Friday, April 29, 2011
Why boycotting the Koch brothers is difficult, but worth it!:
By Phillip T. Alden
N.B. Some of the information in this essay comes from; "How You Can Boycott the Kochs" By Lauren Kelley, originally published on AlterNet.
Today when I had a brief moment on Live Journal and Facebook, I noticed the "Koch Brothers Boycott" has been gaining both attention and momentum since I returned from our vacation.
I'm glad to see it. I'm glad to see my fellow Americans finally sick and tired of political-corporate corruption, and the outright lunacy of powerful people influencing this country in negative ways that sacrifice; safety, medicine, education, proven science, public health, and the "economy." And let us not forget the continued racism and oppression of the poor, people of color, women, (especially women of color,) the disabled and the elderly.
We have a lot to work on, to hopefully fix the damage done to this country by that small minority of super-wealthy, (and often religious radicals,) that have gained far too much influence in everything from our local school boards to our state and federal governments.
But back to the Koch brothers, (pronounced "Coke.")
If these were simply very wealthy businessmen who enjoyed their success, and even if they were selfish bastards who never gave a dime to a charity – we could write them off fairly easily.
Sadly, that is not the case. In addition to using their financial clout to back extreme right-wing politicians, they are also union-busting thugs. (See the article mentioned at the top of this missive.) And it doesn't stop there. According to this New Yorker article: "The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama"; the brothers have been waging a "covert" war against the Obamas since Barack Obama's historic win as the first Black President in American history. The article states:
"..One dignitary was conspicuously absent from the gala: the event’s third honorary co-chair, Michelle Obama. Her office said that a scheduling conflict had prevented her from attending. Yet had the First Lady shared the stage with Koch it might have created an awkward tableau. In Washington, Koch is best known as part of a family that has repeatedly funded stealth attacks on the federal government, and on the Obama Administration in particular…"
The article continues:
".. The Kochs are longtime libertarians who believe in drastically lower personal and corporate taxes, minimal social services for the needy, and much less oversight of industry—especially environmental regulation. These views dovetail with the brothers’ corporate interests. In a study released this spring, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst’s Political Economy Research Institute named Koch Industries one of the top ten air polluters in the United States…"
In other words; screw the poor, up with excessive wealth, and pollute the planet as much as possible.
The New Yorker article I site above goes into extensive detail about the entire Koch family, how they rose to wealth and power, and a sound argument for why they believe as they do. At one point, the article states, one of them tried to run for political office to gain even more power:
"..The brothers’ first major public step came in 1979, when Charles persuaded David, then thirty-nine, to run for public office. They had become supporters of the Libertarian Party, and were backing its Presidential candidate, Ed Clark, who was running against Ronald Reagan from the right. Frustrated by the legal limits on campaign donations, they contrived to place David on the ticket, in the Vice-Presidential slot; upon becoming a candidate, he could lavish as much of his personal fortune as he wished on the campaign. The ticket’s slogan was “The Libertarian Party has only one source of funds: You.” In fact, its primary source of funds was David Koch, who spent more than two million dollars on the effort."
Now comes the hard part. The Koch brothers are very hard to boycott! There are retail items that are easy to boycott, and they are a good place to start:
* Angel Soft toilet paper.
* Brawny paper towels.
* Dixie plates, bowls, napkins and cups.
* Mardi Gras napkins and towels.
* Quilted Northern toilet paper.
* Soft 'n Gentle toilet paper.
* Sparkle napkins.
* Vanity fair napkins.
* Zee napkins.
* Georgia-Pacific paper products and envelopes.
Then it gets harder. In addition to oil and other energy resources and companies they hold interest in, there are the following industrial products that need to be boycotted:
All Georgia-Pacific lumber and building products, including:
* Dense Armor Drywall and Decking.
* ToughArmor Gypsum board.
* Georgia Pacific Plytanium Plywood.
* Flexrock.
* Densglass sheathing .
* G/P Industrial plasters, (some products used by a lot of crafters.)
