Our Actions Are More Powerful Than We Realize
David Swanson writes:
Almost every [history of past activism] includes belated discoveries of the extent to which government officials were influenced by activist groups even while pretending to ignore popular pressure.
These revelations can be found in the memoirs of the government officials as well, such as in George W. Bush’s recollection of how seriously the Republican Senate Majority Leader was taking public pressure against the war on Iraq in 2006.
Of course, activism that appears ineffectual at the time can succeed in a great many ways, including by influencing others, even young children, who go on to become effective activists — or by influencing firm opponents who begin to change their minds and eventually switch sides.
The beautiful thing about nonviolent activism is that, while risking no harm, it has the potential to do good in ways small and large that ripple out from it in directions we cannot track or measure.
Wittner participated in his first political demonstration in 1961. The USSR was withdrawing from a moratorium on nuclear testing. A protest at the White House urged President Kennedy not to follow suit:
“Picking up what I considered a very clever sign (‘Kennedy, Don’t Mimic the Russians!’), I joined the others (supplemented by a second busload of students from a Quaker college in the Midwest) circling around a couple of trees outside the White House. Mike and I — as new and zealous recruits — circled all day without taking a lunch or a dinner break.
“For decades I looked back on this venture as a trifle ridiculous. After all, we and other small bands of protesters couldn’t have had any impact on U.S. policy, could we? Then in the mid-1990s, while doing research at the Kennedy Library on the history of the world nuclear disarmament movement, I stumbled onto an oral history interview with Adrian Fisher, deputy director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. He was explaining why Kennedy delayed resuming atmospheric nuclear tests until April 1962. Kennedy personally wanted to resume such tests, Fisher recalled, ‘but he also recognized that there were a lot of people that were going to be deeply offended by the United States resuming atmospheric testing. We had people picketing the White House, and there was a lot of excitement about it — just because the Russians do it, why do we have to do it?’”
Yes, Kennedy delayed a horrible action. He didn’t, at that time, block it permanently. But if the picketers in 1961 had had the slightest notion that Kennedy was being influenced by them, their numbers would have multiplied 10-fold, as would the delay have correspondingly lengthened.
Yes, our government was more responsive to public opinion in the 1960s than now, but part of the reason is that more people were active then. And another reason is that government officials are doing a better job now of hiding any responsiveness to public sentiment, which helps convince the public it has no impact, which reduces activism further. We also focus far too much on the most difficult individuals to move, such as presidents.
In 1973-1974, Wittner visited GI coffee houses in Japan including in Yokusaka, where theMidway aircraft carrier was in port. The Japanese were protesting the ship’s carrying of nuclear weapons, which was illegal in Japan, and which the U.S. military, of course, lied about. But U.S. soldiers with whom Wittner and other activists had talked, brought them onto the ship and showed them the nukes. The following summer, when Wittner read in a newspaper that,
“a substantial number of American GIs had refused to board the Midway for a mission to South Korea, then swept by popular protest against the U.S.-backed dictatorship, it occurred to me that I might have played some small role in inspiring their mutiny.”
Soldiers can still be reached much more easily than presidents, more easily in many cases in fact than the average citizen. War lies are harder to sell to the people who have been fighting the wars.
In the late 1990s, Wittner was researching the anti-nuclear movement of decades past. He interviewed Robert “Bud” McFarlane, President Ronald Reagan’s former national security advisor:
“Other administration officials had claimed that they had barely noticed the nuclear freeze movement. But when I asked McFarlane about it, he lit up and began outlining a massive administration campaign to counter and discredit the freeze — one that he had directed. . . . A month later, I interviewed Edwin Meese, a top White House staffer and U.S. attorney general during the Reagan administration. When I asked him about the administration’s response to the freeze campaign, he followed the usual line by saying that there was little official notice taken of it. In response, I recounted what McFarlane had revealed. A sheepish grin now spread across this former government official’s face, and I knew that I had caught him. ‘If Bud says that,’ he remarked tactfully, ‘it must be true.’”
