The “Pledge of Allegiance” (2024 Edition)
I pledge resistance
To the flag
Of the United States of America.
And to the funding of genocide
For which it stands.
One nation,
Under Netanyahu,
With the blood of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinian civilians
On the hands of us all.
Elected officials like to pretend that they’re doing a great job. And they are doing a great job…of serving the best interests of the moneyed elite and corporations to the detriment of the rest of us. They even manage to convince themselves that they are doing good by us, which is evidenced by the looks of shock and consternation when they are confronted by real life voters who call them out on the ridiculously B-A-D job that they are actually doing from their ivory towers in D.C.
To hear the Biden/Harris team tell it on their social media, U.S. voters are over the moon and ecstatic with the job that they’re doing right now! With Joe in his sunglasses and Kamala in her monochromatic pantsuits! Ditto senators and congress members. But the electorate, the U.S. citizens who contributed to their campaigns and voted them into office, are telling a different, much more realistic story.
If you’re stressed out because all you see when you look toward the future of this country is more division, more greedflation, more corruption, more of your tax dollars being handed over to Israel to fund its ongoing genocide of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinian civilians, more right wing christian nationalist fascist totalitarian bullshit from the Supreme Court, the Republican party and their hateful, bigoted christian nationalist minions, then take comfort in the fact that you are not alone!
In its 2022 Stress In America Study the American Psychological Association found that “More than three-quarters of adults (76%) said that the future of our nation is a significant source of stress in their lives, while 68% said this is the lowest point in our nation’s history that they can remember. Two in three adults (66%) said the current political climate is a significant source of stress in their lives. Further, three in five adults (60%) said that the current social divisiveness in the nation causes them stress.”
And its 2023 Stress In America Study found that “Half of adults (50%) said it stresses them that the news is not focusing on what is most important to them on a day-to-day basis and three in five (59%) said it stresses them that politicians aren’t talking about things that are most important to them. On top of it all, few reported confidence about the direction our country is going (34%) or said they feel that their government representatives have their best interests in mind (31%).”
So yes, many of us are fed up, tired, frustrated, pissed off and STRESSED OUT. The good news is, we’re also doing something about it.
In case you haven’t noticed, shit has started to go down across the country at college campuses. Gen Z is stepping up and it’s glorious. It’s also been going down in D.C. for months, led by brave and committed activists like Madea Benjamin, who is daily confronting the corrupt congressional cowards and senators who continue to ignore the will of U.S. voters and instead vote to use our money to continue funding Israel’s criminal and barbarous genocide against tens of thousands of innocent Palestinian civilians.
If you’re feeling down and out, that’s ok. That’s what they want us to feel. Like we’re out of gas. That the only options are the two pathetic candidates they’re offering up: a criminal wannabe fascist or a corrupt genocidal actor. Take some time out and spoil yourself. Take care of yourself. Regenerate. Until you’re ready to get back out there. Because out there is where we need to be. We need to seize the moment and not back down because do you want things to continue the way they are? Where do you think that will lead us? What kind of lives will we and our children be living if things continue the way they are? It’s scary, it’s depressing, it’s enraging and we all need to accept and feel those feelings about the situation. But we also need, once we’ve felt those feelings, to stand ourselves up and get out there and do what we can to stop it. Stop the corruption. Stop the lies. Stop the wealth redistribution. Stop the gaslighting. Stop the abuse of the electorate.
They can agree unanimously on banning TikTok. But raising the minimum wage? Taxing corporations and the highest earners in this country? Holding their own accountable when they attempt to subvert the Democratic process? Providing universal health care? When it comes to actually getting shit done for the masses of people whose tax dollars fund their cushy lifestyles, elected officials can’t seem to agree on shit.
And yes, many of us are stressed. But how much stress do you think displaced and starving Palestinian civilians are feeling right now? The ones who are still alive, that is. Keep that in mind as you move forward and give yourself reasons to not get involved, not think about it. You need to think about it and you need to get involved. We all do.
Hang in there, kids! Sometimes, as in times like these, the only way out is through the fire.
The CodePink website provides links and resources to help you get involved now: to contact your elected officials, to Organize, Engage Locally, Find a Campaign or Join an Event to voice your opposition to Israel’s ongoing genocide, funded in large part by your tax dollars, of innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
The Open Secrets website provides detailed information on AIPAC contributions to House and Senate members dating back to 1990. The site provides you with the ability to sort and filter search results based on what information you are seeking, You can see how AIPAC’s contributions began to spike in 2018 and which senators and congress members have received contributions from them.
USCPR is a political home for all who believe that freedom for the Palestinian people is an integral part of achieving our collective liberation. They provide resources and strategic support to the U.S.-based Palestine solidarity movement, channeling grassroots power into positive change in U.S. policy and public opinion.
