Well, here it is, everyone: I support Barack Obama, even though Hillary is the darling now (God knows why). And I guess people have been trying to defeat Obama by bringing up the fact that he has Muslim heritage, and his middle name is Hussein. I have several problems with this. First of all, anyone who isn't a dumb American with no education would know that Hussein is a very common name in Muslim countries, it's like Hernandez in Spanish-speaking countries. So just because Obama's middle name is Hussein, it doesn't mean he's related to a dictator family, and it doesn't mean he is going to declare jihad on us (oh, and in case we forgot, Osama bin Laden of AFGHANISTAN and Al Qaida declared jihad on us, NOT Saddam Hussein and Iraq. Saddam was perfectly nice and quiet, just minding his own normal business of torturing his citizens, but he wasn't trying to blow up our skyscrapers. OSAMA was. In Afghanistan. Where he is, still alive, and still plotting against us. Hmmmm....we haven't really accomplished anything for our own safety, have we? DUH.)
Second of all, I would feel very safe having Obama fly around the world representing the United States as its president. If you think Bush is buddy-buddy with the oil-mongers in Saudi Arabia, think of what Obama could do in terms of relating to Muslim people. Muslims are going to be more likely to listen to an American who has a name similar to theirs and who vaguely resembles someone from their country than they will listen to Bushy-wushy with his darling curly hair and his Texan cowboy demeanor. Hey, maybe if we had a president who wasn't so antagonistic towards Muslims, the Muslim extremists wouldn't hate and want to blow us up so much! Do we really think Hillary is going to do a better job relating to Muslim countries than Barack Obama would? What experience does she have, except the same thing all the other presidents have had, the experience of a privileged white American?
I'm on Obama's side. Jihad, how ridiculous. If Bush's "war on terror" isn't jihad, I don't know what is.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Things I learned from the Lower Middle Class
Here are some little factoids I have learned so far in my sojourn from a comfy upper middle class lifestyle to a high-stress, depressing lower middle class lifestyle.
If you don't want to be laid off from your retail job, DON'T:
-take a job as seasonal staff and then call in sick on Thanksgiving Day, even if you really are sick
-sit down for any reason while on the clock
-linger for too long in any one place; keep moving and looking busy
-refuse overtime or you will be perceived as not sharing in the "company vision" (or at the least, be persecuted by your supervisors)
-spend too much time in the bathroom, or go to the bathroom more than once in the span of fours hours, unless you want your managers to start asking questions
If you want to get a good recommendation from your employers, DON'T:
-be late for any reason, even if your train was burning up in the subway
-call off of work unless you're passing out from fever or limping, or bleeding internally, or possibly throwing up
-allow your job status/title and the mind-numbing boredom set in to your psyche, lest you be perceived as sluggish
Also, DON'T:
-bother caring about the way you dress or your appearance in general. The people you serve, as well as your supervisors, look at you so rarely that there's a good chance no one will notice that you haven't washed your uniform in weeks
-even dream of buying new clothes. Nobody cares what you wear because nobody is looking at you to see what you are wearing, and why invest in new clothes when you wear the same bedraggled uniform day in and day out, the same exact uniform that three former employees of the company wore before you?
-spend money on anything other than survival, unless you want to be begging from people by the end of the month
-let on that you have more education than your managers
-expect to be treated equally as a female in the male dominated workforce
...this is just the beginning. More to come.
If you don't want to be laid off from your retail job, DON'T:
-take a job as seasonal staff and then call in sick on Thanksgiving Day, even if you really are sick
-sit down for any reason while on the clock
-linger for too long in any one place; keep moving and looking busy
-refuse overtime or you will be perceived as not sharing in the "company vision" (or at the least, be persecuted by your supervisors)
-spend too much time in the bathroom, or go to the bathroom more than once in the span of fours hours, unless you want your managers to start asking questions
If you want to get a good recommendation from your employers, DON'T:
-be late for any reason, even if your train was burning up in the subway
-call off of work unless you're passing out from fever or limping, or bleeding internally, or possibly throwing up
-allow your job status/title and the mind-numbing boredom set in to your psyche, lest you be perceived as sluggish
Also, DON'T:
-bother caring about the way you dress or your appearance in general. The people you serve, as well as your supervisors, look at you so rarely that there's a good chance no one will notice that you haven't washed your uniform in weeks
-even dream of buying new clothes. Nobody cares what you wear because nobody is looking at you to see what you are wearing, and why invest in new clothes when you wear the same bedraggled uniform day in and day out, the same exact uniform that three former employees of the company wore before you?
