{"id":2320,"date":"2013-05-29T11:23:15","date_gmt":"2013-05-29T17:23:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/?p=2320"},"modified":"2013-05-31T11:38:18","modified_gmt":"2013-05-31T17:38:18","slug":"when-ideology-becomes-idiotology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/when-ideology-becomes-idiotology\/","title":{"rendered":"When ideology becomes idiotology"},"content":{"rendered":"

Published in Intrepid Report on\u00a0May 29, 2013<\/a>
\nRepublished in 107cowgate.com (Ireland & Scotland) on May 31, 2013<\/a>
\nBy\u00a0Larry Pinkney<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cToday everybody is talking about the fact that we live in one world; because of globalization, we are all part of the same planet. They talk that way, but do they mean it? We should remind them that the words of the Declaration [of Independence] apply not only to people in this country, but also to people all over the world. People everywhere have the same right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. When the government becomes destructive of that, then it is patriotic to dissent and to criticize\u2014to do what we always praise and call heroic when we look upon the dissenters and critics in totalitarian countries who dare to speak out.\u201d\u2014Howard Zinn<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There are certain fundamental principles that are\u00a0universal<\/em>\u00a0to the\u00a0entire<\/em>\u00a0rainbow of the human family irrespective of color, gender, or nationality.<\/p>\n

Many people in the United States are trapped on the mental plantations of debilitating and archaic left\/right ideologies that, in this 21st<\/sup>\u00a0century, are overwhelmingly self-serving for the elite that propagate and perpetuate them. The American Heritage College dictionary defines the word\u00a0ideology,<\/em> in relevant part as, \u201cA set of doctrines or beliefs that form the basis of a political, economic, or other system.\u201d It is urgent that we recognize the need to creatively\u00a0evolve<\/em>\u00a0and utilize new tactics and strategies that are genuinely inclusive of and for the needs and legitimate aspirations of everyday ordinary Black, White, Brown, Red, and Yellow people collectively.<\/p>\n

We everyday people can ill afford to remain stuck on the mental plantations of the phony left\/right paradigm in the U.S., with its concomitant stagnant and controlling ideologies. The basis for real political, economic, and social change in this nation is critical thinking<\/em>\u00a0and must be deeply rooted in\u00a0simplicity, honesty, universal principles of justice, vision, constant creativity, and inclusiveness.<\/em> This does not happen by osmosis. It requires consciousness and work\u2014lots of work! It also requires a willingness to free ourselves from the mental plantations of left\/right dogma.<\/p>\n

If we insist upon being locked into a single rigid ideology and are unwilling to free ourselves from the phony left\/right paradigm in this nation (whether embodied by the Democrat and Republican parties or by other so-called leftist or rightist groups and\/or organizations) we are not learning from our collective histories and will find ourselves beholden to, in what is in essence, a confining, anti-creative\u00a0idiotology.<\/em><\/p>\n

We humans have the wonderful capacity to grow and evolve. We need to awaken and utilize that capacity while there is yet time for humanity and for our Mother Earth. Time really is of the essence.<\/p>\n

What does being a CRITICAL THINKER really mean?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Being a critical thinker means that we consciously and deliberately think\u00a0outside<\/em>\u00a0of the confines of the incessant and confining narrative that is propagated by the national and global corporate power elite. It means that we stop accepting as fact the disinformation, misinformation of the corporate-stream media.<\/p>\n

Being a critical thinker means that we reclaim and\u00a0actualize<\/em> our independent research and reasoning processes as growing and evolving wondrous human beings.<\/p>\n

We humans are\u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0idiots and we must not allow ourselves to be confined in, or stay entrapped in, idiotology (i.e., ideologies that demand that we dare not be creative in our thinking and analysis). We must always remember that we everyday ordinary Black, White, Brown, Red, and Yellow people are the catalyst and engine for genuine systemic change.<\/p>\n

Remember the powerful and still\u00a0very<\/em>\u00a0relevant words of the late Steve Biko: \u201cThe most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.\u201d<\/p>\n

We everyday people are in this struggle together and we will collectively change this irretrievably corrupt political system TOGETHER!<\/p>\n

Each one, reach one. Each one, teach one. Onward, then, my sisters and brothers. Onward!<\/p>\n

Larry Pinkney<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0is a veteran of the Black Panther Party, the former Minister of Interior of the Republic of New Africa, a former political prisoner and the only American to have successfully self-authored his civil\/political rights case to the United Nations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In connection with his political organizing activities, Pinkney was interviewed in 1988 on the nationally televised PBS News Hour, formerly known as The MacNeil\/Lehrer News Hour, and more recently on the nationally syndicated Alex Jones Show. Pinkney is a former university instructor of political science and international relations, and his writings have been published in various places, including The Boston Globe, San Francisco BayView newspaper, Black Commentator, Intrepid Report, Global Research (Canada), LINKE ZEITUNG (Germany), 107 Cowgate (Ireland and Scotland), and Mayihlome News (Azania\/South Africa). He is in the archives of Dr. Huey P. Newton (Stanford University, CA), cofounder of the Black Panther Party. For more about Larry Pinkney see the book,\u00a0Saying No to Power: Autobiography of a 20th Century Activist and Thinker<\/a>, by William Mandel [Introduction by Howard Zinn]. (Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0to read excerpts from the book.)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Published in Intrepid Report on\u00a0May 29, 2013<\/a>
Republished in 107cowgate.com (Ireland & Scotland) on May 31, 2013<\/a>
By\u00a0Larry Pinkney<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cToday everybody is talking about the fact that we live in one world; because of globalization, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[27,5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2320"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2320"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2320\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2324,"href":"https:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2320\/revisions\/2324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}