* FibreStrong Rim board.
* G/P Lam board.
* Blue Ribbon OSB Rated Sheathing.
* Blue Ribbon Sub-floor.
* DryGuard Enhanced OSB, (Oriented strand board.)
* Nautilus Wall Sheathing.
* Thermostat OSB Radiant Barrier Sheathing.
* Broadspan Engineered Wood Products.
* XJ 85 I-Joists.
* FireDefender Banded Cores.
* FireDefender FS.
* FireDefender Mineral Core.
* Hardboard and Thin MDF including Auto Hardboard, Perforated Hardboard and thin MDF Wood Fiberboard.
* Commercial Roof Fiberboard.
* Hushboard Sound Deadening Board.
* Regular Fiberboard Sheathing Structural Fiberboard Sheathing .
These are largely building materials that few of us buy or order, unless we work for a company that deals in these materials. If Home Depot carries some or all of these products, they are (potentially) included. (That wouldn't hurt as an SF Weekly investigative article I read referred to them as; "Wal-Mart With A Hammer.") A reasonable start would be a letter to Home Depot's corporate headquarters stating your reasons for their product's removal.
If you happen to work for a company that uses these materials, and you have some involvement with ordering them, you could do a truly great thing by either finding alternate materials, or by making your company aware of the Koch brothers, how harmful they are to our Democracy, and how your company currently does business with them.
Just keep "Georgia-Pacific" in mind when you shop for paper products or building materials.
Now it gets a little harder. (As if the building materials weren't hard enough!) The Koch brothers have large investments in INVISTA Products:
* COMFOREL® fiberfill.
* COOLMAX® fabric.
* CORDURA® fabric.
* DACRON® fiber.
* POLYSHIELD® resin.
* SOLARMAX® fabric.
* SOMERELLE® bedding products.
* STAINMASTER® carpet.
* SUPPLEX® fabric.
* TACTEL® fiber.
* TACTESSE® carpet fiber.
* TERATE® polyols.
* TERATHANE® polyether glycol.
* THERMOLITE® fabric.
* PHENREZ® resin.
* POLARGUARD® fiber and LYCRA® fiber.
I think a lot of us have these products in our homes, or the material is in items like our clothing. I know for sure that I have clothing that contains PolarGuard® and Lycra® fiber. Until the Koch bothers starting funding things like Tea Party politics, we bought these items without thinking of who owned the company.
Some things, like StainMaster® Carpet, are easy to boycott. Our condo has laminate flooring throughout and I personally prefer it to carpet. Other things are not so easy. We can look for these ingredients in building and craft materials, and when we find them, we can write to the companies that have these ingredients in them. A written (or typed) letter sent by regular post has more impact than a phone call or an email.
It takes a little more work to be a responsible consumer, but many Americans have been as conscientious as possible with their dollars for years. The more this trend grows, the more companies are going to include their suppliers in their public relations materials and advertising. Some companies are already doing that. This is corporate responsibility that we should applaud and support. For example; as a gay man I have long watched where my dollars are going to insure that, (to the best of my knowledge,) I am not supporting companies that try to damage my community.
One last thing you can do is simply keep your eyes open, and periodically check out Anti-Koch Brothers websites. As this boycott grows there will be more people who will do the footwork and research to make sure the name "Koch" is equated with lost dollars and lost customers.
And this boycott is growing. Americans are finally standing up against the corruption and hatred that is both Anti-American and Anti-Democratic. Right now and in the immediate future it's the Koch brothers. More names and companies will be added to the list until we all discover that; a) we have more power as individuals than we thought, and b) we demand our Democracy and our Civil Society be put back in the hands of the people, where it has always belonged.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Op-Ed By Phillip T. Alden
October 2010
Some Americans like to refer to our country as a "peace and freedom-loving" nation, and some like to call America "a Christian" nation, although our behavior both domestically and around the world is neither "peaceful" nor "Christ-like." (We are also not "a Christian" nation but a nation based (partially) upon religious freedom, including freedom from religion.)
