“Hope is like a road in the country: there was never a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence.” Lin Yutang
Our world’s survival depends on humans entering that road on a transitional journey to a World At Peace. As we move forward all men and women of peace must enlist others to join them in that journey.
It starts with a new way of thinking
“By Changing Your Thinking, You change your beliefs;
When you change your beliefs, you change your expectations;
When you change your expectations, you change your attitude;
When you change your attitude, you change your behavior;
When you change your behavior, you change your performance;
When you change your performance, you Change Your Life!”
Cogito ergo sum. I think, therefore “I Am:” the recognition of our internal world, our consciousness.
Thinking is the dialectic thought process of reasoning, consideration, and attention leading to the intention of human action. Thinking is an evolutionary process that has the effect of creating change. Thinking, this dialectic process of thesis and antitheses, and its sublation leading to individual human action without the influence of propaganda, involves the induction of considerable facts, their analogy, as well as their perceptual deduction, which will lead to change by influencing others to the extent where there are viable and achievable outcomes.
Thinking is the being and becoming of human action, the generative process of change.
We must change our thinking to a belief where war as necessary to a belief that peace is attainable and viable; change our expectations that all conflict can be managed without violence; change so that we understand that we are in control of our attitude toward adversity; change so that we understand that our behavior is important to setting best examples and best practices; and change our thinking to an understanding that as a consequence our performance must be to provide leadership for peace: We must be a voice for peace.
Changing our thinking, and consequently our attitude toward religious ideology and avarice, which are the main causes of violence, and acting in opposition and in deterrence to their inevitable, visceral consequences, is a matter of conscience.
Trita Parsi, the author of “Treacherous Alliance,” states that as long as we treat our differences as ideological (political, cultural, and religious) rather than as solvable strategic tasks, violent or vitriolic threats of violent conflict will continue. Although Dr. Parsi is speaking of the dealings between Israel, Iran, and the United States, this statement has universal application.
For there to be a world at peace there has to be a completely new way of thinking.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Are You a Proud American?
On vacation, I attended a concert during which one of the performances was “God Bless the USA,” a short stanza patriotic song that is lacking of any profound message. One of the repetitive lyrics is “And I’m proud to be an American where at least I know I’m free.” Everyone in the audience exuberantly sang along. They sang along and flagged their hands above their heads in collective exuberance as if they were truly proud to be an American, and not just caught up in the moment.
As the performers and audience sang, a melancholy came over me. I was saddened that here we were enjoying a beautiful summer evening while so much misery was imposed on so many American families, because of the war in Iraq. My thoughts included Matthew Bean, a Pembroke man recently killed in Iraq, and Christian Golczynski, the son of Staff Sergeant Marcus Golczynski who, also, was recently killed in Iraq. I remembered the image of Christian and the pain he was enduring during his father’s funeral. And, I thought of all the needless deaths that are a result of the Iraq War, and of our governments ambivalence and dereliction. That our government has been deceitful. That it is willing to kill Americans and others based on deceit. That it has desired, and has gotten away with operating in secrecy. That we have destroyed the respect that other nations once had for America. That we have a government that has fascist tendencies and is knowingly destroying our constitutional freedoms, and sadly, Americans do not seem to have any recognition of what is happening. Deceit and secrecy have become an intrinsic part of our government.
My melancholy was a result of my recognition that I am not proud to be an American. I don’t know who, if they are honest with themelves, can be. The people we have elected to political office have let us down. They have failed America miserably.
The America of my childhood was conceived by Americans and the World as an exemplary country offering opportunity, freedom, justice, equality, and a democracy given to trust and transparency. It was viewed as country imbued with human values.
Without elucidation, for there are numerous, documentary evidences, that America has failed at maintaining these values:
Opportunity
America has failed at providing opportunities in education, affordable housing and healthcare, because we have not provided opportunities for many to earn a living wage. The gap between low, medium, and high income is exponentially increasing year after year.
In the words of Jimmy Carter: “Our government has abandoned fiscal responsibility by unprecedented favours to the rich, while neglecting America's working families. Members of Congress have increased their own pay by $30,000 per year since freezing the minimum wage at $5.15 per hour (the lowest among industrialised nations) [$5.85 an hour as of July 24, 2007].” (1)
When America through their very overt action attempt to marginalize the poor, those who have an infirmity, or those who may not have had the “luck of the draw,” America is denying those Americans the same opportunities from which the rest of us benefit. A good example is New Orleans and the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, exposing Americas disregard for the indigent.
Freedom
Our freedoms have been seriously compromised because of the Patriot Act.
As Naomi Wolf has stated, “After we were hit on September 11 2001, we were in a state of national shock. Less than six weeks later, on October 26 2001, the USA Patriot Act was passed by a Congress that had little chance to debate it; many said that they scarcely had time to read it [what an excuse, since when does anyone validate anything without thorough understanding]. We were told we were now on a ‘war footing’; we were in a ‘global war’ against a ‘global caliphate’ intending to ‘wipe out civilisation’. There have been other times of crisis in which the US accepted limits on civil liberties, such as during the civil war, when Lincoln declared martial law, and the second world war, when thousands of Japanese-American citizens were interned. But this situation, as Bruce Fein of the American Freedom Agenda notes, is unprecedented: all our other wars had an endpoint, so the pendulum was able to swing back toward freedom; this war is defined as open-ended in time and without national boundaries in space - the globe itself is the battlefield. ‘This time,’ Fein says, ‘there will be no defined end.’” (2)
Hate and fear have been the postulation of our government. It has instilled in Americans that if you criticize America you are not a patriot – you are un-American. This is denying freedom of speech to many of us who are critical of America. For many are afraid to speak out because of the fear of retaliation.
Justice
Justice -- defined as the quality or state of being just and unbiased; the state, action, or principle of treating all persons equally in accordance with the law – has been seriously impaired in America. Justice viewed as punishment rather than rehabilitation. What we need to do is to change behaviors.
“… imprisonment rates have continued to rise while crime rates have fallen because we have become progressively more punitive: not because crime has continued to explode (it hasn’t), not because we made a smart policy choice, but because we have made a collective decision to increase the rate of punishment.” (3)
Because of America’s view of Justice as punishment, and that those accused of a crime should be denied their civil liberties, the abrogation of the civil liberties of Jose Padilla occurred, and America supported the use of torture to gain confessions. (4)
America has embraced interrogation techniques that were in clear violation of the Geneva Conventions.
America has not been in conformity with international law.
Our government has violated the Constitution of the United States of America.
Equality
Without reason, Americans today view themselves today as I did in the America of my childhood. They accept America’s leadership repetitive claims that we still have and hold these values. They, with this vision, have an arrogant attitude in their relationship to the world. A very unacceptable hubris exists. The reality is that America does not comply with this view. America has not given critical thought to the views they hold. America no longer provides the leadership that it at one time provided through its example. Americans have not recognized that fact. “We Americans are better than they are,” is the view.
With all the rhetoric Americans give to embracing diversity, the fact is that Americans do not embrace diversity. Americans do not consider themselves equal to others. ”Diverse communities … show dysfunction,” says Robert Putnam, Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University. (5) This dysfunction is due to our underlying prejudices.
Americas debate over legal as well as illegal immigration -- albeit the issues involved do have merit for action. However, for most Americans the issue is inflamed, not based on the merit of the issues, but our oppositions are based on our prejudices.