When someone tells you to stop imagining that you’re having an impact, ask them to please redirect their energy into getting 10 friends to join you in doing what needs to be done. If it has no impact, you’ll have gone down trying. If it has an impact, nobody will tell you for many years.
Mr. Swanson is right. I noted in 2009:
As MSNBC news correspondent Jonathan Capehart tells Dylan Ratigan, the main problem is that people aren’t making enough noise. Capehart says that the people not only have to “burn up the phone lines to Congress”, but also to hit the streets and protest in D.C.
Even though most politicians are totally corrupt, if many millions of Americans poured into the streets of D.C., a critical mass would be reached, and the politicians would start changing things in a hurry.
As [liberal] PhD economist Dean Baker points out:
The elites hate to acknowledge it, but when large numbers of ordinary people are moved to action, it changes the narrow political world where the elites call the shots. Inside accounts reveal the extent to which Johnson and Nixon’s conduct of the Vietnam War was constrained by the huge anti-war movement. It was the civil rights movement, not compelling arguments, that convinced members of Congress to end legal racial discrimination. More recently, the townhall meetings, dominated by people opposed to health care reform, have been a serious roadblock for those pushing reform….
A big turnout … can make a real difference.
Baker is right about Vietnam.
Specifically – according to Daniel Ellsberg and many others – Richard Nixon actually planned on dropping a nuclear bomb on Vietnam. Nixon also said he didn’t care what the American people thought. He said that — no matter what the public did or said — he was going to escalate the war in Vietnam.
However, a well-known biographer says that Nixon backed off when hundreds of thousands of people turned out in Washington, D.C. to protest an escalation of the war.
And Pulitzer prize winning reporter Chris Hedges pointed out recently:
I was in Leipzig on November 9, 1989 with leaders of East German opposition and they told me that – perhaps within a year – there would be free passes back and forth across the Berlin wall.
Within a few hours, the Berlin Wall, at least as far as an impediment to human traffic, did not exist.
Week after week, month after month, these clergy in Leipzig held these candlelit vigils. And it was slow at first … people forget. Just like the Egyptian revolution has been percolating for many many months, and even years.
And suddenly, it began to grow.
And Honecker – who had been in ruling East Germany since the time of the dinosaurs – sent down a paratroop division to Leipzig .. . and they won’t attack the demonstrators.
Part of the reason that our actions are more powerful than we think is that courage is contagious. So is the ability to think.
As we’ve previously noted:
[Studies show ] that even one dissenting voice can give people permission to think for themselves. Specifically:Solomon Asch, with experiments originally carried out in the 1950s and well-replicated since, highlighted a phenomenon now known as “conformity”. In the classic experiment, a subject sees a puzzle like the one in the nearby diagram: Which of the lines A, B, and C is the same size as the line X? Take a moment to determine your own answer…The gotcha is that the subject is seated alongside a number of other people looking at the diagram – seemingly other subjects, actually confederates of the experimenter. The other “subjects” in the experiment, one after the other, say that line C seems to be the same size as X. The real subject is seated next-to-last. How many people, placed in this situation, would say “C” – giving an obviously incorrect answer that agrees with the unanimous answer of the other subjects? What do you think the percentage would be?
Three-quarters of the subjects in Asch’s experiment gave a “conforming” answer at least once. A third of the subjects conformed more than half the time.
Get it so far? People tend to defer to what the herd thinks.
But here’s the good news:
Adding a single dissenter – just one other person who gives the correct answer, or even an incorrect answer that’s different from the group’s incorrect answer – reduces conformity very sharply, down to 5-10%.
Why is this important? Well, it means that one person who publicly speaks the truth can sway a group of people away from group-think.
If a group of people is leaning towards believing the government’s version of events, a single person who speaks the truth can help snap the group out of its trance.
There is an important point here regarding the web, as well. The above-cited article states that:
When subjects can respond in a way that will not be seen by the group, conformity also drops.What does that mean? Well, on the web, many people post anonymously. The anonymity gives people permission to “respond in a way that will not be seen by the group”. But most Americans still don’t get their news from the web, or only go to mainstream corporate news sites.
