May 31 2007
Why I am Ashamed to be an American
By Doug Soderstrom
5/31/07
Having grown up in a small town in Central Kansas I was taught to believe that my country, the United States of America, was a land committed to justice and peace, a nation that one could count on to do the right thing, a country of civilized folks who had but one thing in mind…….. that of doing the will of God. I also began to realize that there is nothing wrong with feeling ashamed for having done something wrong, that such a response is a rather natural consequence of having violated one’s conscience, a voice from deep within that is no doubt a reliable guide for how a man (or woman) of true integrity ought to live his (or her) life. However, for those who seem to lack the capacity to feel ashamed, one can only wonder what must be wrong with them.
As I began to emerge into manhood there was an ever, ongoing flow of hints, subtle suggestions that things were not as I had been told. However, it wasn’t until our country vented its awful wrath upon a post 9-11 world that I began to realize that I had been misled. At that point I had no choice but to take a long, hard look at the history of our country, a thorough examination of what turned out to be a past drenched in the blood of our foes, foreign lands raped of their natural resources, democratically elected governments overthrown, an outrageous succession of egregious arrangements with tyrants and dictators from around the world, along with the fact that our nation is the only developed country in the world that utilizes the death penalty to kill its own people, and that we imprison more of our own people than any other nation in the world…… all of such having enabled me to gain a better understanding of why there are so many folks around the world who have become upset by our nation’s apparent willingness to abuse and exploit our fellow man. As a result of what I found, I have come to the conclusion that the vast majority of the American public is out of touch with reality, that such folks have unwittingly allowed themselves to have become mercilessly entangled in a world of fabrication and make-believe, a nation dominated by sheepish yes-men unwilling to face the fact that we, as a nation, are, and for some time have been, caught in a downward spiral of moral decline.
I have found it rather common for folks to become a bit upset with people like myself who occasionally pass judgment upon our country. In fact some have even told me that if I don’t like my country then perhaps I ought to consider leaving it. Such folks seem to believe that criticizing one’s country (one that has attained such a high standard of living…… as if such a thing should make a difference) is somehow unpatriotic. However, the last time I checked there seemed to be no relationship whatsoever between a nation’s quality of life and that of its moral standards. I have also found that individuals that tend to equate criticism of one’s country with that of being unpatriotic either do not understand the postulates upon which democracy is based or that their identity is so terribly intertwined with that of their nation that they have seemingly lost the capacity to reason in an objective manner. Finally, based upon my experience of having debated with such folks, it has become rather clear to me that most of these quislings have little or no education as well as being relatively uninformed as to what is going on in the world.
Now, if you don’t mind, allow me to take a look at a few things that tend to bother me regarding the country in which I just happen to have been born……. the United States of America.
I never cease to be amazed at how terribly ethnocentric the typical American tends to be. It is almost as if having been born in the United States confers upon one the right to think of himself as a privileged person, a contrived sense of status that no doubt lies at the very heart of everything that I will discuss in this paper. For example, consider religion…… the fact that the majority of Americans look upon Christianity as the one and only road that leads to salvation, every other faith a blind alley leading to the unending fires of Hell. Next is that of capitalism, a system having apparently received the blessing of God as the universally correct way of doing business. And then democracy, a political system that apparently no one in their right mind has a right to question. Of course there can be no doubt that democracy is certainly a stellar way of running a country, but must everyone in the world agree? Besides if the religious right (just as Moslems in Iraq) were to seize control, don’t you think that they (as fundamentalists) might be tempted to set up Christianity as the official religion in our country rather than that of running a democracy based upon the separation of church and state? Think about it……. fundamentalists are no doubt fundamentalists regardless of the color of “their stripes!” On the other hand, one must ask what right we (as citizens of a nation that is a mere 231 years from its own inception) have to tell folks living in countries not more than a hop, skip, and a jump from the “Garden of Eden” how they ought to live their lives. Ethnocentrism yes, but perhaps even worse than this is that which such narrow-mindedness almost always brings to pass; an unreasoning sense of arrogance generally referred to as that of the arrogance of ignorance!
Due to what appears to have been a rather serious lapse of judgment on the part of tens of millions of Americans, the voters, for whatever reason (perhaps it was a matter of fear), chose to place into power a President (a presidential administration) that: may well have laid the groundwork for 9-11 (the “new Pearl Harbor”) that, according to PNAC (Project for the New American Century) was needed in order to pave the way for our country’s military/economic takeover of the world; is in the preparatory stages of going to war with Iran (a conflict that will no doubt reign havoc upon our nation as well as that of the world); lied to the American people in regards to why we went to war with Iraq; lied to citizens in that our government has no intention of leaving Iraq given the fact that it is in the process of building as many as fourteen “Enduring Military Bases” (enough to house at least 100,000 soldiers) along with that of having built the world’s largest Foreign Embassy located in Baghdad (a 592 million dollar, 104-acre, 21-building complex); committed war crimes, crimes against humanity, as well as high crimes and misdemeanors for which several of our leaders should be impeached; condoned the systematic use of torture against prisoners; violated the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution by intentionally choosing to interfere with the free flow of information to the American people; enacted laws (such as that of the Patriot Act) that are seriously eroding our freedoms; through the use of the Military Commissions Act, granted the President the right to arbitrarily detain, imprison, and torture U.S. citizens at that of his own discretion (and without the right of Habeas Corpus!); allowed the President to disobey more than 750 U.S. laws through the use of so-called “signing statements”; through the passage of the Defense Authorization Act of 2007 set the stage for, essentially creating the likelihood that, our country might one day become a military dictatorship; allowed the United State’s military to develop an extremely sophisticated, website-based video game (America’s Army) to be used as a recruitment device that is teaching millions (perhaps as many as nine million) of our children to kill human beings with an increased degree of efficiency, all of such having desensitized our teenagers to kill others with little, or no, psychological pain; has enabled politicians to profit immensely from funds awarded to corporate enterprises associated with the military-industrial complex; bankrupted the nation by allowing the national debt to rise to nine trillion dollars in spite of the fact that the nation’s actual debt is a little over 59 trillion dollars due to the government’s use of unorthodox (essentially unethical if not illegal) accounting practices that intentionally disregard (essentially misinforming the American people with respect to) unfunded promises to reimburse (that is to repay) Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and an assortment of federal retirement programs; and has been absolutely unwilling to take responsibility for the fact that we, as a nation, have done more to destroy the ecosystem of our planet than anyone else on Earth.
For anyone who has taken the time to study the history of the human race, there can be no doubt that one of the primary, if not the primary, cause of harm is that of people taking up arms in the name of God. No one in their right mind can deny that Jesus, the Buddha, Mohammad, Confucius, or Lao Tse were men of good will. However, over the centuries the simple yet profound truths taught by these wonderfully wise men have been perverted beyond recognition. And, as far as the West is concerned, the greatest perversion has been that of the religious right’s willingness to accommodate the needs of neoconservatives in Washington D.C., a well-thought-out, although no doubt surreptitious, plan to allow the Bush-Cheney presidential administration to utilize their faith (a plan of salvation that rather conveniently ignores the teachings of Jesus, the fact that we should love rather than kill others) as a theologically-based (no doubt divinely inspired) justification for a cadre of militants all to ready to go to war in order that they might one day rule the world……. and all of such in exchange for political presence, an increased opportunity for the religious right to publicize a gospel of family values (a rather fabricated attempt to “sugarcoatedly-disguise” an undoubtedly well-documented ideology of out-and-out social-political conservatism). Looking back at history, there can be little doubt that much the same occurred in the 1980’s when Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority decided to align itself with Ronald Reagan’s tenure as President, and, before that, when Germanically-oriented Christians decided to go along with, and therefore to support, Adolph Hitler’s Nazi inspired efforts to rule the world.
Concerning the education (or shall I say the mis-education) of our children it is high time that we do the right thing, that we stop lying to our kids and begin telling them the truth. The school’s job is not to make “good citizens” of our children, for in doing such a thing our children end up being duped, conditioned, slowly but surely brainwashed, into becoming truckling sycophants, bootlicking followers of the status quo. As one who has taught college students for the past 41 years, the only task worthy of a teacher is that of teaching our kids how to think for themselves, critical thinking skills that might perhaps enable them to counter the outrageous mendacity of those in power, chauvinistic jingoes who would, through the use of propaganda, have our children believe a lie rather than that which is true.
Regarding our economy, a capitalistic enterprise focused upon one, and only one, thing (the enrichment of the rich euphemistically referred to as that of “the American Dream”), we, as Americans (those of us who are rather well-to-do), should be ashamed of ourselves, ashamed of having become an island of enormous wealth stationed in the midst of a poverty-ridden world (not to mention an ever-expanding proportion of our own people who are poor) in that we go to bed every night with a willingness to anesthetize ourselves to the needs of billions of folks whose lives are inextricably mired in an absolutely desperate attempt to simply survive. And then due to what appears to be a rather natural correlate of capitalism (activities that no doubt follow capitalism wherever it goes), the American people (folks so terribly possessed by that which they possess) have developed an apparently insatiable appetite to be rich (the capacity to consume anything and everything they want), the need to be constantly entertained, a near addictive fascination with sex, drugs, gambling, pleasure, power, and violence, and all of such no doubt nullifying any legitimate interest in the “finer things of life” such as that of developing a meaningful philosophy of life, a desire to understand what it means to be a human being, and that which might perhaps be worthy of our time here on Earth.
And then based upon the laws of our nation, lobbyists (highly paid representatives of the corporate world) have been granted the right to converge upon our elected officials for no other reason than to coerce them into conducting business in a manner that more often than not benefits the rich at the expense of the poor. We, as a people, have been led to believe that our votes count when in fact our ballots far too often elect congressmen, the majority of which, wait in hiding for a handout (a bribe) that will serve to fill their “electoral coffers,” and all of such in exchange for a simple promise to use their congressional powers to expedite the needs of their benefactors who in turn are far too likely to reward their compatriots with a well-paid, “post-retirement” position the purpose of which is to use their “congressional knowledge” to bribe those who have now taken their place; a revolving door of immense corruption that is no doubt destroying the foundations of a once democratic republic!
