A Letter to America: Why Must the Show Go On?
By Mary Rizzo • Oct 17th, 2008 at 13:41 • Category: Features, Mary's Choice, Newswire, Opinions and Letters, War
WRITTEN BY MARY RIZZO
It’s not easy or even fun to be an expatriate. Unless you didn’t know, that is just a highfalutin word that is used especially for American emigrants. Why the special word? Because people who “leave” America are expected to see it with a critical (perhaps even artistic) eye, and Americans who “remain” are expected to disregard the criticism, and even accuse the expat of Anti-Americanism or sheer snobbery. In writing, you will see the word distorted to “ex-patriot”.
I’ve never been a “patriot”. I’ve never served in the armed forces. I’ve never done anything more than my “duty” as a citizen, paying taxes, voting when I could and showing up when called to jury duty. I’ve gotten very little in return, to be frank. Whenever I needed urgent medical care, I’ve had to pay out of my pocket. Health insurance certainly doesn’t cover everything, and a collapsed lung in 1984 cost me over seven thousand dollars because my HMO specified that I should not opt for the nearest hospital, but should have gone to “theirs”. Thank God I refused to be admitted to a room after the ER, because I felt deep down that I had greatly sinned. I figured that I would be paying a surplus for my audacity to allow the ambulance to take me to my local hospital. When I got the bill three weeks later, it is another miracle that I did not die of a heart attack.
I put myself through college by working full-time as well as taking out a student loan, every penny of which I paid back to you, America. In a way, I contributed to your economic growth, I produced, consumed, got sick enough for you, got an expensive higher education while barely scraping by myself. In my humble opinion, you owe me.
Yes, I am a product of the country by virtue of birth, at times a pawn or even a victim of its limited vision, like every citizen of every country. I’ve been compelled to pledge allegiance to the flag and to the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands. I had my hand on my heart and was sure they were keeping their part of the bargain with that guarantee of Liberty and Justice for All. But who’s really going to go into checking all those details? Children ask only the right questions, or at least, grown-ups give them comforting answers.
Yet, being American gets on my nerves more and more as I watch America do their “big show”. I’ve seen elections and campaigns all my life. I know it’s a circus, the most expensive show on earth. But I am at the point where I want to shout at you, America. “Can you please get serious and stop the show?”
You act like you are the most important nation on Earth, the best, number one. I would like to know what gives you this idea. If it weren’t for your military might, what would you really be?
Your economy is a shambles and you rescue those who have destroyed it with the taxes of your own workers? The stock markets of the world have crashed because they are controlled by the vicissitudes of Wall Street and the Dollar. Thanks! We really appreciate it over here. But we don’t expect you to do the right thing. No, I don’t mean bail anyone else out, but just to APOLOGISE. That’s a silly fantasy, I know. While you are concentrating on erecting Holocaust monuments in Florida and Washington, where are your monuments to the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki? To the victims of the genocide of the indigenous people of your continent? To the Africans you dragged over in chains and forced into slavery? That might force you to apologise for your sins and crimes, and it's better to avoid that. Break for Commercial.
But you drag things anyway, America, not only slaves to your shores. You dragged us into your Global War on Terror. If someone isn’t your ally, fighting at your command, you are entitled to put an embargo on them, attack them and occupy their land.
You impose your energy and pollution policies without concern about the international agreements. However, if other countries violate or even threaten to violate international agreements, they are aided if they are Israel, or punished (if they are your Rogue States). If other States determine their own policies, they become friends or enemies according to your own interests, whipping up international consensus to get nations involved in wars for or with you. You occupy foreign lands with your military bases – yes, even your allied nations have bases that are “pieces of America” abroad. It might be normal to you, but I wonder if you would like having pieces of other countries on your own soil.
Haven’t you had enough of wars you can’t win and which only drain resources? Or is that the only way you have found to take your own people’s attention off of their deteriorating Social Security, their abysmal health care programs and the constant outsourcing of their labour? If the enemy is “out there”, the devil in the backyard can play merrily.