Trust and transparency
Our democracy has not given to trust and transparency in American governance. There are many examples of American governance acting in secrecy, but none as blatant as in the Bush White House:
“John Dean, the former White House counsel who blew the whistle on Watergate nearly 30 years ago, told a Los Angeles audience that the Bush administration's obsession with secrecy and executive privilege has "turned back the clock to before Watergate" -- to before, that is, Nixon's crimes forced a national reckoning and led to a string of laws designed to prevent presidents from keeping too many secrets. It was then that the republic relearned an old lesson: The institutions built up to guard a secret can do more damage than openness could ever have done.” (6)
“This has been the drift of our politics for some 20 years. In a profound failure of the civic imagination, we now behave in a way that our founders never intended us to: When it comes to the actions of our government, we have surrendered to trust.” (6)
Bush signed an executive order that denied the public access to documents requested under the Freedom of Information Act, which limits access to all public records from living presidents, as well to other documents..
Until its recent exposition, Patriot Act I and II were clothed in secrecy, and although there have been some revelations, they are primarily opaque programs.
The New York Times says, “Congress accidentally gave President George Bush the power to conduct warrantless searches and seizures when it passed a wiretapping bill earlier this month. Democrats are embarrassed they voted without understanding language that would allow—among other things—some physical searches, and the collection of business records, without a court order.” (7)
"The Bush administration is arguing that: a) It's no big deal, since they'll try to minimize the amount of spying on average Americans; and b) Who cares? Under the DoJ interpretation of the Constitution, the law ‘is just advisory. The President can still do whatever he wants to do.’ "(7)
George Orwell’s 1984 is alive and well, and its premise seems to be acceptable to America.
“Many reasons are given for our preemptive wars and military approach for spreading the American message of freedom and prosperity, which is an obvious impossibility. Our vital interests are always cited for justification, and it’s inferred that those who do not support our militancy are unpatriotic. Yet the opposite is actually the case: Wise resistance to one’s own government doing bad things requires a love of country, devotion to idealism, and respect for the Rule of Law.” (8)
In order to turn this country around to the America of my childhood, every American must be a leader. Every American must think critically and “Walk the Talk.” We cannot depend on those who we vote into political office to provide leadership in exemplifying opportunity, freedom, justice, equality, and a democracy given to trust and transparency. We must lead those who we have empowered with America’s leadership. It is every American’s responsibility to let America’s leadership know “where it’s at.”
(1) Jimmy Carter. This is Not the Country that I Once Knew November 20, 2005.
Former President Jimmy Carter believes that a warring America is abandoning its fundamental values.
(2) Naomi Wolf. Fascist America, in 10 easy steps Tuesday April 24, 2007.
The Guardian
(3) Glenn C. Loury. Why Are So Many Americans in Prison? Boston Review. Race and the transformation of criminal justice.
(4) The Rights of Jose Padilla NPR “Here and Now.” Story aired Monday, June 30, 2003
(5) Robert Putnam, Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University. Diversity and Community NPR “On Point.” Aired: Thursday, August 09, 2007
(6) Rick Perlstein. A Surrender to Trust July/August 2002. Mother Jones. Commentary: Richard Nixon taught the nation a painful lesson about secrecy and the White House. How soon we forget.
(7) Barron YoungSmith. I Tapped That Slate Magazine. Posted Sunday, Aug. 19, 2007.
(8) HON. RON PAUL OF TEXAS. Big Government Solutions Don't Work/ The Law of Opposites September 7, 2006. Before the U.S. House of Representatives
On vacation, I attended a concert during which one of the performances was “God Bless the USA,” a short stanza patriotic song that is lacking of any profound message. One of the repetitive lyrics is “And I’m proud to be an American where at least I know I’m free.” Everyone in the audience exuberantly sang along. They sang along and flagged their hands above their heads in collective exuberance as if they were truly proud to be an American, and not just caught up in the moment.
As the performers and audience sang, a melancholy came over me. I was saddened that here we were enjoying a beautiful summer evening while so much misery was imposed on so many American families, because of the war in Iraq. My thoughts included Matthew Bean, a Pembroke man recently killed in Iraq, and Christian Golczynski, the son of Staff Sergeant Marcus Golczynski who, also, was recently killed in Iraq. I remembered the image of Christian and the pain he was enduring during his father’s funeral. And, I thought of all the needless deaths that are a result of the Iraq War, and of our governments ambivalence and dereliction. That our government has been deceitful. That it is willing to kill Americans and others based on deceit. That it has desired, and has gotten away with operating in secrecy. That we have destroyed the respect that other nations once had for America. That we have a government that has fascist tendencies and is knowingly destroying our constitutional freedoms, and sadly, Americans do not seem to have any recognition of what is happening. Deceit and secrecy have become an intrinsic part of our government.
My melancholy was a result of my recognition that I am not proud to be an American. I don’t know who, if they are honest with themelves, can be. The people we have elected to political office have let us down. They have failed America miserably.
The America of my childhood was conceived by Americans and the World as an exemplary country offering opportunity, freedom, justice, equality, and a democracy given to trust and transparency. It was viewed as country imbued with human values.
Without elucidation, for there are numerous, documentary evidences, that America has failed at maintaining these values:
Opportunity
America has failed at providing opportunities in education, affordable housing and healthcare, because we have not provided opportunities for many to earn a living wage. The gap between low, medium, and high income is exponentially increasing year after year.
In the words of Jimmy Carter: “Our government has abandoned fiscal responsibility by unprecedented favours to the rich, while neglecting America's working families. Members of Congress have increased their own pay by $30,000 per year since freezing the minimum wage at $5.15 per hour (the lowest among industrialised nations) [$5.85 an hour as of July 24, 2007].” (1)
When America through their very overt action attempt to marginalize the poor, those who have an infirmity, or those who may not have had the “luck of the draw,” America is denying those Americans the same opportunities from which the rest of us benefit. A good example is New Orleans and the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, exposing Americas disregard for the indigent.
Freedom
Our freedoms have been seriously compromised because of the Patriot Act.
As Naomi Wolf has stated, “After we were hit on September 11 2001, we were in a state of national shock. Less than six weeks later, on October 26 2001, the USA Patriot Act was passed by a Congress that had little chance to debate it; many said that they scarcely had time to read it [what an excuse, since when does anyone validate anything without thorough understanding]. We were told we were now on a ‘war footing’; we were in a ‘global war’ against a ‘global caliphate’ intending to ‘wipe out civilisation’. There have been other times of crisis in which the US accepted limits on civil liberties, such as during the civil war, when Lincoln declared martial law, and the second world war, when thousands of Japanese-American citizens were interned. But this situation, as Bruce Fein of the American Freedom Agenda notes, is unprecedented: all our other wars had an endpoint, so the pendulum was able to swing back toward freedom; this war is defined as open-ended in time and without national boundaries in space - the globe itself is the battlefield. ‘This time,’ Fein says, ‘there will be no defined end.’” (2)
Hate and fear have been the postulation of our government. It has instilled in Americans that if you criticize America you are not a patriot – you are un-American. This is denying freedom of speech to many of us who are critical of America. For many are afraid to speak out because of the fear of retaliation.