-spend money on anything other than survival, unless you want to be begging from people by the end of the month
-let on that you have more education than your managers
-expect to be treated equally as a female in the male dominated workforce
...this is just the beginning. More to come.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Moon Conquest
I was watching the full moon sink past the roof of my apartment building the other night, and for the first time in my life, I thought about the moon landings with a little lurch in my stomach. I grew up thinking, like every other American child, that the astronauts who landed on the moon were heroes, and that the whole NASA program is inspirational and overall positive.
But then I was watching the moon the other night, and thinking about how the only foreign objects on that body are male human footprints, an assortment of human trash, and a bunch of American flags. What kind of message does that send? Men stomp all over, leave their trash lying around, and assume that because they claimed something in the name of their country, that makes it rightfully theirs. It used to be that the sun never set on the British Empire. Now the sun indeed never sets on the American Empire, because even the moon belongs to us. With that kind of bravado and hubris, is it a wonder that everyone hates America?
During the first space race, Nixon heavily emphasized media focus on the space program, to distract and deter people from being unhappy and resentful about the Vietnam War, a war that we entered into to righteously rescue helpless Asians from evil communism and help their crippled country flourish into a beautiful, America-like democracy. We landed our men on the moon five years after we had engaged in war with North Vietnam. And if King George II's dreams had come true after he announced legislation for a new moon landing in January of 2004, we would have embarked on a new moon mission exactly five years after the start of the Iraq war.
(If this is so obvious to me, WHY aren't the rest of the American people demanding that we resolve the issues in Iraq immediately?)
It has been said that the moon landing helped chasten the tongues of irate opponents to the Vietnam war and glorified the names, however temporarily, of Kennedy and Nixon. I'm guessing that King George II wanted the same kind of warm spotlight on him so that he could go down in history, maybe as the first administration to send people to Mars, who knows.
How can anyone be patriotic when America refuses to learn from her mistakes, when we go to war time and time again with our administration piping vague excuses through our TV sets and radios, when we exhibit nothing short of intergalactic imperialism with every action we take? I was just reading about how our 'Merican military scientists exploded and increased the Van Allen radiation belts that surround Earth in the 1960s! How crass can America be, to think that we own the world and all its satellites, that the earth is our plaything and we can create or destroy it and everything in and/or on it whenever we want!? How can Americans sit by and twiddle their thumbs when our entire country is and has been plunging into some sort of sick plan for world domination?
I don't even want to look at the moon now, I want to move far far away from American soil and try to forget all about America, but the problem is, nobody can forget about America, because as long as a person can see the moon, a person can glimpse American-claimed soil, we can't escape it, and for me, that's not a comfort, it's a suffocating, terrifying thought.
But then I was watching the moon the other night, and thinking about how the only foreign objects on that body are male human footprints, an assortment of human trash, and a bunch of American flags. What kind of message does that send? Men stomp all over, leave their trash lying around, and assume that because they claimed something in the name of their country, that makes it rightfully theirs. It used to be that the sun never set on the British Empire. Now the sun indeed never sets on the American Empire, because even the moon belongs to us. With that kind of bravado and hubris, is it a wonder that everyone hates America?
During the first space race, Nixon heavily emphasized media focus on the space program, to distract and deter people from being unhappy and resentful about the Vietnam War, a war that we entered into to righteously rescue helpless Asians from evil communism and help their crippled country flourish into a beautiful, America-like democracy. We landed our men on the moon five years after we had engaged in war with North Vietnam. And if King George II's dreams had come true after he announced legislation for a new moon landing in January of 2004, we would have embarked on a new moon mission exactly five years after the start of the Iraq war.
(If this is so obvious to me, WHY aren't the rest of the American people demanding that we resolve the issues in Iraq immediately?)
It has been said that the moon landing helped chasten the tongues of irate opponents to the Vietnam war and glorified the names, however temporarily, of Kennedy and Nixon. I'm guessing that King George II wanted the same kind of warm spotlight on him so that he could go down in history, maybe as the first administration to send people to Mars, who knows.