Americans get thrown onto the streets in a parade of deepening poverty that makes the American Dream look like a joke to anyone who has eyes to see it. But the homeless don’t vote, you can’t register “a non-address”, so they don’t matter anyway. Some even think they had it coming… tough luck.
So, Americans are convinced they are going to have some bright future, with the change they can believe in, or even the change they need. Good for them. When they wake up, please tell them that we are sick to the teeth of the show. Sick of the parade of wives and children and ministers. Sick of the smiling and nodding human wall that claps at every empty word uttered by the leaders who have been bought and sold precisely by the same folks who have bought and sold the American citizen up the river.
Americans complain about the system too, don’t get me wrong. But why do they never lift a pinky finger to change the voting system? The dreaded Electoral College…. man, I remember them saying that would be a thing of the past about 6 campaigns ago. The deceptive Black Box voting and uncounted Absentee Votes will give a bit of drama to the election night coverage, but the pundits will assure us everything is totally fair and without a loop.
Race is always an issue, and isn’t this sad? In a nation that can boast the mystery of diversity, the great melting pot, why does every candidate have to be the standard carbon copy as far as policy and beliefs, catering to a certain profile of voter that is far more conservative than most people I know would admit? I thought that those great ideals such as separation of Church and State, All Men are Created Equal and whatnot were at least something to aim for. But the candidates are parading their “personal Christian Minister” around, (until he says something embarrassing, then they are expected to dump him unceremoniously), doing race-specific campaigning and denying that America is still as racist as it was in the 60s.
If I tell people I’d only use my (uncounted, most likely) Absentee Vote to elect Ralph Nader or Cynthia McKinney, my progressive friends tell me I am helping the Republicans get elected. I beg to differ. Even if they don’t get the votes, they get elected sometimes. Even if the people are “sick of things” a wartime president gets re-elected. It’s happened before, in fact, it always happens, and even without the smoke and whistles, the Americans realise what is in their immediate interests, they always go for the most warlike Party, the one that can assure them "cheap oil". What have I got to do with it? Why should I play a part in that game and cast a vote for one of the two showmen? They have both tired me out with their finger-pointing, their two-steps, their pats on the backs, their baby-kissing and Minister and lobby ass-licking.
I refuse. I refuse to play the game. They can force me to watch the show, but they can’t make me applaud.
So America, get on with your elections. But get it over with quickly. Put one of your favourite sons in office. It really doesn’t matter who it is. The rest of the world expects it will keep getting four more years of your war, your cultural and economic hegemony, your air and water pollution, your toxic waste and occupation of land and space. Four more years of your arrogance and refusal to apologise. Bring It On.
Mary Rizzo is an art restorer, translator and writer living in Italy. Editor and co-founder of Palestine Think Tank, co-founder of Tlaxcala translations collective. Her personal blog is Peacepalestine.
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Great piece, Mary! If only more Americans saw things clearly, there would have been no genocide of the populations of Iraq and Afghanistan. So far the 'man in the street' has been able to pretend he has no responsibility for the endless crimes against humanity being waged by a government he allowed to hijack the electoral process. This credit crunch affecting all Americans may be just the thing to remove the blinders from their eyes, once and for all. It's amazing how they are able to feel more in their wallets than in their hearts, but if this is what it takes to get Americans to FEEL, yeah…. bring it on
I wonder where the average American imagined the trillions were coming from for wiping out large areas of the planet these past few decades?
)) Maybe whoever gets to be president will introduce conscription again, which will encourage them to really face up to the real cost of invading other countries and slaughtering millions of people. And then maybe eventually they will rise up in their millions, which should have happened long ago (if not for TV), and take down the whole castle built on sand. Only a people's revolution will change the situation there.
The problem, Edna is that they believe that going to war is good for humanity:
They are exporting democracy
They are liberating the women from Taliban tyranny
They are liberating the Iraqis from Baathist tyranny
They are waging a war on Bin Laden and all other terrorists
They are protecting the only democracy in the Middle East
Unless they start to see through these lies as the propaganda it is, they will not fight against these wars. After all, it's the poor folk who go. You may be right about the draft, but that may not change anything, because there will always be a reason that America is in danger, and even one's own sons and daughters are a reasonable price to pay for it.