In many ways I am proud of our country, but in many ways I am not. I consider myself a patriotic American, but that doesn't mean I have the typical knee-jerk reactions that many Americans have. I believe that peace is patriotic, and that our wars of adventurism do nothing but sustain a foreign policy that is incredibly dysfunctional. We spend over 700 billion dollars a year on a military-industrial complex that can never get enough of our tax dollars. In addition, we're wasting billions more on misadventures like George W. Bush's Iraq debacle, and now Obama's Afghanistan debacle.
Nobody in their right mind would say that we have achieved anything positive from our wars since World War II. In Korea and Vietnam we shot and bombed poor rice farmers, and in Iraq and Afghanistan we are bombing poor goat herders. In war the real casualties are innocent civilians. Instead of stabilizing nations, (as we did following WWII,) we are leaving them worse off than before. Both "governments" we installed in Iraq and Afghanistan are beyond dysfunctional and don't have the support of the populace.
But you won't hear this on Fox News, or from any mainstream media outlet in this country. With very few exceptions, and none on TV, American "news" has become a bad joke – and a propaganda tool for extreme right-wing assholes like Rupert Murdoch. It's pathetic that I have to surf the web to foreign news agencies to find out what is really going on – both here and abroad. When I was a child we had men like Walter Cronkite – real journalists with unquestioned credibility. If it wasn't true, (to the best of his knowledge,) Cronkite would not report it. Real journalists like Cronkite also did their own "fact checking." It's no wonder that TV viewership has been declining for years, and that, despite the "24/7 News Cycle," Americans are less informed and more ignorant than at any time in my 46 years on this planet.
Americans have had a lot of their comfortable illusions smashed since October of 2008. My father never invested a single dollar in the stock market, and had my parents lived long enough, they would have had plenty of money for them to retire comfortably. My parents knew that our stock market is really the nation's largest casino, and with casinos the odds are always with the house. Las Vegas and Wall Street were not built on "winners." Now most Americans have been forced to realize what my parents knew all along.
We now compete with China, (a dictatorship,) over who is the world's number one jailor at a given time. In my home state of California we spend more on prisons than we do on education. And most of those languishing in our brutal and violent prison system are non-violent drug offenders. The idea behind America's prison system was to keep violent and dangerous people away from the citizenry. Non-violent drug offenders don't threaten me in any way. America is a drug-using nation, from beer to Vicodin to cannabis. But wealthy, (and often White,) people who can afford a good lawyer don't go to prison when they are convicted of a non-violent drug offense. If you're a Person of Color or Poor the system works much differently.
Our mass media has fed us a steady diet of fear for decades, and people are getting tired of that diet, hence the declining TV viewership roles. In addition, the recent "recession" and record-high unemployment has Americans feeling more fearful than we have in a very long time. We all know our state and federal political systems are hopelessly corrupt and broken. There should be no one serving in Congress for decades until they are so old that they can barely make it to the floor for a vote. But that's a minor problem with our electoral system, which has so many major problems it's hard to know where to begin.
The only antidote to fear is to face it, and to solve the problems that breed the fear. But that takes unity and a common sense of purpose, which we don't have right now. What we have are countless groups with their own agenda, and a populace that is either blinded by their own personal or religious agenda, or they are too apathetic or ignorant to truly change the system. Sadly, the intelligent and progressive Americans are outnumbered by those I mentioned before.
I believe that all Americans could bring about positive change, if they weren't constantly lied to or denied the information they need to make truly informed decisions. There are also those who are blinded by extremist belief, and although they are vocal and loud, they are a minority and can be overcome.
That isn't going to happen, though. Instead these extremist groups are going to do as much damage to this country as they can before they fall away. They don't truly want to work to make this country a better place. They just want to elect people they (mistakenly) believe will further their pointless and destructive agendas. Others have been so apathetic they didn't realize they were destroying their own futures. Now college graduates are moving back in with their parents, (if they can,) left with a mountain of debt and little to no job prospects. Older workers, many robbed of their savings by the Sub-Prime Economic Crime Wave of 2008, face even worse prospects.
