The Largest Minority

July 17th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

I’m posting this because the Nader campaign really does need more petitioners (and they need them NOW), and because petitioning is really good training to become a citizen activist. If you can give even just a few days of your time, you should do it. Travel and lodging are taken care of, you get paid per signature, and you meet some really chill people. I personally can’t wait to get out there on the road with the campaign again.

Take that step so you can say that you actually did something for democracy when no one else would. Don’t listen to the corporate media. One person can make a difference. Your efforts could be the deciding factor to allow an entire state of people a non-corporate choice in the voting booth. That’s huge. Help put an actual liberal on the ballot.

Contact Mark at 202-471-5833 or email him at Mark@votenader.org

“When a cause comes along and you know in your bones that it is just, yet refuse to defend it - at that moment you begin to die. And I have never seen so many corpses walking around talking about justice.”
- Mumia Abu-Jamal

July 14th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

June 15th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

Just another stupid phrase I hear from nearly every person I approach as I petition for Ralph. This Democratic talking point is simply accepted by so-called liberals who don’t even realize what they’re saying. The word “steal” implies ownership. For me to steal something of yours, you need to be the rightful owner of that object. This perverted notion that one can “steal” votes from Obama is rooted in anti-democratic capitalist ideals, and implies that people are objects which are owned by the Democratic Party.

How can you steal a vote before it’s cast? Votes are earned by politicians in a free and democratic society. They must compete for them. Politicians are not entitled to the votes of the electorate because they do not own the electorate.

Democratic voters, I’m sorry to have discovered that you’re not much smarter than the sheep across the aisle. Believe me when I say that you are in fact free to vote for someone who actually cares about you and represents your interests. No one owns your vote. Stop talking like slaves.

June 13th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

Since I’m in Vegas petitioning in 100 degree weather 12 hours a day for the Nader campaign (yes, it stays that hot all night too), I’ve been short on time to properly review posts by guest bloggers. Being desperate for someone to post in my absence, I accepted the offer of another blogger named Caledonian Jim to post. The fault is entirely mine for not reviewing Jim’s posts on his own blog well enough before accepting his invitation, and it would seem that he did not research mine enough either if he thought that his views would fit in.

Usually there is a screening process for new bloggers in which I approve their first few posts before they’re published on the main page, but that did not happen this time. While I appreciate Jim’s willingness to help out, his philosophy obviously did not match that of The Largest Minority. I’ve deleted the post and I do apologize to both him and our loyal readers.

The views of other guest bloggers do not necessarily represent my own, and we do have disagreements amongst ourselves on certain issues (what group of liberals don’t?), but we do all share a common philosophy of liberalism which Jim obviously did not share. Again, I apologize and hope no one got the wrong idea of what The Largest Minority is about. Please don’t think we’ve gone all right-wing on you.

June 4th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

May 25th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

That question was seriously posed on some website I came across, and your typical emotionally-charged debate followed. My God, there must have been millions of comments to this manufactured question about whether Barack Obama is “experienced” enough to be president. You could scroll to the middle of this bullshit sandwich and the comments wouldn’t be any different than they were at the top of the page because NOTHING was being said.

“Is Obama ready for the White House?” The question itself implies that he’d actually be the one calling the shots - that he’d be the master of our country’s destiny. Let’s try reality on for a change and see how it fits. If Obama becomes president, he’ll be just another puppet like the presidents before him. Politicians take orders from business. The president’s constituency is corporate America. Being able to read while looking pretty is essentially all his job requires. Judging from Obama’s platform and cult status… yeah, I’d say he’s ready to do that.

May 19th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

As some of you may have noticed, posts around here have been a bit slim, and it’ll be like that until about Wednesday.

I’ve been volunteering for the Nader campaign to get people registered to vote, and in leaving my comfy computer chair for the uncertainty of the real world, I noticed something I never had before. There are no public spaces where people can just exist as citizens rather than consumers. Where have I gone to talk to voters? Malls and supermarkets. That’s the only place where people gather in numbers. There is no town square where we can just talk and not be on a mission to consume. People walk through you at the mall, determined to fill whatever manufactured void they have at the moment, and you become just an obstacle in their path to completion.

And there are absolutely no places to rest in public, because “public” space doesn’t really exist anymore. Parks are the only place where you can sit down without being harassed for not consuming. If you dare to rest anywhere else it’s called loitering, an arrestable offense. You need to either buy something or move along because your right to enjoy this nation as a citizen is trumped by your duty as a consumer. In Vegas, the only place to sit is in front of a slot machine. Even planters are slanted so that nothing can rest on them. Our cities are becoming casinos.

Capitalism gives us the illusion that we have choice because we can choose between products in the market place. Can we choose not to buy anything at all? Of course not. You’re forced by all authority to stay in a perpetual cycle of consumption because the market is like a great white shark which will die if it stops moving. So please take some time today…

to be still.

May 12th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

I apologize for posting this Mother’s Day message a day late, but I was busy yesterday with my family and the many mothers in it. As proof, here’s a pic of the omelet buffet line I set up to give the ladies a day off from cooking.

It went over quite well. Forget jewelry and flowers. Apparently, the best gift of all consists of two bowls of ham and three bowls of assorted cheeses. The pastries my brother bought were damn good too, but I like to think of eggs and cheese as the real stars of the show. Mimosas also did a spectacular job in their supporting role.