Taking Control

If the authorities don't respond, eventually the populace will organize and create vigilante groups. That is certainly not ideal as the vigilantes rarely can regulate and control themselves. In short, it is a recipe for anarchy and blood letting.

As a teenager I was fond of the idea of the people taking control, whether by small scale civil disobedience or large scale revolution. I saw myself as being a socialist.

As I saw these things happen, and as I reflected on history, I became less fond of the ideas. It seems that it is far too easy for “the oppressed” to become the oppressors.

Consider the American revolution seeking freedom and liberty . Now consider what the experience was of the indigenous people and people of colour. More recently consider the horrors of WW2. Now consider that countries are identifying the illegal settlements in the West Bank and the calls for forced “relocation” of the population of Gaza as being ethnic cleansing.

I came to see myself as a democratic socialist. I despair of the overwhelming power of the corporate capitalist press. (I have to smile when people refer to corporate capitalist media as being “left wing”.)

Now I think of myself as being a social democrat.