And the people who want to take charge want to make things worse. The Meg Whittmans and Carly Fiorinas of this world want to make their White and wealthy friends wealthier at the expense of everyone else. Right now, in my county, there is no money for disease prevention and education. The tattered social safety net, under attack since the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, is in danger of falling apart completely – leaving us with no public health system. Most people don't even know that the average person on Social Security Disability gets only $900 a month, (plus Medicare.) Have you tried living anywhere in this country on $900 a month?
But that's the ignorance of the masses and the demonization of the sick and the poor by wealthy people who seek greater wealth at the expense of others, and they don't care how much destruction they cause. I think 2008 taught us all that. Many of these people are so short-sighted they don't even see how they are screwing themselves over in the long run.
So how much war and fear and dysfunctional government do you want? There seems to be an endless demand, as I watch Americans get kicked in the teeth by their own country again and again – and they do nothing but ask for more.
Friday, August 20, 2010
By Phillip T. Alden
August 20, 2010
Recently there has been a collective self-flagellation over the size of the federal deficit. Considering the state of our economy, the number of unemployed people about to end up living on the streets, and the continuous cutbacks to the social safety net and education – to worry about state and federal deficits is a waste of time.
We have a national electric grid that badly needs updating, as does our phone grid. (Yes, even with mobile phones we still need the POTS line.) In addition we have hundreds of bridges and roadways that need replacing or repair. In fact, there are probably dozens of national projects that need a major overhaul.
We also need to start massive "green energy" projects and clean up a number of toxic areas in our country. To work against destructive Global Climate Change we need to start with a massive tree-planting project.
What we need is a massive public works program similar to the one we utilized to get ourselves out of the Great Depression. Our state and federal governments should start jobs programs that promise a job to everyone who shows up. If you're a recent college graduate you might not be excited about the idea of planting trees or rebuilding highway bridges – but it beats being unemployed and moving back in with your parents.
There are times to worry about the deficit, but this is not one of those times. With 14-20 million people out of work, (depending upon who you ask,) we need a massive "stimulus" project to get these people working again.
Much needed projects would be accomplished and our country would be truly stronger. Millions of hard-working Americans would not end up homeless. Massive "green" projects, (like tree planting,) would slow destructive Global Climate Change.
I'm not saying we should not be concerned about state and federal deficits, but there are times to worry about such things, and this is not one of them. If we fail to employ the millions of Americans now out of work, (and out of federal unemployment benefits,) our economy and our deficits will get worse, with nothing to balance that out. The massive public works projects I'm proposing would keep people in their homes, keep spending up on things like groceries and clothing, and give a much-needed boost to our economy.
Those in Washington who moan about deficits while ignoring the suffering of the American people are hopelessly out of touch with the country they're supposed to be running. American politicians don't lead. They follow.
China is currently running a "Super-Bubble," (according to a recent article in the Christian Science Monitor.) Their manipulation of their own currency is an attempt to stave off the "downside" when their "Super Bubble" bursts. And when it does it will worsen our economy and the economies of a number of countries.
The American Government has a behavioral pattern. Instead of telling us what is going to happen, they stay silent until the you-know-what hits the fan, then they practice their usual "damage control." We know our government, (with the help of the American mass-media,) has lied to us about nearly everything – from the true state of the economy to the environmental disaster in the Gulf caused by BP.
Things are going to get worse, a lot worse, before they get better.
It's long past time for us to stop worrying about deficits and time to start helping average Americans get back to work. Otherwise, our so-called "Great Recession" could turn into "Great Depression II." We need to stop letting the loose amalgamation of fringe groups known as "The Tea Party" pick the national conversation. That means Democrats and Progressives need to turn off their computers, get up off their lazy butts, and take to the streets.
Or Democrats and Progressives can just continue to sit on their hands while radical (and ignorant) right-wing groups lead the national conversation. They can watch on their computers as our country turns from a bad place to a truly destructive place.