Mary, it's going to take a lot more strain within the system to really wake them up, and it's unfolding right now… and while I don't gloat about the hardship coming to average Americans, right now anything which helps to bring that system to the boil internally and trigger massive change…. is actually going to speed the American population to take back their own power and their country. Whatever it takes to wake the sleeping monster up is actually to be welcomed…. even mass poverty, mass unrest and the FEMA camps slowly filing up with rebels.
I don't really wish any ill on the Americans as persons. I wish they would wake up, but by using their reason and coming to terms with what is just intolerable to force upon the rest of the world to cover up for the domestic failures.
There is always going to be someone to gain from the misery of the poor, so this is not even the solution. There would need to be a true progressive, democratic, ethical and humble movement to pull America up by its bootstraps. Defeat in a war is not doing it, neither is economic misery. They still will have a million red white and blue baloons drop from the ceilings on the night of 4 November, it is all part of the show. America by now is just a really bad show that we have to hope will be dropped off of prime time.
There are so many progressive Americans who have disappointed me by refusing to exit from the two party system. They even convince themselves that Obama is their man. Every singer, actor, etc., that comes here in Italy does his 30 second plug for the guy. (In case you haven't guessed it, Italian media, despite Berlusconi's love of the Republicans, is rooting for Obama… at the end of the day, they follow whatever the polls say). I look at someone like Joan Baez who promises a brilliant future with Obama. It might not really mean much to an American, since they really might think that Obama is a progressive candidate, but to see this stuff from this side of the ocean, it looks pathetic, as if they missed 50 years of progressive politics, such as you see even in countries that are NOT progressive such as France and Italy. We have a passable health care system, our pensions are small, but get adjusted for inflation. It is as if they are living in a bubble that they can't even detect.
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Thing is, that bubble has to burst, as unfortunate as that may be, and if the abject misery created by the USA of millions of people in other countries doesn't burst the American bubble, then some widespread discomfort on the domestic front may do the trick. Seeing as they can only feel their own pain.
You are wrong Mary
It IS easy and fun to be an expatriate if the state squeeze the hell out of its citizens to send every penny they make to an apartheid system. Instead of using the money the Americans make out of their blood and sweat to save children in its hospitals, the money is transferred immediately to kill children of other countries, thus losing the American child that his parents can’t afford to treat him, and lose the child in Palestine, Iraq, and Afghanistan IN THE NAME OF DEMOCRACY. Will somebody please tell the American president that we do not want his democracy, he gave us more than we can take …It’s not good to consume expired democracy; it is supposed to be fresh.
We want to be slaves in our own countries for God’s sake. Just save your effort to improve the lives of citizens in your own country. After all they have paid for your push living and your soft bed while many of them are homeless.
Mary, Interesting article with good points raised. However, I felt extremely discouraged at your decision not to take part in this historically important election.
Firstly, a good reason to take part is that past generations of women fought and died for the right to vote. Secondly, if we want more warmongers in office then by all means, lets all desist from voting and let them have have their way. On the other hand if we want to create change for the better then vote for a moderate voice. When that's done take an active part in the political process at the grassroots level and make the changes we all want to see a reality (universal health coverage; money for schools/hospitals instead of wars and bailing out the rich). History shows us that human rights and social improvements were only ever won by struggle.
It's easy enough to become cynical about the political process but remember "If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem". Discouraging others to vote could have fatal repercussions if enough people agreed with you. The consequences are unimaginable…and it would affect not only the US but the rest of the world, so please reconsider your decision not to vote.
Regards, Jackie from Australia.