Justice
Justice -- defined as the quality or state of being just and unbiased; the state, action, or principle of treating all persons equally in accordance with the law – has been seriously impaired in America. Justice viewed as punishment rather than rehabilitation. What we need to do is to change behaviors.
“… imprisonment rates have continued to rise while crime rates have fallen because we have become progressively more punitive: not because crime has continued to explode (it hasn’t), not because we made a smart policy choice, but because we have made a collective decision to increase the rate of punishment.” (3)
Because of America’s view of Justice as punishment, and that those accused of a crime should be denied their civil liberties, the abrogation of the civil liberties of Jose Padilla occurred, and America supported the use of torture to gain confessions. (4)
America has embraced interrogation techniques that were in clear violation of the Geneva Conventions.
America has not been in conformity with international law.
Our government has violated the Constitution of the United States of America.
Equality
Without reason, Americans today view themselves today as I did in the America of my childhood. They accept America’s leadership repetitive claims that we still have and hold these values. They, with this vision, have an arrogant attitude in their relationship to the world. A very unacceptable hubris exists. The reality is that America does not comply with this view. America has not given critical thought to the views they hold. America no longer provides the leadership that it at one time provided through its example. Americans have not recognized that fact. “We Americans are better than they are,” is the view.
With all the rhetoric Americans give to embracing diversity, the fact is that Americans do not embrace diversity. Americans do not consider themselves equal to others. ”Diverse communities … show dysfunction,” says Robert Putnam, Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University. (5) This dysfunction is due to our underlying prejudices.
Americas debate over legal as well as illegal immigration -- albeit the issues involved do have merit for action. However, for most Americans the issue is inflamed, not based on the merit of the issues, but our oppositions are based on our prejudices.
Trust and transparency
Our democracy has not given to trust and transparency in American governance. There are many examples of American governance acting in secrecy, but none as blatant as in the Bush White House:
“John Dean, the former White House counsel who blew the whistle on Watergate nearly 30 years ago, told a Los Angeles audience that the Bush administration's obsession with secrecy and executive privilege has "turned back the clock to before Watergate" -- to before, that is, Nixon's crimes forced a national reckoning and led to a string of laws designed to prevent presidents from keeping too many secrets. It was then that the republic relearned an old lesson: The institutions built up to guard a secret can do more damage than openness could ever have done.” (6)
“This has been the drift of our politics for some 20 years. In a profound failure of the civic imagination, we now behave in a way that our founders never intended us to: When it comes to the actions of our government, we have surrendered to trust.” (6)
Bush signed an executive order that denied the public access to documents requested under the Freedom of Information Act, which limits access to all public records from living presidents, as well to other documents..
Until its recent exposition, Patriot Act I and II were clothed in secrecy, and although there have been some revelations, they are primarily opaque programs.
The New York Times says, “Congress accidentally gave President George Bush the power to conduct warrantless searches and seizures when it passed a wiretapping bill earlier this month. Democrats are embarrassed they voted without understanding language that would allow—among other things—some physical searches, and the collection of business records, without a court order.” (7)
"The Bush administration is arguing that: a) It's no big deal, since they'll try to minimize the amount of spying on average Americans; and b) Who cares? Under the DoJ interpretation of the Constitution, the law ‘is just advisory. The President can still do whatever he wants to do.’ "(7)
George Orwell’s 1984 is alive and well, and its premise seems to be acceptable to America.
“Many reasons are given for our preemptive wars and military approach for spreading the American message of freedom and prosperity, which is an obvious impossibility. Our vital interests are always cited for justification, and it’s inferred that those who do not support our militancy are unpatriotic. Yet the opposite is actually the case: Wise resistance to one’s own government doing bad things requires a love of country, devotion to idealism, and respect for the Rule of Law.” (8)
In order to turn this country around to the America of my childhood, every American must be a leader. Every American must think critically and “Walk the Talk.” We cannot depend on those who we vote into political office to provide leadership in exemplifying opportunity, freedom, justice, equality, and a democracy given to trust and transparency. We must lead those who we have empowered with America’s leadership. It is every American’s responsibility to let America’s leadership know “where it’s at.”
(1) Jimmy Carter. This is Not the Country that I Once Knew November 20, 2005.
Former President Jimmy Carter believes that a warring America is abandoning its fundamental values.
(2) Naomi Wolf. Fascist America, in 10 easy steps Tuesday April 24, 2007.
The Guardian
(3) Glenn C. Loury. Why Are So Many Americans in Prison? Boston Review. Race and the transformation of criminal justice.
(4) The Rights of Jose Padilla NPR “Here and Now.” Story aired Monday, June 30, 2003
(5) Robert Putnam, Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University. Diversity and Community NPR “On Point.” Aired: Thursday, August 09, 2007
(6) Rick Perlstein. A Surrender to Trust July/August 2002. Mother Jones. Commentary: Richard Nixon taught the nation a painful lesson about secrecy and the White House. How soon we forget.
(7) Barron YoungSmith. I Tapped That Slate Magazine. Posted Sunday, Aug. 19, 2007.
(8) HON. RON PAUL OF TEXAS. Big Government Solutions Don't Work/ The Law of Opposites September 7, 2006. Before the U.S. House of Representatives
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Marine found guilty in the death of Iraq civilian
All Americans, along with Hutchins and his squad, are collectively responsible for this murder, as well. Those who are naïve and ignorant of what war foments, those who blindly support war without understanding that, as stated by Chris Hedges, "organized killing is done best by a disciplined, professional army"; But that "war also empowers those with a predilection for murder." Americans apparently do not understand that "Kill, kill, kill" is the mantra of a combat soldier, any combat soldier, not just an American, it's what they are trained to do. This, the American people have naively supported and continue to support, and only object when we are not winning.
The woman who made this statement is one of those naïve and ignorant Americans who don't understand the reality of war: "'No one who knew him believed he could ever do the things they said he did,' said Mary Hale, a neighbor who has known Hutchins since he was a small boy. 'You just can't picture it. It's just impossible for us to believe.'"
War is intoxication, a drug, it affects every combat soldier; it is a potent and lethal addiction. War destroys lives, it as simple as that.
I feel badly that every American, with the most responsible American being George W. Bush, and I, have put Sergeant Hutchins, his family and friends, in this position, not that overwhelming responsibility does not belong to Sergeant Hutchins.
Support our troops -- bring them home!
Ray
For the complete article: Marine found guilty in death of Iraq civilian
The woman who made this statement is one of those naïve and ignorant Americans who don't understand the reality of war: "'No one who knew him believed he could ever do the things they said he did,' said Mary Hale, a neighbor who has known Hutchins since he was a small boy. 'You just can't picture it. It's just impossible for us to believe.'"
War is intoxication, a drug, it affects every combat soldier; it is a potent and lethal addiction. War destroys lives, it as simple as that.
I feel badly that every American, with the most responsible American being George W. Bush, and I, have put Sergeant Hutchins, his family and friends, in this position, not that overwhelming responsibility does not belong to Sergeant Hutchins.
Support our troops -- bring them home!
Ray
For the complete article: Marine found guilty in death of Iraq civilian
Thursday, August 2, 2007
I support Dr. Paul for President.
His views, from my point of view, are not arguable.
If he should become the republican presidential candidate, I will vote for him, no question about it.
