I use that expression quite a bit. It is inspired by a quote attributed to a few, and in different variations, but I'll give it to the classic megalomaniacal-imperialist Alexander the Great.
"I would not fear a pack of lions led by a sheep, but I would always fear a flock of sheep led by a lion."
I often use the expression whenever the topic of political discussions turns to "How do we change things?" That’s one of those questions more people are asking these days… or at least they should be. Forget about debating whether global warming is man -made or not, that's a damn red herring. Food and fuel prices going up, the erosion of the middle-class, the destruction of workers' rights, continual deterioration of our ecosystem, the loss of biodiversity, economic turmoil, all of those are stark realities. So whether you’re a poverty advocate, labour union member, PETA supporter or a good old fashioned tree hugger, you should be asking "How do we change things?"
The answer is right in front of all of us. It stands out in history books. Revolution… but do any of us really want to do it? The majority of people are still too comfortable or clueless here. If things are ever going to truly change and we're going to lift the poor out of poverty, halt the devastating effects of global capitalism on our ecosystem and tear down the plutocracy that controls our global society it will require us to make a drastic change in our way of living. What is viewed by many today as their entitled "standard of living " (e.g., cars, big house, stuff) will need to be greatly reduced, if not eliminated.
This struggle between what is good for rich corporate interests and the people has been going on for a very long time. The side that wants to move the system towards a sustainable system of and for the people has been losing for centuries and really getting pummeled for decades now. There will be no building or electing of any political party that isn't attached to G20 priorities and global capitalism of one form or another. There will be no truly effective voice to counter the corporate controlled media. Let's not forget, they're coming after the internet now.
In North America too many of us are smug, callous, greedy, stupid, scared or some combination. There is no mass will to protest let alone revolt. Our governments play us like fiddles. The US government is showing some serious cracks now that the Obama-sham is pretty obvious. But the plebs are so confused or otherwise occupied the system is in no trouble of collapsing through a unified nationwide mass movement. In Canada many of us still think somehow we aren't a part of all this. We're on the playing field and host some events but we're not part of the game. Our media feeds us our parliament through a Fawlty Towers lens and we eat it up. This leaves many Canadians believing our politicians are all merely incompetent, petty and wasteful. Those incompetents vote on hundreds of bills each year though and I doubt many Canadians could even tell you what most of them are.
We are too busy watching the orchestrated political theatre of our politicians to concentrate on the business of our politics. We are not losing jobs and being driven further into debt by mere wastefulness, our middle class and manufacturing base is not declining because our politicians are incompetent. We are on the same march towards a plutocracy and fascist police state as the US and it is intentional. We need to stop supplying our politicians with the excuse of incompetence and mismanagement, they are fully aware what they are doing.
But that brings us back to "How do we change things?" With so many of us still being sheep, lions are needed, but the global power base is on the lookout for any potential lions and are quick to respond and discredit (or worse) anyone who may have the potential to lead us in any sizeable measure. We have been divided and confused to the point where organizing all the disenfranchised into one cohesive movement is now a Herculean task. With the chances of any unifying figure emerging being remote we can no longer sit by and wait for one to rise from the masses. We must all become lions with nary a sheep in the crowd.
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