Saturday, July 03, 2010
By Phillip T. Alden - July 3, 2010
I consider myself a patriotic American. I've seen a bumper sticker around the Bay Area that says; "Peace Is Patriotic." I like that. I quickly tire of the "my country right or wrong" point-of-view, (as it's commonly known.) That's one of the many reasons I ignore TV in general, and especially any and all TV news, (with the exception of "The Jim Lehrer News Hour" or "Frontline" on NPR/PBS.) Another reason is that the "news" is not really giving the American people any real news at all. My best friend watches the local news and tells me that he learns nothing about what's really going on in our own backyards.
I'm often critical of the American government and the California state government, (for obvious reasons.) On the national level we are being lied to about what's really going on with the economy. I believe the "truth" about the economy and the true health of our banking system would scare the shit out of most Americans, (and for good reason.) The banks are hiding so much "red ink" that, to openly put those losses on their books could cause a banking collapse that would make 1929 look like a picnic. Our national leaders aren't telling us about the pitfalls awaiting us, choosing instead to do their usual "damage control" when these things come to light on their own. (Think credit card debt.)
We are engaged in two losing wars. Violence is up in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and I've recently posted stories by other journalists about why that is. Basically, our troops are in the middle of multiple civil wars, though the whole picture is much more complicated than that, particularly in Afghanistan. The corrupt and ineffective central government is not a "credible ally," (as our leaders are fond of saying.) The people of both Iraq and Afghanistan don't want us there, and things are not going to get better until after we leave. Admittedly, when we leave there will be chaos, (largely caused by old hatreds that we allowed to surface when we destabilized these ancient nations.) We don't understand their culture or history and we cannot be bothered to learn about them.
In addition, with our economy in the terrible shape that it's in, we simply cannot afford to keep financing these wars. It's that simple.
A recent report by the ACLU shows that both national and state governments are continuing to openly step on our Constitutional rights. Dangerous groups like the Tea Party are causing our fucked-up politics to become even more so.
In my home state of California, our troglodyte governor has done his best to "balance the budget" on the backs of the poor and disabled, and (surprise!) my fellow Californians don't care. It's not their problem, (until they lose their job and/or become disabled themselves.)
And the saddest thing is that most Americans don't care, (or they act like it.) Voting rates, community participation, and general civic engagement are at all-time lows. Personally, I believe that many Americans are (rightfully) scared shitless, but they don't seem to want to deal with their fear or the reasons behind it. It's far past time for reasonable people to stand up for each other, and to fix our broken governments – but we won't.
I realize that, by virtue of selection, my audience is made up of intelligent people who understand these problems. But we are a minority of sorts. Writers, artists and musicians are observers of human and societal behavior. None of what I'm writing comes as a surprise to most of my readers.
And sadder still, the people who need to read, think and act upon what we write and point out – simply won't. Some of them are complacent, (if they're lucky enough to still be employed and have a warm roof over their heads.) Some of them view us as "the liberal elite" and they resent us because they feel we "look down" on them. This is the resentment that people like Sarah Palin taps into, and it's worked out pretty well, (for her at a $50,000+ speaking fee.) When I see those jingoistic bumper stickers that say; "United We Stand;" I say "bullshit" under my breath. We are the farthest thing from "United." In fact, we aren't that much different from the tribal conflicts that plague countries like Afghanistan and Iraq.
Yesterday I heard (on National Public Radio) that the unemployment rate for Black males currently stands at 46%. A Live Journal Friend who is better at these things than I am told me the actual rate is closer to 30%. I believe the actual number is somewhere in-between. But regardless of unemployment rates, the election of Barack Obama has been a sobering wake-up call for me. Since the election I have heard and seen racist comments that I haven't heard for decades, (and which I thought were best left in the past.) But blindness to the true state of "race relations" is a social illness common to White people, (including myself.) The cause is part of the larger problems in our nation – we still suppress People Of Color (POC) through economic inequity and the so-called "War On Drugs," and our national media feeds those prejudices and encourages division even among people of the same cultural or racial backgrounds. I grew up in the "socially progressive" town of Palo Alto, next door to Stanford University. But as an adult I realized the racism in my "progressive" town was simply well-hidden because most people were highly educated and good at such things. I'm not saying everyone in Palo Alto was a racist, nor is everyone in almost any given American town, but then this subject could take up a essay of its own.