How can anyone be patriotic when America refuses to learn from her mistakes, when we go to war time and time again with our administration piping vague excuses through our TV sets and radios, when we exhibit nothing short of intergalactic imperialism with every action we take? I was just reading about how our 'Merican military scientists exploded and increased the Van Allen radiation belts that surround Earth in the 1960s! How crass can America be, to think that we own the world and all its satellites, that the earth is our plaything and we can create or destroy it and everything in and/or on it whenever we want!? How can Americans sit by and twiddle their thumbs when our entire country is and has been plunging into some sort of sick plan for world domination?
I don't even want to look at the moon now, I want to move far far away from American soil and try to forget all about America, but the problem is, nobody can forget about America, because as long as a person can see the moon, a person can glimpse American-claimed soil, we can't escape it, and for me, that's not a comfort, it's a suffocating, terrifying thought.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
We lost the war.
As I was waiting for the train today I was thinking about why we're at war, why Osama bin Laden attacked us and why we're involved in this thing with Al-Qaida. King George tells us that they hate our freedom, they're attacking our freedom, and I guess they are, I guess they do...Maybe they're jealous, or maybe they think that capitalism is inherently evil, and maybe it is. Here's what I think. If Al-Qaida wanted to attack us to destroy our freedoms and destroy our way of life and tear apart our country, they have been more successful with one single blast than I'm sure they ever dreamed. Those twelve guys that murdered thousands of people with four airplanes brought heaps of success onto themselves and their comrades. Just look at what their actions have wrought. Now, America is in a death-lock with the Iraq war, stretching her resources very thin indeed to keep up the battle-pace. Meanwhile, America's attentions have turned away from her own corporeality, the plentiful gaze is on the military and keeping the fighting machine running without a draft or any of the other old war measures that used to be in place. Thus America is dying from the inside, like an old leathery smoker woman, piling on cakes of expensive makeup to "keep up appearances", buying expensive clothing and accessories to adorn the wasted body inside them. But it is to no avail. The downfall has begun. The terrorists have won, more than they ever intended. They wanted capitalism to crumble into ruin, beginning with the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. And look, America, look at the wasteland around you, look at our wasted beaches, our burning forests, look at our dying children, our shut-up factories and businesses, look at the farms crippled with pestilence and drought. Look at the Dickensian world we have created together with the terrorists, where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, where all those tools that we built to hold our fundamental democratic rights in place have been destroyed by greed and hubris. Even our sense of justice has died, that we see this all around us and wallow in our apathy, crippled by fear and ignorance.
So, next time you want to wave a flag or be proud of America, think of how we have lost, think of what we sacrificed the day we decided to invest in the prosperity of war rather than of our country. The mission was indeed accomplished, as King George put it, but preserving our freedoms was apparently not part of that mission. So let us march onward to preserve the freedoms of teh Iraqi people, while our own country falls into ruin. Let us sit back and admire the repulsive beauty of our hubris.
So, next time you want to wave a flag or be proud of America, think of how we have lost, think of what we sacrificed the day we decided to invest in the prosperity of war rather than of our country. The mission was indeed accomplished, as King George put it, but preserving our freedoms was apparently not part of that mission. So let us march onward to preserve the freedoms of teh Iraqi people, while our own country falls into ruin. Let us sit back and admire the repulsive beauty of our hubris.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Burning Bridges
First of all let me express my sympathies to the victims of the Minneapolis bridge collapse and their families. This kind of thing shouldn't happen in America unless it is instigated by some natural disaster: flood, hurricane, tornado, earthquake, blizzard...but in the richest country in the world, there is no excuse for our roads, bridges, and transport systems to be in their current state.
Everyone asks (just as they do in any disaster) why did this happen? Then again, the long Uncle Sam finger searches for someone at which to point in blame. But instead of Uncle Sam pointing outward, he should point inward and blame himself. This, like most American tragedies, is our fault, and we have the power to fix it if we begin thinking about our fellow Americans and stop thinking about ourselves.
