The is an image of Sid Hatfield the brave, the chief of police of Matewan, West Virginia, who in 1921 was murdered by coal company thugs because he had the balls to defend the miners from the vicious criminal coal syndicate. One of the only law enforcement officers of that time who fought for what was right, Sid shocked the coal companies who usually could buy off (or beat into submission if money didn't work) just about anyone they wanted to.
I have been reading a fabulous book, When Miners March, by William C. Blizzard. The 1920's saw one of the largest internal armed rebellions in U.S. history, the battle of Blair Mountain. The coal companies worked hard to keep southern West Virginia from unionizing, and the United Mine Workers of America worked even harder. The ladder went like this: the J.P. Morgan dynasty at the top, trickling down to several giant corporations, then trickling down to coal company C.E.O's, who treated their miners like absolute shit. They made below poverty wages, and were forced to spend their earnings in coal company owned stores, so the coal companies would get all of their money back anyway. Basically they were slaves. The miner's called for general strike many times, and struck through horrid conditions. In the bitter mountain cold of winter, miner's families would survive in small makeshift tents, with nothing but overalls on for most. But they hung in. They refused to sell their integrity. They tried everything. The police were against them. The governor turned his back (while being paid by the coal companies). And so, they united together and created "The Redneck Army", thousands of miners armed with rifles and a few machine guns, wearing red bandanas around their necks. They marched to Blair Mountain, and battled there with the police and hired thugs for days. Hundreds died fighting for their rights and the rights of their Union brothers.
The camaraderie that existed between the Union miners must have been tremendous. I am constantly inspired by stories of people who against all odds unite against a common foe. It is what must happen now. The planet is being destroyed, and we are supposed to be uniting together to stop the global elite from making this situation terminal. But most of us have very little time to even clearly look at this impasse, and for most the rest of our time is distracted by entertainment/consumption culture.
The United States of America represents 5% of the human population on the planet, and we consume 25% of the earth's resources. I am disgusted by the spoilage of our culture, and my own spoilage living in it. I want to die like a warrior, like Sid Hatfield. I want to die knowing I gave every fucking thing I could to making people aware of how insane and wrong this culture is. I so often forget this, by why else are we alive? We cannot turn our backs to what this culture has been doing to the planet, and it's people, for hundreds and thousands of years. Our lives must somehow be integrated into this reality, but this can be so hard to do when we live in the most developed entertainment driven culture that has ever existed. Yes, I fail at this task everyday, but god dammit I have to die with some fucking teeth. Let us help each other rise out of the teachings of this bullshit liberal culture, and find strength on the other side.
I don't have a video tonight. Sorry to all the people who read my blog for not doing a post for a while. I will get back on this. Keep fighting friends.
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