The American Dream

2008-12-17T14:10:00.000-08:00

American Government’s blog on the documentary “Loose Change,” depicts 9/11 as an inside job, while revealing a mass of inconsistencies. After reading this insightful revelation, I began some research of my own, to include the viewing of this film, and while I am not wholly convinced that such an act is feasible to be committed by our own people, inconsistencies in the events of that day have been established extensively, and the American people deserve answers. Mr. Allen poses in his blog, “If there is nothing to hide, why can't they answer simple questions?” I’ll quote late President Kennedys speech on secret societies that said, “It is our obligation to inform and alert the American people to make certain that they possess all the facts that they need, and understand them as well- the perils, the prospects, the purposes of our program and the choices that we face. No president should fear public scrutiny of his program. For from that scrutiny comes understanding; and from that understanding comes support or opposition. And both are necessary.”

In addition to the inconsistencies that Mr. Allen brings to light, one that compelled me was hearing of the massive insurance plan pursued by the owner, Larry Silverstein, of the twin towers and building 7 just six weeks prior to the incident and upon it, he attempted to cash in a 7.2 billion dollar reimbursement and subsequently was awarded $2.2. It almost reminds me of instances where a husband per say, takes out a large life insurance plan on his wife two weeks before her mysterious disappearance. How convenient. Additionally, the low-quality video which portrays supposed Osama Bin Laden taking credit for the acts of terrorism, shows him writing a letter with his right hand when he is factually left handed and it additionally has him wearing a gold ring, which is against his known religious practices.

I also watched a you-tube video of TV show “Democracy Now!” where correspondent Amy Goldman had the creators of the film Loose Change, as well as writers of the book called “Debunking 9/11 Myths: Why Conspiracy Theories Can’t Stand Up to the Facts.” To see a debate of the facts and misleadings prescribed put things in perspective for me as well.

One of my favorite approaches to the conspiracy was exacted in one of the “Zeitgeist” videos where it said, “men in caves dressed in robes planned and funded this?” And there is also a report that there was a dry run of the same situation on the same day which confused those whose responsibility it was to prevent these things from happening, to more or less justify not shooting the planes down, the last looming red flag in the sea of inconsistencies is in the engineering insight to the fall of the towers and the notion of possibilities with it being inconsistent of that of damage causable by aircraft.

In closing, my classmate states, “The bottom line - “Loose Change” has opened the eyes of people all over the country including me and even those who do not believe have those lingering questions running through their minds. I know it's hard to believe George Bush could be a part of something so intelligent, but with a little help we all have our moments. Evidence is evidence, no matter how tragic, unbelievable or scary it may be. My advice for the disbelievers, go do the research, I mean really dig in and look for the facts, and then tell me you don't believe it.”

While I’m part of the group not wholly convinced, yet overwhelmed with lingering questions of the truth behind this matter, I greatly admire the search for truth portrayed by Mr. Allen and the makers of this film, as well as anyone who is able to detach themselves from the “norm” acceptance and dodge the conformity plagued by the majority of American citizens who believe everything they're told without critical analysis. My best friend (roommate, battle buddy from fighting together against terrorism in Iraq, top ten percent of his class at UT) clearly someone who I respect in matter of opinion and intelligence wore a “9/11 was an inside job” t-shirt this year on the retrospective day and I, still confused with the matter, was utterly embarrassed to go in public with him- for no reason other than the nasty reactions received by the majority of those we encountered.

I thought maybe he was trying to get attention, and that our government cannot be thought of in this light. But over the course of this semester, in writing these blogs, coming to an understanding of components that makeup our system of democracy, and becoming more and more involved in history and government and learning over and over again of the despicable acts that have gone on in the past by devious politicians and the unrelenting subduedness of the unthinking majority, I can no longer sit around and suggest that asking questions and bringing to light inconsistencies is unpatriotic, it is in fact just the opposite.

These heroes are researching and fighting for truth, something you don’t have the care or motivation to do, lost in a world of television, shopping, eating McDonalds, texting all day on your cell phones and getting drunk. Many like Mr. Allen said find it hard to believe but ultimately, “evidence is evidence, no matter how tragic, unbelievable or scary it may be.”

