On Getting Alongr
By Howard Zinnr
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You ask how I manage to stay involved and remain seemingly happy andr
adjusted to this awful world where the efforts of caring people pale inr
comparison to those who have power?r
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It’s easy.r
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First,r
don’t let “those who have power” intimidate you. Nor
matter how much power they have they cannot prevent you from living yourr
life, speaking your mind, thinking independently, having relationshipsr
with people as you like. (Read Emma Goldman’s autobiography LIVING MYr
LIFE. Harassed, even imprisoned by authority, she insisted on livingr
her life, speaking out, however she felt like.)
Second,r
find people to be with who have your values, your commitments,r
but who also have a sense of humor. That combination is a necessity!r
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Thirdr
(notice how precise is my advice that I can confidently number it,r
the way scientist number things),r
understand that the major media willr
not tell you of all the acts of resistance taking place every day in ther
society, the strikes, the protests, the individual acts of courage inr
the face of authority. Look around (and you will certainly find it) forr
the evidence of these unreported acts. And for the little you find,r
extrapolate from that and assume there must be a thousand times as muchr
as what you’ve found.r
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Fourth:r
Note that throughout history people have felt powerless beforer
authority, but that at certain times these powerless people, byr
organizing, acting, risking, persisting, have created enough power tor
change the world around them, even if a little. That is the history ofr
the labor movement, of the women’s movement, of the anti-Vietnam warr
movement, the disable persons’ movement, the gay and lesbian movement,r
the movement of Black people in the South.r
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Fifth:r
Remember, that those who have power, and who seem invulnerabler
are in fact quite vulnerable, that their power depends on the obediencer
of others, and when those others begin withholding that obedience, beginr
defying authority, that power at the top turns out to be very fragile.r
Generals become powerless when their soldiers refuse to fight,r
industrialists become powerless when their workers leave their jobs orr
occupy the factories.r
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Sixth:r
When we forget the fragility of that power in the top we becomer
astounded when it crumbles in the face of rebellion. We have had manyr
such surprises in our time, both in the United States and in otherr
countries.r
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Seventh:r
Don’t look for a moment of total triumph. See it as anr
ongoing struggle, with victories and defeats, but in the long run ther
consciousness of people growing. So you need patience, persistence, andr
need to understand that even when you don’t “win,” there is fun andr
fulfillment in the fact that you have been involved, with other goodr
people, in something worthwhile.r
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Okay, seven pieces of profound advice should be enough.