There are people in this community who can write about race with a much more realistic and personal viewpoint than I am capable of.
I love my country. But since 1980, (the election of Ronald Reagan,) I've sadly watched the country of my birth go downhill. I'm not saying that things were perfect in 1979. There were many problems our country faced in 1980. But most people have forgotten the family farms that went under, and the suicides of men who, through no fault of their own, lost their land and their homes. Most people also tend to forget that over 300 Reagan appointees were indicted for corruption of one kind or another, or that Reagan ignored the AIDS Pandemic and let countless people die through hateful apathy.
Throughout my adult life I've watched this country regress, even in the face of incredible technological and medical advances. Our political systems were far from perfect 30 years ago, but the Bush II Administration was a national nightmare for this country, and we'll be paying for it for decades. And I don't care which political party is in power because they are both bought and paid for. Truth-tellers are ignored. Many people think they are powerless because they've been made to feel that way, and that illusion is helping destroy this country.
So I won't be waving the flag or watching any fireworks this weekend. They have become reminders to me of what we were once capable of becoming, and how we have squandered those multiple opportunities. To me, they have become symbols of our national failure.
Sunday, May 09, 2010
Race is a difficult issue:
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Why the Catholic Church doesn't want to the Whole Truth to come out:
By Phillip Alden
April 2010
By way of introduction, I am the son of an Irish-American, Catholic mother. I grew up being forced to attend their church. Catholicism in Palo Alto, California, in the 1960s and 70s, was rather liberal. There were openly gay members and the priests I grew up knowing were all good men who would never harm anyone, particularly any child. There were no anti-gay messages, or any such messages preached there. (The priest I admired the most was forcibly excommunicated later for falling in love with and marrying a wonderful woman. He also performed my sister's marriage ceremony while he was still a Catholic priest.)
Although I never voluntarily participated in any way, (I never went to "confession" and I was never "confirmed,") my mother loved her church and was very active in the union of her church and the Catholic students at Stanford University, (which sits next door to my hometown.) I am glad she is not alive to day to see the beginning of the destruction of the church she loved so much.
Because that is what we are witnessing, one of those moments in time that you fail to appreciate until after everything has run its course. We are front row center for the beginning of the end of the Catholic Church. Now when I say that, I know it can sound like hyperbole. Catholicism will continue to exist for centuries. But the "Catholic Church" as we know it, as a powerful religious entity that influences societies and governments around the world, one of the wealthiest organizations in the world – is beginning to die. It will be a long, slow, painful death – for such an entrenched organization does not "go quietly into that good night."
Am I happy about this? For a while I gloated, and I will welcome the day when the church can no longer hurt people. But happy? I don't think so. For one thing, even though my mother is no longer with us in this life, there is my aunt, my cousins, and millions, if not billions, of basically good people who are going to be hurt. They are hurting right now. To a devout Catholic, these continued revelations are like a knife to their spirit. These are people who don't change their religious beliefs easily, if at all.
For some people, it's a shame that the truth has a habit of rising to the surface, regardless of how hard one tries to bury it. But as we know from history, sooner or later, the truth will out. It just keeps getting worse and worse for Rome. And there's no end in sight.
Already there are church properties in the U.S. and in other countries that are being sold off to pay for lawyers and law-suit payouts. Some of those churches were built by hand from craftsmen immigrants from Germany, Italy, Ireland, France, and a dozen other countries. These one-of-a-kind, beautiful pieces of architecture will be lost forever.
The Vicious Cycle:
The pandemic of child abuse, both sexual and physical, by Catholic priests and other authority figures in the church – all over the world – is just the tip of the iceberg.