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Indeed …why waste the time and vote, we all know that all the candidates are the same. and all of them told the people different stories before the elections and did not keep their promises afterwards. Every candidate is harvesting the accomulation of bad policies and ties and commitments to none worthy causes like supporting wars …and most of all support Israel. Voting is not changing the fact that those who cotrol the country are not the voters but a number of people in the Kongress and all of them are wealthy and almost all either connected to the Zionist entity or cowereds can't say NO to injustice.
Why should an American citizen vote when his vote does not mean anything at all…its only part of the show that there is democracy.
When USA government does something like UK government and provide free health care to all, then it will be worthy of the votes and the elections.
hi Jackie,
They tell us every election is important, every vote counts. They forget to tell us that Gore actually won 8 years ago. Some do remember that, some don't. Gore for some reason got over the "defeat" quite well, "for the good of America".
I wonder what the real reason was. Don't you? Don't you ever ask yourself why someone who won the election was willing to retreat? How is that for standing up for democracy?
Yes, only half the people vote, then you have the electoral colleges, which throw out a quarter of the votes obtained.. I can't see the sense in that, but this gets passed off as democracy.
I saw the ballot for at least New York. On that ballot there are several names that are far more interesting and progressive to my eyes. Why did not the globally active and concerned Americans get together and say that they would work to break the two party system and campaign for McKinney or Nader, who honestly represent their interests far more than Obama.
They don't do it for many reasons, and as long as it stays like that, things will continue as it is and people will put all their hope in a candidate that at the end of the day will let them down dramatically. The enemy is the rest of the world, and this is why the US supports NATO wars and foreign occupation even of friendly countries. The Americans do not want to realise that the rest of the world, even the friends are not happy with it and the day will come when America and its empire will reveal itself to be the small thing it really is. Just another nation among 192 or so. Not the best, not the most democratic, not the leader.
I am not encouraging people to not vote, rather, I would LOVE it if they made a massive protest vote for Nader or McKinney. I love them both, and think they have the stuff (not to get elected, which is what counts!) but to get America out of its shell and back into an ethical framework. I of course have not seen 1 second of coverage for them in Italy. No, it's all the two main candidates. It's a show just to get your consensus on something you don't agree to. I refuse to give it. I've cast the Lesser of Two Evils vote often in the US, but even the lesser one is still an evil, so I just call on people to realise what they do, and to act according to what they believe is best. If they love Obama, fine. Vote for him, but when that change does not come (how can it?) they better not be crying hot tears. They did not make him promise anything that would not get approved of by corporate America, which finances him quite well.
Arrogance is a national trait in America, along with stupidity, mob mentality and delusion. (i.e. "We're No. 1. We're no. 1." Oh really? Number one in what?)
Mary,
Excellent letter. Really sums it up for so many!
You can't make this stuff up! One of the pingbacks here attacks the article. No problem, but as expected, he makes that standard confusion of the word expatriate (which I wish would just be considered emigrant, but I don't invent the vocab that is going around…) with ex-patriot. This is part of what he writes:
"But as an ex-patriot, you get all the benefits of being a US citizen, but none of the tax burden. Enjoy that $80,000 a year exemption, you earned it!
You’re owed for going to college? Please, tell that to your fellow world citizens, especially those in poverty stricken parts of the world, and ask them if they’d like the same chance you had and what they would do for that chance. It’s not our fault you went to a college and got a crappy liberal arts degree."
What are these benefits I get as a US citizen? If you know what they are let me know. The only one I know of is obtaining a passport, which is just a travel document (not for identity purposes, they claim), but that is not a bonus, it is just a document I pay for that says I can pass the border upon exhibition of a valid document. Other than that, I don't have any other perks. Nothing. I paid all taxes, state, federal and local ones. Some give services for my community, but not all. This tax exemption you insist upon never applied to me, and I won't be getting any money or return for what I paid (knowing it was my duty and therefore, an obligation) I paid my Social Security contribution, sometimes even double, when I was freelancing. Will I get any of that back? Certainly not! That was my gift to the banks. I am not precisely "owed" for going to college, but it is a purchase I made. I was spending money not on owning any property, but for education. Something that was the spending category of those of that age. There were no economic alternatives that the govt provided for me, I'm not an athlete, my grades were not at the top 5% to get me a scholarship and I had to pay for everything with my own work., and work I did, with no "student exemption" as would be given in Europe. Sure, education is a choice I made, but many places in the world, including Gaza, which you seem must know is poverty stricken, provide free higher education. I made a long-term economic investment. I purchased an education at an exhorbitant rate, because that is the going rate in the US and the system is built that way so that education becomes something only for the rich or those who live in an area where they can find employment. The loan was obviously not "free", so they got my interest too.