The final, and perhaps most important, reason why I am ashamed to be an American is due to the fact that we, more than any other people, have used our accumulated wealth (part of which comes from money earned from having sold more weapons of war to the rest of the world than the rest of the world combined) along with having developed the largest, most destructive military force (larger than the accumulated defense budgets of the rest of the world combined) since the beginning of time (next year’s defense budget will be nearly 700 billion dollars!), all the while realizing that if we had proven our love for God by using such funds to feed the hungry, medicate the sick, clothe the poor, house the homeless, and liberate the oppressed, we would have become a nation loved and revered by all…… rather than, as things have turned out, having become a land hated by nearly everyone in the world.
In conclusion, in order that you might understand where I am coming from, you need to realize that I do in fact have a bit of respect for my country, or at least for that which was envisioned by our forefathers, the founders of, what has turned out to be, a once great nation. However, just as we would with someone we love, we have no choice but to call attention to weakness, since in doing such a thing we give our loved ones an opportunity to address the problem. It is, and must be, the same with that of the land in which we have been born. If we truly care about our country, if we really do want our nation to flourish, then we should realize that we have not only the right, but, much more importantly, the responsibility, perhaps even, one might say, a moral responsibility to point out its deficiencies in order that it might once again be revived. For we must remember, as our nation goes, so do we……. in its flourishing we, as a people, will no doubt thrive, but in passing away, we, as a collective society, might well cease to exist.
Doug Soderstrom, Ph.D. is a psychologist and can be reached at
Strong stuff!! Should be recommended reading for all citizens of the U.S. Watch your back ! Michael.
Wow. Thanks for your article. America is an embarassment due to the fact of the majority of ignorant people that continue to stuff their faces with food and buy the latest trinket at Wal-mart.
Nice essay. I agree with almost all of what you said, except this:
“Due to what appears to have been a rather serious lapse of judgment on the part of tens of millions of Americans, the voters, for whatever reason (perhaps it was a matter of fear), chose to place into power a President…”
You’re kidding, right? Do you actually believe the 200 and 2004 elections weren’t stolen? If you do, it’s time to do a little research - the evidence is overwhelming!
I commend you for such a respectful insight to America’s (this land and nation that I love) calculated shortcomings.
My only rebuttal would be that capitalism in itself is not the problem, but capitalism AT THE DETREMENT OF OUR SOCIETY is. Greed, perhaps a human(or perhaps “american”) trait that cannot be tamed is the single most detremental factor in this nation’s fall from grace.
Our founding fathers would be appalled….as am I!
Man, that is a pretty jaundiced view of our country. The biggest destroyers of the environment? Do you have any idea what really went on in the Soviet Union? They make what goes on here look like a fairy tale. China is no better. Could we do better? You betchya! There are many many people who work tirelessly to improve things in our country, and on our planet. Don’t dismiss them so quickly.
The problem that we do have is an entirely corrupt government. Top to bottom, both parties ( or should I say both faces of the elite “governing class”)They have allowed our monetary system to be utterly destroyed, stolen from the American public through taxes that exist only to pay the debt on the fiat money that they print and spend.They have destroyed the education system in this country, because if they made smart people, they could never get away with what they are doing. Politics was never supposed to be a career. Now that it has become one, there is unlimited means to steal from all of us. The sad thing is people keep on electing the same theives year after year. It is a small group of people that have ruined this great country. They are very smart and manipulative. They control all of the information in the “old media” and so control the destiny of our country. I am glad you are awake now. Don’t lose sight of what a great country we have, and the great people that we have in it. Please join in in the fighjt to take our country back from the criminals. It is an uphill struggle, but every set of hands makes the job easier.
Only been around 112 years since the last of the Native Tribes were rounded up and put on the Rez’s…Maybe your starting to at least get somewhat of clue…
Jesus taught a Spiritual Kingdom…not Religion…Capitalism? Jesus warned the Rich how hard it would be for them to enter into the Kingdom. A Kingdom whether Spiritual or Worldly is neither a Democracy or a Reprentative Republic.
Read about Mystery Babylon in the Book of Revelation as well as The Beast, and you might even get a larger clue as the Founders of your Nation were Freemasons…Setting up their New Order of the Ages…or New World Order…
As I read they patterend your Nation after Rome.
A couple months ago…A couple Mormon boys knocked on my door…trying to invite me to their Church..which was a..No..on my part…But we did discuss Jesus living in America long ago teaching some Tribes…And I was a bit surprised they actually knew there were accounts from some Tribes he lived here in the long ago time when the Land was called Turtle Island.
We also discussed Mormons way back when participated in the Ghost Dance with Wovoca…Wovoca stated Jesus appeared to him way back when…Which wouldn’t surprise me at all..
There will not be a revolution in the USA. If the American People actually WANTED change, they would have done it a long time ago. Americans LIKE the way they live, and any excuses they make about how much they “hate” their jobs and lifestyles is little more than mental filler to make their lives more interesting. People don’t change a country unless they both WANT TO and then CHOOSE TO. In countries where revolutionary action has taken place, the populations of those countries WANTED and CHOSE change. Like a sports nutrition supplement ad on TV a few years back said, “You gotta WANT it!”. Same with change: if you WANT it, you’ll strive for it. The American People are not striving for it; quo erat demonstratum, they do not DESIRE or WANT change.
Perhaps this might be summed up in a suggested title for a new book:
MALICE IN BLUNDERLAND
REVOLUTION IS THE SOLUTION!!!
http://www.theforbiddenknowledge.com/awaken/index.htm
You are SO right! Thanks for having the courage to say it. But don’t fly in any small planes! I do agree with Nibs Niven. The elections in 2000 and 2004 were stolen, not won. And I’ve always beens suspicious of Arnold’s win in California too. Remember when Bush flew to California and had a private talk with Arnold? Soon afterward Arnold announced his candidacy for governor. I always suspected that he was “promised” a win if he’d run. It was a test run for Rove’s new system of disenfranchisement and fraud. And it worked…like the proverbial charm.
What do we do? Where do we start? Push Congress for impeachment? What about Cheney? He has to go too, or it’ll be even worse…
…if we can imagine such a thing.
Everyone has made a good point. But Benji hit it right on - if Americans wanted a revolution they would have started it by now. I find most of my fellow Americans vegging out in front of the tube, relaxing with a beer after dinner watching baseball, after the day’s work is over, if they have work at all that is.
The author pointed out some excellent truths. I think most people know something is wrong - look at the gas prices - we know we’re being ripped off. I also people think there’s absolutely nothing we can do to change politics. They always ask, “What can I do about it? Absolutely nothing.”
And so the extremely wealthy have second homes in foreign countries, turning their dollars into Euros - they know America is going down (financially, morally, under-educated, drugs, sex, rock ‘n roll, et al). Nothing happens by coicidence my friends. There is a reason for everything and you can bet it was planned many years ago.
It is up to each awakened individual to decide what to do about the situation. As long as this country is divided as it is, life will continue downhill. Reminds me of pre-WWII Germany. A dictatorship is right around the corner. Then what will we do? It will be too late. The smart ones are preparing as best they can.
What a great country America was. I will remember its glory days with fondness.
Unfortunately, Doug, America has become a nation of ignorant people. Had they the ability to read and understand your very articulate and well spoken paper we would not be in the mess we’re in. How will it all play out? Not well I’m afraid. Not well.
Nicely done, Mr Soderstrom.
You missed a few of the evils perpetrated/enabled by Messrs Bush & Cheney, and were a little soft on the Congress, and barely whispered about the Supreme Court.
But you definitely hit some of the most relevant points on issues of major moral, ethical, social and national concern where a large number of Americans seem to be, unfortunately, very uninformed.
One can learn a lot of the truths you state in your essay, if one is dogged and interested in remaining dogged for as long as it takes to see where we’ve been lied to. Usually from that point people will start opening their eyes. The problem is getting them to that first big revelation.
Your essay goes a long way down that road.
Nice work.
And the TRUTH shall set you free
I was an industrial /organizational psychologist for fifteen years, mostly teaching, some consulting. I browse the literature every now and again and am very impressed with how well we can measure and predict human behavior. I’m also reminded how far away I have travelled from the academic and the bureaucratic worlds as my eyes glaze over with the minutia of experts.
Nonetheless, I was proud to be a student of behavior, and, though no longer a member of the American Psychological Association, I certainly felt positive toward APA. You see, for me, APA was the organization that championed the ethical use of human subjects. Perhaps the research we did was put to perverted use, but not on our watch.
But now I read that, while the American Psychiatric Association — composed of physicians — forbids the participation of its members in prisoner interrogations, the American Psychological Association does not consider torture unethical. So it’s psychologists who assist the torturers. Of course, they had to do it to keep the money flowing. Apparently, this seemed like the responsible thing to do to somebody.
I expect that you, Dr. Soderstrom, are an APA member. If so, I urge you to lead an agressive effort to insist that APA change its position immediately or experience a mass exodus of members. It’s the least psychologists can do after all these years of directly enabling human suffering.
9-11 truth should first be exposed to every american to turn our country around….if that does not happen it will continue to get much worse…can you say PNAC.
peace,pw
ps there are so many developments going on in the 9-11 community.IE
Dear Colleagues,
We are very pleased to announce the launching of our official website for Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth www.AE911Truth.org on this Memorial Day!
This site is dedicated to bringing forth the abundant evidence to Architects and Engineers of the “controlled demolition” on 9/11 of the 3 World Trade Center high-rise buildings - the Twin Towers and Building #7. Many do not know about this third sky-scraper - a 47 story building that was not hit by an airplane and yet “collapsed” into its own footprint with a smooth, symmetrical, free-fall speed, and with very clear evidence of explosives.
