cartoon of the day
By Mary Rizzo • Jul 30th, 2009 at 7:40 • Category: Artwork, Cartoon of the day
by the indomitable Mr Fish
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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I definitely like this toon. If we really held to our supposed values, the US could truly be a light unto nations itself. Instead, it falls into the trap of condemning others for actions that it commits on a regular basis.
It's as if at some point we started believing that it's OK if we do it because we're the "good guys". If we don't apply a just and consistent standard, there's no reason to think of ourselves as the good guys. If we actually chose to be a force for justice, much of the world would aspire to to emulate our system. Until then, we're just another rapacious entity squandering whatever goodwill we may have had in order to perpetrate another con.
@LanceThruster –
Just what ARE our supposed values, Lance?
P.S. Remember the Native Americans and the fact that NONE of the treaties were kept? Guess from which side the treaties were not kept.
I know. You don't give a care.
Sorry tsisageya, I guess I didn't select 'notify' so I did not see this until now.
Actually, you are wrong as I do care.
Yes, the founders came to this continent and clearly stole the land of another through deception and encroachment facilitated by lying, breaking treaties, and changing the rules whenever it suited them. However, I was referring to the nation founded on the ashes of its victims that brought forth a constitutional republic and had not chosen to go back beyond that as even Native Americans migrated from elsewhere themselves and were involved in their own territorial disputes that were most likely decided based on the ability to dominate tribes in competition for land and resources.
Human evolution has established that the most aggressive and exploitative strains of our species have been the ones to survive periods of insufficient resources by crowding out, starving out, wiping out those species in competition that did not exhibit (or did to a lesser degree) these traits (THINK – "Nice guys finish last – by design"),
However, in creating a framework for people to form a union that recognized the rights of the individual, crafted a system of self-governance, and a vehicle for peacefully initiating change; they did fairly well in bringing this about.
To be sure, it was clear that it took some time for the actual application to catch up with the ideals as with slavery and women's suffrage, but the model when followed has the ability to provide for people to pursue their goals individually or collectively in a manner somewhat unique in the world. It is these supposed values, freedoms and rights I was referring to. We don't even apply them to ourselves in a consistent and just manner, and the fact that a nation of thieves crafted a system that allows a subset of them to continue to prosper by making their "rights" trump other considerations that could be viewed as having equal merit (as in the notion of free trade and economic interests being more important than the negative effects it might have on a people, culture, or region that is overwhelmed by our dominance).
In that regard we are much like the penal colony of Australia in that those coming to America to exploit its wealth for themselves thought very little about those who they took it from (justified in their mind by the other's failure to exploit the resources to the potential they felt was called for). The Constitution was forged with the intent of protecting their ability to do so from others (even each other) that might choose to limit them in this pursuit.
Still, the rights and protections as written would be a good start for most countries compared to what they have now, and our (the US) claims of dedication to those same rights when applied unhypocritically is not such a bad thing. Human beings being what they are are always able to apply standards on a sliding scale.
That is what I meant and hope my additional comments clarified that to anyone who thought otherwise.
Always a pleasure to read you Lance! (When are you going to sit down and write a feature piece for PTT?)
@Mary Rizzo –
Thanks for the compliment, Mary.
I'll think of a topic that I can work to actually add something to the discussion (as you have so many truly worthy authors) and get back to you.
@LanceThruster –
Noticed I need to complete this run on sentence fragment to actually make the point I was trying to -
and the fact that a nation of thieves crafted a system that allows a subset of them to continue to prosper by making their "rights" trump other considerations that could be viewed as having equal merit (as in the notion of free trade and economic interests being more important than the negative effects it might have on a people, culture, or region that is overwhelmed by our dominance) does not negate entirely those elements of our founding charter that *do* recognize universalist principles for all people.
—–
[A quick example of that being the treatment of non-citizens as having rights and subject to due process - something largely abandoned post 9/11]