by Bill Shein
March 26, 2006

Not long ago, an Eagle letter-writer complained about the billing practices of a local cable TV company. Not only are customers not provided 30 days to pay each month’s bill, she complained, but the cost of service is “outrageous” and the choice of movies “poor.”

When she called the company to complain, she was rudely dismissed, though in a chirpy, upbeat voice. She was angry and sought support from Eagle readers for a letter-writing campaign to urge the state Legislature to take action.

The headline above her letter was, “Rise up in protest against Time Warner.”

We can all sympathize, right? In recent years, who among us hasn’t contacted the so-called “customer service” department of a giant corporation and found the response lacking? Or been forced to press so many phone buttons that our fingers quickly became riddled with carpal-tunnel syndrome?

My favorite insult — aside from pressing zero to reach an operator and hearing, “That is not a valid option” — is Verizon’s newfangled voice-response system that makes you think you’re talking to a real person:

FEMALE VOICE: “Hi, I’m Kip, your automated customer service rep! Please describe your problem.”

ME: “There’s static on my phone line, and it’s hard to hear.”

FEMALE VOICE: “OK, so you’re saying there’s magic on your stone vine, and it’s lard to fear?”

ME (red-faced): “Aiiiieeeeeee!”

Anyway, a few weeks after the letter appeared, I was still thinking about the headline: “Rise up in protest against Time Warner.” While embracing the letter writer’s lament, a broader question came to mind. In this age of sanitized, corporatized madness, what are we willing to “rise up and protest” against? Has our sense of powerlessness become so all-encompassing that all we can hope to do is demand that entertainment and advertising be pumped more efficiently and affordably into our homes?

Because today, the president of the United States spies on Americans and claims that he has the authority to do anything he wants. Our tax dollars pay the salaries of torturers. We detain people without charge or access to lawyers, courts or a legitimate judicial process. We cut taxes for the wealthy, while a morally inexcusable number of children eat only thanks to local food banks.

In many respects, America has become un-American.

So what would inspire millions of us to “rise up and protest” in the streets, stage sit-ins in government offices or even carry out a national general strike? Aren’t today’s outrages worthy of bold, massive action?

Are we prepared to reject the government’s Orwellian “designated protest zones” and assert our fundamental right of free speech?

Are we willing to withhold our wartime income taxes and suffer the consequences (penalties, interest, prison)?

Close to home, will we “rise up and protest” the continued dumping of toxic poisons near Allendale Elementary School — and challenge local politicians who say, “There’s nothing we can do”?

Do we not do these things because we don’t think they’ll make a difference? Or do we not take to the streets and stage large acts of civil disobedience because we have little desire to inconvenience ourselves, even on behalf of things we care passionately about?

Importantly, why do so many of us feel powerless? Returning to that letter to the editor, is it because of the stranglehold TV has on our culture? Of course, it’s considered intellectual snobbery to suggest that TV — awash in the most effective emotional manipulation ever created, in the form of advertisements that suggest all is well with the world — is, on balance, a destructive force. But even if we could prove that it is, would we stop watching? Would we cancel our cable service?

One thing that TV brings into our homes is footage of massive street protests in other countries: against fraudulent elections, unfair labor practices, privatization of drinking water and, of course, war. In other countries, these protests often lead to change. But here, street protest is often mocked, derided and seen as 1960s-style uselessness.

If protest is truly useless, what can we do? Because if citizens can’t push against the levers of power — and hard — self-government will become little more than an automated system that says, in response to every button pressed, “That is not a valid option.”

Is that a valid option?

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To find answers, Bill Shein likes to ask questions.

(This column originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle newspaper on March 26, 2006.)