America won't change its driving behaviors until gas prices hit $5 a gallon, some experts say. At that point, will city, county, or state governments step up to the plate to deal with the transit issue?

Or will they be too slow to respond to such an immediate crisis, and instead will we see the blossoming of citizen engineered organizations to deal with the sudden transportation issue? Will communities rely on smaller scale solutions, like carpooling internet boards, local bus services like guaguas - the small vans that thrive in Puerto Rico, and bicycling and walking?

If government entities solve the problem, then our democracy works. Considering that government is partially responsible for our auto-centric way of life (think subsidies for auto manufacturers, transportation budgets that focus solely on road building, and limited funding for public transit), I hope that people will band together to deal with the impending crisis.

"The creation of alternative structures provides both a moral and a practical underpinning for efforts aimed at bringing about fundamental social change," says policy wonk Steven Zunes in his essay Recognizing the Power of Non-Violent Action.

"Parallel structures in civil society may render state control increasingly impotent, as they did throughout Eastern Europe leading up to the events of 1989. In the Philippines, Marcos lost power not through the defeat of his troops and the storming of the MalacaÑang Palace but from the withdrawal of sufficient support for his authority, so the palace became the only part of the country that his troops could effectively control.

"On the same day that Marcos was officially sworn in for another term as president in a state ceremony, Corazon Aquino was symbolically sworn in as the people's president. Given that most Filipinos saw Marcos' election as fraudulent, the vast majority offered its allegiance to President Aquino rather than President Marcos. The transfer of allegiance from one source of authority and legitimacy to another is a key element of a successful nonviolent uprising."

How does this apply to the United States? Do we see any of our state functions so beyond repair that they need replacement? We may be in the very early processes of what Zunes describes.

I wouldn't suggest that Al Sharpton's "Shadow Inauguration" in Washington, D.C. in January, 2001, a ceremony for the people paralleling the Bush one across town, was the start of such a movement in the United States, because I know I won't transfer my allegiance to Sharpton.

But I would say that I place more faith in Amy Goodman and Robert McChesney than I do the FCC and George Bush. I would say that we are seeing such a non-violent movement rise around media reform. Alternative media features internet open-publishing wires like indymedia.org, blogs like dailykos.com, and television shows like Democracy Now!

A Low Power FM radio movement builds momentum with leadership from the Philly-based Prometheus Radio Project [prometheusradio.org], which scored a massive victory against the FCC last year.

All of these non-corporate media rebels and their leaders, like McChesney, Goodman and populist columnist Jim Hightower will meet in St. Louis from May 13 to 15 for the second annual National Conference for Media Reform.

This seems like a Continental Congress-style gathering. It is clear that the for-profit, propagandist, monolithic media corporations no longer serve our communities. Word by word, brick by brick, transmitter by transmitter, people are constructing these parallel, separate communication entities.

How do our communities build for separate, parallel needs like education? Within 10 years, will No Child Left Behind become such a restrictive, un-funded mandate that parents will create cooperative, community schools that survive without government or foundation money?

Or with the rising cost of for-profit health care, and its ability to bankrupt millions, will we begin to see free, barter or low-cost clinics organized by activist doctors? What will be the breaking point for MDs who seek to uphold their Hippocratic oaths and refuse to bend to the will of HMOs?

In our complex society, our daily infrastructural needs are vast and various. The ability of independent citizen groups to provide food, housing, water, and electricity seems like an insurmountable challenge. I invest hope in the old adage that necessity is the mother or invention. As the life Americans expect becomes too expensive, we may see massive transformations.

4/20/05

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As the life Americans expect becomes too expensive, we may see massive transformations

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Re-Create Civil Society?

As the life Americans expect becomes too expensive, we may see massive transformations