Charles: In this age of corporate globalization geopolitical boundaries no longer have the same meaning they used to. Corrupt government will do its utmost to conceal truth from the people because there is a clear conflict of interest involved. If the people knew the truth, they might be moved to do something about it. That is why they are propagandized.
If truth ever becomes widely known, the people would clearly be able to discern the criminality of corrupt government and not many would continue to support it. There would be revolt and perhaps even revolution.
Corrupt governments fear ordinary citizens. They realize that if the people are armed with truth, if they educate themselves, and organize and mobilize, that government will lose its power over them. It will lose control. Informed people are not susceptible to lies and deception. They are able to connect the dots and see the historical patterns of abuse.
It is ironic that so many individuals fail to realize how much power they actually have. The government knows they have power. People marginalize themselves by thinking they are powerless. That power is amplified when the people organize and mobilize against injustice.
That is why whenever dissidents emerge and successfully organize the masses, they are either imprisoned or assassinated. Thousands of courageous men and women in organized labor were assassinated in this country: Frank Little, Joe Hill, Albert Parsons and August Spies-the list is a long one; and of course the names of Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm-X come to mind.
Truth is a thing that is carefully guarded by corrupt power. It must be kept from the people at all cost. Of course, any government whose operation is not transparent is a house of cards that cannot long stand. It is not worthy of our respect or our allegiance.
Angie: One last question. I've mentioned the US war OF terror currently causing death, destruction, and poverty in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Lebanon and elsewhere. People who pay attention are familiar with the neoconservative document sinisterly titled "Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategy, Forces and Resources for a New Century". What that title doesn't reveal, however, is how closely "rebuilding America's defenses" is intertwined with those of the terrorist state of Israel, and how warmongers, such as Rumsfeld, Cheney, Bolton, Rice, and others are determined to pursue their imperialist ambitions regardless of how much blood, as long as it is someone else's, is spilled. Global terror under the guise of so-called "freedom", fake "democracies", bullying, threatening, lying, and double standards ??? this is the United States that the world sees, and it is not a pretty sight. What will it take to allow the nations of the world their right to govern and conduct their lives without US interference, threats, and blackmail? No one is safe unless kowtowing the US of Israel line. How did it get to this point, and, more importantly, how has it been allowed to continue?
Charles: I believe that people must ultimately take responsibility for what their governments do, but nothing can happen until enough people care, pay attention to the issues, educate themselves about them, and take informed action. As things are now the only way the world will know peace is by capitulating to America and her allies - by becoming capitalists and taking orders from the global Plutocracy. All people have a right to form governments of their own choosing, and that right needs to be respected and protected.
What America is trying to do is rule the world by military force and economic policy. That is the wrong thing to do, and I doubt whether the majority of the people really support such imperialistic doctrine. Empire and Democracy are mutually exclusive.
We have become a rogue nation that does not respect international law or treaties.
I do not believe that this issue can be resolved at the polls. It is going to require massive citizen involvement, serious economic disruption, boycotts, general strikes, and acts of civil disobedience over a long period of time. We must throw our bodies on to the gears and levers of the machine and make it stop. The war makers must be driven from office, regardless of their political stripes. I doubt whether they will leave of their own accord. The same thing must occur not only in the U.S. but around the world.
It is important to understand that men like George Bush, Bill Clinton, John Kerry, Tony Blair, Ariel Sharon, Benjamin Netanyahu and all the others are products of the capitalist system. They are the fruit of the poison tree. You cannot change the result until you change the system that produces the result. Otherwise you are only treating symptoms as the disease continues to progress.
I see Socialism as a far better alternative. Power and wealth should never be concentrated in the hands of a few people. It must be equally dispersed among the many and decentralized. That is how Democracy works. Concentrated power is corrupt power, and concentrated wealth is ill-gotten wealth.
Things got so out of hand because people became complacent and they are misinformed. Everyone in America knows the political system is corrupt, and many have dropped out of it for that reason. We still have to participate in order to fulfill our role as citizens. If we do not, our political enemies will carry forth their agenda unopposed, but we must never accept that voting is enough.
If enough people who care and know the issues do not come forward and demand an end to this madness, dissent will be criminalized. We are at a critical crossroads in our civilization. We have a responsibility to future generations to do better, and time is running out.
