Dandelions and Plunder Monkeys by System Humanity

Image by Dandelion Salad via Flickr

by System Humanity
Guest Writer, Dandelion Salad
crossposted at System Humanity, April 16, 2018
April 18, 2018

What a good read I said to myself when I had finished The Dandelion Insurrection by Rivera Sun. And unusual. A delicious story with nourishing political content spiced with distinctive characters and served on beautiful prose. Love, adventure, struggle and thrills. What’s not to like? For an old grassroots political fox such as myself I wasn’t about to allow the sweetness of the fiction seduce my perception of bitter realities.

Image by Dandelion Salad via Flickr

I wrote to the young Ms. Sun, told her how much I enjoyed her book and questioned what I considered the strategic weakness of the book’s politics. To my surprise, this very busy lady not only replied promptly, but sympathized with my critique and reminded me that The Dandelion Insurrection was merely the first book of a trilogy and implied that the arch of strategy would manifest itself in the coming editions.

The second part of the trilogy, The Roots of Resistance, made its appearance just days after our email exchange. I immediately downloaded an e-book edition that I’ve just finished. Taraxacum officinale! (= dandelion) Forget good read, think great! This book educates, inspires and humbles. When I had read the 4th chapter I wrote to Rivera and thanked her for the description of John C. Friend, the politician, THE politician exemplifying them all, the servants of the plunder monkeys. I told her that the description of Friend alone was worth the price of the book, not knowing then that the analysis deepened.

Love is woven throughout the book, love as strong as the determination of life, and nonviolence forms a major theme; not the goody-goody kind, the nice, moral or comfortable kind, but courageous nonviolence as a necessity to succeed in the struggle for a better world.

Thanks Rivera Sun, and congratulations to everyone who has the opportunity to hop on the Dandelion Trilogy.

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”Never underestimate the power of greed, Charlie. It makes sane men crazy, clear-sighted women blind as bats, and normally smart people idiotic.”

”When the truth is ugly, politeness is just another way of lying.”

”Resistance is more than a battle; it is the indomitable presence of life against forces of destruction.”

from The Roots of Resistance by Rivera Sun

From the archives:

Shifting Systems With Nonviolent Strategy + Think Outside the Protest Box by Rivera Sun

The Problem is Civil Obedience by Howard Zinn + Matt Damon Reads from Howard Zinn’s Speech

The Roots of Resistance: An Intense Journey Into The Vibrant Complexity Of Nonviolent Change by Tom Atlee

Rivera Sun’s The Roots of Resistance, reviewed by Guadamour

All Must Be Unleashed To Rouse Our Fellow Humanity From Their Stupor As They Sleepwalk Toward The Cliff Edge

A Revolution By Any Other Name

Now Is The Time For Revolutionary Change–Reject Greed-Based Destruction

Make No Mistake: The Rule Of The Rich Has Been A Deadly Epoch For Humanity

Rivera Sun’s The Dandelion Insurrection reviewed by Guadamour