To coin a phrase, well sort of....
It is up to us, really.
If we want to be the former, all we need do is sit back and do nothing. We are headed in that direction, very fast, now.
However, if we want to be the latter, we can only save ourselves and live to, again, be an example of what freedom means and that will take awhile. We must understand that with freedom comes responsibility; not just to our families, our neighbors, our friends, state and nation, but to the rest of the world, as well. Because we are supposedly as self- governing a people as there has ever been, at least we used to be.
But that means saving us from ourselves, which is about the best thing we can hope for, at the moment. It is the very best thing we can do for ourselves and others, around the world. That will require us to "get real," essentially. We must take a long hard look at the good the bad and the ugly, because that is who we are, as a nation.
Being an American is not a religion, but one would certainly think so, by the way we carry on about ourselves and all our myths we have created about who we are, as a nation, as a people.
We simply must stop believing our own press, so to speak; stop believing in fairy tales. It's time to grow up.
We are a very young nation, by world standards. We are way too big for our britches, as my grand pa would have said. Something tells me that we are just about to get brought down a peg or two...or three, or four.
We, the people, must face the cold, hard, nauseating truth that we have become parties to mass murder, torture (psychological and physical), deception and fear-mongering on an international scale.
Dead Wrong.
We need to also face the terrifying fact that we have, now, stood by and given the president unprecedented powers; imperial powers, over us. That whirring sound you hear is caused by so many of our American ancestors spinning in their graves, including the founders.
"Off with their heads!" Sound at all familiar?
"Round 'em up and take them to the camps." Germany? No, right here. Our government did this to Japanese Americans. Took all their property and didn't give it back.
The use of bacteria as a weapon of mass destruction. Saddam on his own people or the Iranians? No. Our government did this to the people who lived here long before the Europeans came, native Americans. It was the first known use of a bio-weapon. Giving blankets covered with bacteria to natives. Nice.
Experimentation on its own people? Can we spell Tuskegee? How about the Atomic war vets? What about experiments on mind-control using all kinds of chemicals, from LSD to God-knows-what, on our own citizens, back in the 50's-60's, and who knows, it may still be going on, in one form or another.
Oh, yes, our government has done these things and much, much, much more. They are even more dangerous when aided and abetted by big corporations, who pull their strings for the most part anyway. Just think how much we, hapless Americans, pay to be lab rats for Big Pharma. We know that several of these corporations have lied repeatedly about their own research on their own products, lying to physicians and their patients. Do any of these corporate officers ever see the inside of a jail cell? Name one.
(I am not suggesting that the pharmaceutical business is inherently evil or that all researchers are whores. Certainly not. Medication has a place in our society and, for the most part, most do a pretty good job, without killing us all.)
Most of the time, American citizens had not a clue what was being done in their name and with their treasure. Some of the time, "we" did know, and did nothing about it.
Well, we sure the hell know this time. We know only too well what this administration has done, both at home and abroad. Normal, ordinary Americans know about this horror, as it is happening.
We, the people, have reached a place where we must each make a decision and we must talk to each other about our decisions, why we made them, and what we plan to do about them.
The decision we must make is whether we want to continue to be a party, however unwittingly, to anymore horrors committed in our name and with our blood and treasure, or do we want this to stop and stop, yesterday.
We are at that point. We can be part of the problem or part of the solution. There is no in-between, not anymore, but there had damn well better be some honest humility.
We believe that it is time for serious, non-violent civil disobedience, in addition to all the actions many of us have been taking for years.
This has gone on long enough. It has, actually, gone on way too long.
No one, no not anyone, should ever have to have a permit to express their refusal to accept man's inhumanity to man; not for one more day, no matter who is being inhumane in their actions or to whom.
We have one major law; the law of non-violence, in thought, word, and deed.
Spring is finally here. Seeds must be planted, fields must be plowed and tilled; there is much work to do.
Summer is coming. Lots of heavy lifting in the scorching heat. Yet, it must be done. Otherwise, when the time for harvest comes, our crops will be puny and diseased and we will surely lose the farm...just before the harshest of winters.
There are none so blind as the ones who will not see....those who refuse to see!
It Can't Happen Here?
It already is happening here!
...And The Truth Shall Set Us Free
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