“Many reasons are given for our preemptive wars and military approach for spreading the American message of freedom and prosperity, which is an obvious impossibility. Our vital interests are always cited for justification, and it’s inferred that those who do not support our militancy are unpatriotic. Yet the opposite is actually the case: Wise resistance to one’s own government doing bad things requires a love of country, devotion to idealism, and respect for the Rule of Law.” Congressional representative, Dr. Ron Paul
Take the time to read, “Big Government Solutions Don’t Work/The Law of Opposites.”
His views, from my point of view, are not arguable.
If he should become the republican presidential candidate, I will vote for him, no question about it.
“Many reasons are given for our preemptive wars and military approach for spreading the American message of freedom and prosperity, which is an obvious impossibility. Our vital interests are always cited for justification, and it’s inferred that those who do not support our militancy are unpatriotic. Yet the opposite is actually the case: Wise resistance to one’s own government doing bad things requires a love of country, devotion to idealism, and respect for the Rule of Law.” Congressional representative, Dr. Ron Paul
Take the time to read, “Big Government Solutions Don’t Work/The Law of Opposites.”
Monday, July 9, 2007
Our hearts ache for Christian
This is my response to an email I received regarding an article written for the Tennessean News and a response made by one of its readers.
An excerpt:“My wife and I attended funeral services for Christian's father, Staff Sergeant Marcus Golczynski, on April 4, along with our six year-old son, dozens of Marines, and several hundred others who came to pay tribute to this fallen hero.
As one would expect, many of your readers were touched by this incredible picture. Staff Sergeant Golczynski had previously served one full tour in Iraq. Shortly before his death on March 27 he wrote to his family that he had volunteered to do this a second time due to our deep desire to finish the job we started. In his letter he said, "We fight and sometimes die so that our families don't have to." Tragically, Staff Sergeant Golczynski had only two weeks remaining on his second tour. We look at the photograph of Christian every day. It is displayed prominently in our home. Our hearts ache for Christian and for all those who have lost loved ones in this controversial conflict.
Our nation is at a historical crossroads. Do we call an end to the struggle in Iraq or press on? Staff Sergeant Golczynski eloquently told his son how he felt about not giving up. Perhaps there is a lesson for all of us in this man's life and the choices he made. He was undeniably a man of tremendous courage and conviction. America must now choose whether to complete the job.
When looking at the face of Christian Golczynski I am reminded that doing what is right is not always easy and doing what is easy is not always right. Christian's dad knew that too.”
As this email states, "When looking at the face of Christian Golczynski I am reminded that doing what is right is not always easy and doing what is easy is not always right."
It is an emotional and thought provoking picture.
In the very first place we should not have gone to war. This was the easy thing for Bush and Cheney, et al, to do. Now, the hard thing, not easy, is to admit you were wrong, understanding that you are following a iniquitous and futile course, to continue is only going to take more lives and create more grief in our country. Grief, as is so vividly displayed on the face of Christian Golcyzynski.
When I look into (not at) the face of Christian Golcyzynski, I am reminded of the fact that Mr. Bush has put in force a premeditated, preemptive war, one not out of necessity but because of an ideology, with dishonesty, and with trumped-up reasoning, that simply was not the right thing, and certainly not moral. It was the easy choice when compared to the difficult and more sophisticated work of resisting the hawks and finding a better solution; that would have been the "Hard Work” our Mr. Bush is always talking about. What America needs is resilience, which is hard, but right and moral. Resilience is needed in every conflict to avoid a not well thought-out and chaotic confrontation; resilience, in order to make the right choice: a choice of probity, to abort the mission in Iraq.
As with Matthew Bean, you and me -- "We the People" -- are complicit in the death of Staff Sergeant Marcus Golczynski, and we are collectively responsible for the grief of Christian.
The subliminal and insidious message of this email promotes war as being noble and necessary, which it is not. Staff Sergeant Marcus Golczynski is “undeniably a man of tremendous courage and conviction” a noble man, but those, “We the People,” who put him in harms way, and those who imbue Marcus and Americans with the “pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war,” are not. We need in America men and women of courage and conviction, men and women of noble character; the way we sustain them is certainly not by killing them.
Commendations and a ceremonially folded flag are not much of a replacement for a man’s future, for taking all his possessions, or for causing the trauma inflicted on children such as Christian.
“There is a lesson for all of us in this man’s life and the choices he made.” Sergeant Golczynski would have contributed much more to the commitment of a better America if he had not gone to war, and instead, as a father, provided leadership and nurturing for his son.
“It's been said that one picture is worth a thousand words. How many words is this one worth?”
I can only say, it certainly is worth a thousand words, and that there are not enough words that can authentically describe the immorality of this war, or what I see when I look into the face of Christian Golcyzynski.
How badly do “Our hearts ache for Christian and for all those who have lost loved ones in this controversial conflict?” I say, apparently, our hearts do not ache badly enough to make a difference.
An excerpt:“My wife and I attended funeral services for Christian's father, Staff Sergeant Marcus Golczynski, on April 4, along with our six year-old son, dozens of Marines, and several hundred others who came to pay tribute to this fallen hero.
As one would expect, many of your readers were touched by this incredible picture. Staff Sergeant Golczynski had previously served one full tour in Iraq. Shortly before his death on March 27 he wrote to his family that he had volunteered to do this a second time due to our deep desire to finish the job we started. In his letter he said, "We fight and sometimes die so that our families don't have to." Tragically, Staff Sergeant Golczynski had only two weeks remaining on his second tour. We look at the photograph of Christian every day. It is displayed prominently in our home. Our hearts ache for Christian and for all those who have lost loved ones in this controversial conflict.
Our nation is at a historical crossroads. Do we call an end to the struggle in Iraq or press on? Staff Sergeant Golczynski eloquently told his son how he felt about not giving up. Perhaps there is a lesson for all of us in this man's life and the choices he made. He was undeniably a man of tremendous courage and conviction. America must now choose whether to complete the job.
When looking at the face of Christian Golczynski I am reminded that doing what is right is not always easy and doing what is easy is not always right. Christian's dad knew that too.”
As this email states, "When looking at the face of Christian Golczynski I am reminded that doing what is right is not always easy and doing what is easy is not always right."
It is an emotional and thought provoking picture.
In the very first place we should not have gone to war. This was the easy thing for Bush and Cheney, et al, to do. Now, the hard thing, not easy, is to admit you were wrong, understanding that you are following a iniquitous and futile course, to continue is only going to take more lives and create more grief in our country. Grief, as is so vividly displayed on the face of Christian Golcyzynski.
When I look into (not at) the face of Christian Golcyzynski, I am reminded of the fact that Mr. Bush has put in force a premeditated, preemptive war, one not out of necessity but because of an ideology, with dishonesty, and with trumped-up reasoning, that simply was not the right thing, and certainly not moral. It was the easy choice when compared to the difficult and more sophisticated work of resisting the hawks and finding a better solution; that would have been the "Hard Work” our Mr. Bush is always talking about. What America needs is resilience, which is hard, but right and moral. Resilience is needed in every conflict to avoid a not well thought-out and chaotic confrontation; resilience, in order to make the right choice: a choice of probity, to abort the mission in Iraq.
As with Matthew Bean, you and me -- "We the People" -- are complicit in the death of Staff Sergeant Marcus Golczynski, and we are collectively responsible for the grief of Christian.
