Thread by @caitoz

Why It's Good To Push Politicians To Do The Right Thing (Even When They Probably Won't)

"You don't push politicians to do the right thing because you think they will, you do it to show everyone else that they won't."
caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/why-its-good…

The debate rages on over whether House progressives should force a floor vote on Medicare for All, with one side arguing that AOC and the rest of "The Squad" were elected to advance progressive policies and the other side arguing that AOC is cool so shut up and leave her alone.

As we discussed yesterday, Americans will not be given Medicare for All despite overwhelming public support because so much power depends on keeping them poor so they don't interfere in the affairs of a nation which serves as the hub of a global empire.

https://twitter.com/caitoz/status/1340509816725258240?s=20

The US political system does not exist to serve the interests of Americans, it exists to serve the interests of the empire. No part of that system is there to protect the people from the powerful; it's there to protect the powerful from the people.

And that's just not the case. There is no part of the US political system which is anything other than innately oppositional to economic justice.

And that's all the US governmental system exists for: ensuring the uninterrupted functioning of the imperial machine. But that doesn't mean there's no value in pushing for officials to do the right thing.

You don't push politicians to do the right thing because you think they will, you do it to show everyone else that they won't. You get them basically making your argument for you: Oh we can't fight for that right now because the system is rigged to nullify our attempts to do so.

Human behavior only changes when there's an expansion of consciousness, whether you're talking about individuals or a collective of any size. This might sound like woo woo New Age drivel, but I promise you it isn't.

It just means that people don't stop doing crazy and self-destructive things until they can fully perceive what's driving it and why it's undesirable.

This is where the real battle is being waged. Not ultimately in winning elections or obtaining committee positions, or even really in winning battles over policy, but in expanding consciousness. In showing more and more people more and more information about what's going on.

That's what will lead to swift and lasting change.

This is why so much of the battle is happening on the front of propaganda, censorship, and press freedoms.

The more unconscious aspects of our world want to keep things secret, distorted, and hidden in the shadows, while those who want change are fighting to turn the lights on. This is also why it's important to get a political system which doesn't serve the people to expose itself.

First and foremost the quest is to spread awareness of what's really going on to as many people as possible; people need to become aware that they've been duped.

Things won't change until a critical mass of people becomes aware that they are happening and how they are happening. Once this awareness has sufficiently spread, there's not actually anything our rulers can do to stop us from using the power of our numbers to force real change.

They can't arrest us all; they'll run out of prison space. They can't kill us all; they'll have no one to rule. It's an unwinnable fight for them, which is why they're fighting instead to keep all the lights off using corruption, propaganda and secrecy.

Our task is to turn the lights on. Their task is to keep them off. The side that wins this battle is the side that wins it all.