You don't seem to be that shocked that a trip to the ER would cost as much as two trimesters of university, at the going rate. My sudden illness gave another shot in the arm to the local economy, and there I was, doing my monthly payments to the insurance company, up to that point, would you believe ten years of it without a single use of it up to that moment. That's a lot of money, but obviously, we should feel it's normal to pay that. In many countries, the health care system is included to everyone free of charge, or for a fee called a "ticket" which is a standard rate equivalent to 10% of what the medical intervention costs on an average. ER is always free.
In America, they will let you die, and if you can't breathe, that is your problem, you should have gone to the hospital 8 miles away instead of the one 2 blocks away. Does this make sense to you?
A Letter to America: Why Must the Show Go On?…
It's not easy or even fun to be an expatriate. Unless you didn't know, that is just a highfalutin word that is used especially for American emigrants. Why the special word? Because people who "leave" America are expected to see …
Mary,
I have been an expat most of my adult life. I am now 51 and I'm back in the USSA working. I've been here for three years and I have one more to go before I can go home to Chile.
I agree with everything that you said, except I see the world as a liberal (European understanding of the word) or libertarian (American understanding of the word).
At any rate I am constantly amazed at the gullibility of the American herd. They have access to more information than at any time in history and they don't know spit about the rest of the world or even how their economy and government operate. They are spectators of life that don't ever do anything unless they have bought expensive equipment to do it easier.
They truly believe that they are exceptional special people who are morally and intellectually superior to all the lazy folk who had the misfortune to be born outside of Gulag America. They talk incessantly about freedom without even a hint of irony, the result of the thousands of pages of laws and rules and codes that dictate over everything that they do. And if all those rules aren't sufficient restraint on the real exercise of freedom than the taboos of social intercourse kick in. They are different for each clearly demarcated social group, but in each intolerant grouping there is a great list of things that you cannot say or do.
Nothing is what it appears to be in America. You won't find a restaurant or a Motel on the highway that is not part of a giant chain of chains with headquarters in Chicago or Atlanta. There is no difference anymore between Fargo North Dakota and Abilene Texas except the weather. The dignified cowboy, the irreverent Yankee, the slow intellectualism of the south have all atrophied away to nothing. They only exist now in books that Americans don't read because they are too busy. In fact, there is a national competition to see who can be busiest. Education, reflection, artistic creation, critical thinking, profound conversations are no longer virtues for the American. Rather being busy is virtuous and the person who is not busy is either a loser or a dangerous rebel.
I've had it. I wrote a letter to Chileans last night and posted it on my blog because I can't stand it here anymore. If you read Spanish, check it out: http://reasontraditionandliberty.blogspot.com/2008/10/una-carta-los-chilenos.html
Hi Mary,
I wish it was that easy to break the two party system. We have the same problem in Australia because, like in the US, the media is owned and operated by powerful business interests. Our Greens Party, which in many areas represent a challenge to these interests, rarely rates a mention in our media. At election time, the major parties run a well orchestrated scare campaign advising Australians that a vote for the Greens is wasted, or that the Greens represent single issues (ie environmental issues) etc. Such is the power of the capitalist media. Despite this, after more than a decade of corrupt and right wing policies (from both parties) which served the interests of big business rather than its citizens, the Greens are making progress. It didn't happen overnight….and the gains so far are small and diffuse (ie at a local rather than national level)..but it's a step in the right direction.