The subliminal and insidious message of this email promotes war as being noble and necessary, which it is not. Staff Sergeant Marcus Golczynski is “undeniably a man of tremendous courage and conviction” a noble man, but those, “We the People,” who put him in harms way, and those who imbue Marcus and Americans with the “pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war,” are not. We need in America men and women of courage and conviction, men and women of noble character; the way we sustain them is certainly not by killing them.
Commendations and a ceremonially folded flag are not much of a replacement for a man’s future, for taking all his possessions, or for causing the trauma inflicted on children such as Christian.
“There is a lesson for all of us in this man’s life and the choices he made.” Sergeant Golczynski would have contributed much more to the commitment of a better America if he had not gone to war, and instead, as a father, provided leadership and nurturing for his son.
“It's been said that one picture is worth a thousand words. How many words is this one worth?”
I can only say, it certainly is worth a thousand words, and that there are not enough words that can authentically describe the immorality of this war, or what I see when I look into the face of Christian Golcyzynski.
How badly do “Our hearts ache for Christian and for all those who have lost loved ones in this controversial conflict?” I say, apparently, our hearts do not ache badly enough to make a difference.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Matthew Bean
On my way to work on Friday June 8th, I was driving through Pembroke Center where the funeral preparations were being made for a Pembroke man who lost his life in Iraq. His name is (not in the past tense) Matthew (Matty) Bean.
It was a beautiful morning. Men, women, and children were gathering to pay their respect. Yellow ribbons and the “Red, White, and Blue” were everywhere. With yellow “Road Closed” easels ready to be put in place, and some street access denied by police
However, for me, it was like Bush and Cheney had poured salt into my already open wound inflicted by the Iraq War. How dare they kill a young man like Matty Bean, and continue to conduct their lives as if nothing has happened -- those “SOB’s!” For, in fact, they are killing men, like Matty, and women to satisfy their own personal ideology. Continuing this immoral war even though it is has failed. IT IS BUSH’S AND CHENEY’S WAR!
How can we sit back and watch Soap Operas, American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, celebrate in every imaginable way, and refuse to watch the News because it’s always about Iraq and violence, while at the same time standing by and doing absolutely nothing.
So, we are complicit in Matthew’s death, also. Most Americans promoted the war with Iraq, and many now are promoting military action against Iran, and only are against the Iraq War because we are not winning; not because young men and women are dying on our behalf.
Matthew was awarded the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star and an Army Commendation Medal. Not much of a replacement for a man’s future, for taking all his possessions. Totally meaningless; they treat us like children presenting our soldiers or their families with pretty ribbons, and shiny, glistening medals; imbuing Americans with the “pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war!".
Matthew Bean is a typical of the young men we are sending into harm’s way.
FOR WHAT?! WHAT A LOSS!
From the Pembroke Mariner & Reporter
Photo by Craig Goedecke
Matthew Bean’s casket, draped in the Stars and Stripes, is tended to by members of the Army’s 10th Mountain Division.
Army Pfc. Matthew Bean, 22, a 2003 graduate of Silver Lake Regional High School, was shot by a sniper on May 19 while searching for three missing soldiers in the Sunni Triangle region of Iraq. He was taken off life support at Bethesda Naval Hospital on May 31, when it became clear that he would not recover from his injury.
It was a beautiful morning. Men, women, and children were gathering to pay their respect. Yellow ribbons and the “Red, White, and Blue” were everywhere. With yellow “Road Closed” easels ready to be put in place, and some street access denied by police
However, for me, it was like Bush and Cheney had poured salt into my already open wound inflicted by the Iraq War. How dare they kill a young man like Matty Bean, and continue to conduct their lives as if nothing has happened -- those “SOB’s!” For, in fact, they are killing men, like Matty, and women to satisfy their own personal ideology. Continuing this immoral war even though it is has failed. IT IS BUSH’S AND CHENEY’S WAR!
How can we sit back and watch Soap Operas, American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, celebrate in every imaginable way, and refuse to watch the News because it’s always about Iraq and violence, while at the same time standing by and doing absolutely nothing.
So, we are complicit in Matthew’s death, also. Most Americans promoted the war with Iraq, and many now are promoting military action against Iran, and only are against the Iraq War because we are not winning; not because young men and women are dying on our behalf.
Matthew was awarded the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star and an Army Commendation Medal. Not much of a replacement for a man’s future, for taking all his possessions. Totally meaningless; they treat us like children presenting our soldiers or their families with pretty ribbons, and shiny, glistening medals; imbuing Americans with the “pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war!".
Matthew Bean is a typical of the young men we are sending into harm’s way.
FOR WHAT?! WHAT A LOSS!
From the Pembroke Mariner & Reporter
Photo by Craig GoedeckeMatthew Bean’s casket, draped in the Stars and Stripes, is tended to by members of the Army’s 10th Mountain Division.
Army Pfc. Matthew Bean, 22, a 2003 graduate of Silver Lake Regional High School, was shot by a sniper on May 19 while searching for three missing soldiers in the Sunni Triangle region of Iraq. He was taken off life support at Bethesda Naval Hospital on May 31, when it became clear that he would not recover from his injury.
This is Matthew (Matty) Bean, the face behind that flag.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
The Immigration Debacle
Since Galambos defines property as an “… individual man’s life and all non-procreative derivatives of his life”: “…an individual who builds a road to access land, who cultivates a field to grow crops, or who constructs a mine to remove metal ore, is entitled to some property rights related to those modifications and improvements.” If an individual contributes in some way, why should he or she not accrue some benefit from that contribution?
How does the illegal immigration debacle square with Galambos and his Science of Volition?
I guess he would say that the first problem is the problem of state. Illegality is a condition of the state. If so, I do agree. Democrats, Republicans, or Independents, for the most part, are not working on Immigration reform with the best of intentions – there is no moral compass directing their decisions. It’s appalling.
Second, the illegal immigrant problem is a direct result of 9/11: our overwhelming concern over security from terrorism, and not a concern for illegal immigration, per se. If it wasn’t for 9/11 illegal immigration would not even be on the radar screen.
Fear reigns. Fear gives birth to hate and brings out the very worst in us: our prejudices, our racism.
The majority of illegal immigrants are not miscreants, but are people with the noblest of intentions and with the best of reasons who take great risk to get here (I realize these statements I cannot prove, it only comes from my gut, my humanity, and my empathy for the human condition). I know for a fact, from people I have met, that they were here illegally because what ever permission they had for being here in the first place had expired. Some did not simply have the wherewithal to take the necessary action to negate the illegality of their stay -- to “make it right.” No one with the knowledge and ability to help would help.
I realize, for those who live in a state in or near our southern border, South American immigration, legal or illegal, can be an existential problem; but, as Galambos I would assume would say: you are free to make the choice to leave or stay. One may not be free 100% of the time, but in this case one is certainly free to remove themselves from the situation if it’s that unsettling or annoying.
We need to work on the conditions in those countries that force people to take such risks, and compassionately enforce the immigration laws that are already applicable.
Enlighten me with a Galambosian solution.
How does the illegal immigration debacle square with Galambos and his Science of Volition?
I guess he would say that the first problem is the problem of state. Illegality is a condition of the state. If so, I do agree. Democrats, Republicans, or Independents, for the most part, are not working on Immigration reform with the best of intentions – there is no moral compass directing their decisions. It’s appalling.
