Paying attention . . . Yes, by simply schooling yourself on how our local governance is organized, who are the players, what are the screw-ups, where is the money and what things get reported you can legitimately call yourself a citizen, an advocate for democracy.
It has never been more evident than now that "history" is what is reported and recorded. There is a great deal of unreported current events by our major media and local media every single day. Our city council only records action minutes which does not include any minority opinions or deliberations. Almost nothing Teresa Barth says or does or the public says gets into the recorded minutes. The videos become the only accurate capture of what is said. And yesterday and today's Encinitas Myths cover the kinds of manuevers that get no coverage because civility and polite behavior disallow us all screeching at the top of our lungs that corruption is afoot!
Understand, civil discourse is a major goal of the candidates running for city council seats. But, frankly the near comatose populace will never see the swindle right out in the open unless the press stops acting like stenographers reporting a balanced he said she said journalism. It isn't balanced, it is often not legal or ethical - but the vast majority never hears. Jim Bond loves this and so do his colleagues in the super majority. I digress . . . Today's post is broader than our city council even though it is related. The quote at the end is a good message for our community right now.
Despite the highly fictionalized history being taught in US schools, characterized by timelines based on military actions and world leaders' lives, the late Howard Zinn devoted most of his life to the research and education regarding the history of the United States from the point of view of regular people. It is a very different story and appropriate for this holiday week of über patriotism.
Citizen Tip = History from the People's Perspective
Although this video was created during the Bush administration, nothing significant has changed and in fact has gotten worse in the areas of exceptionalism and imperialism discussed in this video.
“Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of leaders…and millions have been killed because of this obedience…Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves… (and) the grand thieves are running the country. That’s our problem.” Howard Zinn
