“Ninety-three years old. The last leg of my journey. The end is in sight. I am lucky to be able to seize the time I have left to reflect on my lifelong commitment to politics: the Resistance and the program designed sixty-six years ago by the National Council of the Resistance.”
These are the opening lines from “A Time for Outrage!”(“Indignez-vous!”) a 35 page book written by Stephane Hessel in 2010 which sold 3 million copies in 30 languages and inspired protests like “Occupy” in the United States and The Indignados in Spain. Hassel died this week at the age of 95.
Each week we see reasons for outrage and, thankfully, more and more people are joining the culture of resistance.
Tuesday, the judge in the Bradley Manning case turned more than 1,000 days in prison, one-third of it in tortuous conditions in Kuwait and Quantico, into 90 days. The judge allowed excuses for the delays based on the complexity of the case and the secret documents involved so that it fell just under the 120 statutory limit for a speedy trial. Judge Denise Lind does not publish her opinions, (also outrageous) but read for two hours in court, making it almost impossible to analyze the basis of her making 1,000 = 90.
People are outraged at the treatment of Manning and in more than 70 cities, people protested.
The Keystone Pipeline (KXL) continues to be built as the Earth approaches the tipping point on climate change. Experts have said that tapping into the Alberta Tar Sands could be “game over” for the climate.(Next week we publish an article in TruthOut about how fracking may be an even bigger problem for climate change than the tar sands.)
People are outraged and doing the direct action necessary to stop the KXL. We hope this movie about the Tar Sands Blockade inspires you to join them.
One year ago, teenager Trayvon Martin was murdered after buying skittles in a convenience store. He was tracked by vigilante George Zimmerman and killed. The police did not charge Zimmerman until there was mass protest.
People are outraged and held vigils to mark the anniversary.
Students at Florida Atlantic University occupied the office of the president of their university after it was announced their football stadium would be named after a private prison corporation. President Mary Jo Saunders hid in her office for an hour, then came out and met the students. Following an hour long consensus process, she agreed to a town hall meeting on the issue this Friday.
Students were outraged at the glorification of prison privatization and were heard.
Occupy Austin settled a criminal prosecution that exposed undercover operatives who not only spied on occupy but alsoinstigated felony actions by occupiers. The occupiers got time served and the Austin police were exposed – three undercover police were named; the lawyer says there were more.
Occupiers were outraged, they fought back and won.
Jeremy Hammond is being held in prison for leaking 5 million StratFor intelligence documents to Wikileaks. He was entrapped by a government informant, and at 28 years of age, he faces life in prison. Hammond is outraged at the treatment of Aaron Swartz who committed suicide andwrote an open letter about Swartz while Hammond sat in solitary confinement.
People are outraged at the treatment of Hammond and Aaron Swartz.
Frankly, there are too many outrages to go through. Here’s a quick list of additional recent actions against outrages. These are a handful among many.
- One Hundred Million Strike Against Austerity and High Prices in India;
- Protest at DOJ Against Drones and Secret Memo Justifying Them;
- Zapatistas Struggle for Survival on Planet Earth;
- Tar Sands Blockade and Appalachia Resist Shut Down a Frack Waste Facility in Ohio;
- Bulgarian Government Resigns As Austerity Leads Nationwide Protests;
- US Supreme Court Refuses to Lift Stay on NDAA Injunction;
- Greece Hit by General Strike Against Austerity
We end where we began, with the wisdom of Stephane Hessel:
“It’s time to take over! It’s time to get angry! . . . Let us not be defeated by the tyranny of the world financial markets that threaten peace and democracy everywhere. I wish all of you to find your reason for indignation. This is a precious thing.”
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