Focus, People! Focus!

Here at Irregular Times, we like to use our little share of Google power to help direct interested citizens to worthy protests against unworthy policies. That doesn’t mean that we’re just a bunch of protesting fools, showing up for any demonstration that comes along.

Now, I can’t speak for everyone else at Irregular Times, but I will not be participating in a protest scheduled for the first of December this year. What’s the protest? It’s a general strike called by a group called US Troops Out. This group is calling on everyone in the United States to stay home from work, stay home from school, and not go shoppping on December 1.

But why? Not content to protest against any one thing, the December 1 general strike is dedicated to ending war, racism, and poverty.

Gosh. Why think small? Why not also dedicate the general strike to ending environmental degradation, protecting the separation of church and state, repealing the Patriot Act, keeping phony intelligent design out of high school science classes, designing a more fair tax system, and taking unhealthy preservatives out of our food?

Oh, but that’s not good enough either. After all, everyone knows that we cannot hope to stop the war in Iraq until Mumia Abu Jamal is freed from prison!

Hm. Maybe not. Maybe a more focused approach would be successful. What do I mean by that? Well, taking a look at the web site for Troops Out Now, I see that the organization stands for: “Shut down the War on Iraq! The People of the Gulf Must Control the Rebuilding, Not Bush’s Rich Friends! End Colonial Occupation from Iraq to Palestine to Haiti! Support the Palestinian People’s Right to Return! Stop the Threats Against Venezuela, Cuba, Iran, Africa & North Korea! U.S. out of the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Afghanistan! Housing, Health Care, Jobs, Education – Not War! Stop the Racist, anti-Immigrant and anti-Labor Offensive at Home, Defend Civil Rights! Military Recruiters out of our schools & communities!”

There are so many different rallying cries for this organization that I don’t know which direction to rally in first. A good number of people might support any one of these issues, but how many support them all? Maybe 5 percent.

Clue to the Troops Out Now people: For a general strike to make any difference to work, you need a little bit more than 5 percent of the population to participate. I think I’ll find myself working on December 1, thanks.