I have a question for you.
What’s worse: being in a prison cell, seeing and touching the bars, or being in a prison cell where you can’t see the bars, which makes you believe that you are free?
Construction of a culture, race or religious sect as the “other” has been the path toward political and economic dominance and ideological homogeneity for the American government, and empires alike.
As a “democracy,” the government is governed “by the people and for the people.”
Or so I’m told.
So, actions by our government that perpetuate political domination, economic exploitation, natural destruction and social slavery, on the domestic and international theaters, must be accounted “for and by the people.”
Oh, and how “the people” love to hold the government, let alone themselves, accountable.
Each month, immigration bills are signed that violate human rights, the national debt grows, the level of fear mongering grows, rational discourse is thrown in the trash for politicians defending arguments about being witches while radical right-winged zealots and left-winged idiots hit the airways, dispatching a brand of propaganda the likes of which hasn’t been seen since we started “fighting terror with terror.”
Thanks, George W. Bush.
I shall note there are a “minority” of people in this country who are aware, awake and taking action in hopes of a more just and democratic society.
But it’s not and has not been enough.
Yes, social and environmental activists made small strides during the ‘60s.
But, it’s not enough.
Ironically, people believe this is truly a real democracy in ideology and practice. Whoever said believe everything the government tells you? Oh, wait, the government did.
As for progress, Malcolm X put it best, “if you stab a man in a back nine inches and pull it out three inches, you don’t call that progress.”
For the readers who are aware but feel hopeless or for those who flip straight to the sports section, I have one last inquiry for you.
It’s called self-accountability.
Critically analyze yourself, your thoughts and beliefs. Create solutions at the grass-roots level for the problems that face us all. Think for yourself and start the most important revolution in human history; the revolution of spirit, heart and mind.
Then, and only then, we may start to progress not just individually but collectively toward a more just and critical society.