It is critical that all architects and engineers become aware of the facts of each of these “collapses” because they have the necessary technical and political credibility to force the discussion into the halls of Congress. Most of the A&E’s that we show the AE911Truth.org multimedia presentation to sign our petition calling upon Congress to re-investigate these critical 9/11 matters because the truth is self-evident - but only when seen. All can see the evidence now on the new website.
You can now step through the PowerPoint multimedia presentation at your own pace, or choose to watch the videotaped presentation on-line. You can also follow the links to other excellent research sites on subjects such as explosive squibs visible at upper floors, 118 eyewitness accounts of explosions, FDNY reports of molten metal “flowing like lava”, chemical evidence of thermate incendiary cutter charges, the fatally flawed FEMA & NIST reports, view the leaked architectural drawings of the WTC North Tower, etc.! In addition you’ll find an extensive User Forum for technical discussions among members.
Our full press release is attached.
Welcome to Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth!
Sincerely,
Richard Gage, AIA
The people I know today that are” doing well ” have ,new $300,000 homes.that work for A A or maching parts making bomb components, for military sub contractors, they have the latest hummer,new motoecycles,boats and all the latest trendy toys,And really do not care for anyone but themselves and they don’t hide this fact. their motto:” I’ve got mine and the hell with everyone else”. When I was a kid, I went to church with my grandmother, Those folks would look in on their neighbors,help people cope when someone died.and allways helped the community be strong in the face of bad times. There are still very few that will do somthing to help someone else,but not nearly enough. The preachers of today have multi million dollar homes in Florida and thats just about all we know about them untill one will get caught molesting children. Its pretty damn sad!
Obviously we are no longer a constitutional Republic, but sadly the Constitution itself is a flawed doucument from its inception. We brag how our constitution guarantees us certain inalienable rights, but what good are those rights when the very same document creates a congress that can enact laws that supercede our rights as the “decider’s” administration has presided over.
True freedom can only be exist where individuals exercise “personal responsibility” in everything they say an do in their daily interactions with one another. In other words, do no man harm in his person, do no man harm in his property and your word is your bond. If we all lived by these simple tenets their would be no need for a congress or legislature.
Oh yes, the system of govt. here in the USA is “CORPORATE COMMUNISM. Think about it. Most of the Presidents Cabinet are made up of corporate execs from various large corporations. You wont see any dirt farmers or longshoremen in those positions.
AMERICA BLESS GOD!!!
Goreous. Absolutely beautifully said. I shall be submitting this to DIGG henceforth assuming it is not already.
There is one chance to stop the runaway train, assuming you even get another election as planned. Ron Paul. As as Aussie I will be praying for it but I won’t be alone in that.
For those of us who are truly awakened, do not lose hope. We can fight back by depleting their resources.
Hit them where it hurts the most:
http://www.losthorizons.com/
Tell everyone about this whether they are awake or not. Money is a great motivator.
We can still win…and we shall!
Hey Nibs Niven -
The 2000 and 2004 US Elections were stolen. You should do your homework.
Regarding the writings…Brilliant.
Thank you, hopefully this will awaken someone (or many more) from their slumber.
A well written and thought out article.
My 2 cents is this: We claim to be a nation of laws and not the whims of temporary leaders, elected and otherwise. If, in truth, we are a nation of laws, then the way to fix it is to restore the law in a manner envisioned by our founders. If this cannot be done then we are no longer bound by the Great Contract and it becomes dog eat dog and everyone for his and her self. Will there be a lawyer in America who will start the ball rolling? We live in interesting times… –jws
Those that actually follow Jesus Christ would not NOT, lie, steal, mislead, murder, incite conflict for own gain (or any other gain), and the ones that do, and claim to be Christians, give those that are a bad name!!!!!
Not suscribing to Islam, when there is a terrorist attack, I am hard pressed to blame all followers of Islam for whatever has occured. And worse, it may be a third party doing the dirty deed, capitalizing upon those fears……… The bad name deal again!!
agree with 95%… but seriously, what civilized country would not use the death penalty for habitual violent offenders?
I don’t just mean serial killers, spammers, etc… I mean those who would lie to get into a country to steal their natural resources for several years and expend the lives of several tens of thousands innocent people.
I vehemently believe in the death penalty.
I like your article. However, the comments about revolution and being duped are not all true. i marched against the war in January 2003. I have never seen no many people 30,000+ in Portland. The news coverage showed a few and a few supporting the war. Take your fight to the media. Many of the people are aware but that is hidden by the media and it will come - the revolution.
To: #13 Mark Land:
I am willing to bet that there is a substantial nation of our country’s
citizens who, in fact, are able to read and comprehend what we read. I read the evidence every day in the comment sections of the blogs.
Just as the world’s knowlege vanished into the Dark Ages, the printing press rescued civilization. The internet and it’s BlogNation came just in time to cripple any more steps toward the New (Corporate) World Order.
Yes, the dark clouds still hover over us, but they are now only pieces of the one that covered all the sky even before 911. How true that the pen has always been mightier than the sword. Truth, harvested on the internet, will reseed the promise of the United States of America, and spread it’s treasure throughout the world.
‘Tis time to adopt the GOLDEN RULE as our guiding philosophy.
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
This is the only ‘God’ we should set before us. Simple, no?
Very good article; few people touch on lobbyists, the bag men of the multinational corporations and other special interest groups. Their presence is the epitome of bribery and subversion of representative government.
As to democracy being a stellar form of government, I stand four-square with the founders of this country who considered democracy a pernicious form of government, best exemplified by a line of individuals stretching to infinity with their left hand on the shoulder of the man in front of them and their right hand in his pocket.
They were right when they stated that Republics degenerate into democracies and democracies degenerate into tyranny. They created a Republic for us, we grew fat and lazy and could not keep it many generations ago. Now the much-touted democracy is on the cusp of tyranny, awaiting the word from the “decider.”
Flawed “Goddam piece of paper” though it may be, our Constitution is the best document to have existed to date around which to form a government of free men. The problem lies in the fact that it ceased to be followed as the Law of the Land and We the People on a state-by-state basis didn’t stop it from happening.
90% of today’s Federal Government is un-Constitutional. This trickles down to State and local governments.
If you are dissatisfied enough with the way things are going, if you are farsighted enough to see what our end will be without drastic change, then let me suggest that you look diligently into the presidential candidacy of the Honorable Dr. RON PAUL, true Republican Congressman from Texas, the ONLY honest man willing to speak truth to power AND the American people in either party.
Dr. PAUL is a strict Constitutionalist which has earned him the nick-name of Dr. NO. He is a man of principle, both in his public and private life.
The Builderbergers tried to smear him and all they could come up with was the fact that he consistently voted for term limitations yet ran and was elected multiple times, thank goodness. Since his proposals were never passed why should the voice of our one honest man be lost?
Those of you who are looking at one- and two-issue candidates like Gravel and Tancredo are destined to be disappointed because the problem is greater than any one issue and no one in either party has a true grasp of the situation that does RON PAUL and the steps necessary to roll back the damage that has been done to our country on every level by instituting the return to Constitutional Government.
Dr.PAUL needs our help to get elected but that will be only the beginning. If we are to have true “of the people, by the people and for the people” government, we must stay on the rear ends of our State and local governments whom we can most effectively impact,
Time is short. IF, and that is a very big IF, we survive the balance of George W. Bush’s term without a cataclysm of global proportions, more and bigger war in the Middle East, Martial Law in America and total financial collapse, we WILL NOT survive another 4 years of “business as usual.”
(Let’s hope) It’s not too late,
RON PAUL in 2008
The article is another wish wash piece of rhetoric. A nation that does the will of god, oh please spare us the rubbish of religion.
The purpose of all war is war. War makes the rich even richer, whilst the working class die and choke on vomit blood and hunger.
When are the american people actually going to do something?
‘Having grown up in a small town in Central Kansas I was taught to believe that my country, the United States of America, was a land committed to justice and peace, a nation that one could count on to do the right thing, a country of civilized folks who had but one thing in mind.’
Actually this just shows how vulnerable you were to elite manipulation techniques and mass media propaganda.
This part - ‘Adolph Hitler’s Nazi inspired efforts to rule the world’ - shows how vulnerable you STILL are.
In the 1930s, the British already ruled a quarter of the earth’s land surface, and during the war the British Empire was allied with two other extremely large powers - the United States, which stole the choicest part of the north American continent, and the USSR, which was effectively the Russian Empire redivivus, consisting of a large part of Europe and a giant piece of Asia.
In short, Hitler couldn’t have tried to rule the world, because several other powers against which Germany couldn’t possible have competed - at least, unless it possessed WMD - already ruled most of the world.
Hitler had no plans to rule the world. The height of his ambition was economic hegemony in eastern Europe, a region in which French influence had waned dramatically in the 1920s and no one wanted to fall under Stalin’s thumb.
WWII was, for the British and the Americans, an attempt to stop Hitler achieving even this much. As history subsequently proved, this was territory Stalin wanted him to rule, and Britain and the US were quite happy for him to take it.
It’s time to free your mind of Anglo-American propaganda and recognise that the ‘Hitler is after world domination’ scare was another warmongering scam whose only purpose was to trick the world into war with Germany. It was comparable in every way to the lies, such as the ‘Iraq has WMD’ scam, used to start the Anglo-American elite’s last war.
Interesting and well thought out essay that failed to observe the most obvious result of American’ts self delusion. That being that things are so bad now as to be impossible to fix through mere elections. The mandate handed to and then wasted by the Dems is a glaring example of this. If you must remain in American’t then prepare yourselves for some terrible times ahead. Times that will make the 30’s seem like kindergarten in comparison. Mortgage everything you have to the hilt, take out as much equity from your homes as possible and head for another country to settle in and hopefully survive the iminent collapse. Good Luck!
