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However, the situation is not truly hopeless. History tells us that for democratic movements to get off the ground, individuals must recover self-respect, and a people must regain collective confidence that they can succeed at eliminating top-down controls. Get Up, Stand Up describes how we can recover dignity, confidence, and the energy to do battle. That achievement fills in the missing piece that, until now, has undermined so many efforts to energize genuine democracy.
Get Up, Stand Up details those strategies and tactics that oppressed peoples have successfully employed to gain power. We the People can unite, gain strength, wisely do battle, and wrest power away from the ruling corporate-government partnership (the "corporatocracy"). Get Up, Stand Up explains how.
1 The People Divided Versus the Corporatocracy in Control 1
The Corporatocracy in Control 4
The People Divided 8
2 Are the People Broken? 13
The 1999 Battle of Seattle 16
The 2000 US Presidential Election 17
The Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq 21
Wall Street Bailout 24
Health Care Reform 27
The Election of Barack Obama 29
Labor Unions and Demoralized Working People 31
The Tea Party Movement 34
Who, in Large Numbers, Is Fighting for Social justice? 38
Light Resistance to Major Oppression 40
Demoralized, Disorganized, Broken, or What? 43
3 Prelude to Battle: Understanding How the People Learned Powerlessness 47
Psychological Principles and Techniques for Breaking a Population 48
Television, Technology, and Zombification 60
Helplessness in the Age of Isolation, E-Relationships, and Bureaucratization 65
Broken by Fundamentalist Consumerism and Advertising/Propaganda 69
Student-Loan Debt and Indentured Servitude 75
The Normalization of Surveillance 82
The Decline of Labor Unions and the Loss of Power for Working People 83
Moneyism, Money-Centric Culture, and Weakness 89
How Schools Teach Powerlessness 95
Noncompliance as a Mental Illness 100
Elitism Training 109
Liars, Hypocrites, Egomaniacs, and the Corporate Media 112
The US Electoral System and Learned Helplessness 115
4 Energy to Do Battle: Liberation Psychology, Individual Self-Respect, and Collective Self-Confidence 121
Critical Thinking and Morale 122
Energizing People: Morality and Other Fuels 127
Healing from "Battered People's Syndrome" and "Corporatocracy Abuse" 131
Combating Social Isolation and Building Community 136
Individual Self-Respect and Empowerment 140
Focus on the Non-Fascist Family: Creating Respectful Relationships 143
Liberation Psychology 145
Forging an Alliance among Populists 152
Inspiration to Overcome Distrust 158
Collective Self-Confidence: Solidarity and Success 161
5 Winning the Battle: Solutions, Strategies, and Tactics 166
Lessons from the Great Populist Revolt 166
Modern Electoral Politics: Wise or Unwise Battlefield? 173
The Strategy and Tactics of Disruption 176
Are Protest Demonstrations Effective? 182
The Power of Divorce 188
Twenty-first-Century Abolitionism: Ending Student-Loan Debt Servitude 194
Workplace Democracy: Worker and Other Co-operatives 200
Helpful and Harmful Small Victories and Compromises 204
Crossing the Final Divide 207
Notes 211
Acknowledgments 233
Index 235
About the Author 246
Anonymous
Posted March 16, 2013
The sample of the eversion of this book is jumbled, repetitive and just technologically messed up! For that reason I will not take a chance on buying the eversion but will get the paper version as this IS absolutely excellent writing
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I appreciate the thoughts in the one other customer review of this book. When we look at all the things standing in the way of the average American trying to make a living - the decrease of unions, trillions of our tax dollars and thousands of our youth sent to unpopular wars, environmental degradation, crowded classrooms and the cutting of health benefits - you see why we are getting poorer and poorer as a country. Instead of a convenient "just snap out of it, work harder", Levine takes a look at how things really are. We're already working too hard, and for less and less. Small towns are drying up so we can basically live in big box stores full of cheap goods from abroad. The wealthy have purchased our only two political parties. Levin offers realistic, compassionate ideas for healing and energizing ourselves from the inside out in order to join together for the greater good. We've got the "all for one" down in this country. Levine balances that with the "one for all" in this timely (especially considering the growing "We are the 99%" movement), brave book.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Honest_Cancer
Posted September 2, 2011
Levine presents little more than an explanation of what people already know. It reads like the diary of a teenager constantly decrying the system they follow dutifully, and leaves one wondering at his ability to be taken seriously. Throughout the book Levine falls constantly into the trap most common to populists, the need to reassure himself and his readers that for all his trappings of elitism, he is not with them. Mr. Levine, seems not to recognize that growing up working class is worlds apart from being a working class adult. Each chapter finds the author citing statements in support of his arguments culled from the internet, which as anyone who has spent time on the internet may tell you sounds very much like a young boy saying "my mom says I'm handsome." Perhaps the only valuable thing to be gained from this book is the reason why H. L. Mencken (whose name is invoked throughout) hated populists.
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Overview
Polls show that the majority of Americans oppose recent US wars and Wall Street bailouts, yet most remain passive and appear resigned to powerlessness. In Get Up, Stand Up, Bruce Levine offers an original and convincing explanation for this passivity. Many Americans are deeply demoralized by decades of oppressive elitism, and they have lost confidence that genuine democracy is possible. Drawing on phenomena such as learned helplessness, the abuse syndrome, and other psychological principles and techniques for ...