Some food for thought-“Franklin Roosevelt repeatedly deceived the American people during the period before Pearl Harbor….he was like the physician who must tell the patient lies for the patient’s own good….because the masses are notoriously shortsighted and generally cannot see danger until it is at their throats.” Thomas A. Bailey

“We meet in the midst of a nation brought to the verge of moral, political and material ruin. Corruption dominates the ballot box, the legislatures, the Congress, and touches even the ermine of the bench. The people are demoralized….The newspapers are subsidized or muzzled; public opinion silenced; business prostate, our homes covered with mortgages, labor impoverished, and the land concentrating in the hands of capitalists. The urban workmen are denied the right of organization for self-protection; imported pauperized labor beats down their wages; a hireling standing army….established to shoot them down….The fruits of the toil of millions are boldly stolen to build up colossal fortunes….From the same prolific womb of governmental injustice we breed two classes-paupers and millionaires….” Ignatius Donnelly

“You’ll get freedom by letting your enemy know that you’ll do anything to get your freedom; then you’ll get it. It’s the only way you’ll get it. When you get that kind of attitude, they’ll label you as a “crazy,” or call you an extremist or a subversive, or seditious, or a red or a radical. But when you stay radical long enough and get enough people to be like you, you’ll get your freedom.” Malcolm X

“In the right light study becomes insight,

But the system that dissed us teaches us to read and write,

So called facts are fraud,

They want us to allege and pledge and bow down to their god,

Lost the culture, the culture lost,

Spun our minds and through time ignorance has taken over,

They’re the teacher that taught me to fight me,

Compromise, conformity, assimilation, submission,

Ignorance, hypocrisy, brutality, the elite,

All of which are American dreams.”

“But I learned to burn that bridge and delete,

Those who compete at a level that’s obsolete,

Enough, I call the bluff,

Fuck manifest destiny,

See right through the red, white, and blue disguise,

With lecture I puncture the structure of lies,

Installed in our minds and attempting to hold us back,

One sided stories for years and years and years,

I’m inferior, who’s inferior?

Yeah, we need to check the interior,

To expose and close the doors on those who try,

To strangle and mangle the truth,

What? The land of the free?

Whoever told you that is your enemy,

Who pulled schemes on the dream,

And put it to an end,

Ya better beware,

Of retribution with mind war,

20/20 visions and murals with metaphors,

The main attraction-distraction” Rage Against the Machine lyrics

"We've got to regain knowledge again, and we've got to regain an understanding again, of who we are. Not just those chosen to fuel systems, but individuals who have the power to criticize and analyze, and attack injustice when it becomes prevalent and apparent in front of our faces like it is in ours right now. We've been all put to sleep. Put to sleep to a system. A system that continues to perpetrate ignorance amongst our spirits and amongst our minds. One that wants you not to act. A system that would rather see all of you at that bar drinking beer filling your minds being put to sleep with beer or with drugs, rather than acting against it and fighting a system which has been perpetrating imperialist lies and other fucking bullshit for five hundred years.
So fucking drink up or fucking wake up. You're part of the solution or you're part of the fucking problem. I am sick and tired of my own complacence in my life and I know I'm fucking sick of yours. So wake up and stop fucking sleeping. Wake Up." --Zack De La Rocha

Autonomy of Ethics.....

2008-11-29T20:25:00.000-08:00

“If You Need A Helping Hand, Look At The End of Your Arm”

This is a quote I saw posted on a friends refrigerator quite some time ago, but its empowering words are still with me today. The nobility of it suggests that each individual manifests their own destiny. With this act comes self sufficiency, the power of the individual, whose vitality to the success of democracy cannot be overlooked.

With the elections behind us, a new president has emerged, one whom the citizens of the United States elected by a large margin. At a time of seeming economic crisis unfolding, this choice was a critical one. Barak Obama, eloquent, intelligent, modest, and full of promise, took over America’s hearts with his campaign of hope and change. He captured mine too, for a brief moment, but I soon saw that beyond the great speaker who invoked us were his ideas of “redistributing wealth” through taxes and reform health and welfare programs, and constant elusion to "change" but presented no real means to get there. George Orwell warned us against falling for these quips in his work “1984” when he stated, "Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind” But not only did we fall for them, we embraced them with fantasies of finally getting what we have coming to us. Sorry to rain on your parade, but if you bought into this, what you have coming to you is a mere lesson in disappointment.

