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WHAT DO WE WANT ?
"Every
generation needs a new revolution"
(Thomas Jefferson)
In April, 2002, my wife, an Italian friend, a Japanese
middle-aged lady friend and I had decided to demonstrate in front of
the U.S embassy against the criminal U.S foreign policy. Most of the
time, there were only the four of us ( it was to go on for more than
two years until the police and the U.S embassy found a way to get rid
of us) but sometimes other activists joined us. At first, we (the 4 of
us) used to be on the sidewalk right in front of the embassy, but after
a while, after some U.S embassy staff started being rude to us for
showing them pictures of children killed by U.S foreign policy, and as
we reacted not exactly the Gandhi way, the police decided to move us on
the other sidewalk across the street (quite large). Between 30 and 40
policemen to move away 4 protesters; very heroic!
After that, one day, we managed to get a little more than 30
protesters to join us. The police dogs were taken by surprise so I
decided to take advantage of it and asked the people who had joined us
to take a vote: all those in favor of going back to the other sidewalk
were to raise their hands which most of them did and so most of us
crossed the street back to where the 4 of us were forced away from
although we have the right to be there! You should have seen the
powerlessness on the faces of the police officers. It was beautiful!
They just stood there in the middle of the street with their hands
stretched, unable to stop us and not knowing what to do. Now, you may
think this story is no big deal but imagine 500.000 people with a plan
of action and demands that appeal to “the masses”. My point is this:
“THE ULTIMATE
AUTHORITY RESIDES IN THE PEOPLE ALONE”
( James Madison (1751-1836) 4th U.S
President ).
We, the anti-war protesters and all the other activists,
people committed to social change for the better, have been involved in
activities that are, although opposite, parallel to those of the ones
committed to lead our world to ruin in order to gain a short term
profit. By parallel I mean alongside, demonstrating, protesting on the
side without trying to find a way to get rid of them. It seems as if
they keep breaking things and we keep trying to pick up the pieces when
actually we should be trying to derail and eliminate such elements.
We, the people committed to the struggle against injustice, must
impose ourselves as an alternative to the avaricious and morally
corrupt politicians, the agents of imperialism that have been using us,
the people, to further their criminal designs at our expense, at the
expense of a better world, a world of the people, by the people, for
the people. Speaking of the politicians, Bertold Brecht said:
“Politicians are swine. You cannot reason with swine. You must hit them
on the nose with a stick.” We, the activists (at least in the West and
in Japan), have been (some of us for decades) protesting,
demonstrating, peace walking, parading, shouting slogans, debating,
arguing, fighting with each other, ignoring each other, demanding this,
demanding that…etc…etc… Now, what have we achieved in the past 30
years? Have our ranks swollen? We, the activists, have to ask ourselves
some hard questions about the way we have been carrying out our
activities and most importantly about the efficiency, efficacy, the
impact, the prospects of our activities, about the results that we have
obtained through our actions so far. What do we, activists, look like
to the people who are not involved, to the “outsiders”, to the people
sitting on the fence, in short: to the population at large? Do we look
like a viable alternative to the mainstream political parties? WHAT DO
WE WANT, EXACTLY? WHAT IS OUR VISION? Do we have a vision of a
better
Japan, a better Asia, a better World? WHAT ARE OUR DEMANDS? DO WE HAVE
A COMMON PLAN OF ACTION? WHAT IS OUR PLAN?
When, for example, some group goes demonstrating in front of a U.S
military base at Yokota or Yokosuka, whose soldiers are taking turns
going to Iraq and killing Iraqi people ( so far more than 100.000
Iraqis killed for OIL) in an illegal war and occupation, when that
group goes there and chants slogans demanding that they (U.S military)
leave Japan, does that group realize that lots of Japanese people don’t
want them to leave? Why is that? One reason may be “security” but, in
my opinion, the main reason is economic. No matter the deaths caused by
the U.S military around the world, no matter that Japan is an
accomplice, more often than not, in those deaths (latest example:
Iraq), no matter the girls and women raped (mainly in Okinawa) and
other crimes committed by U.S degenerate soldiers almost on a regular
basis (monthly), no matter all that, the U.S military are an important
source of income for the Japanese who do business with them and let’s
not forget all the Japanese people who work on U.S military bases.
