Greetings from Calico Blackie!
The "scene" in our nearby town
Once again, we’re barely scraping by out here in rural America.
At least I have enough firewood cut to get us through the last of the cold weather so that we won’t freeze to death.
We find work whenever and wherever we can and I’ve got applications in all over the United States.
Who knows? Maybe something will come up.
At any rate, I was pondering how much the Occupy Movement has evolved since last September and where it might be headed. My thoughts took me back to one of my old columns.
On November 19, 2011, I wrote a column for this website entitled “The Sun Still Shines” concerning the resistance movements that existed during WWII within Nazi Germany.
While some might say that it’s unfair to make comparisons between our society and the conditions that existed in Germany during the 1930s and 1940s, I can’t help but wonder if we’re headed in that direction.
An unfair comparison?
Remember….
The citizens of Nazi Germany were also told they were free and that they lived in the greatest country in the world. When we, in modern times are faced with situations where we see our freedoms slowly slipping away…..
When we see our Republic and “democracy” being replaced with a corporatocracy….
When we see the masses being deluded and led off a cliff by a massive propaganda machine….
When we see our elected “representatives” being bought off to do the bidding of the few….
When we see our Constitution being trampled upon with the blessings of our government and many of our fellow citizens….
It becomes our duty as Americans to rise up in protest.
So….
This is Sophie Scholl. She spoke up
Who was Sophie Scholl and what did she stand for?
Was she just a deluded hippie girl living before her time that was foolish for speaking out against her government even under the penalty of death?
Was she “unpatriotic” for turning against her rulers?
After all, she wanted Germany to lose the war and probably never really gave any thought to what would happen when the Red Army overran Prussia and Eastern Germany.
Or, was she a starry-eyed idealist who went too far?
Who was Sophie Scholl?
Sophie Scholl was a 22 year old philosophy student at Munich University and she, her older brother Hans and his friend, Christoph were members of an anti- Nazi organization called The White Rose.
Sophie in Munich
They were caught by a custodian who called the Gestapo and were arrested for distributing anti-Nazi pamphlets at Munich University.
Sophie and her friends were taken to Wittelsbach Palais, where they were interrogated for four days by they Gestapo before coming to trial on February the 22nd, 1943.
They were quickly found guilty and sentenced to death. All three were guillotined by Johann Reichhart in Munich’s Stadelheim prison within hours of the verdict on that same day.
“Sophie was taken to the guillotine first and reportedly walked to her death “without batting an eyelash”.
Her last words were “Die Sonne scheint noch,” which translates as “The Sun still shines.”
Gestapo arrest photographs of Sophie Scholl
What was the reaction of the students in Munich to the executions?
Two hours after Sophie was beheaded, the Munich students staged a pro-Nazi demonstration in front of the university to express their loyalty to the Fuhrer.
Three days later at a student assembly, the Nazi student leader gave a speech deriding the White Rose for their resistance activities and the speech was cheered by hundreds of students.
The custodian responsible for the apprehension of Sophie and her co-conspirators was given a standing ovation.
Calico Blackie says:
Some might say, as is said by many critical of the Occupy Movement, that she accomplished nothing with her resistance.
What would be the reaction today to Sophie Scholl? Would we be appalled by the verdict of the court and the sentence?
Would we be appalled for 15 minutes and then rush home to watch another episode of “American Idol” or switch the channel to watch the latest media darling being interviewed?
Or……
Would we say: “If they weren’t breaking the law, they wouldn’t have had anything to worry about”?
Would we say: “They deserved it. If they didn’t like it here, they should have moved to Cuba”?
Or……..
Would we protest against our country becoming a police state?
Would we protest against the executions? Would we say that Sophie and her friends were within their rights to distribute the leaflets even though they were clearly in violation of the “law”?
Would we say dissent and protest is healthy in a “free” society?
WILL WE FIGHT TO PREVENT OUR COUNTRY FROM BECOMING EVEN MORE OF A POLICE STATE THAN IT ALREADY IS?
Each of us must come to our own decision and make up our own minds.
I watched the Occupy SF General Assembly last night as it was livestreamed by @punkboyinsf for the world to see and was surprised at the division within the ranks of the occupiers.
Some wanted to condemn the violence that occurred during the Mayday actions and some didn’t want to condemn the destruction.
To me, the solution was simple. Occupy should remain non-violent while those who think that nothing would ever get accomplished without violence should form their own splinter groups.
Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) poster from 1968. Does it look familiar?
This can be done much in the same way that the radical faction of the SDS became The Weather Underground in the 1960s.
That way, the people preaching non-violence can wash their hands of their more violent allies in the movement.
Anyway, whether you agree or disagree with me makes no difference. We’ve all GOT to make our own decisions.
Don’t let our politicians, the 1%, and their media stooges make your decisions for you. They will not be acting in your best interests.
When the 99% Movement is being crushed, will you take up the torch and continue the fight for freedom that they started?
Or, will you give the oppressors a standing ovation?
The choice is ours.
So, why the long history lesson? Why bring up Sophie Scholl and the White Rose Movement at all?
Because she wasn’t afraid to speak up for what she believed in and history should remember her for that. We could ALL learn a lesson from her.
It wasn't all for nothing, Sophie. Some of us will never forget
Keep the faith, Occupiers
OCCUPY WALL STREET
Calico Blackie @kidakita