Away from the keyboard, we are not very anonymous. So that is where the conformity dynamic — and the need for courageous dissent — is vital. It isdoubly important that we apply the same hard-hitting truthtelling we do on the Internet in our face-to-face interactions; because it is there that dissent is urgently needed.
Bottom line: Each person‘s voice has the power to snap entire groups out of their coma of irrational group-think. So go forth and be a light of rationality and truth among the sleeping masses.
And a recent study shows that when only 10% of a population have strongly-held beliefs, their belief will often be adopted by the majority of the society.
True, governments worldwide are cracking down on liberty with the iron fist of repression.
But some argue that this is actually a sign that we are winning.
As Truthout’s Matt Renner writes:
Recently I sat down with two of the young adults who organized and led the Egyptian resistance movement that overthrew Hosni Mubarak. The media narrative said it took 18 days, when in fact, they had been organizing for over five years.
According to these young men, the moment they knew they had won was the day Mubarak’s government shut off the Internet and blocked cellphone communications. When people could no longer get updates about what was happening in Tahrir Square, they had to come out of their homes and see for themselves, tripling the size of the protests in one fell swoop.
The global plutocracy is terrified of dissent. In some places, the war on dissent is being fought with bullets. In others, the war on dissent targets social media and mobile communications, while repressing and deceiving communities of struggle. It’s already happening.
Indeed, the use of heavy-handed tactics – taking the velvet glove off of the iron fist – could backfire, as it will show the “emperor’s ruthlessness” for all to see.
The powers-that-be are terrified of political awakening and dissent. For example, Zbigniew Brzezinski – National Security Adviser to President Carter, creator of America’s strategy to lure Russia into Afghanistan, creator of America’s plans for Eurasia in general, and Obama’s former foreign affairs adviser – said:
For the first time in human history almost all of humanity is politically activated, politically conscious and politically interactive. There are only a few pockets of humanity left in the remotest corners of the world that are not politically alert and engaged with the political turmoil and stirrings that are so widespread today around the world.
***
America needs to face squarely a centrally important new global reality: that the world’s population is experiencing a political awakening unprecedented in scope and intensity, with the result that the politics of populism are transforming the politics of power.
***
[T]he central challenge of our time is posed not by global terrorism, but rather by the intensifying turbulence caused by the phenomenon of global political awakening. That awakening is socially massive and politically radicalizing.
It is no overstatement to assert that now in the 21st century the population of much of the developing world is politically stirring and in many places seething with unrest. It is a population acutely conscious of social injustice to an unprecedented degree, and often resentful of its perceived lack of political dignity.
***
These energies transcend sovereign borders and pose a challenge both to existing states as well as to the existing global hierarchy, on top of which America still perches.
***
The misdiagnosis [of foreign policy] pertains to a relatively vague, excessively abstract, highly emotional, semi-theological definition of the chief menace that we face today in the world, and the consequent slighting of what I view as the unprecedented global challenge arising out of the unique phenomenon of a truly massive global political awakening of mankind. We live in an age in which mankind writ large is becoming politically conscious and politically activated to an unprecedented degree, and it is this condition which is producing a great deal of international turmoil.
That turmoil is the product of the political awakening, the fact that today vast masses of the world are not politically neutered, as they have been throughout history. They have political consciousness.
***
The other major change in international affairs is that for the first time, in all of human history, mankind has been politically awakened. That is a total new reality – total new reality. It has not been so for most of human history until the last one hundred years. And in the course of the last one hundred years, the whole world has become politically awakened. And no matter where you go, politics is a matter of social engagement, and most people know what is generally going on –generally going on – in the world, and are consciously aware of global inequities, inequalities, lack of respect, exploitation.Mankind is now politically awakened and stirring.
And a reader notes:
We do not understand our own power. Look around you. Almost everything you see was not only made, but created by people like yourselves. Most of the horrors existing on earth were engendered by the elites, WITH OUR CO-OPERATION. Without our consent, most of the terrifying situations existing in our world will cease to exist. Resist. It certainly may be difficult initially, but it grows easier moment by moment.