Regarding Gore…what could he do? By saying that he could have done something other than accept defeat you perhaps underestimate the power of the current system.
We need to seize the day and cast our vote to make change a possibility because if the dispossessed, disadvantage and dissolusioned abstain from voting it will be business as usual. We also need to need to remember that because powerful business interests control the US economy we can't expect change overnight. The fight for democracy in Cuba was long and hard and many people lost their lives, but Cuba now produces more doctors than the US, and their literacy rate is no. 2 worldwide. All this despite the despicable US embargo. The US literacy rate is way down the line at no 18. Just goes to show that the US regime's policy of spending more on the military than education works to keep their citizens in the dark and feed them bullshit :-/
regards, Jackie
I'd like to ask the person who wrote: “But as an ex-patriot, you get all the benefits of being a US citizen, but none of the tax burden. Enjoy that $80,000 a year exemption, you earnedit".
Too bad he's not as critical of the trillion in tax dollars the US government spends on the military each year!
Wow Chris! That is some post there… I hate to say it, but I agree. Although people are going to accuse us of being too harsh on Americans for thinking these things.
I can't wait to "try" to read your article.
Jackie, I read your comment with great interest, and later want to respond to this. You express a lot of important issues that need discussing.
Mary,
Yes, it does matter who it is. Barack /Biden are different kinds of candidates. You didn't see it from over here. If you did, you'd know it was a COMPLETELY different tone than in the past. Barack ran a respectible campaign, kept to his message, and didn't succumb to the low road, as did McSame and his idiotic running mate. I finally feel some peace. I finally feel that we have a chance. And yes, it's a show, but it's not always the candidates who are at fault – it's the media. They build, and push, and try to gin up the hatred and anger, and this time, McCain jumped right in. But Barack did not. I know you (we're sisters) and I did all the same you did in terms of college loans and paying taxes and voting every time. I expect as much from this country as you do, and I expect fair elections (which we didn't get twice), I expect a leader who can give ALL persons the same respect, who can find a way out of the problems we're in for the myriad reasons, who can assemble a team that believes in HOPE! I worked on the past two campaigns, and I finally (after getting over the fact that I couldn't face having my heart broken again) decided to make calls and donate money to this one. This one had a different tone. He's the right man. It matters.
One more point: Yes, voting for Nader or others DOES help the republicans. Nader killed things in the past election. Yes, you should vote your voice and hope for change, but at this point, that would risk putting us in the clutches of another 4 years in thrall of money. At this point, the Democratic party aligns most closely with the possibility for change and respectability in the world.
Sandy
Sandy, thanks so much for writing! When I was watching the election results, I was thinking that finally you would be starting to exhale after all the bad feelings you had after these previous election results. I am honestly happy for you, happy for those who "do" believe that there is something to the man and that there is going to be a change that will make the lives of everyone better.
I know that at least in Europe, we are relieved that the Americans turned away from the Republican party, and we are looking forward to a new start, although, truth be told, the system itself is not designed to contemplate major changes at any level, and when you scratch below the surface, there are things that simply cannot be done.
How long have they promised to do something about the heath system? Social Security? Crime and other problems? Forever. Instead, they wage a war on terror that is just to assure themselves dominion over the globe and… again, the thing that is the most unacceptable is that they NEVER will apologise for all the horrible things they have done, do and are planning to do. This would be an enormous symbolical step that Obama should try to make. He already is getting only praise, so why not do something to show that his position is one that is able to look at things honestly and see that the rest of the world is suffering due to the consequences of American actions and decisions.
I am preparing a new article on the elections! Hope you comment there too!
xxxxxxx
Mary,
Thanks for your reply. Yes, an apology would absolutely be in order.