If we, activists, were successful in forcing the U.S military to
leave Japan, that success would probably at the same time render
economically precarious hundreds of thousands, even millions, of lives
of Japanese people whose revenues are dependent on the presence of the
Yankee military bases. Not only would a great number of Japanese
families find themselves with a huge hole in their pockets but we can
also be sure that the economy of the whole country would be affected.
If the U.S military were forced to leave Japan, it (the U.S) would
most certainly retaliate in a ruthless fashion of which one would be:
Economic sanctions. The U.S being Japan’s most important trading
partner, you can imagine the consequences of any successful blow to
Uncle Sam’s imperial designs. Empires, colonial powers, never leave of
their own will, peacefully, without grudge. They always leave
bloodied-nose. They always have and they always will (Japan should
know). And once they leave, the problems are far from over. Remember
Vietnam, Algeria, the Congo, Ireland, Afghanistan, Cuba, Kenya, Sudan,
India, Pakistan, Kashmir and many others. So, as Lenin once famously
asked:
“WHAT IS TO BE DONE?”
Do we, activists, have an alternative to the current U.S-Japan
(master-vassal) “partnership” ?
I urge all the groups, the people involved in the struggle for a
better Japan, a better Asia, a better World, I urge all of us, if
possible, to try to get together and have a frank exchange of ideas on
how to REORIENT Japan within Asia (that’s where Japan belongs) and the
world and extricate it out of the U.S imperialist system. Everybody
would be able and encouraged to express an opinion, idea, a thought, to
speak and help build a new and more decent Japan. STALIN said “IDEAS
ARE FAR MORE POWERFUL THAN GUNS”. And I insist on “everyone” because I
have been to many gatherings where only the “leaders” of various groups
spoke. Enough with that! WE ALL MUST PARTICIPATE! So, first, we have to
get together, as many of us as possible, no matter our differences in
ideologies. We must stop bickering because it leads nowhere. On the
contrary, it only harms us and our cause (if we have one) while
strengthening our opponents. We must get together in order to come up
with a serious, intelligent and efficient plan of action that will give
birth to an alternative to a Japan whose economic prosperity is due to
its complicity in the U.S exploitative economic system and not only, as
the myth would like it, to Japanese people’s hard work.
DO WE, ACTIVISTS, HAVE
AN ECONOMIC ALTERNATIVE RIGHT NOW? HOW MUCH
DO WE KNOW ABOUT ECONOMY? An economic alternative to the current
capitalist one in which man eats man, driven solely by profit and based
on exploitation and war. An alternative more humane, based on
solidarity and a desire for a good life for everyone and not only for
those who have the money and the guns.
DO WE HAVE AN
ALTERNATIVE? DO WE REALLY WANT ONE?
I am not sure. To explain why I’m not sure if most people really
want an alternative, I’d like to point out three recent elections that
took place in three different countries whose leaders are war
criminals: the U.S.A., Australia and England. Bush, Howard, Blair. In
Australia and England, the majority of the people were opposed to the
war on Iraq and despite the piles of lies on which the war was sold to
the public, lies well known to everyone even before these criminals
were reelected, Howard and Blair were reelected by the majority of the
people. Let me recapitulate: the majority of the people in these two
countries (as in Japan) were opposed to the war on Iraq and yet the
majority of the people reelected Howard and Blair, the criminals (as
well as Koizumi) who have taken part in this ILLEGAL war and in the
slaughter of more than 100.000 Iraqis (for OIL) so far. And the main
reason Howard and Blair were reelected was based on their economic
achievements which for the majority of those who voted was pretty
satisfactory. To me, this sounds as following: “ we are against the war
but we don’t mind profiting from it, so screw the Iraqis!”
