Cindy Sheehan: Revolution Is A Potluck – OpEd

“A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery; it cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous. A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another.” – Mao Zedong

First of all, don’t worry, I am not advocating violent overthrow of the Robber Class in this piece—now that your mind is eased (or disappointed), I will go on.

Today, Peace of the Action, and our Re-Creating Revolutionary Communities or Bust Tour is wrapping up near Yosemite in bucolic (and hot), Oakhurst. We began in Eugene, Or. and stopped in Hood River and Newport before heading down to California where we had events in Arcata, Garberville, Fresno and soon in Oakhurst.

At each stop, a community potluck was included and I observed and heard many revolutionary acts being planned by members of each community stemming from the mere act of building community.

Back in the days of the Great Depression in the 20s, 30s, and 40s, “community” wasn’t a concept, it was a reality—with longevity in residence, no TV box, and multi-generational homes—for better, or worse, we needed each other. Since then, we have become Pod People—isolated and propagandized by the TV box to the point where many of us believe that if we need another person, we are weak. However, this tribal need for community is natural and we should pay heed to the impulse to gather in healthy community rather than suppress it with unhealthy activities.

Re-creating Revolutionary Communities is not about locking ourselves in our own homes with stockpiles of food and ammo and it’s not about confronting our current class-based diseased system head-on with heavy weaponry or ineffectual protests. It’s about, as far as possible for each of our own current circumstances, CREATING OUR OWN SYSTEMS.

On our tour, we have seen communities using local scrip, barter, community gardening and food co-ops, canning circles (fyi, canning is preserving food that you grow—it’s an ancient process making a comeback), community medical clinics, recycling, forest preservation, energy production, etc.

This Empire that we reside under is on the verge of collapse by institutional rot, fueled by avaricious greed. Removing ourselves from the diseased systems of the Robber Class is the only way we are going to survive the collapse.

Can it be any more obvious at this point that we cannot vote our way out of this mess? This system cannot be reformed to a place where it’s healthy, clean and safe for us.

Many people wrote to me in 2008 that “Barack Obama is our only hope.” Well, I don’t know how many more deaths and economic terrorism against our class it’s going to take before 100% of Obama supporters wake up to the fact that Obama was only “hope” for the Robber Class.

Now, I am being harassed with, “Ron Paul is our only chance.” Please, give it up, people.

WE ARE OUR ONLY CHANCE!

We have been finding that many people are on this parallel path of localization and we feel that it’s imperative to connect our communities in solidarity to build a new paradigm of people before profit and anti-consumerism that has infected us in the Robbed Class.

“Dog eat dog” is dead. Have a potluck in your community and start fomenting your own revolution!

We are thinking of doing a West-East RevCom tour in late spring next year—let me know if you are interested in having the tour come through your town.

To get a free PDF copy of my Woman-i-festo: Myth America, 20 Greatest Myths of the Robber Class and the Case for Revolution, please email me at:
[email protected]