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Energy to Do Battle
Liberation Psychology, Individual Self-Respect,and Collective Self-Condence
Genuine democracy can happen only i enough people believe in it, arecapable o ghting or it, and are willing to ght or it. These people mustbelieve that they are worthy o power. The belie in their worthinesscomes when, at an individual level, there is genuine sel-respect.There are many battleelds on which individual sel-respect can beeither be won or lost, and it is in the interest o the elite to make surethat their opponents lose sight o these multiple battleelds. The amily,the classroom, and many o the ordinary events o our day are battleeldso sel-respect. I we don’t know that we’re on a battleeld, there is littlechance o winning the battle, and we can lose multiple opportunities tobe activists or democracy.People seeking democracy, in addition to having individual sel-respect, must also have collective sel-condence—the belie that theycan succeed as a group—i their goal is to be achieved and sustained.They must have aith that, though imperect in their decision making,they are capable o creating a reer and more just society than one orga-nized and controlled by the elite.Thus, in this war, human relationships are vitally important. It is inthe interest o the elite to keep people divided and to keep them distrust-ing one another. It is in the interest o people working toward democracyto build respectul and cooperative human relationships across all levelso society.When one understands that the battle or democracy begins with thebattle to restore individual sel-respect and collective sel-condence, onethen sees the entire society and culture replete with battleelds in whichsuch sel-respect and collective condence can be won or lost.Some people, including many progressives, are uncomortable with theterm
battleeld
,
as they are much more comortable with the language o
GET UP, STAND UP122
cooperation and harmony than with that o competition and riction.However, i there is an adversary aimed at subduing us, we are de-skillingand disempowering ourselves i we do not become more comortable withthis other language. Some o us have gotten this:Change means movement. Movement means riction. Onlyin the rictionless vacuum o a nonexistent abstract world canmovement or change occur without that abrasive riction o confict.
—Saul Alinsky
Those who proess to reedom and yet deprecate agitation aremen who want crops without plowing. They want rain with-out thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without theawul roar o its many waters. This struggle may be a moralone, or it may be physical, but it must be a struggle. Powerconcedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it neverwill.
—Frederick Douglass
Nobody can give you reedom. Nobody can give you equality orjustice or anything. I you’re a man, you take it.
—Malcolm X
Take it easy, but take it.
—Woody Guthrie (and Studs Terkelsign-off)
Critical Thinking and Morale
Strategies, tactics, and an understanding o your enemy, your allies, andthe terrain are important, but without morale it is dicult to win any war.With morale, people can take actions that restore individual sel-respect,and they can start the road back to regain collective sel-condence.What exactly is morale? General George C. Marshall stated, “Morale isthe state o mind. It is steadastness and courage and hope. It is condenceand zeal and loyalty. It is élan, esprit de corps and determination.” How
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important is morale? General (and then President) Dwight D. Eisenhowerbelieved, “Morale is the greatest single actor in successul wars.”In war, morale is a huge issue, but o course it’s not the only one. Theelite’s money—and the infuence that it buys—is an extremely powerulweapon. So it’s understandable that so many people who are deeated anddemoralized ocus on their lack o money rather than on their lack o morale. However, we must keep in mind that in war,
especially
when one’sside lacks nancial resources, morale becomes even more crucial.In athletics, most coaches and their players know that morale cantrump superior skills. They know that while overcondence can costa team humility, discipline, and victory, undercondence can lead todemoralization and avoidable deeat. Coaches and players are constantlyocusing on morale, telling themselves and one another everything possi-ble to maintain and regain energizing condence.Similar to people in the military and athletics, there are many business-people who value morale. I have known many business managers whoobsess on how to maintain their own morale and that o their employees.These managers know that to maintain morale, employees must believethat their contributions, their ideas, and they themselves are valued. Formorale, employees must perceive that they have a certain status within anorganization, and that their organization has a certain status in society.And so high-level managers try to create these perceptions—whether ornot they are actually true.Some people cringe when I bring up the issue o morale. They equatethe term
morale
with being Pollyannaish and the absence o criticalthinking. Ater he read an article o mine, Gerald Iversen e-mailed mewith some advice:As one involved in progressive social change or 35 years, Ind your solution o “morale” too smiley-aced . . . I urge youto read
Bright-Sided
by Barbara Ehrenreich.I am a an o Barbara Ehrenreich, and I agree with what she says in
Bright-Sided
. Blaming
all
misery on a lack o a positive attitude is wrong
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Energy to do Battle - An Excerpt from Get Up, Stand Up
Polls show that the majority of Americans oppose recent US wars and Wall Street bailouts, yet most remain passive and appear resigned to powerlessness. In "Get Up, Stand Up", Bruce Levine offers an original and convincing…
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