So, it brings us back to economy. It is a difficult issue, I know,
but as a Burmese saying goes: “ What is difficult to understand place
before you. What is easy to understand place behind you”. Now, if
someone were to ask me what can be done, my answer would be: “I don’t
know”. That’s why we all have to unite and think and act together to
come up with a plan and a vision to share with the people who think
that the current state of affaires is as good as it gets, that there is
no better ALTERNATIVE.
That’s where we , activists, come in. DO THE PEOPLE SEE AN
ALTERNATIVE IN US? An alternative to the mainstream political
parties?
Why have most people stuck with the LDP for close to 60 years, that
party that has stood behind every single criminal imperialist U.S
adventure, and there has been at least one every year since 1945, the
latest being IRAQ. It is true that Japanese people haven’t been always
this passive, indifferent, tamed. In the 50s, 60s, 70s, Japan was
rocked by large, violent anti-government protests. They didn’t
accomplish much beside strengthening the LDP’s grip on power. Although
I am not a pacifist and I am not condemning their violence, I find
their violence was empty, devoid of any theory, a plan of action, a
vision, an alternative, an objective (just like us today, minus the
violence). It was nothing more than an outburst of emotions.
Nevertheless, we should praise them for trying and we can learn from
it. We have lots of material at our disposal to learn from. We can also
learn from some events throughout History like the Paris Commune, 1871
or the Chichibu Uprising, 1884. I am talking about the organizational(
“ORGANIZATION IS THE KEY-NOTE TO A MIGHTY MOVEMENT” Mary Elizabeth
Lease, 1890) and inspirational aspects of these events, the power of
collectivity and solidarity. There are also more recent events that
demonstrate organized and promising people power in action such as the
ones in Bolivia, Ecuador, Brazil…. The most successful and inspiring so
far being Venezuela. The point is:
“THE BATTLE MUST
BREAK OUT AGAIN AND AGAIN IN
EVER-GROWING
DIMENSIONS, AND THERE CAN BE NO
DOUBT AS TO WHO WILL
BE THE VICTOR IN THE END-
THE APPROPRIATING
FEW, OR THE IMMENSE WORKING
MAJORITY”. ( From “The Civil War in France” by
Karl Marx
)
I realize that the circumstances that led to the events in the
countries I’ve just mentioned are different from those in present-day
Japan, but what I am aiming at is the fact that when people unite,
organize, when they take matters, their destiny in their own hands with
a plan of action, an objective, a vision, anything, everything is
possible!! Sam Smith once said:
“WE DON’T GET TO
CHOOSE OUR TIME IN HISTORY BUT WE GET TO CHOOSE
WHAT WE DO WITH IT”.
But how willing are we to rock the boat? I mean, why change
anything in the current U.S-Japan relationship since things have been
pretty good so far? This reminds me of a French movie called “La Haine”
which means “Hatred”. In this movie, a man falls off the rooftop of a
high-rise and while he’s falling to a certain death, he keeps telling
himself: “So far, so good”.
Knowing that Japan has been a most loyal accomplice to the criminal
imperialist U.S foreign policy (to which it owes its economic
prosperity) and its murderous economic system, with the Japanese people
reaping the fruits (economic prosperity) of their tacit support (and
with their taxes) for, according to Martin Luther KING Jr. “The
greatest purveyor of violence on Earth (is my own government)”, knowing
all this, the Japanese people are partly responsible for Uncle Sam’s
crimes since Japan has been used quite often since 1945 as a staging
point for some of America’s bombing and other criminal campaigns around
the world, the latest one being Iraq. Here are the words of William
Blum to illustrate Japan’s best friend:
“From 1945 to the end of the 20th century, the U.S.A. attempted
to overthrow more than 40 foreign governments, and to crush more
than 30 populist-nationalist movements struggling against intolerable
regimes. In the process, the U.S.A. caused the end of life for several
million people, and condemned many millions more to a life of agony
and despair”.