Everyone wants tax cuts. Lower taxes, less government..blah blah blah. Politicians use the American avarice for their own benefit, winning whole elections based on their supposed viewpoint on lowering or cutting taxes. NO AMERICAN SHOULD SUPPORT TAX CUTS. It is selfish; every time someone gets a tax refund, they are stealing that money from society, they are refusing to help pay for the services we all need.
Why did the bridge collapse? The Minnesota Department of Transportation has most likely made budget cuts over several years to stay afloat; the funds allotted to them by the government have in turn been lessened. Why? The less taxes we pay as citizens, the less money goes into the government coffers to be distributed to entities like the Transportation Department. With budget cuts come layoffs and service cuts; repairs are made less frequently to roads because there simply is not enough money in the government bank to pay for it. So roads and bridges deteriorate, and then--what do we expect--bridges cave in, "accidents" happen, sinkholes appear...These events are not coincidence or chance, they are the direct result of our apathy as citizens and our selfish reluctance to contribute to the wellness of our society as a whole.
So ask your government representatives to raise taxes. Make charitable contributions. Adopt a highway. Volunteer. Do these things so that more people don't die needlessly on our roads, treading perilous paths that we have created through our hubris. Be not an America that says, I, me, my, mine...but we, ours, us.
Everyone asks (just as they do in any disaster) why did this happen? Then again, the long Uncle Sam finger searches for someone at which to point in blame. But instead of Uncle Sam pointing outward, he should point inward and blame himself. This, like most American tragedies, is our fault, and we have the power to fix it if we begin thinking about our fellow Americans and stop thinking about ourselves.
Everyone wants tax cuts. Lower taxes, less government..blah blah blah. Politicians use the American avarice for their own benefit, winning whole elections based on their supposed viewpoint on lowering or cutting taxes. NO AMERICAN SHOULD SUPPORT TAX CUTS. It is selfish; every time someone gets a tax refund, they are stealing that money from society, they are refusing to help pay for the services we all need.
Why did the bridge collapse? The Minnesota Department of Transportation has most likely made budget cuts over several years to stay afloat; the funds allotted to them by the government have in turn been lessened. Why? The less taxes we pay as citizens, the less money goes into the government coffers to be distributed to entities like the Transportation Department. With budget cuts come layoffs and service cuts; repairs are made less frequently to roads because there simply is not enough money in the government bank to pay for it. So roads and bridges deteriorate, and then--what do we expect--bridges cave in, "accidents" happen, sinkholes appear...These events are not coincidence or chance, they are the direct result of our apathy as citizens and our selfish reluctance to contribute to the wellness of our society as a whole.
So ask your government representatives to raise taxes. Make charitable contributions. Adopt a highway. Volunteer. Do these things so that more people don't die needlessly on our roads, treading perilous paths that we have created through our hubris. Be not an America that says, I, me, my, mine...but we, ours, us.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Notes on the War
As I climbed up to the train platform this morning for my daily commute, I noticed some Muslim women--most likely from West Africa--standing and sitting on the platform, floating still in brightly dyed hijab. I've seen them before; last time I saw them they were all huddled together, chatting and peering around at the plainly-clothed 'mericans. Today they were spread out along the platform, each standing or sitting alone or in pairs. I wanted to stare at them (their robes were so gorgeous!) but I lowered my eyes and found an un-crowded spot to stand. I stood there thinking, "why can't I admire them? Because I feel guilty. Why do I feel guilty? Because of the way they must see me. To them, I must be the ugly 'merican, so swollen with unchecked patriotic pride (in my red shirt, of all colors) that the righteousness must be dripping off of me.
"But I'm not that 'merican. I have a liberal arts degree, I'm educated, I want to be an advocate of kindness and justice, I just want to look at their pretty robes and smile and have us all be at peace and accept one another." And then the happy little bunnies and birdies will surround us and make a big rainbow.
Okay, so I have a right to feel guilty. I am an American, whether I like it or not, I am part of this establishment. I'm just astonished when I read what my fellow Americans are writing. In the opinion section of the online news, where comments on the articles are invited, I've read people say the most offensive things, like in this article http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/07/18/275611.aspx :
"When will the muslim world realize that their own religion is at the core of their own sorrows! That their religion causes the eventual infighting, hatred, extremism and the downright absurdness of their life. I know that this statement will be met with the "obligatory" defiant responses of the "truly devout", where (according to the Koran) you must register your opposition to anything wrong said about your religion, even when your gut tells you how wrong it is and where we all know you truely do not believe in this, or conversely if you will: we all know how you would wish that your religion would be otherwise.
