This war is just one manifestation of our violence and disregard for life. Because violence against individuals and violence against the environment are linked. Globalization robs third world nations, turning natural resources into commodities, takes away from local communities and doesn't allow them to protect themselves against huge multi-national corporations with such things as environmental protection and tariffs favoring locally grown food. Corporations are claiming patents on genetically modified foods and privatizing water sources.
The rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer. Parents tell their children when they don't finish their vegetables "there are kids starving in African" and yet, 4.5pounds of food are produced per day per person. It isn't a lack of food, it's the distribution of wealth that is starving us.
and we spend billions on war machines while community college courses are being cut in half and tuition rising threefold. Deny the lower class their education, any opportunity to rise up and they'll be forced to join the armed forces. And how many congresspeople have children fighting? In Vietnam, and disproportionate amount of
Who are we going to put in power? A puppet of the United States who will eventually get assassinated, either by his own people, or by the CIA (because he betrayed the U.S., aka U.S. corporations.)
the physics of gravity tells us, the longer we fall, the faster we'll go and the harder we'll hit. and we are falling, fast. Is it too late to stop digging out own graves? We need a revolution. And yet i don't agree with tactics used by the Black Bloc, meeting violence with violence. But i firmly believe in the right, the duty of civil disobedience, to speak out. I have heard the phrase "If you don't like this country, why don't you leave?" so many times and it disgusts me. It's the same statement often told to people of color who are trying to battle institutionalized oppression. Since when is dissent Un-American? You think patriotism is blindly following your leader? The NAZI party would have loved you. Every time I see an American flag, i feel sick to my stomach. But it's not because I hate my country, that couldn't be farther from the truth. the protests have renewed my faith in Americans passion and quest for justice. I hate that now when i see an American flag, i see Imperialism, Racism and Blind Patriotism. It's upsetting that the leaders of this country have perverted what should be a powerful symbol.
This anti war movement can't end when the war "ends." We have to look back at the triumphs and mistakes of the 1960s; the anti Vietnam war movement, women's liberation, black power... So much was won and yet, they fell short. Because they stopped. Because they excluded. Because they didn't go big enough.
I used to have faith that this system could be reformed, could be fixed. But I become more doubtful of that every day. We are falling so fast now. Falling.