Speaking of responsibility which, in the case of Japan, involves
culpability since it has taken part in THE SUPREME INTERNATIONAL CRIME (war
of aggression on Iraq), I recommend a book
called “On the justice
of roosting chickens” by Ward Churchill in which he (Churchill) cites
(in a somewhat revised form) a passage about a schematic of culpability
set forth in 1945 by the German philosopher Karl Jaspers:
1) Criminal guilt
2) Political guilt
3) Moral guilt
4) Metaphysical guilt
2) Political guilt says: “IT IS
THE COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CITIZENS IN A MODERN STATE TO ENSURE BY
ALL MEANS NECESSARY THAT ITS GOVERNMENT
ADHERES TO THE RULE OF
LAW, NOT JUST DOMESTICALLY BUT INTERNATIONALLY. THERE ARE NO
BYSTANDERS. NO ONE IS ENTITLED TO AN “APOLITICAL”
EXEMPTION FROM SUCH OBLIGATION. Where default
occurs, either by citizen endorsement of official criminality or by the
failure of citizens to EFFECTIVELY
oppose it, liability is incurred by
all. Although degrees of onus may be assigned along a continuum
traversing the distance from those who most actively embraced the crime
to those who most actively opposed it, NONE ARE “INNOCENT”.
4) Metaphysical guilt : “THIS
RESTS MOST HEAVILY UPON THOSE WHO, WHILE NOT GUILTY OF ANY SPECIFIC OFFENSE,
AVERTED THEIR EYES, SITTING BY WHILE CRIMES
AGAINST HUMANITY WERE COMMITTED IN THEIR NAME. It encompasses as
well
all who, while WE may have
registered opposition in some form or
degree, did less than WE
might have?failing thereby to risk our lives
unconditionally?in OUR struggle to prevent or halt such crimes.
Therein, incontestably, lies the guilt shared by all who opt to remain
alive while OTHERS are
systematically SUBJUGATED,
DISPOSSESSED,
TORTURED and MURDERED”.
To all of us: “TO BE CONTENT WITH
PAPER PROTESTS OR TO PLAY RISKLESS POLITICS…
IS EVASION OF RESPOSIBILITY”( Karl Jaspers, German Guilt, pp.
56,85.)
So, is Japan going to dissociate itself from the crimes of America
and try to find a better way, a decent, honest way to make a living or
is it going to wait for cheap Iraqi OIL to start flowing in, OIL paid
for by the more than 100.000 and counting killed Iraqis in an(other)
ILLEGAL US-Britain led war and illegal occupation in which Japan is an
accomplice?
Sometimes when I speak with Japanese people about telling the
Yankee to go home, although some of them may agree with me, nine out of
ten bring up North Korea into the conversation. Some Japanese are
genuinely afraid of North Korea but for many it is just an excuse to
justify Japan’s hiding behind America and continue profiting from Uncle
Sam’s spoils. Whatever the case, North Korea is a very convenient
boogieman for not doing anything that would upset the almost 60 year
old criminal but profitable relationship with the Yankee. Therefore,
North Korea is another issue that we, activists, have to deal with in
order to dissipate the false, perpetual atmosphere of fear and danger
that is exploited by our politicians and spread through the cowardly,
servile and truth-murdering mainstream media to manipulate “the masses”
and promote mind-numbing patriotism. HITLER said: “What good fortune
for governments that the people do not think”.
This article is already too long, and I don’t want to give a heart
attack to Kamarad Tsumura, so I won’t be expressing my thoughts on the
issue of North Korea here, but since there seems to be a patriotism
fever catching on in Japan, here is what Guy de Maupassant said about
patriotism: “ PATRIOTISM IS A KIND
OF RELIGION; IT IS THE EGG FROM
WHICH WARS ARE HATCHED.”