Jonen Doe, Seattle, Wash. (Sent Wednesday, July 18, 2007 2:51 PM"
"Less sex = less terrorists. Unfortunately, that's how I have to look at it. Sadly we don't have the ability to know which baby will become a terrorist who comes from afar to hurt us; or which baby will be raised in the US or UK, enjoying all its freedoms and still grow up to hurt us. The less of them there are, the safer we will be. Eugenics might be the answer.
Had enough, Los Angeles, CA (Sent Wednesday, July 18, 2007 3:31 PM)"
"Any religion which promotes/reguires murdering of anyone who disagrees with them is simply unacceptable to a civilized person..Christianity has a lot to answer for in the past but thank God we moved on beyond that. Get out of there !! We can't change them---old habits are too hard to break--even if they wanted to---
Jim Evans,, Edgemont, Arkansas (Sent Wednesday, July 18, 2007 3:52 PM)"
"So why are Muslim fundamentalists so nasty? To each other and to the world in general? So the point is (listen up, John Doe of Oregon) as long as their religion is opposed to making love and not war, there will always be disgruntaled unpleasant 20 something males who will be brainwashed into believing they can kill anyone in the name of their god. Pathetic. As soon as all Muslim women give up on their religion and tell the men no more sex until peace is put first, there will always be war. Oh never mind, their religion will always breed hate, regardless of any common sense.
Scott Sowle (Sent Wednesday, July 18, 2007 3:35 PM)"
and my personal favorite:
"Thats really sad. Those poor poeple. Im glad I live in America.
Adel Roebel, Arlen, Texas (Sent Wednesday, July 18, 2007 3:18 PM)"
From this I can see that what Americans have learned from this war is that Al-Qaida is the leader of Iraq, all Muslim men (and thus, all Iraqi men) are terrorists or terrorist supporters, and Islam is a religion that "breeds hate" and "promotes/requires murdering of anyone who disagrees with them." Also, Americans think that America is without any faults, being the good Christian nation that it is, and thank God we all live in a nation which is so free and accepting of others. Um, NO. CLEARLY, no.
Okay, everyone, remember September 11, 2001, when all the planes fell from the sky? Remember what our trusty president told us? We wanted him to blame someone for this tragedy, and he did. He blamed Al-Qaida, based in Afghanistan, and he swore to fight the terrorists in Afghanistan for us. But poor King George II couldn't FIND any terrorists to blow up in Afghanistan, so he decided to finish what his daddy had started and begin the task of usurping the dictator Saddam Hussein from his evil throne. Okay, fine. But Americans started to wonder: hey King George, um, excuse me, but, uh, weren't you supposed to be exacting our revenge on the Afghani terrorists? Why are you spending our money on fighting innocent Iraqi people? King George had to think fast. So he made up a story about how magically the Al-Qaida terrorists DON'T live in Afghanistan anymore, they REALLY live in Iraq, and King George is going to blow them all up, don't worry.
OH! We get it. They live in Iraq. Oh, well, sorry to interrupt. Please continue the revenge then.
I guess we really are that gullible. But come on, America. Don't you feel duped? Don't you feel swindled? I mean, from what I've seen, a good hearty 'merican holds on to his cowhide wallet for dear life and doesn't want no government spending his money. He wants to spend it himself. It doesn't sound very 'merican to give his government free reign over his wallet and allow the president to play out his little football fantasy war with hardworking 'merican money.
Americans get very angry when someone steals their credit card and runs up invalid charges. I just don't understand how we can all sit back and allow our leaders to shovel our money into the political black hole that is Iraq, without even a second thought. Are we really that stupid? Or are we afraid to speak out, afraid that if we try to change the way things are run, the terrorists will smell our momentary weakness and come snarling back at our heels? Are we really better off fighting stubbornly and making Iraqi people (most of whom weren't terrorists before we declared war on them) even more furious at us?
