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This is Not the Worst of Times

MPAC Newsletter, November 2003

by Doug Allen

Many students and others concerned with their futures, as well as with the future of our planet and our very survival, feel demoralized and even deeply frightened. They frequently respond to this deep sense of crisis by withdrawal into their private worlds, by refusal to think about how bad things are, and by identifying with all kinds of temporary escapisms. They also frequently become deeply cynical, thus justifying their inaction since nothing they could do would make any difference. At times, apathy and cynicism are presented as "cool," since getting involved not only makes you vulnerable, but it also shows that you are a sucker. I am frequently asked whether I have ever seen conditions so bad.

I want to emphasize that what follow are my own personal reflections. They are in no way intended to devalue or value negatively the pervasive feelings that this is the worst of times. As I shall indicate, such feelings are not illusory, and there is considerable objective evidence to justify such apprehensive, demoralized, and cynical responses. My purpose in sharing my own different reflections is to encourage readers to view matters in a larger perspective and to affirm that we are doing a lot that is positive and we are making a huge difference. Part of the way people with power maintain their power is to engender and continually reinforce the self-serving but false impression that nothing we do or could do would make any difference. To maintain the status quo and their power positions of domination, they don’t require our active support. Their purposes are well served by our passivity, hopelessness, and failure to struggle and build major forces of resistance to their domination.

Students and others make an important observation: The past is the past, but they are living in the horrendous present. That is what they know. For them, it is the worst of times. Repeatedly I have been told that some of us had it much better in the 1960s. It is often stated that activists in the 60s had hope and positive feelings; they were for something. By way of clear contrast, it is said that people concerned about peace and justice today simply know what they are against; being against does not alleviate the feeling that this is the worst of times.

There is a lot of insight and truth in this observation, but my own experiences in the 1960s show me that it needs to be modified. There is a tendency among some to idealize and romanticize the 60s, often accompanied with contrasting negative feelings about the present. True, there were a lot of positive energy and hope, exciting alternatives and idealism. It was my favorite decade. However, it is important to keep in mind that this idealized portrayal applied only to a significant minority of students and other activists. Much of the 60s was defined by a pervasive sense of alienation and cynicism about the possibility of transforming dominant power relations. Many more students, for example, defined their priorities in terms of heavy drinking and drugs, sex and music, and other individual personal experiences rather than peace and justice activism. Some advocated "dropping out," creating isolated personal alternatives, and just forgetting about those with power who would never listen or change. To provide one other example, I was very involved in anti-racist struggles. Most of those who identified with various "Black Power" movements in the 1960s shared a sense of anger and rage; an underlying pessimism about white America that lacked the hope of the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and early 1960s. As Martin Luther King, Jr., repeatedly and a little unfairly pointed out, the Black Power movement, while often heroic, was largely fueled by hatred (of white supremacy) and contained a self-defeating underlying sense of despair and hopelessness about the possibility for real change.

It is not that the responses today that this is the worst of times are out of touch with reality. Especially in the repressive aftermath of 9/11 and the dangerous precedents of U.S. pre-emptive war on Iraq, there is an objective basis for such fear, demoralization, and cynicism. I need not delineate the overwhelming evidence that we are in very precarious times with the extremely reactionary policies coming from Washington, the increasing militarization, the blatantly regressive tax and economic policies favoring the wealthy elite, the increasing globalization of corporate domination and exploitation, the alarming steps backwards on sexism and racism and the environment, the assault on basic civil liberties and human rights, and the pandering to the religious right.

Nevertheless, I do not think that we are in the worst of times or that our present crises are unprecedented. Many of us live in the present moment without a sense of history that can give a necessary sense of perspective. Some of us experienced the devastations of the McCarthyism in the 1950s, the atrocities of legalized segregation, genocidal policies at home and abroad, the threat of nuclear holocaust, the years of facing verbal and physical attacks and death threats during antiwar activism, and periods in which homophobia and other forms of oppression and concern for the environment were not even part of our agenda. Compared with some of the past, most (not all) of us engaged in peace and justice struggles today still have a fair amount of freedom and security and opportunities for effective organizing.

I recall how many years it took us to question and raise some consciousness about the injustice of the Vietnam War. By way of contrast, it is incredible how effective we were in raising critical questions and building an antiwar movement even before the U.S. invaded and occupied Iraq in March. It is even more incredible that after a few months, with all of the pressure to shut off debate and just waive the flag and "support our troops," even most U.S. citizens now have serious doubts about the legitimacy of the Iraq War.

In addition, a study of history reveals that most of Bush’s dangerous agenda and policies are not so different from the policies of many earlier administrations. For me, what often seems deceptively different is the fact that Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and others in Washington present their policies in such a unilateral, arrogant, simplistic, undisguised manner. We are the only superpower, we represent the forces of truth and goodness, and we’ll do as we please. Nevertheless, their class exploitation, imperialism, racism, sexism, militarism, and destruction of the environment are nothing new.

As we consider our personal priorities and real options, I think that there is an objective basis for hope and for guarded optimism. I’ll provide but two of numerous significant illustrations. On the local level, there are so many encouraging developments. The Peace and Justice Center of Eastern Maine is much stronger than it has ever been in terms of core activists, individual and organizational membership, providing major alternative voices, and organizing successful vigils, demonstrations, educational programs, and other activist events every month. The numbers and the dedication of activists who participated in so many peace and justice events opposing the Iraq War were astounding. I could give similar examples of the amazing recent proliferation of wonderful peace and justice groups throughout eastern Maine.

A second related illustration is of the amazing development of a global peace and justice, anti-imperialist, antiwar movement throughout the world. Globally, this is the largest antiwar movement in history. Typical estimates are that 80% of people opposed the U.S. war on Iraq. On February 15, more people were involved in antiwar demonstrations than at any time in history. And on that day, as part of a worldwide movement, 500 Mainers demonstrated in freezing weather in Bangor in what some older activists said was the largest local antiwar demonstration they could remember. As part of this movement, we have witnessed amazing global responses, including those of dedicated Maine students, in anti-globalization protests against the WTO (World Trade Organization), the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas), and other corporate plans for corporate global domination.

The challenge is for us to build on this impressive foundation by developing our university and other grassroots peace and justice activism and integrating our efforts with national and international progressive struggles. This will mean educating ourselves and organizing effective forces of resistance to the dangerous militaristic and imperialist policies of corporate America and their representatives in Washington and at the same time offering a positive vision and real alternatives to class exploitation, war and violence, sexism and racism, and environmental devastation.

Some of us will do this by focusing on electoral politics with a major objective of bringing about regime change in Washington. Others, disillusioned with past electoral politics, will focus their peace and justice activism toward creating alternative voices and communities that can then exert nonviolent resistance to the unjust polices of the power elite. We need not choose. We must be inclusivistic, supporting each other in the diverse multidimensional aspects of building a peace and justice movement and a much better world. In all of this, there is much to justify our guarded optimism.