Dougherty Arts Center
Time to Move From Theatre to Effective Political Tools
RECEIVED Tue., Feb. 1, 2005
Dear Editor,
Recent "actions" taken in response to the presidential inauguration have left me feeling somewhat frustrated. First, there was the "Not a Damn Dime" campaign. Even if sufficient numbers of people could be marshaled to this effort, it would merely succeed in punishing small businesses. Even worse was the blocking of the Congress Avenue Bridge. This action did not change anything. I daresay that not a single mind was changed by this harassment. Moreover, many of the people held up were not Bush voters. So, this action indiscriminately punished people on both sides of the issue, and succeeded only in increasing the anger of pro-Bush people.
After reading some very frightening stuff about the rise of the Christian right, I began to realize that while the left has been engaging in street theatre, the members of the Christian right have been attending Republican precinct meetings and taking them over. While anti-government citizens have "boycotted" the vote, the Christian right has galvanized their people to rush to the polls. While anarchists spray paint Starbucks, the right has purchased large blocks of the media. In other words, protesters have been concentrating on actions that serve to express their outrage, but the right has moved to actually take power. Go to www.theocracywatch.org, my friends. Watch the videos there. We are engaged in an all-out culture war whether we want it or not, and it's time we started struggling with truly effective tools.
Recent "actions" taken in response to the presidential inauguration have left me feeling somewhat frustrated. First, there was the "Not a Damn Dime" campaign. Even if sufficient numbers of people could be marshaled to this effort, it would merely succeed in punishing small businesses. Even worse was the blocking of the Congress Avenue Bridge. This action did not change anything. I daresay that not a single mind was changed by this harassment. Moreover, many of the people held up were not Bush voters. So, this action indiscriminately punished people on both sides of the issue, and succeeded only in increasing the anger of pro-Bush people.
After reading some very frightening stuff about the rise of the Christian right, I began to realize that while the left has been engaging in street theatre, the members of the Christian right have been attending Republican precinct meetings and taking them over. While anti-government citizens have "boycotted" the vote, the Christian right has galvanized their people to rush to the polls. While anarchists spray paint Starbucks, the right has purchased large blocks of the media. In other words, protesters have been concentrating on actions that serve to express their outrage, but the right has moved to actually take power. Go to www.theocracywatch.org, my friends. Watch the videos there. We are engaged in an all-out culture war whether we want it or not, and it's time we started struggling with truly effective tools.
Shauna Lynch
