Post
by Nazz » August 21st, 2009, 4:52 pm
No offense intended toward anyone in particular, but sometimes you gotta piss people off a little to get their attention. A while back on LK, Soozen hammered on me a little for my less-than-inspired response to a thread she started on environmental abuse by humans. And rightly so. I deserved a slight kick in the ass. This was at the height of BU$HKO's high crimes and warmongering and executive middle finger thrust at the global "green" movement, and I said something like-- as long as some cabal of megalomaniacal "leaders" kept diverting our attention and draining our collective energy with endless war and divisive fear politics, the important issues won't get solved, and that's that-- all of which is true, but it didn't really do justice to Soo's thread, which was a chance to increase my awareness and lessen my apathy with more genuine participation.
Again, this is not directed at anyone, but too often, when I criticize this country, ears slam shut, eyes glaze over, bunker mentality sets in, and I'm anti-American, and that's that. Well no, that's not that. I praise what I think is good about America too. But I'm just not the constant cheerleading sort. Perhaps I'm not a "positive" enough type of person; that might be a fair observation. And I should be more community-oriented, recognize and acknowledge goodness. True enough for anyone, I suppose. But I also think constant cheerleading is dangerous. Especially in the form of non-stop rah rah flag-waving. Especially in the form of willful ignorance and bunker mentality.
I'm pissed at how the US executive branch has fucked with the people of Central and South America. East Timor. Iran. Vietnam. The list goes on. I'm pissed that most of us endorsed an illegal war of choice in Iraq, and then when faced with mounting evidence that the whole thing was based on lies, voted the bloodthirsty bastards back into office anyway and basically hung our troops out to dry. I'm pissed that even three years after we invaded Iraq, large numbers of people still thought Saddam was behind the 9/11 attacks. I'm pissed that our leaders and prime time pundits openly endorsed torture. Torture! I'm pretty pissed about that stuff, and I want others to be too. If I have to ruffle a few feathers along the way, then hell, occupational hazard I guess.
And this is not to say that America hasn't also been a positive force in the world at times. Of course it has been, and still is. That isn't the point of criticism. Yes, the US is still a world leader in research and innovation to solve many of the world's ills. Yes, Bill Gates and others have given substantial resources to help impoverished parts of the world.
And this is not to say that other nations haven't done worse. Of course they have. That isn't the point of criticism either. Yes, the Soviet Union was horrible. Yes, many Islamic countries are highly oppressive. If we are to be as good as we say we are, something like the "world's beacon," or at least one of them, then we can't play in the gutter. We have to call ourselves on it. We have to recognize that our own shit stinks too.
As far as cynicism in this thread, I guess I missed it. I just find that photo of a bizarre, heavy-handed gun demonstration at a health care meeting disturbing. Perhaps even a little surreal. To me it speaks to some ugly undercurrents and deeper rifts in our society. Perhaps we're not as "United" as we claim, even now, after 230+ years. And I thought Jack's idea of "castoffs from the Old Country" had some merit-- an interesting thought to ponder. I didn't see it as cynical, necessarily. Maybe the undercurrents have always been there and I never paid attention. Maybe I shouldn't let them bother me now. Probably. Anyway, enough for now.
Last edited by
Nazz on August 21st, 2009, 5:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