Once we realize that no one owes us a life free of misery, we actually begin to search for real remedies instead of wasting time and energy accusing others of causing our burdens and expecting compensation. Activist P. J. O’Rourke tells us, “The most expensive lunch is a free one.” There is a detrimental impact on the recipients of “free lunches.” The very people we intend to help are instead enticed into a dependency trap. One who issues and IOU without the ability to meet its full redemption enjoys the fruits of the labor of others without working and contributing to the welfare of the community.

When people are responsible for their own actions, they have a vested interest in making right decisions, since they bear the primary cost of their mistakes. The saying “we learn from our mistakes” demonstrates this feedback mechanism that we inherently use as our personal guide through life. When the State diminishes the effect of the feedback of our mistakes, it also weakens the lesson we learn from these mistakes.

Alexis De Tocqueville further touched on this issue in his work, Democracy in America, when he said, “In democratic peoples, all citizens are independent and weak; they can do almost nothing by themselves, and none of them can oblige those like themselves to lend them their cooperation. They, therefore all fall into impotence if they do not learn to aid each other freely.”

With this, I wage it’s time to transcend victimization and entitlement. The notion that one man’s need is another man’s obligation has become too engrained in people’s minds, so much that they routinely blame their political leaders for not providing them better lifestyles. Blaming others for what we don’t have directs our energy and ingenuity away from the only reliable effective source of achievement in the world- self reliance.

“I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.” Thomas Jefferson

Artist-Atmosphere, Song-Scapegoat

The Entitlement Theory

2008-11-23T11:22:00.000-08:00

Commentary on my classmates Political Awareness editorial "What is Government Doing for the Economy"

Asking what the government is doing is a good question to ponder, an even better one is what are YOU doing? No one said it better than the great, late John F. Kennedy when he posed, “My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”

You say the people of this nation have completed their part, “paying taxes to all those lazy morons.” Really??? That’s “our part”??? That makes me want to toss up my lunch! You can’t throw money at a problem and expect a solution. You most assuredly can’t view “your part” in contributing to a better society to encompass the sole effortless responsibility of paying taxes. In convincing yourself that, along with the rest of the nation, we all fall outrageously short our progressive potential. And with that being said, we aren’t giving the lazy morons much to work with other than lazy morons. Many people fear the burden of responsibility. Victimization status is the modern promised land of absolution from personal responsibility.

Too often today, we expect our leaders to do our work for us, to save us, to emancipate us, to redeem us. Eugene V. Debs wise words, long forgotten, tell us, “Too long have the workers of the world waited for some Moses to lead them out of bondage. He has not come; he will never come. I would not lead you out if I could for if you could be led out, you could be led back again.”

President Bush has indeed made a name for himself as heading one of the worst administrations in our history. Thus, you rightfully anticipate “the day Bush’s presidency will be over”, as well as “the urge for change.” You infer the “enormous amount of pressure being placed on Obama or McCain” but have clearly eluded your own. It’s like people know there’s something wrong but nobody knows what to do or how to do it, so they sit in their living rooms and complain about the president; mad, frustrated, confused, and nothing ever happens- even though everyone wants it to. C. Wright Mills hit the nail on the head in his work, “The Power Elite” when he said, “Acting without goals, the man in the mass just feels pointless. He cannot detach himself in order to observe, much less evaluate, what he is experiencing, much less what he is not experiencing. Rather than that internal discussion we call reflection, he is accompanied through his life experience with a sort of unconscious, echoing monologue. He drifts, fulfills habits, his behavior a result of a planless mixture of the confused standards and uncriticized expectations that he has taken over from others whom he no longer really knows or trusts, if indeed he ever really did.”

It is never too late to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Nothing positive can be accomplished, regardless of how much money or goodwill exist, unless we learn to stand on our own two feet. As individuals, as intellects, who accept responsibility to be contributors instead of consumers. The staircase to freedom starts with you.

