Occupy Your Democracy

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. 

We are the ones we've been waiting for. 

We are the change that we seek.

 - President Barak Obama.

Remember . . .

 It's amazing how few words would need to be changed to make this speech appropriate 

 for here (the US) and now (2013).

The difference is that only a portion of our lawmakers are holding the entire government hostage, demanding the right to strip us all of our remaining rights - healthcare, education, the vote, collective bargaining, safety nets for the poor & unemployed, and anything else they can get their greedy little fingers on - or they'll crash the entire economy. 

The scene has played out repeatedly over the past six years. They have actually admitted that they will oppose president Obama on everything, even if opposing him is bad for the country. 

Who then are the real traitors, the terrorists, the ones trying to destroy our democracy? 
 

Good evening, London. Allow me first to apologize for this interruption. I do, like many of you, appreciate the comforts of the everyday routine, the security of the familiar, the tranquility of repetition. I enjoy them as much as any bloke. But in the spirit of commemoration - whereby those important events of the past, usually associated with someone's death or the end of some awful bloody struggle, are celebrated with a nice holiday - I thought we could mark this November the fifth, a day that is sadly no longer remembered, by taking some time out of our daily lives to sit down and have a little chat.

There are, of course, those who do not want us to speak. I suspect even now orders are being shouted into telephones and men with guns will soon be on their way. Why? Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there?

Cruelty and injustice...intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance, coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who's to blame? Well certainly there are those who are more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable. But again, truth be told...if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror.

I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn't be? War. Terror. Disease. There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you and in your panic, you turned to the now High Chancellor Adam Sutler. He promised you order. He promised you peace. And all he demanded in return was your silent, obedient consent.

Last night, I sought to end that silence. Last night, I destroyed the Old Bailey to remind this country of what it has forgotten. More than four hundred years ago, a great citizen wished to embed the fifth of November forever in our memory. His hope was to remind the world that fairness, justice and freedom are more than words - they are perspectives. So if you've seen nothing, if the crimes of this government remain unknown to you, then I would suggest that you allow the fifth of November to pass unmarked. But if you see what I see, if you feel as I feel, and if you would seek as I seek...then I ask you to stand beside me, one year from tonight, outside the gates of Parliament. And together, we shall give them a fifth of November that shall never, ever, be forgot!

Here is the original:

Female War Veteran Violently Arrested For Playing Banjo In The Wrong Place

Occupy Art.

#OccupyTogether.

His Spirit Is What We Celebrate today . . .

Beneath this mask there is more than flesh. 
Beneath this mask is an idea. 

. . . and Ideas are bullet proof.

- V

Prior Guy Fawkes posts:

 Remember, Remember ... ,    Gunpowder, Treason, and ... ,    Everything Old is New Again.

Everything Old is new Again

"REMEMBER, REMEMBER . . ."

[A]mid rising calls in the United States and Britain to curb government spending, Fawkes' anti-government spirit has become something of a rally cry on both sides of the pond. 

- The Christian Science Monitor.

Some other links: here, here, here, here, here, here, here, & here. 

Oops!

I think I mixed them all up.

'Gunpowder, treason and plot'

INTERESTING TIDBIT:

 

On November 5, 1990, a descendant and namesake of Guy Fawkes set fire to a gigantic replica of the Houses of Parliament for a charity fundraiser in Devon, England. There were also present sixty other descendants of the original Guy. - Wilson's Almanac.

HAPPY

Guy Fawkes

DAY

One and All

REMEMBER, REMEMBER, THE FIFTH OF NOVEMBER

In the British Isles, November Fifth, Guy Fawkes Day, is celebrated as the deliverance of the King and Houses of Parliament from an ill fated plot to blow them up. As you might guess, the conspirators were dealt with promptly and harshly and the day was to be celebrated annually in perpetuity. It still is in some quarters.

(Good guys 1, Bad guys 0?)

"After The Gunpowder Plot was foiled, King James decreed that on the anniversary of the plot's failure should always be remembered. 400 years later, that celebration is known as Bonfire Night where bonfires and fireworks are lit, and effigies of Fawkes (known, appropriately, as "guys") are burned, in celebration. (You'll have to ask the individual revelers whether or they are celebrating the Plot's failure or its attempt.)"

V for Vendetta (site about the graphic novel)

(Good guys 1, Bad guys 1?)

Below is an illustration of the conspirators.


 An account of the real incident can be found in Faith and Treason by Antonia Frasier.

The incident was one of rebellion against religious oppression and persecution. But subsequent books and movies have moved beyond that incident to paint a passionate picture of the UNIVERSAL and TIMELESS fight against fascism and the death of the human spirit.



In short, the new plot became,

"[W]hy don't we portray him as a resurrected Guy Fawkes, complete with one of those papier mache masks, in a cape and conical hat? He'd look really bizarre and it would give Guy Fawkes the image he's deserved all these years. We shouldn't burn the chap every Nov. 5th but celebrate his attempt to blow up Parliament!'"

V for Vendetta (site about the graphic novel)

V for Vendetta is set in a dystopian future United Kingdom. A mysterious anarchist who calls himself "V" works to destroy the totalitarian government, profoundly affecting the people he encounters. In a near-future Britain, a limited nuclear war has left much of the world destroyed and a fascist party called "Norsefire" has arisen as the ruling power. "V", an anarchist revolutionary dressed in a Guy Fawkes mask, begins an elaborate, violent, and theatrical campaign to bring down the government.

Alan Moore, the graphic novel's creator, made a long list of what he wanted to bring into the plot:

Orwell. Huxley. Thomas Disch. Judge Dredd. Harlan Ellison's "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman, Catman and The Prowler in the City at the Edge of the World by the same author. Vincent Price's Dr. Phibes and Theatre of Blood. David Bowie. The Shadow. Night Raven. Batman. Fahrenheit 451. The writings of the New Worlds school of science fiction. Max Ernst's painting "Europe After the Rain". Thomas Pynchon. The atmosphere of British Second World War films. The Prisoner. Robin Hood. Dick Turpin...^[1]

Wikipedia

In the movie made from the graphic novel, staring Natalie Portman, the particulars change a bit but the message is the same. In fact, it may be even more of an indictment of our leaders and their ways.  Britain has not been destroyed, but its people have been duped into believing so. The populace is tightly controlled through curfews, media, and suppression of even books and artwork as harbingers of evil.

The citizen militia enforcing curfew are reminiscent of roving morality police we hear about in the middle east, frightening in their complete autonomy. And the media jackal who controls and drives the conscience of society at the behest of the Chancellor? He bears a striking resemblance, both on stage and off, to a certain media jackal, we know as Rush.

The most terrifying thing about every evil done to the people, however, was that it done for their own good.

Nah! It Can't Happen Here!

 
What ever one thinks of the inspiring event, Fawkes is no longer solely a British citizen. He has become resident of the world, and his struggle, that of all people.

(Good guys 1, Bad guys 2?)

In the spirit of self-determination, I wish you all a happy Guy Fawkes day, and bid you:

"Remember Remember the Fifth of November"
The Gunpowder Treason and plot ;
I know of no reason why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes,
'Twas his intent.
To blow up the King and the Parliament.
Three score barrels of powder below.
Poor old England to overthrow.