Traditionally, in Catholic families, if a male child shows any sign of potential homosexuality, they are usually push into the priesthood. This has been done for centuries. These young men often become sexually retarded, and the only people they can truly relate to sexually are children.
According to gay men who have left the church; seminaries, and even Vatican City, have places where two men can get together easily.
According to this Wikipedia article about sex abuse cases in the Catholic Church:
".. Dr Richard Fitzgibbons, a psychiatrist with experience of treating abusers, suggests a link between homosexuality and child abuse. He said, "In fact, every priest whom I treated who was involved with children sexually had previously been involved in adult homosexual relationships..."
Now that is not to say that, because a man is homosexual, he is a child-molester. That has been disproven by medical study after study. Outside the Catholic Church, the only people who accuse us of being predators by virtue of our sexuality are ignorant people who have been fed hate by other ignorant and hateful people. There are hundreds of gays and lesbians who raise children, and those kids grow to be sexually healthy adults who make their own decisions about their personal sexuality. I have nephews and nieces, and my friends have children. I would never dream of harming them or any other child.
As an aside, I met a woman from Japan while vacationing in New Zealand. When I told her about this cycle, she said the same thing happens in Japan: Japanese children who are suspected of being homosexual are pushed by their families into becoming Buddhist monks. I found this an interesting coincidence.
Now the sheer number of children who have been abused by Catholic priests and other church officials may be enough to bring the church to its knees financially. And the settlements just keep coming. In addition, the number of dedicated parishioners are declining. Many of them are people like myself, whose parents were involved with the church, but their children have found it holds no interest for them. And why should it? When most of us want to be present in today, with an eye on the future, the Catholic Church wants to take people backwards. Human lives are linear, and the only direction is forward.
The historic crimes and atrocities of the church have been written about extensively, by men far more researched and scholarly than I. The part the church played in The Crusades is well-known, as is their historic (and ongoing) oppression of women. As a gay man, and considering what we keep learning, the church is more than a little hypocritical of my sexuality, and singling out a group of people for attack is just plain wrong.
But aside from the church's current abhorrent and inexcusable behavior, and their half-baked attempts to cover it up, there are hundreds of years of political intrigue, abuse of indigenous cultures and their beliefs, and trying to force human beings into a twisted sexual dynamic that is unnatural and unhealthy for the human psyche. And as the incredibly vast dark side of the Catholic Church is brought into the Light, we will become more contemptuous and dismissive of the Vatican and all it represents.
What destroyed the Roman Empire, and the empires that came before it, is the same thing that will destroy the Catholic Church; slavery, killing, subjugation and repression, excesses and abuse, the never-ending hunger for power and gold. As I said, I will be happy when the day comes that the Catholic Church can no longer hurt people. That day will not happen in my lifetime, barring something extraordinary. But I am not "happy" or pleased with myself to bear witness to the first dominoes falling, neither will I grieve for an institution that has done so many bad things.
Because, like it or not, the Catholic Church does a lot of good in the world. Their Catholic Charities are a good example of this. I may not like the way they do their good works, but it would be unfair to the church to fail to mention the good it has done around the world. Throughout history the church has furthered the world of science, art, music and literature. There is not one American alive today, Catholic or not, that has not been affected by the church in some way. The church has kept Latin, the primary base of the English language, alive for centuries.
Other than people who are angry with the church, the feeling we should have is one of great sadness. This is a once-great religious institution that could have been so much more, and could have had a bright future. But as with many organizations started by man, power and greed corrupted the church very early in its history. That they have remained this powerful and this present in daily life for so long under the ever-increasing weight of that corruption only shows how massively powerful and wealthy the Vatican has always been.
Yes, we are witnessing history. Hopefully those who have been abused will get some measure of justice, or at least find a way to live happily in today. I also hope that the great art and culture will survive, that the things of beauty will outlast the grave of the Catholic Church. I expect that its end, when it finally does come, will be bloody and violent. But then, blood and violence are also a major part of the church's history.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Now the brilliant Brad Hicks, (who is once again writing about things we should all read and take seriously,) has written a post about how the same people are planning events to set this domestic war in motion by killing cops, based upon this Associated Press article.