I'll tell you, Barack was one of the VERY FEW who stood up in 2002 at an anti-war rally and publicly said we should NOT wage this war, that it was a mistake, a diversion, and would cost untold amounts of lives, money, and time. (You can read his speech here: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Barack_Obama's_Iraq_Speech)
Everything he said would happen has come true. It has hurt us financially, and we're in a horrible situation now. I don't know if you caught any of the debates, but he has always stood for bringing troops home, ending the Iraq war, taking care of what must be done of those who DID attack us. He talks about talking with leaders of other countries, something the current administration was horrified about. WHAT'S wrong with talking? What's wrong with diplomacy before guns (or instead of guns, in US case)? I guess I'm saying I trust Obama. He's steady. He won't jump at war, dehumanize people, or make stupid decisions. I know time will tell, but he IS a uniter Bush could never be. He's already inspired many and done some great things. Let's hope for the best. Sadly, we have an economy in the dumps and two war fronts. How he can get to health care, education, and the other things, including facing our climate crisis, when these incredibly demanding things are on the plate remains to be seen. It will be difficult – first things first. At least it's HE and not McCain who gets the chance. And I know his heart's in the right place.
I'll read your next article!
xxxxx
Sandy
Another take on the Obama speech from 2002:
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Barack_Obama’s_Iraq_Speech
here's an interview with "my" candidate (well, one of them, I love Cynthia too)
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/11/5/independent_presidential_candidate_ralph_nader_discusses
he explains that Obama is corporate and will not introduce these progressive things that people expect him to, simply because he Can't.
Read the article – interesting opinions. Some of it might be sour grapes. However, I feel much more secure with who's entering the White House than I do under the present system. No one will be perfect, no one can get everything through. Nader would have an impossible job getting ANYTHING through. We all know there's politics in politics. Truth be told, I half- (ok, more than that) blame Nader for Bush being in office. He took votes away from another candidate who would have had a chance to win, and we got what we got (and all the rest of it). Who knows what the world might have looked like? Yes, maybe people are idealistic w/Obama, but I'm betting – no, I'm certain – it's a better world. I supported Edwards early on, because I loved that he talked about the poor. However, remember, it's a democracy, and the one with the most votes wins (or at least that's how it's supposed to work when it isn't rigged). Through all the hoops everyone has had to jump through, I almost can't believe Obama was left standing. And I think you'll be pleasantly surprised, because I think there's a lot more chance of the addressing of Palestinian issues under an Obama administration than otherwise (Rahm E. aside, according to Nader). I guess to wrap this up, I hear you and others about hating the 2-party system. But this is the reality we're dealing with. And, if I haven't already made myself clear, I actually LIKE the choice I had!
Sandy
http://palestinethinktank.com/2008/11/08/judith-butler-uncritical-exuberance/
I think you will like this article quite a bit, Sandy. You may know the author.
Regarding Nader, I don't think it is sour grapes at all. He is critical of the entire system that does not allow anything coming close to an alternative to what the BIG power has already got planned.
I would like to know your thoughts on the suprise things: the required social services for junior high and high school students, and the revelations coming about that Obama was involved in a pro-war think tank against Iran. (the article is on this site too, under action alert).
Of course, for Palestinians, the appointment of someone whose loyalty to Israel is hardcore, not in any way normal… the guy volunteered for the Israeli Army to do their Sar El service during the first Gulf War. This is dual loyalty, and for a Palestinian, it spells the end to ANY hope they have of seeing their rights recognised. It is tragic, and it is going to cost the US much more grief in the world, as people really are not as tolerant towards Israeli atrocities as American politicians are.
I am happy you are glad with your vote, just as I am glad I did not give my consent to him to do things that I consider totally wrong, verging on evil, actually, and I hope that the popular resistance to his warlike and imperialist posing these past few days will make him change course before it is too late.
By required social service, are you referring to Obama's plan that students get more funding for college if they agree to do volunteer service hours in their communities? I don't know what you mean there. And
I haven't heard about the post-war-Iran info and will look it up.
As for Rahm E., you're not just talking about loyalty. He LIVED there and is Israeli, and this was his upbringing. It's not a political posture. So I can understand how he would be a part of the military service, as most young men there are required to, I believe. The loyalty toward Israeli causes on the part of the US administrations is a complex issue, one I'm in no way qualified to delve into, so I shall leave that you and others far more qualified to examine. I would be very careful about believing rumors. There was enough of that during the election process – we in the US are SICK up to here of hearing it (and really, it came from the Republican side, not the Democratic). Those who thrive on it are thinking of how they can gain their own power, not what is best for our nation.