You sound like a pretty smart guy, that is until you go off on the damnable democracy thing.
The US is not a democracy. It has never been a democracy. A democracy is actually form of mob rule. What the US actually is, is a constitutional republic.
It is discouraging to see all the references by educated and intelligent people to a form of government that is light years away from what our founders established.
Thanks to the gods I don’t believe in. As a 60 year old Australian it has been sad to see how the U.S.A has gone down. After reading Buckminster Fuller’s book ”Utopia or Oblivian” I got angrier and angrier. He stated that after WW2 mankind had the ability to feed fresh food daily to EVERY HUMAN ON EARTH ! ! ! Couple of years ago I read that AMERICA had spent HALF it’s capital worth on the military (and all that goes with it, CIA, NSA, etc.) during the cold war. The saddest thing is knowing what could have been.
sad to say where America leads Britain follows.
Dr Soderstrom’s article is very thought-provoking, and of course he misses some points or gets a few wrong but by-and-large it is a good analysis.
I think, however, that for America to reform itself it needs to have a clear and unembellished take on its own history. The prominenti who ran the 13 Colonies ended up as the prominenti who ran the American Republic. Before ever the rejection of the policies of Lord North’s government (for which the porphyria-afflicted K George III got the blame) and the East India Company led to the break with Britain, these prominenti were demanding that Britain hand over (what became) Canada to them. This attempt to annex the Near North has never let up - the Fenian Raids, the Invasion of 1812, the disruption of the Yukon, the subverting of Canadian politicians, the buying up of Canadian businesses and land - it has never stopped, and has been the laboratory model for American interference and annexation of many other parts of the globe: Hawaii, Philippines, Mexico, etc. It never stops.
The intellectual foundations of the American Constitutional republic that No 31 Doug Wagner mentions (and it wouldn’t matter except that America has been Crusading around the world since Woodrow Wilson trying to impose some arcane notion of “democracy” as being a self-evident ‘good’ upon any country it could browbeat or bamboozle) were those that also gave rise to the French Republic - a jacobin revolutionary construct that led inexorably to the Terror (France) and the War of the Northern Aggression and the destruction of the First Nations (USA). You’d have been better off going back to your British roots and learning from the Scottish Enlightenment rather than that of the French philosophes.
Ditch American Exceptionalism and take a long hard 230 in the morning look at yourselves and what you’ve inflicted on the world since before 1776 and since. Then you might understand why many people consider that the America-of-Today is merely the logical ‘perfection’ of the America-that-has-always-been: violent. lawless, paranoid, acquisitive, destructive, and always in denial.
I am so fed up, but must continue to be vigilant and try to make the changes that are needed. 1 person at a time until the whole world becomes aware and ready to change for the good of all. I just pray that the whole world’s conditioning has not made it impossible to relearn, retrain and repair.
In America we live a “television” fantasy. We perceive the world through a tube. The grip it has on the minds of Americans, and perhaps the rest of the world, is one that has never been equaled in history. Ask any American how they might know it, and chances are they saw it on TV. At best, a few read it in a local rag, written in large font with a 6th grade reading level. And then, that was only on their way to check out the sports section or to read their daily horoscope. For a country to so willing give up their culture, industry, and individual rights at such an unprecedented rate is something I find truly amazing in itself. Sure the internet is something they never counted on, but chances are the average American would rather watch Funny-Videos, People-Magazine, or check out free Porn online than actually read more than a paragraph or two about what is really happening. The truth may be there, t only those who know where to find it, or care to know.
Apparently the brain washing has held off the hoards of torch carrying masses, but for how much longer?
It is like a carefully scripted Hollywood movie. Drink your beer, eat your hotdogs, succumb to debt, and the enviable slavery to follow. We are now just beyond the intermission and the real show is about to begin. I find it most amazing the economic indicators, headlines, and the stock market point to everything being just fine as we reach deeper and deeper into our pockets to pay for essentials and our standard of living pulled out like a rug from beneath our feet. It seemed like only yesterday you could build a house by gluing dollar bills together and still compete with the price of the For-Sale hanging outside of it. Am I one of the few who notices or dares to say? Printing money, and inflated values can only last so long.
When I first heard that those who control the media control the minds of the people, I was personally insulted. I now see the proof is in the pudding. The house of cards is coming down and I think they know it
That organized religion under the banner of Christianity represents the doctrinal heritage of the original apostolic churches is a unjustifiable presumption. The forms are there but their original matter was long ago emptied. For Jesus to question whether he would find faith upon his return should be a clue that perhaps the ‘great falling away’ would come to pass. Paul Johnson, in his “History of Christianity”, says that by the time the apostle Paul left the scene, the true faith was on its way out. The Gospel was entrusted to the disciples and those who heard their word, recorded in the New Testament. While the truth may not be at large, it would be a mistake to say that it cannot be found in the Scriptures.
Spoken Like a man who found a way to wake up. After 911 like everyone, I stood with my country and trusted in our leaders, and look what happened.
The worlds largest crime scene was put under armed guard and shipped off under cover of darkness to be recycled in a far away land…. [what the heck was that about?]
How many soldiers have to die to get oil to $1 a gallon? 100? 200?
2000? How many mothers sons have to die to fill up a Hummer? or an Escalade? This war is not about Osama, if it was we would be all over the Afghan/Pak area, but we’re not. We are dying in Iraq, and threatening Iran over what it is doing WITHIN its rights. The empire is dead
This essay is being linked all over the web…I’ve seen it linked at three of my favorite sites. This is a good essay that expresses a lot of how I feel, although I think the use of parenthesis was a bit overboard, making it a little hard to read.
There is no real democracy in America, and there hasn’t been for long long time. Money has always ruled, and that is pretty much the same everywhere on the planet…it just looks different. At this point, what the people want matters only to those who are trying to get elected. We’ve all seen how politicians promise this or that, but after they are elected, they seem unable to deliver. This is ample evidence of the shadow government, the military industrial complex, ect, that Eisenhower and Kennedy warned us of.
For those who believe a revolution is coming, I have to cough. Aside from the fact that many Americans are fat and lazy, they are also mal-educated and gullible. Yes, it is possible that millions could gather at the gates of power and force a chnage of administration, but the system will still be in place, and the new boss will pretty much be the same as the old boss. Now, if someone says that a true patriot of the people could rise to power through a revolution, I have to say that it is highly unlikely, due to the overwhelming complexity of our military establishment. No commoner could ever rule, because the generals would simply use their muscle to overtake the masses, and besides, all our nukes are on hair-trigger, so who are you gong to trust?
The simple fact is that we are tied to this monster and there is nothing we can do but ride. Yes, we can force a change in leadership, but the system will survive, and we cannot expect the system to change through “people power”. The awful truth, according to me, is that the system must be destroyed, and a new system put in place by true patriots. I do not see this happeneing anytime soon. What I do see is our internal demise through economic peril, and our eventual takeover by outside forces, even if it is only via our entry into the upcoming North American Union.
There will be much suffering in the time ahead, I’m afraid. I fully expect another horrible false flag attack, which will allow these cretins to overshadow the questions regarding 9/11, bring the draft, and attack Iran. All of this is about stealing the resources of other cultures. That is exactly what America has been about for many years. No one spends this kind of money on “defense” when no one else in the world is. It’s all about being a bully, and we all know that bullies eventually get their asses kicked.
I’m not proud to be an American, and I’m not sure I ever was. When war comes here, perhaps the people will realize what is meant by the old adage “what comes around goes around”.
Let it be destroyed. Build anew.
rope rope the misanthrope
Overall, good article. A couple of points. There is supposed to be a separation between church and state,not God and state. Since man is born into sin,there is no reason to believe he will find his way on his own. He needs God’s help and direction. Second,we DO NOT live in a democracy. We live in a REPUBLIC. The founding fathers knew the difference. Roman/Greeks were original republics–evolved to democracy and imploded.There is a difference
If feel that you article is timely and refreshing in comparison to the usual dribble dished out my the controlled media outlets. I’am fully aware of the difficulties facing humanity and because I’am an Australian I fear that my country is going down the same road as yours. Could anyone offer a glimmer of hope because the existing political systems in both our countries are totally corrupted. It does not matter which party you vote for, the end result is the same. How can an ordinary citizen be heard or presented as a candidate, you need money and power to be elected, so how is it possible to change the system. I’am afraid that it is too late ,unless there is some form of intervention from a greater power. We cannot use the same tactics that our oppressors employ because we would become like them.
[…] Having grown up in a small town in Central Kansas I was taught to believe that my country, the United States of America, was a land committed to justice and peace, a nation that one could count on to do the right thing, a country of civilized folks who had but one thing in mind…….. that of doing the will of God. I also began to realize that there is nothing wrong with feeling ashamed for having done something wrong, that such a response is a rather natural consequence of having violated one’s conscience, a voice from deep within that is no doubt a reliable guide for how a man (or woman) of true integrity ought to live his (or her) life. However, for those who seem to lack the capacity to feel ashamed, one can only wonder what must be wrong with them. https://bestcyrano.org/THOMASPAINE/?p=62 […]
What I dont get is why our Govt seems so intent on destroying the middle class. Its like they hate us. What did we do ?
Doug is making the all too common error of conflating the country with the government, The Federal and State governments are not America, they are merely the criminal gangs in possession of the monopoly of force.
Excellent article. I am Canadian and we share a somewhat similar heritage. America, is the way it is due to a historical anormality that only occurred once in history and never will occur again. (Barring space travel and coloization). By that I mean that America was founded on a vast relatively uninhabited land stolen from the First Nations. A land extremely rich in raw resources and potential. The culture of greed flourished because it was POSSIBLE. All you say is true, but I believe that any people , of any colour or religion faced with the same temptation would have developed in the same way. There is nothing inherently evil about the American people (with the possible exception of the top 1% of industrialists and of course the last several political administrations). Americans are indeed somulent and ignorant, but given the opportunity to live off the fat of the land , this moral laxity would have occurred in any flavour of lucky colonists.