Some historical quotes may be helpful in illustrating the importance of struggling to make things better …
It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.
– Robert F . Kennedy
We must never despair; our situation has been compromising before; and it changed for the better; so I trust it will again. If difficulties arise; we must put forth new exertion and proportion our efforts to the exigencies of the times.
– George Washington
We must remember that one determined person can make a significant difference, and that a small group of determined people can change the course of history.
-Sonia Johnson
Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
– Margaret Mead
Hope has never trickled down. It has always sprung up.
– Studs Terkel
At certain points in history, the energy level of people, the indignation level of people rises. And at that point it becomes possible for people to organize and to agitate and to educate one another, and to create an atmosphere in which the government must do something.
– Howard Zinn, historian
There is no act too small, no act too bold. The history of social change is the history of millions of actions, small and large, coming together at points in history and creating a power that governments cannot suppress.
– Howard Zinn
Cynicism Is Not Realistic
Millions of Americans think that hope is for the foolish, and that the smart people are cynics.
But if all of the people who think of themselves as cynics or skeptics made noise, things would instantly change for the better. In other words, the millions of cynics/skeptics/self-described “realists” aren’t raising a ruckus against the fraud being committed by the giant banks, the corruption of our political system, or the lawlessness and imperial arrogance of our intelligence-military-industrial complexbecause they think things can’t change.
But by staying silent, they are actually creating the conditions in which nothing can change. As Edmund Burke points out:
All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.
If the millions of cynics woke up to the fact that they are a huge group – especially when combined with the people who are already actively working for the restoration of a liberty, justice and the rule of law – they would suddenly realize that collectively we can change things in a heart beat.
Don’t Want to Go First?
Most people don’t want to go first …
Most people want to see others succeeding before they give it a shot.
But the truth – as pointed out by Zbigniew Brzezinski above – is that people are waking up worldwide … and things are changing quickly.
A few short years ago, Americans wouldn’t have believed that the White House would lie us into a major war, that our government would choose Wall Street over the little guy, or that the NSA spied on every American citizen. Now, this is all common knowledge.
A few years ago, most Americans trusted government and corporate leaders. Now, polls show that trust has collapsed, as people realize that our core institutions are rotten with corruption.
You will not be taking the first step. More people than you realize are already working to challenge the corrupt people in positions of power.
When you act to make things better, you’re actually joining a large group of people doing the same thing.
And as Hellen Keller pointed out:
Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.
Postscript: In any event, hiding our head in the sand doesn’t work.
“Bottom line: Each person’s voice has the power to snap entire groups out of their coma of irrational group think. So go forth and be a light of rationality and truth among the sleeping masses.”
Millard. I couldn’t have said it better.
I said it a hundred times i will say it again (being retired from NYC myself) NEVER EVER EVER WOULD A WHITE SHIRT (Lt. Or Capt.) EVER BE IN THE MIX OF A PROTEST WHILE BLUE SHIRTS STAND BY WITH THEIR HANDS IN THEIR POCKETS. THIS PHOTO IS TOTALLY STAGED. Anytime you see a photo of NYPD actions and there are white shirts amidst the scrappling, REST ASSURED IT IS A STAGED EVENT OR PHOTO. Never does a Boss (Lt., Capt, or the like, otherwise known as a white shirt) get into the mix with ANYTHING OTHER THAN PAPERWORK.
You are correct. My husband was at some demonstration (Repub National Convention…I won’t say in what capacity) and he saw “white shirts” setting up contrived confrontations with protesters who, after being arrested or tied up somehow, when the media left they let the protesters go, or released them from jail. That is one reason I do not trust protests.
So now then confuscious you pos crap hole f`er.you should talk you c*ck sucker F U go to hell. If you are a damned cop, then you are a part of the big problem so again, FU confuscios suck on this you sorry pos sonny boy puke 🙁 !!!!!!!
