Never Give Up, Never Surrender (or, Hope is for Pussies)

I got the title for this post (at least the first part!) from Christy Hardin Smith of Firedoglake.

Yesterday at work, I was talking to a progressive friend of mine, and she was frustrated at the lack of Dem spine. We had such hopes after the 2006 midterms, and then...bupkis. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Yessir, Massa! How can we further your agenda, sir?

I get frustrated, too. It seems as though no one is going to stop this runaway train of disaster. But I'll be damned if I'm going to allow these people to determine what I do or say. They can only have that power if I hand it to them. This is what I wrote to my friend today:

It gets really frustrating when we're confronted with this appalling apathy and the sense that nothing's going to change because everyone's standing around with their fingers in their ears going "La la la, I'm not listening - I wonder if Lindsay will go to jail - do you like my new car? la la la!" I know you're someone who walks the talk, and it's very disheartening to think that most people aren't even aware of the problem we're facing, much less willing to cowboy up and do something about it.

But something else I realize is - it doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter if we get the results we want from our activism.

It only matters that it's right; that we stand up for what's right.

Whether we have popular support doesn't matter. Whether things change on the schedule we want doesn't matter. Whether things change at all doesn't matter.

What matters is that we do what's right.

It's right to end the invasion.

It's right to get these crooks out of office.

It's right to stand up for the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

It's right to put people before corporations, and to take care of those who need it.

It only matters that we stand up, individually, for what's right.

If we only take action if we know we'll get our way, if we get a 'good feeling' and validation out of doing what we do, then that's not real activism.

We have to search our hearts and consciences, decide what's right, and then stand up for it.

Nothing else matters.

So, stay strong, and let's keep fighting the good fight.

I believe that we will prevail if we do.

But if we don't, that's no excuse to quit. That just means we need to do it more.

Update: I sent this to my fave radio host, Mike Malloy, who read it on the air. You can hear the clip by going to the sidebar under 'Audio Clips' and clicking on the arrow button.