As if this country doesn't have enough problems without groups of insane people, with lots of guns and explosives, planning to throw us into a violent domestic war, which might cause our government to declare Martial Law, therefore making their paranoid fantasies an ugly reality.
It's called a self-fulfilling prophecy.
If you think these people are not serious, or that they wouldn't do what they say, the AP article I linked to above, (as did Brad Hicks,) tells us a different story. It may be comforting to deny the reality of the situation, but sticking your head in the sand does not make you or your family safe.
If these groups start carrying out their plans, as it looks increasingly clear that they will, they will embolden other groups that may decide to shoot up the Castro, (San Francisco's gay area,) or plant bombs in public areas.
9-11 was not the start of terrorist attacks on American soil. The U.N. was bombed when Clinton was in office, and let us not forget the bombing of the federal building in Salt Lake City, killing over 300 men, women and children. Domestic terrorism is not new, but it is growing. I give our local, state and federal law enforcement agencies a lot of credit for breaking up a lot of these plans before they happened, as evidenced by recent arrests made by the FBI.
But as helpful as citizens have been in helping these agencies do their jobs, they cannot catch everyone and they will miss some of these plots. Like many other countries, America needs to learn to start living with terrorism on our soil.
These people are driven by hatred, an extreme hatred of President Obama and the Democrats in Washington. They know that elections will not change the balance of power, or really change the culture of D.C. in any appreciable way. Like many people, they believe the dangerous illusion that their vote does not count. The election of a Black man to the nation's highest office, and the reaction to it, shows that our vote does count - but only if we use it. Kids who are apathetic, or who believe their vote doesn't count, are seeing the results of that apathy/inaction. It's getting harder and more expensive to get a college education, and when they graduate, there are no jobs out there.
The fact that California spends more on prisons than on education shows us what happens when Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh fans are the only people who vote. Say what you will about Radical Right Christians and other extremists, but at least they vote. People you (mistakenly) laugh at are better participants in our Democracy than you are. There's nothing "progressive" about not voting.
When I hear someone complaining about our government there are two questions I ask them, (if I can.) The first is; "Do you vote in every election?" and the second is; "Do you write or call your elected representatives?" if they say no to both, I tell them they should shut the fuck up because they have no right to complain about a government they choose to ignore.
Regardless of what happens, I will always believe that our vote and our participation in our Representative Democracy is essential. And I will always tell those who complain without participating that they have no right to complain as they're too lazy and arrogant to be a good citizen.
My point is that we not only have to vote, call and write our elected representatives - we have to keep our eyes and ears open. If we hear and/or see people planning to engage in domestic terrorist attacks we have to inform the authorities. We have to look out for our neighbors and fellow citizens.
I'm not encouraging people to get paranoid and call the cops because someone is expressing their opinions. Free speech is one of our most treasured rights, (even when it's being used by ignorant and angry racists and idiots.) People have a right to their opinion.
But planning the violent overthrow of our elected government is a serious federal crime for a reason. Threatening the life of the President is a serious federal crime for a reason.
Yesterday two women "suicide bombers" detonated themselves in a Russian subway. Those people arrested in the AP story mentioned above planned a major terrorist attack on our police.
I wonder how much more it's going to take for people to wake up, turn off the TV, and start participating in our Democracy. We can (peacefully) take back our government from the corporations and religious fanatics - but only if we act and encourage our fellows to act.
If you "don't have time" to participate in one of the few Representative Democracies in the world, you will lose what rights you have left. Voter participation was at an all-time low in 2000 and 2004. With just a little less apathy, we could have avoided the election of Bush and Cheney, and avoided the destruction of Iraq and killing of tens of thousands of innocent people.
Bush won by a tiny margin, and we are all paying the price for the apathy of a few.
Think about that.