A lifetime of propaganda is not easy to overcome; yet that is our task. We must establish our own media: printed word, web-based content, including video (streaming and DVD), and audio, in order to counter the lies purveyed in the commercial media. We must support net neutrality and keep the Internet a free and democratic medium. We must provide places where truth can still be heard. We need more free speech radio like the Pacifica Network, and more alternative newspapers and other print media willing to challenge the status quo.
If truth ever becomes widely known, the people would clearly be able to discern the criminality of corrupt government and not many would continue to support it. There would be revolt and perhaps even revolution.
Corrupt governments fear ordinary citizens. They realize that if the people are armed with truth, if they educate themselves, and organize and mobilize, that government will lose its power over them. It will lose control. Informed people are not susceptible to lies and deception. They are able to connect the dots and see the historical patterns of abuse.
It is ironic that so many individuals fail to realize how much power they actually have. The government knows they have power. People marginalize themselves by thinking they are powerless. That power is amplified when the people organize and mobilize against injustice.
Truth is a thing that is carefully guarded by corrupt power. It must be kept from the people at all cost. Of course, any government whose operation is not transparent is a house of cards that cannot long stand. It is not worthy of our respect or our allegiance.
Angie: One last question. I've mentioned the US war OF terror currently causing death, destruction, and poverty in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Lebanon and elsewhere. People who pay attention are familiar with the neoconservative document sinisterly titled "Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategy, Forces and Resources for a New Century". What that title doesn't reveal, however, is how closely "rebuilding America's defenses" is intertwined with those of the terrorist state of Israel, and how warmongers, such as Rumsfeld, Cheney, Bolton, Rice, and others are determined to pursue their imperialist ambitions regardless of how much blood, as long as it is someone else's, is spilled. Global terror under the guise of so-called "freedom", fake "democracies", bullying, threatening, lying, and double standards ??? this is the United States that the world sees, and it is not a pretty sight. What will it take to allow the nations of the world their right to govern and conduct their lives without US interference, threats, and blackmail? No one is safe unless kowtowing the US of Israel line. How did it get to this point, and, more importantly, how has it been allowed to continue?
Charles: I believe that people must ultimately take responsibility for what their governments do, but nothing can happen until enough people care, pay attention to the issues, educate themselves about them, and take informed action. As things are now the only way the world will know peace is by capitulating to America and her allies - by becoming capitalists and taking orders from the global Plutocracy. All people have a right to form governments of their own choosing, and that right needs to be respected and protected.
What America is trying to do is rule the world by military force and economic policy. That is the wrong thing to do, and I doubt whether the majority of the people really support such imperialistic doctrine. Empire and Democracy are mutually exclusive.
We have become a rogue nation that does not respect international law or treaties.
I do not believe that this issue can be resolved at the polls. It is going to require massive citizen involvement, serious economic disruption, boycotts, general strikes, and acts of civil disobedience over a long period of time. We must throw our bodies on to the gears and levers of the machine and make it stop. The war makers must be driven from office, regardless of their political stripes. I doubt whether they will leave of their own accord. The same thing must occur not only in the U.S. but around the world.
It is important to understand that men like George Bush, Bill Clinton, John Kerry, Tony Blair, Ariel Sharon, Benjamin Netanyahu and all the others are products of the capitalist system. They are the fruit of the poison tree. You cannot change the result until you change the system that produces the result. Otherwise you are only treating symptoms as the disease continues to progress.
I see Socialism as a far better alternative. Power and wealth should never be concentrated in the hands of a few people. It must be equally dispersed among the many and decentralized. That is how Democracy works. Concentrated power is corrupt power, and concentrated wealth is ill-gotten wealth.
Things got so out of hand because people became complacent and they are misinformed. Everyone in America knows the political system is corrupt, and many have dropped out of it for that reason. We still have to participate in order to fulfill our role as citizens. If we do not, our political enemies will carry forth their agenda unopposed, but we must never accept that voting is enough.
If enough people who care and know the issues do not come forward and demand an end to this madness, dissent will be criminalized. We are at a critical crossroads in our civilization. We have a responsibility to future generations to do better, and time is running out.
A lifetime of propaganda is not easy to overcome; yet that is our task. We must establish our own media: printed word, web-based content, including video (streaming and DVD), and audio, in order to counter the lies purveyed in the commercial media. We must support net neutrality and keep the Internet a free and democratic medium. We must provide places where truth can still be heard. We need more free speech radio like the Pacifica Network, and more alternative newspapers and other print media willing to challenge the status quo.
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