zapatistas unhinged indigenous resistance in mexico (i was a sleepy teenager back then, stuck in my own depressive fantasy land) 'these political crimes have no solution because they are committed by those who are supposed to prosecute; the economic crisis makes corruption even more prevalent in government spheres. government and crime are today synonymous and equivalent. while the legal opposition dedicated itself to find the center in a dying nation, large sectors of the population increased their skepticism towards political parties and searched, without finding it still, for an option for new political work, a political organization of a new kind. like a star, the dignified and heroic resistance of the indigenous zapatista communities illuminated 1995 and wrote a beautiful lesson in mexican history... we are in the midst of a great war which has shaken mexico at the end of the twentieth century. the war between those who intend to perpetuate a social, cultural, and political regime which is the equivalent to at the crime of treachery to the nation; and those who struggle for a democratic, just, and free change. the zapatista war is only a part of that great war which is the struggle between a history which aspires to a future and an amnesia which has foreign vocation.' - subcomandante insurgente marcos sound familiar? solidarity across borders true globalism isn't about imperialism 171119 ... unhinged 'the zapatistas formed the most important resistance movement of the last two decades. they were a refreshing departure from the dreary, jargon-filled rhetoric of the stalinist/third worldist sections of the old radical left. the zapatistas recaptured the language of poetry, art, lyricism, and humor and became a visible counterweight to the despoiling of the planet and the subjugation of the poor by global capitalism. they repeatedly reinvented themselves - as maracas did - to survive. the zapatistas gave global resistance movements a new language, drawn in part from the indigenous communal mayan culture, as well as from the writings of figures such as eduardo galeano and gabriel garcia marquez. offering a new paradigm for action, they understood that corporate capitalism has launched a war against us. and they showed us how to fight back.' - chris hedges 171207 ... unhinged ' should we prepare those who come after us for the path of death? should we develop more and better soldiers? invest our efforts in improving our battered war machine? kill or die as the only destiny? or should we reconstruct the path of life, that which those from above had broken and continue breaking? ...and we chose. and rather than dedicating ourselves to training guerrillas, soldiers, and squadrons, we developed education and health promoters, who went about building the foundations of autonomy that today amaze the world. instead of constructing barracks, improving our weapons, and building walls and trenches, we built schools, hospitals and health centers; improving our living conditions. instead of fighting for a place in the parthenon of individualized deaths of those from below, we chose to construct life.' (subcomandante insurgente marcos) this transformation by the ELZN (the governing counsel of the zapatistas) is one that is crucial to remember as we search for mechanisms to sever ourselves from the corporate state and build self-governing communities. the goal is not to destroy but to transform. and this is why violence is counterproductive. we too must work to create a radical shift in consciousness. we must, as the zapatista slogan insisted, 'be a zapatista wherever you are.' and this will take time, drawing larger and larger numbers of people into acts of civil disobedience. we too must work to make citizens aware of the mechanisms of power. an adherence to nonviolence will not save us from the violence of the state or from the state's hired goons and vigilantes. but nonviolence makes conversion, even among our oppressors, possible. and it is conversion that is our goal.' - chris hedges 171208 what's it to you? who go blather from