Second, the illegal immigrant problem is a direct result of 9/11: our overwhelming concern over security from terrorism, and not a concern for illegal immigration, per se. If it wasn’t for 9/11 illegal immigration would not even be on the radar screen.
Fear reigns. Fear gives birth to hate and brings out the very worst in us: our prejudices, our racism.
The majority of illegal immigrants are not miscreants, but are people with the noblest of intentions and with the best of reasons who take great risk to get here (I realize these statements I cannot prove, it only comes from my gut, my humanity, and my empathy for the human condition). I know for a fact, from people I have met, that they were here illegally because what ever permission they had for being here in the first place had expired. Some did not simply have the wherewithal to take the necessary action to negate the illegality of their stay -- to “make it right.” No one with the knowledge and ability to help would help.
I realize, for those who live in a state in or near our southern border, South American immigration, legal or illegal, can be an existential problem; but, as Galambos I would assume would say: you are free to make the choice to leave or stay. One may not be free 100% of the time, but in this case one is certainly free to remove themselves from the situation if it’s that unsettling or annoying.
We need to work on the conditions in those countries that force people to take such risks, and compassionately enforce the immigration laws that are already applicable.
Enlighten me with a Galambosian solution.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
The Criminality of the State
This says it all, doesn't it?
"No, 'democratic' State practice is nothing more or less than State practice. It does not differ from Marxist State practice, Fascist State practice, or any other. Here is the Golden Rule of sound citizenship, the first and greatest lesson in the study of politics: you get the same order of criminality from any State to which you give power to exercise it; and whatever power you give the State to do things for you carries with it the equivalent power to do things to you. A citizenry which has learned that one short lesson has but little more left to learn."
http://www.mises.org/story/2352
"No, 'democratic' State practice is nothing more or less than State practice. It does not differ from Marxist State practice, Fascist State practice, or any other. Here is the Golden Rule of sound citizenship, the first and greatest lesson in the study of politics: you get the same order of criminality from any State to which you give power to exercise it; and whatever power you give the State to do things for you carries with it the equivalent power to do things to you. A citizenry which has learned that one short lesson has but little more left to learn."
http://www.mises.org/story/2352
Our Violent Nation: a philosophical resolve
Why do incidents like that which occurred on the Virginia Tech campus happen? Why are we so violent? Why is there not a solution?
Is there a solution?
Yes! There is!
The process towards a solution for violent behavior will always inherit the complexities of mental illness, brain injury, abuse, and just plainly, evil people. There is no solution to this reality, but a change in Americas attitude towards violence can, in some cases, minimize a disposition towards violence and can limit, or even eliminate the resources necessary to commit the violence: guns, violent video games, the violent lyrics of Rap Music, and other media presentations of violence beyond what maybe necessary, as well as correcting Americas insensitivity toward each other. We need to bring civility into the lives of Americans who have the psychological wherewithal to be civil, and work to understand, help, and marginalize the conditions in which violence festers in those who do not.
We will never be able to prevent all violence but we can minimize and marginalize it.
There are voices that point to the lack of satisfactory gun control laws. Hunters have limitations placed on them on the type of weapon and ammunition they can use for killing an animal. Why do we have no limitations on the weapons and ammunition that are intended to be used on humans? We desperately need a comprehensive federal gun control law.
“The federal law banning the sale of semi-automatic assault weapons, known as the federal assault weapons ban, has expired. It was passed as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. President Clinton signed it into law on September 13, 1994. Despite his promise to renew the ban, President George W. Bush and Congress allowed the ban to "sunset" in September of 2004.” (1)
“… we value more their killer Cho Seung Hui's untrammeled right to purchase not only a Glock 19 and a Walther P22, but also the ammunition clips that, according to the April 18 Washington Post, would have been impossible to obtain legally had Congress not allowed President Clinton's assault-weapon ban to expire three years ago.” (2)
“The semiautomatic, lightweight Glock, a favorite of police and gangbangers alike, can fire five rounds a second. A magazine of ammo, holding up to 33 hollow-point bullets (effective at tearing up internal organs), can be swapped out for another in under two seconds.” (3)
There will always be people who are violent but we do not need to give them the resources to be deadly.
Why do Americans accept this deplorable need for guns; why do Americans have a violent nature? The reason is because we have a gun cult in America; Americans are addicted to violence; Americans are addicted to killing: “War Is The Force That Gives Us Meaning” (4), abortion, capital punishment (the death penalty); Americas insatiable need for revenge; Americas insatiable need for retaliation; Americas schadenfreude; Americas avarice; Americas voyeurism; Americas lack of civility.
Many will argue that some of these conditions are not related. However they all have interlocking threads. I would argue that you cannot have one without the other in some way, shape or form. They are at the core of what is wrong with America.
“Guns don’t kill people; people kill people” is the best-known slogan of the National Rifle Association, the most effective pro-gun lobbying organization in the United States. But it’s really a cultural thing: the British have bad teeth, the French smell of garlic, Americans tend to have more bullet-holes in them than other people. Despite the nationality of the Virginia Tech killer, the slogan should actually go: “Guns don’t kill Americans; Americans kill Americans.” (5)
(Interestingly, all of the reasons for violence are the same reasons for war.)
Man is addicted to hate; the sibling of hate is fear; and fear creates a need to have a weapon. The greater man’s fear the greater the need to increase weapon lethalness. This perpetuates the need for an American to own a gun and for those who posses weapons, law enforcement and militias, to increase the lethalness of their weaponry. This is perpetuation, where violence begets violence, which creates the need for weapons of greater destructive power and there intensity to do harm; an ever increasing need for a personal WMD.
Just look how we have evolved: from the Musket, Six-Shooter and the Thompson Sub Machine Gun to AK47 Assault Rifles and the Glock 19. When police forces adopted the Glock 19 it was argued, at the time, that they needed increased firepower to combat the criminals who were arming themselves with weapons of increasingly deadliness.
There are those who advocate an armed citizenry in order for all of us to be able to protect ourselves and others. No one would dare to be violent if everyone had a gun to respond to the violence, or so the argument is expressed. This mindset is nothing more than an advancement of the perpetual need for weapons, and of which would result only in a perpetuation of violence: It’s the “cowboy mentality.
”There are other voices who direct their concerns at the lack of our ability to detect psychological conditions: Abuse, mental illness, brain injury and evilness. (6) Yes, we need to learn more.
Our attempts at solutions have been reactive. All police and militia actions are reactionary. We cannot rely on the police or other agencies as a way to resolve violence or to protect us from it. Their entity and the environment within which they work is violent in nature. They must have a violent response in the reactionary world in which they work. Their work is investigatory. They show-up after the crime has been committed.
No one addresses the question: What can we do proactively to minimize violence? Although there have been some meager attempts.
There are no voices expressing our lack of sensitivity towards each other. There is a very ubiquitous lack of civility. Two recent examples: Don Imus’s faux pas and Actor Alex Baldwin recent visceral response to some disagreement with his daughter.
Our lack of civility is represented everyday in realty shows, news reporting, sports and in particular extreme boxing, boxing, wrestling (why not bring back the blood sport of the Roman Colosseum!), and our comedy. Don Imus’s remark was intended to be considered funny (?).
