"So why is it that these progressive folks turned into the shoppingest, garbage-makingest, canned music listenest, packaged food eatingest world messing, bomb-droppingest bastards that ever walked the face of the earth? Inquiring minds want to know--" M. Ted

I was at a political what-to-do meeting last night and that was one of the points we discussed. When did it become OK? When did it become OK to screen people so that only those who agree with you are allowed in to an election stomp? When did it become OK to not allow a meeting room for a hearing by the legislative minority so that they had to hold a hearing in a cramped janitor's closet? When did it - and 50 other things become OK?

Making a difference - or even where to start - seems impossible. How do you take on "the most powerful man/nation in the world?" Last night I suggested that perhaps if we downscaled that statement to a more manageable size, to a feudal system to, say,400 years ago, maybe we can get a handle on it.

If we were in a feudal system and suffering under our lords, being exploited for their own use, making war in support of their causes, and all the rest that goes with being the powerless under the thumbs of the powerful, What would we do?

One panelist said, We would go on strike. Stop buying. Stop presenting ourselves for war. Take to the streets. Because when it comes down to it, we are not powerless. They need us much more than we need them.