Up-and-coming media militias

Yesterday, we saw a growing, if poorly organized, Media Militia take to the streets of San Francisco. Let's keep it up! Here's my perpective:

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

This is the second amendment to the Constitution of the United States. We've come to associate stubborn insistence upon the right to bear arms with cowboys, hunters, and right-wing vigilantes. It is certainly reasonable that gun-lovers would invoke the text of this amendment when their right to bear arms seems threatened. But what about the spirit of the 2nd amendment? Was it intended to prevent the excessively compassionate from standing in the way of a good deer hunt? No.

The second amendment was written soon after a revolutionary civil war. Those who had succeeded in the power struggle realized that their victory was only possible because they were able to organize citizens, via local militias, in opposition to the state. The state in question was, of course, the British Crown.

The North American colonies of the British Empire were thousands of miles from the seat of imperial power. The voyage from Europe to America was long and taxing. Firepower on both sides was limited to cannons and muskets. Most colonial men both possessed and were comfortable with the use of firearms. Even an untrained army of citizens, fighting on familiar territory, stood some chance against the King's professional soldiers.

Today, the US Empire rules panoptically: from everywere and nowhere, and even from within. The King's power rests with the executive branch, and His armies have long range missiles, nuclear warheads, and biological weapons. His spies identify seditionists and His provocateurs seek to transform passion into imprudence and even violent recklessness. Localized squadrons of low-intensity warrior "police" subdue insurgent citizens with "chemical agents."

The second amendment, taken literally, does nothing to protect our freedom in the year 2000. All the illegally stockpiled M-16s in the world could not save an armed citizen militia from annihilation when faced with the awesome power of the US military machine.

Clearly, the next American Revolution must be won with words and images. This will be the true "information revolution."

Let us invoke the second amendment not to defend the legitimacy of implements of violence, but to remind ourselves of the need to organize in order to achieve and maintain the sovereignty of the PEOPLE.

Let us recognize our self-rule as synonymous with "the security of a free State."

Let cameras, tape recorders, and notepads be our "Arms."

Let us form well regulated MEDIA MILITIAS to serve and protect.