Seung Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech Campus murderer, through his behavior, demeanor and countenance, and his writing, raised many “red flags,” but few cared enough to take the action necessary to prevent this tragedy. There was insensitivity towards this man as a human being. We only looked at his mental condition, and so there was a failure to act. There were those who showed their concern and took extraordinary action to curb what appeared to them as an extremely disturbed individual, but there was not a satisfactory protocol or societal commitment to address their concerns; again, they were looking at the psychology and not the man when they needed to look at both. Americans use the phrase “falling through the cracks.”
At the outset, news programs reporting the Virginia Tech shootings were more concerned with delineating the gory details of the massacre, the psychology of Seung Hui Cho, the police response and technicalities of law and security, whom to blame, and the heartbreak of people, than with an authentic concern for human beings and how we got to this point in time. That’s because the gory details and technicalities are what Americans want, it sells. But the story of how we got to this point in time needs to be told.
We do everything to desensitize our response to violence. We do everything to promote violence in the way we conduct our lives; our acceptance of war; our acceptance of abortion; our acceptance of violence in sports, our acceptance to retaliate or take revenge in the form of war and the death penalty for capital offenses.
We say its okay under some circumstances to kill. We say it’s okay to violently react in retaliation and revenge. Its examples are all around us — just consider the Iraq War.
We express our outrage of the University of Texas massacre, the Oklahoma City bombing by Timothy McVeigh, the Columbine High School massacre, and the Virginia Tech massacre by Seung Hui Cho, as we should, but we do not have any outrage when it comes to firebombing of Germany during World War II, the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Vietnam War, or the Iraq War, or the possibility of the United States using a Nuclear Weapon in order to win a conflict in the Middle East or elsewhere.
As bad as the Virginia Tech massacre was, violence is day-by-day getting exponentially worse in Iraq. The number of murders, as a result of our chosen war, each day far exceeds any one of these tragedies. No one was concerned until it was apparent that we were not winning, but not before that realization. We were more concerned with winning than the lives of people.
We do not conduct our lives within the paradigms of moral leadership or moral best practices. We do not provide the best example as a nation or as individuals.
We must have greater expectations of ourselves.
We lack respect and compassion for the poor and disenfranchised, the mentally ill, the abused and those who are different than ourselves. We accept poverty and homelessness. We are not compassionate nor do we care enough for others. We need to respect all life, our earth, and our universe. We need civility.
For success, Americans and the people of other nations must live a value-added life. Each of us has an individual responsibility in our attitude, our behavior, our demeanor, our countenance and in our voices to demonstrate against violence.
Until we start proactive processes we will continue to have an unmitigated solution.
That proactive process begins with you and me.
Meekness is strength not a weakness
(1) The Assault Weapons Ban: Frequently asked questions http://www.bradycampaign.org/facts/faqs/?page=awb
(2) How Sorry Are We? For Blacksburg, not enough. By Timothy Noah http://www.slate.com/id/2164381/
(3) Making of a Massacre by Evan Thomas, Newsweek http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18248298/site/newsweek/?nav=slate?from=rss
(4) “War Is the Force That Gives Us Meaning” by Chris Hedges http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=62-1400034639-0
(5) “With Liberty and Guns for All” “The tragedy at Virginia Tech isn’t likely to change our violent nation.” By Gwynne Dyer http://www.fwweekly.com/content.asp?article=4794
(6) The Anatomy of Violence: Pathological genes, a disturbed mind, social isolation and a gun culture are not enough. Mass murderers also need the individual will to pull the trigger. By Sharon Begley, Newsweek http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18248728/site/newsweek/
Is there a solution?
Yes! There is!
The process towards a solution for violent behavior will always inherit the complexities of mental illness, brain injury, abuse, and just plainly, evil people. There is no solution to this reality, but a change in Americas attitude towards violence can, in some cases, minimize a disposition towards violence and can limit, or even eliminate the resources necessary to commit the violence: guns, violent video games, the violent lyrics of Rap Music, and other media presentations of violence beyond what maybe necessary, as well as correcting Americas insensitivity toward each other. We need to bring civility into the lives of Americans who have the psychological wherewithal to be civil, and work to understand, help, and marginalize the conditions in which violence festers in those who do not.
We will never be able to prevent all violence but we can minimize and marginalize it.
There are voices that point to the lack of satisfactory gun control laws. Hunters have limitations placed on them on the type of weapon and ammunition they can use for killing an animal. Why do we have no limitations on the weapons and ammunition that are intended to be used on humans? We desperately need a comprehensive federal gun control law.
“The federal law banning the sale of semi-automatic assault weapons, known as the federal assault weapons ban, has expired. It was passed as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. President Clinton signed it into law on September 13, 1994. Despite his promise to renew the ban, President George W. Bush and Congress allowed the ban to "sunset" in September of 2004.” (1)
“… we value more their killer Cho Seung Hui's untrammeled right to purchase not only a Glock 19 and a Walther P22, but also the ammunition clips that, according to the April 18 Washington Post, would have been impossible to obtain legally had Congress not allowed President Clinton's assault-weapon ban to expire three years ago.” (2)
“The semiautomatic, lightweight Glock, a favorite of police and gangbangers alike, can fire five rounds a second. A magazine of ammo, holding up to 33 hollow-point bullets (effective at tearing up internal organs), can be swapped out for another in under two seconds.” (3)
There will always be people who are violent but we do not need to give them the resources to be deadly.
Why do Americans accept this deplorable need for guns; why do Americans have a violent nature? The reason is because we have a gun cult in America; Americans are addicted to violence; Americans are addicted to killing: “War Is The Force That Gives Us Meaning” (4), abortion, capital punishment (the death penalty); Americas insatiable need for revenge; Americas insatiable need for retaliation; Americas schadenfreude; Americas avarice; Americas voyeurism; Americas lack of civility.
Many will argue that some of these conditions are not related. However they all have interlocking threads. I would argue that you cannot have one without the other in some way, shape or form. They are at the core of what is wrong with America.
“Guns don’t kill people; people kill people” is the best-known slogan of the National Rifle Association, the most effective pro-gun lobbying organization in the United States. But it’s really a cultural thing: the British have bad teeth, the French smell of garlic, Americans tend to have more bullet-holes in them than other people. Despite the nationality of the Virginia Tech killer, the slogan should actually go: “Guns don’t kill Americans; Americans kill Americans.” (5)
(Interestingly, all of the reasons for violence are the same reasons for war.)
Man is addicted to hate; the sibling of hate is fear; and fear creates a need to have a weapon. The greater man’s fear the greater the need to increase weapon lethalness. This perpetuates the need for an American to own a gun and for those who posses weapons, law enforcement and militias, to increase the lethalness of their weaponry. This is perpetuation, where violence begets violence, which creates the need for weapons of greater destructive power and there intensity to do harm; an ever increasing need for a personal WMD.
Just look how we have evolved: from the Musket, Six-Shooter and the Thompson Sub Machine Gun to AK47 Assault Rifles and the Glock 19. When police forces adopted the Glock 19 it was argued, at the time, that they needed increased firepower to combat the criminals who were arming themselves with weapons of increasingly deadliness.
There are those who advocate an armed citizenry in order for all of us to be able to protect ourselves and others. No one would dare to be violent if everyone had a gun to respond to the violence, or so the argument is expressed. This mindset is nothing more than an advancement of the perpetual need for weapons, and of which would result only in a perpetuation of violence: It’s the “cowboy mentality.