"Warlike and imperialistic posing" ?? I don't see it.
I'll read the article you suggested – the name doesn't ring a bell.
Thanks for the conversation. It's been interesting. XXX
Sandy
Sandy, when I had to reapply for my passport, I had to sign an affidavit that I have no loyalties to any other state, that I have not served office or done military service in another state, as this would make my right to my document of citizenship invalid. Of course, I have dual citizenship, but I recognise that the moment I take office here, or sign up for military service, then I must renounce my citizenship. Israel has a special relationship then? And would you feel that someone who served (as a volunteer, actually) in the ISRAELI army at the same moment HIS OWN ARMY (the US) was fighting in the Gulf War is going to be more loyal to the US than to Israel? Remember, the interests are NOT the same. There are Israeli interests and American interests. To tie the two into a kiss of death is very dangerous not only for the US, but for the entire world, as the problem of problems is being able to get an equitable, just and acceptable rule of law in the area, and not continue with the law of the jungle which is a military occupation of millions of people in their own land. (and by extension, the military occupations of Iraq, the coming war cries against Iran and the war in Afghanistan).
Would an American accept a Chief of Staff that served in the Syrian Army, or Egyptian or Jordanian? Of course not. Why is Israel always the exception?
the required social service is a program where jr high and high school students will be REQUIRED to do 50 or 100 hours of socially useful work a year… or else ??? who knows.
You cannot require someone to be socially useful. It is the nature of this kind of activity that it comes from personal will to do so. I've just read an interesting book yesterday (from the 70s, but it is so pertinent) by Feyerabend on scientific methodology (yeah, Sand, my reading list is sure different than all those pop biographies I used to drink in!!) and he presents a good case against "enforced virtue".
[...] wave of collective adoration has embarked the shores like the Normandy Invasion. As I wrote in a recent article, to people who live in other parts of the world (and that means almost the absolute majority of [...]
OK – here goes – Bush never talked about giving anything back to our country or doing the right things to conserve and protect our natural resources or help our communities (although he did allow faith-based initiatives to get federal grant money, something I believe is a strict violation of the separation of church&state). After 9/11, from Bush, it was never "conserve," just "shop." Barack is trying to institute help in the communities, giving back; actually, most schools here now have service learning as it is and a special note on your diploma when you graduate, so it's nothing that new. What's more, the Obama admin. will give those seeking college education funding a financial break IF they give back to their communities. Not have to. If they wanna pay all those bills, they still can and not do a lick of community service. I think you got your info all wrong, and this is not a bad thing at all. Let me find the correct material so you can read it for yourself:
"Expand Service-Learning in Our Nation's Schools: Obama and Biden will set a goal that all middle and high school students do 50 hours of community service a year. They will develop national guidelines for service- learning and will give schools better tools both to develop programs and to document student experience. Green Job Corps: Obama and Biden will create an energy-focused youth jobs program to provide disadvantaged youth with service opportunities weatherizing buildings and getting practical experience in fast-growing career fields.
Expand YouthBuild Program: Obama and Biden will expand the YouthBuild program, which gives disadvantaged young people the chance to complete their high school education, learn valuable skills and build affordable housing in their communities. They will grow the program so that 50,000 low-income young people a year a chance to learn construction job skills and complete high school.
Require 100 Hours of Service in College: Obama and Biden will establish a new American Opportunity Tax Credit that is worth $4,000 a year in exchange for 100 hours of public service a year.
Promote College Serve-Study: Obama and Biden will ensure that at least 25 percent of College Work-Study funds are used to support public service opportunities instead of jobs in dining halls and libraries. "
This is all from the Obama website.
As for Rahm E., I'm not going to discuss this further. I don't have any more information, and we cannot convince each other of anything.
Sandy