The bottom line is, Doug, they realized we were cutting into their bottom line. We cost too much…low-wage slaves are much more profitable, and by law corporate leaders MUST tend to the expectations of their shareholders, therefore…
…bye-bye high wage jobs…hello Wal-Mart!
Bill Jones…exactly!
Thank You for a little bit of reality in this disneyland of fools.(disneyworld is just metal buildings and warehouses behind the fake plastic and plaster, just like the USA)
embarased is way too mild, I am a native Texan, you can only imagine how embarased I AM! This state has produced the worst of the bad politics, crooks, and scum like both bushs, delay the coke man. LBJ all the way LBJ, mass murderer, including JFK, and on and on, man this state sould be broked down into 5 smaller more responsive and responsible to the people and NEVER!! alowed again to offer up presidential candidates!
I’ve no doubt that most Americans are decent people not hell bent on taking over the world. But the impression from this side of the Atlantic is that the US wishes to impose its will on people that have not requested it.
As a outsider from Europe looking in, the biggest single problem in the US is the fact that the president , the head of state has so much executive power. Most democratic countries have a nominal head of state with power resting in the elected houses i.e. congress and the house of representatives. Ministers or secretaries ( ie of Defense etc. ) would therefore have to answer to the voting public.
Dear Doug: The middle class has been systematically destroyed because it was largely composed of intelligent, educated people who could think and organize and had enough money to make a difference in the political arena. That whole class, which was supposedly idealistically the fulfillment of the “American dream,” turned out to be a real pain in the butt to the controlling corporatacracy. They were always in the way, always protesting, making trouble, calling for voter’s rights, clean air, clean water, unreasonable stuff like that. That educated middle class was the closest thing there was to a force keeping some kind of balance between good and evil in this country. We’re on a very different track now. Our kids are not truly educated now. They are trained for jobs.
Dear John Fonti: Since Australia is down the tubes, and so is Canada, do you know of any good places left on this earth? Or are we well and truly seeing the NWO congealing around us?
Howard Zinn on the middle class revolt…
http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/zinncomrev24.html
What we are witnessing is the “overt takeover” by the corpro-facists elite. A plan concieved long ago. Now is the time that they will show us who is our master. They acctually thought we americans would have put up a better fight. Read about all the prison labour camps built around the country, all true. They’ve had the police storm troopers, the crowd controll equipment all at the ready for a long time. People high up in the miliary and the news media new about 911, the Iraq war the dismantling of the constitution and the emerging police state since the 80’s. People have been dumbed down and neutralized with chemical( chemtrails) and psycological brain scrambling in the US for years. All in preparation for what is currently happening. As I stated all is going perfectly well for them. No need for those prison camps after all. No one will save us but ourselves..!!
48. anonomus expresses well my very feelings about Texas…a political cancer in the body of the Republic. Political sociologists should study this state to find the reasons for its dreadful performance…We all know that Texas has long been a terribly chauvinist state, awash in political corruption, that like all infantile bullies (and lacking in class, to boot) it has bragged of its size and wealth (oil); that it has some of the most reactionary, ostentatious self-made dynasties in the world, to the point of caricature.
In fairness we could say that this type of mental and moral bankruptcy is also common throughout the South, easily, and in many other points of the nation…including the coasts and New England. It’s just that in Texas the American disease is writ large…
An excellent assessment of what this country has become. I still find myself wanting to defend the US when friends in other countries criticize us; however, I can’t. With all the potential for helping to improve the world, we seem to be on a crash course toward destruction of any kind of world that is just.
I agree with Benji. If the American people wanted change, there would be change. We have become a nation of consumers with an unquenchable thirst for big trucks, big tires, big TVs, big houses, and big meals. While foregoing quality, we have settled for big = better and might = right.
Simple solutions always solve complex problems.
www.planetization.org/soulutions.htm
Nothing will change until our economic system is reformed.
I tended to agree with alot of what you said, but when it comes to voting for George W. the second time, I had no clue of PNAC was all about nor of any info regarding a possible “inside job” regarding 9/11. I only found out about it after Prof. Jones came up with alternative reasons for the towers coming down by the use of what he calls thermite being used to generate the heat to melt steel, not from the burning fuel from the aircraft themselves. I started reading up on everything I could regarding 9/11: conspiracy theories, official version info, etc. I eventually came across PNAC, the CFR, 9/11 Commission Report cover-up regarding the Mineta testimony (see http://daytonpundit.com/forum/index.php?topic=276.0 - I lay it all out), etc. I’ve been at this almost every day since the fall of 2005 and I’ve come across numerous unprovable points based on hearsay or pure speculation. I finally resorted to the controversy surrounding the Mineta testimony cover-up.
As for whatever the U.S. is doing to its people and what it’s doing around the world via our inept leadership, all I can say is the majority of the ordinary folk here are basically good people who want good things for their families and others here in the country and around the world. There are numerous missonaries (filled with U.S. citizens and from other countries) that are supporting worthwhile causes around the world funded by the good people here in the US. My family is supporting a boy monthly somewhere in Central America. My kids are in the Scouts and we’re raising them to respect people of all colors, shapes, sizes and any handicaps. We helped out a Rwandan family new to our church last Christmas by giving them clothes and Christmas decorations. We shop and contribute to Goodwill. I’ll soon be helping out an organization in town that feeds the needy by providing some of my video expertise free of charge. What makes up this still great nation is its people and it’s too bad the government side of things these days gets all the negative attention.
Another complainer who has no solid solutions or ideas, just complaints. Speaks volumes. We’re embarrassed for you -
For years Ive tried the faxing and the phone calling that certain websites recommend. I believe it has not mattered much. Here in California our representatives vote for thier own purposes. I am in the minority here now. Sad.
Dear Doug:
You make a lot of great points, but you need to study the Constitution a bit more closely.
First, you mention that democracy is a “stellar” way to run a country, or at least suggest so. This country was not set up as a democracy. You will not find the word “democracy” mentioned once in the Constitution, and there’s a good reason for it. The Founders knew their history, and knew what the history of democracies was. That is why this country was specifically set up as a REPRESENTATIVE REPUBLIC.
Second and last, you mention “separation of church and state” in a manner that implies that you really believe that the Constitution outlaws religion, or religious views, in every sector of public life. Now, believe me, I belong to no religion or church, and organized religion is a crutch for losers and idiots. It might float their boats, but remember that more people have been killed over religion than in all of the other wars combined throughout history. That being said, this “separation” nonsense is one of the biggest myths around, but it has only really gained traction in the last forty years or so.
The only two mentions of religion in the Constitution are in the First Amendment, and at the end of Article VI, which I quote: ” . . . but no religious Test shall ever be required as a qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”
The First Amendment specifically states that Congress — that is, the legislative branch of the FEDERAL government — shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. Believe it or not, if the legislature of any STATE wants to vote to make Islam the official religion of that state, it is free to do so. The amazing level of ignorance of the Constitution in this country, by tens of millions of people, is why this country is in the situation it’s in at the present time, and if the people of this country don’t start actually reading the Constitution and figuring out that at least 95% of all legislation passed at the federal level in this country in the last century is completely illegal, including the 16th and 17th Amendments, Social Security, Medicare, and all the rest, this country is doomed in the long run.
The Constitution has only been around for 220 years now, people. Read it. It won’t hurt you.
Oh! Get down! Get funky! Get something! This is the only kind of article that ought to be permissible for publication in America. This piece is outstanding, great, good, excellent and a whole lot of other things.
We can’t have this kind of America. By now everybody with any intelligence at all has to know that we’re losing our country to a band of criminals. We’re not? Well, then, I stand corrected. Well, maybe not just yet. Throw me a few pieces of evidence to show me that we’re not going into the toilet bowl.
Too bad the religious fundamentalists posting here still don’t get it. Justice isn’t up to a supreme being - it’s up to humans. “God” is most definitely not doing to intervene (go on, figure out why this isn’t going to happen) on “our” behalf. This is the same exact ethnocentricism that was noted in the article above and some of you STILL don’t get it.
America is turning into a first class shithole because of idiots who are shortsighted, clueless and indifferent. A magical rescue from “above” in any capacity is an impossible grasp on reality.
And this is exactly what is wrong with America, both in the Government and in it’s people.
The abandonment of reason, common sense, reality and integrity. Evil triumphs because so-called “good men” do nothing (and believe lies). When reason is abandoned, which is what we are seeing as posted on this thread, how can we expect integrity to reign? Or how can we expect accountability and responsibility to be embraced?
Christians that continually place a false hope in some sort of divine justice, divine intervention or divine “management” of the affairs of mankind have abandoned both reason, logic, integrity and personal accountability - not only for themselves, but for everyone else too.
Doug’s (author) comments are correct, however, he’s mistaken about our need to “prove our love for God” - which is wrong-headed from the get-go. But that sets up the fall for everyone that fell into this trap.
Let me put it another way - God did not create this mess - humans did. God did not orchestrate this mess - humans did. God did not create religion, capitalism, democracy or homelessness - humans did. Got it?
Resolution will not come from some magical divine intervention to human-caused events and circumstances. Resolution will only happen because humans respond in sufficient numbers and with sufficient outrage to deal with these problems.
Christians today are falling into a terrible trap laid for them and aren’t bright enough to realize that it’s even there. They have been manipulated into believing that since God is “in charge” then they need do nothing.
News Flash: God is not in charge. HUMANS ARE.
The fundamentals of what this really means will probably be lost on most of you.
#34 (David) - you are quite correct. Americans do not have a glimmer of understanding of their own history.