And what about the damage it's doing here in our country, the resentment and the prejudice it fosters? Even if the conflict in Iraq stopped right now, the damage to American sentiment is done. Americans--especially Christian Americans--generalize the work of a few militant extremists to encompass and reflect the entire belief system of Islam. Every man with a turban (including Indian and Asian people) and a beard and every woman with a head scarf (including orthodox Jews) is a terrorist, is friends with or related to a terrorist, or is sympathetic to the terrorists. Even Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam, by definition is a terrorist. I mean, of course he is. His last name is Islam and he sings a song called "peace train." Sounds like a real warmonger to me.
We need to wake up and start taking responsibility for our actions and, vicariously, for the actions of our leaders. Because that's what democracy is supposed to accomplish. I don't know about the rest of you, America, but I'm pretty sure I don't want to wait until January of 2009 to see some change.
"But I'm not that 'merican. I have a liberal arts degree, I'm educated, I want to be an advocate of kindness and justice, I just want to look at their pretty robes and smile and have us all be at peace and accept one another." And then the happy little bunnies and birdies will surround us and make a big rainbow.
Okay, so I have a right to feel guilty. I am an American, whether I like it or not, I am part of this establishment. I'm just astonished when I read what my fellow Americans are writing. In the opinion section of the online news, where comments on the articles are invited, I've read people say the most offensive things, like in this article http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/07/18/275611.aspx :
"When will the muslim world realize that their own religion is at the core of their own sorrows! That their religion causes the eventual infighting, hatred, extremism and the downright absurdness of their life. I know that this statement will be met with the "obligatory" defiant responses of the "truly devout", where (according to the Koran) you must register your opposition to anything wrong said about your religion, even when your gut tells you how wrong it is and where we all know you truely do not believe in this, or conversely if you will: we all know how you would wish that your religion would be otherwise.
Jonen Doe, Seattle, Wash. (Sent Wednesday, July 18, 2007 2:51 PM"
"Less sex = less terrorists. Unfortunately, that's how I have to look at it. Sadly we don't have the ability to know which baby will become a terrorist who comes from afar to hurt us; or which baby will be raised in the US or UK, enjoying all its freedoms and still grow up to hurt us. The less of them there are, the safer we will be. Eugenics might be the answer.
Had enough, Los Angeles, CA (Sent Wednesday, July 18, 2007 3:31 PM)"
"Any religion which promotes/reguires murdering of anyone who disagrees with them is simply unacceptable to a civilized person..Christianity has a lot to answer for in the past but thank God we moved on beyond that. Get out of there !! We can't change them---old habits are too hard to break--even if they wanted to---
Jim Evans,, Edgemont, Arkansas (Sent Wednesday, July 18, 2007 3:52 PM)"
"So why are Muslim fundamentalists so nasty? To each other and to the world in general? So the point is (listen up, John Doe of Oregon) as long as their religion is opposed to making love and not war, there will always be disgruntaled unpleasant 20 something males who will be brainwashed into believing they can kill anyone in the name of their god. Pathetic. As soon as all Muslim women give up on their religion and tell the men no more sex until peace is put first, there will always be war. Oh never mind, their religion will always breed hate, regardless of any common sense.
Scott Sowle (Sent Wednesday, July 18, 2007 3:35 PM)"
and my personal favorite:
"Thats really sad. Those poor poeple. Im glad I live in America.
Adel Roebel, Arlen, Texas (Sent Wednesday, July 18, 2007 3:18 PM)"
From this I can see that what Americans have learned from this war is that Al-Qaida is the leader of Iraq, all Muslim men (and thus, all Iraqi men) are terrorists or terrorist supporters, and Islam is a religion that "breeds hate" and "promotes/requires murdering of anyone who disagrees with them." Also, Americans think that America is without any faults, being the good Christian nation that it is, and thank God we all live in a nation which is so free and accepting of others. Um, NO. CLEARLY, no.
Okay, everyone, remember September 11, 2001, when all the planes fell from the sky? Remember what our trusty president told us? We wanted him to blame someone for this tragedy, and he did. He blamed Al-Qaida, based in Afghanistan, and he swore to fight the terrorists in Afghanistan for us. But poor King George II couldn't FIND any terrorists to blow up in Afghanistan, so he decided to finish what his daddy had started and begin the task of usurping the dictator Saddam Hussein from his evil throne. Okay, fine. But Americans started to wonder: hey King George, um, excuse me, but, uh, weren't you supposed to be exacting our revenge on the Afghani terrorists? Why are you spending our money on fighting innocent Iraqi people? King George had to think fast. So he made up a story about how magically the Al-Qaida terrorists DON'T live in Afghanistan anymore, they REALLY live in Iraq, and King George is going to blow them all up, don't worry.