How they pull off a photo such as in this article, is they advertise the need for extras for a movie scene, they film it while everyone partaking thinks they are being used as an extra in a movie, they then release the photo with one of their controlled media outlets and it is portrayed as a real event. It is totally staged as for the reasons stated in the above post..
All I can say is “Wow” Confuscious. You seem awful confused about how photos are used in articles.
Perhaps Millard. This may be why his screen name is ” Confuscious” – he may be confused 😆
He is a NYC cop apparently Millard just look at his reple @ 8:04 above and then check out my reply to that cop.
All Evilists hate truth & exposure,,,,,,,,it’s that simple! Continue to fight for Liberty, Freedom, Justice & Truth
All i am saying shill, having retired from NYC Myself, is over the past couple of televised protests or highly publicized protests which occured within the past few years, whenever you see a picture of an NYPD BOSS ( which is any officer in a white shirt) it is a STAGED PHOTO OR EVENT. NEVER WOULD A BOSS, WHICH IS ONLY OFFICERS IN NYPD THAT WEAR WHITE SHIRTS being a LT. OR CAPT, get involved with the physical control of a protest, or anyone for that matter. Dont know what you didnt understand about my initial statement. I only commented on what the photo showed. So maybe it is you who are confused, or perhaps purposely misleading or misdirecting my point.
FU confucsious you pig.you are a worthless pos and quit trying to rationalize you choice of so called professions. GRRRRR I hopwe you and others like you rot in hellalong with your worthless spawn offspring
I did not say i was a cop you raging nut… Maybe fema should come and take you away now, you seem like a danger to the whole community. I only said i retired from NYC i did not say nypd you psycho. ROFLMAO
So now then were you a DA or maybe a payed NYC snitch or undercover plain clothes cop or something- ya know a undercover will never admit it will they, how about it now confuscious – of course you may have held up the podium though eh confuscious eh. Forgive me if I am wrong but I have never had any honest dealing with anyone that were on the govt. dole like you sayin you were NYC. Are you ashamed of you position with the NYC ??? let us all know here confuscious mr. retired NYC
Not a cop FOLKS, but rest assured with talk like what you directed towards me if i was a cop i would be sure to smash your skulls in first… You people cursing at me give ALL TRUE PATRIOTS A bad look and a bad name.. Shame on all of you for assuming i am a cop. I WAS NEVER, NOR DID I SAY I WAS. I only retired after LIVING in NYC. Thats all i said. And your demented minds thought up the rest. Shame on all of you.. What a joke…
No doubt – what a joke, is NYC confuscious ? – you should know about jokes being a retired NYC don`t ya 😆
I collected peoples garbage.. You people really are demented… Holy cow… But living and working in nyc along with having lifelong friends that are retired NYPD i can assure you WHENEVER YOU SEE A PHOTO OF A NYPD BOSS (ie: white shirt otherwise known as Lt. Or Capt.) MIXING IT UP WITH PROTESTERS IT IS PHONY AND OR STAGED. thats all that was originally said folks… How you people stretched this into me working undercover and for the da or whatever is really baffling. Listen to yourselves, you really do give honest people a bad name. No wonder they call everyone right wing extremests. You folks did everything except hang me from a rope. Lmao. Seriously take a step back and a deep breath and re read all theposts before you take another swing folks…
OK now then Confuscious, now you explained your self and I WILL PERSONALLY GIVE YOU MY MOST HUMBLE APPOLOGY AS BEST AS I CAN APPOLIGIZE TO YOU and I hope you can understand about what I meant when I say about NYC and my pissed of attitude. I HOPE YOU UNDERSTAND
THANK YOU !!!!!! You are fierce.. Geez. LoL.
But think about it… If it was a cop writing and participating WHICH I AM NOT !!!! NOR WAS I EVER !!!!! Wouldnt it be a good thing that he was here reading and participating ? Think about that.. Dont chase people away… The restoration of the republic needs all the help it can get… ESPECIALLY “LAW ENFORCMENT” !!!