In september of 2005 I was travelling in Germany and was on an overnight train to Copenhage and I shared a sleeper room (on that train) with a guy from Iraq! I told him that I was ashamed of my country (the U.S.) for its action in Iraq. He told me that he was on his way to live in Denmark in a small town that was mostly Iraqis. He said he left after a bomb hit 20 meters from his house. He was a grocery store manager in Iraq.
Alot of people I run into regarding my contempt for the current administration react with surprise and outrage at my comments: either I hate the U.S./not being patriotic, total disbelief, snickers, or I’m totally wrong. I even have brought up proof of a 9/11 Commission Report cover-up (http://daytonpundit.com/forum/index.php?topic=276.0) and some just listen/provide no comments or others express disbelief. All they get fed is main stream media pablum and nothing majorly negative about the Bush administration. Maybe it’s best we all go about our daily lives without resorting to net ‘doom and gloom’ stuff and “trust” our current leadership, totally rely on the MSM for our news and not do anything about it? Yeah right… Is it possible for politicians to start reading the blogs, realize what their current and future constiuents think on critical subjects, maybe we’ll have an impact on their platforms and how they vote…
Wow, good article. One thing you might be encouraged by is that as a result of the wrong direction America has been led in lately there are more Americans then ever waking up to take responsibility for our country. For example I represent the previously apathetic non-voters who thanks to George Bush, now feel a strong call to be voting at every election poll that comes along.
We have one option left. Arrest the real criminals who started with 911. Nothing to do with islamists. Its obvious the perps are in the white house, CIA, mossad, etc.. As long as they remain free, the country will continue into the toilet.
Doug Soderstrom for president! LOL
THIS IS AMAZING!
Dear Davol:
Just who are you going to vote for, anyway? If you vote for anybody trotted out by these “two” major parties, you’ll get no change. Ron Paul, even with his faults (like refusing to demand the immediate impeachment of everybody in the Bush administration, for example), is obviously the only candidate out there right now that could find the Constitution with both hands if it were his ass. Of course, he hasn’t got a chance, because he will either be marginalized by the completely Jewish-controlled “mainstream” media in this country, as well as his own party, or he’ll have some kind of an “accident” if he starts making too much headway. If he actually makes it to the 2008 ballot, you can count it as the biggest miracle in American politics in anybody’s memory.
Just think about it. Every President for the last century, and almost every person in Congress, has been from one of these two crime organizations. The entire process is corrupted. Politicans gerrymander voting districts, you vote on touch-screen machines that can be used to steal elections any way you like, they set the rules so that no serious competition to them can get any traction, etc. The only reason the GOP didn’t get away with stealing the 2006 elections was that their theft of the 2004 presidential election was so blatant that they were being watched like hawks, and some states are finally jettisoning these voting machines from Hell. It doesn’t matter which of these parties wins. It’s always more spending, more deficits, more taxes, more wars, more dead babies, and less freedoms. For God’s sake, they don’t allow anybody in these presidential “debates” except people from these “two” parties, and the committee that sets them up is made up of people that are only from those “two’ parties. They even pick the people that you get to vote for. Anybody that thinks that a write-in candidate has a chance to win, at least in this day and age, needs to stop smoking crack. How much more obvious can it get that the fix is in? By the way, I use quote marks around “two” because they are only two heads of the same nationalist, fascist corporate party, that only works for the interests of people that want to steal other countries’ resources, reduce their citizens to wage slaves, and turn their nations into subsidiaries of Pepsi. They use the U.S. military as their mob muscle, and they have sold this country completely down the river. Remember Ross Perot? He predicted this sellout with the treaties like NAFTA and GATT, and recently, CAFTA. The whole idea is to take your jobs and give them to people that will work for peanuts so that these corporations can fatten their bottom lines. It doesn’t matter if the person who takes your job is an illegal Mexican, an Indian on an H1-B visa, or somebody physcially in Malaysia, India, China, etc. In another twenty years, if things keep going at their present rate, Mexicans will be passing the laws in this country, and if you think that they’re going to pass them for the benefit of white Americans, I’ve got some bridges for sale.
If there were any fundamental differences between these parties, would you find people jumping from one party to the other, like a number of people did in the last congressional elections? Would a fascist nutcase like John McCain entertain the notion of being a veep for somebody ffrom the “other” party? Would you see the loser of the presidential election shaking the winner’s hand, and saying that we must all unite behind them, after spending millions of dollars for months putting out attack ads in order to destroy his opponent’s reputation, accusing them of everything short of necrophilia?
This system is broken beyond any hope of repair. Stay right where you are, and don’t lend any credibility to this farce, which probably has dictators of banana republics ordering “American Democracy” starter kits on EBay. The people of this country are eventually going to have their guns off the racks if they want to effect any real change in this country’s direction, because the people that pull the politicians’ strings (Zionists/bankers/oil men, etc.), will not allow any change in the big picture.
The MSM only hints at the wrong direction America has been led and doesn’t want to dig into any North American Union conspiracy theories, NAFT super highway, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), hints of a one world government/currency, etc. Check out my Truthsearcher posts at http://daytonpundit.com/forum/index.php?board=162.0. You won’t read about any of that in the MSM. Is any or all of what I posted beyond the Mineta testimony true? I at least want to wake people up to the one thing that can be indisputabley proven regarding the 9/11 Commission Report’s author(s) and Cheney himself: http://daytonpundit.com/forum/index.php?topic=276.0. I lay it all out and I’ve done my best to prove my point…
Will we read about this guy in the MSM tonight:
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/5/31/211635.shtml?s=al&promo_code=34CE-1
Correction, I meant NAFTA not NAFT!
[…] Read more Shame […]
What’s indicative of the national disease, and rather disheartening, is to see here so much faulty thinking, good opinions often riddled with inanities and contradictions. Take this person on this thread that posits as example of “illegality” and “unconstitutionality” the passing of legislation on medicare, social security, etc. Only a jerk still thinking that “statism” is a big bad wolf, per se, would think that way. Social security and medicare were passed as result of huge organizing at the grassroots, and they were passed as perfectly legal laws that in no way upsets the constitution. Shjow where it says the congress cannot legislate something TO HELP people instead of screwing them, as usual.
Second, what are we on this site, a bunch of morons who don’t know how to read or watch tv? Ron Paul has some nice speeches, and I give him credit for that, but, hey folks, he’s a REPUBLICAN. How long does it take you to realize that no clearthinking person can or should be a Republican?
I think your libertarian obsession is blocking your perspective. Dennis Kucinich is every inch as decent as Paul, and far more consistent in all areas that spell justice and authentic democracy and real freedom, not just the market freedom and runaway individualism that so many here seem to worship. We live in society folks. Check that out.
http://www.djpauledge.com/wewillnotbesilenced/index_secondmovie.html?tt=1%2E1
As one of those wealthy, conservative, fascist,
elite that you so rail against, I say to you
but one word:
DARWINISM
Which is survival of the fittest, smartest
or most prolific!
By what right does America have to exist as a
contiguous and continous entity for all eternity?
In all things there is a wax and a wane
and during most of the 20th century it was
the United States whose power waxed while
Britain’s power waned.
In the 21st century it shall be China’s power
that will eventually prevail simply because of
population and a populace hungry for betterment.
In the USA, we are much like the overfed bear
in a zoo…fat, lazy, bored and generally content
to live out our days waiting for the trice daily
handout from entities unknown (not really caring
in any case).
Since the majority in the US are too stupid and lazy
to care what happens so long the food bin get filled
thrice daily and the brain-deadening entertainment
numbs us comfortably into somnulence, nothing
will change.
And on that day when the bin isn’t filled and the vast
wasteland of TV finally gets cut off, then it’s will be
too late to do anything about it since the populace
will be too fat to to walk much more than a block
in anger and too dumb to fight an enemy more
cunning and fit than us.
In my book this is good!
I WANT to LIVE and WORK with a peoples who are
on my level of desire and spirit. The current spirit of
America is warped and is mortally wounded and
should simply be killed off for the meat it might give
those who can use it more.
So to those in the know and to those who
still have some guts, brains and able-bodiness left,
I say let’s hunker down together in common interest
and leave the outside idiots to die their horrible
and meaningless deaths and in the aftermath, we
can run free in a new America devoid of the daft,
lazy, brainless, somnulent turds that pass
for Americans these days.
So again Let it Die or if we can help euthanize
it from it’s suffering, let’s do so sooner rather than
later so we can begin again.
Long Live The Frontier West!
Where Men Carry Guns
and Women Wear Them Close To Their Heart!
Long Live an America that fights and strives
for it’s rightful place in history, but I say to you all,
let the portion that licks the hands of servitude
and fealty die in it’s putrid, fetid morass of moral,
physical and intellectual decline!
Let those who still have a backbone rise above
the rotten stink of our modern America and take
us back to a Wild and Free West!
from
a proud and free
Western American Frontier Patriot
OK, Western Patriot, calm down.
I assume you mean a wild and free west where you still have to pay land taxes. As far as I know, nothing’s free any more, anywhere.
Forums such as this one just don’t get the big picture. The world is being devolved by those that believe economic growth is more important than human growth. Nothing will change until our economic system is reformed to make human growth more important than economic growth. The simple fact of the matter is that our economic system has been hijacked by money loving control freaks intent on controlling you and me at our expense.
To whom it may concern,
Peace be with you and yours.
The problem[monetary policy] is known if not yet widely acknowledged. Given this simple fact, why not choose to tame the financial beast for ITs own good that will benefit all in the process of economic reform..
Some facts and concepts to digest.
The Fed and ITs minions act and think like machines because ‘they’ are no longer in possession of their souls. They have, so to speak, sold out to the highest bidder, who is always at the end, lucifer. These walking dead sub-human luciferians attempt to control humanity with money machined dogmalogic and threats supplied to them by the father of all lies, once again identified as lucifer. The assertion can be forwarded then that luciferian fraternal banksters are god-less alien-parasitic soul-sucking bio-bots ala on the lines of borg fame … and provable … and in need of redemption from ITs sins.
