The New Superpower On The Block…

…is YOU!

There’s a video over at The Huffington Post which is getting quite a lot of attention. And while “The Type” who might read my lefty drivel probably already saw this, I thought I’d link to it anyway because it speaks to a point that I believe is so universally relevant to The Future Of The World that I don’t want anyone to miss it:

WE HAVE GOT TO STOP OTHERING EACH OTHER!!!

And that can only happen when we realize that there are people who benefit from dividing us, making us afraid of each other, teaching us to blame each other for what’s wrong with our world. Be they the 10% of Americans who possess 90% of America’s wealth, or the Christian Fundamentalist who need to instigate Armageddon to attain salvation, or the NeoCons who won’t be satisfied ’till they own the last drop of water, they ALL depend on our complicity to maintain their dominance of our world.

The video linked above makes the point that We The People are the new superpower in the world, that public opinion is the 800lb gorilla in the present political paradigm.

I believe this to be true, and true in a way it’s never been before, thanks largely to the internet, and more specifically, to the blogosphere. There are an estimated 100,000 new blogs created EVERY DAY. This means we’re no longer just sharing information… we’re talking to each other. And with the familiarity will come understanding, and with the understanding, the fear of the unknown will be replaced by the common hopes and dreams and aspirations of a world full of people who are more alike than not, who love their children and their homes, who are tired of the endless wars, who have had ENOUGH!!!

And THAT has the hate-mongers trembling in their Guccis. Because if you need war to make your billions, if you need a cowering citizenry to seize absolute power, if you need World War III to get to Heaven…

We MUST keep talking, and not just to like-minded people (though that certainly has the value of building support and consensus,) but to others with different points of view. The next time someone knocks on my door with a Bible and a stack of Watchtowers in their hands, I intend to try to find the common ground which I know is there. The next time a co-worker makes a gay-bashing comment, I intend to choke down my anger and ask them why they feel that way and tell them why I feel differently.

And we must know that the powerful and the privileged will try to stop us. They’ll fill the airwaves with Bill Donohue and Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh and others who whip the frightened and the feeble into a brown-shirted frenzy, then claim no culpability when gays are beaten to death or when doctors at Women’s Health clinics are murdered. They’ll corral our Freedom of Speech into “zones” where no one can hear us.

And because the World Wide Web is our World Wide Weapon of choice, they’ll try to deny us this tool. Whether by laws or regulations or fees which restrict access and content or by Denial Of Service attacks like the one which recently affected Shakesville, they must interrupt the network we’re building.

Otherwise, Hatred and Bigotry and Fear and Greed will fall at the feet of Hope and Kindness and Respect for ourselves and each other.

We wouldn’t want that now, would we?

Special big Hat-Tip to Miz Lu for cluing me about this video, and welcome to my world!