Just to be CLEAR —> I AM NOT NOR WAS I EVER A POLICE OFFICER … Or anything to do with the law or govt.
Thanks for responding nicely..
If you were a cop, then you would have to live with your self doing what you are doing. Again I appologize to you about my previous replies. I was wrong apparently and I am sorry about what I directed towards you Confuscious. – and I mean it. I am a real hot head when it comes to those type of so called people I guess. Stand Tall Confiscious, eh.
“Not a cop FOLKS, but rest assured with talk like what you directed towards me if i was a cop i would be sure to smash your skulls in first… You people cursing at me give ALL TRUE PATRIOTS A bad look and a bad name.. Shame on all of you for assuming i am a cop. I WAS NEVER, NOR DID I SAY I WAS. I only retired after LIVING in NYC. Thats all i said. And your demented minds thought up the rest. Shame on all of you.. What a joke…”
Sorry, guys, but I have to agree with him. This is not what we’re about here, people.
Confuscious, if it’s any consolation, I apologize for your treatment in this thread. I’ve read many of your comments, and I’ve seen nothing untoward in them. I hope this won’t discourage you from continuing to post here.
Digger, I think you need to re-read his comment, as well as DL’s reply to it, and think about it.
That was totally uncalled for, digger. You know I really like you, buddy, but that was DEFINITELY uncalled for. I think you owe an apology.
We’re still best buddies, though, o.k.?
O.K., it would appear you two resolved it while I was typing my comment.
That’s the drawback of being a hunt and peck typist. Slow.
Yea #!, this is whathappens when we got so many trolls out there. Guess I do have some issues. Thanks #1, I hope people here let me know when I am out of line because I was – I guess – out of line with Confuscious big time. I spoke before I thought about what I was sayin` again my freind. Sorry about that my freinds on The Trenches. I wasn`t right as to how I was acting there. All appoligies. Hangin` my head in shame again my freinds as I was wrong in sayin` what I said. ;(
All is forgiven, digger. 😀
Either way, discussing the topic of the article was avoided altogether. Sorry I wasn’t watching, my point was is that media uses pictures of related events just to “dress up” an article, which is standard practice and , I agree, somewhat misleading.
You are right Milard. We /I did get off the subject to be sure. I did jump on something I had no business jumping on once again
The notion of the white shirts in the pic is interesting. There are two and they are right up front, strange considering what was pointed out.
The Pic is not in the article on Washington’s Blog when i looked a moment ago. That is strange as well.
Yes, stock photos are often used and that is acceptable as long as they are relevant to the topic.
The point of using extras is seemingly common at a lot of those ‘terrible events’ that happen in the US. When you start seeing the same wounded, dead & near dead and some dismembered people showing up at multiple [false flag] events…
It was resolved, but only because i had to state my name rank and serial number (ie what i did for a living) which should not be a requirement, to be treated with respect, but i did it because i like the site, i like the radio show hosts and do not worry, i understand everyones frustrations with the current climate of the country.. So i KIND OF understand why the conversation went the direction it did. Rest assured, I would not let this deter me from listening or participating .. We are all in this together. Unless there is a few billion in my bank account that i did not know about and i am really a 0.001 percenter !!! Unbeknownst to me of course !! Lol
We all need to focus on the true enemy. Division is detrimental to our cause.
One of the things I love most about this site is that the vast majority of us are all on the same page, and many of the posters here are extremely knowledgeable and well-informed.
I feel honored to be in such intelligent company.
No hard feelings digger dan, your frustrations are well acknowledged….
Hey there, thanks bud. You are more of a man than I was when I acted like I did.
I wasnt more of a man… Just had a few cocktails in me and was very relaxed lol… Lets go see what other threads we can screw up !!! Just kidding.. 🙂
Here’s a pearl of wisdom from the article for those of you who had trouble getting past the attached photo. “There is no act too small, no act too bold. The history of social change is the history of millions of actions, small and large, coming together at points in history and creating a power that governments cannot suppress.” Howard Zinn
Iceland comes to mind.