Forum Post: Re: Would you shoot me with a rifle to "take back this country"?

My original comment was in reply to a rather paranoid young man who wanted to know if any of us were polishing our AKs to come and get him. It was a rather inane comment to begin with, but it was fairly well articulated and the OP seemed to be reasonable and serious in his questioning. More importantly, the fact that he felt he needed to ask question speaks to our need as a movement to take a clear stance on violence, militancy, and other stupidity going on within our unofficial jurisidiction.

The whole point of the Constitution and of democracy is that one can take back (or for that matter take over) this country without spilling a drop of blood or firing a single shot. Whoever and whatever has the final say over the information we receive has control of the country, and given the way many in this country follow politics whoever and whatever can shell out the most money for attack ads takes the election cycle and has way too much say over the direction of domestic and foreign policy thereafter.

However, if that phenomenon worked in service of one group, it can definitely work for another. When the people take their attention away from attack ads and diversionary political stunts (and off Jersey Shore and the game and onto politics and civics in general) and begin focusing on real issues like campaign finance/lobbying reform, the re-regulation of Wall Street, tax code reform, military spending, etc. then they'll go to the polls and vote for what's actually in their best interest. In that action, without firing a shot or spilling a drop of blood, the people will return America to its rightful owners-themselves.

OWSers as a whole have no reason to push for violence, because as much as we want change we have no desire to turn the country on its ear. We want to take back the country America was and can still be, not get gunned down in the streets by the army, or "take back" a bloody burning mess on the off chance that we actually could outshoot the army. If things get to the point where I'm turning a rifle on any of my countrymen to make a point then we're not in the America I recognize.

True revolution in America isn't wild-eyed or violent; in fact it tends to be rather slow in coming and rather orderly in manifestation. OWS is part of that tradition, but it's far from the sum total of the change that's coming and if our system still works it'll probably be the most raucous, disorganized, and obnoxious part of that change. While ordinary people here may find plenty to facepalm at in individual instances, they have nothing to fear from the movement as a whole.