This can be accomplished through basic, simple, viable, peaceful, economic reform based in freedom, prosperity and opportunity for all.
From another perspective, the fraternal Fed represents fabian collectiveists engaged in assimilationg/processing consumers of ITs collective pseudo-reality composed of historical[al] monied lies in denial, preying on before capturing innocent true-belief of others in order to regurgitate captive-consumer souls in ITs processed and programmed, vr-matrix, trained-seal, never-ending, so-called life as a consumer of monied lies designed to control all IT touches at any and all costs. Ugly, ain’t it…? All created to benefit IT, at OUR expense.
We are becoming stupid, like the machines, programmed to obey like pavlovian community pets at the expense of our freedoms and humanity.
Why do we allow IT to control us this way? Because we are born into and exist in a technological society and are programmed from childhood to think like a bio-machine living amongst other bio-machines. Technological societies always use scientific logic-dogmatic conditioning to control ITs realm/citizens and will always create self-limiting drone-like non-critical beings. We are way beyond the clone wars. Look behind the curtain and one will find, for all intents and purposes, a machine.
How can one not find it absurd that we allow a machine to rule over our collective happiness and well being? With that, I assert that all problems, from global to local, can be mitigated/cured through basic, viable, sensical, logical, peaceful, prosperity-enhancing economic reform based on what is already in place in all manners of thinking and logistics. In fact, I believe the time is ripe to introduce said economic reform that might just change the world for the betterment of all. The only thing being sold is the concept of freedom and how best to acquire more for everybody.
www.planetization.org/soulutions.htm
1. Abolish usurydebt for all in-common goods and services.
2. Retain usurydebt for all un-common goods and services.
3. Foundational, yearly stipend to cover basic needs, goods, and services based on the cost of acquiring in-common needed goods and services..
To justify the above: corporate welfare controlling consumer welfare should not be accepted as the practical ‘norm’ and is tantamount to allowing a machine to rule over us and our humanity defined by a machine. By agreeing to pay ourselves a living wage we guarantee freedom for all of us in an enhanced economy waiting to roar. Money does not go away. Usury for all in-common goods and services does. Debt is addressed/restructured in the process. People wake up to a better, brighter future. Problem fixed. God’s plan fulfilled. Global harmony with an edge that cuts. Simple solutions always solve complex problems no matter the complex or the problem. Real Growth in Real Time in Real Freedom with more cash in one’s pocket to enjoy all and learn from all that life has to offer. Freedom for All. Is there any better goal for the individual and/or collective?
In conclusion I would ask that you forward the idea and the referenced website far and wide. I receive no compensation until the world is free from debt. Only then will I be free. When I am free; you, we, and us are free. We will never be free until usury/debt is abolished. The option is slavery…as a programmed robo-sapien manchine.
artemius,
Your comment about Paul being a Republican, and thus not worthy of our choosing, is so indicative of mindless Political Brand Loyalty. The current crop of Democrats are spineless jellyfish in bed with Bush and Co. They are no better than the Republicans you go off on. Paul is a man of deep and abiding principles (as I’m sure Kucinich is, as well), and to simply dismiss Paul because he is not a Democrat is not only irritating, but ignorant. Don’t judge the man by his affiliation. Judge him by the content of his character. Judging by the content of HIS character, I would have to say, without impunity, that Ron Paul is the best choice in the candidate field right now.
Corruption is a natural mode of all systems of power. It’s an analogue of the strange effect at the office where many otherwise smart people come together in a group that becomes dumber than the sum of its parts; aggregation forms systems where the collective actions of mostly good people become evil.
Case in point: all of you that strongly disagree with how the government is spending your money will never protest in a way that will make any material difference, such as stopping payment of your taxes. It’s game theory, you won’t act against your own interest. So you are worse than those poor souls who don’t know any better than blind approval of authority; you will always be hypocrites.
Yes, Mr. Roblee. Agreed. How? How you gonna get the bankster’s suckers unstuck from everything in the world? You think they’re just gonna agree with you?
BENJI, I have no usde for Democratsd either. I make an exception with Dennis K, as the man has long been a complete rarity: a principled politician. And I am not using the Republican label as a crude way of branding people out of consideration. But, the fact is, too much has happened and in much of this horrible business, the GOP has been at the very center (with ample “partisan” support in the worst crimes, since the porblem is systemic.) GOP and Dems, its just ONE party with two faces, two approaches to handle the masses’ aspirations—so far rather disorganized in this ignorant, indifferent, anomie-prone and lazy America. No one who is as decent as you claim Paul is should STILL be in the GOP. It’s like belonging to an organized plutocratic mafia—scarcely hyperbole in this case. You prefer Paul because he leans toward business and libertarianism, albeit that fantastic type that only libertarians can visualize, a real working laissez-faire capitalism. Be honest about it.
Dear PJ6: You’ve hit the nail hit square on the head. You cut off the terrorists’ money supply. But you’re also right … until every person in this country is willing to go to jail or worse, (Give me Liberty or Give me Death), it won’t happen. As things stand, only the thinking people would take this action, which will only get them arrested and put out of the way. (Sounds so Soviet Gulag, doesn’t it?) Then the rest of the system will just keep trundling on and on with all those millions of illegal aliens running on the treadmills in the little hamster cages.
Are you writing us hypocrites from prison?
Well we all know what it means to be ashamed of our country…
What does it mean to “LOVE” our country?
Michael Parenti has broken it down for all of us who have ever given that concept a thought or two:
https://bestcyrano.org//AUDIO/AudioPageParenti/Michael%20Parenti%20-%20Super%20Patriotism/michael_parenti_super_patriotism.mp3
#45 Mark Finnigan…The native people of north and south america were blessed with all of the vast resorces as the colonists were. I do not believe it is inherent; not only to rape and pillage our own resources but other countries as well; to the human condition, but to the system itself.
Im not now or have I ever been ashamed of my country. Im astonished by my fellow country men that sit idly by like sheep,attempting to correct nothing. I guess it is those that Im ashamed of.
Ashamed huh?? Well I must admitt I am one of those you mention. I sure wont get misty eyed when you leave. Anybody who beleives your bag of tripe is a typical leftist moron. You just cant believe that you are in such a small minority of people, so it must be some kind of conspiricy against you. You go, Comrade!
I think all of our soldiers should come back from Iraq, rest and recuperate, then invade Mexico! That should keep our bloodthirsty leaders sated, and solve our illegal immigration problem at the same time….
9/11 = INSIDE JOB
fuck bush and his neo cons
I see your point, artemius, and I agree it is a bit insane that Paul is part of the GOP, now that you mentioned it. He should join Bernie Sanders in the Independent ranks. I like Paul because he wants to rid this country of that damned federal reserve, and that I rather like. Your two sides of the same coin argument is also spot on. As my Dad says, “Sorry I blew up”
.
You gentlemen who think Ron Paul should run under a third party banner obviously have NO IDEA of what is involved.
Dr.Paul has always been a Republican but when he ran on the Libertarian ticket in ‘88, all of us who supported him got a lesson in why this country has a monopolistic two-party system.
First of all, thousands of signatures had to be collected in every state and so much money had to be paid per signature so a bunch of fat-assed beaurocrats could verify the signatures.
As a result of the barriers and stumbling blocks thrown up, Dr.Paul’s name was not even on the ballot in some states.
Election night we were unable to obtain any information from the states where he WAS on the ballot, those answering the phones said that his votes were not even being counted.
Much later it was said that overall he received approximately 400,000 votes. How this could be determined when some states were not supposedly counting his votes is anybody’s guess.
Because of his staunch Constitutional stance, he had no multi-million dollar backers and the Libertarian coffers were not overflowing with cash.
Dr. Paul flew Coach to his speaking engagements and carried his own luggage. Supporters picked him up in their POVs while the fat-cat Democratic and Republican contenders flew first class or on private jets and were met by limos paid for by taxpayer-funded matching funds.
After reading the posts, I still manage to be amazed at the arrogance of ignorance reflected in some of them. Those of you who already have all the answers should offer to run for president and solve everybody’s problems.
You keyboard commandos who sit there and criticize, carp and bitch are really going to have something to bitch about if Dr. Paul is not elected but you will b doing it over the back fence or down at Joe’s Pool Hall and Bar because you can no longer use the internet, either because someone you pissed off reported you as an anti-government domestic terrorist or because your budget will not allow for but one or two e-mails a month.
It is not a given that we will have the opportunity to vote for the one honest and truthful man to come on the political scene in over 100 years, Dr. Ron Paul.
If the “decider” decides to attack Iran, setting off global genocide from the spread of radiation and otherwise turning the whole world against America, while Martial Law sends Americans into Halliburton/KBR constructed gulags and concentration camps, perhaps you intellectual giants will think back to the time when you almost had the chance to turn things around and blew it with your knit-picking and drivel.
As for me and mine, we will continue to work for Dr. Paul and hope that it is not too late -
RON PAUL in 2008
Thanx for putting into words so eloquently things I have been trying to convey.
I may be referring other here to read this, especially when I cannot get them to understand just how bad it has gotten.
Great article. It’s about time someone had the balls to say what so many of us have been thinking. I am so tired of defending my patriotism because I may be critical of this country.
Nothing can be done until we look in the mirror and begin fixing what we see staring back at us in that reflection. We eagerly place blame on everyone except ourselves, failing to see that if individually we can not foster change within ourselves, the world will remain in its downward spiral. Complacency is our greatest enemy.
Thank you for writing and inspiring, Doug.
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[…] “Thomas Paine’s Corner” — - Having grown up in a small town in Central Kansas I was taught to believe that my […]
Artemius, do you really think that social security and medicare were passed as a result of mass protests supported by the overwhelming majority of the people? If so, please show me the evidence.
