CIVIL OBEDIENCE
This video, The Problem is Civil Obedience, is of Matt Damon reading a speech that Howard Zinn gave in 1970 as part of a debate on civil disobedience. Damon is a lifelong friend of Zinn and his family. Zinn was known as a historian, playwright, author and social activist. The speech was part of an event called ‘The People Speak, Live,’ and was produced by ‘Voices of a People’s History,’ which gives public expression opportunities to rebels, dissenters, and visionaries of the past and present.
The main point of the speech is that our issue is not disobedience, it’s obedience. Many people on the planet are not resonating with many aspects of the current human experience. It’s very clear that there are much better ways to do things here on planet Earth, it’s time to start questioning why we operate the way we do. Things might be forced on to us to some extent, but ultimately, it’s our choice. Playing the blame game isn’t useful at all, it’s useless if we want to create change.
The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new –
Socrates
With the growth of alternative media outlets, it’s clear that many people would like things to change. Subjects ranging from GMOs, to healthcare, government transparency and clean energy, we are raising our voices, we are being heard, and it’s known that the masses are well aware of what is really happening on our planet. Before we were unaware, and simply accepted the world around us. Obedience is becoming a thing of the past as awareness is spreading and is motivating the collective to create change.