“We own the government.”
That’s my friend Karl Meyer talking, and he is correct. We own the government.
Alejandro Ramirez has the story of Karl’s arrest after he decided to wait outside to speak to Governor Bill Lee.
We don’t own Bill Lee, but we do own the mansion we’ve provided him and his office and the land where Karl camped. We also own the vehicle upon which he was told to place his hands as he was being arrested.
Karl and I and other Tennesseans share custody over the behavior of Bill Lee and our elected officials. That includes the decision to create and enact laws which make it possible for Bill Lee to order armed men with guns to treat people like Karl like brute force test subjects. It ain’t right. And the ain’t rightness of it is our responsibility.
Here’s more from Karl: “The governor works for us. We employ the governor. We pay the salaries of every government employee, even [those] in the prison-industrial complex. ... People like me and the poorest people in Nashville and the homeless people — we're the raw material of that industry, and they grind us up sometimes.”
Karl’s right. I thank God for his witness.
Karl is among our living connections to beloved community here and there and everywhere. If you ask him about it, he’ll tell you about the times he decided to get arrested with Dorothy Day and Daniel Berrigan. Here’s more on Karl.
I’m going to be following what our governments do to Karl in the days to come very closely. If you receive word of something involving Karl and our governments, please share it with me.
Stay safe everyone.
Please let us know any court dates as they come up so we can be there to support Karl.
TN state government, which thinks it owns us, is impervious to voices that oppose its policies. I am convinced that the only way with them is to pursue this man’s example of civil disobedience on a massive scale.