Do you think that there is any express grant of power given by the framers to congress to create a ponzi scheme like social security? Obvioulsy there is no explicit language in the constitution that authorizes congress to forcibly take the bread out of a laborer’s mouth in order to preserve it for his retirement.
Do you know that the United States Supreme Court has held that one is not entitled to social security payments even if one has “paid” into it the system? The court ruled that social security deductions are taxes.
Moreover, do you think that the government is better able to provide for your golden years than you? Do you think that government’s performance instills confidence and merits praise?
Artemius, at bottom, social security and medicare are theft, like all taxation. If you really want what is good for people, then you would surely jettison the concept that the “working stiff” is better off having $7.65 out of every $100.00 in his wages taken from him for the purpose of his retirement when he can barely make ends meet and when the government fails to put away and invest his money.
Why would you support this nonsense? Perhaps, the answer lies in the totalitarian echoes in your heart.
I believe that Dr. Soderstrom understands the basic problem of America. This is, that the enemy is not them, it is us.
Pompous snobbery at it’s most stereo typical. Flowery language and belittlement of those that disagree with you are no replacement for insight.
Everyone one who has agreed with you on your comment’s probably agreed with you before they even looked at your site.
You have inflamed, not convinced.
boo hiss.
Very interesting.
Capitalism is always gonna end bad. It’s an addiction to money and power and all such addictions will turn on the addict and kill them in the end. After all the rock bottoms comes the eventual crash which results in the death of the diseased addict or the cessation of the drug supply. This planet is finite. Capitalism, the addict, wants his hit-growth. More money, more power, more consumers, more slaves, more money… blah, blah, blah. One day, the supply lines will be affected and the addict will use ever more secretive and sinister means to ensure its survival; for the addict only lives for the addict. Blinded by denial, acting with impunity, so the greed is perpetuated.
We have a collective responsibility to challenge the current system and agree on an alternative system of governance which doesn’t leave the majority of the worlds population in poverty while an elite few have more money than they could possibly spend in their lifetimes. it appals me to see obesity on my high street and starvation on my television. The people I live amongst here in the UK are as addicted to consumerism as the capitalist system is to oil and power. For reasons beyond the scope of my rational understanding of life, some people seem to think that material possessions will make them happy. Never, do any of these things make them happy, yet they just want more and more. It is quite absurd that one person would want four cars or three television sets, or 15 mobile phones????? WHY????? From a financial position, the stuff we throw away could pay for food to feed millions of people. Even more astoningshingly, shockingly, outrageously, downwright evil, is the very very real fact that a miniscule amount of the developed nations military spending could wipe poverty off the face of the Earth. That such wealth exists in the face of such misery is a very black mark against humanity. That is pure evil of the highest order. We are responsible. Our pets eat better than most people on Earth. There are many of us know that these atrocities are going on in the world yet many are too dependant on working for the caplitalist leaders in order to survive day to day or week to week to be able to take the action needed to put an end to the oppression of the establishment.
Whoever controls the TV stations controls the people. Well made TV can generate huge amounts of emotional reaction in an audience. Having lived in the UK all of my life, I can attest to the fact that the media has effectively portrayed politics, power, and the state as being the business of a select few only and ‘out of bounds’ to the ordinary man. As a result, and as mentioned already here, the common position of the majority of the underclassed in developed nations is one of ‘not being able to do anything about it’.
If enough people want change and enough people get together in an effort to make sure such change will happen, so the change will come about. It is the only way that mankind can ensure its survival. At the present rate, life will come to an end for mankind pretty soon. The way things are now are simply unsustainable. Finite resources. Finite Space.
I believe in man. I have to. I can look inside of me and find a compassionate person with morals, who, as has been suggested in a prior post, only wants to treat others as they would treat me. I think such compassion resides in the majority of us for I am just an average bloke, no better or worse than the next man or woman. If all who want change get together, it will change. it always has been that way. Nature will always find a balance. We are a part of nature.
peace
dk
Move overseas to a country not as fortunate as America. Live there for at least 4 years. Then come back here and tell me why your not proud to be an American.
Right you are Cee. I believe the border still works two ways. And that crap about Americans being more ethnocentric than any other country… Well, I was just talkin’ to Bobby at the latest ethnic cleansing and… oh wait… that was somewhere else, wasn’t it.
And then democracy, a political system that apparently no one in their right mind has a right to question. Of course there can be no doubt that democracy is certainly a stellar way of running a country, but must everyone in the world agree? Besides if the religious right (just as Moslems in Iraq) were to seize control, don’t you think that they (as fundamentalists) might be tempted to set up Christianity as the official religion in our country rather than that of running a democracy based upon the separation of church and state?
This is a professor speaking? Have you read your constitution? Try the First Amendment about “Congress shall make no law…” If they do so anyway, in violation of the constitution, then it wouldn’t be a democracy any more, now would it?
This whole essay reeks of breast-beating. If you don’t like something in our country, go work to change it. If you can get a majority of the people behind you, then you can change anything you want.
Excellent article. Shows those of us who truely feel shame for being an American, we are motivated to do all we can in helping bringing change in our nation. This change has to include getting informed regarding all the negative stuff our currant administration is pulling off these days. Who these people are, their history and background and what their agenda is. Many are the same bunch, that were brought to this country during operation paperclip. Remember, what agenda these people had in Germany. There has been no change in their plans, only a different location.
For me it is Ron Paul in 2008. I hope he makes it. True believers in Jehovah- God, please pray for Dr. Pauls safety daily. For this criminal bunch need to find out that God is greater then their criminal activity in killing those who are not part of their group/NWO or ruling elite. They will not be ruling or be part of the elite, when their time comes and they stand before Almighty God at the great White Throne Judgement Day. That day we all will encouter. Let us not forget this fact. In the mean time we have responsibileties to our selves, our families, our neighbors. Our neighbors? Who are our neighbors? How about the Iraqe men, woman and children who have encountered an early death from alied bombings.
And lets remember, the numbers of the Iraqi dead those far as well as the # of our own boys since Desert Storm, Afghanistan and Shock and Awe until now are much higher then what the MSM is reporting. Learn about the weaponry we are using. I am talking about Depleted Uranium. Find out what effect it has when used and how many tones of it we have used so far?
This insight will let us see, we need to get the person in the highest office in our land, who will get our men out of the middle east and fast and apolgize to the rest of the world for the murderous previous administration.
I say, lets vote for Ron Paul and pray for this mans safety. We all know his life will be in serious danger as time gets closer to the elections.
Thank god their are still good people like “doug” in the united states of america,i am a muslim from nigeria but love the principle by which the united states was enshrine upon, and love the poeple,why ? becouse we have been trained not to hate nor generalize hatred.we were trained to avoid blaming the child for action of the father, thus, some of us hold no grudge for the actions of your government.this your write up only confirms our elders saying.thank you for being good and may we all learn to do the right thing when confronted with realities of life ameen.
Being a Canadian, I am so wishing that this essay is the beginning of the awakening of the American Peoples. Yes, the Peoples, not the establisment, because the latter is too comfortable and does not want to change.
Wow this is all a bunch of crap. I bet at least 100/103 of the commenters so far are mentally retarded.
watta load o crap..this is the best brightest mightest nation ever..and shud b…rest of the world suks..always been wars and killing and all..itz a dog eat dog world..learn to live with that fact fools
Thank you for spelling it all out in one article. Now I can just email people this URL rather than waste time arguing with them.
Recently I have come to realize that I hate this country (in which I happen to have been born). And it’s sad. During the early years of my life I liked this place. I had no reason not to. I was just a kid with few responsibilities and no point of reference to know any different. Upon becoming adolescent and having been fed the same bullshit media stories over and over for more than a decade I grew keen to the fact that the U.S. media and government reeks of lies. But I still believed that this government was manipulating its people out of ignorance rather than evil. I thought the people at the top were just hard-headed geezers out of touch with reality and making bad decisions.
But after the whole 9/11-Afghanistan-Iraq-Homeland Security-Patriot Act drama it was really spelled out quite clearly. USA = EVIL. That’s really all there is to it. I mean, I don’t even feel like I’m over-generalizing anymore or being unfair. This country is a shithole. I’m doing everything in my power to move out permanently as soon as possible. And, well…to those who stick around: good luck! Enjoy having microchips installed in your children, all your conversations wiretapped and recorded, and having even this transparent illusion of freedom eventually revoked. You’re complacent now because you still have the internet to feel safe in, but I wouldn’t take that for granted too much longer either.
Personally, I’d like to see China and America kill one another off. Although even in that case it would be sad because the governments wouldn’t suffer, they would send in the innocent populous to fight their battles for them and the general public would suffer, as it always is in war.
Regardless of what happens, things cannot go on as they are, or the world is doomed. We need a lot more people who will stand up and fight. And I don’t mean just saying “I disagree with what America is doing”, but rather “I fucking hate America”. Period. No more wussy beating around the bush (no pun intended), thinking people in power will give a damn about your opinion. It’s time to disassociate ourselves from this land and this government, because it is well beyond repair. It’s basically a malignant cancerous growth. You can try to shrink it down for only so long before you eventually have to just go in there and cut it out. I don’t know about you all, but that’s the point I’m at. So like I said, good luck if you stay, but freedom is dead in this country.
Peace,
QA
A friend of mine from East Germany said to me “there is no division between the left and the right, only the rich and the poor”. He has also said to me…..”we (East Germany) sold our community for a bottle of Coca Cola”. Please understand, he is fully aware that East Germany feel far short of it’s ideology and his feelings are not of nostalgia, but rather a dream that was not realized and the shame of not living up to the promise. He says this to me to comfort me….empathsize with me about the feelings of sadness and disappointment I feel in the promise I was given by my government and it’s doctrines. Perhaps it puts ideology in the vein of romanticism…..but what’s wrong with envisioning a better…..more just civilization that values it’s people/community more than material possessions and commerce.