What's wrong with America


I am forced to get my living by the labour of my hand; and the sweat of my brow, as most of you are and obliged to go thro' good report and evil report, for bitter bread, earned under the frowns of some who have no natural or divine right to be above me, and entirely owe their grandeur and honor to grinding the faces of the poor...
- Otis, 1762, speaking against the conservative rulers of the Massachusetts colony

Since I stepped on the American soil, I have noticed the American talent of calling everything you might - or might not - accept a friendly name to make it more presentable. Many things one can happily accept with a smile are undercover flashbacks to the very same past phenomenons that carried different names and was fought against by societies over and over. I felt like it was all a game of PR - Public Relations - that the present faces mastered and the past ones failed at. Everything was simply made fine .. Usury became interest, bribery became lobbying, deceiving and lying became advertising, greed became capitalism, lords and peasants government and people, material slavery became consumerism, adultery became sexual freedom, imperialism became freedom, upper class control became democracy, and pregnant ladies could hide bombs .. not very funny, right ?

The consciousness game that is played against people to enable or disable them according to their access of reality is a long played game of people of power. People here - in God they Trust - have control over everything but the things that change their status quo. The trinity of power complex: Politics, Money, Media is not controlled by the little, yes little, American - thanks to the puppet masters. This will be clearer in my next series of articles highlighting the misery and grief this system gives to Americans and the world.

Given my origins, it's a real controversy to feel sympathy to whom tax dollars fund their troops. But - being a common sense advocate - it didn't take me long to realize something - hopefully not everything - is wrong. When I took a peak into normal people lives here, I realized that oppression is not my local concept as much as it is a universal one, but it can take a very creative form of it to enslave and oppress the people who claim knowledge and advancement. The problem has been growing bigger and bigger to include governments, monetary systems, corporates, paid scholars under its extending wings. It's quite clear and simple, but we are quite naive to see it too.

Since I started reading "A People's History of the United States" by a great historian - Howard Zinn - given to me by a great friend of mine that refuses a static state of mind - I became to feel the dilemma the people here suffer. It all started this way:

Around 1776, certain important people in the English colonies made a discovery that would prove enormously useful for the next two hundred years. They found that by creating a nation, a symbol, a legal unity called the United States, they could take over land, profits, and political power from favorites of the British Empire. In the process, they could hold back a number of potential rebellions and create a consensus of popular support for the rule of a new, privileged leadership.
- Howard Zinn in "A people History of the United States"

The fascination is greater when you see the survival of this exploit living till today, in a world that carries the freedom motto, where the deception game grows bigger and bigger. The dangers of this system are growing with the growth of the United States; the immorality of power can prove very destructive and destabilizing on a global wide system. Yet, it is never late to address imbalances and injustice in whatever form or shape it takes.

To Be Continued ..


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3 comments:

  1. Unknown February 15, 2008 at 4:03 PM

    we are a sad bunch indeed, we don't see how history repeats itself over and over, and over.

    you know, the way things are going, I don't get how come historians and history majors are not on the streets protesting! I mean they know this stuff...

     
  2. Anonymous February 16, 2008 at 6:31 AM

    and here I thought engineers don't see beyond the next meal :p

    interesting reflections, but aren't you being a bit harsh on the American system? please note that I haven't been there so I can't possibly know what its really like but then again I read and watch. so tell me

    Habiba

     
  3. Anonymous February 18, 2008 at 7:25 AM

    History always repeats itself in very clear method. The problem is that we do not understand history, we just read history.
    In general, the western philosophy of politics (especially American) tended to call all different kind of issue by different names just to make it acceptable by the public.
    I do not think that you are harsh in the American system. In my personal opinion, their system especially when it comes to international relation is based in relatively superficial point of view of the world. I guess the British has much deeper thinking and better way of dealing with international issues.

    Saleem