OH! We get it. They live in Iraq. Oh, well, sorry to interrupt. Please continue the revenge then.
I guess we really are that gullible. But come on, America. Don't you feel duped? Don't you feel swindled? I mean, from what I've seen, a good hearty 'merican holds on to his cowhide wallet for dear life and doesn't want no government spending his money. He wants to spend it himself. It doesn't sound very 'merican to give his government free reign over his wallet and allow the president to play out his little football fantasy war with hardworking 'merican money.
Americans get very angry when someone steals their credit card and runs up invalid charges. I just don't understand how we can all sit back and allow our leaders to shovel our money into the political black hole that is Iraq, without even a second thought. Are we really that stupid? Or are we afraid to speak out, afraid that if we try to change the way things are run, the terrorists will smell our momentary weakness and come snarling back at our heels? Are we really better off fighting stubbornly and making Iraqi people (most of whom weren't terrorists before we declared war on them) even more furious at us?
And what about the damage it's doing here in our country, the resentment and the prejudice it fosters? Even if the conflict in Iraq stopped right now, the damage to American sentiment is done. Americans--especially Christian Americans--generalize the work of a few militant extremists to encompass and reflect the entire belief system of Islam. Every man with a turban (including Indian and Asian people) and a beard and every woman with a head scarf (including orthodox Jews) is a terrorist, is friends with or related to a terrorist, or is sympathetic to the terrorists. Even Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam, by definition is a terrorist. I mean, of course he is. His last name is Islam and he sings a song called "peace train." Sounds like a real warmonger to me.
We need to wake up and start taking responsibility for our actions and, vicariously, for the actions of our leaders. Because that's what democracy is supposed to accomplish. I don't know about the rest of you, America, but I'm pretty sure I don't want to wait until January of 2009 to see some change.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Chicago, Illiniwek
I just finished perusing the American Indian Center of Chicago's website, and the conditions in which American Indians live in the city of Chicago are deplorable. Absolutely deplorable. The main events on the social calendar are events geared towards social services and helping the homeless and addicted. I saw a weekly AA meeting and a weekly function to give clothing and food to the needy. I am aghast. How can we, as Americans who claim to be members of a "good Christian nation," as citizens of Chicago who claim to embrace diversity, allow the original and rightful owners of the land we inhabit to live without any resources, and without any hope of receiving those basic life needs? Shame on you, Chicago.
Coming from the point of view of a native Coloradan, Chicago clearly does not know how to expose the public to information about the first nations of Illinois. I blame the city and the state for their ignorance in this matter and their apathy in helping to improve the situation. The Native Americans of Chicago need more than just a small central base in sketchy Uptown and a little art gallery in Schaumburg. I pledge to do what I can to improve the situation, whether it's lending my own talents or giving away a little money or clothing, because this is unacceptable. Every single state in the union should have such a wealth of information on and exposure to its native peoples that their stories, achievements, and histories should be staring every visitor in the face and should always be in the back of every citizen's educational memory. If that could happen, we would no longer allow our fellow citizens who are Native to live in the third world countries of reservations or in shabby AA centers in boarded-Up-town.
Coming from the point of view of a native Coloradan, Chicago clearly does not know how to expose the public to information about the first nations of Illinois. I blame the city and the state for their ignorance in this matter and their apathy in helping to improve the situation. The Native Americans of Chicago need more than just a small central base in sketchy Uptown and a little art gallery in Schaumburg. I pledge to do what I can to improve the situation, whether it's lending my own talents or giving away a little money or clothing, because this is unacceptable. Every single state in the union should have such a wealth of information on and exposure to its native peoples that their stories, achievements, and histories should be staring every visitor in the face and should always be in the back of every citizen's educational memory. If that could happen, we would no longer allow our fellow citizens who are Native to live in the third world countries of reservations or in shabby AA centers in boarded-Up-town.
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