“We are human beings, not animals. We have free will. We can choose and build our futures, something animals are not capable of doing. Animals are justified in blaming their environment for all their misdeeds. We, as human beings, with intellect, soul and conscience, do not have such justification.” Author unknown.

Rage against the machine - Sleep now in the fire

Hypocrisy

2008-11-04T06:58:00.000-08:00

I believe hypocrisy is the conflict between perception and reality. It's staggering presence in our country scares the shit out of me! There is a serious lack of profound knowledge- having deep insight or understanding; going far beneath what is superficial, external, or obvious. George Monbiet stresses the prevalence of this growing concern in his article "The Triumph of Ignorance." Monbiot focuses on our political idiocies in justifying "why morons succeed in American politics." In analyzing the contributers to this logically unsound fallacy, Monbiot concludes, "Ignorant politicians are elected by ignorant people."

Blaming US education and its notorious failures, he points out some alarming statistics:"In the most powerful nation on earth, one adult in five believes the sun revolves around the earth; 26 % accept that evolution takes place by natural selection; two-thirds of young adults are unable to find Iraq on a map; two-thirds of US voters cannot name the three branches of government; the math skills of fifteen year olds in the US are ranked 24th out of the 29 countries of the OECD."

Theorizing various contributers to our lack thereof, resulting from a series of interlocking tragedies that include: social darwinism, which led to justifiable and necessary gross economic inequalities; fundamentalist religion; subversion to the idea of intellects being communist; the age of infotainment; and lastly what I think is the most important reason- the idea that education provided by the state is necessary.

Noting Abraham Lincoln's successful career and lack of formal teaching as evidence that it is not necessary, Monbiot further concludes- all that is required to succeed is determination and rugged individualism. And he is not alone in his assumptions about schooling/ formal teaching. I'd previously read author John Taylor Gattos "Against School: How Public Education Cripples Our Kids, and Why", where his bold words seemed to burn in my mind- "I've concluded that genius is as common as dirt. We suppress our genius only because we haven't figured out how to manage a population of educated men and women. The solution, I think, is simple and glorious. Let them manage themselves." And further noted by Thomas Jefferson who said, "What has been the effect of coercion? To make one half of the world fools, and the other half hypocrites."

In closing, Monbiot acknowledges current presidential candidate Senator Barak Obamas promise of change yet, alludes change will not course until the great failures of the US education system are reversed. We can't function as a society if we don't know who we are and where we come from.

About the author.....

Get Realistic! Looking Past the Elections

2008-10-25T07:53:00.000-07:00

In light of the mass media's glorification of the current presidential elections and the immense scrutiny of the candidates policies/plans and promises, where does personal responsibility come into play? And what does it encompass?

Most would answer: voting. For them, this probably means picking which party (Republican or Democrat) they most align themselves with in terms of policies, or even candidates personal characteristics and casting their vote accordingly- be it a war veteran, a African American, or a woman. No doubt, the emergence of these variable traits within our system signifies a great potential for change, but in order for society to truly transform its ways, recognition of our individual/ personal responsibilities has to be implemented and integrated.

In "Looking Beyond the Election and Beyond Elections, Taking Politics Seriously", two Austin Texans, Robert Jensen and Pat Youngblood identify voting as what the majority of American citizens view their political participatory responsibilities to encompass. Though voting a stepping stone to voicing our concerns, personal responsibility in shaping our countries future needs to be encompassed if real solutions are going to be identified. They state that “people should take politics seriously, which means asking considerably more of ourselves than the typical fixation with electoral politics.”

So if voting doesn’t fulfill the participatory requirements expected of us, what does? Jensen and Youngblood say it starts by facing reality- something they feel Obama nor McCain, or their respective parties are interested in facing. And if they aren’t, who will? That’s where we come in.

The “reality”, Jensen and Youngblood define is “the need to start imagining and building an economics based on production and distribution for real human needs, rejecting the corrosive greed that underlies not only the obscene profits hoarded by the few but also the orgiastic consumption pursued by the many.” Furthermore, they argue that the problems of our existing systems have predictable consequences with no plausible solutions, and will likely prove useless in helping us restructure our lives.

