imagine

Bolivian Vice President Álvaro García Linera: “If the oligarchy insults me, if they attack me, it means that I am doing my job. It means that I am defending the people. It means I am doing my constitutional duty of defending the homeland.”

could you imagine a politician in the u.s. speaking in such a way? a democrat or republican president or vp could never talk of an oligarchy in such a way, because they are part of the oligarchy. in fact, they would never use that phrase at all, because it acknowledges class and power differentials in the society. it speaks to the existence of a ruling class, and a mainstream, u.s. politician will never mention the existence of a ruling class.

a leader who makes statements like this is just what we need. more importantly, a social movement strong enough to produce leaders who make statements like this, which are then heard by, and influence, the masses, is what we need. look at this quote...if you are defending the people, then by definition, you are working against the ruling class. and you don't defend the people by throwing money at corporations. you don't defend the people by spending billions of their tax dollars to kill people in afghanistan, pakistan, and iraq. the oligarchy has the money and the power that the people need, and in order to get them, you need to expose the oligarchy for who and what they are. and that, of course, means making them angry. it means they will attack you with their entire arsenal, including the media. often, they control the army as well, or at least a portion of it. in other words, the system needs to be fought, and you don't fight it by throwing money at it and you don't fight it by having your campaign financed by it.

if we are interest in true democracy, we should be paying very close attention to what is going on in bolivia and venezuela. in both countries, leaders are in power who represent the people, who look like the majority, who think like the majority, and who most importantly, are attempting to implement policies that will improve the lives of the historically discriminated masses of workers, peasants, and the indigenous.

we have a lot to learn.

all we have to do is open our eyes.