”There are other voices who direct their concerns at the lack of our ability to detect psychological conditions: Abuse, mental illness, brain injury and evilness. (6) Yes, we need to learn more.
Our attempts at solutions have been reactive. All police and militia actions are reactionary. We cannot rely on the police or other agencies as a way to resolve violence or to protect us from it. Their entity and the environment within which they work is violent in nature. They must have a violent response in the reactionary world in which they work. Their work is investigatory. They show-up after the crime has been committed.
No one addresses the question: What can we do proactively to minimize violence? Although there have been some meager attempts.
There are no voices expressing our lack of sensitivity towards each other. There is a very ubiquitous lack of civility. Two recent examples: Don Imus’s faux pas and Actor Alex Baldwin recent visceral response to some disagreement with his daughter.
Our lack of civility is represented everyday in realty shows, news reporting, sports and in particular extreme boxing, boxing, wrestling (why not bring back the blood sport of the Roman Colosseum!), and our comedy. Don Imus’s remark was intended to be considered funny (?).
Seung Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech Campus murderer, through his behavior, demeanor and countenance, and his writing, raised many “red flags,” but few cared enough to take the action necessary to prevent this tragedy. There was insensitivity towards this man as a human being. We only looked at his mental condition, and so there was a failure to act. There were those who showed their concern and took extraordinary action to curb what appeared to them as an extremely disturbed individual, but there was not a satisfactory protocol or societal commitment to address their concerns; again, they were looking at the psychology and not the man when they needed to look at both. Americans use the phrase “falling through the cracks.”
At the outset, news programs reporting the Virginia Tech shootings were more concerned with delineating the gory details of the massacre, the psychology of Seung Hui Cho, the police response and technicalities of law and security, whom to blame, and the heartbreak of people, than with an authentic concern for human beings and how we got to this point in time. That’s because the gory details and technicalities are what Americans want, it sells. But the story of how we got to this point in time needs to be told.
We do everything to desensitize our response to violence. We do everything to promote violence in the way we conduct our lives; our acceptance of war; our acceptance of abortion; our acceptance of violence in sports, our acceptance to retaliate or take revenge in the form of war and the death penalty for capital offenses.
We say its okay under some circumstances to kill. We say it’s okay to violently react in retaliation and revenge. Its examples are all around us — just consider the Iraq War.
We express our outrage of the University of Texas massacre, the Oklahoma City bombing by Timothy McVeigh, the Columbine High School massacre, and the Virginia Tech massacre by Seung Hui Cho, as we should, but we do not have any outrage when it comes to firebombing of Germany during World War II, the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Vietnam War, or the Iraq War, or the possibility of the United States using a Nuclear Weapon in order to win a conflict in the Middle East or elsewhere.
As bad as the Virginia Tech massacre was, violence is day-by-day getting exponentially worse in Iraq. The number of murders, as a result of our chosen war, each day far exceeds any one of these tragedies. No one was concerned until it was apparent that we were not winning, but not before that realization. We were more concerned with winning than the lives of people.
We do not conduct our lives within the paradigms of moral leadership or moral best practices. We do not provide the best example as a nation or as individuals.
We must have greater expectations of ourselves.
We lack respect and compassion for the poor and disenfranchised, the mentally ill, the abused and those who are different than ourselves. We accept poverty and homelessness. We are not compassionate nor do we care enough for others. We need to respect all life, our earth, and our universe. We need civility.
For success, Americans and the people of other nations must live a value-added life. Each of us has an individual responsibility in our attitude, our behavior, our demeanor, our countenance and in our voices to demonstrate against violence.
Until we start proactive processes we will continue to have an unmitigated solution.
That proactive process begins with you and me.
Meekness is strength not a weakness
(1) The Assault Weapons Ban: Frequently asked questions http://www.bradycampaign.org/facts/faqs/?page=awb
(2) How Sorry Are We? For Blacksburg, not enough. By Timothy Noah http://www.slate.com/id/2164381/
(3) Making of a Massacre by Evan Thomas, Newsweek http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18248298/site/newsweek/?nav=slate?from=rss
(4) “War Is the Force That Gives Us Meaning” by Chris Hedges http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=62-1400034639-0
(5) “With Liberty and Guns for All” “The tragedy at Virginia Tech isn’t likely to change our violent nation.” By Gwynne Dyer http://www.fwweekly.com/content.asp?article=4794
(6) The Anatomy of Violence: Pathological genes, a disturbed mind, social isolation and a gun culture are not enough. Mass murderers also need the individual will to pull the trigger. By Sharon Begley, Newsweek http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18248728/site/newsweek/
Monday, January 1, 2001
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.:: Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on http://horatio1937.blogspot.com/.
.:: Google's use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to users based on their visit to http://horatio1937.blogspot.com/ and other sites on the Internet.
.:: Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy at the following URL - http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html
Some of our advertising partners may use cookies and web beacons on our site. Our advertising partners include ....
Google Adsense
These third-party ad servers or ad networks use technology to the advertisements and links that appear on http://horatio1937.blogspot.com/ send directly to your browsers. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. Other technologies ( such as cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons ) may also be used by the third-party ad networks to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and / or to personalize the advertising content that you see.
http://horatio1937.blogspot.com/ has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.
You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information on their practices as well as for instructions about how to opt-out of certain practices. http://horatio1937.blogspot.com/'s privacy policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, such other advertisers or web sites.
If you wish to disable cookies, you may do so through your individual browser options. More detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers can be found at the browsers' respective websites.
If you require any more information or have any questions about our privacy policy, please feel free to contact us by email at horatiogreen1937@live.com.
At http://horatio1937.blogspot.com/, the privacy of our visitors is of extreme importance to us. This privacy policy document outlines the types of personal information is received and collected by http://horatio1937.blogspot.com/ and how it is used.
Log Files
Like many other Web sites, http://horatio1937.blogspot.com/ makes use of log files. The information inside the log files includes internet protocol ( IP ) addresses, type of browser, Internet Service Provider ( ISP ), date/time stamp, referring/exit pages, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user’s movement around the site, and gather demographic information. IP addresses, and other such information are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable.
Cookies and Web Beacons
http://horatio1937.blogspot.com/ does use cookies to store information about visitors preferences, record user-specific information on which pages the user access or visit, customize Web page content based on visitors browser type or other information that the visitor sends via their browser.
DoubleClick DART Cookie
.:: Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on http://horatio1937.blogspot.com/.
.:: Google's use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to users based on their visit to http://horatio1937.blogspot.com/ and other sites on the Internet.
.:: Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy at the following URL - http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html
Some of our advertising partners may use cookies and web beacons on our site. Our advertising partners include ....
Google Adsense
These third-party ad servers or ad networks use technology to the advertisements and links that appear on http://horatio1937.blogspot.com/ send directly to your browsers. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. Other technologies ( such as cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons ) may also be used by the third-party ad networks to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and / or to personalize the advertising content that you see.
http://horatio1937.blogspot.com/ has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.
You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information on their practices as well as for instructions about how to opt-out of certain practices. http://horatio1937.blogspot.com/'s privacy policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, such other advertisers or web sites.
If you wish to disable cookies, you may do so through your individual browser options. More detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers can be found at the browsers' respective websites.
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