this planet?