Iron Fisted America

[callady]

Iron Fisted America

By Charles Sullivan

11/14/05 "ICH " -- -- Understanding the collective American psyche is no easy task. To those living in other lands we Americans are an enigma. Indeed, we are an enigma unto ourselves. To others we appear foolish, dim-witted, cowardly and morally bankrupt. To allow the rise of a fascist regime to take power is compelling evidence for those views. Let me try to explain why.

Nothing in America is what we are told it is. Whenever the president speaks—it matters little which president we are talking about—we can be reasonably certain that they do not utter truth as we know it. During the past fifty years America has not had a socially progressive president. The Clinton presidency was under siege from day one by the power hungry ideologues fueled by Christian evangelicals. Bill Clinton certainly was no progressive, as his detractors would have us believe. At his most liberal Clinton was nothing more than Bush lite. He twice won the presidency by out righting the right. Clearly, this was no victory for progressives. No modern era American president represents the interest of the people. They represent the rich and powerful. The same is true of Congress.

<snip>

To further complicate matters, the vast majority of the media is under the control of the same corporate oligarchy that direct the government. The corporate media, as the name implies, serves the corporate interest. Little that the corporate media tells us has any relevance to truth as most of us know it. The corporate media are purveyors of lies and distortions that are used to subdue and control the public mind, often for sinister purposes. Seek alternative channels of information that flow from non corporate sources. There you will find what you need to know to be free.

<snip>

The world knows only too well that America is a violent nation. They know, many of them first hand, that America preys upon the poor and the defenseless. The manner in which the corporate oligarchy that drives American politics treats its own down trodden is a microcosm of how it treats the rest of the world. The extermination of the indigenous people of North America by pious Anglo invaders is an atrocity that makes the Nazi liquidation of the Jews pale in comparison. America has yet to come to grips with its initial episode of genocide and ethnic cleansing that may be at the root of its pathological behavior. The annihilation of the American Indian was just the beginning of what capitalism could do.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10983.htm

[indepat]

1. Paints a picture that is not very pretty, but with many stinging truths

[melody]

2. more of the same broad generalization based on biases

EVERY country has problems like ours - every one. They may express themselves differently, but they are there. We're just like all the other people.

This sick negative fascination and one upmanship thing between the US and Europe (and that's what "they" mean by the "world) has got to stop.

[callady]

4. Just an interesting morsel

to gnaw on.

Canada has a higher rate of gun ownership than the US,80% of Canadians own guns, yet have a nominal violent crime rate.

Another intersting morsel- During WW2 the Italians practiced horrific, brutal torture on their African captives. The Africans did not do so to the Italians even after getting word from ex-prisoners about their torturous experiences.

When Columbus' crew landed they remarked on how gentle and welcoming the Tainos were. We know the rest.

For further inquiry recommend reading the diaries of Spanish missionary de las Casas.

Not all countries/peoples are alike.

[melody]

5. Didn't say they were - I said the same volume but of a different nature

Every nation has its own equal problems - Canada has as many as the US, etc, they're just expressed in different ways. Domesticated primates are amazingly predictable. Anyone who thinks otherwise is acting from their own national bias.

[callady]

6. The very notion of "NatioN"

is prone to create parochialism and 'Father Knows Best' paternalistic distortions.

We desperately need to divorce ourselves from the concept of 'country tis' of thee.

We need to quickly and smartly rearrange our lives to live more locally. This is a daunting task.

Divorcing ourselves from the myth of America is a good start. We can live better lives without the dependence on this Leviathan.

[melody]

7. reality is neurology in many ways

I'm not saying it can't be done, but we're fighting many, many generations of tribalism based on our Aristotelian way of looking at reality.

The "myth" of "America" is as much a myth as the national identity of any nation's. Whenever you try to deplete meaning and context from peoples' lives, you create an existentialism similar to what Americans deal with now. We don't have a real sense of our personal ethnicity (well, those of us with old roots don't), so many of us try to forge a new one. We have a right to the cultural inheritance of our ancestors, as much as anyone, but since that has been stolen from us, we make our own.

People without a higher meaning are very nasty individuals indeed. We see this in the NeoCons. I think personal context (whether national or personal) is, in some ways, a positive factor in peoples' lives.

Just the "we're all people" thing, though infinitely true, doesn't provide any context and meaning. We need to establish the values of tribe and then work outward to the greater village. Trying to deny our connection to our own semi-autochthonous identity seems to me unwise.

[OneBlueSky]

3. rings true to me . . . kicked and recommended . . . n/t

.