Next, the two identify what they feel are flaws- in the current economic system, within our war policies, patriarchy, racism, and corrupt corporate capitalism. In order for successful movement toward reshaping our ideologies, “a realistic description of the problems we face, a realistic evaluation of the nature of the systems that gave rise to those problems, and a realistic assessment of the degree of change necessary to imagine solutions” all need to be established.

I chose this article not because I agree with their views, but because I admire the way Jensen and Youngblood try to encourage and motivate their audience (Americans) to wake up and think outside of the box- see the whole picture, not the just the narrow views imposed on us by mainstream political parties or the media- but our own views. The authors, as well as myself, support traditional grassroots political organizing in order to advance progressive policies on the most important issues- connecting with people on common ground, articulating a realistically radical analysis, and working from there to construct a just and sustainable society.

Obviously, Jensen and Youngblood recognize that this will take time but feel as though its brink is possible and necessary for society to flourish. So we will vote on November 4^th, but more important, what will we do on November 5^th?

Read the article HERE!

Robert Jensen has a good framework for contemporary reform, but he seems to push the envelope on controversial topics leaving him a highly criticized author. Jensen is currently a journalism professor at the University of Texas at Austin with a PhD in media law and ethics. Prior to his academic career, Jensen worked as a professional journalist for a decade.

Pat Youngblood is a social studies teacher at McCallum High School in Austin, Texas. Youngblood, as well as Jensen, are members of the Third Coast Activist Resource Center.

Bush: A Fraud??

2008-10-07T04:59:00.000-07:00

Fraud is the creation of trust, and then its betrayal; a breach of confidence, perpetrated for profit or to gain some unfair or dishonest advantage; to cheat.

In lieu of our current presidential term coming to an end, critics are pointing the finger….in one direction. Placing blame for the unsuccessful probe in Iraq, blame for the current financial crisis, and for the massive deficit our country has accrued under the current administration, The Boston Globe’s H.D.S. Greenway singles out President George W. Bush and “his team” responsible, labeling it among the worst administrations in our history.

Comparing his current reign with that of his predecessor Bill Clinton, Greenway debuts by reminding us that “Eight years ago, the United States had a budget surplus, peace and prosperity reigned, and America was universally respected”. Further breaking down the countries current plight and placing harsh reprehension, Greenway lists multiple contributors for his rationale.

Beginning with the botched job in Afghanistan, Greenway cites that necessary attention and resources were never committed yet, we engaged in the preemptive war in Iraq under the supposed notion of existent weapons of mass destruction, spreading of democracy, and helping Isreal. Further, he breaks down the illegitimacy of those notions, stating, “Iraq is, and always was, a diversion to the struggle against Islamic extremism. Al Queda in Mesopotamia didn’t exist before Bush invaded. And Iran has been immensely empowered.”

Subsequently, Greenway condemns the “ideologically driven, hopelessly incompetent administration” responsible for the sweetheart deal that the Security and Exchange Commission allowed, enabling investment brokers to increase their debt in proportion to their capital, and then failing to police them as well as pushing deregulation to an extreme.

In conclusion, Greenway makes it clear that President Bush has fallen short in his duties, leaving us “bogged down in two wars and an unprecedented deficit, with a financial crisis of a magnitude not seen since the days of Herbert Hoover” and furthermore, convincing me that what America needs at such a time of crisis is a bona fide government with an agenda to serve it's people, not ulterior motives.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/10/07/the_destructive_policies_of_president_bush/

Mr. Magoo and the Kind Stranger.

2008-09-19T14:04:00.000-07:00

Now, more than ever, I feel like politics is dividing America. With one of the most controversial elections in U.S. history approaching, it seems we are seeing only black and white (no pun intended).

In his article, Mr. Magoo and the Kind Stranger, Thom Rutledge addresses the need for an understanding for political contrasts and I agree. People are becoming too invested with the notion that what they know and believe is right, factual, and flawless and there’s no ifs, ands, or buts about it. While I advocate supporting of your chosen presidential candidate, I don’t think it’s necessary to be overbearingly aggressive in raining on the others parade. Ralph Waldo Emerson had it right when he told us "“It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinions; it is easy in solitude to live after your own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude”

http://www.counterpunch.org/rutledge09062008.html