[Mb-civic] A new "Citizens Oath of Office" for Inauguration 2005

[ean at sbcglobal.net]

This is short and sweet!


Today's commentary:
http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2005-01/20jensen.cfm

==================================

ZNet Commentary
A new "Citizens Oath of Office" for Inauguration 2005 
January 20, 2005 
By
Robert Jensen 

Four years ago at the counter-inaugural event on the steps of the state
Capitol in Austin, TX, I administered a Citizen's Oath of Office to a
crowd that was eager to fight the incoming Bush administration's
reactionary agenda: 

"I do solemnly pledge that I will faithfully execute the office of citizen
of the United States, and that I will, to the best of my ability, resist
corporate control of the world, resist militarism, resist the roll-back of
civil rights, and resist illegitimate authority in all its forms."

Predictably, the Bush gang has spent four years doing its best to
strengthen the corporate elite's grip on the country, jack up military
spending and use that military to deepen U.S. control in key regions of
the world, and undermine fundamental political freedoms. We couldn't have
predicted that the events of 9/11 would raise the stakes so dramatically,
but the oath was on target about the basic nature of the threats.

But looking back I realize the oath failed to capture the heart of
citizens' obligations -- it talked only about resisting reactionary forces
and didn't speak to the democratic force we have to create. It made the
mistake of talking about politics only as the rejection of injustice, not
the process of creating justice and the means of achieving justice over
the long term.

So, this time around, I want to update the oath: 

"I do solemnly pledge that I will faithfully execute the office of citizen
of the United States, and that I will, to the best of my ability, help
create a truly democratic world by (1) going beyond mainstream corporate
news media to seek out information about important political, economic,
and social issues; (2) engaging fellow citizens, including those who
disagree with me, in serious discussion and debate about those issues; (3)
committing as much time, energy, and money as possible to help build
grassroots political organizations that can pressure politicians to put
the interests of people over profit and power; and (4) connecting these
efforts to global political and social movements fighting the U.S. empire
abroad, where it does the most intense damage. And I will continue to
resist corporate control of the world, resist militarism, resist the
roll-back of civil rights, and resist illegitimate authority in all its
forms."

I know that's a mouthful for an oath, but I think it better captures the
scope of the challenges we face.

The next four years will be difficult. The Bush administration seems
determined to sink the country ever deeper into the debacle in Iraq,
justifying the attempted conquest as part of its phony "war on terrorism"
whose real aim is to increase U.S. domination, not protect people. (See
http://dahrjamailiraq.com/ and http://www.unitedforpeace.org/) And because
of the skill of the Bush PR machine, a significant portion of the U.S.
public will support the war. 

Meanwhile at home, Bush is pressing to undermine the Social Security
system by fudging fiscal projections and distorting data to scare people
into believing that one of the most effective and efficient U.S.
government programs has to be privatized. (See
http://www.cepr.net/pages/socialsecuritymedicare.htm and
http://www.epinet.org/content.cfm/issueguide_socialsecurity) And, once
again, the Bush PR machine can be expected to convince a lot of Americans
that they should trade solidarity and collective security for the
possibility of some personal financial gain. 

On these, and many other issues, we have to resist the policies pursued by
a rightwing-dominated Republican Party that holds power. But we also have
to look beyond the immediate policy battles and work to rebuild politics
from the ground up. The election is over; there's no reason to pretend the
Democratic Party is a vehicle for progressive change. The work is in our
communities, and it is the work of a lifetime. This is the struggle that
we owe it to ourselves to engage in. 

And, more importantly, this is the work that we -- living in the most
affluent society in history -- owe the world.

Robert Jensen -- a journalism professor at the University of Texas at
Austin and board member of the Third Coast Activist Resource Center
(http://thirdcoastactivist.org/) -- is the author of "Citizens of the
Empire: The Struggle to Claim Our Humanity" and "Writing Dissent: Taking
Radical Ideas from the Margins to the Mainstream." Links to his articles
are at http://www.nowarcollective.com/ and he can be reached at
rjensen at uts.cc.utexas.edu.




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