Symbolic Action

When people do organize, groups such as CodePink, for example, simply conduct symbolic actions. It's the same faces in the same places. These groups live and work in the Beltway. They perform circus like stunts for the cameras in the hope of what? Embarrassing those in power? Once again, the antiwar movement is dominated with hippy-types who don't understand power. They think that by throwing fake blood in the face of Condoleezza Rice, somehow we're going to make up for the fact that we can't conduct meaningful campaigns, campaigns that can actually stop bombs from being dropped and people from being slaughtered. Symbolic actions are prevalent in Amir's film.

The two gentlemen who painted "No War" on the Sydney Opera House, Dave and Will, are also in town for the Adelaide Film Festival. They performed an amazing symbolic action, even risking their lives to make their statement. But they don't consider themselves brave. In fact, for them, it was just another action. Dave, a

How could Americans idly sit by while their government destroyed the lives of so many millions? We made moralistic arguments against the war; we made economic arguments against the war; but we never made much progress.

When Obama was elected in 2008, the Great Financial Collapse was well underway. People's interests shifted. The Occupy movement was born. Yet, the antiwar movement was nowhere to be found. People railed against the 1% and for good reason. But we never connected America's bloated military budget and empire with austerity and militarism at home.

In recent years, those connections have been loosely made by BLM and various other groups, but without much focus, let alone a plan of action, vision, strategy or tactics to achieve our ends. And speaking of objectives, what exactly are they? To be clear, I'm not blaming BLM or others for our collective failure, I'm much more critical of the antiwar movement in