I realize that this article may appear a bit disorganized and
confusing at times but, to sum it up, it is about us, activists, and
what we can do to AWAKEN the people (electroshocks? Just kidding) to
the dangers, the responsibilities and the immorality of Japan’s
following the present path. We have to find a way to attract more
people on our side, but we won’t be able to do that as long as we are
scattered, disorganized, bickering… We must find a way to break out of
the current circle in which we have caught ourselves. By circle I mean
the fact that, for example, when we hold lectures, they are attended
mostly by like-minded people. Our publications, too, end up mostly in
the hands of like-minded people, and we, here in Japan, are not the
only ones in this circle. As for the alternative media, there is very
little serious material in Japanese. Very little also is translated
from English and in English, there is an abundance of information that
is dying to be used. Even big names like Chomsky, Pilger, Blum, Fisk…
are virtually unknown out of activism circles. This is a fact, believe
me. I know because I work at a language school teaching French and
English and as such I get to meet people everyday. Sometimes I ask my
students if they know the names of the people that I’ve just mentioned
here above; I get blanks most of the time (actually, some of my
students don’t even know MY name). Chomsky sometimes rings a bell but
mainly as a linguist. This (voluntary) ignorance is not restricted to a
particular age category, I teach people of all walks of life. We,
activists, need to cooperate more in order to devise a way to reach out
to the population at large: the disillusioned, the disappointed, the
indifferent, the ignored, the ignorant, the neglected, the student, the
housewife, the blue color worker, the white color worker, the part-time
worker, the unemployed…etc WE
HAVE TO PLANT IN PEOPLE’S MIND THE SEED
OF HOPE, WILL, THOUGHT, ACTION, RESISTANCE, CHANGE, PARTICIPATION,
SOLIDARITY, RESPONSIBILITY, INITIATIVE, SACRIFICE, UNITY…
THE SEED OF PEOPLE
POWER!!
WE, ACTIVISTS, HAVE TO
BE THAT SEED! WE HAVE TO PAVE THE WAY!
Here is the end of this article with the last part of a song called
“People have the power” (1988) by Patti Smith:
THE PEOPLE HAVE THE POWER
THE PEOPLE HAVE THE POWER
THE PEOPLE HAVE THE POWER
THE PEOPLE HAVE THE POWER
THE POWER TO DREAME TO RULE
TO WRESTLE THE WORLD FROM FOOLS
IT’S DECREED THE PEOPLE RULE
IT’S DECREED THE PEOPLE RULE
LISTEN. I BELIEVE EVERYTHING WE DREAM
CAN COME TO PASS THROUGH OUR UNION
WE CAN TURN THE WORLD AROUND
WE CAN TURN THE EARTH’S REVOLUTION
WE HAVE THE POWER
PEOPLE HAVE THE POWER
Patti Smith
It is time to start the steamroller of the REVOLUTION!!
WE, THE PEOPLE, ARE THE HISTORY MAKERS!!
Brkic SULEJMAN
2005. 06. 10
On Sunday 4th
November at 4pm at Salji in
Hashimoto Spring screened Michael
Winterbottom's WONDERLAND about the emptiness
of people's lives in
capitalist society and the working poor. The discussion followed linking
the struggles of working people in Britain to those of the WORKING POOR in JAPAN.
A guest speaker with a PH.D in
Sociology was on hand to introduce the movie and give her views on
themes in the film in a participatory discussion after the screening.
Contact:
Sulejman Brkic on 090-1268-4412 for info in Japanese and English
For
information in
Japanese contact Salji on 042-770-0530
or email:
kronstadt@ezweb.ne.jp in English
For an interview with Michael Winterbottom on
Wonderland go to
http://www.indiewire.com/people/int_Winter_Michael_000728.html
Wonderland
(2000)
 Ten
ordinary characters
in search of an
exit, looking for meaning and contentment against the backdrop of
London's everyday sights -- banal places somehow made familiar, vibrant
and beautiful.
Cast: Gina McKee, Ian
Hart, Shirley Henderson, Molly Parker, John Simm, Stuart Townsend, Enzo
Cilenti, Nathan Constance, David Fahm, Peter Marfleet, Kika Markham,
Sarah-Jane Potts, Jack Shepherd, Ellen Thomas
Director: Michael
Winterbottom
Release Date: July
28th, 2000 (limited release)
MPAA Rating: R (for some strong sexuality, and for language)
Running Time: 109
minutes
Distributor: USA
Films
Awards
Nominated for Golden
Palm, 1999 Cannes Film Festival; Nominated for Best Actress, Best
British Film, and Best Director, 1999 British Independent Film Awards.
Recommended
Articles from Hashimoto Spring Participant "Kronstadt"....
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article12079.htm
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