Click and learn. If we could just pull that needle out of arm and develop alternate energies, conserve, and be good global citizens, all this shit would be entirely unnecessary.
But then, who is the biggest exporter of arms to the world? Who spends fully half of all worldwide monies on military expenditures? Who selectively attacks and props up equally repugnant regimes in the mideast, including those (Pakistan) who sell nuclear technology abroad? And ultimately, whose "standard of living" is most at risk from its loss of control over the oil-rich regions?
Neocons desire perpetual war, absolute oppression of the people, and plutocratic control...and we're just letting it happen.
Goodbye, America. It was a nice experiment.
3 comments:
Olaf,
I watched "The War Within" last night, which puts forth many different interpretations of America's "dream" as well as its current image. One of the most interesting ones comes from a Pakistani doctor who lives and works in America. In response to his extremist friend's ideas about the greed and corruption of America, he says something like, "Look around you: Christians, Jews, Muslims, eating together, working together, living together, in peace... isn't this what we are working for?"
The great thing about this movie is how the multiple interpretations coexist, without much moralizing about which one is right (although, this fact coupled with the main character's point of view kind of makes the viewer want to choose the "religions in peace" perspective). This is slightly complicated when the main character is the victim of racial profiling on the part of the American FBI at the end of the film, so his view is revealed to have some problems. I guess his "religious peace" idea is not accepted by those who are in power.
However, I thought of this when you called America an "experiment." Isn't there still time to take back power from the people who corrupt and undermine America's "dream"? The mid-term elections are coming... Take heart, Olaf. The word in the midwest is that Barack Obama is going to be president.
Nice thought about Obama, MB. One wonders what you in the midwest are ingesting. Obama's colleague Dick Durbin has a better chance, though approaching zero, of becoming president. If you would like to make a little wager, I say Hillary Clinton will be hosting her own cookie-baking show before Barack moves to Pennsylvania Avenue. Sad.
I'm disturbed by Obama's failure to press forward truly progressive ideas. He seems to be following the Clinton model of triangulation through compromises with the right wing that would be unconscionable in a truly progressive party. He must be listening to the same old party hacks who lost the last three elections (2004, 2002, 2000) by being gutless. When is a left-wing politician going to stand up and say that (1) Religion has NO place in American politics; (2) Clean air, clean water, a living wage, and universal health care are RIGHTS of citizens in the world's "richest" nation; (3) Our military is not to be used at the direction of private monied interests--it is a defensive force, not an imperial weapon.
When I hear Obama--or anyone--say that, then I'll consider sending some dough and doing some work for him or her. Otherwise, the situation is hopeless. With ruthless gangsters running things and the "opposition party" unable to even exploit sure-thing issues to their advantage (the stem cell veto, for example) to try to redirect the country, we're fucked. Really fucked. Really, really fucked. And I blame the Democratic Party's leadership for being more concerned with their power and position inside the Beltway than with saving our nation.
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